caulfield12

The 2024 season was already ceded months ago...

Watching the Royals and Tigers bury the Sox in spending (along with taking Benetti away) is pretty disheartening. Then KC at least is (eventually) getting a new stadium, when their previous one is still better than the existing Sox facility despite the appreciable age difference. Once upon a time, with guys like Tanaka and even Wheeler, they'd at least go through the motions of being attached to nearly every big name out there, just like the SF Giants. Now, there's not even any pretenses about being competitive in such a terrible/abysmal division.

His son was working for the Hickory Crawdads back in the mid 90's in media relations. Nice guy.

What would Billie Lourde/s?

Pull zee strings!!!, Eddie...

The previous season....Hermanson and Jenks in 2005.

Sounds like a power forward from Purdue…

Yankees Mets Dodgers all have to make final offers...

https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2023/11/9/23954086/twins-rsn-money-bally-sports-payroll-cut The article goes on to say that the Twins got $54.8 million from Bally Sports North (part of the Diamond Sports Group) in 2023, and as that deal has expired, the Twins will have to look elsewhere for money to replace that. This is where the Twins payroll could be in 2024: #MNTwins to trim payroll in 2024. Nothing official, but it’s expected to sit between $125m and $140m. Last year, Twins payroll was a record $154m. https://t.co/HDs553IUnI — DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) November 8, 2023 "The Twins won’t be alone here. The Diamond Sports Group bankruptcy means that it’s possible the 12 teams that still have a deal with Bally Sports could wind up with a lot less revenue in 2024. In addition to the Twins, the other 11 MLB teams that still have deals with Bally are the Braves, Marlins, Tigers, Reds, Cardinals, Brewers, Royals, Angels, Guardians, Rangers and Rays."

https://www.cleveland.com/guardians/2023/12/framework-in-place-for-deal-between-mlb-guardians-and-diamond-sports-over-tv-rights.html Big repercussions for the AL Central "MLB, the Guardians, Atlanta, Detroit, Texas and Milwaukee filed a motion Wednesday saying that Diamond had to “assume or reject” their RSN contracts for the 2024 season by Dec. 31. Diamond holds contracts with 11 MLB teams, but only those five were able to ask for a “assume or reject” ruling because the other teams are part owners in their RSNs. In light of this possible deal, which was negotiated Thursday before Friday’s hearing, that deadline has been set aside."

Poles...if he still has the job...has to go with his own QB. And you need the payroll flexibility of a rookie QB deal to fill out the roster before it catches up with you (see Chiefs with all their WR and running game issues.) And you better have a quality back up QB as well. See Mullens vs. Browning.

Pods/Iguchi first half...Konerko Crede Dye Everett AJ Uribe just enough pop.

You can't give McKnight the job. He's not ready...even for a team nobody's going to pay attention to. And there's no way Stone is going to survive for more than one more season of Grifol Ball. Beckham will get a JB eventually...he won't rock the boat, just like Getz.

https://africa.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/39105636/inside-shohei-ohtani-700-million-contract-los-angeles-dodgers

Bill Walton/Johnny Depp

Attention AL East...Toronto and Baltimore are going to have to respond, somehow. Would also be a shock to the Yankees and Mets as well. Basically every team in the AL East arguably better on paper than all Central teams with the possible exception of Minnesota behind a Royce Lewis MVP-caliber season.

Seems Monaco didn't come as easily as expected...McKnight or Beckham would be demoralizing in different ways. McKnight being too peppy in the face of a miserable season....Beckham too cocksure and every other sentence being about those professional at-bats that he could never even come up with as a player.

One MLB writer pointing to CLE despite no major changes yet...but Royals and Tigers at least building hope and goodwill for fanbases. 4. Guardians The Guards get a high ranking only because someone is definitely going to win the AL Central next season, even if the record isn’t pretty. The defending division-champion Twins, who were only an 87-75 team to begin with, are vulnerable after the loss of co-ace Sonny Gray, as well as Kenta Maeda and Pagán, in free agency. Elsewhere in the division, the White Sox are rebuilding and, while the Tigers and Royals have very interesting pieces and have already made some frisky moves on the Hot Stove, they also have plenty to prove. So the safest bet to upend the Central -- for now, at least -- is the 2022 division-champion Guardians. Because even if they move Shane Bieber and/or closer Emmanuel Clase, a full season of health from Triston McKenzie would further stabilize a rotation that got exciting contributions from Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams and Logan Allen last season. The Guards have Lake Erie-sized holes in their lineup and they also have a rookie manager in the dugout in Stephen Vogt. But it’s a low bar for entry in this division, and a competitive pitching staff gives Cleveland as good a chance of anybody to clear it. https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-teams-who-could-rebound-after-missing-2023-playoffs

The main advantage of going to the MLB-driven/controlled model was going to be the blackout issue being resolved. And of course you have the streaming rights issues as well. Without that...you've just stripped away that $30-50 million so many small market teams were desperately relying upon last year....so you'd obviously have to address the revenue model's validity. Dodgers and Yankees emerging as the two theoretically dominant team helps a bit here, too. "The pending agreement with MLB is not fully done. There are three teams of the 11 not on board. DSG is looking to cut the fees of those three teams, in return for ending their contracts at the end of the ‘24 season. Two clubs–the Cleveland Guardians and Texas Rangers–had lawyers at the hearings (they are two of the three teams; it’s unclear the third)."

Nearly $70 million tied up in top four hitters.

https://www.mlb.com/stats/team/pitching?sortState=asc Padres and Mariners both missed the postseason

Ragans Lugo Wacha Singer Lynch That’s really not too bad of a rotation. The lineup could definitely improve but it’s not like it’s terrible…if Ragans is real Garcia 3b Witt SS Pasquantino 1b Salvy C/DH Melendez LF/DH Velasquez RF/DH Renfroe RF/DH Massey 2b Isbel CF

https://www.foxsports.com/stories/mlb/yankees-dodgers-or-mets-predicting-which-team-will-sign-yoshinobu-yamamoto Seems the Yankees are the favorites simply due to the fact that he doesn’t want to be stuck in Ohtani’s shadow and then there’s history of guys like Irabu and especially Tanaka with the Yankees…makes a lot of sense to pair with Cole and have two aces together at the top of the rotation.

https://sports.yahoo.com/why-shohei-ohtani-contract-deferral-232114904.html Four points… 1) Ohtani suggested it 2) No other players are getting $50 million in endorsements to keep the cash flow maintained, let alone $5 million with Trout going backwards 3) The difference in payroll threshold only amounts to adding Joe Kelly’s $9 million…$46 million vs. $55 million salary hit to LAD in 2024 4) Numerous teams could have offered similar packages, we already know the Giants did, for example…so less about Friedman/Warner and more about Ohtani’s desire to be a champion

And the Washington Nationals... Royals closer to Detroit and the Guardians than the White Sox. And that's in the very worst division in baseball. Cubs so far have lost Bellinger and Stroman, and not really punished all that much.