Brownie19

That defensive coordinator is going to have nightmares over his call for a slot blitz - leaving Kupp 1 on 1 v. the safety.

Exactly - let him become the prison bitch until he decides to kill himself. That's the type of suffering he deserves.

Holy f*** - so did I. That's hard to process.

Major League Baseball is expanding its automated strike zone experiment to Triple-A. It's one step closer to the automated zone being implemented in the majors. According to the Associated Press, several Triple-A teams have posted job postings seeking seasonal employees to operate the system. Last year, the "robot umpires" at home plate were used in eight of the nine ballparks in the Low-A Southeast League. It's likely other MiLB leagues will use the system, as well.

Is there any guarantee that Montreal would be a successful location?

According to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, the Rays' plan to split their seasons between Tampa Bay and Montreal "has been killed by Major League Baseball officials." Rays ownership has been pumping up this project for more than two years, and Topkin notes that MLB's decision to suddenly put an end to it frustrated and stunned team officials. The organization's focus, per Topkin's sources, will now shift toward building a new permanent home in the Tampa Bay area. There had been chatter about full-on relocation before the wonky split-city concept began to take shape in 2019. The current lease agreement at Tropicana Field is set to expire at the conclusion of the 2027 season.

I think the offer from Lockard is further off than the one that McGrath suggested

Great question - would anyone else have done the research and exposed the Astros?

That was the first time I heard of Jomboy and have been following and loving their s*** every since. I suspect they would have grown without it, but they got a s*** ton of exposure from that breakdown.

Jonathan India and Dylan Cease also joined Boras.

I wonder if they bought the Astros something to thank them for putting Jomboy on the map. The trash can breakdown was massive for them.

I thought they were going to announce that Kenny was coming on board. New office looks good though.

Good god - I just went to look up the Rockies stats on Fangraphs and Marquez was the 8th best OFFENSIVE player last year with a 0.7 WAR. What a horrible organization. McMahon is a career 87 wRC+ hitter over 1500+ PA's. I'm not sure he's a solution at all. I'd rather keep Biggio.

Quite a set on the lady in red. Great addition.

I don't disagree. I mean by all means if their goal is to increase spending in general, then implement a salary floor. I'm just saying I'm not sure that will necessarily result in more competition across the league. It probably will to some extent, but there will still be lots of teams who aren't 'trying to win' even though they are spending more.

Brownie for Union President?

This may be hard to explain, but I think you have to implement something that will change the business models for teams. In the example you provided, I suspect the Jays looked at it and said - even though we are 'retooling' and don't expect to win, we're willing to spend more money now to stay somewhat competitive between 2017-2019 because we're riding the coat tails of the 2015-2016 teams/playoff appearances. I fully suspect their modelling indicated the projected return was worth the investment. You can't apply that model across the board and expect similar results. If Pittsburgh signs Rodon and the O's sign Suzuki - the team will still suck balls and won't be anywhere near the playoffs. Will that investment generate more revenue and profit? I suspect the answer is no - no it won't. So while that sucks for baseball, only moronic owners are going to ignore that. That's why we see teams like the Cubs (who can spend) go through a full rebuild, slash spending and save up their money and spend it when they hit the right portion of the win curve. Until you change those dynamics - I doubt much will change. Until finishing with between 70 and 80 wins consistently nets you more revenue and profit than finishing with 60-70 wins - teams will continue to manipulate their assets (ie prospects) and spending accordingly. As much as I don't like it, increasing the # of teams that make the playoffs may be part of the solution as I have to think that making the playoffs has a tangible impact on revenue and profit. Making it easier to make the playoffs will change the business models. I wonder if you could implement something where a larger portion of the profit sharing or TV deal money is given to teams with more than 70 wins (or whatever number makes sense). If we do implement a salary 'floor' - I do wonder if teams will use the money they have to spend to actually get better. I suspect some will use it to rebuild. They'll 'take' s***** contracts back in exchange for better prospects and those s***** contracts will allow them to get up to the floor without the team actually improving. I think they'll keep doing that if there's no financial benefit to being a 75 win team instead of a 65 win team....they'll manipulate the system to try and land enough good talent to finally break through the 75 win threshold and move up into the optimal location on the win curve where they'll be real contender - because that will have a tangible impact on their revenue/profit.

They do? I mean obviously there are some great organizations out there that do build consistent contenders, but most do it by either A) spending a s*** ton of money on players, which isn't something all Owners can do (NYY, BOS, LA, etc.); or they manipulate the system, trade stars before they become too expensive and draft/trade/develop great (TB, OAK). The Cardinals might be the only real example that fits your suggestion. They are often around the 10th highest payroll (although it's gone up to about 5 a few times) and often retain their good players.

Yeah - MLB Network guy was suggesting Lester is absolutely a HOF pitcher. You can't add him if you're leaving Pettitte out.

Ah - that makes more sense and I agree - it's pretty s*****. Thanks for clarifying.

I mean $700,000 from $575,000 is still a 21.7% increase. I guess you could argue it's been too low forever and a 50% increase is appropriate, but if they got to the high end of that report, it's not awful. I don't think you can expect the Owners to agree to some massive increase all in one year. I could see them setting it at $700K, with yearly escalation clauses that allow it to approach the 'right' number over the next 5-10 years. $700K with a 5% annual increase gets them to $1M in 8 years.

So Ken Griffey Jr in RF. Nice.

How much does a guy have to hit to justify this move? I mean Bryce Harper was moved from catcher to OF to fast track his development and avoid the punishment, but he's a career 142 wRC+ hitter. Are you moving Moreno off catcher if he's a 115 wRC+ hitter while playing 3rd base? How much do we think someone's offensive production decreases due to playing catcher? If Moreno's a 115 wRC+ hitter at 3rd base, would he be a 105 wRC+ hitter as a catcher? These are just theoretical numbers for an example. I'm obviously hopeful that Moreno is a 125+ wRC+ hitter.

Jesus - has the talent level dropped significantly in Cuba over the past few years?

I suspect the argument is that if you're going to cut my salary because the stadium is empty, you need to increase it when the stadium is full. The NHL started postponing games simply because of the capacity limits set by the government.