@Dominik85 posted:Astros turned 0 3 into 3 3.
Hopefully Altuve is over his yips. Would have never fallen so deep into a hole if not for him forgetting how to throw.
I think dusty baker did a great job. He lost Cole, Verlander, Alvarez and the trash can and still made it to game 7 of the ALCS
When it was all said and done Dusty Baker kept his reputation intact ... Can’t win the big game.
I am so happy Tampa won. Astros didn't deserve to even be on the field.
What a bad example to set for younger players.
JMO
@Dominik85 posted:I think dusty baker did a great job. He lost Cole, Verlander, Alvarez and the trash can and still made it to game 7 of the ALCS
Thank Brett Strom and the Astros player development system for the pitching. Eight rookie pitchers carried them through the playoffs.
And thanks Dom, I take a shot at every bad, unoriginal trash can joke. It had been a few hours.
Yeah Astros pitching depth is really good, they developed more pitchers in the last two years than the red Sox in the last 15
@Dominik85 posted:Yeah Astros pitching depth is really good, they developed more pitchers in the last two years than the red Sox in the last 15
We left out Astros losing their closer, Osuna. I think Strom retires this offseason, if I remember correctly. Springer walks, Brantley walks, but could resign short term. I hope they can sign Correa, he is the best player on the team. Their farm system has been rated in the bottom five the last couple of years.
Also, Jeff Luhnow gave his first interview since the cheating scandal. Strangely/not strangely to a local Houston TV station.
https://www.click2houston.com/...tros-gm-jeff-luhnow/
"Retirement" has not been kind to Jeff, as he went from one of the smartest baseball man I know to Sergeant Schultz in short order.
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Astros showed the true grit of champions. Thrilled the cheating SOB’s are out but impressive work by them.
@old_school posted:Astros showed the true grit of champions. Thrilled the cheating SOB’s are out but impressive work by them.
Regarding their cheating, I was yet again impressed at how dumb baseball players can be.
I want the Dodgers to mulch the Rays. MLB does not need teams duplicating the Ray way. MLB baseball is boring enough. The last thing I want is the Sox and Chaim Bloom replicating the Ray way. I want to see Bloom find pitching talent like the Rays and retain it with the money they have.
I like the Dodgers uniforms.
What’s that fake noise overlay Fox is putting on each Kershaw pitch?
@RJM posted:I want the Dodgers to mulch the Rays. MLB does not need teams duplicating the Ray way. MLB baseball is boring enough. The last thing I want is the Sox and Chaim Bloom replicating the Ray way. I want to see Bloom find pitching talent like the Rays and retain it with the money they have.
Yeah, I actually agree with that. I get why people root for then as they are super smart and beat the odds as a financial underdog, the rays org has done a great job in the last 12 years, no doubt about that. Their front office is probably the best out there and remained so after losing Friedman to the dodgers and bloom to the Sox, they just seem to have a GM pipeline just like they have a prospect pipeline.
However while not really their fault they are doing some things that I don't love:
1. Endless platooning, using openers, tons of bullpen. That makes sense of course as they can't afford stars but for the fans it is more attractive if you have star hitters who bat every day and starters who go 7
2. Exploiting young players while they are cost controlled and then not pay them when they are due to a raise and I'm not even talking just free agency but even arb 2 and arb 3 when they often trade them away. Again very smart but really the deal was underpay young players and overpay veterans and rays avoid that. For the brand value that is not great, baseball is not like basketball regarding to star players but still guys like Ortiz or Jeter who have been the face of the franchise for a decade plus did help with fan identification compared to a big turnover just to gain 0.5 war here and there
This is not the rays fault though, they do their best very effectively but MLB shouldn't allow owners to consistently roll out a payroll that low. It is OK to do that for 3 years in a rebuild but if you do that consistently for 15 years imo teams need to relocate or being sold to another owner. Either it is the owners fault or the market just can't support a mlb franchise. Either way mlb should react.
I would not be against a hard salary cap of let's say 170m but then also force teams to spend at least like 130m, maybe you get a 3 year per decade rebuild exempt from that.
That some teams have 3 times the payroll of others just sucks and wouldn't happen in NBA or NFL and that needs to be changed. Maybe the big spenders deserve some blame but also the consistent salary cellar teams. I'm OK with the orioles or tigers having low payrolls for some time because they are tanking and have spent 150+M before but not with teams like the As, marlins or rays who do that consistently 15 years in a row.
@Dominik85 posted:Yeah, I actually agree with that. I get why people root for then as they are super smart and beat the odds as a financial underdog, the rays org has done a great job in the last 12 years, no doubt about that. Their front office is probably the best out there and remained so after losing Friedman to the dodgers and bloom to the Sox, they just seem to have a GM pipeline just like they have a prospect pipeline.
However while not really their fault they are doing some things that I don't love:
1. Endless platooning, using openers, tons of bullpen. That makes sense of course as they can't afford stars but for the fans it is more attractive if you have star hitters who bat every day and starters who go 7
2. Exploiting young players while they are cost controlled and then not pay them when they are due to a raise and I'm not even talking just free agency but even arb 2 and arb 3 when they often trade them away. Again very smart but really the deal was underpay young players and overpay veterans and rays avoid that. For the brand value that is not great, baseball is not like basketball regarding to star players but still guys like Ortiz or Jeter who have been the face of the franchise for a decade plus did help with fan identification compared to a big turnover just to gain 0.5 war here and there
This is not the rays fault though, they do their best very effectively but MLB shouldn't allow owners to consistently roll out a payroll that low. It is OK to do that for 3 years in a rebuild but if you do that consistently for 15 years imo teams need to relocate or being sold to another owner. Either it is the owners fault or the market just can't support a mlb franchise. Either way mlb should react.
I would not be against a hard salary cap of let's say 170m but then also force teams to spend at least like 130m, maybe you get a 3 year per decade rebuild exempt from that.
That some teams have 3 times the payroll of others just sucks and wouldn't happen in NBA or NFL and that needs to be changed. Maybe the big spenders deserve some blame but also the consistent salary cellar teams. I'm OK with the orioles or tigers having low payrolls for some time because they are tanking and have spent 150+M before but not with teams like the As, marlins or rays who do that consistently 15 years in a row.
For a ceiling/floor salary cap by team you must address revenue sharing across the league. Can't compare NFL/NBA to MLB on salary cap unless you also compare revenue sharing.
I agree with you on 3x payroll differences between teams.
Also, James Click is from Rays front office and now GM of the Astros.
@Go44dad posted:What’s that fake noise overlay Fox is putting on each Kershaw pitch?
That is fan noise that Tim McCarver is no longer in the booth calling the game.
It’s not hard to rip off a best announcer in football, basketball and hockey. If everyone doesn’t agree it’s because there’s talent. Mine are Al Michaels, Marv Albert , Mike Emrick.
Then, there’s baseball. Name one good national (not local) announcer. Keep thinking. He’ll come along someday.
If we work backwards ... “I’m Mel Allen. It’s time for This Week In Baseball.” Allen’s voice was the first sign of spring. Allen died twenty-four years ago.
I really don't like Joe Buck, but I did hear an interview he did with Barstool that was hilarious. Not funny enough though for me to like his commentary. Sometimes these media/announcer guys think they are just as important as the guys swinging the bats. He ain't no Vin Scully!
HOF Jon Miller, or up and coming Dave Flemming.
Don Orsillo is my favorite baseball play by play. The Red Sox released him and he is now with the Padres replacing Dick Enberg. Big shoes to fill in Enberg, but Orsillo is really, really good. There are many Red Sox fans who have not forgiven ownership for letting Orsillo's NESN contract expire in 2015.
Picked Off - 100% agree Jon Miller is also great play by play guy. I remember when he was with the Orioles. I can listen to him all day long.
The names being mentioned are local guys. They’re not game of the week or playoff announcers. Most people probably don’t know who they are.
When Jon Miller did ESPN Sunday Night Baseball years ago was when it was at it’s best. Oh my! Dick Enberg was a great national announcer.
I looked up Dave Flemming. Apparently he’s done some ESPN baseball. It shows how much I pay attention at this point. ESPN should have gone after Orsillo.