MLB 2019 thread

[Cheeks]

Nice salute by Cardinals fans to Pujols today.  Classy.  Very cool.  Well done St. Louis.


https://twitter.com/Starting9/status/1142230266964037633

[Lennys Tap]

Nice salute by Cardinals fans to Pujols today.  Classy.  Very cool.  Well done St. Louis.


https://twitter.com/Starting9/status/1142230266964037633

Glad to see it. Great guy, at one time a great player. Hard to watch the last few years. Negative 1.2 WAR the last 3 years (among the worst regulars in MLB - and he still has 2 years left on his contract!).

Maybe the St Louis fans were cheering the brain dead Angel's front office.

[Cheeks]

If I recall, Cardinals were willing to do a 7 year deal and he wanted 10.  The injuries have killed him for sure.  Thank God he is an outstanding person with his foundation, etc, as that has bought him a lot of equity locally.  Decision was 100% on our owner, the GM at the time did not want to do that length.  Our owner also did the deal for Josh Hamilton.  Painful. 

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

So how’s the new Brewers’ pitching coach working out?

[Cheeks]

Pujols just went yard....Cardinals fans giving him a curtain call.  Can’t recall that happening at a visiting park.  Pretty cool.

[CreightonWarrior]

The pitching depth the brewers thought they have is looking pretty shallow.

[Jockey]

So how’s the new Brewers’ pitching coach working out?

Does the coach even matter with a rotation like that?

[forgetful]

Pujols just went yard....Cardinals fans giving him a curtain call.  Can’t recall that happening at a visiting park.  Pretty cool.

This reminds me how much I wish they would remove people like Bonds, Arod, and others from the all time HR list.

Takes away from players like Pujols and Griffey Jr, from the same eras, that didn't cheat.

[Lennys Tap]

This reminds me how much I wish they would remove people like Bonds, Arod, and others from the all time HR list.

Takes away from players like Pujols and Griffey Jr, from the same eras, that didn't cheat.

What makes you so sure about Pujols? When Jack Clark was hitting coach for the Dodgers he claims Albert's personal trainer admitted to shooting him up.

[Cheeks]

What makes you so sure about Pujols? When Jack Clark was hitting coach for the Dodgers he claims Albert's personal trainer admitted to shooting him up.

Uhm, you may want to update that

Pujols immediately disputed and filed a defamation lawsuit.  Saying he would gladly be the player that stands up to those smears.  Clark eventually apologized after being fired for his remarks.

https://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/cardinal-beat/jack-clark-apologizes-pujols-will-drop-lawsuit/article_2ee9e673-15d4-58da-bf4e-e16c1fc3da75.html

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

But I think Lenny's point is a good one.  Removing people from the record books is a way to white-wash history and a slippery slope. Especially since with no testing plan in place, we don't have a solid idea who was using what throughout the history of the game.  It's a bid to baseball's romantic past, which is dead and buried.

[Cheeks]

But I think Lenny's point is a good one.  Removing people from the record books is a way to white-wash history and a slippery slope. Especially since with no testing plan in place, we don't have a solid idea who was using what throughout the history of the game.  It's a bid to baseball's romantic past, which is dead and buried.

That part I agree with, which is why the * is needed, but I think he was off base on Clark’s comments since he fully retracted them. 

[Lennys Tap]

Uhm, you may want to update that

Pujols immediately disputed and filed a defamation lawsuit.  Saying he would gladly be the player that stands up to those smears.  Clark eventually apologized after being fired for his remarks.

https://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/cardinal-beat/jack-clark-apologizes-pujols-will-drop-lawsuit/article_2ee9e673-15d4-58da-bf4e-e16c1fc3da75.html

Thanks for pointing this out - I was unaware (or had forgotten - old age is a curse) re Clark's retraction. That said, there was always a lot of speculation about Albert.

[Cheeks]

Thanks for pointing this out - I was unaware (or had forgotten - old age is a curse) re Clark's retraction. That said, there was always a lot of speculation about Albert.

By some, but usually by Cubs fans or those that he crushed.  Point is, he was on a slide even at the end of the Cardinals while guys that did use rebounded with crazy peaks when they shouldn’t have. 

Pujols decline from an age curve is consistent with the decline of many other players.  Injuries to his legs have killed him, and who knows what his real age is (an issue with many Dominican players).

[cheebs09]

Isn’t there some speculation he is older than what he says? It would match his career trajectory too.

[Cheeks]

Isn’t there some speculation he is older than what he says? It would match his career trajectory too.

Yup...2 years older.  One of the blogs I follow did a fan graphs comparison of his slide to other elite players by age if he was, in fact, 2 years older.  The comparisons were very striking.  Add the injuries he has had and it takes a toll.

[SaveOD238]

MLB has a chance to align things up properly for once, between moving the Rays and then adding two teams.

My thought has always been to get rid of the leagues, go full DH, go to a 148 game schedule, and line up this way. 8 division winners go to the playoffs. I'd have the other 24 teams play a single elimination tournament to determine draft order to curtail tanking.

My divisions are to cut down on as much travel as possible. You'd play each team in your division 12 times (6 home/6 away), and you'd play every other team in the league 2 home/2 road, so there'd be a balanced schedule.

Seattle
Portland  (Expansion)
San Fran
Oakland

LAD
LAA
SD
AZ

Col
Tex
Hou
KC   (Royals are tough to slot, ideally they'd be with St. Louis, but not happening)

Mil
CHC
CWS
St.L

Tor
Montreal (Rays move)
Minny
Det

NYY
NYM
Bos
Phi

Pit
Cincy
Clev
Nashville (Expansion)

Atl
Miami
Balt
Wash

Baseball is a regional sport now anyway, they should embrace it.

I doubt they would put same market teams in the same divisions.  But it's not too hard to fix.

Swap Angels and Giants (that also keeps the LAD-SF rivalry intact.

Swap White Sox and Twins (it has to be the Sox, because they would never separate St Lou and ChC)

Swap Mets and either Orioles or Nationals.  This kills two birds (New York and DC metro) with one stone.

It gets a little trickier if they want to split the Canadian teams too.

[#UnleashSean]

I doubt they would put same market teams in the same divisions.  But it's not too hard to fix.

Swap Angels and Giants (that also keeps the LAD-SF rivalry intact.

Swap White Sox and Twins (it has to be the Sox, because they would never separate St Lou and ChC)

Swap Mets and either Orioles or Nationals.  This kills two birds (New York and DC metro) with one stone.

It gets a little trickier if they want to split the Canadian teams too.

Dish already separated the reds and pirates, from st L and chc as well as keeping the dh. Might as well go the full way and seperatr them.

[DegenerateDish]

I know my division idea was hypothetical, but Reinsdorf is arguably at the top of most influential/powerful MLB owners, and there would be zero chance he’d wind up in a division with Detroit/Montreal/Toronto.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Montreal X-Rays

Les Grande Oranges

[#UnleashSean]

I know my division idea was hypothetical, but Reinsdorf is arguably at the top of most influential/powerful MLB owners, and there would be zero chance he’d wind up in a division with Detroit/Montreal/Toronto.

Better ship the brewers, then they can whine even more about being a "small market"

[MU82]

Mets manager and player go ballistic in verbally abusing a newspaper beat writer, with the player physically threatening him.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/27039859/mets-skipper-curses-pitcher-charges-reporter

Totally classless by these losers.

Thankfully, team officials apologized profusely, as they should have. The player who made the threats should be suspended.

[dgies9156]

If I recall, Cardinals were willing to do a 7 year deal and he wanted 10.  The injuries have killed him for sure.  Thank God he is an outstanding person with his foundation, etc, as that has bought him a lot of equity locally.  Decision was 100% on our owner, the GM at the time did not want to do that length.  Our owner also did the deal for Josh Hamilton.  Painful.

As a Cardinal fan, my only thought is, "who knows." Had he stayed within the Cardinal system and not had to learn a whole new league full of pitchers, maybe his production would have remained strong for several more years.

The Cardinals were about $50 million less than the Anaheim Angels. When it became apparent the Cardinals were not going to match Moneybags Moreno, Mr. Pujols' wife felt Mr. Pujols was disrespected. That comment set a lot of Cardinal fans off.

Sad thing is that Pujols is a nobody in Anaheim, or neighboring Los Angeles. Had he stayed in St. Louis, he would have sat beside Stan Musial as the greatest Cardinal ever. Being as that St. Louis is a baseball town, he would be revered for all time. Like Ozzie, Brock, Gibson, Musial, Slaughter, Dean, Hornsby, Schoendiest.

Albert, thanks for the memories!

[cheebs09]

I’ll always remember Albert as the guy who called others out for watching home runs despite being one of the worst offenders. One of the few with the unwritten rule book in his possession.

[4everwarriors]

Les Grande Oranges

Rusty Staub is ded, hey?