Houston, We Have Rule Changes! The Official 2023 MLB Season Thread

[Remote]

Baltimore would really just like to have Ohtani’s arm.

Arizona needs both his arm and bat. With him and Gallen, that’s as good a 1+2 as there is in baseball. But that offense needs help.

And Arizona needs another bullpen arm.

 

[Mike_Pipeson]

Rangers continue to get beat by a Skeleton crew Astros

 

[Regular_P]

Baltimore would really just like to have Ohtani’s arm.

Arizona needs both his arm and bat. With him and Gallen, that’s as good a 1+2 as there is in baseball. But that offense needs help.

And Arizona needs another bullpen arm.

Arizona would be foolish to trade for Ohtani. They aren't even a lock to make the postseason and they need a lot more than Ohtani to win it all.

Baltimore is interesting but I think they'd still need at least another starter.

Texas is getting a career year out of Eovaldi and they'd be upgrading maybe the worst DH platoon in baseball from Robbie Grossman and Brad Miller to Ohtani. They could put out Semian, Ohtani, Garcia, Seager and Jung as their first five bats.

Tampa still makes the most sense to me. They never have enough juice in their lineup to win in the postseason. Ohtani would give them that, plus a third monster arm in the starting rotation. The Rays are always pumping out prospects but they'll never sign a guy like Ohtani. A rental to go all-in for once with a team that's ready but missing one more piece. If they don't make a move for him (assuming Anaheim will trade Ohtani), I'll be incredibly disappointed in them. It would show that they are not a serious organization. Even the A's have pushed their chips in when they've been close, it just never worked out for them but you have to try.

 

[Regular_P]

 

[Remote]

It's interesting what happened to Javier Baez. I remember when he was in the minors, people debated who would be the SS of the future: Baez or Lindor?
Lindor has held his value better over the years, though even he is proving that the contract the Mets gave him was a disaster.

In any case, in Baez's first 4 full seasons as a Cub (not including 2014 and 2015), Baez hit .280/.319/.504. An OBP that low would raise concerns, but given that he showed power and a solid batting average, you lived with it.

In 2020, Baez hit an atrocious .203/.238/.360 in 59 games. Maybe you could attribute that to a small sample size. Maybe it was Covid-19. Who knows. But you could be forgiven for letting that slide.

In the 1st half of 2021, prior to being traded to the Mets, Baez hit .248/.292/.484. Still concerning now that the average has dropped. But still considerable power numbers. Maybe the Cubs didn't like the way things were trending though and were smart to cut him loose early.

With the Mets, Baez looked like an all-star. In 47 games, he raked to .299/.371/.515.

Maybe the Tigers should have been skeptical. Guy was trending downward and just before free agency has a white-hot 2nd half? Well, the Tigers took a chance. And it blew up in their faces in ways that even they did not expect. It's one thing for Baez to NOT OPS .886 in Detroit. It's another thing to be the single worst starting shortstop in baseball.

Since signing with Detroit, Baez is hitting .233/.271/.371 with just 24 home runs and 233 strikeouts in 239 games. His barrel percentage is one third of what it was in 2021. The Tigers signed him for $140,000,000. Absolutely no one is going to take on that contract. Detroit might actually have to cut him and eat that money.

 

[Remote]

Zach Eflin last 10 starts:

4-4 W/L
58.1 innings
47 hits allowed
61 strikeouts
3.55 ERA

Allowing a .217/.250/.332 slash line to opposing hitters.

 

[Da_Eggman]

Came across this thought it was really interesting dude was drafted 5 times and never signed

 

[Remote]

Came across this thought it was really interesting dude was drafted 5 times and never signed

Yeah this was a famous story in the early 2000s.

Sucks what happened to Harrington. If you're a top pick, you almost always have to take the money. Especially in a sport like baseball where so few top prospects ever pan out.

 

[tremonthustler1]

Arizona would be foolish to trade for Ohtani. They aren't even a lock to make the postseason and they need a lot more than Ohtani to win it all.

Baltimore is interesting but I think they'd still need at least another starter.

Texas is getting a career year out of Eovaldi and they'd be upgrading maybe the worst DH platoon in baseball from Robbie Grossman and Brad Miller to Ohtani. They could put out Semian, Ohtani, Garcia, Seager and Jung as their first five bats.

Tampa still makes the most sense to me. They never have enough juice in their lineup to win in the postseason. Ohtani would give them that, plus a third monster arm in the starting rotation. The Rays are always pumping out prospects but they'll never sign a guy like Ohtani. A rental to go all-in for once with a team that's ready but missing one more piece. If they don't make a move for him (assuming Anaheim will trade Ohtani), I'll be incredibly disappointed in them. It would show that they are not a serious organization. Even the A's have pushed their chips in when they've been close, it just never worked out for them but you have to try.

Tampa ain't using all those prospects. Might as well go for it.

Maybe winning a title puts pressure on the county and state to make a new stadium Mariners-style.

 

[K-Apps]

 

[Remote]

I'm not sure I understand this move.

Hernandez was a valuable bat in certain situations a few years ago but not anymore.
Even defensively I'm not sure he offers the Dodgers much.

This only helps the Red Sox get rid of dead weight.

 

[Regular_P]

It's interesting what happened to Javier Baez. I remember when he was in the minors, people debated who would be the SS of the future: Baez or Lindor?
Lindor has held his value better over the years, though even he is proving that the contract the Mets gave him was a disaster.

In any case, in Baez's first 4 full seasons as a Cub (not including 2014 and 2015), Baez hit .280/.319/.504. An OBP that low would raise concerns, but given that he showed power and a solid batting average, you lived with it.

In 2020, Baez hit an atrocious .203/.238/.360 in 59 games. Maybe you could attribute that to a small sample size. Maybe it was Covid-19. Who knows. But you could be forgiven for letting that slide.

In the 1st half of 2021, prior to being traded to the Mets, Baez hit .248/.292/.484. Still concerning now that the average has dropped. But still considerable power numbers. Maybe the Cubs didn't like the way things were trending though and were smart to cut him loose early.

With the Mets, Baez looked like an all-star. In 47 games, he raked to .299/.371/.515.

Maybe the Tigers should have been skeptical. Guy was trending downward and just before free agency has a white-hot 2nd half? Well, the Tigers took a chance. And it blew up in their faces in ways that even they did not expect. It's one thing for Baez to NOT OPS .886 in Detroit. It's another thing to be the single worst starting shortstop in baseball.

Since signing with Detroit, Baez is hitting .233/.271/.371 with just 24 home runs and 233 strikeouts in 239 games. His barrel percentage is one third of what it was in 2021. The Tigers signed him for $140,000,000. Absolutely no one is going to take on that contract. Detroit might actually have to cut him and eat that money.

It would be better if he was away from the team but I think you can't cut him on principle. If he left for free (while getting his entire contract) and returned to form somewhere else, that would be unacceptable. That isn't fair and cannot happen.

He should be forced to rot in the minors until his deal is up or agrees to a favorable buyout.

I don't believe he is washed; he simply is not trying anymore. Similar to what Westbrook was doing on the Lakers.

 

[Remote]

Sure enough I talk about how much Javier Baez sucks and he starts today 1 for 2 with an RBI

 

[NYChase718]

Pete Alonso - 5
Yankees -0

 

[Regular_P]

Sure enough I talk about how much Javier Baez sucks and he starts today 1 for 2 with an RBI

Fluke single.