MLB Thread

[seanv]

I think there are a few baseball fanatics here. Let’s start an MLB thread. I’ll start.

I am an Oakland A’s fan. I have been a fan since the mid 90’s. There has been lots of excitement and plenty of disappointments along the way. The current roster is loaded with young energy and that makes them great to watch. This off season in true A’s fashion I think (I hope I am wrong...) they will trade Semien. The time to sell is now before the eventual decline or a big dollar contract. Semien wants to stay in Oakland and will hopefully take a contract similar to Khris Davis to stick around.

Who do you cheer for and what are your off season insights?

 

[cfreud]

San Francisco Giants since 1977, and content with life. The picture of me to the left is 1978 at ye olde Candlestick. What a decade. All our hopes and dreams, after much heartbreak, came to fruition on Nov. 1, 2010, as Brian Wilson struck out Nelson Cruz, and who would have believed what followed? More than we ever hoped or dared expect. On the west side of the Bay, we are now paying for the extended contracts and going through regime change. Yet life remains good as the Dodgers continue to fall flat on their tush every postseason. Opening Day is March 26.

 

[danimalia]

Giants fan here. I live in Fremont, but I took up the same teams as my Dad, which are the Giants, Raiders and Warriors. As cfreud mentioned, it was quite a decade. The thing about winning 3 World Series in 5 years is it really takes the edge off of fandom, so I don't live and die with the results quite as much. This past season was a good example. I knew going into the season they'd likely be bad, and they mostly were, but they had some feisty moments and played meaningful games into August, so I actually enjoyed the season quite a bit. I like that they hired Farhan Zaidi, who seems like a very smart guy, though I'm not super impressed with hiring Gabe Kapler to replace Bruce Bochy.

Aside from the local teams, there are a lot of really good, exciting players right now, and many of them are young. Some of my favorite non-Giants to watch are Jose Altuve, Juan Soto, Mike Trout (of course), and even though he's a Dodger, Clayton Kershaw.

 

[cortezattic]

Erstwhile Cubs fan here. I probably won't be watching them next season because they're moving to a cable network in a blatant money grab. I'm also not happy with them for dropping manager Joe Maddon.

 

[danimalia]

Erstwhile Cubs fan here. I probably won't be watching them next season because they're moving to a cable network in a blatant money grab. I'm also not happy with them for dropping manager Joe Maddon.

Yeah, that was weird. Maddon is pretty widely regarded as one of the finest managers of his generation, and it seemed like they decided to move on for vague, "just want a different direction" reasons.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Giants, but also root for the A's when it doesn't conflict with Boston.

 

[litup]

The Cubs underperformed so someone had to pay. It’s usually the manager that gets the blame first. If they underperform again you have to start worrying if you are the GM or president of baseball operations.

 

[seanv]

The players respected Maddon but maybe it was too friendly of a relationship?
Kapler was a strange choice. I don’t know too much about him. Do you Giants fans think Bumgarner comes back?

 

[JMcQ]

New York Mets fan here. I was born into it and it just stuck. Our pitching is solid as long as they stay healthy, we just need some bats to put some points on the board.

 

[elasmo]

Dodgers here...seeing all dem Giants fans. Gonna be hard to win anything with Dave Roberts coaching, but hoping to get the grimy paws on Gerrit Cole.

 

[Spinkle]

Blue Jays fanatic here.

Things are looking very good for the rebuild with Vlad Jr., Bo Bichette, Cavan Biggio etc. They really really need to focus on pitching for the upcoming year. I don't expect them to make the post-season next year, but I'm hoping they will be perennial contenders starting in 2021. If they don't work on their pitching this is obviously not going to happen.

 

[jpmcwjr]

My guess is Bum is gone from da Gi'nts next year.

 

[wordheavy]

Go Angels! Been a fan for probably 38 - 39 years or so. I'm pre only World Series win, and have been a faithful fan on this roller coaster ride that is Angels Baseball. I go to quite a few games each year and love to be in our stadium, the smells and bells always bring a smile to my face.

 

[seanv]

Lots of moves yesterday. 56 non tendered players, some bigger names in that list too and a few trades.
Moustakas rumored to be going to Cincinnati for 4 years
Profar going to the Padres
Sandy Leon to Cleveland
Miami picking up Villar and Aguilar

 

[crawdad]

Yeah, that was weird. Maddon is pretty widely regarded as one of the finest managers of his generation, and it seemed like they decided to move on for vague, "just want a different direction" reasons.

Maddon wasn’t the problem. It’s the brain farts from Theo Epstein & Co. that hurt the team. Look at Maddon‘s replacement Dave Ross, a man with NO management experience. Just an inside hire. Probably saved some money on salary so they can hopefully snatch Madbum.

 

[crawdad]

Who do you cheer for and what are your off season insights?

I have a team with both leagues to root for; Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs, with a soft spot for the Nats (I jumped in big time when they came to Washington) and Cleveland. Before the Cubs I grew up with the Braves and fondly remover the Glavine-Maddox-Smoltz era. John Smoltz will ALWAYS be my favorite pitcher and had the immense privilege of meeting him in person. My favorite slugger? Easy, Big Papi David Ortiz. But I’m more of a fan of pitching.

Off season insights? I just mainly bitch and rant through the off season. Clubs doing their reorganization just makes my head hurt. I’m still fuming over Manny Machado ruining Dustin Pedroia’s career. Aarrrgh!

 

[k9shag]

I have been a Cubs fan since I was in the womb. Born and raised on the Cubbies. I am a season ticket holder even though I live in Charlotte, NC and was fortunate to go to all of the World Series games including game 7 in Cleveland. I watch every game, except those blacked out in my area and listen to those on Cubs radio. My wife loathes baseball season, but accepts my obsession.

As for Maddon, he is a good manager especially playing small ball. The problem was he never trusted his pitchers in the big games and it caused him to make bad moves. That coupled with the fact he felt he could mold a young pitcher, which caused him to stick with them rather than move on.

David Ross was a true leader in the clubhouse and I have always liked career catchers as managers. I think he will do well and it will take a couple of years of growing pains. Anyone expecting more right away doesn't understand the game.

Go Cubs!

 

[litup]

I'm a Red Sox fan although I wasn't born and raised in New England. I became a fan as a kid when my grandma bought me a baseball bat to play with and it had Jim Rice's stamped autograph on it. From that day on, when I played backyard baseball, I was Jim Rice. Little did I know that I had been set up for years of disappointment.

Of course, decades later the anguish and angst came to an end when the Sox won the World Series in 2004. But that was not before I'd learned that life wasn't fair and that it would break your heart.

I also play fantasy baseball with a group of friends. We're pretty invested in that league and it's really competitive. Because of that, I follow all of baseball pretty closely and I have actually grown to love the business side of the game. To me, it's a lot of fun to track what the teams are doing to try to achieve their goals. The Red Sox, for example, need to figure out how to shed $20 million (at least) in payroll this year to get under the luxury tax threshold but they aren't the kind of team that can get away with a complete tear down and rebuild like some teams. So no matter what they do to cut costs, they've still got to be at least somewhat competitive in 2020.

 

[JimInks]

Erstwhile Cubs fan here. I probably won't be watching them next season because they're moving to a cable network in a blatant money grab. I'm also not happy with them for dropping manager Joe Maddon.

I remember when the Cubs were on WGN every day, and that station also played some White Sox games. Too bad it all changed. I get the Braves and Reds games here, plus MLB TV and ESPN, so I always have a ball game to watch. When I'm working, there's always a game on the XM. As a former semi-pro player, I am a baseball addict.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Shortstop? i.e., what position(s) did you play?
BA?