2024 MLB Thread

[Tiger337]

51 minutes ago, chasfh said:

Looks like we might have blown right past the can't win don't try stage here ...

 

It seems like he has signed 3 or 4 times this winter!

[oblong]

I'm not a fan of the 6:40 start times.  I feel too rushed to get there.  I didn't think I would like the pitch clock and rules but I quickly forgot about it so I guess I can't say anything.  Given that times are around the 2:36 mark I think going back to a 7:00 pm start is fine.  It matches Red wing games and those are in the middle of winter.  Those start around 7 and end around 9:30.  Feels strange still going to a "night" game and leaving when it's daylight out which happened a lot this year at Comerica Park.

The Tigers are going back to 7 pm start times during the May-August stretch for Friday and Saturday games.

 

 

 

[theroundsquare]

I am happy for faster games but I also think the 6:40 start time is bad.  I can virtually never make first pitch because I work for a living, and not downtown.

[1776]

33 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

It seems like he has signed 3 or 4 times this winter!

The earlier signings were deferred. 

[chasfh]

I love 6:40pm starts, and I’m glad the White Sox are going to them all year (and surprised, considering how suburban their fan base is). I wish the Cubs would do 6:40s all year instead of just April, May, and September. 

[CMRivdogs]

9 minutes ago, chasfh said:

I love 6:40pm starts, and I’m glad the White Sox are going to them all year (and surprised, considering how suburban their fan base is). I wish the Cubs would do 6:40s all year instead of just April, May, and September. 

I'm sure it's changed from the mid to late 90s regarding the Cubs, but I would hope the earlier starts would cut down on the drunkenness and rowdiness. On the later commuter trains. One of the things that turned me against the Cubs when we lived there. 
Never really experienced it with the Sox, but not as many people attended or took METRA

[chasfh]

43 minutes ago, CMRivdogs said:

I'm sure it's changed from the mid to late 90s regarding the Cubs, but I would hope the earlier starts would cut down on the drunkenness and rowdiness. On the later commuter trains. One of the things that turned me against the Cubs when we lived there. 
Never really experienced it with the Sox, but not as many people attended or took METRA

It hasn’t been like that for a long time now. The generation that would routinely engage in that kind of thing (Boomers, X) are pushing retirement age, if not already there, and today’s young generation (young millennials, Gen Z) were not socialized that way. Acting out like that is a lot a lot rarer than it used to be. Grid willing it will stay that way.

[gehringer_2]

6 minutes ago, chasfh said:

It hasn’t been like that for a long time now. The generation that would routinely engage in that kind of thing (Boomers, X) are pushing retirement age, if not already there, and today’s young generation (young millennials, Gen Z) were not socialized that way. Acting out like that is a lot a lot rarer than it used to be. Grid willing it will stay that way.

they're too busy watching the game data on their phones or texting to get rowdy.

[1776]

The Rays and infielder Ha-Seong Kim have agreed to a two-year, $29MM contract, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. The deal includes an opt-out after the first season for the Boras Corporation client.

[Tenacious D]

34 minutes ago, 1776 said:

The Rays and infielder Ha-Seong Kim have agreed to a two-year, $29MM contract, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. The deal includes an opt-out after the first season for the Boras Corporation client.

Good.  Dodged that bullet.  Now we need Bregman to go back to the ‘Stros.

[Tigermojo]

35 minutes ago, 1776 said:

The Rays and infielder Ha-Seong Kim have agreed to a two-year, $29MM contract, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. The deal includes an opt-out after the first season for the Boras Corporation client.

I would have liked the Tigers to sign him but that is a very player friendly deal. $13 million for half a season and $16 million if he ends up sucking.

[chasfh]

I wouldn't have minded signing Kim for a year or two. Plus defender, plus baserunner, controls the strike zone, little bit of pop. Plus, if the Rays like him, he can't be all bad. But I am somewhat optimistic about our shortstop prospects with Sweeney for the short term and Brice Rainer nipping at his heels.

[chasfh]

35 minutes ago, Tenacious D said:

Good.  Dodged that bullet.  Now we need Bregman to go back to the ‘Stros.

I would bet a sawbuck you'll get your wish.

[chasfh]

43 minutes ago, Tenacious D said:

Good.  Dodged that bullet.  Now we need Bregman to go back to the ‘Stros.

Speaking of which, this article just dropped on MLBTR:

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/01/mlb-mailbag-bregman-red-sox-kelenic-tigers-marlins.html

It's a subscriber-only article, but if you don't subscribe, I can share a little of it with you.

They write that despite owner Jim Crane saying he is unwilling to pay the luxury tax for a second consecutive season, the 6/156 offer is still open to Bregman, per GM Dana Brown, and if you take them at their word that it is still an open offer, it would most definitely put the Astros over the threshold again, and all Bregman has to do is say the word in the next sixty seconds and he's back:

I don’t see why Scott Boras wouldn’t just accept the Astros’ offer.  It’s true: if he finds Bregman a bigger offer elsewhere, he wins.  I’m not sure Bregman would be happier; I don’t know what’s going on in his head.  But accepting $156MM to stay in Houston would hardly be a disappointment, and it’d still be more money than Matt Chapman received on his recent extension.

Here's the Tigers' portion of the article:

The only reason for the Tigers to sit this one out is not liking the value presented in signing Bregman at whatever price would get him there.  The guy turns 31 in March and his walk rate fell off a cliff last year.  As nice as the fit is in Detroit and as much as they can afford him, it’s still not necessarily a good signing if it’s in the $175MM range.

I decided to subscribe for a month basically to get this article. I got a reward card from DirecTV and it's kind of free money, so why not.

[Tiger337]

54 minutes ago, Tenacious D said:

Good.  Dodged that bullet.  Now we need Bregman to go back to the ‘Stros.

I think he would have been an excellent pickup.  Not sure I like the one and one contract given that he'll miss a chunk of this season though.  I was hoping for a straight two-year deal. 

[chasfh]

6 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

I think he would have been an excellent pickup.  Not sure I like the one and one contract given that he'll miss a chunk of this season though.  I was hoping for a straight two-year deal. 

Maybe they'll wow him with a side trip to Disney World and he'll end up staying?

[casimir]

5 hours ago, 1776 said:

The Rays and infielder Ha-Seong Kim have agreed to a two-year, $29MM contract, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. The deal includes an opt-out after the first season for the Boras Corporation client.

Wow.  Shouldn’t they have spent that on a roof?

[casimir]

3 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

I think he would have been an excellent pickup.  Not sure I like the one and one contract given that he'll miss a chunk of this season though.  I was hoping for a straight two-year deal. 

Well, look at this way, he could be available and healthy next offseason.

[1776]

11 hours ago, casimir said:

Wow.  Shouldn’t they have spent that on a roof?

I imagine you’re joking. St. Petersburg is responsible for repairing the roof. 

[1776]

11 hours ago, casimir said:

Well, look at this way, he could be available and healthy next offseason.

This signing made me do some thinking. Provided Kim heals up, they’re projecting a possible return to the field for him in May. That would work fine in the Rays case as Taylor Walls, the current shortstop, just settled pre-arb. Kim would move to SS when he’s healthy. Walls has been one of the fill-ins since Franco exited the stage. 
The story that raises questions for me in this signing is that the top rated prospect at shortstop across the major leagues, Carson Williams, will begin his season in AAA Durham. Even if he stays in Durham all season, he’s the shortstop in Tampa Bay to begin next season. This, barring some unforeseen circumstance. 
As I recall, the Rays starting 2nd baseman, Brandon Lowe, will be a UFA at the end of this season. I’m guessing if Kim does not opt out, he moves to second base next year, which probably isn’t a bad deal for anybody. I know the Giants were very interested in Kim and they intended to play 2nd base full time had they gotten him.  

[Motor City Sonics]

Guy signs with a team that is playing in a minor league stadium they are SHARING with an A team in a place with ungodly heat and humidity and thunderstorms nearly every day.      

The Tigers have Javy Baez still on the roster. 

I am changing my offseason from a C- to a D+.      

But a lot of us had this fear of "Hey, we made the playoffs, we don't need to do anything because EVERYONE will develop more on their own". 

I feel like Torres is every bit as likely to have a Javy Baez type season than to have one that turns his career around.   And Alex Cobb.  I'm hopeful he can maybe be Mike Lorenzen 2.0 but I feel like there is an equal chance he can be Kenta 2.0.  

But why the ever-loving **** is Baez still on this roster?     He's done.   

I think what happened last year feels very flukey to me.   It was miraculous.   I don't think they repeat that - and that means that a team with this lineup and a rotation of Skubal-Cobb-Olson-Mize-???? will have to play over .500 all season and I just don't think they can do that.    Not without another good starter or not without another good bat, which doesn't seem to be coming.     And as far as Bregman goes, I really don't care about him anymore.   I know we're the only team still in on him and this Houston thing is a play to get the Tigers to jump.   I would love to have him in the lineup, but not for stupid money and I am glad the Tigers aren't biting, but it seems clear to me that he really doesn't want to come here and I'm like the rest of Detroit.  You don't want us?  We don't need ya, we've gotten through plenty without ya.  Bye.    I would have loved to have had Kim.   OBP guy, does things that work great in a big ballpark.   Would have been the best glove at any infield position (sorry, Sweeney, ,you're average).   I'm like Lee, I think he would have been a better deal than Bregman when you add the potential finances into it, when honestly Lee should have been the primary target all along.   So what if he misses the first 6 weeks, the 6 weeks they're gonna use to realize that Baez is finished.      

Edited Thursday at 01:18 PM by Motor City Sonics

[casimir]

11 hours ago, 1776 said:

I imagine you’re joking. St. Petersburg is responsible for repairing the roof. 

I am.  I don't even know if the roof is being replaced or just completely removed with a drainage system installed.  I can't remember that part of it.

[1776]

55 minutes ago, casimir said:

I am.  I don't even know if the roof is being replaced or just completely removed with a drainage system installed.  I can't remember that part of it.

The plan is that the roof will be replaced and the Rays will be back there in 2026. Rays ownership St. Pete politicians are not getting along with each other right now so I wouldn’t bet on anything. Contentious is the word I would use. 

[chasfh]

On 1/29/2025 at 12:01 PM, gehringer_2 said:

they're too busy watching the game data on their phones or texting to get rowdy.

The old Boomers and Xs have their noses in phones too much to raise hell like they used to. Whatever it takes. 👍🏼

In all seriousness, I do think socialized education (in schools, children's programming, etc.) about violence in general over the past several decades has contributed to the raising of generations that are less likely to act out violently in public, than generations like ours that learned through lack of such education that bullying others in school is how you got what you wanted, and cartoons where characters routinely shot each other and threw each other off cliffs were funny.

[gehringer_2]

11 minutes ago, chasfh said:

and cartoons where characters routinely shot each other and threw each other off cliffs were funny.

Yeah - that has just moved from animation to live action - How many kids do you suppose have seen a John Wick before they are out of grade school?

Edited Friday at 01:55 PM by gehringer_2