I was thinking that when I was looking at his page. Even in his prime he was sitting 94, and I remember him having electric stuff. I would have guessed he was throwing like 98-100
I know you guys are talking about bats, as it relates to Tucker. But at least next year's FA SP pool looks deep: Skubal, Peralta, Sale, Wodruff, Pivetta, Luzardo, Gausman, Imanaga, King, Imai, Bubic, Bieber is one of the deepest SP pools in awhile
Looking at the HoF voting, I kind of feel like K-Rod deserves more of a push:
6th all-time in saves
11th all-time in reliever WPA and 13th in RA-9 WAR (worse in WAR because his ERA was a lot better than his FIP)
12th all-time time in reliever Ks
single-season saves record (62)
played a major role on a world series winning team
I think all things considered he's right there with Jansen, Kimbrel, and Chapman and I think 2-3 of those guys eventually get in.
Apparently Arizona is only paying him 5M in 2026 and 6m in 2027 so I kind of get it. Cheap dice roll on a guy who projects as league average as a hedge against Lawlar not being ready to contribute.
The income tax thing is a great point, and the impact of it in the NHL has been enormous. States with no income tax have won 5 of the last 6 Stanley Cups.
So the salary cap basically ruined hockey - the league is now 2-3 elite teams, 2-3 bad teams and 25 interchangeable mediocre teams. It's also pretty much impossible to compete perpetually - you need to go in cycles. And potential dynasties are torn apart prematurely by the cap. It's basically a flat league.
Do we think a cap would do the same with baseball, or would well-run teams still be able to perpetually contend?
I don't have a strong opinion that Jones shouldn't be in. His numbers dictate that he should be. He just doesn't feel like a HoFer to me. Probably because I rarely watched him play , and WAR wasn't really on people's radar when he was at his peak, so I didn't really appreciate how good his defense made him.
Looks like Andruw Jones and Beltan will be inducted to the HoF this year.
I'm usually a big hall guy, but Jones doesn't really feel like a HoFer to me. Weird that he'll be in and Jim Edmonds isn''t.
Seems like they should be able to trade Schultz for something small? Optionable for two more years, handled himself in MLB last year and looks like someone who can eat innings a hair above replacement level when needed. Not who I expected to get DFA'd.
Interesting - I had no idea. That should make Jimenez the odd man out then. This team just can't roster a fringe guy who's out of options. I think there's a chance they might actually get something for him, beyond the usual cash considerations. He has a chance to be a very useful player to the right team.
I know I'm in the minority, but if I had a vote and deGrom retired today, I'd vote for him. His peak from 2018 until he got hurt in 2021 was the best I've ever seen as fan. Two Cy Youngs, and an ERA under 2.6 over 248 starts is just insane to me. He's dominated like a HoF reliever on a per inning basis, and done it over 1500+ innings.
I'm hoping he can stay healthy enough to pitch some more full seasons late in his career. If he gets to 2000 IP hell breeze past 2000 Ks and 50 fWAR, and I think that would get him in eventually. If he blows out his arm tomorrow, I think he doesn't get in.
Looking more and more like Felix will eventually get into the HoF. And that should make Chris Sale a slam dunk, and possibly open the door for deGrom, Cole, and Wheeler if they can put a few more good seasons on the board,