I think the notable personnel changes from last year's playoffs are:
- Cease and Ponce replacing Bassitt and Scherzer
- Okamoto replacing Bichette
- Rogers replacing Dominguez
The team looks pretty similar overall to the team that played game 7 last year. Probably about the same total projected WAR.
The key is that this year's team looks a lot better and deeper than the team that went into spring training last year. If they play as expected I expect them to be very aggressive at the deadline.
26M in CBT hit per year for both, only Cease's deal goes two years longer. Much rather have Cease even with the extra two years of term. He's been a lot more durable, and it's a lot easier to dream on a CY caliber season for him than it is for Suarez sitting 91.
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.