MLB Hot Stove 2019-20

[Dr. Blackheart]

Et tu, Orbit?

"Houston, we have a problem..."

[Billy Hoyle]

FWIW ... Beltran's family says that the person claiming to be his niece is not related to the family in any way.
Which isn't to say what's being tweeted isn't true ... just that it's a fake profile.

A rumor I read is that it wasn't a family member but rather a current MLB player. The account is gone now.

I asked a coworker who played in the minors for a few years0 what was worse, steroids (he played with the Giambi brothers) or the sign stealing. No doubt, the sign stealing. With roids (he did not take them, which may have caused him not to make the Show) you still have to hit the ball or throw it past the hitter (and it's probable that both the hitter and pitcher were on roids).  With sign-stealing you know what pitch is coming and only one side is getting the advantage.

[4everwarriors]

Do Stearns and Craig now get chit canned too, hey?

[Dr. Blackheart]

Do Stearns and Craig now get chit canned too, hey?

Nothing to see there, hey?

https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/c0cb0r/yelichs_home_vs_away_stats_are_insane_which/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

[Dish]

I saw on Twitter a Boras quote that Altuve not wanting his jersey ripped off is because he's shy. That's hilarious.

[wadesworld]

Nothing to see there, hey?

https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/c0cb0r/yelichs_home_vs_away_stats_are_insane_which/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

Must've started stealing signs on the road after 60 games, ai'na? Over 1.000 OPS on the road over the course of the entire season is decent I think.

[GB Warrior]

Jomboy also says he has 5 independent sources who have mentioned the buzzers.

Altuve should lose his MVP award if true.

This happens to me all the time when I don't iron my jersey

[lawdog77]

[withoutbias]

Mike Trout on HGH?

[MUBurrow]

I saw on Twitter a Boras quote that Altuve not wanting his jersey ripped off is because he's shy. That's hilarious.

Its a hell of a world where the occam's razor explanation is that a major league baseball team systematically cheated including enabling its players to use buzzing devices hidden under their jerseys as part of a sign stealing scheme that included at least three different parties positioned strategically around the stadium. But I think thats where we are.

[JWags85]

Mike Trout on HGH?

FWIW, thats been floating around for awhile.  I heard it from a former coworker of mine whose brother is an 8 year MLB vet

[Jockey]

We finally fully know what "the Cardinal Way" means. It is just a synonym for cheating.

1993 AL Cy Young winner Jack McDowell alleged in a radio appearance Friday morning that the White Sox had an illegal sign-stealing operation at old Comiskey Park in the late 1980s, and that Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa was the instigator of the scheme.

Speaking to WFNZ-AM in Charlotte, where he serves as baseball coach for Queens University, McDowell said the White Sox had a camera zoomed in on opposing catchers and a light in an outfield Gatorade sign that could be controlled from the manager's office and would presumably let hitters know which pitches were coming.


Larussa was one of the great cheaters in baseball history - all the while preaching and lecturing other teams on how to play the game properly. I have no doubt that Larussa would actually pull down McGwire's pants to make it easier to inject himself with steroids.

The HoF needs to either remove Larussa or put an explanation on his plaque that he is only in Cooperstown because he cheated better than anyone else.

The Cardinal Way. Finally fully exposed.

[Pakuni]

We finally fully know what "the Cardinal Way" means. It is just a synonym for cheating.

1993 AL Cy Young winner Jack McDowell alleged in a radio appearance Friday morning that the White Sox had an illegal sign-stealing operation at old Comiskey Park in the late 1980s, and that Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa was the instigator of the scheme.

Speaking to WFNZ-AM in Charlotte, where he serves as baseball coach for Queens University, McDowell said the White Sox had a camera zoomed in on opposing catchers and a light in an outfield Gatorade sign that could be controlled from the manager's office and would presumably let hitters know which pitches were coming.


Larussa was one of the great cheaters in baseball history - all the while preaching and lecturing other teams on how to play the game properly. I have no doubt that Larussa would actually pull down McGwire's pants to make it easier to inject himself with steroids.

The HoF needs to either remove Larussa or put an explanation on his plaque that he is only in Cooperstown because he cheated better than anyone else.

The Cardinal Way. Finally fully exposed.

Don't know whether McDowell is right or wrong, but it's worth noting that he never played for Tony LaRussa. He was fired a year before McDowell was even drafted by the White Sox.

[WI inferiority Complexes]

Yeah.  I hate LaRussa, and really like Black Jack McDowell, (the pitcher, not necessarily the guitarist).  However, the timeline doesn't really match up.

[JWags85]

Yeah.  I hate LaRussa, and really like Black Jack McDowell, (the pitcher, not necessarily the guitarist).  However, the timeline doesn't really match up.

Why not?  He didn't say "La Russa taught me this".  He said that the Sox in the 80s had a sign stealing gambit that was started/created/instigated by La Russa.  So they were either still using it for a season or two after La Russa left, or players on the team told him about it.  Thats entirely plausible and not even remotely incongruous.  Even moreso that he didn't play for La Russa and would have no need to protect him and/or a bone to pick with him.

[Pakuni]

Why not?  He didn't say "La Russa taught me this".  He said that the Sox in the 80s had a sign stealing gambit that was started/created/instigated by La Russa.  So they were either still using it for a season or two after La Russa left, or players on the team told him about it.  Thats entirely plausible and not even remotely incongruous.  Even moreso that he didn't play for La Russa and would have no need to protect him and/or a bone to pick with him.

As I said, McDowell could be right, but ultimately he'd have zero firsthand knowledge of this.
Jockey's suggestion that LaRussa be banned from the HOF because of hearsay remarks about sign-stealing scheme more than 30 years ago, coming from a player he never managed, seems a bit of a stretch.

I'm not a fan of LaRussa, but neither am I fan of ruining a person's reputation and/or punishing him/her based on secondhand (at best) remarks.

[WI inferiority Complexes]

I wonder how much the implementation of replay reviews in baseball led to team's cheating.  Cora probably saw that stupid "replay room" they get to go in to decide if they should challenge and thought, "I can use this to my advantage."  It was probably bound to happen eventually.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Honestly, this is all the MLBs fault.

It's all fun and games until too many people get caught and then it's damage control.

Same crap happened in the steroids era. MLB turned a blind eye towards it while it was convenient for them Sosa vs. McGuire, Clemens throwing gas, etc. but as soon as the stories came out it's the players fault and they're the ones punished with unofficial bans to the hall of fame and lengthy suspensions.

[wadesworld]

I wonder how much the implementation of replay reviews in baseball led to team's cheating.  Cora probably saw that stupid "replay room" they get to go in to decide if they should challenge and thought, "I can use this to my advantage."  It was probably bound to happen eventually.

It wasn't coming from the team's replay room.  They literally set up a monitor on a table just down the tunnel from the dugout where they watched a camera they had installed in center field and banged on a trash can from there.

https://twitter.com/YankeeReport_/status/1196192912998117376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1196192912998117376&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.espn.com%2F

[JWags85]

I imagine this is a sentiment shared by a lot of guys around the league...

https://twitter.com/Jomboy_/status/1218306735624028162

[tower912]

Verlander is one of my favorite players ever, but he is going to get some tricky questions this year asking him to reconcile his public statements about different kinds of cheating and what went on with Astro's.

[Billy Hoyle]

I imagine this is a sentiment shared by a lot of guys around the league...

https://twitter.com/Jomboy_/status/1218306735624028162

every Astros player is going to be thrown at this season and nobody is going to blame the pitchers for doing it.

[Cheeks]

Mike Trout on HGH?

LOL

Brossius backtracked that so fast today....I'm hoping a major lawsuit is about to hit him in the ass.

[jesmu84]

At least with steroids, pitcher and batter could partake. Probably more fair across the board

[The Sultan]

LOL

Brossius backtracked that so fast today....I'm hoping a major lawsuit is about to hit him in the ass.

He backtracked and likely didn't do much harm.  No grounds for a suit.