Terminator

Ok cool, thanks. I didn't know they were doing that.

Nope. No sarcasm. Can you explain those pictures? I see two clocks with 18 and 16 seconds on them.

If they want to improve pace of play I think they could perhaps start some program in the minors where they encourage pitchers to speed up the amount of time between pitches and encourage hitters to stay in the box. Then after this has had some time to settle in, say 10 years down the road or something, they could put a timer on pitchers and perhaps not allow batters to leave the box. It's unfair to expect veterans who have longstanding routines to start doing something different. But I wouldn't even do that. Frankly it's all a bunch of BS to me. I like the game and don't really care if casual fans lose interest and the sport slips to 3rd or 4th most popular in the US. The game is slow to develop between plays and that's just the way it is. Without changing the game play maybe they could give each manager 3 timeouts to be used for mound visits by the Catcher, pitching coach or manager (pitching changes aren't time outs). If you lose a replay challenge you lose a timeout. I think creating better ballpark experiences and finding a way to promote its stars better should be a focus rather than pace of play. Moving to Under Armor was a nice little step. I like that they are getting more buzz for the draft now, that needs to continue. I think the All-Star Futures Game format could be changed to make it a Rookie big leaguers vs. Minor leaguers. Or maybe they just leave the Futures Game the way it is and have a Rookies vs. Sophomores game like the NBA does.

If the Marlins are being sold for 1.6 Billion how much could the Yankees go for?

Stud leadoff hitter for Buffalo.

But see Manfred is already thinking two steps ahead because the pitcher can now just point to first base instead of having to throw 4 intentional balls, thus improving pace of play.

Lol nice signature.

FL has no state income tax either while California is something like 11% for top earners. Pretty crazy for him to turn down a bunch of money like that. LA is probably the most desirable place to live for Mexican-Americans though.

Yeah he walks and he hits the ball hard so there was some upside I suppose. Problem is those skills don't translate very well to his results and there was a glut of better players available this offseason. On top of it, if CC for 3 mil makes Smoak's 8.4 mil look bad, it does the same to Morales' 33 million. I still don't get that one. Otherwise I think it's been a good offseason.

Nice deal for the Yanks. Meanwhile Smoak is signed for 2 years, 8.4 mil.

Grant- you're thinking patriotic like an American! I like it.

Check out his K rate. Projects be over 8 per 9 which is great for a starting pitcher. His groundball rate is also really good.

Agreed 100%. He's a very legit #6 SP. Could be in the backend of a lot of big league rotations this year. Very good K rate and groundball rate.

God Bless America in the 7th inning should definitely go away. They can sing it on 4th of July or Memorial Day or other patriotic holidays. I don't mind the National Anthem although it should probably just be for the country the game is played in. No need for the Canadian one in the States and vice versa. But it just kind of starts the game off with the right flow. You s.tand and sing the national anthem, there's a brief warmup afterward, and then the ump yells play ball.

Good depth options?

Yeah that's true. I guess they'll have to pitch him in 2 inning stints or something. Then when the time comes he'll have to be on a strict pitch count until he can build up.

Ok thanks. So when making mock 25 man rosters he should probably be included then. He's our only legit SP depth right now there is no way they lose him. BTS should list him on the Offseason Roster Thread; he's got to be a safe bet to make the team.

Sorry all, I'm not being very clear. I know he's out of options and I know that if he's on the 25 man roster and sent down he'd have to clear waivers (he wouldn't). My question is, can he just start the year in AAA without having to be optioned? If so then it would make sense to have him fully stretched out starting down there rather than being the long reliever on the big league team.

So he has to be on the big league team all season? Or can he start in the minors and once called up he can't be sent down again?

Biagini might as well stretch out and prepare to be a starter. We've got Bolsinger and no one else as depth so if anyone gets hurt in ST we'll need Biagini. If we make it out of ST unscathed then perhaps Biagini could move back to the pen. Also, quick question- can Bolsinger start off in the minors? Or does he have to be on the big league club?

Indians got Logan for 6 mil. How stupid are the Rockies? They give Ian Desmond more money than what EE got and almost doubled what Trumbo and others got. Then they give Mike Dunn 19 million when the Boone Logan's and Howell's are getting 3 to 6 million. Basically, the Rockies pissed away 90 million on inferior players to the 72 million that the Indians spent.

Like who? Zeke?

Chris Coghlan to the Phillies. Scratch that idea.

A lot. The better players (Pearce and Upton) are on the short side of the platoons as currently constructed. Gibby will need to platoon them a lot less or he risks giving the lion's share of playing time to Smoak and Zeke.

We have a lot of guys north of 30 that are another year older and we lost EE. I think we are worse but I was tempted to vote same.