glory

Kershaw dealing so far. Rooting for him to have a great post season. One of the greatest of this era needs to change the narrative on his playoff history.

Yeah with the Yankees looking like s***, that would be the best matchup. No one is going to throw at each other in a WS, but those teams hate each other, and that's what creates excitement. The Rays/Braves would be the worst because I'd have to either root for the Rays or root for AA, and I refuse to do either one. That would be the worst case scenario.

Yes. I want Yankees/Dodgers or Astros/Dodgers. The former for the betterment of the sport (NY and LA would draw ratings), and the latter because they hate each other and it would be intense. The Rays are a great team, but also represent everything that is wrong in the sport. If they make/win the WS, just watch how teams emulate them by being cheap as hell and "optimizing" rosters.

I give up. The Rays are making, and possibly winning the World Series. I just have to accept this.

By real prospect, I meant a top prospect. A one year rental for a player making over $20m during Covid season may not be as appealing to teams as it otherwise would be. I think you're right that them holding on to Bryant for a year might be better for them. I don't see a team giving up significant prospect capital in that type of trade this winter (Lindor might be the exception) but maybe I'm wrong.

I think everyone expects some form of expanded playoffs to stick around long term, even if it is 12 or 14 teams instead of 16, so good to see that they got pretty decent numbers out of it despite early timeslots, overlapping games, stiff competition, and ESPN barely putting any effort into promoting it. Of course, the Jays/Rays did terribly on TBS, but every Jays series is going to do bad in the States since they don't count Canadian viewers, and no one wants to watch the Rays in any country.

I would be fine with either one, but Bryant seems more of a fit considering he plays 3B, is going to be way more expensive in arb (so lesser acquisition cost), and a better hitter. If the Jays are in a rush to move Bo off SS, then Baez might make more sense in that scenario, but if they are willing to ride it out for a bit waiting for Groshans/Martin to supplant him, then a 3B would be a better fit. Especially one with Bryant's upside, even if it's only for a year. I doubt it will take a real prospect to get him either.

HP ump in that game was trash, although that statement could apply to every MLB game played.

Holy s*** what a shot by Stanton.

So the Yanks waste Deivi Garcia for one inning just so they could fool the Rays with lineup construction? That seems kind of pointless. At least the Jays let Shoemaker throw 3 innings. Analytics isn't fun regardless of who does it. I'm rooting for the Yankees here but that was a questionable move.

I want the Dodgers against either NYY or HOU in the World Series (rivalries > underdogs making it), but as I said before, the most fitting way to end the insanity of this 2020 sports year would be a Marlins WS win. Either give me a rivalry or pure insanity. I won't settle for anything else.

The Marlins throwing at Acuna seems to be a tradition.

Acuna destroyed that one.

A fully healthy Yankees offense is insane.

I'd root for any team that faces LeBron in the finals, but I agree this is going to be a gentleman's sweep. Heat have some key injuries and the Lakers have two of the top 5 players in the league. Chances of the Heat winning 4 out of 5 (now 3 out of 4) is very unlikely.

The A's are still a good team, obviously not as good without Chapman, but still a team capable of winning a short series against an inferior opponent. The White Sox (like everyone else in the Central) benefitted from a regional schedule, even though I like them a lot long term. I was rooting for the Sox, but not surprised the A's won. They can probably take the series from the Astros too with their injuries, but would be surprised if they can beat NYY/TAM beyond that.

He would be the ideal fit for the Jays needs, but I can't see him signing with the Jays. Lindor is more likely. His final year of arb is going to be very expensive, and teams like the Indians are going to feel the Covid losses more than bigger markets. Almost a certainty that they'll trade him. What it would take to get him, and whether the Jays would pay (in prospects) for a rental, or pay him what it would take to keep him long term, is the question. But he definitely seems like a realistic target, and a great fit for the roster itself (vetrin presents at age 27).

They should have had him just play 3B this year since he had no time to learn 1B, and make the transition in 2021. They should just pick a spot for him and then work on his hitting.

I actually wouldn't mind the Marlins winning it all just for the sheer insanity of it. I doubt they get past the Braves, but no World Series winner would better represent 2020.

Yeah the NHL might as well not exist in mainstream America, so NBC hasn't helped them at all. I know CBS used to broadcast MLB many years ago (when the Jays were in the World Series), and they currently air the NFL, but don't know enough about the network to know whether that's even an option. I can't think of any cable networks off the top of my head since Fox and Turner are the big ones aside from ESPN/ABC. MLB does a poor job with marketing their sport, so they deserve blame, but man, watching that ESPN block, that network doesn't give a damn about baseball. They barely promoted it on the day they were airing 7 games, and very little effort was given when actually airing the games. The NHL has somewhat proven that not having ESPN's good side may not be beneficial to your league, so maybe MLB just needs to accept it and take the money, but not sure being on a network that either ignores you during the season or has announcers who spend all game telling you how great the game used to be is going to help the sport long term. Put Jeff Passan on baseball related shows as much as possible, that would be a start.

I really hope Money Hungry Manfred moves on from ESPN when that deal is up. The playoffs this year have been a joke. Relic announcers who sound like they haven't watched baseball in a decade, unenthusiastic calls for big home runs (see Tatis' HR's last night), stupid gimmicks in between games to distract from the actual baseball on the field, etc. Then, I looked at ESPN's YouTube page, and not a single baseball highlight in there FROM THE GAMES THEY BROADCASTED. Could have easily put the Tatis bat flip on their channel since I'm assuming MLB would be OK with that given it aired on their network, but nothing except LeBron and the NBA. I'm sure ESPN will offer the most money, but there has to be another network, either on cable or network (CBS? NBC?) that could do more to promote the sport and not see a major difference in total viewers.

Really pulling for the Padres here. I've seen enough of the Cards for the last two decades. Time for Tatis to carry this sport on his back!

Yeah I expect a bunch of trades/roster moves this winter, especially if the minor league contraction or whatever the hell that is ends up happening. Given where the Jays are in their competitive window (not quite a playoff team but maybe a few pieces away), it might make sense to trade prospects for big leaguers this winter. With Kirk on the 40 man, wouldn't shock me if Moreno is moved as I believe he is Rule 5 eligible.

I used his last 5 years. That's a pretty big sample. The 2015 season is irrelevant because it was six seasons ago and a complete outlier compared to the rest of his career. He's been ~100 wRC+ for the last five years. Some years a little better, some years a little worse, but that's what he's been. That's what he's likely going to be in a full time role, give or take. Maybe he pulls off a late career breakout at age 30, but I wouldn't count on it.