2022 MLB Thread

[MU82]

Nats won their one WS. Now they're starting over from ground zero. Will be interesting to see what it does to attendance and overall interest level. The fan base there strikes me as very fair weather (and I'm not necessarily saying that's wrong).

[JWags85]

Nats won their one WS. Now they're starting over from ground zero. Will be interesting to see what it does to attendance and overall interest level. The fan base there strikes me as very fair weather (and I'm not necessarily saying that's wrong).

Their attendance has always been pretty crappy.  I think its a weird fanbase cause its a combo of the transient nature of DC as well as the fact that for people older than 30, they didn't really grow up with the Nats, so they were all Orioles or random team fans.   My BIL is a huge Nats fan, but he was 11 when they moved to DC, so he was in the sweet spot of getting into them.  His older cousins are in their late 30s and either couldn't care less about baseball (despite being huge Redskins WFT Commanders and Caps fans) or root for someone else.

[Billy Hoyle]

Exactly. And I really hate it when they call something a "record" that isn't a record at all.

Being the youngest player with 140 HR, 90 doubles and 35 sacrifice flies isn't a "record," it's a mishmash of stats.

Everything is a "record" and everyone is a GOAT.

[MUBurrow]

Love it when umps decide the game. Very cool and much better than players deciding the game.

[rocket surgeon]

OK, Juan Soto just turned down a $440 million 15 year contract.  That is $29 million a year for 15 years and he is 23 years old.

This is third offer Nats have made in last month or so because the Lerner family is going to sell the team and wanted potential buyers to have Soto as face of the franchise for years to come.

Now the Nats have come out and said Soto is here for the taking.  Oh my..... He is free agent after next season. 

Nats are a sinking ship and the hole is getting bigger.  They won the World Series a few years ago, but did not sign or traded all the stars.

Harper - did not get him signed as free agent, but won WS without him
Rendon - did not get to sign as free agent
Scherzer - did not get to sign as free agent
Trea Turner - traded
Schwarber - one year star, traded.
Strasburg - signed a $245 million contract and has pitched like 10 innings in past three years since signing
Michael Taylor - traded

So lets see who has the stock to trade for Soto, could be huge.

  soto, harper, rendon, scherzer, strasburg all scott boras guys

[The Sultan]

Love it when umps decide the game. Very cool and much better than players deciding the game.

It was a balk. Too many baseball commentators don't want umps to actually use the rule book in the late innings, but that was pretty clear.

[JWags85]

  soto, harper, rendon, scherzer, strasburg all scott boras guys

Boras got Strasburg and Rendon a combined half a BILLION dollars for a 3 AS appearances in 8.5 injury filled seasons and a single ASG at the age of 30, respectively.  He's a wizard.  I'm shocked every above average player doesn't hire him.

Harper got a fat deal outside of DC and then won an MVP.  Scherzer is still worth every penny.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Nats won their one WS. Now they're starting over from ground zero. Will be interesting to see what it does to attendance and overall interest level. The fan base there strikes me as very fair weather (and I'm not necessarily saying that's wrong).

Supposedly that Nats are going up for sale.  Hence one of the reasons Soto turned down the deal.

[rocket surgeon]

Boras got Strasburg and Rendon a combined half a BILLION dollars for a 3 AS appearances in 8.5 injury filled seasons and a single ASG at the age of 30, respectively.  He's a wizard.  I'm shocked every above average player doesn't hire him.

Harper got a fat deal outside of DC and then won an MVP.  Scherzer is still worth every penny.

  boras is a pit bull who many teams hate to negotiate with.  me wonders if he's cost some players as well.

[muwarrior69]

Their attendance has always been pretty crappy.  I think its a weird fanbase cause its a combo of the transient nature of DC as well as the fact that for people older than 30, they didn't really grow up with the Nats, so they were all Orioles or random team fans.   My BIL is a huge Nats fan, but he was 11 when they moved to DC, so he was in the sweet spot of getting into them.  His older cousins are in their late 30s and either couldn't care less about baseball (despite being huge Redskins WFT Commanders and Caps fans) or root for someone else.

Orioles! No way! For any trues DC baseball fan it has always been the Senators.

[MU82]

Their attendance has always been pretty crappy.  I think its a weird fanbase cause its a combo of the transient nature of DC as well as the fact that for people older than 30, they didn't really grow up with the Nats, so they were all Orioles or random team fans.   My BIL is a huge Nats fan, but he was 11 when they moved to DC, so he was in the sweet spot of getting into them.  His older cousins are in their late 30s and either couldn't care less about baseball (despite being huge Redskins WFT Commanders and Caps fans) or root for someone else.

Quite often winning a championship is a great catalyst to build a fanbase. Those who might not have been thrilled to give the Nats a chance all of a sudden had a star-studded championship team to root for. But then came Covid, and the factors and headwinds you mentioned surely play a role in the less-excited fanbase.

Totally agree with you about Boras. If I were a very good to great ballplayer (or maybe even just a good one), and if getting the best contract possible mattered most to me, he'd absolutely be the agent I'd want.

I agree with Billy about too much GOAT talk -- it's often just silliness, and it's always overdone. But Boras ... he's the GOAT!

[The Sultan]

Their attendance has always been pretty crappy.  I think its a weird fanbase cause its a combo of the transient nature of DC as well as the fact that for people older than 30, they didn't really grow up with the Nats, so they were all Orioles or random team fans.   My BIL is a huge Nats fan, but he was 11 when they moved to DC, so he was in the sweet spot of getting into them.  His older cousins are in their late 30s and either couldn't care less about baseball (despite being huge Redskins WFT Commanders and Caps fans) or root for someone else.

So there may be a reason the market lost two franchises in the past?

[JWags85]

Orioles! No way! For any trues DC baseball fan it has always been the Senators.

Nobody under the age of 65 in DC even saw the Senators play, so...

[Shaka Shart]

Seems to me like Dylan Cease should be an all star

[JWags85]

Despite being a pretty decent MLB fan, I confess to never paying much attention to the MLB draft and don't entirely understand portions of it (slotting, $$ allocation, etc), but looking over the results, did find a few things interesting...

Sons of MLB all stars going 1 and 2 (Matt Holliday/Andruw Jones).  Also interesting that Druw Jones did all of his formative youth baseball growing in Atlanta compared to guys like Tatis Jr and Vlad Jr who grew up where their dads were from.

Kumar Rocker, for all his trials and tribulations, ends up being drafted higher than last year.  Hope he stays healthy cause his stuff is unreal.

Ive seen multiple articles over the years discussing the lack or downward trend in AA (not Latin) representation in the MLB.  Given that, interesting to see a pair of young AA HS players taken in the top 10.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Despite being a pretty decent MLB fan, I confess to never paying much attention to the MLB draft and don't entirely understand portions of it (slotting, $$ allocation, etc), but looking over the results, did find a few things interesting...

Sons of MLB all stars going 1 and 2 (Matt Holliday/Andruw Jones).  Also interesting that Druw Jones did all of his formative youth baseball growing in Atlanta compared to guys like Tatis Jr and Vlad Jr who grew up where their dads were from.

Kumar Rocker, for all his trials and tribulations, ends up being drafted higher than last year.  Hope he stays healthy cause his stuff is unreal.

Ive seen multiple articles over the years discussing the lack or downward trend in AA (not Latin) representation in the MLB.  Given that, interesting to see a pair of young AA HS players taken in the top 10.

Wags,
Look at the Blue Jays roster and I guess sons of retired major leaguers pays-off.
Guerro, Bichette, Biggio, Guriel

[JWags85]

Wags,
Look at the Blue Jays roster and I guess sons of retired major leaguers pays-off.
Guerro, Bichette, Biggio, Guriel

I knew the first 3.  Its 75% of their infield, which is amusing.  I totally forgot about Gurriel.

[HouWarrior]

I knew the first 3.  Its 75% of their infield, which is amusing.  I totally forgot about Gurriel.

Sort of.
Lourdes Gurriel Sr., was a great/famous Cuban Player, but never played in MLB
Lourdes has 2 sons currently in MLB; OF Lourdes Jr with the Jays and older 1B Yuli with the Astros

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Sort of.
Lourdes Gurriel Sr., was a great/famous Cuban Player, but never played in MLB
Lourdes has 2 sons currently in MLB; OF Lourdes Jr with the Jays and older 1B Yuli with the Astros

I knew - but he would have a MLB player if he could have.

[Pakuni]

Sons of MLB all stars going 1 and 2 (Matt Holliday/Andruw Jones).  Also interesting that Druw Jones did all of his formative youth baseball growing in Atlanta compared to guys like Tatis Jr and Vlad Jr who grew up where their dads were from.

Other picks included:
#17 overall Justin Crawford, son of Carl
#18 overall Cam Collier, son of Lou
#233 overall Mason McGwire, son of Mark

And #3 pick Kumar Rocker is the son of former NFL DT Tracy Rocker and #5 pick Elijah Green is the son of former NFL TE Eric Green.

[StillAWarrior]

MLB got a little aggressive with the pyro last night. 

[JWags85]

If Pujols had beat Soto in that second round, I was convinced it was fixed

[MU82]

If Pujols had beat Soto in that second round, I was convinced it was fixed

I've read a few accounts from those who think even the first-round Pujols win was fixed, including a writer from The Athletic. I didn't see it, so I have no opinion.

[JWags85]

I've read a few accounts from those who think even the first-round Pujols win was fixed, including a writer from The Athletic. I didn't see it, so I have no opinion.

I could see it.  Most of his round I was like "lol this old dude is gassed."  And then he put up a pretty pedestrian score.  Fast foward to Schwaro, a nuke hitting animal made for a competition like this, and he suddenly was doinking the ball around before finally pushing to MAGICALLY tie Pujols.

At the end of the day, its just a sideshow exhibition event, so who cares.  But it was kind of odd

[MU82]

At the end of the day, its just a sideshow exhibition event, so who cares.

Indeed.