The Athletic's Expansion Draft

[Quin]

The Athletic is doing a whole series on a hypothetical expansion - they let fans pick team cities and names, now the writers are picking protected players. Free agents can't be protected. Options have to be picked up before the hypothetical draft. Any player who played an inning of major league ball is eligible to get picked.

Here's Fegan's picks:

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Protected players: CF Luis Robert, RHP Michael Kopech, SS Tim Anderson, 1B José Abreu, LF Eloy Jiménez, 3B Yoán Moncada, RHP Lance Lynn, RHP Lucas Giolito, UTIL Andrew Vaughn, C Yasmani Grandal, RHP Dylan Cease, RHP Liam Hendriks, LHP Aaron Bummer, LHP Garrett Crochet, RHP Craig Kimbrel

Top five unprotected: OF Adam Engel, RHP Reynaldo López, RHP Jimmy Lambert, RHP Jonathan Stiever, 1B Gavin Sheets

Notable pending free agents: Carlos Rodón, Ryan Tepera, Leury García, Jake Lamb, Billy Hamilton

Read Fegan's reasoning here: https://theathletic.com/2789741/2021/08/26/mlb-mock-expansion-draft-2021-al-writers-reveal-their-protected-lists-top-available-players/

I feel like the Sox definitely lose Engel, then probably one of Burger/Sheets, leaning Sheets.

[Bob Sacamano]

MLBTR did this last year while there was nothing to talk about it (it was like last June) and it was a pretty fun read. 2 writers drafted 2 new teams.

[Quin]

On 8/26/2021 at 4:41 PM, manbearpuig said:

MLBTR did this last year while there was nothing to talk about it (it was like last June) and it was a pretty fun read. 2 writers drafted 2 new teams.

To continue the fun read: https://theathletic.com/2797125/2021/09/01/mlb-mock-expansion-2021-nashville-sounds-montreal-expos-draft-results/

Sale (unprotected due to age and contract) is the first pick, going to Nashville.

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We’ll even let him help design the jersey so he doesn’t feel compelled to cut it up.

Engel (Montreal) and Sheets (Nashville) are taken. Soxtalk has a 50 page thread bemoaning why we protected Moncada, Grandal, Vaughn, Bummer, and Kimbrel over Sheets.

McCann joins Engel in Montreal.

[coco1997]

Somewhat unrelated but I'm curious what team names the fans chose. 

[Quin]

1 hour ago, coco1997 said:

Somewhat unrelated but I'm curious what team names the fans chose. 

Here ya go:

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Montreal’s NL expansion team will be called the Expos and will be managed by native Canadian and French-speaking former big-leaguer Russell Martin. The Expos will play on a grass field under a retractable roof and their mascot, of course, will be the incomparable Youppi!, who, sources say, will double as the Montreal Canadiens mascot as well.

Nashville, the AL entrant, will keep its minor-league nickname, the Sounds, and will be managed by former big-leaguer and Vanderbilt University star Joey Cora, who is currently the Pittsburgh Pirates third base coach. The Sounds will play in a downtown, retro ballpark and their mascot is Twang, a fiddle-playing feline.

Montreal placed first with 27.5 percent of the vote while Nashville landed the coveted, second spot with 22.4 percent. So half the total votes went to two cities. The remaining order: Portland (15.6 percent), Las Vegas (14.1), Charlotte (11.1) and Mexico City (9.2).

The Knights live on!

[coco1997]

1 hour ago, Quin said:

Here ya go:

The Knights live on!

Thanks! Do you know if the article happens to include any artist renderings for team logos, uniforms, etc?

[CentralChamps21]

This was a fun exercise, but in reality MLB expansion would be disastrous. There are aren't enough players to field 30 competitive teams.

[Timmy U]

2 hours ago, WhiteSoxFan1993 said:

This was a fun exercise, but in reality MLB expansion would be disastrous. There are aren't enough players to field 30 competitive teams.

What about playing the Cubs and Pirates back to back makes you say this?

[GreenSox]

Go expansion!  Plenty of good players.  Just need more playoff teams to stop the tanking.  

[asindc]

I sincerely hope MLB doesn’t get any ideas from this.  The available talent is already stretched too thin over the current 30 teams.

[Dominikk85]

On 9/1/2021 at 9:49 PM, WhiteSoxFan1993 said:

This was a fun exercise, but in reality MLB expansion would be disastrous. There are aren't enough players to field 30 competitive teams.

The bigger issue is that there are not enough good markets already. 

As long you have teams Like the As and rays who regularly run out sub 100m payrolls and play in front of empty stadiums despite being in a playoff race you don't need expansion. Worry about improving the location/stadium situations of those teams first. 

The last thing we need is another small market owner crying poor. 

 

[SCCWS]

On 9/1/2021 at 6:14 PM, Timmy U said:

What about playing the Cubs and Pirates back to back makes you say this?

How about Baltimore. They are a poor AAA tewam

[quickman]

I hate days off nobody pays attention to their families! 

[TheCommish]

23 hours ago, asindc said:

I sincerely hope MLB doesn’t get any ideas from this.  The available talent is already stretched too thin over the current 30 teams.

I seriously think Baseball could use a contraction, not expansion. Look at the ratings that the Dodgers/Padres get. Look at the number of people watching the Sox/Yankees. When 2 good teams play, the ratings and attendance increase x10. So why not have 20 MLB teams, and then have 10 AAAA teams that still play in the major league parks that were contracted. However, all of those players are "Free Agents". So a team that has an injury, can either choose one of their players from AAA, or they can sign the Free Agent from 1 of the 10 teams in AAAA. There would certainly be 15 great teams and you'd get exceptional matchups on a nightly basis. More competitive games, and then you can expand the playoffs to include more teams, because there would be more talent on each team. 

 

Cities like TB, Miami, etc can keep the AAAA teams, because fans don't support those teams anyways. 

[Squirmin' for Yermin]

This would be fun to do in a video game like MLB the Show. Pick off guys at the back end of the 26 man rosters.. sounds fun,.

[Balta1701]

15 hours ago, Dominikk85 said:

The bigger issue is that there are not enough good markets already. 

As long you have teams Like the As and rays who regularly run out sub 100m payrolls and play in front of empty stadiums despite being in a playoff race you don't need expansion. Worry about improving the location/stadium situations of those teams first. 

The last thing we need is another small market owner crying poor. 

 

But those franchises are still highly profitable right? Each of them has highly local issues (2 bad stadiums, one that has gone through 3 fire sales in 25 years), and even with that they make money. Lots. Frankly, those teams probably are money making machines since they get more money from revenue sharing than they spend on salaries.

The counterpoint is that adding new teams may not give you another Yankees, but if having a local team to cheer for in Vegas or Portland creates more fans who grow up going to games, it increases revenue overall. Obviously there are issues to fix with both those franchises and with the CBA, but there’s a reason no small market franchise has filed for bankruptcy, while the Cubs, Dodgers, and Rangers have.