As the 2023 regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Cohen to hold press conference:
Mets owner Steve Cohen will be holding a press conference before the club’s game against the Brewers this evening, as Cohen himself announced on Twitter. Cohen’s presser comes as the Mets are in the midst of a brutal June that’s seen them go 7-16 and fall to 8.5 games out of a Wild Card spot. Their chances of an NL East title this season appear even more remote as they’ve fallen to fourth place in the division and sit a whopping 16 games back of the Braves.
With the odds of playoff baseball coming to Queens this season appearing remote, rumors have begun to percolate regarding the Mets as potential sellers, up to and including the idea of veteran ace Max Scherzer changing uniforms before the trade deadline on August 1. It’s not currently known what Cohen’s plans for the press conference are, though as perhaps the most unconventional and publicly active owner in the sport, the presser is sure to be worth keeping an eye on.
2. Central division races tightening:
While the Braves, Rangers, Rays, and Diamondbacks all have relatively healthy leads in their respective division races with Arizona’s 2.5 game lead on the Giants standing as the smallest margin, both the AL Central and the NL Central appear to be extremely competitive in the run up to the All Star break. Following a loss by the Twins to the Braves and a win over the Royals by the Guardians yesterday, Cleveland (38-40) has moved within half a game of the Twins in the AL Central (40-41). With six more games against the Royals prior to the break while the Twins stare down a pair of matchups against Baltimore, the Guardians have a clear path toward taking a lead in the division.
In the NL Central, meanwhile, the Pirates have begun to fall out of the race after going just 4-15 over their last 19 games. That leaves the top dogs in the division as the Reds, who have surged to the front of the division after rattling off 12 straight wins earlier in the month. Milwaukee lurks just half a game behind them, and the Brewers will have an excellent opportunity to separate themselves from the pack in the Central prior to the All-Star break. In their final seven games before the break, they’ll play four against the Cubs (in third place, three games back of the division lead) and three against Cincinnati.
3. Abrams to be re-evaluated:
Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams is set to be re-evaluated this morning following his departure from last night’s game against the Mariners, according to MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman. The young shortstop was struck by a pitch in the right elbow during yesterday’s game, the second time he’s been hit in that spot this week. Abrams missing time would be an unfortunate turn for the Nationals as the 22-year-old looks to continue developing at the big league level in hopes of reaching the promise that made him a consensus top-10 prospect in baseball heading into the 2022 season and a cornerstone of the Juan Soto trade. Utility infielder Ildemaro Vargas took over for Abrams at shortstop last night and figures to fill in should Abrams miss time.
The opposite is also true, fellas. The Reds could separate themselves from the Brew Crew as well. You guys are still showing your disbelief despite the results.
That being said, if the front office doesn’t address the pitching ossues that have lasted since the great purge, their reign will be short. My faith in the kid GM to do that is nil because that is what we have seen so far. Nil.
The thing I find most interesting is discounting the Cubs. Just 3.5 GB and the best pythagorean record in the central suggests they’ve had at least a little bad luck. They’re the only team in the division with a positive run differential.
Agreed. Anyone that close to a division lead shouldn’t be discounted, especially a team in a large market.
Yeah and that division isn’t strong. I could see the Cubs getting hot and taking the Central.
It’s crazy that only 2 of the 10 Central teams have positive run differentials while only 2 of the 10 West teams have negative run differentials.
That tends to happen when Brewers are down 3runs in 8th/9th and Counsell let’s a RP give up 3-9runs pitching the what would be their last inning. So the game ends up looking like a blowout. Typically that pitcher has been DFA or optioned to AAA following that game with a new junk pitcher called up to use in that role next time down 3 or more.
Also Brewers offense is offensive with their being okay with 600s OPS like it’s other teams’ 800s OPS. Adames nearing last 50games below 600 OPS output batting 3rd typically. Getting below 600 OPS from the DH since it began in the NL. Also teams know a LH SP is a near auto win vs Milw and throwing LH Starters a few extra times this year.
Run differential is not a tie-breaker in baseball.
Of course you’re correct on paper, but Vegas doesn’t usually screw up. The odds are slim that the Reds can make a real run. And when I say real run, I don’t think any central team in either league will make a serious run at the WS. However, the Crew still does have the best pitching, at least at this point, Woodruff is due to come back after the break, and the offensive struggles could break if a few of these guys can get closer to career numbers. I still can’t believe the Cards are struggling this bad, so it does leave the Crew with the best likelihood to win the division. That’s the beauty of such a long season! Gotta play the games!
Brewers have the best pitching by far, barring trades. Not hard to see in this division.
Might be their last hurrah before their inevitable break up. Feel bad for you guys because we gave been through it.
Been a while for the Reds for sure. Yep, after this season, they’ll tear it down. Burnes and Adames are likely gone. Yelich will stick because it’ll be pretty tough to get rid of that contract at this point. It should be a fire sale, but I don’t think the owner is willing to do it. Counsell is likely to be done too, so it really would be the right time.
Except for the fact the Cubs actually have better pitching.
“Been a while for the Reds for sure”
I know it was the Covid expanded playoffs year but the Reds gave the Braves a real hard time in that 3 game set. 1-0 Braves win in 13 innings in game one and lost 5-0 in game two with the Braves scoring 4 in the bottom of the 8th.
MLBTraderumors has a Brewer bias for the Central. I cannot necessarily blame them, the Brewers have a more recent history of success but I’m going with the Cubs (showing my Cubs bias). I just think Steele, Stroman, Hendricks and Smyly, along with their low floor offense outweighs Ross’s horrendous coaching decisions.
I’m really hoping Jed steps in and figures out a way to remove Mancini from the mix for Ross. For some reason, Ross loves to give playing time to guys who hurt the team.
Cohen can say whatever he wants but that doesn’t mean anyone else will take on the high priced guys he overpaid for.
Cohen is gonna go full Howard Beale.
In his case, more like Howard Hughes.
Before or after he became a recluse?
He’s the Jerry Jones of MLB owners and I love it. Big contracts are great for the sport. Young athletes who can play whatever pro sport they want know where the money is
Dallas hasn’t won much lately, either, so good comparison
Only in Murica is such a comparison valid. Baseball is not the NFL.
Big contracts have never been great for the sport. It’s why even the bigger market teams have shifted to more emphasis on player development over just throwing mass amounts of money at players hoping to win
Cohen will do the usual Corp.speak,”Full confidence in Billy,blah,blah,blah”, “Buck is the best to guide this team,blah, blah, blah “,”the starting rotation had some injuries early on,blah, blah, blah “
What is so different between the 101 win 2022 team and the 2023 team? Baty and Alvarez took over for Escobar and Nido. Verlander and Senga replaced Bassitt and Walker. They lost Diaz – that was a big blow…..but is there really that much of a difference between the two teams? Doesn’t seem like it.
The team is just underperforming. That’s the bottom line.
It’s not a rotisserie league. Going out and buying guys to plug and play doesn’t always work. There is something to be said about clubhouse chemistry and familiarity.
Mets and Padres found that out the hard way.
Take a look at the Os and Reds, and to a lesser extent, the DBacks and Pirates. They have a bunch of kids that have known each other since the minors. It’s almost like a frat house. With the Mets and Padres, it’s a whole bunch of strangers that you invited to a party.
The Mets have accomplished vets like Max, JV, Alonso, Lindor. McNeill, Marte, McNeil, DRob, Otto, and Diaz. And then there is Buck. I don’t think chemistry is the issue there.
Doesn’t seem like the Mets have the farm system to replicate the O’s, Reds, D’backs or Pirates. Alex Ramirez star is falling, Kevin Parada looks more like Alan Zinter than Adley Rutschman, beyond Mauricio there isn’t much. Major league team underperforming and no farm. Seems suckish.
Team Chemistry isn’t about having established vets. It’s how the clubhouse gets along. What Joe is pointing out is, you have teams who’s players have plaid together for a long time even since their prospect days. This builds relationships which builds team Chemistry. This is a better way than purchasing a player for each position. Having played together for several years is a strength.
Orioles success is more about the model instilled by the FO and the players buying in to it …not the amount of time teammates have been together.
Outside of Mullins, Hays and Santander, everyone else who’s been around now for a couple of years is from somewhere else. Only
now, beginning with Adley, are the O’s starting to reap the extra benefit of teammates going through the system in somewhat parallel paths.
Oops make that just Mullins and Hays as home grown. Forgot Santander was a Rule Fiver.
@Yards. I didn’t say anything about being home grown. I said some of these players have played together for a long time, sometimes even from their prospect days. Santander, Mullins, Hays, Mountcastle and Mateo have all played together for more than two years and Mateo is the only one who has for ONLY two years and that’s not counting this season. I haven’t even looked at your pitching staff so maybe it’s even more.
It doesn’t matter what the team strategy is. Knowing your teammates is only going to make them more effective at executing it.
@WampumWalloper the biggest differences between last years team and this years team is that the team is a year older. Most of the team was filled with older players. A year difference can make or break a lot of these guys. The pitching was far better last year compared to this year. Scherzer was a year younger, Bassit never missed starts, Walker was consistent. I’d say though the biggest problem with the team is their lack of winning in 1 run games. Last year the bullpen blew almost every game outside of Diaz and Ottavino. The starting pitching has been worse and giving less innings, which in term makes our already awful bullpen worse by having to pitch these relievers more. Look at Ottavino, hes tired out. Him and Robertson are the only major league relievers on the team. Ottavino is only doing worse this year compared to last year because there is no one else. Losing Diaz was a huge blow to this team. According to the bettors and the Met fan base, losing Diaz would only equate to losing 4 more games. Thats nonsense, the rest of the bullpen was affected by his injury. It was supposed to be Otto in the 7th, Robertson in the 8th, and Diaz in the 9th to finish games. People underestimate a bad bullpen
That’s a good take LFGMets. Tough to think the Mets could come out of the trade deadline with a talented deep bullpen or top prospects. Vogelbach, Canha and Pham won’t bring back much, 2nd tier prospects maybe. Ottavino and Robertson probably not much more. Vientos lost his value. Maybe they can trade Scherzer and Verlander along with $40M per season for each to entice a team to give up a top prospect for a horse past it’s prime, but I don’t know. I think you nailed it with your comment about them all being a year older.
The Mets are 12-14 in one run games. That’s comparable and even a little better than your team record by percentage. The Mets are bellow the league average in runs scored which makes since with having four spots in your line up all hitting bellow league (McNeil, Batty, Vogelbach, Marte) average and two more right at league average
He’s gonna say their open to taking calls on players, but will continue to fight for a playoff spot. He believes in the team he paid for. They are going to get a public tongue lashing for not performing up to snuff. Blah blah blah.
Can’t buy winners man. Have to create chemistry. Marte is a total loss. The other sub .700 OPS guys suck. Or are very low performers this season. Lost your closer on the dumbest celebration in history. Star expensive pitchers have been Eh. Certainly not cy young win every time stars. And bullpen has issues. Ha. Mets suck.
Then they win 20/30 to end the season and give false hope. But can that final run get them there ? 50/50. They’d have to jump the Marlins. Dodgers are going. Giants are still an If. Phillies too. Still way early. You never know. But when you have a worse record that the pirates. You suck. Period.
looks to continue developing at the big league level
=========================
He should continue his development in AAA. That’s what the minor leagues are for. All Rizzo is doing is burning thru his service time, while getting nothing in return. The kid doesn’t even have 500 minor ABs.
IRT Mets, a real leader should seriously consider tanking, even if it upsets the fans. If the Mets play .650 the rest of the way, they are still only 50/50 to make the WC. Trade off Marte, Canha, Pham, Vogelbach, Carrasco, Robertson & Ottavino, and pick up 100% of their salaries.
They should get at least a few decent lottery tickets, especially for the RPs.
But wait until my RS pull the trigger.
Judging by their 5 game lead over the Nationals, I think they are already tanking…..
The rebalanced schedule shows the Central divisions as the straight up pillow fights they are.
But what will MLB do when they have a below .500 division winner? What if that team got hot in playoffs and won the WS? Laughable.
Time to go back to 2 divisions (East/West), keep all the wild cards.
I liked it better when there was just a NL and AL standings with no wild cards
The primary reason it’s become so convoluted is MONEY
The more teams that make the playoffs the more revenue is generated
The extra wild cards make MLB like the NHL. I understand the intrigue of “excitement” for the fan base of 16+ teams,but forever playoffs suck.
Agreed!
Money also is a big reason why teams make it. They watered down the playoffs to make that less apparent but it doesn’t change the facts.
Would have to increase the WC by 2 spots.
Abrams stuck his elbow out trying to get hit, No tears here!!
1. He’s announcing that he’s doubling down and increasing the payroll by 5-fold.
2. Central Divisions are a dumpster fire but I guess it’s fun for the fans knowing that their team is somewhat still in it. Well… except for KC.
3. This is why we need to either move to robots playing baseball or simulate all the games through analytics. Too many guys getting injured and missing time.
If point 3 is really the way you want to go why do you bother watching baseball? Just throw all the teams names in a hat and draw for the playoffs then repeat to see who wins. That’s how asinine your comment is
@Awesom O
I enjoy the baseball culture now. The actual game has been so watered down and unwatchable, mainly because they’re treating the players like robots already, which is why I’m saying they might as well have robots or simulation games. I miss the good ol’days of manufacturing runs in the early 1900s. Back then, they actually had athletes that knew how to play a full 9-innings not 2 or 3 innings.
Go Guards!
Uncle Steve will simply calm the waters and make it clear no firings happening in season.
The Brewers and Reds play 6 straight times in July so it’ll be a good chance for either team to break away in the standings.
Well no one has seen hide nor hair of the Mets since thre Tigers took them to the wood shed. They cruised into Detroit 16-13, and ain’t hardly seen .500 since then after getting swept in Detroit. Both teams are 8.5 games back for the wild card races, and close to the same records.
Hyde nor hair, but correct point.
It’s actually ’hide nor hair’, but I’m open to ‘hyde nor hare’. Just sayin’.
My guess is he’s going to announce the President of Baseball Operations. Stern available?
Howard Stern would be a bold move.
Lol. Yeah, autocorrect that I didn’t catch. Stearns. But Howard would be even better!
Here’s all you need to know about Brewers hitting philosophy.
Andrew McCutchen last season for Brewers-700 OPS.(worst in career) This year 832 in Pittsburgh again. 838 career OPS.
Jesse Winker- 545OPS. Down to 817OPS career and 688OPS last season in Seattle.
Luke Voit- 548OPS down to 807 career OPS and 676OPS for Washington last year.
Putrid 600 OPS vs LH pitching. Yet Counsell puts out his Platoon lineups like it’s Bible as if the next time it will work. Analytics tells him and Brewers front office to employ the strategy.
” “Time to go back to 2 divisions”? Then one league will have to be 16 teams and the other league 14. ”
Huh? The AL and NL would stay the same size (15 teams), each would just consolidate their Central divisions into the East and West divisions of each league.
Meanwhile should start the sentence, it can’t be in the middle