MLB 2023 Regular Season Thread

[achilles]

Well, for what it's worth, Shohei has now denied everything, said he was lied to and stolen from by the translator. He did not take questions in the presser.

[BeastieRunner]

Well, for what it's worth, Shohei has now denied everything, said he was lied to and stolen from by the translator. He did not take questions in the presser.

MLB won't do a damn thing about it.

He's the face and it would be a terrible look right now.

Money trumps integrity.

[achilles]

MLB won't do a damn thing about it.

He's the face and it would be a terrible look right now.

Money trumps integrity.

That's assuming he did anything. He might well be completely innocent of anything but being naive and way too uninterested in his own affairs beyond baseball and video games. Which, since his mother managed his money early in his career, might have some credibility. Also, since he was isolated by language.

[MRP]

MLB won't do a damn thing about it.

He's the face and it would be a terrible look right now.

Money trumps integrity.

MLB can't do anything to stop the federal investigation into the matter, and if that turns up anything, they will have to act.

Shohei is their biggest star, for sure, but their biggest asset to their profitability is their anti-trust exemption, which is being challenged because of the contraction of the minor leagues a few years back and the lawsuits brought by some of the abandoned franchises who are asking the court to revisit its decision. No one in MLB is going to risk making enemies in Washington while those cases are pending, not even to try to cover things up for their biggest star, if the federal investigation starts to turn up dirt. I don't think it will, but MLB isn't going to risk trying to shield Ohtani from the results of the federal investigation. They have too much at stake to risk even the possibility of someone in Washington getting pissed and championing the challenge to that exemption.

-M

[MRP]

Seeing reports that SP Jordan Montgomery has finally signed, or at least reached an agreement, with the Diamondbacks.

-M

edit to add: terms look to be 1 year $25 million, with a vesting option for a second year for the player.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Seeing reports that SP Jordan Montgomery has finally signed, or at least reached an agreement, with the Diamondbacks.

-M

edit to add: terms look to be 1 year $25 million, with a vesting option for a second year for the player.

Just like all of Scott Boras' other clients, Montgomery wound up with a pittance compared to what he probably asked for.

[MRP]

Just like all of Scott Boras' other clients, Montgomery wound up with a pittance compared to what he probably asked for.

That's what happens when an agent believes his own hype and things he can get generational talent money for merely mid-good talent coming of a couple of good years in an otherwise unspectacular career.

-M

[WestPhillyPunisher]

The perils of playing baseball along the Northeast Corridor in late March: tomorrow’s home openers for the Phillies and Mets have been postponed until Friday because of all day rain.