Around Baseball 2024

[L54]

Time for expansion

[mphenhef]

Time for expansion

 

Time for rookie scale contract minimums to increase too

[Laika]

Is the difference between Rosario and Lourdes Gurriel 40+M?

 

The Rockies guaranteed Charlie Blackmon, 37 years old, $13M

 

It was hilarious at the time and now it is even funnier

[Brownie19]

The Rockies guaranteed Charlie Blackmon, 37 years old, $13M

 

It was hilarious at the time and now it is even funnier

 

Is Dave Stewart their GM now? It's truly bizarre how inept that organization is.

[Dick_Pole]

The Rockies guaranteed Charlie Blackmon, 37 years old, $13M

 

It was hilarious at the time and now it is even funnier

 

To be fair though, about 75% of the time over the last 5 years if you asked me to name an active Rockies player he's the only one I've got. This is like a suffering bonus for him. The FO is like "yeah, sorry for the last 13 years, here's $13 million for your trouble".

[Dick_Pole]

Somebody please sign this poor man

 

 

In the age of social media, Donaldson is proving to be the one true alpha. No grandstanding or begging. No pathetic social media posts. No attempting to strike out bloggers. No minor league contract invites. No sending feelers out to pencil-necked geeks like Atkins. Just recognition that your skills are no longer marketable and time to go be alpha in some other form. He can spend the next decade plus intimidating and bullying teachers at parent-teacher meetings now.

[Terminator]

Time for expansion

 

Yeah it seems like it's coming any year now.

 

Nashville seems like it's got a ton of momentum. Not sure who should get the other team, maybe SLC.

[Dick_Pole]

Yeah it seems like it's coming any year now.

 

Nashville seems like it's got a ton of momentum. Not sure who should get the other team, maybe SLC.

 

32 teams makes much more sense. I just hope they go with the NHL route regarding division breakdowns. Not the NFL route. About the only thing the NHL has done right. Also the longest period of time the league team count has stayed static since the pre-expansion era. So it's overdue.

[Terminator]

As Jays fans do we want the Expos back?

[Stangstag]

As Jays fans do we want the Expos back?

 

I wasn’t old enough to ever watch the Expos, but as a Jays fan I think it would be great to have a 2nd Canadian team.

 

I feel like Vancouver would be a better spot though. Huge asian community, and the Single A team there draws very well from what I hear.

[L54]

Yeah it seems like it's coming any year now.

 

Nashville seems like it's got a ton of momentum. Not sure who should get the other team, maybe SLC.

 

Nashville would be awesome. The Nashville Bachelorette Parties. Lots of potential for fun team names

 

Sounds like SLC will be getting an NHL team soon too so maybe they would work, elevation be damned

[L54]

Time for rookie scale contract minimums to increase too

 

No the union only cares about getting Ohtani 700M

[mphenhef]

No the union only cares about getting Ohtani 700M

 

I think you are correct in the sense that Tony Clark likely doesn't consider that pre-arb players getting paid peanuts is why middle of the road vets can't make any money. Why pay a guy $10 million for 1-1.5 WAR when you can get 0.75 from a 600K pre arb guy?

[Terminator]

Nashville would be awesome. The Nashville Bachelorette Parties. Lots of potential for fun team names

 

Sounds like SLC will be getting an NHL team soon too so maybe they would work, elevation be damned

 

Yeah and since Nashville is the clear front runner it would make sense to pair it with a western team which needs more teams.

 

There's not many options out west though. Portland at one point would have been the frontrunner but SLC is trending up and Portland is trending down so it seems like SLC would be a better place for a franchise to thrive. Another California team like San Jose could be an option. The Bay Area had two teams for a long time and San Jose could rely on big tech buying up corporate sponsorships? Vancouver is another option but I just don't see it for some reason, though it probably makes as much sense as SLC.

[L54]

Yeah and since Nashville is the clear front runner it would make sense to pair it with a western team which needs more teams.

 

There's not many options out west though. Portland at one point would have been the frontrunner but SLC is trending up and Portland is trending down so it seems like SLC would be a better place for a franchise to thrive. Another California team like San Jose could be an option. The Bay Area had two teams for a long time and San Jose could rely on big tech buying up corporate sponsorships? Vancouver is another option but I just don't see it for some reason, though it probably makes as much sense as SLC.

 

Ya I was thinking the same thing, that one of a theoretical new teams needs to be located in the west to make sense geographically

 

Vancouver seems like they should be able to support a team but there’s never really ever any smoke there. BC is Canada’s baseball hotbed for obvious reasons and would make for a great natural rival in Seattle

 

Portland sucks, definitely trending down. Not sure where else is even logical with LV now in the fold.

[L54]

I think you are correct in the sense that Tony Clark likely doesn't consider that pre-arb players getting paid peanuts is why middle of the road vets can't make any money. Why pay a guy $10 million for 1-1.5 WAR when you can get 0.75 from a 600K pre arb guy?

 

Well said and would help the old timers keep their jobs

[Terminator]

Ya I was thinking the same thing, that one of a theoretical new teams needs to be located in the west to make sense geographically

 

Vancouver seems like they should be able to support a team but there’s never really ever any smoke there. BC is Canada’s baseball hotbed for obvious reasons and would make for a great natural rival in Seattle

 

Portland sucks, definitely trending down. Not sure where else is even logical with LV now in the fold.

 

I don't know if this is fair or not but it seems like the Vancouver Grizzlies were seen as the worst expansion team in the history of sports and I bet that has lead to its perception about getting other expansion teams, including in different sports like baseball.

 

It'd still be a good western option though; the minor league team does well and they pack Seattle anytime the Jays are in town. I'd rank it on par with SLC and probably San Jose (this is barely a real city but I think the corporate opportunities could help it overcome that).

[L54]

I don't know if this is fair or not but it seems like the Vancouver Grizzlies were seen as the worst expansion team in the history of sports and I bet that has lead to its perception about getting a baseball team. It'd still be a good western option though and I'd rank it on par with SLC and San Jose.

 

Before my time so I really don’t know but could be

[Terminator]

 

You love to see it

[wilko]

 

You love to see it

 

Dudes cooked!

[Spanky__99]

Dudes cooked!

 

[Carlos Danger]

I wasn’t old enough to ever watch the Expos, but as a Jays fan I think it would be great to have a 2nd Canadian team.

 

I feel like Vancouver would be a better spot though. Huge asian community, and the Single A team there draws very well from what I hear.

 

Isn’t the Asian community in Vancouver primarily Chinese (mainland & Hong Kong) though?

 

Not Japanese or Taiwanese?

 

Regardless, I think Vancouver would be better than Montreal.

[Laika]

Red Sox and Bello sign a six-year, $55MM extension that’ll give the team an extra two years of control.

 

Seems unnecessary.

 

Maybe it's "for the fans" in the wake of the Giolito injury. Like, they were sort of dicking around with it but then pulled the trigger because everyone wants them to sign a SP and they don't want to. Something else to talk about. Hey we did spend money this winter! We extended Bello!

[John_Havok]

I don't know if this is fair or not but it seems like the Vancouver Grizzlies were seen as the worst expansion team in the history of sports and I bet that has lead to its perception about getting other expansion teams, including in different sports like baseball.

 

It'd still be a good western option though; the minor league team does well and they pack Seattle anytime the Jays are in town. I'd rank it on par with SLC and probably San Jose (this is barely a real city but I think the corporate opportunities could help it overcome that).

 

THe issue with Vancouver is getting a partnership together and building a new park in a good location. BC Place would be a dumpster fire just like the Big O.

[connorp]

Bauer will pitch at the LAD ST complex against their minor leaguers in a game for a traveling Japan team. Kind of funny

[RustyTrombone]

Bauer will pitch at the LAD ST complex against their minor leaguers in a game for a traveling Japan team. Kind of funny

 

So hes going back to the NPB this year then?

[connorp]

So hes going back to the NPB this year then?

 

No. It’s just a Japanese traveling team that plays against minor leaguers

[mphenhef]

Before my time so I really don’t know but could be

 

 

The Raptors and Grizzlies were brought in with some rules that made live a lot more difficult for them compared to other expansion teams (especially compared to what the NHL does now). The big one is they were barred from having top picks for three years (Imagine the Raps with Iverson and Grizz with Duncan as that's what that rule prevented) but they also weren't allowed to spend up to the cap.

 

They were very mismanaged and didn't put an exciting product on the court (Big country Bryant Reeves was a decent player but not exciting in any way. Same with Shareef Abdur-Rahim who was a good player but didn't have an exciting game. Steve Francis being drafted and refusing to play for them may have been the nail in the coffin for the team). Surely a lockout early in the teams history didn't help either.

[Carlos Danger]

Supposedly Jordan Montgomery has stopped following the Rangers on IG and has started following the Dodgers…..

[Stangstag]

Vancouver couldn't support a Basketball team that only plays 41 home games per year in a stadium that holds 19,700 people. Do you honestly think they could support a baseball team that plays 81 home games with a larger stadium?

 

Its a completely different sport and a different time.