Balta1701

Ok, Katz is one of the most effective cheaters in the sport. Compliments to him for effective cheating.

If you're the orioles, what matters to you more. $60 million in future value over the next 2 years, or $80 million in future value over the next 6 years for 1 player and $50 million in future value for the second player?

Fair point.

For the Dodgers, I’d say that the value of pitching going up is…basically nothing because right now they seem to have infinite money. Do they care if pitchers get more expensive with what they just paid Snell? For the Phillies, I think they’re looking at being in a window but with a chance that it will close in the near future. They’re among the older average teams in baseball, and their key contributors are all in their early to mid 30s. At some point either injuries or guys hitting the age wall will happen. May not be this year but do you count on them all producing at 34? 35? They’re exactly who I was thinking of when I mentioned a team that might feel pressure based on deals like Montas and Snell.

There is definitely something to the pattern of "Chiefs late game calls" happening this year.

The problem with this thinking is - the value of starting pitching going up also means that the value of prospects with 6 years of control goes up. How a team balances that isn't straightforward. A team wanting to compete right now, with a ticking clock, might see Crochet's value going up, while a team wanting to maintain competitiveness for a long window might see their prospects as even more valuable compared to a guy like Crochet.

What I hate about the way Katz is treated is that it's never his fault if things go wrong and its always to his credit when things go right. Cease is great in 2022 - great work Katz. Cease has a rough 2023 and substantially damages his trade value - Dylan just had a bad year. The bullpen is bad in 2024 - well they didn't invest in their bullpen, that's not Katz's fault. The Bullpen is terrible in 2023 - well they invested in guys Katz didn't like. The pitchers are great when using SpiderTack in 2021 - great work Katz. The starters fall back to middle of the league in 2022 and bottom of the league in 2023-2024 - well Katz didn't have much to work with. This is really the Martin Maldonado treatment. When something goes well, it's to Katz's credit. When things fall apart, Katz has nothing to do with the pitching staff. Katz is a guy who...weirdly for the White Sox, isn't one of the worst coaches in the league, but I don't think he's one of the best either. I think he has some positive impacts on some of his starters and we can see that clearly, but when guys have down years he somehow avoids the blame. I think he clearly struggles with his bullpen, whatever he's doing with those guys the bullpen and pitcher usage has been an issue all the way back to 2021. His bullpen is bad when they spend the most in the league on it, his bullpen is bad when they try to bring in young guys and go cheap. The bullpen specifically was the spot in 2024 where guys were awful with the White Sox and then tolerable when they went to other teams. If you look back to pre-2024, people were thinking the bullpen would be better than the 2023 pen, because the 2023 pen was awful and they brought in new arms. The 2024 bullpen was then terrible, but Katz isn't blamed for that. Right now, people are saying how they think the White Sox's rotation will be ok in 2025 due to the depth. If it goes poorly though, the excuses are already written - after trading Crochet they don't have any big name or heralded prospects in their rotation, so if its bad that can't be Katz's fault. He's not awful, they clearly could do worse than this, but particularly with the bullpen performance, this has been a weak pitching staff for years. The only time when this was a really good pitching staff was when he had most of his starters cheating.

Team led in starting pitcher fWAR in 2021 when at least 60% of the starting pitchers were using spider tack. I love giving Katz credit for the brilliance of SpiderTack.

TAKE. THAT.

F***ing Hello Nashville.

No he said it would be worth more somewhere else, not it May. He then said that was totally not a threat to leave. And then said “I reject the idea that it was a mistake to bring Tony LaRussa back.”

Linemen and guys in shoulder pads and helmets going after the equipment guy in a jacket trying to get the flag back.

We should be in anyway, but yes this gives more credence to that W over Michigan.

Fine, think through to the next step. Reinsdorf doesn’t want to pay taxes. What is one other thing where keeping the payroll ultra low will be important? Franchise relocation. Reinsdorf started meeting with Nashville and threatening to move before they went public with the 78 plans, and practically every time he speaks now he talks about how he can’t afford to compete in this spot. It’s clearly at the forefront of his thinking. In the 80s the only reason that he got his sweetheart ballpark deal was that he was 100% ready to move to Tampa Bay and the politicians capitulated 2 hours after the last minute. I don’t know if he’s more determined to move this time, he might be, I think he truly hates this fanbase. But if he’s not, he still thinks that the only way to bully the state into the same sweetheart deal as last time is to be ready to move again. Look at his own behavior, the threat of move arcane first and its the only point he’s made. That means super low payrolls, no long term contracts, lots of losing so attendance stays low. If attendance collapses because the fans know they’re leaving, or they have to spend a season at Nashville’s AAA park, he can’t have a big salary to pay. The team has to look like it’s in as bad of a spot as Oakland. It’s literally the “Major League” movie strategy. Which sets them up to follow the As story if the politicians don’t gift him the most expensive stadium in MLB.

I’m pretty sure a couple Michigan Players got pepper sprayed by the cops there. i hope some OSU players are suspended for that.

No, you should check your math. Had they gone 7-6 against the White Sox, they would have finished .500. A normal average white Sox team and most of the AL Central is more average. If the White Sox went 12-1 against them, they would have finished 75-87.

The Royals were 86-76 last year. They were 12-1 against the White Sox. Without their games against the White Sox, they were 74-75. So they were definitely under .500 without the White Sox. Had the White Sox not been the worst team in recent baseball history, the Royals are a .500 team. While I want to admire them for the fact that they actually got better by spending in FA, and .500 is a big jump over their 2023 team, it is unavoidable that they were an average team that looked a lot better because one of their opponents was among the worst teams in baseball history.

Presumably he has played a role in developing some of those guys. He was passing game coordinator in 2021 and that was the year they drafted Sewell, and this is his third year as OC, so figuring out ways to make his OLine play well and look good is a part of his job. Presumably he would have been involved in drafting Gibbs and signing Montgomery and those have worked well.

This is literally a DS9 quote.

Having watched how the elite, highly paid and highly drafted RBs are affecting their teams this year, I’m not sure I’d commit a top 10 pick to Jeanty which is where he will probably go given the Bears lines, but the RBs are replaceable attitude doesn’t describe this season very well. But a quick check says that prior to cuts and extensions the Bears currently are top 5 in available cap space, so they do have multiple ways to improve next year.

What prompted these? Was there other news this morning?

I can’t help but think of one Pedro Grifol with this press conference performance.

That...was an ending.

What the Hell was it with CBS not showing the replay on the pass interference penalty to actually see if it was?

Mariano Rivera is going to break your bat for this omission.