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2018 MLB Season Thread


The Analog Cub
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It's Hot Stove season! A lot of trade deals and free agent signings will be happening during this December, then the couple of months of waiting and speculation until Spring Training kicks off, and then, the regular season.

 

Right now the two major headlines have been reigning NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton's potential trade and the latest star from Japan, Shohei Ohtani. The current rumors are Stanton being traded to either the Giants or the Cardinals https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/giancarlo-stanton-rumors-marlins-have-trade-framework-in-place-with-giants-cards/

 

Stanton has a no-trade clause as part of a contract that will haunt the Marlins unless he agrees to move. If he goes to the Cardinals I will flip shit cause I am not ready for another round of an Albert Pujols type rampaging in the NL Central.

 

 

Shohei Ohtani is supposedly close to finalizing a deal with an MLB club, biggest contenders for him are the Giants, Mariners, and the Padres. Earlier today he denied the Yankees and Red Sox so at least he can't be entirely evil.

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It's Hot Stove season! A lot of trade deals and free agent signings will be happening during this December, then the couple of months of waiting and speculation until Spring Training kicks off, and then, the regular season.

 

Right now the two major headlines have been reigning NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton's potential trade and the latest star from Japan, Shohei Ohtani. The current rumors are Stanton being traded to either the Giants or the Cardinals https://www.cbssport...h-giants-cards/

 

Stanton has a no-trade clause as part of a contract that will haunt the Marlins unless he agrees to move. If he goes to the Cardinals I will flip shit cause I am not ready for another round of an Albert Pujols type rampaging in the NL Central.

 

 

Shohei Ohtani is supposedly close to finalizing a deal with an MLB club, biggest contenders for him are the Giants, Mariners, and the Padres. Earlier today he denied the Yankees and Red Sox so at least he can't be entirely evil.

You've kept up with the Ohtani sweepstakes far more than me. I'm not surprised by the Mariners given the Asian population in the Pac NW, and the same for the Giants. I suppose there's no real chance for the Cubs then, it seems like it's the WC for him. He doesn't exactly seem like he's interested in joining a current winner, which is in some sense admirable although there's a place for him with a winner in Chicago!

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It also didn't seem like Stanton was all that interested in going to St Louis to play for the self described greatest fans in baseball. I'll have to tell you the story about my trip to St Louis to see a Cardinal game sometime, it was the game after the Cubs clinched and St Louis still had a chance to go to the playoffs. I've never been as unimpressed in terms of how a crowd and stadium was in comparison to what I've been led to believe.
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It also didn't seem like Stanton was all that interested in going to St Louis to play for the self described greatest fans in baseball. I'll have to tell you the story about my trip to St Louis to see a Cardinal game sometime, it was the game after the Cubs clinched and St Louis still had a chance to go to the playoffs. I've never been as unimpressed in terms of how a crowd and stadium was in comparison to what I've been led to believe.

 

I caught a Cubs-Cards game at Busch in April 2016 and it was a fantastic atmosphere, I thought. I went to another game against the Cardinals this year at Wrigley (my first Wrigley visit since 2010) and I sat in the bleachers and it was fantastic. Say what you will about the Cardinals and the pretentious atmosphere about the ballclub, the Cubs-Cardinals rivalry is a thing of beauty and it's always a joy catching one of those games.

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It's Hot Stove season! A lot of trade deals and free agent signings will be happening during this December, then the couple of months of waiting and speculation until Spring Training kicks off, and then, the regular season.

 

Right now the two major headlines have been reigning NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton's potential trade and the latest star from Japan, Shohei Ohtani. The current rumors are Stanton being traded to either the Giants or the Cardinals https://www.cbssport...h-giants-cards/

 

Stanton has a no-trade clause as part of a contract that will haunt the Marlins unless he agrees to move. If he goes to the Cardinals I will flip shit cause I am not ready for another round of an Albert Pujols type rampaging in the NL Central.

 

 

Shohei Ohtani is supposedly close to finalizing a deal with an MLB club, biggest contenders for him are the Giants, Mariners, and the Padres. Earlier today he denied the Yankees and Red Sox so at least he can't be entirely evil.

You've kept up with the Ohtani sweepstakes far more than me. I'm not surprised by the Mariners given the Asian population in the Pac NW, and the same for the Giants. I suppose there's no real chance for the Cubs then, it seems like it's the WC for him. He doesn't exactly seem like he's interested in joining a current winner, which is in some sense admirable although there's a place for him with a winner in Chicago!

 

Ichiro got cut from Miami and he's currently a free agent.

 

Come on Seattle. You know you want him to come home. It'd be fantastic for baseball and it's not like he's terrible, even in his early 40's the dude can still hang with the rest of the team.

 

Ohtani going to the Mariners would be great because the Mariners need some hope. I'll pull for them in the AL race because they need a good season badly. Longest playoff drought in MLB currently since the 116 win season in 2001.

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https://twitter.com/...672406935785472

 

Interesting that the Cubs are on the list. I don't know how he'd fit in unless we trade one of our OFs.

I don't think he's coming, but we could use a starter, for sure. He's not likely to play the field.

 

Fangraphs is talking about him as at the Trout/Kershaw/Harper level in terms of value. All for next to nothing in salary.

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On Reddit's r/baseball they've started a roast thread dedicated to a different team each day, today they're on day 7 with the Blue Jays. Some of them have been absolutely brutal, but here's a couple favorites from today's Jays roast:

 

The Jays greatest victory this season was besting all 29 other teams at .500 Is Lava

 

It's only fitting that their commentator Gregg Zaun was fired for sexual harassment, since the rest of the Jay's can't get to third base.
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Today's roast is the Rays https://www.reddit.c...a_bay_rays_830/

 

Personal favorite and it's from a Mariners fan so it's even better:

 

I haven't seen a career as wasted as Evan Longoria's since Felix Hernandez

There's a Braves one that probably belongs in SOCN that was hilarious.

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So you're saying there's a chance?

 

The most curious entry on Shohei Ohtani’s list of seven finalists is the San Diego Padres. Given the club’s relatively diminutive market and general lack of competitiveness over the last decade, the Padres don’t immediately profile as a destination for a player of Ohtani’s magnitude.

 

But the Padres aren’t the only outlier. There’s another. If not quite as unexpected as the Padres, the Cubs certainly represent the second-most surprising team on Ohtani’s list.

 

The Cubs have the market. They also have a recent track record of success and the roster to compete in the future. They represent a geographic outlier among Ohtani’s remaining suitors, though. Of those seven final clubs, the Cubs are located in the eastern-most and coldest-climate city. For a player who seems to have a strong preference for playing on the West Coast and in ideal weather conditions, Chicago is a curious choice.

 

Ohtani eliminated every other NL East, AL East, NL Central, and AL Central club, en route to selecting his final seven teams. That he retained the Cubs must mean that he really likes something about the team apart from geography and market size. In other words, he really likes something about the Cubs that their decision-makers within the organization can control or sell.

 

So how did the Cubs get this far? Well, no one really knows outside the Ohtani camp at the moment. But ESPN’s Jesse Rogers has some ideas.

 

“[Theo] Epstein can sell a franchise,” one longtime executive said Monday.

 

It’s true. Epstein is as good, if not better, at articulating a plan as anyone in the game. Perhaps the Cubs’ initial pitch, which included video testimonials from current players and perhaps their family members, convinced Ohtani’s team that the Cubs should be included in the next round of talks. Some players have been put on notice this week to be ready in case they’re needed in southern California for a face-to-face meeting with Ohtani, according to industry sources.

 

Epstein sold Jon Lester and Jason Heyward on the Cubs in successful recent recruitments. Sure, the dollars didn’t hurt. But those in the industry contend Epstein is a good salesman.

 

Chicago might have some other under-the-radar advantages, as well.

 

For starters, there’s manager Joe Maddon. If Ohtani lands with an NL club, he could be used more creatively when he’s not starting. If a team really wanted to be creative with him, they could use him, say, as a super reliever who enters the game from a corner position. And Maddon’s reputation is as one of the more forward-thinking, creative managers in the game.

 

Writes Rogers:

 

With Ohtani in the fold, Maddon would have no issues rotating him in and out of right field as well as on the mound. Jason Heyward has no guarantee of being an everyday player anyway.

 

Even if Maddon’s reputation is overblown or the field has caught up to the Cubs’ manager in terms of ingenuity, Maddon is also known for creating ideal clubhouse environments — a point this author has not only explored but experienced. If a manager and his well-regarded pitching coach Jim Hickey qualify as important considerations for Ohtani in terms of development and environment, then that could be an edge that was underemphasized in the public conversation when he released his questionnaire.

 

Said Alex Cobb and Jake Odorizzi of Hickey to Mark Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times when Hickey departed at the conclusion off the season:

 

“He has a talent that most organizations search for relentlessly,” departing starter Alex Cobb said. “He will have a great time being a free agent.”

 

***

 

“Hick was the best pitching coach I have ever been around,” Jake Odorizzi said. “He helped me grow a lot as a pitcher over the time I was fortunate to work with him. So a lot of the pitcher I am today is because of him and the work he put in with me. … I know wherever he goes next that team will be getting a great leader to their pitching staff.”

 

Competitiveness probably doesn’t hurt, either: the Cubs are the most recent champions included on Ohtani’s list and enter the 2018 season as division favorites with a young position-player core. Epstein can sell Ohtani as being a missing piece to putting together a super team.

 

But for a player who seems quite concerned with geography, there’s one considerable geographical advantage on which Epstein could sell Ohtani: because of their location, only the Pirates typically rival the Cubs in shortest distance traveled per season.

 

The difference in travel miles between the Cubs and many of West Coast teams is almost a round trip around the Earth. (Our planet’s circumference is 24,900 miles.) For a player who’ll attempt to become a two-way star and who’s unfamiliar with MLB travel, what seems like a luxury could be a consideration. Seattle, thought to be a strong contender, has a grueling travel schedule. Consider Chris Ford’s mileage estimates :

 

Frequent Flyers

Rank Team Miles flown in 2017

1 Oakland 47877

2 Anaheim 46346

3 Seattle 45129

4 Miami 42185

5 San Francisco 41555

6 Houston 38452

7 San Diego 38185

8 Los Angeles 37060

9 Philadelphia 36258

10 Tampa 36178

11 Colorado 33742

12 Texas 33133

13 Boston 33057

14 Arizona 33040

15 Atlanta 32326

16 New York Mets 32311

17 Washington 31405

18 Toronto 29615

19 Cleveland 29209

20 New York Yankees 28359

21 Chicago White Sox 28336

22 Kansas City 27993

23 Minnesota 27017

24 Detroit 26145

25 Milwaukee 25073

26 Baltimore 24045

27 St. Louis 23662

28 Cincinnati 23628

29 Chicago Cubs 23130

30 Pittsburgh 21854

So the Cubs have a geographic edge, after all.

 

 

 

Epstein can sell and recruit. Travel and recovery and maintenance, meanwhile, are perhaps items of great interest to Ohtani.

 

The Cubs are an outlying finalist. (What Ohtani should really do to drive interest is to eliminate one team every day.)

 

They, and the Rangers, are the only two teams not on the West Coast that are still in the running. They are still in consideration for reasons other than geography. That should have our attention.

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-cubs-are-ohtanis-other-outlier-finalist/

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The first major(?) deal of the year goes to the Cubs, signing Tyler Chatwood to 3 years, $38mil

 

I like this deal. For someone pitching in Coors Field he did pretty well.

Really? Wow.. Like that a lot!

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The Ohtani sweepstakes comes to an end, he's going to the Angels.

 

Mariners fans gotta be pissed.

Booooo

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Stanton is now a Yankee...

 

and Starlin a Marlin...

Edited by laughedatbytime
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Tigers sign Mike Fiers to a 1 year deal

That changes everything!

 

 

Well, actually it might, at least for the ALC. The Tigers really need some rotation success, especially after they sold off Verlander

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Tigers sign Mike Fiers to a 1 year deal

That changes everything!

 

 

Well, actually it might, at least for the ALC. The Tigers really need some rotation success, especially after they sold off Verlander

It might keep the White Sox in last. Which has some value.

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