2019 Baseball Thread

Denverdave

Denverdave

Resident Ragamuffin
Pitchers and catchers have reported. Thank goodness the football season is over and baseball is back!

So - what are you expecting from your favorite team this season? Or are you already in 'next year' mode.

The Rockies exceeded all the experts expectations last season (not mine though - they did just about what I expected) and made the playoffs AND made it past the wild card play in game. They should have won the division, but choked the final two games of the season and handed that to the Dodgers. Still - they got about as far as I expected.

The 'experts' are predicting about 85 wins (+- 7) - which seems about right, though I expect more towards the plus side of that. Their division is pretty weak this season except the Dodgers. Arizona and the Giants are in rebuilding mode, and the Padres are likely a year or two away from their young players having a big impact. So their playoff window is still open and really they need to win the division this year. With 92 wins last year they were a wild card, and likely that will be close to the number they will need this year as well.

Their starting pitching is actually very good. It really only lacks a bit of depth, so a couple pitchers going down could hurt a lot. Offense will be the same, and likely a bit better with a healthy season from David Dahl. They do need to figure out who will play 2nd base though. And they need to figure out how to keep Arenado, though they may not have the budget to do that since he will demand $30 million or so a season for 6 - 10 years. Frankly I'm not sure any player is worth that.

So - I predict 90ish wins and (unfortunately) yet another wild card spot. They just cannot compete with the Dodgers deep pockets and media exposure.

AND - where do you think Harper an Machado will end up? Both will be stupidly over paid. Machado is a punk and a locker room cancer, but he can hit. Harper's average took a huge dive last year, but the other numbers were good, but I imagine that is why teams are hesitant to pull the trigger on him.
 
my fav teams are the Tigers and the Indians.....so.....:facepalm:

next year?

how about next decade
 
I don't think it has anything to do with Harper's numbers from last year and everything to do with front offices finally realizing that long term mega deals are stupid and not really good for business.

I'd love to see Harper in a Nats uniform, but not for what he wants. I'm glad the Nats put a timetable on their offer and it looks like they are sticking to it. Harper is a good player, but the Nats have won 0 post season series with him. It's really the same way I felt about Kirk Cousins. He could really run Jay Gruden's offense, but 1 playoff appearance and 0 wins. I would have liked him to stay in DC, but not for what he wanted and eventually got. Although, Harper is a much better player. Putting too much money into one player, is not the way to build a championship team.
 
As a Mets fan I expect another season of the usual early optimism which will then be dashed by the inevitable reality of disappointment and futility...
 
jelloman said:
As a Mets fan I expect another season of the usual early optimism which will then be dashed by the inevitable reality of disappointment and futility...
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same with the Tigers. they look good thru the summer, but then....poop
 
jelloman said:
As a Mets fan I expect another season of the usual early optimism which will then be dashed by the inevitable reality of disappointment and futility...
Click to expand...

Van Wegenen is all in on this year. I expect them to blow up spectacularly.

Dunno what the A’s are doing this year. They don’t show ST games like the other teams, so it’s difficult to get excited now. I do know the Giants will suck hard though. So there’s no point in getting wrapped up.
 
Help!I'maRock! said:
Van Wegenen is all in on this year. I expect them to blow up spectacularly.

Dunno what the A’s are doing this year. They don’t show ST games like the other teams, so it’s difficult to get excited now. I do know the Giants will suck hard though. So there’s no point in getting wrapped up.
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The A's are always a fun team with a mega-cheap ass owner. And they play in a sewer pretending to be a ball park. They always have great young players and they always leave (see mega cheap-ass owner comment....).
 
Denverdave said:
The A's are always a fun team with a mega-cheap ass owner. And they play in a sewer pretending to be a ball park. They always have great young players and they always leave (see mega cheap-ass owner comment....).
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There's a deal with Oakland to develop Howard Terminal but there's a ton of hoops to jump through before ground is actually broken. They might spend money once the stadium is built, but they can't get more than 10,000 people to show up unless the Giants are playing, so there's no point now. They have a good young core who probably won't stick around to see it built.

Also, their announcers are way better than the Giants announcers. They're a total snoozefest. Except Jon Miller. He's fantastic.
 
Denverdave said:
The A's are always a fun team with a mega-cheap ass owner. And they play in a sewer pretending to be a ball park. They always have great young players and they always leave (see mega cheap-ass owner comment....).
Click to expand...

I'm a fan (and employee) of the Earthquakes. Same owner. Same shit.
 
Not sure that the Giants are actually rebuilding. No Madbum trade. They seem to be collecting a bunch of middle aged talent. I'm doubting Harper comes here.
 
The narrative about how 'crazy' it is that teams haven't sprinted to dump a half billion dollars into the laps of Machado and Harper is bizarre.

There are so many instances of where those contracts have created huge problems for franchises (is Pujols even playing again this year? That's embarrassing, if so). And it's pretty clear that teams derive more value from premium starters than hitters.

Game has changed.
 
Danhedonia said:
The narrative about how 'crazy' it is that teams haven't sprinted to dump a half billion dollars into the laps of Machado and Harper is bizarre.

There are so many instances of where those contracts have created huge problems for franchises (is Pujols even playing again this year? That's embarrassing, if so). And it's pretty clear that teams derive more value from premium starters than hitters.

Game has changed.
Click to expand...

The game has changed, but so has the market. I agree the 10 year, $300 million contract is bad. The 5 year, $150 million contract is way better. What's interesting to me is how the free agent market has slowed and everyone waits for those guys to sign before determining the market for everyone else now. Pitchers and catchers have already reported and the majority of the free agent class is still home twiddling their thumbs. The MLBPA has been a disaster for the players in that regard for at least the past three seasons.
 
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