2019 MLB Season Thread

[Scott Taylor]

Congrats to the Nats, they truly were a team of destiny this year.

Incidentally if you are ever in the Washington area, they have a really killer stadium with good food and a great layout. See a game for like $5.00

[babyblob]

Very Happy to see Washington win this. They proved me wrong. I thought Huston would stream roll them.

[Nine Crocodile]

Very Happy to see Washington win this. They proved me wrong. I thought Huston would stream roll them.

I thought it would be close, but not seven games close. And I sure didn't think the road teams would win all the games.

[MRP]

Hot Stove action already starting....

Yankees decline option of Edwin Encarnacion, Indians exercise Corey Kluber's option and Gerritt Cole says he is no longer employed by the Astros in an interview minutes after the end of game 7. Mike Matheny names manager of the Royals and the White Sox traded catcher Wellington Castillo and international slot money to the Texas Ranger for an OF prospect, Rangers may decline Wellington's option, making him a free agent.

And as exciting as that World Series was, it was 3rd worst series in terms of tv ratings ever.

-M

[Joker]

That's really interesting. I mean, the whole post season was a big who cares for me, but once the WS started, it ended up being pretty interesting! Definitely the most I've cared about a WS in a while.

Mariners made a waivers claim yesterday. Some reliever from the Rangers. That's about the level of excitement I expect out of the Mariners this off season.

I'm most interested in seeing what happens with Felix Hernandez. I think he's going to have to be a lot more humble and prove himself if he really wants to play.
Minors contract, ST invite, and have to fight for a rotation spot, or a **** contract on a total bottom feeder team. Maybe accepting a relieve role.

I hope he takes whatever is offered and uses that time/chance to try and work on his stuff and figure something out. He's not a fireballer anymore, but that doesn't mean he can't be effective.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

The Mets named Carlos Beltran as their new manager. The only vacancies still open are in Pittsburgh and San Francisco.

[MRP]

Looks like Strasborg (a Boras client) is going to opt out of the 4 years and $100 million remaining on his contract to become a free agent at age 31.

-M

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Washington Nationals’ Sean Doolittle Boycotts Donald Trump White House Celebration

Washington Nationals pitcher Sean Doolittle has announced he will not attend a White House celebration with his World Series-winning teammates on Monday, the latest sports star to shun a visit with President Donald Trump.

In an interview with The Washington Post published late Friday, Doolittle explained how “there’s a lot of things, policies that I disagree with, but at the end of the day, it has more to do with the divisive rhetoric and the enabling of conspiracy theories and widening the divide in this country.”

“My wife and I stand for inclusion and acceptance, and we’ve done work with refugees, people that come from, you know, the ‘shithole countries,’” Doolittle noted, a dig at Trump’s description of Haiti and African nations in a 2018 meeting. (Doolittle in 2015 hosted Syrian refugee families for Thanksgiving.)

Doolittle said Trump’s rhetoric had enabled racism and white supremacy and the president had “done a lot of things that maybe don’t respect the office.” He respected his teammates’ decision to attend, however, and said they respected his stance against the president.

“At the end of the day, as much as I wanted to be there with my teammates and share that experience with my teammates, I can’t do it. I just can’t do it,” he added.

I'm sure that Trump, who doesn't take rejection at all well will snipe back at Doolittle on Twitter. I wonder how Nationals' players of color (Howie Kendrick) or Hispanics (Juan Soto, Victor Robles, Anibal Sanchez) will feel about being with Trump who dumped on their countries?

[Joker]

So, lots of MLB news the last few days.

Gonna be real interesting to see who the Astros turn out to be this season.

Personally, the only thing that surprises me is that they felt the need to do it. They're a good team without cheating, so I just don't get the need for it.

[Scott Taylor]

Well the common thought seems to be "everyone does it, they just got caught."

Which I don't buy. Teams don't all do what Houston appears to have done. With Houston we are probably talking about secret buzzers on clothing, other means of direct communication in real time with batters. Its pretty beyond the pale, not your average level of cheating.

That said, I do think Bregman, Altuve are really good. And I do think that Kershaw chokes in the playoffs - he kind of proved it this past playoffs.

[Joker]

Every team tries to figure out signs and sequencing of the other team.

I don't think anybody else is running center field cameras to the clubhouse and banging on trash cans to let the batter know what pitch is coming.

And if everyone did it, there wouldn't be fines and jobs lost.

Also! Verlander pretty quiet durning all of this. Excuse coming in 3... 2...

[Kirby101]

The Astros' WS win should be vacated. I don't see the penalties stopping another team from cheating to win.

[Joker]

I've seen that argument, and it's hard to disagree with it.

But, do Lunhow or Hinch or Cora get another job in Baseball? Are there other managers that are going to line up and face the same potential situation?

There might not be an actual asterisk next to anything, but there will be in the minds of fans. Those guys are tainted now.

[Kirby101]

It is a mark against baseball that those teams can still have WS banner in their stadium for those years.

[Joker]

Like I said, it's hard to disagree with the argument.