Baseball Thread

  • Want to keep track of this thread?
    Accounts can bookmark posts, watch threads for updates, and jump back to where you stopped reading.
    Create account
Kermit the Frog said:
Agreed. Judge had the better stats, but Raleigh was much more valuable to the Mariners. What Raleigh did defensively as a catcher all year long should have been enough to give him the edge. I'm not surprised Judge won, though, he's the bigger name in a bigger market and there are voters who still take that into consideration.
Click to expand...
Plus Cal Raleigh doesn't perennially choke and fucking die in the playoffs.
 
JJLiautaud said:
Plus Cal Raleigh doesn't perennially choke and fucking die in the playoffs.
Click to expand...
Judge was pretty good in this year's playoffs though at least. In the seven games between the Wild Card series against the Red Sox, and the ALDS against the Blue Jays he had multiple hits in all but one game. That other game was Game 3 of the Wild Card series where he went 0-3, but the Yankees obviously still won.
 
Kermit the Frog said:
Agreed. Judge had the better stats, but Raleigh was much more valuable to the Mariners. What Raleigh did defensively as a catcher all year long should have been enough to give him the edge. I'm not surprised Judge won, though, he's the bigger name in a bigger market and there are voters who still take that into consideration.
Click to expand...
It seems to me, that for decades, the MVP award has been a glorified popularity contest, or whoever the MLB decides it wants to push any given year. Lenny Dykstra should have won it in '93.
 
As a Mariners fan who hates the Yankees, I recognize Judge led many of the important offensive stats aside from homers and RBIs. He's also an amazingly charismatic player who I can't help but like and appreciate as one of the greatest active players.

But this decision stings, and has convinced me that the entire BBWAA (like most traditional media) should be dissolved (in acid) and replaced with some kind of cheap Japanese AI model.

Cal not only hit 60 home runs, he did it as a catcher. A switch hitting catcher. A switch hitting catcher who lead his team and was pivotal to running one of the best starting pitching staffs in baseball. All while starting his physically demanding position for 90+% of games over the entire grueling season.

Judge played outfield and hit really well. If he hadn't had the injury outage that robbed him of a decent chunk of his season, I might of had more sympathy for the decision. But he did, and Judge's season numbers suffered. His offensive stats simply weren't enough to overcome Cal's numbers coupled with those contributions as a catcher.

A sure reminder, if any was needed, that sports journalists are retarded faggots, to the same degree as any other journo, just with a 20 IQ point deficit and a chip on their shoulder.
 
The Mariners re-signed Josh Naylor to a 5-year deal. The first "big" move of free agency this offseason. Naylor was their most important free agent to bring back and their GM openly talked about that being their top priority, so no surprise there. Polanco and Suarez are also free agents, so if Seattle wants to keep the same group of guys together for another run they're going to have to pay a lot. It'll be a while before other serious moves start happening.
update: it's 5 years, $92.5 million
 
Last edited:
Kermit the Frog said:
The Mariners re-signed Josh Naylor to a 5-year deal.
Click to expand...
Holy shit. As a long-suffering Mariners fan, I was convinced the traditionally cheapskate ownership would let him sail away, despite all the PR noise they were making. This is the first sign since the Raleigh contract that shows they're serious about staying competitive.

Probably hurts the chances of keeping Polanco and Suarez, but Naylor is by far the most critical of the three to maintaining their offense.
 
Kermit the Frog said:
Mariners should try to get at least one back.
Click to expand...
Absolutely agree. If I had my way they'd keep that entire top 5 of the lineup, which was a proper murderer's row during the tail end of the regular season. I'd particularly like Geno to stay in a Mariners uniform for the remainder of his career, for purely sentimental reasons if nothing else.

However, given what both of them are going to cost, along with Polanco's injury history and Suarez' age and streakiness, I'm skeptical that they'll spend the big money to keep either of them, unfortunately. But I thought that about the Naylor deal as well, so maybe ownership and management will surprise me again.

At the end of the day though, I'm pleased with at least getting one of the big money free-agent signings, and Naylor really was the most important one (coupled with their previous re-signing of Munoz).
 
Tommy John Surgery said:
They trade a slumping OF for a on-again off-again all-star. Bold strategy, Cohen, let's see if it pays off
Click to expand...
The trade probably has something to do with getting an outfielder during free agency. Semien's still a really good second baseman, and Jeff McNeil has become more of a kind of utility type of player that seems a lot of outfield play.

If the Mets don't grab Kyle Tucker from free agency, they could view Cody Bellinger or Trent Grisham as younger and more palatable gambles than keeping Nimmo who is signed through the 2030 and turns 33 at the start of the upcoming season. Semien's 35, but he's only under contract through the 2028 season and his floor is being a good and very durable defender despite missing a chunk of time this past year.
 
I was at a damn wedding and Semien gets traded?! I don't know how I feel, both contracts are not very good, but at least Semien has good defense. Josh Smith has good defense too so it may work out, but I don't know. Hopefully we use the money we saved not getting a FA outfielder and get a closer instead (we won't).
 
Last edited:
The OF market outside of Tucker and Bellinger is weak. Reminder that Grisham signed the Qualifying Offer to stay with the Yankees on a 1-year deal, so he's off the board. I think Bellinger is also re-signs with the Yankees because that ballpark is great for his home run production, among other reasons. Tucker is the most viable option if you're willing to spend a gorillion dollars to get him.
 
I'm forever grateful for what El Bombi, Jonah Heim & Marcus did in '23 in the WS win.
1764124979310.png
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom