2024-25 MLB Hot Stove thread

[PilotMan]

Let's go DODGERS! Sasaki to LA! WOOOOOOO!

[Lathum]

dodgers ruining baseball...

[frnk55]

Originally Posted by Lathum

dodgers ruining baseball...

I agree.

[SirFozzie]

See the Dodgers signed Sasaki (to absolutely no one's surprise.). New idea: Let's contract the Marlins, and allow the Dodgers to field two teams in the NL

[Danny]

Originally Posted by Lathum

dodgers taking advantage of cheap, poorly run franchises and rules that let it happen...

Yes I agree.

[Flasch186]

I’m not sure

I think having the monster villain that everyone guns for isn’t terrible.

WWE/F used that formula for years


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ksyrup]

From a broader perspective, I guess having a villain/heel for fan engagement purposes is a good thing. As a 50-something who has zero interest in talk radio/TV, screaming debates, etc., i just want to see good competition. The wild card and expanded number of playoff teams will temper this to some extent, but I really don't want to see a decade list of WS participants that looks like it could have come out of the 40s and 50s.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

but I really don't want to see a decade list of WS participants that looks like it could have come out of the 40s and 50s.

And as a 50-something who also doesn't consume most of the modern media stuff, that's exactly what I want.

If I could contract it back down to 24 teams (28 tops) I'd do that in a heartbeat.

[MrBug708]

Good signing. The foundation to sign Sasaki has been there for a couple of years now. Maybe the Dodgers have more than 2.5 starters for the world series now.

[Sweed]

Is it time for MLB to allow teams to sell players like they do in soccer?
The A's tried this in the mid 70's with Rollie Fingers, Joe Rudi, and Catfish Hunter and it was shot down by Commish. Kuhn.

No idea on CBA and all of the rules, but presently unless you have a no trade contract a player can be moved without consent. If selling could be done within the rules, imagine Pittsburgh after a few years being able to sell Paul Skenes, for massive cash they could invest in other players today/next offseason, rather than a conditional draft pick that could take years to develop or bust?

There are millions of ins and outs (cheap owners pocketing the cash), and keep in mind this is a question with all of 5 minutes of thought behind it as I watch the EPL on a Saturday morning. Just throwing it out there as we appear to be in a window of mega dollars being spent by a few teams and the "have nots" falling even further behind. Maybe if the have nots received some of those mega dollars, rather than a draft pick, for players they developed it would help restore some sort of balance?

[JPhillips]

If I were a big market club I'd prefer that to revenue sharing. I'd be pretty pissed if I was paying into a pool so that the Rays and Pirates et al could pocket the proceeds and keep their payroll at the bottom of the league.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

And as a 50-something who also doesn't consume most of the modern media stuff, that's exactly what I want.

If I could contract it back down to 24 teams (28 tops) I'd do that in a heartbeat.

I don't mind 24 teams. But a system thst allows only a couple teams to play for the WS sucks.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

But a system that allows only a couple teams to play for the WS sucks.

I'm reading that as being "only a few get there" not as being about smaller playoff pools, so forgive me in advance if I misunderstood you.

So we've seen 8 teams -- so only two repeat appearances -- in the last 5 seasons.

Dodgers/Yankees
Rangers/Dbacks
Astros/Phillies
Braves/Astros
Dodgers/Rays

There were 9 teams from 80-84, a time frame I picked solely cause it's was my age 13-17 years and I remember well.

Go look at the 1970s, arguably my peak interest era (certainly if you combine with the early 80s), way more repeats.

There's not a big shortage of final two teams that I can see, the expanded total number of teams today vs those earlier decades just means that more teams don't get there.

[Ksyrup]

Well, the expanded playoffs masks the issue because it becomes a tournament and a crapshoot, so the best teams don't always get through. But only a few teams signing most everyone and other teams rewarded for being cheap is not fun.

[PilotMan]

Dodgers do it again. Nice to have a team that loves it's fans this much.

[Lathum]

Tell me again how this is good for the sport.

[Lathum]

Dola- and yes I’m bitter.

[PilotMan]

I was bitter when the Yankees were doing it in the 90s. Because the Dodgers had new ownership and he was only interstate pumping equity out of the team and fielding a .500 ball club in one of the biggest baseball markets in the world. That was a long, long, decade.

[cuervo72]

If a team dominates for five years or so, or even a few more, not a huge issue. You had that in the 70s, with the A’s, Reds, and I guess even the Pirates and Orioles. But then they gave way to the Yankees and Dodgers for a few years before teams like the Phillies, Royals, Cards filtered in. It wasn’t always the same teams, even if for a while you have clusters.

I found the dominance of the Braves and Yankees in the 90s to be a bit much.

What I don’t want to see is a team get there and stay there, like how the Yankees, Dodgers, Cards dominated the 40s, 50s, first half of the 60s. (Same deal as the Patriots being ever present for 20 years.)

[Lathum]

Yikes

The Pirates Held Their Fan Fest On Saturday And It Sounds Like It Was A Disaster With "Sell The Team" Chants, Expired Sodas Being Sold, Misspelled Player's Names And Fans Already Freaking Out About Losing Paul Skenes | Barstool Sports

[Lathum]

Beltran goes in as a Met, no?

[Lathum]

Dodgers signing Yates. I get it dodger fans, but this is a Fuckkng joke.

[Danny]

Its the same thing as last offseason, teams dont want to spend money so the dodgers swoop in. None of the contrscts they are giving out are egregious, most teams just dont want to eat into their profits

[miami_fan]

Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner have been voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The hunt is on for the one voter who kept Ichiro from being an unanimous selection.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner have been voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The hunt is on for the one voter who kept Ichiro from being an unanimous selection.

Was hoping Beltran got in.

As for the one voter, F them, they should lose their vote.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Was hoping Beltran got in.

As for the one voter, F them, they should lose their vote.

My guess is Beltran is still paying the sign stealing penalty. Not as severe as the PED penalty but severe enough to keep him out this year. No disrespect to Beltran but I would have been pissed if he got in before Andruw Jones. That is not to say Beltran is not deserving, just to say Andruw Jones should have already been voted into the Hall.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

My guess is Beltran is still paying the sign stealing penalty. Not as severe as the PED penalty but severe enough to keep him out this year. No disrespect to Beltran but I would have been pissed if he got in before Andruw Jones. That is not to say Beltran is not deserving, just to say Andruw Jones should have already been voted into the Hall.

Beltran vs Jones is an interesting argument. Jones was better defensively. Beltran was better offensively. Their peak years were similar in value while Beltran had better longevity and Jones fell off a cliff at 30.

I'd probably give Beltran the smallest of advantages but it I can see both sides.

[Lathum]

https://www.mlb.com/press-release/pr...t-camden-yards

[PilotMan]

If they're anything like the Reds, then this will be only found in one corner of the stadium, and the line will be 40 deep until they run out of food in the 3rd inning.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

If they're anything like the Reds, then this will be only found in one corner of the stadium, and the line will be 40 deep until they run out of food in the 3rd inning.

Gotta do the Handlebar. It’s a great deal, at least it was last time I went a couple years ago.

[PilotMan]

I haven't yet, but my wife has decided that she only wants to do the Club seats with food, drink and most importantly, air conditioning and separate bathrooms, for games.

On one hand, I love it, on the other, it's a very different price point for games.

[Lathum]

Handlebar has a outside area and also a deck so you could go between. The price wansnt bad and included a buffet and drink tix.

[Lathum]

Are Dodgers two playoff teams in one? We split them in half - ESPN

[PilotMan]

That was an interesting read. I haven't played Action PC, but I know it similar. Plus, it's always fun to take that 1 in 5000 result out and see what the heck happened. I think the bottom line is there's no way they are two playoff teams in one, but replace some of those young players with actual, serviceable vets, and maybe they could get close. But that really wasn't the point of the article anyway. Still entertaining to ponder though.

[Mota]

They also have a good farm system, so it is quite possible that they could do it. Tampa Bay does a good job of pulling it off every season with a mix of young players and 2nd (or 3rd) chance players.

[Ksyrup]

Nice move by Detroit to re-sign Jack Flaherty, even if it's likely only a one year rental again. He did well for them last year, they traded him for their eventual starter at SS, caught fire, made the playoffs, and brought him back for another run at it.

Of course, by July, after the magic of last year has worn off and they're sitting in 4th in the AL Central, we'll be hearing about the trade offers for Skubal...

[Arles]

IMO, the two things I would do to improve the competitiveness in the MLB:

1. Only allow 25% of a contract to be deferred.
2. Every team must have a floor payroll of $100 million.

You do those two things and it is much harder for the Dodgers to sign everyone and it's much harder for the Pirates, Marlins, White Sox and Rays to just pocket revenue sharing while they put a crap product on the field.

[Ksyrup]

But Faye Vincent just died. He was the last commissioner who believed his job involved more than just doing what the owners wanted and maximizing profits.

[miami_fan]

MLB fires umpire Pat Hoberg for shared betting accounts - ESPN

I have no idea if this guy bet on baseball or not. However, if the evidence as described in this article is true, he sure as hell acted as someone who was betting on baseball and trying to hide it from his bosses. Also in the debate of who in sports should and should not be allowed to bet on sports, I feel comfortable saying that game officials should definitely be in the not allowed category.

[spleen1015]

It's a shame, too. Hoberg was a really good umpire. He called a 'perfect' game behind the plate in the 2022 WS.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

But Faye Vincent just died. He was the last commissioner who believed his job involved more than just doing what the owners wanted and maximizing profits.

I had NO idea he was still alive. I'd have said he died 20, 30 years ago.

[Lathum]

Polar bear is back baby! Fick yeah! Dodgers top three is awesome but Mets top three rivals it.

[Lathum]

Bregman signs with Boston. The Sox have had a monster off season and if Anthony produces they will be nasty.

[Atocep]

Anthony Rendon out for 2025

[Ksyrup]

He's got to be the biggest FA bust of all-time - or surely, in the age of $100M+ contracts. He's barely played, and even when health isn't the issue, makes stupid comments about how baseball isn't his biggest priority. Sheesh.

[bhlloy]

The Angels can field half a lineup of them, but he's probably the most egregious. My old boss is a huge Angels fan and we had many discussions that offseason about how they were a top end starter away and joked that Arte would blow instead his wad on Rendon who would then get a career ending injury in Spring Training. We were pretty close on that prediction.

There are many people in that South OC/North San Diego corridor who are die hard Angels and Chargers fans (or at least were, I'm not sure how many said FU to the Chargers after the move). I'm a very nominal casual fan of both teams, I can't imagine living and dying with those two teams. At least the Angels have the one WS title but I think watching them waste prime Trout/Ohtani due to utter mismanagement from top to bottom might be worse.