nrockway

“62 acre parcel for sale”

Some guy posted some pictures of him and his grandkids at camelback ranch on a different Sox group and it seemed like moncada was the player most interested in chatting with the kids and high fiving them and such. I thought it was cool. I don’t think he’s an unlikeable guy just because he sucks and we thought he’d be good. Kopech on the other hand…

I definitely think this team will be better than most fans think and almost certainly better than last season. I wouldn't rule out a .500 record. A lot has to go right though, the "bounce back" guys have to actually bounce back. Eloy, Benintendi and Moncada have to play at a level that they're probably still capable of. The young guys from Vaughn and DeLoach to Eder and Nastrini have to show something. I think there's such a wide range of potential outcomes for this team that it makes me genuinely excited to watch them this year. well, until we have 30 losses by May. More than a winning record, I'd just hope that several of these guys can play themselves into semi-valuable assets and be consolidated into an actually useful player or two.

that confused me too. I thought maybe they had just recently changed it so Jean Baptiste Point du Sable Lane Tech.

it's definitely amusing that a fatty snuck a gun into a baseball park and shot herself with it. it sounds like a bit from a European sketch comedy show mocking America but reality is often funnier than fiction. I choose to believe this is what happened even if there's conflicting evidence. Also, I was at this game sitting in left field a few sections over from where this happened. didn't hear a dang thing. I find this whole story very strange because I tend to think I would've heard the gunshot, the park wasn't that loud and I wasn't very far away, but maybe fat rolls are the perfect silencer.

this was an incredibly stupid remark that made me not want to read the rest of the article. i'm slightly offended too. "breakout relievers" is a silly thing to write about anyway. the "breakout relievers" are probably treading water in AAA or are currently failing as a starting pitcher. I think this article would've been more entertaining if all of the choices were starting pitchers, Michael Kopech for example has a promising career as a setup man.

I see your point but I think Berroa's floor is as a multi-inning reliever and that he still has the ability to start. I believe the M's moved him to the bullpen last season because he couldn't control the ball and evidently lost faith that he ever will be able to. otherwise, his stuff is meteoric. I think you have to bet on his upside. I'm starting to feel like a fool because I've said this about all the pitchers we've signed this offseason, but maybe Bannister and co can do something for him that the Mariners staff could not in terms of getting the ball over the plate. There clearly seems to be a plan on the pitching side of things and I'm somewhat optimistic that it will produce fruit. Regardless, there are a ton of exciting young guys on this team to watch pitch and maybe one of them can become an ace and 2 or 3 of the rest can join a MLB rotation. Frankly, I dunno what the Mariners really get out of this deal. Yes, Santos is a high quality reliever, but their assortment of moves this offseason come off as a jumbled mess. Are they trying to save salary or are they trying to win? if they're trying to win, to my eye they're doing a really bad job at it.

I like this deal, I dislike the other one. Time to read through all the comments so that I can change my opinion 5 more times.

I kinda hate this. Mena has some legitimate question marks but I think he's on the whole he's impressed at a young age. I guess I like Berroa better if you consider these deals in summation, but dang, I would've rather just rolled out Colas I think.

All those guys who "called out" the toxic environment were seemingly the ones who helped foster it. I'm thinking Lynn, Kelly, Middleton specifically. All three guys are older than 30, veterans who have been around a while. They were supposed to be the ones to lead by example or be vocal in the way they displayed only after leaving the team. Yet rather than behaving like leaders, they whined that there were none; but only after they were out of the organization and wouldn't have to back up their words (which they wouldn't be able to. they're all garbage at baseball, the phantom napper wasn't tipping their pitches.). The way they left seems a little cowardly to me, like they were trying to blame their terrible play on forces beyond their control rather than take some accountability for their individual performance and for the culture of the clubhouse. Compare that to Gio, who probably got shafted the most by this team, and isn't trashing his former teammates or the fans. I think a part of the reason he got paid like he did is that he's a consummate professional and doesn't look for excuses or to blame others. Gio tried to actually lead his teammates, albeit maybe not so successfully.

I haven't watched those movies, but isn't the premise that whichever team first signs five failed first round picks, half of their losses poof out of existence?

he also hasn't played there in years. I think this is who gets called up to DH when Eloy is injured in early April.

Always thought Cease should be traded for a package built around a middle infielder, of which Baltimore didn't have any to trade besides Poortiz (not considering Holliday), so I'm not all that sad about this. Still, wish Burnes went to a team that wasn't there to potentially drive up Cease's asking price. Good get for the O's though. I think we're finding that Cease needs half a season to up his trade value in order to return something along the lines of what the Reds got for Castillo. Castillo's season prior to the trade (2021) wasn't lights out, similar to Cease. his 2020 wasn't that hot either. But he was incredible the first half of 2022 and I'm enough of a homer to think Cease will return to form next year. I don't think he has to be traded before Spring Training.

hmm, I have no real opinion on this structure, but it sets off conspiratorial alarm bells that a single entity would privilege certain markets or even fix games. for example, does a Yankees vs Dodgers World Series increase the share price more than a Royals vs Reds Series? I suppose corporations don't have a legal duty to maximize shareholder value, but it's still ostensibly their duty. I suppose that isn't the case with NASCAR, but then again I know nothing about NASCAR.

I get the feeling that it would be worse for the sport if the teams were publicly traded. profit really becomes the sole motive when you're talking about that many shareholders, though of course there's also more transparency and money to build a stadium without relying so much on the taxpayer...or even to pay player salaries but I wouldn't hold my breath. I don't know if the GM would be held especially accountable for team performance, I imagine an individual's investment in a team would be bundled with everything else he's investing in and that the team's performance would not be highest priority so long as the investment is performing. then again, as far as I can tell the Braves are the only publicly traded team in the MLB (I believe the Indians used to be) and they seem to be doing something right.

yeah I don't say "civic-minded" as necessarily positive, just that I think these guys have motives beyond making as much money as possible in the short term. I imagine they want to shift the center of soccer from Europe to the Gulf or otherwise improve the region's international image. not to say they aren't making money hand over fist, but the logic of team ownership feels a little different than the likes of some entity like the Fenway Group.

https://mercercapital.com/article/investors-view-major-league-sports/ seems like it outperforms equity markets these days. television networks pretty much only have professional sports nowadays as a consistent way to show advertisements to people and those TV deals are only going to increase, probably more rapidly, if the likes of Amazon and Hulu try to take those contracts away. Professional sports teams have even more revenue sources than during the 1990s and before with the (unfortunate) rise of gambling and their new-ish role as real estate developers. A professional sports team is a total cashcow which is precisely why these private equity people cannot be trusted to do anything besides try to derive maximum profit. I don't trust the idea that it's "just a toy", no it's a very sound and safe investment. I wish the league's regulations would adjust to this ecosystem, when was the last time some billionaire bought a team because he just loved the sport and not because he was money hungry? I can think of very few professional owners like this, maybe the more civic-minded Arab owners in soccer, but I don't think you really see this in the MLB. People will say Steve Cohen, but it looks to me like this guy realizes he has a team in New York and could possibly usurp the Yankees if he spends enough money in the short term. We'll see what Cohen does over the next decade but I think their contemporary payroll is an aberration.

who says the grass is always greener? do private equity bozos actually care about baseball or do they want to produce maximum profit? I've shared my thoughts on Rubenstein in the previous thread about this topic.

Evidently they do dynamic pricing which I guess just means I won't be buying tickets beforehand. It's currently $40 to sit 10 rows behind the visitor's dugout to watch the Sox vs Royals, I was hoping it would be more like 10 bucks...we'll see what the turnout is like and how it affects pricing but I bet sharing a complex with the Dodgers doesn't help. The Sox first game is "at" the Cubs and it's pretty much sold out, lawn tickets are $30 which seems outrageous but I'd like to see their new(ish) facility and it's a closer drive than Glendale.

Camelback Ranch tickets are more expensive than Guaranteed Rate Field tickets...how does that work? 40 dollars to watch them play the Royals... Still going to try to see a couple of games but watching the workouts would probably be fun.

well if the Mariners were in on Cease, they traded one of the two guys I would've wanted back. looks like a decent deal for both teams though provided Polanco is actually healthy.

it's a fun trade proposal but I bet Varsho's value is closer to Kopech's than to Cease's. Wouldn't mind seeing a non-Cease related trade involving Kopech and another player with a little bit of value, maybe for India. I like Varsho but I don't think he's a great fit on this team. I think you'd want to play him in center field. But if you could get him for Kopech and some middling prospects in our system, I wouldn't mind doing a deal. I think it would be a waste of Cease though, I'd rather just keep him than trade him for two "buy low/change of scenery" candidates.

I like this guy but I'm surprised to see him get a contract before his debut. looks like he'll play 2B, I thought he was more of a 3B/1B.

Preller made moves that had to be made within the context of Seidler's death, but to a typical fan I'm sure it looks like breaking up a dream team and reloading with "scrubs", particularly if they trade Kim too. In retrospect, it looks like the initial Soto trade was a mistake in that the prospects they gave to the Nationals are far better than what they got from the Yankees. Different situations of course considering Soto's contract situation and I don't think you can fault the Padres for swinging for the fences, but I'd be disappointed if I were a Padres fan...though not really Preller's fault he was dealt a shitty hand.

I thought Puig was banned for life from the sport but I guess he hasn't actually pled guilty to anything yet. I'm reading about his case and found this quote from his agent very amusing: “He came to the interview feeling rushed, unprepared, without criminal counsel with him, and also lacked his own interpreter,” Carnet told The Associated Press. “Given his history growing up in authoritarian Cuba, government interviews are triggering and only worsen his ADHD symptoms and other mental health struggles, for which he is in treatment. He would have benefited from this care at the time of the interview.” like, wut?