2024 MLB Thread

[Tenacious D]

[Tiger337]

Which cap is Rodney going to wear on his plaque and will the let him wear it sideways?  

[oblong]

Rodney played for 11 ML teams over 17 years. The first 7 of those were with the Tigers, then he played for 4 teams for 2 years, then 6 for 1 year.

 

[Tenacious D]

5 hours ago, oblong said:

Rodney played for 11 ML teams over 17 years. The first 7 of those were with the Tigers, then he played for 4 teams for 2 years, then 6 for 1 year.

 

That confirms he’s going in with the sideways Old English D hat.

Book your travel now.

[oblong]

31 minutes ago, Tenacious D said:

That confirms he’s going in with the sideways Old English D hat.

Book your travel now.

saved them the hassle of signing him to a one day contract.

[1776]

More and more it looks as if the Rays have played their last games in St. Pete.

https://www.mysuncoast.com/2024/11/19/tampa-bay-rays-stadium-deal-jeopardy-team-tells-commissioners-hours-before-vote/

[Motor City Sonics]

1 hour ago, 1776 said:

More and more it looks as if the Rays have played their last games in St. Pete.

https://www.mysuncoast.com/2024/11/19/tampa-bay-rays-stadium-deal-jeopardy-team-tells-commissioners-hours-before-vote/

It's time for MLB to admit their mistake.   They desperately wanted teams in Florida.  It doesn't work there.  In either league.    Look how long it took the NHL to FINALLY admit defeat in Arizona, when people would have told you from about the 4th year that it wasn't going to ever work there.     Nashville is begging for a team.    Oakland would love to have a team (and go to court over who should own the rights to the name A's).     I don't think there are too many other cities where it would work.   Montreal?  Maybe.    Charlotte?    I don't sense a clamoring for baseball there.  Portland?  No.   Salt Lake City?  Don't think so.     Some perfectly good markets would not get approved by other teams over regional issues like Indianapolis (what a great spot for a team) and Northern New Jersey.    It just feels like it's Nashville or Bust.     They'd flip for a team there. 

[Motor City Sonics]

And the folks are right to vote this down.   The money needs to go to fixing the hurricane damage, not a playpen for a billionaire.   

[gehringer_2]

27 minutes ago, Motor City Sonics said:

And the folks are right to vote this down.   The money needs to go to fixing the hurricane damage, not a playpen for a billionaire.   

From what I've read,  that money isn't necessarily transferrable. I believe it has to be used for 'Tourism' related projects. Granted in FLA you might be able to drive some pretty big checks though that loophole since so many things relate to tourism,  things like fix storm damage on beaches or other pubic areas, but it apparently can't be diverted to just general use. 

[4hzglory]

11 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

From what I've read,  that money isn't necessarily transferrable. I believe it has to be used for 'Tourism' related projects. Granted in FLA you might be able to drive some pretty big checks though that loophole since so many things relate to tourism,  things like fix storm damage on beaches or other pubic areas, but it apparently can't be diverted to just general use. 

Correct.  It needs to be tourism as the revenue is from tourism tax.

 

Living in Sarasota now, I hope they stay in the area as it’s nice being able to see the Tigers a bit over an hour away.

Edited November 20, 2024 by 4hzglory
Added

[1776]

Automated ball/strike zones to get a look in spring training at some parks.

 https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5938669/2024/11/21/mlb-robot-umpires-testing-spring-training/

[lordstanley]

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2024/11/21/tigers-pitcher-tyler-holton-places-in-15th-place-tie-in-al-mvp-race/76489142007/#:~:text=Detroit Tigers left-handed reliever,15th in the MVP race.

Tyler Holton picked up an MVP vote!  I wonder if he has a bonus clause in his contract.

Holton received a 10th place vote from Toronto Star columnist Mike Wilner. It was the only MVP vote for Holton, giving him a total of one point — just like four other players.

The one point put Holton in a five-way tie for 15th with Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve, Kansas City Royals right-hander Seth Lugo, Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager and Houston Astros left-hander Framber Valdez.

Holton, 28, posted a 2.19 ERA with 17 walks (4.8% walk rate) and 77 strikeouts (21.8% strikeout rate) across 94⅓ innings in 66 games in the 2024 season. He started nine games as an opener and picked up eight saves as a closer, all while averaging 1.4 innings per appearance. His ERA ranked first among 71 AL pitchers with at least 90 innings.

Edited November 22, 2024 by lordstanley

[1776]

The Rays saga continues.

Yesterday the Pinellas County commissioners met to vote on a proposal to move forward on spending $22 million to replace the roof on the Trop. This money would only apply to the roof replacement and nothing beyond this regarding the needed repairs. This was the first step toward getting the Rays back in the Trop for 2026.
The money was approved in a 4-3 vote. However, after a recess of the commission, there was a revote and the money for the roof was then voted down!

Bad vibes between the commissioners and the Rays. This is looking more like the A’s fiasco. 

[4hzglory]

10 minutes ago, 1776 said:

The Rays saga continues.

Yesterday the Pinellas County commissioners met to vote on a proposal to move forward on spending $22 million to replace the roof on the Trop. This money would only apply to the roof replacement and nothing beyond this regarding the needed repairs. This was the first step toward getting the Rays back in the Trop for 2026.
The money was approved in a 4-3 vote. However, after a recess of the commission, there was a revote and the money for the roof was then voted down!

Bad vibes between the commissioners and the Rays. This is looking more like the A’s fiasco. 

Yes it is unfortunately.  And the city is required to repair the roof-which is why they were voting only on that part and not all the other repairs.  

[Tenacious D]

6 hours ago, 4hzglory said:

Yes it is unfortunately.  And the city is required to repair the roof-which is why they were voting only on that part and not all the other repairs.  

They should just bail.  That community doesn’t deserve a MLB team—they have plenty of minor league options in the area if they want to see a professional game.

Hello, Nashville!

[chasfh]

7 hours ago, 1776 said:

The Rays saga continues.

Yesterday the Pinellas County commissioners met to vote on a proposal to move forward on spending $22 million to replace the roof on the Trop. This money would only apply to the roof replacement and nothing beyond this regarding the needed repairs. This was the first step toward getting the Rays back in the Trop for 2026.
The money was approved in a 4-3 vote. However, after a recess of the commission, there was a revote and the money for the roof was then voted down!

Bad vibes between the commissioners and the Rays. This is looking more like the A’s fiasco. 

Honestly, I think this is fine. Cities seem to be finally waking up to the fact that even residents who want major league teams in their area don't want to have hundreds or thousands of their tax dollars spent on such blatant corporate welfare.

[Tigermojo]

Royals trade Singer to Reds for India and Wiemer. I don't get it.

[1776]

Good move by the commission chair person. 
 

https://www.wfla.com/sports/rays/rays-must-decide-fate-of-stadium-deal-by-dec-1-pinellas-commission-chair-says/amp/

[lordstanley]

On 11/22/2024 at 3:15 PM, chasfh said:

Honestly, I think this is fine. Cities seem to be finally waking up to the fact that even residents who want major league teams in their area don't want to have hundreds or thousands of their tax dollars spent on such blatant corporate welfare.

I think it has been like that in Canada for about 20 years now. With the exception of an arena in Quebec City that opened nine years ago and is underutilized, almost all funding for new builds and renos has been from private investors and commercial lenders. Now and then you'll see a team be able to wrangle a new highway exit or something like that from provincial funds.

Edit: Actually, screw that. Turns out Edmonton's arena of a few years ago was half-funded by the city. How did that happen? No appetite for that in Vancouver I know.

https://www.edmonton.ca/attractions_events/rogers_place/the-agreement

 

Edited November 25, 2024 by lordstanley

[chasfh]

19 hours ago, 1776 said:

Good move by the commission chair person. 
 

https://www.wfla.com/sports/rays/rays-must-decide-fate-of-stadium-deal-by-dec-1-pinellas-commission-chair-says/amp/

I think this franchise ends up going to Nashville, then baseball holds Tampa for an expansion or relocation target. Nashville officials are feigning reluctance, but they’ll cave once they find a route to plow public money into the project in a way that makes them looks like heroes for bringing MLB into the city. Then, once a friendly commission in either Hillsborough or Pinellas counties gets back in power, some bazillionaire will get their 100% publicly-financed stadium and the Bay will get a team back.

This assumes, of course, that publicly-funded stadia is still a thing, which, as long as there are craven commissioners to sell out and then cash out, there will always be taxpayer money to throw around.

[Tenacious D]

Blake Snell to the Dodgers.  Not sure of terms.  Probably makes Flaherty less likely.

[Tigermojo]

17 minutes ago, Tenacious D said:

Blake Snell to the Dodgers.  Not sure of terms.  Probably makes Flaherty less likely.

104 innings and he gets $36 million per year for five years minus whatever the deferrals are.

[SoCalTiger]

Must be nice to be a Dodger fan 

[RatkoVarda]

big 4 Boras clients from last year all avoid a long wait this year: Montgomery fires Boras and opts in to 22.5; Bellinger opts in to 32.5; Chapman signs extension during the season; and Snell is first top 10 FA to sign.

BTW, Snell has a 5M trade assignment bonus, biggest ever

[gehringer_2]

6 minutes ago, RatkoVarda said:

big 4 Boras clients from last year all avoid a long wait this year: Montgomery fires Boras and opts in to 22.5; Bellinger opts in to 32.5; Chapman signs extension during the season; and Snell is first top 10 FA to sign.

BTW, Snell has a 5M trade assignment bonus, biggest ever

FWIW - guys on the radio reported that the Cubs don't want to pay Bellinger - are looking to offload him to anyone that will take his salary. Very inconsistent player to take on though - he's all over the map performance wise.

Edited November 27, 2024 by gehringer_2