Major League Baseball 2018 Season Thread

[MRP]

I hadn't really thought about the talent dilution issue.

I certainly don't expect them to add six teams, nor do I know where those six teams would go, or what markets could support them, but I just don't see MLB expanding smaller and having lopsided divisions again.



The hype is real...

Well, he had developed a blister on his pitching hand, which can happen to anyone and it was interfering with his grip on the ball. Just a some good start doesn't make the hype real, one bad start doesn't make it false. How many bad years and bad starts did someone like Randy Johnson have before he lived up the hype he had coming out of the minors and become a dominant pitcher. I remember thinking he was a joke for a few years before he finally put it all together and learned how to pitch as well as throw, but he was super-hyped when he got to the majors too. It's going to take some time to sort out exactly what type of major league player Ohtani will be, but he's something new and different and people are excited to see it, and baseball needs more things people are excited about, so I am ok with the hype if it gets more people interested in baseball and watching games, even if it's only games he plays to start with, and I willing to take a wait and see approach to see what Ohtani will be, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy watching him as he becomes whatever it is he will be, whether he lives up to expectations or not. We haven't seen a real two-way player in decades, so that alone is worth the hype whether he becomes a superstar or not. I was glad to see him crash and burn last night because he was facing the Sox, the team I have rooted for since about 1973 when I got my first Red Sox yearbook off a drug store magazine stand when I was 4 years old, but against the other 29 teams in the league he plays against I will be rooting for him.

-M

[Joker]

Pay cuts would suck for the smaller names, like, guys making league average, but I can't feel bad for millionaires.

It could also potentially prolong the careers of players, a bit.

As much as I do enjoy it, I think cutting inter-league play is the easiest way to shorten the season.

[MRP]

Apparently we fans aren't alone in wanting to see a shortened season:

Cubs' Anthony Rizzo willing to take pay cut for shorter regular season

I saw that last night and immediately thought of the conversation here. However I don't think Rizzo's voice is a majority opinion among the players.

-M

[The Whovian]

I saw that last night and immediately thought of the conversation here. However I don't think Rizzo's voice is a majority opinion among the players.

-M

I would be okay with a shorter season. Instead of starting in early April, start late April and that way, the teams that play in cold weather areas can avoid the postponed games.

[Joker]

^^I liked the idea of pushing it back to the 15th. Opening day is Jackie Robinson Day. That'd be nice.

Well, he had developed a blister on his pitching hand,

Well, look. I can't root for him. He signed with a division rival, so I simply can't rah rah rah for the guy.

I'm just making jokes about the hype being real after 10 days. If that was real, then this means it's not. I'm just dicking with MLB's headline nonsense.

It will be interesting to see what he becomes. I do worry, given his history with injury, and blisters, specifically. He's lost time to them before. That will have an impact on his ability to actually be a two way player if they keep happening.

He's young, and projected to be a superstar. I think he's got some ego about his ability, and I think Mike Scioscia has a history of letting his players hurt themselves, and that worries me too. This isn't Japan. MLB is very different, and he could really hamper his potential if he and Scioscia aren't careful with him.

I wish he signed with a team where I could have rooted for him, but he didn't. I don't wish him harm, but I can't be excited for him any more than Trout.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Pay cuts would suck for the smaller names, like, guys making league average, but I can't feel bad for millionaires.

It could also potentially prolong the careers of players, a bit.

As much as I do enjoy it, I think cutting inter-league play is the easiest way to shorten the season.

I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum as interleague play never moved the needle for me. In my opinion, it was nothing more than a gimmick, and one that, more often than not, failed to deliver. I mean, for every Mets-Yankees or Angels-Dodgers matchup that would fill the respective parks and get boffo ratings on TV, you'd also have less than thrilling battles like Royals-Brewers or Rays-Marlins. Can you say "YAWN!" boys and girls? I know I wouldn't miss interleague play if it went away.

[Joker]

I think it's fun to go to those games and see the teams you don't ever get to see. I wouldn't really miss it, but I do think it's fun.

[BeastieRunner]

I wouldn't mind seeing games cut down to 100 or less from April to September, playoffs in October. And have less weekday games.

Build in regular WBC breaks and Olympic breaks, and a longer All-Star break. More rest for players.

[MRP]

I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum as interleague play never moved the needle for me. In my opinion, it was nothing more than a gimmick, and one that, more often than not, failed to deliver. I mean, for every Mets-Yankees or Angels-Dodgers matchup that would fill the respective parks and get boffo ratings on TV, you'd also have less than thrilling battles like Royals-Brewers or Rays-Marlins. Can you say "YAWN!" boys and girls? I know I wouldn't miss interleague play if it went away.

Having moved to Ohio from New England, those years the Sox play the NL central and play the Reds in Cinci are the only times I get an opportunity to go see them play live anymore, so I appreciate them (Cinci is an hour 15 away,a doable day trip, Cleveland is over 3 hours away, not so much). Also the fact that the Sox have one of the best inter-league records since they started inter-league play makes it a whole lot more palatable, but, I am not attached to the idea as a whole, and I really disliked it when it was introduced. I do like the one series at a time all year long approach better than the weeks of concentrated inter-league play model they used at first where everyone was playing inter-league at the same time. I have no more or less interest in a Reds-Ranger series being played while everyone else plays within their league than I do a Reds-Marlins series being played, but when everyone is matched up vs. an inter-league opponent it suddenly becomes an event and spectacle blowing its importance out of perspective.

-M

[Hiromi]

Pay cuts would suck for the smaller names, like, guys making league average, but I can't feel bad for millionaires.

It could also potentially prolong the careers of players, a bit.

As much as I do enjoy it, I think cutting inter-league play is the easiest way to shorten the season.

Yeah I wouldn't lose much sleep if the league average wen't from 4 millions to 2 and half million or something, it's still all fully guaranteed money with 100 dollars a day in food money and a third of the year not having to work

think they should leave the minimum salary alone though

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Three weeks into the new season, and we've had the first managerial firing as Bryan Price was axed by the Reds after a 3-15 pratfall. Former Nationals skipper and current bench coach Jim Riggelman will helm the sinking ship for the rest of the season.

[Joker]

That was fast. I mean, that's an awful record, so.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

That was fast. I mean, that's an awful record, so.

I know, right? It's not like this kennel of mutts were the second coming of the Big Red Machine. Beyond Joey Votto and Billy Hamilton (I'd be shocked if one, if not both weren't dealt at or before the trade deadline), the Reds are no better than the Triple-A Marlins who at least never hid the fact they were going tank and tank hard. So, the rush to chop Price made little sense.

[Joker]

That was my next question, because I didn't think they were supposed to be any good this year. I get failing with a competent team, but failing with a tanker, that's... pretty standard.

[MRP]

I know, right? It's not like this kennel of mutts were the second coming of the Big Red Machine. Beyond Joey Votto and Billy Hamilton (I'd be shocked if one, if not both weren't dealt at or before the trade deadline), the Reds are no better than the Triple-A Marlins who at least never hid the fact they were going tank and tank hard. So, the rush to chop Price made little sense.

Cincinnati sports fans wanted a head coach fired, and since the Bengals kept Marv Lewis, Bryan Price became the sacrificial lamb?

But seriously, Price has had the lowest winning percentage of any coach in Reds history to manage at least 3 seasons, they haven't won as many as 70 games in any season they have been there and the Reds have had the worst winning percentage in all of MLB since he took over, prospects have failed to blossom at the ML level under him, his usage of the pitching staff has been questionable and lead to many injured arms, and he wasn't going to be there at the end of the rebuild anyways. He wasn't doing anything to help the team move forward in terms of developing players on his roster and was retarding the growth of the pitching staff. They should have known this before the season started and made a move then, but I think the ownership was trying to project a sense of stability and a plan already in place to season ticket holders, so avoided making a move after last season, but the dreadful start this year necessitated some kind of scapegoat and since they had a bench coach with MLB managing experience already in house to be a placeholder in Riggelman, they made the move and can now take their time to find someone who can be the new face/voice to lead them to better times (or so they hope). What they need is a whole new front office with better talent evaluation to draft better and make better trades (the returns they got in their fire sale last year were laughable), but managers are always the first to go.

-M