2023 MLB Thread

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Cubs are in a bit of a pickle. They should probably sell but they’re hot and in a weak division.

Would offload Bellinger no matter what, maybe keep Stroman at this point.

If the choice was trading one of them I’d do the absolute opposite.

[MU82]

Amazing play to seal the win tonight.

If they buy I think it’s just at the margins - they’re not going to trade away any significant talent.

I don’t think they can sell at this point, however.

Agree on all of this. That's one of the best final-out catches I can remember seeing. And how can one of MLB's richest teams be sellers now?

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Agree on all of this. That's one of the best final-out catches I can remember seeing. And how can one of MLB's richest teams be sellers now?

Logically, if they had not made this run to get into striking distance of the division and a wild card spot, selling two of the best assets on the market (Bellinger & Stroman) would have been an easy and correct decision. 

Now, selling would still probably be best for the team's future as the the odds to make the playoffs are still relatively low (depending on your source - Baseball Reference gives them much higher odds than Fangraphs).  But you just can't do that at this point.  The team is playing well and potentially playing meaningful games the last two months of the season would be good for some of the young guys on the team as well as the fans, obviously.  Not to mention it'll be good for the bottom line in terms of ticket sales, merch, concessions. 

While some of the trades this past week have yielded higher returns than I would have expected, holding onto Bellinger and Stroman and missing out on a few prospects shouldn't substantively impact the Cubs ability to compete in the coming years.  While they don't have a no-doubt superstar in the system like a De La Cruz they have a number high ceiling players (PCA, Alcantara, Horton, etc.) and a ton of good depth.  The system is in pretty good shape. 

It's a low bar for a big market franchise in a relatively mediocre division, but I'm excited that there's a possibility of watching meaningful baseball the next couple of months. 

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Winning 10 of 11 is hard and should be respected. But it sure helps when all 11 games are against 3 of the 5 or 6 worst teams in baseball and most of them were at home.

[CreightonWarrior]

Not too late yet for the brewers to be sellers

[wadesworld]

Not too late yet for the brewers to be sellers

Should’ve sold on Burnes. Return would be the highest it’ll get this trade deadline. And definitely should’ve tried to offload Yelich’s contract.

Set your window up for when your outfield is Mitchell, Churio, and Frelich.

[MU82]

Reds lit up Stroman, and Abbott didn't fare much better for Cinci. Elly did absolutely nothing, but the Reds had just enough hitting to get a huge win.

[HutchwasClutch]

Not too late yet for the brewers to be sellers

A lot of baseball left and NL Central is wide open for the taking.  Brewers have tiebreaker on the Reds too. 

But they need to stop the bleeding right now and playing the Nationals is an excellent opportunity they can’t afford to waste anymore. 

[MUfan12]

A lot of baseball left and NL Central is wide open for the taking.  Brewers have tiebreaker on the Reds too. 

But they need to stop the bleeding right now and playing the Nationals is an excellent opportunity they can’t afford to waste anymore.

0-7 now vs. Colorado, Oakland, and the Nationals.

This is a mediocre baseball team in a bad division.

[BM1090]

0-7 now vs. Colorado, Oakland, and the Nationals.

This is a mediocre baseball team in a bad division.

You're absolutely right, but outside of ATL and LAD I'm not sure anyone in the NL is a clear level ahead.

The Brewers aren't a true contender but they probably aren't bad enough to sell either.

[HutchwasClutch]

0-7 now vs. Colorado, Oakland, and the Nationals.

This is a mediocre baseball team in a bad division.

Reds just won a series at LAD. Cubs have been playing very well.  The division is ok. It’s not bad. Things happen and change a lot during a 6 month, 162 game season.  What was true two months ago, isn’t anymore.  I think mediocre is a good description of the NL Central now. 

Agree Brewers are mediocre. They’ve added three key bats, let’s see how they do now and if team hitting and OPS improves.  Just get in the postseason and weird things can and do happen. History, including recently, proves that. 

[MUfan12]

The Brewers aren't a true contender but they probably aren't bad enough to sell either.

Agree. The moves they made are largely fine in my eyes. No big swings, but this lineup wasn't gonna get fixed this season. Too many gaps. They got two guys who took them from bad to average in those spots without giving too much up.

I do think this offseason is a bit of a tipping point. Do you load up and try to win one before Burnes and Woodruff exit, or get some good pieces for those guys in the offseason to help accelerate the rebuild?

I think back to 2011 and Fielder's final year. It was the right move for the franchise at that time to play it out, but I think it did probably set them back a couple of years.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

No team is going to sell when they are tied for the final playoff spot as the Brewers are now. Furthermore, their schedule lightens up a lot moving forward, which is why FanGraphs gives them a higher chance of winning the division (54% v. 30%) than the Reds. And a 65% overall chance of making the playoffs.

Are they going to go anywhere if they make the playoffs? Likely not. But this is exactly what the Brewers are going to do every year they are in this spot.

[DegenerateDish]

I love Jake Burger, he is legitimately one of the best good guys in sports. That being said, I have no idea why Miami traded Eder for him.

[MurphysTillClose]

I love Jake Burger, he is legitimately one of the best good guys in sports. That being said, I have no idea why Miami traded Eder for him.

Good. Sell everyone except Robert.

Let's see if they can get this Cease deal done to the O's in the next hour for those top prospects and i'll actually be forced to say "good job" to Hahn's dumb@ss for the first time in my life.

[MurphysTillClose]

Good. Sell everyone except Robert.

Let's see if they can get this Cease deal done to the O's in the next hour for those top prospects and i'll actually be forced to say "good job" to Hahn's dumb@ss for the first time in my life.

Welp, nevermind: https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1686494743490953216

[Uncle Rico]

Jack Flaherty is finally free

[Uncle Rico]

Put Luis Urias down as one of the most disappointing and frustrating Brewers players of my lifetime

[GB Warrior]

Rough day for Cardinals fans in the halls of justice

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Cubs have scored 36 runs against Cincy the past two games.

[MUBurrow]

I love Jake Burger, he is legitimately one of the best good guys in sports. That being said, I have no idea why Miami traded Eder for him.

This was the best sell-side trade at the deadline.  Its cool to hear Burger is a great dude - but he has the look of one of those guys who will hit 40 HRs out of nowhere and then get non-tendered a year later. Eder could very conceivably be a #2 or 3 starter in two years.

[Lennys Tap]

This was the best sell-side trade at the deadline.  Its cool to hear Burger is a great dude - but he has the look of one of those guys who will hit 40 HRs out of nowhere and then get non-tendered a year later. Eder could very conceivably be a #2 or 3 starter in two years.

The White Sox lead the league in slow, positionless players - they would be a great 12” slow pitch softball team. That they could get a pitcher with Eder’s potential for one of them was remarkable.

[HouWarrior]

(Except for AAA Oakland A's), the entire AL Central Division leads for worst league won lost record, ie all 5 of the last six spots. Worst division in MLB. Sorry, Twins stuck with Correa.

I have posted nothing on the Astros this season, including as they did little in the offseason, and gave few signs of pushing to repeat in 2023.

1B Abreu has posted Yuli Gurriel's 2022 numbers, so no upgrade at 1st. The 2023 season already ended for SP Garcia (TJ surgery) and SP Lance McCullers (probably career over); SP Urquidy has been out for months, and 2B Altuve and LF/DH Alvarez have missed huge swaths of time. The Astros appeared to be playing out the string, esp. as the 2023 Rangers are doing their once every decade "all in" by huge spending/deals recently. Cory Seager has been great. Team most likely to win in a blowout.

Yet, here we are, August is upon us. The Rangers and Astros are still battling for first (1/2 game). Then Astros reacquire two of their former acquisitions who then left us for FA$$, ...RP Kendall Graveman (orig. trd from Seattle) and SP Justin Verlander (orig. trd. from Detroit) Wow.  The Rangers certainly matched with SP Sherzer and SP Montgomery (also C Price). Here, Altuve Alvarez and Urquidy finally are all set to return from injury. It should be a great match down to the playoffs. The rest of my AL season will be Astros/Rangers. Rangers are really formidable, but Astros will be in there, going for 7 straight ALCS.

In a much closer than prior seasons, and with more rooting interest, than confidence, I like the Astros, then Rangers. Lacking playoff exp., Orioles are the sleeper or still a year or so out, and I just can't see the Rays construction getting them
 big playoff success. Yanks and Jays spend a lot, but always seem to have unfilled holes. Sorry, Twins stuck with Correa.

[PGsHeroes32]

Yeah, kinda just enjoying the absurdity of the AL Central at this time

The 2nd place team was sellers nd the first place team is basically committing malpractice not adding guys when the current roster is overworked(pitching wise) and injured. Its good stuff.

All that needs to be known about the Twins is Vazquez still catches more than 50% of the games.

Jeffers has a OPS of .829, OPS+ of 130. Is the best in baseball at blocking balls. And pitchers like Ryan and Lopez have obnoxious splits when pitching to him(great) and Vazquez(awful). You could argue right now only like a handful of catchers in baseball deserve to be a starter over Jeffers.

Vazquez OPS is below 600 haha

Oh yeah, then the Tigers had one guy with some value and he literally refused to be traded. Cant make it up.

[Uncle Rico]

https://twitter.com/sbnation/status/1687152206754074624?s=46&t=QSiaGcOIKZrrpw0ciZkI5Q