Brownie19

Brock Holt signs with the Brewers. Good little pickup for them.

How do you guys feel about categorizing cheating? Do you believe that all cheating is cheating and it should be punished similarly? Do you believe we should 'rank' cheating into different levels and penalize them differently? If so - how do you decide those levels? I mean it's universally known that almost every pitcher in baseball is using a foreign substance to gain grip. That's cheating. Is it 'OK' because everyone is doing it? Why isn't the baseball world losing their minds over it? Is it because they assume it doesn't have a major impact on outcome of the game? I mean in this new world of spin rates and strikeouts - why isn't there more focus on this? Do we know whether it gives some pitchers more advantage than it does other pitchers? Do we know if some teams have a better 'product' than others? Do we know when pitchers started using it? Was it one (or a handful) of teams using it originally and did they have an advantage over the rest of the league for a year or two? I find it fascinating that fans are losing their minds over the Astros. Change the record books, life suspensions, etc...when there's probably all kinds of cheating going on in baseball. It's fascinating that players will speak out against the Astros - yet I don't remember Bellinger (or other players) speaking out against other players and even his own teammates who were using PEDs and cheating. Why not? Why isn't there talk of throwing at players coming back from PED suspensions? discuss.

yes. obviously it does or I wouldn't have pointed it out. duh.

how many times are you going to share this opinion?

Made me tear up this morning watching the memorial videos on Sportsnet. Brought back so many great memories of my childhood. A class act and truly one of the best Blue Jays ever. He will be missed. I was able to show old highlight videos of Tony to my 9 year old son today (who's a SS himself). He was amazed at how smooth he was and how he could throw it from any angle. RIP Tony.

That's an incredible joke. Keep bringing the goods EastCoaster!!!

Can I get clarification on what I'm reading? Is this saying that in 2019 there were 691 times that a relief pitcher was pulled from a game without facing at least 3 batters or finishing the inning? And in those 691 appearances, those pitchers got absolutely torched? Is that just suggesting that situational pitching changes don't work?

I was joking - but in this case, PED's and the man in white are the obvious answers Boxy.

RIP Borucki.

This is shaping up as an early "thread of the year" candidate.

Also curious where Beans got those numbers. Although my perception is that baseball has been generally going away from lefty/righty match ups over the past few years. I could totally be wrong, but now that everyone out of the pen throws 95+, it seems like the soft throwing LOOGY's have been kind of pushed aside. I mean the Jays haven't had a true LOOGY for awhile now (Mayza could get both sides out).

how else does Gio Urshela become David Wright over night?

You can just fake an injury...

The 3 batter rule will just create new strategies and new 'games within the game'. 8th inning of a tied game, 2 out, runners on 2nd and 3rd. Do you bring in the lefty to pitch to the other teams top left handed hitter? If he walks that hitter, he has to stay in to face their top right handed batter who tears up LHP....

I guess the question is....is making the playoffs really that exciting when there's a very slim chance of winning - or even hosting a playoff game at home (see fangraphs breakdown). If the answer is 'yes - I'll be super excited to see us make the playoffs even if our chances of winning are <5%' - then I guess you'll support more teams.

I don't know man. While I understand that from a WAR perspective, he might be more valuable as a full time RFer, you can't deny it's pretty exciting and unique to see a player who can dominate on the mound and in the batters box. Selfishly - I hope we get to see what he can do as a starter/DH over a couple full seasons. Then it would be interesting if they transitions him into a RF/DH/RP. The other consideration is the Angels probably have an agreement with Ohtani in terms of how he'll be used. They may not yet have the ability to change the original approach (which was part of his original signing).

Top 4 teams in each 'league' make the playoffs (ie, 8 total?) Regarding the replay review....is that what the NBA is doing? Are the coaches just making decisions based on what they see (or what their players say) v. waiting for some guy to look at the replay? I fully agree with this approach.

anyone know how many days off they actually get in a season? I thought teams got like 3 or 4 per month. I'm not sure reducing that is a good idea. That said, I would like to see the # of days off in the playoffs reduced. Keep the strategy more consistent to what you'd see in the regular season.

I'm not sure it's possible to reduce off-days...

Everybody hit Bolsinger hard. They must all be stealing signs.

The issue is in a 3 games series - anything can happen. The 2nd base team in the league will have to play very short, 3 game series against some team that just snuck into the playoffs. Personally - I'm OK with this when it's the wild card teams. If you don't want to play in a coin flip, winner take all game - then win the division; however, I feel like teams that actually win the division should get the opportunity to play in a 5 or 7 game series.

I'm not a huge fan of the division winners (who don't finish with the best records) only getting a 3 game series. I hate the idea of more teams making the playoffs. I understand they think it will keep teams from tanking and keep fans in the seats. If that were true, I could probably live with it; however - if the playoffs started today, the Raps play the Nets, who are well under .500. In both the NBA and NHL, far too many s***** teams make the playoffs and it makes the regular season somewhat pointless. I want the regular season to matter. I'm indifferent on the 'pick your opponent' option.

I love the WC game. I understand that after 162 games, it becomes a bit of a coin flip, but if you don't like it - win the division. Winner take all games are the f***ing tits.

What is your position on using 'code breaker' to teach players to steal signs (and relay them to the batter) while on 2nd base? I believe people generally believe stealing signs while on 2nd base is fair game - but what if they get better at it by studying film and using an algorithm program (much like they do to learn pitchers tendencies for pitch types used in certain situations). As long as you're not using the program in-game...is it OK?