glory

Love seeing Manfred get roasted by not only baseball players, but by the biggest sports star in the world right now.

Yeah the average age of a baseball viewer is late 50's I think, so they definitely run the risk of alienating their existing fanbase if they try to appeal to a different one. Likely not as much of an issue with the NBA since they have a younger fanbase. Still, it's adapt or die time for MLB. Society is changing and they need to evolve with it. Silver changing the format of the all star game multiple times and even adding a mid season tournament next year when the game is at the peak of its mainstream popularity just shows how creative that league is. They are willing to try and fail rather than stick with the status quo. Hell, look at the the NBA game today versus 15 years ago. The Pistons and Spurs were having games that had scores of 84-78. Now the game is completely different. Some times you have to push tradition aside from the sake of the game's health, and for some reason baseball views itself like church. That's not going to age well. I hope if/when Manfred is gone (hopefully soon) they get a more progressive commish.

I think Manfred was not allowed to penalize the players (due to the MLBPA), which is why they were granted immunity. The most he probably could have done without legal backlash was vacated the title, and I think that would have solved a lot of the PR mess that followed, but he decided not to open that box, and it has cost him dearly in the court of public opinion. Honestly if he suspended no one and just vacated the 2017 title, I think all of this blows over. I'm curious to see if he decides to change his mind and vacate it now that he's found himself in a PR mess, but I still doubt it because as mentioned I think a lot of teams are electronically cheating and he wants to bury this as quickly as possible. Regardless I don't know how in the world he could not stop himself for verbally degrading the World Series trophy in a sport that he's directly responsible for improving revenue. I used to sympathize with him because I think fixing baseball is not going to be easy, but it seems he's done everything wrong or shown little/no effort in trying to improve it. Even his words show no love for the game.

There's definitely more cheating around the league, that is why I think he has no intention of vacating the 2017 WS. Once the 2018 Red Sox stuff comes out, then there will be an outcry to vacate that title as well. Then if we later find out the Cubs cheated in 2016, etc, etc, etc. He doesn't want to open that Pandora's Box.

Milb hates him, MLBPA hates him, the fans hate him, and now he’s routinely called out by players. Attendance is dropping and I believe some important TV deals have to be renewed soon. He should be on thin ice. MLB is a $10B industry despite arguably the worst marketing of any sports org in the country. Imagine if they actually put money into marketing? I’m not sure Manfred lasts even if he prevents a work stoppage. By the time the CBA expires he will be 63. He’s already out of touch with what society wants, it’s not going to get any better with age.

Damn I didn't realize Manfred referred to the World Series trophy as a "piece of metal". No wonder the players are lashing out at him. What a tone deaf thing to say about what should symbolize the biggest prize in your own sport. No wonder the marketing under his watch is so bad. I hope this Astros thing pisses off the owners too. I don't think it will unless the league starts losing money, but dammit I'm fully on board with Manfred getting the F out of this sport.

That would make more sense as Friedman is smart, and I don't think Rengifo for Pederson and Stripling + is a good deal for LAD. I guess we'd have to know what other pieces the Angels were going to give up in this deal before we can fully evaluate, but from 2020 perspective, that type of deal would have helped the Angels a lot. Trout needs to see post season in his prime (as long as it doesn't impact the Jays making it). Not sure they are quite there yet as is, but haven't seen the projected standings.

I read it off MLBTR: "The trade that would have sent Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson and Ross Stripling to the Angels for infielder Luis Rengifo and outfield prospect Andy Pages appears to be dead." Maybe they got Pages confused with someone else.

MLBTR saying the deal was Pederson and Stripling for Rengifo and Andy Pages (very low minors OF). Seemed like a really good deal for the Angels. Pederson only has a year of control left, but they only needed him for a year anyway since they are grooming Adell to take that spot by 2021. A 3 WAR OF for a season plus 2 WAR rotation depth would have been huge for the Angels. They need every 2020 win they can get.

It appears Bichette-Biggio-Vlad is going to be the top 3. After that there really isn't a right or wrong answer on the placement since there is so much volatility in most of the other hitters on the team. Have to go by performance from there.

We can complain about Rogers, but at least they don't do stuff like this.

Yeah Manfred is definitely too rigid to be in his current role. The NBA isn't perfect, but Adam Silver is never satisfied with status quo, and is always trying new things to spice up the league. Manfred hasn't really done anything aside from tiny cosmetic changes to speed up the game, but nothing as far as trying to reach more fans. A live draft like the NBA has would be great for baseball. Have Trout and Bellinger, or whoever, have 30 minutes to have a live draft and explain their picks. Would be a great way to expose their personalities to a mainstream audience. Or hell, do USA versus the World as the All Star game (guarantee Silver tries this within the next 5 years). It's just sad that the NBA is growing and still willing to change things, while MLB is losing mainstream relevance but wants to avoid change completely. Silver is only a few years younger than Manfred so it's not even a "get someone younger" issue. It's a "get someone smarter" issue.

Damn, even Trout is going in on Manfred and MLB for the (lack of) punishment. Manfred needs to vacate the 2017 World Series title. That’s the only way to get players and fans to move on.

If you want to listen to Rob Manfred speak for 45 minutes (who doesn't?), here is his latest ESPN interview where he discusses everything.

MLB should adopt the NBA all star game format of picking teams. Have the two leading vote getters in the AL and NL go on live TV and pick their rosters like it was a fantasy draft. League doesn't matter. First round is just picking the players voted in, last round is picking the reserves. It would be a good way to market stars and get some original content for a network like ESPN who likes this sort of stuff.

Grichuk has a 100 wRC+ since the start of 2016 (over 2000 plate appearances). That and a sub-.300 OBP are pretty reasonable expectations for him. If he’s anywhere near one of the best hitters on the team in 2020 then I hope it’s because he broke out with the bat. If he’s the same old dude he’s been for years now and ends up being one of our better hitters, then that means it will be a long season. I’m just glad they are putting him in CF. At least the bat plays up a little bit in that spot.

I am happy for Pillar that he's getting paid. With this recent contract he's going to have around $15m in earnings for his career. For a 32nd round pick that hasn't been able to hit well his whole career, that is a pretty damn good accomplishment.

Shun has incentives in his contract based on innings pitched. I think he's penciled in as the #5 starter heading into spring training. Of course with injuries you never know how the rotation will shake out.

The one positive about this is that MLB has effectively created a super villain team now in the Astros. Every other fanbase is going to hate them. There will undoubtedly be players (Bregman) who will be hit on purpose, which will trend on Twitter/lead Sports Center when it happens, etc. It will bring attention to the game. For a league that needs attention, that's the best part about this scandal. A Yankees/Astros playoff rematch (which could still conceivably happen as the Astros without Cole and without cheating are still probably really good) would be great for the sport considering the circumstances around 2017 and 2019. I just think players are acting outraged because it is easy to do and will garner attention. It's a smart move on their part with no downside.

Borucki shut down with elbow tightness.

I have no idea if those numbers are accurate or not, but yes it will shave time from games. Will it be every game? No but that’s not the objective. IBB don’t happen every game either but holding up 4 fingers and letting the batter go to first is better than having to throw 4 intentional balls. Having excessive pitching changes in an inning is dumb. If pitchers can’t get anyone out then of course take them out but chances are you’ll need more than one batter to know whether a RP is “on” anyway. If they come in with runners on base then the manager would have to evaluate which type of RP he needs out there rather than planning on lefty/righty matchups. Small things in baseball can be changed every now and then without it being bad for the sport.

Exactly. If you have good relievers, they’ll be able to get 3 outs regardless of the splits. I don’t know why anyone would be against this. There will still be strategy involved. I know Manfred is an easy target nowadays but this and the IBB were both good “pace of play” decisions. If it means less lefties who face one batter and throw 85 mph junk, then so be it.

It's probably a distraction but Manfred is trying to sell baseball to TV networks. Adding more original/playoff content is only going to increase the type of deal they get. I don't know if this specific format is the one they end up adopting, but something similar will probably happen by the next CBA. I've been hearing a lot of radio talk about this, and one point that I agree with is that every other sport has changed drastically. Look at the NBA during Jordan's time and compare it to now. It's practically a different game. The NFL as well. Baseball is the sport that avoids change like the plague because they have felt for so long that they didn't need to. Now the world has changed, and they need to. It's just a matter of how much change is required.

Every position player the Yankees touch turns into a great hitter for some reason. Literally every single season. Wouldn't surprise me if something was up with them. And the Rays.