MLB 2023 Regular Season Thread

[WestPhillyPunisher]

MLB great Daryl Strawberry suffered a heat attack, but is doing well now, he said.

Sorry to hear about that. I hope he makes a full recovery.

[achilles]

Sorry to hear about that. I hope he makes a full recovery.

According to the Mets, he's "resting comfortably".

[achilles]

Must be nice to be Shohei. Or Joe Kelly, for that matter. Kelly had Shohei's number, and of course offered it up to Shohei. Shohei in turn had a Porsche delivered to Kelly's house for his wife. Wish I could afford presents like that.

[achilles]

The Dodgers have renamed their minor league (AAA I think), the er....er.....well, it.....ah, just read the article, it's fun.

https://ktla.com/sports/dodgers-mino...-to-nsfw-name/

In their defense, I imagine no one on the team speaks Spanish....

[WestPhillyPunisher]

The Dodgers have renamed their minor league (AAA I think), the er....er.....well, it.....ah, just read the article, it's fun.

https://ktla.com/sports/dodgers-mino...-to-nsfw-name/

In their defense, I imagine no one on the team speaks Spanish....

To quote George Takei....oh, myyyyyy! HA! That's funny!

[useridgoeshere]

Reminds me of when Buick had to rename the LaCrosse as the Allure in Canada because of Quebec slang.

[MRP]

Blake Snell finally signs; 2 year $62 million deal with Giants, with an opt out after the first season.

-M

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Blake Snell finally signs; 2 year $62 million deal with Giants, with an opt out after the first season.

-M

Probably a fraction of what Scott Boras wanted for his client.

[MRP]

Probably a fraction of what Scott Boras wanted for his client.

$30 million for one year isn't bad, but he will have to have another great year if he opts out because as good as his season was, he averaged less than 6 innings per start, and you need innings, not just stats from an ace. Add in the uncertainty because of the local TV contract fiasco and team not named the Dodgers weren't spending this offseason, so you take the short term high AAV contract with an opt out but safety cushion of another $30 million year if you have a bad season or get hurt.

Neither Snell not Montgomery were really aces, Snell didn't go long enough in his starts and while Montgomery is an innings eater he has been up and down throughout his career, so neither was going to get true Ace money and Boras was being unrealistic in his expectations and advice to his clients, which hurt both of their signability in this offseason. Boras can "want" all he wants but sometimes his inability to "read the room" hurts his clients more than it helps them.

-M

[WestPhillyPunisher]

$30 million for one year isn't bad, but he will have to have another great year if he opts out because as good as his season was, he averaged less than 6 innings per start, and you need innings, not just stats from an ace. Add in the uncertainty because of the local TV contract fiasco and team not named the Dodgers weren't spending this offseason, so you take the short term high AAV contract with an opt out but safety cushion of another $30 million year if you have a bad season or get hurt.

Neither Snell not Montgomery were really aces, Snell didn't go long enough in his starts and while Montgomery is an innings eater he has been up and down throughout his career, so neither was going to get true Ace money and Boras was being unrealistic in his expectations and advice to his clients, which hurt both of their signability in this offseason. Boras can "want" all he wants but sometimes his inability to "read the room" hurts his clients more than it helps them.

-M

Phillies fans clamored for the team to sign Snell, but I wasn't one of them. Like you said, he never averaged six innings per start, meaning he would've killed our bullpen over the course of a season. On top of that, Snell played in Petco Park which is more pitcher friendly, unlike Citizen's Bank Park which is a launching pad. Bottom line, Snell just wouldn't have worked out here. Meanwhile, I read somewhere that the Red Sox were said to have shown interest in Montgomery to fill a hole in their rotation after Lucas Giolito underwent elbow surgery and was lost for all of 2024.

[MRP]

Phillies fans clamored for the team to sign Snell, but I wasn't one of them. Like you said, he never averaged six innings per start, meaning he would've killed our bullpen over the course of a season. On top of that, Snell played in Petco Park which is more pitcher friendly, unlike Citizen's Bank Park which is a launching pad. Bottom line, Snell just wouldn't have worked out here. Meanwhile, I read somewhere that the Red Sox were said to have shown interest in Montgomery to fill a hole in their rotation after Lucas Giolito underwent elbow surgery and was lost for all of 2024.

I follow the Sox, and the beat reporters have said the Sox have kept in touch with Montgomery and had a couple of conversations both before and after Giolito's injury, but never to the level of actual negotiations. We'll see what the last week or so of Spring Training brings, but I don't think he's going to the Sox.

-M

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I follow the Sox, and the beat reporters have said the Sox have kept in touch with Montgomery and had a couple of conversations both before and after Giolito's injury, but never to the level of actual negotiations. We'll see what the last week or so of Spring Training brings, but I don't think he's going to the Sox.

-M

Regardless of where Montgomery ends up, I think it's safe to say Scott Boras has had a horribad offseason for his clients:

Cody Bellinger: asked for $200 million, got $80 million
Matt Chapman: asked for $150 million, got $54 million
Blake Snell: asked for $270 million, got $62 million

Sure, those deals had opt out clauses, but, what makes Boras, or his clients think things will change a year or two later as teams opt for signing homegrown talent or low end free agents for cheaper amounts. Could that be seen as collusion by the owners? I'm not so sure, maybe they no longer want to play Boras' game, or, at the very least, they don't want to play on his terms.

[MRP]

Regardless of where Montgomery ends up, I think it's safe to say Scott Boras has had a horribad offseason for his clients:

Cody Bellinger: asked for $200 million, got $80 million
Matt Chapman: asked for $150 million, got $54 million
Blake Snell: asked for $270 million, got $62 million

Sure, those deals had opt out clauses, but, what makes Boras, or his clients think things will change a year or two later as teams opt for signing homegrown talent or low end free agents for cheaper amounts. Could that be seen as collusion by the owners? I'm not so sure, maybe they no longer want to play Boras' game, or, at the very least, they don't want to play on his terms.

Next offseason, a lot of teams won't be wondering if their revenue stream for local TV will disappear in a few months because the the Bally's fiasco. Many franchises whose deals were through Bally's were on the precipice of losing hundreds of millions in revenue this offseason, which would make them gunshy about committing vast sums of money longterm. It got resolved somewhat, but not before it put a damper on free agent spending for many midmarket teams, and with 2 of the big market teams laying low (Boston and the Yankees), only the Dodgers were spending big and only the absolute top tier players were getting anything near what they were asking.

The series of high profile pitching free agents going down (like DeGrom last year when the Rangers won without him anyways) has made some teams more risk averse on spending big on pitching, especially long term deals. Shorter higher AAV for starters sure, but not long term. Next year will be different for a lot of reasons, but agents/players are also going to have to adjust expectations a bit as well.

Overall teams spent about a billion less than they did last offseason (I think it was $3.9 last offseason and $2.9 billion this offseason, of which the Dodgers along spent $1.2 billion), there are a lot of reasons, but the Bally's factor was a huge part of it. That's not there next offseason, but teams may still be gunshy committing huge longterm contracts to starters and to any but the best (and youngest) of generational talents on the market. We'll see. Next season could also see a big drop in spending, especially if the Dodgers aren't players next offseason.

-M

[achilles]

The Dodgers are undefeated in the 2024 regular season! And Jake Cronenworth needs a new glove! And some Dodger's fans are willing to stay up to 3:00 AM just for the start time!

Dodgers took a while to get some traction against the Friars, but then won 5-2. Lux, Betts, and Shohei got key hits/RBI. Shohei got a bit ahead of himself on base and got thrown out.

Happy first day of Spring!

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Next offseason, a lot of teams won't be wondering if their revenue stream for local TV will disappear in a few months because the the Bally's fiasco. Many franchises whose deals were through Bally's were on the precipice of losing hundreds of millions in revenue this offseason, which would make them gunshy about committing vast sums of money longterm. It got resolved somewhat, but not before it put a damper on free agent spending for many midmarket teams, and with 2 of the big market teams laying low (Boston and the Yankees), only the Dodgers were spending big and only the absolute top tier players were getting anything near what they were asking.

The series of high profile pitching free agents going down (like DeGrom last year when the Rangers won without him anyways) has made some teams more risk averse on spending big on pitching, especially long term deals. Shorter higher AAV for starters sure, but not long term. Next year will be different for a lot of reasons, but agents/players are also going to have to adjust expectations a bit as well.

Overall teams spent about a billion less than they did last offseason (I think it was $3.9 last offseason and $2.9 billion this offseason, of which the Dodgers along spent $1.2 billion), there are a lot of reasons, but the Bally's factor was a huge part of it. That's not there next offseason, but teams may still be gunshy committing huge longterm contracts to starters and to any but the best (and youngest) of generational talents on the market. We'll see. Next season could also see a big drop in spending, especially if the Dodgers aren't players next offseason.

-M

In my opinion, the Dodgers' drunken sailor spending spree this winter was the end result of embarrassment over early round playoff flameouts to lesser teams the last two years (San Diego in 2022, Arizona last season). So they decided to act like the Yankees from a generation ago, snatch up any superstars that strike their fancy and try to buy their way to a World Series title. Whether or not that strategy will work while Dave Roberts is still the manager is anybody's guess, heaven only knows what L.A. will do if they come up short yet against this season.