The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The Red Sox continue their search for a general manager (1:05)
- Kim Ng and the Marlins part ways (4:10)
- Brandon Woodruff might miss all of 2024 with shoulder injury (9:55)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- What is one team you anticipate will aggressively attempt to contend this season but believe should focus on rebuilding, and one club you expect to act passively during the offseason but think should make a more concerted effort to contend? (15:45)
- The Pirates’ competitive window should start to open in 2024 but they badly need to address 1B and SP this winter. I’ve talked myself into Ty France (if Dipoto feels the need to upgrade there) and Patrick Sandoval (if the Angels decide to blow it up) as being great fits. Do you like those options or have any other names that could wind up in Pittsburgh? (20:00)
- To me it seems to be very futile to have great success in the 162 game grind, win your division (by a large margin often) and lose to a lesser team. I get it that baseball is all about who’s hot at the moment but when the best all get upset in the beginning of the playoffs it does give one pause. There surely should be more advantage/reward for regular season achievements. (22:25)
Check out our past episodes!
- The Mets’ Front Office, TJ for Alcantara and the D-Backs Extend Their GM – listen here
- Mariners To Spend? Tigers To Contend? And Managerial Vacancies – listen here
- Free Agent Pitching Dark Horses, Padres To Cut Payroll, and If The Angels Should Rebuild — listen here
It’s always interesting to hear people favoring the Twins’ end of the Arraez / Lopez, Salas trade.
The Twins got 2 years of control over a 3 WAR pitcher and a high risk/reward prospect. bWAR previous 2 for Lopez: 2.8, 2.9 and this year 3.3.
The Marlins got 3 years of control over a younger, 4 WAR infielder. bWAR previous 2 for Arraez: 3.4, 4.3 and this year 4.9.
Arraez helps any team make the playoffs more than Lopez. The Marlins needed to take the first step (make the playoffs) and Arraez was a huge contributor to that end.
Lopez helps a team win in the playoffs more than Arraez. The Twins needed to take the next step (win in the playoffs) and Lopez was a huge contributor to that end.
bWAR is more focused on what actually happened than what metrics think maybe should have happened. By bWAR, Arraez is a far more valuable player than Lopez, and Arraez has more growth potential being a year younger as well.
Arraez would be more impactful on a team with power bats behind him. As it stands I think you nailed it that Lopez is more valuable in a playoff series. Arraez is essentially a 1B/DH w poor speed and no power. I don’t see much growth there either. Last season was very likely the best year of his career in my opinion. I’d still take the Lopez side of that trade because I think pitchers are harder to find and flawed players like Arraez are difficult to build a roster around.
Arraez played 2B all last year. He’s a second baseman. OAA has him unplayable at 2B, but both UZR and DRS have Arraez as better than average.
Arraez’s bWAR in 150 games average
2019 a22 – 2.6
2020 a23 – 4.2
2021 a24 – 4.2
2022 a25 – 4.5
2023 a26 – 5.0
———————
2024 a27 – 5.5 Prime
2025 a28 – 5.5 Prime
2026 a29 – 5.0 Near Prime
2027 a30 – 5.0 Near Prime
2028 a31 – 4.5 Starting Decline
2029 a32 – 4.0
2030 a33 – 3.5
2031 a34 – 2.5
2032 a35 – 2.0
2033 a36 – 1.0
That’s a pretty reasonable projection for Arraez at this point. He’s probably not going to be much better than that, but if he puts that together, you’re talking about a legitimate potential Hall of Famer.
If this past season is his ceiling… something people have been saying for 4 consecutive years… he’s still likely a career 40 WAR player. Those don’t grow on trees.
Nice breakdown. Appreciate it.
Arraez is a 2B that has played good defense at the position. A 3 DRS over the last 4 seasons at 2B. Why you think he is a 1B is beyond me after he played 134 games at 2B this season.
He is 26 so its not likely the best year of his career. He has a half dozen peak years to go. He led the league in batting average by 17 points and was 8th in OBP among players with a qualifying number of PA. His OPS+ and wRC+ were 33% better than league average.
Lopez was a good but not great starting pitcher with a 3.66 ERA, 117 ERA+, 17% better than league average for starters, and ranked 23rd or 24th among starting pitchers with a qualifying number of innings pitched. His greatest value is that he took the ball every 5th game. He is the #2 on most teams.
There is no doubt that Arraez was the more valuable player. Its not particularly close. So why the negative vibes from you?
Pablo Lopez may have turned a corner this season having started off as the #3 starter, I believe he finished the season as the Twins #1 starter. I thought his performance in the postseason was impressive. Also finished 3rd in MLB with 234 strikeouts. I think I would take a 27 yo #1 starter over a 2B who just singles & walks. Arraez disappeared over the last half of the season as well.
Pablo Lopez:
1st Half
3.89 ERA, 3.15 FIP, 11.19 K/9, 2.43 BB/9, GSv2 59
2nd Half
3.36 ERA, 3.58 FIP, 10.41 K/9, 1.95 BB/9, GSv2 55
Not sure what corner he turned here.
Arraez wasn’t hitting .400 in the 2nd half.
.314/.335/.465 OPS .800 wRC+ 113 as a starting 2B is not disappearing. His BABIP was only .313 in the 2nd half despite a 28% line drive rate. 1st half was BABIP was probably a little high at .398, but a similar line drive rate.
Arraez puts balls into play. His ISO is the 2nd half was .151. with 12 doubles, 2 triples and 7 home runs.
Looks like a win-win situation, which is what you want for both clubs.
It’s always interesting to hear people favoring the Twins’ end of the Arraez / Lopez, Salas trade.
========================
I have seen almost no one favoring the Twin’s side,
The Twins positive boiled down to an excess of players who played infield positions in tbeir system. Guys like Julien, Lee, Martin and Lewis were depth pieces to easily replace Arraez. Not such a stockpile on the pitching side. A true trade that both teams won because it filled in a big need for both. Everyone won!
For people trying to make this trade a “win” for one team and a disaster for the other should know that both teams can actually “win” a trade by acquiring what they actually need for their individual team……I think the Lopez for Arraez trade is a perfect example of both teams “winning” a trade.
I agree. For value purposes, Miami did better, but both teams got what they wanted. And some of the trade will revolve around whether or not the scarcely-mentioned prospects develop.
Joe, the evaluation won’t be over until the prospect’s value is determined or one team surprisingly wins it all.
That’s what makes some of these MLBR analyses useless. Yesterday, the Ng article mentioned that she made up for the Segura deal by dealing him for Bell. Never mentioned that they also gave up Watson. It takes 30 seconds to mention the entire deal.
Junk math aside, it’s impossible to measure the value of a starter. They have an immense impact on the game they start but someone that plays once every 5 games isn’t going to shine statistically compared to an everyday contributor, but those same stats can’t measure the general importance of having a good starting staff, which is almost a necessity for even making the post season.
Whenever someone says junk math or stat, they mean math beyond their comprehension. Always. Then they come back with some version of “I understand it, but I don’t think it’s correct” which is further verification that they don’t have an inkling of how it works.
The problem with America is that everyone has an opinion. But when questioned about why they believe in xyz, they clam up and ofttimes revert to insults.
That is what we call “free speech” in our Democracy.
Stats are important as you stated.
But, the teams that do the best use stats as one of the many resources in the Front Office, Pres of Baseball Ops’s and General’s tool box when analyzing/evaluating talent and whether to acquire it or not or move it elsewhere.
Over the last decade the teams that spent the most on math and data and used the most math and data in game are the teams with the most wins and playoffs appearances.
The teams that spent the least and used it the least have the fewest wins and playoff appearances.
This is not something you can make an argument against because it’s not an opinion.
The Yankees. Mets and Padres spent a big amount of money on analytics and all three teams with huge payrolls and huge analytics departments are watching the playoffs @ home on their couches.
Dombrowski is the gold standard for Pres of Baseball Ops.
And, he is more “old school”: scouting, player evaluations, decades of experience using his brain instead of just relying on stats etc.
Dombrowski has spent money building an analytics department in Philadelphia.
But, he uses it as only one tool in his Pres of Baseball Ops toolbox
to evaluate players and make decisions.
BIL, its not quite as cut and dried as you are trying to make it out to be. Of the top 6 teams in spending on analytics staff and technology, 5 of those teams make up the top of the list of teams with the most wins over the last decade. In terms of playoff appearances its 5 of the top 7.
There is no real way to measure how much of that data is being passed on to players. I would suspect that the teams that do the best job of TRANSLATING that data into chunks the players can immediately use are the ones that win the most. The manager of the team is the one responsible for getting that data to the players.
An analytics averse manager on a team that is generating huge amounts of data would not make for a good match and likely not a winning team.
What part of past decade did you not understand? Dodgers and Yankees are #1 and #2.
Padres weren’t in top 15 until 2021. Mets weren’t until 2022.
The Red Sox were top 5 in analytics spending until 2nd year of Bloom. Guess who hired most of them. That’s right, Dombrowski.
They are still in top 7 or 8.
Of the top 5 in spending over the past decade, who are you trying to say didn’t make the list of most wins?
I get it, ignorance makes you angry. To qualify as an actual theory the mathematical predictions need to model reality at least 97% of the time. At best these stats qualify as an educated guess about the player’s quality and future value, not mathematical truth.
Reducing things to WAR becomes even more mathematically absurd. Even a novice scientist could spot hundreds of confounding variables not included in WAR calculations (weak defensive players in areas a player most commonly hits the ball, pitchers that excel in areas where the batter is weak, weather/sunlight conditions during a particular AB that may favor the pitcher, etc…).
Consistently being in the top 5 payrolls might also have a small effect on the outcome.
Case,
That is where you are wrong. Stats like WAR measure PAST performance, they don’t predict future performance.
EVERYTHING you said after that is moot since you got the basic premise wrong.
Over the past decade the Astros were not in the top 5 payrolls. They were in the top 5 in analytics spending.
The Rays were not in the top 5 payrolls. They were in the top 5 in analytics spending.
The Dodgers and Yankees were #1 and #2 in analytics spending and they were #1 and #2 in payroll.
So it’s a mixed bag in terms of payroll, but the spending on analytics is consistent.
Boston. They were 4th in spending on analytics staff and technology and 6th in wins. Dodgers, Yankees, Astros, Cardinals, Rays in that order in wins.
Everything you said after WAR measures past performance is wrong. There is no mathematical proof that if the Marlins had a league average player instead of Arraez they would have lost exactly 4.9 more games.
Actually, there is. Maybe you need to learn more about the stat itself. Or take some high school math classes.
Might be quicker to just wiki the term “mathematical proof”, though American high school math may not have prepared you to understand the article.
There is your problem. You think Wikipedia is worth reading or provides accurate answers.
WAR is a measure of past performance. It can be used as a comparator of past performance
Marlins needed a guy who could hit and had enough pitching to part with Lopez. Trade helped both teams.
Trade definitely helped both teams both teams traded from a strength where they had a surplus and addressed a need.
The purpose of trades is to help both teams.
So when will MLB commissioner address the big elephant in the room? why is he allowing and making excuses for John Fisher to be owner of the A’s when they have a billionaire that had huge success in the NBA that wants to buy the team? Why doesn’t Manfred ask Fisher to sell?
It’s not an elephant. Every single owner in MLB supports Fisher as does every wise baseball fan. Fisher is no saint, but the EXCEEDINGLY arrogant Bay Area government has made every effort to block any legitimate stadium deal for the past 20 years. Even with Howard Terminal, when things were getting preliminary approvals, the city of Oakland had made no plans for design, construction or funding. It was just saying “yeah, yeah, sure. we’ll get it, no worries!”
The Coliseum is a rickety dump, long, long past it’s functional lifespan as a major sports franchise stadium. From rat infestations, to electrical system failures, sewage backups to just how outdated the facilities are, it’s done. Some AA teams have better facilities.
On top of that, fans in the Bay Area haven’t supported the Athletics. They’ve been in the bottom half of attendance for 18 straight years, ranking dead last the past few years. The last time they cracked the top half was after 5 consecutive playoff years in like 2003, and even then, just barely. A big part of that is location and access. Tons of parking, but the stadium is in the middle of an sparsely populated industrial area.
BS. No one supports Fisher. The reason for the failures to get a stadium in Oakland were Fisher each time.
His actions in the Howard Terminal deal was particularly egregious. With days left to get the deal signed before his term sheet expired, Fisher asked for $600 million more dollars from CA taxpayers AFTER the EIR was completed, after all the lawsuits were won, after the Port Authority had taken HT off the list of port use sites, and after the deal was agreed to by the relevant government agencies. He knew that CA law required any additional funding to go back through the process of open meetings and would take a minimum of 6 months. Essentially he backed out of negotiations. Less than a week later he announced a deal in Las Vegas. A deal that incidentally he backed out of shortly after announcing it. It was later revealed that Fisher was unable to get financing to pay for his part of the $12 billion development at Howard Terminal.
In Fremont it was much the same. They were deep in negotiations after 3 years and the EIR and the initial lawsuits were settled and only infrastructure issues such as public transportation were left when Wolff and Fisher dropped out of negotiations.
Then they proposed moving to San Jose knowing that the Giants owned the rights. The courts shot them down. That was not a serious proposal.
Alameda county sold Fisher 50% interest in the Coliseum site at a steep discount so he could build there. No infrastructure money from the taxpayer needed. He won’t do it. He refused to even negotiate with the city of Oakland regarding building there. Why? It won’t put money in his pocket.
Almost forgot that in 2014, Fisher and Wolff backed out of a proposed plan for two stadiums, one for baseball and the other for football, to be built at the site of the Coliseum. That is why the Raiders left Oakland. Please don’t believe me. Read Mark Davis’ comments recently.
The entire issue in Oakland has been Fisher and Wolff.
You’re mad your fanbase and regional governments & bureaucracies wouldn’t build a new stadium to replace a stadium 20 years past it’s functional window.
Santa Clara County – Blocked by Giants
Fremont – Blocked by government
San Jose – Blocked by Giants
Laney College – Blocked by school’s board of trustees
Howard Terminal – Blocked by government
Howard Terminal – Preliminary approved by government, but no funding method established, no blueprints or design work… it was just a desperate lie.
Vegas did in just a few months what Oakland couldn’t in 20 years.
sportico.com/leagues/baseball/2023/oakland-as-stad…
Oakland doesn’t deserve an MLB franchise.
Vegas paid Fisher $380 million to consider moving to Vegas. Why? Fisher is broke. he has lost 70% of value in Gap in a few years. Of the $380 million in tax breaks Vegas allows Fisher to sell those tax breaks. Only a guy close to bankruptcy would take that deal
Martras, ALL of those are wrong.
They never tried in Santa Clara County. Period.
Fremont had an approved EIR, had passed through 2 lawsuits, and was just haggling on infrastructure such as public transportation when Wolff backed out. Since Fisher was the majority owner, that means Fisher backed out.
San Jose was blocked by the courts after the Giants said no and Wolff and Fisher KNEW they would because they asked first and the Giants said no. That is 100% on Wolff and Fisher.
NOTHING was done at Laney College because the Board of Trustee’s refused to sell the land. No EIR. No approach to local government for funds. No infrastructure plans. No anything. That was a complete nothing.
Howard Terminal was approved. A $12 billion development with Fisher getting control of the entire thing. $350 million in taxpayer dollars for infrastructure approved 2 laws passed by the state legislature and signed by the governor to speed along the project. EIR completed. 3 lawsuits won. Approval from the Oakland city council. The port authority released HT as a port site. ALL they were waiting for was Fisher’s signature. Then he asked for an additional $600 million in taxpayer dollars in April. On April 22 he announced he had a deal in Las Vegas.
And you completely skipped over TWO opportunities to build at the site of the Coliseum.
So please, stop the BS You can’t lie about it. Its all documented in the SF Chronicle. I have a home in the area. I have followed this intently for 20 years. I KNOW Kaval and have turned down several offers to do work for them because I KNOW what kind of person he is. A liar.
You may think you can pass that BS off on people that really don’t know or only read Wikipedia, but none of what you said is true.
Pads you haven’t been right about anything in at least 6 years on here. It’s time to step away.
I love how you say “it’s 100% on Wolf and Fisher” because they KNEW the Giants would say no? Maybe that’s a sign Oakland and baseball do not mix. Give up the dream.
Pads Fans12 hours ago
Martras, ALL of those are wrong.
=============================
You seem to have a handle on this, so I have a question.
Who, if anyone, now owns the rights to the Oakland market, and whatever surrounding areas the A’s owned?
If Fisher still owns it, couldn’t Manfred compel a sale in the “best interests of BB”, and probably at a favorable price since he left Oakland.
After that, if the city of Oakland is a willing partner, and the Oakland market is viable, then shouldn’t getting a new team in Oakland be fairly easy?
Maybe Wolfe thought the giants would do the right thing and sign off on San Jose. You do know when Giants asked to move to San Jose A’s owner strauss signed off on San Jose so they could move.
@Joe I doubt MLB allows a team relocating to maintain rights to the market they re willingly leaving. I’d say in most cases the rights go back to MLB. The Bay Area might be a bit different than usual with the proximity of the Giants.
I’d assume though with the stadium issues and everything, it will be some time if ever before MLB allows a team in OAK again. Which is pretty sad for all the fans there, they were collateral damage.
Remove the tin foil hat. MLB doesn’t allow “broke” owners. None of the major sports do. They force their owners to be financially viable and force the sale or partial sale of franchises when owners are not liquid enough to run the franchise.
I lived in the Bay Area too. It’s all correct. Every last bit of it. I get it. You’re mad. Thao = Lightfoot watching the Bears leave Chicago.
Btw, the SF Chronical is not your savior. The reporting there for the last few years backs up what I linked.
Why did the Raiders leave Oakland?
Why did the Warriors leave Oakland?
Why does Oakland list one of their major sports franchises as the Oakland Spiders? (a *&^(*&^ Ultimate Frisbee team…)
Oakland is broke, it has a bad reputation, its leadership is incompetent, the population is stagnant, the buying power is dropping, but it’s the Bay Area so they’re still arrogant AF. Howard Terminal was a must. An absolute must for that city to re-vitalize.
He posts facts you can look up if you know how to use Google. You stoop to insults. Says all I need to know about your opinion vs his.
MLB allowed “broke” owners in Houston and Dallas until they were on the brink of bankruptcy. Then MLB stepped in and forced a sale.
MLB can’t control the stock market or bad business deals outside of baseball. The stock in GAP that Fisher owns dropped $2 billion in value and he made several misguided investments in retail. office buildings, and hospitality that completely collapsed over the past 3 years.
80% of Fisher’s net worth is in his equity in two sports teams, the A’s and the Earthquakes. He is worth about $400 million outside of that equity and none of it is liquid. His operating income is 100% generated by those two sports teams.
Mark Davis has been clear about why the Raiders left Oakland,.John Fisher.
sfgate.com/athletics/article/raiders-mark-davis-tr…
Instead of posting opinions not based in facts, post links to articles to back your opinion.
Mantras: billionaires need handouts from local governments to foot the bill for stadiums is the worst scam in sports. Taxpayers should not be footing the bill for stadiums period but keep blaming local and state governments for actually making prudent decisions for a change and not caving to billionaire owners.
Mark Davis and the Raiders were offered a “shared stadium” situation with the 49ers in Santa Clara/Silicon Valley.
Al Davis was more likely to take a deal like that.
It was pure greed that Davis chose to move to Las Vegas.
And, the Raiders attendance is near the bottom of the NFL in LV.
Davis/Raiders would have made more money and sold out Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
It is working for the Rams and Chargers @ SOFI in Inglewood, Jets/Giants in the Meadowlands in New Jersey and more.
The A’s own the rights to the Oakland market until they move. Then the rights revert to MLB.
MLB can sell an expansion franchise to a group wishing to bring a team to Oakland once the A’s leave.
There are groups, including AASEG – aasegoakland.com/, the one that owns half of the Coliseum site, that have made an offer to buy the Oakland A’s. There have been other well-funded groups that have offered to buy the A’s.
As it stands, the A’s are Fisher’s cash cow. His only source of income. He will not sell.
If the A’s actually move, the rights to Oakland and the east Bay Area revert to MLB. If someone wants to move a team there or purchase an expansion team there, they can. The Giants can only block San Jose and westward from there.
Interesting interview with Mayor Thao about a stadium. She said that the development as a whole is still available and approved as it was before Fisher asked for additional funding in early April. The city council and the state approved funds for the development, not Fisher or the A’s specifically, so if an investor stepped up fairly quickly they could use that same development plan and funding.
I can find nothing to back up what you said Martras.
Median household income growth in Oakland and the east Bay surpassed inflation YOY in 2022 and is higher adjusted for inflation than 2019 or ore-Covid.
The Raiders left because of the A’s. Mark Davis has been saying that for years.
@Pads, The Gap has actually seen an over 300% increase in profit over 3rd qtr of last year. Not saying Fischer is a prudent businessman or anything. But part of the losses are due to the steady decline of brick and mortar retail and also the effects of Covid on in person shopping. The rebound however, also can be partially attributed to people being able to shop at brick and mortar again opposed to anything Fischer or others may have done.
Regardless, yes A’s bring in revenue for him. But people with a net worth such as him don’t even need to see profits to generate income. They can just lend against assets and then unlike income they do not have to pay income taxes. People such as Bezos have been doing this for years.
John Fisher’s stock in GAP went from a value of $2.6 billion in mid 2021 to $420 million today. He is not a part of the executive team nor a member of the board, thank goodness.
GAP revenue has fallen 8% YOY and its 3.3% net profit margin is because they closed 43% of their GAP, Old Navy, Banana Republic, and other retail stores this year. I am a stockholder. I held 100k shares that I bought in 2009 post the RE/Banking crash and divested of in April 2021 and then bought 20k shares in May of this year. I am cheering for GAP stock to go up which would help John Fisher.
Fisher invested heavily in commercial real estate and is losing his shirt on it. He also invested in hotels prior to COVID and we know what happened to them in 2020 and 2021. He tried to divest in 2022 and that was a bigger mistake. He also made several investments in other retail and lost even more.
His net worth is estimated at $2.1 to 2.2 billion today with the A’s and San Jose Earthquakes making up 80% of that number.
All that matters is that net worth # not where it comes from. That allows people like him to do alot of things with massive tax advantages as I mentioned before.
@martas everything you posted is opinions no facts at all. Not sure why you come her and post a bunch of lies. Unless you are Fisher or one of his relatives that is having a melt down.
fact is that Dave Kaval the PR for A’s was giving us A’s fans bi-weekly updates how close they were to a stadium then all of a sudden he was dead silent for 6 months. A’s fans were asking if he was OK.? Then the A’s make a announcement they are moving to Vegas. Not only A’s fans were surprised the mayor office talked to Fisher 2 weeks before and said he was about to sign the papers.
So if your favorite band like Metallica fired all their musicians and brought in no name musicians that never played a arena would you spend $200 a ticket to see them? Of course not but that what the A’s want fans to do pay top dollar to see a AAA team.
So everything you post are lies and you have a attitude of hatred for Oakland. Why i don’t know but you have alot of explaining to do why you posted a bunch of lies?
You haven’t spotted the lie except you lied about A’s having fans. With the threat of leaving they are happy to stay home and let the team leave. Zero urgency with Oakland fans. Exposing them for what they are: a small contingent.
If you’re using a Metallica reference with cost, compare pricing to 29 other teams. By calling the team a AAA it says more about the fans allowing it than it does ownership. The excuses about Oakland is nauseating and it’s time for accountability from the fanbase for no-showing even in the good years the past two decades.
@its happening A’s do have fans. I bet you didn’t know they drew over 2 million one year and a top 3 draw. They have not sign a long term player in over 20 years. Have not sign a top free agent in 35 years. Still the fans show up. Still averaged over 10,000 fans a game while having the worst team ever in Oakland. A team with AAA players. So you just got educated on how little you know.
@ARC 2… They drew 2 million one year. Wow! 2 million! It happened 9 years ago, ranking in the bottom 1/3 for the American League that year.
Drawing 10,276 fans on average in 2023 is good for dead last. In fact, it was so terrible, even the absolute catastrophe which is the Marlins, drew 40% MORE than the A’s in 29th place.
Btw, the Giants drew over 3MM for 9 straight years and drew 31k (2.5MM) last year, which is more than the Athletics have drawn since 1991… Oracle Park is a measly 15.4 miles away from the Oakland Coliseum.
2-million. Wow. Jays drew 4-million. 30 years ago. Oakland has no support as they are on the brink of leaving. Worst fans in baseball.
I attended games at the Coliseum with 50k plus fans in attendance prior to Kaval announcing the team would not try to compete before the 2021 season started. This season they doubled ticket prices and announced they are moving. Would you go to games? That they are drawing 10k is a miracle that shows they have some rabid fans.
Kaval announced that the team would not try to compete before the 2021 season started. They proceeded to trade away any actual major league players.
This season they doubled ticket prices, fielded a team that is the worst in baseball, and announced they are moving. Would you go to games? That they are drawing 10k is a miracle that shows they have some rabid fans.
The Giants spent in the top 5 in baseball for a decade, won in the playoffs, built a new ballpark. Stop trying to compare apples to oranges,
ARC 25 hours ago
@its happening A’s do have fans.
====================
No they don’t.
The attendance ranking the past 7 times they made the playoffs.
2019 23
2018 26
2017 29
2014 24
2013 23
2012 27
2005 19
On some of these forums, I have found/unmasked “paid trolls” who have financial connections and interests in the Owners, players, agents etc that are being discussed on some of these online forums.
A player gets trashed for non performance and wanting a huge contract?! Not so coincidentally, online paid trolls appear and defend him again and again (most likely directed and funded by his agent with the player’s contract coming up).
Ditto with team owners.
Wouldn’t be surprised if some of these A;’s Owner Fischer Defenders, defending the indefensible, are paid trolls from the A’s and/or Las Vegas interests trying to Steal the A’s from the SF Bay Area.
Have seen it happen and called it out before on other issues that affect the money and interests on the Trolls and their employers.
You just proved my point and the points of A’s Stay in the SF Bay Area supporters.
The Giants have spent big money on their team signing free agents and signing their own home grown and traded for starts to long term expensive contracts like Buster Posey and others,
The Giants were lucky enough to have friends that saved their bacon for the SF Bay Area especially former A’s Owner Walter Hauss Jr (Levi’s Strauss) the Dodgers and others who STEPPED UP. VOTED TO BLOCK THE GIANTS MOVE TO TAMPA IN THE EARLY 1990’S, helped the Giants line up NEW, WELL FUNDED LOCAL SF BAY AREA OWNERSHIP,
HELPED THE GIANTS GET A NEW STADIUM AND MORE.
IT IS THE GIANTS OWNERSHIP TURN TO “STEP IT UP” AND HELP THE A’S REMAIN IN THE SF BAY AREA.
The rivalry between the Giants and the A’s “lifts the boats of both teams” when they have well funded, competent ownership that puts a competitive team on the field and actually both spend $$$$ marketing their team product.
See Example: FILED UNDER:
A’S NEWS
Oakland A’s set Coliseum attendance record with 56,310 fans
It’s the largest crowd in all of MLB this season.
By Alex Hall Jul 22, 2018, 5:32am PDT
You are completely lacking in knowledge of SF Bay Area sports fans.
(most likely you are from some far away State and do not have a clue about the SF Bay Area market and/or its fans).
Relying on East Coast Media to explain what is going on
on the ground 3,000 miles away is not always the best way
to get “real knowledge” of the facts on the ground on the West Coast.
When the A’s put a competitive product/quality team on the field then they drew large amounts of fans.
THE GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS PLAYED MOST OF THEIR HISTORY RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO THE OAKLAND COLISEUM IN THE COLISEUM ARENA. THE WARRIORS PUT WINNING TEAMS ON THE COURT AND FANS TRAVELLED FROM NEAR AND FAR TO FILL THE COLISEUM ARENA AND WATCH THEIR GAMES.
The Warriors did not leave the SF Bay Area.
The New Owners just decided to build a new, privately financed arena in downtown San Francisco across the Bay.
It was NOT a failure of Oakland . It was a decision by Warriors Ownership to build their new facility in SF, keeping the team in the SF Bay Area.
Doubled the prices? Compare the prices to the rest of MLB. If it’s near the bottom of the league (avg ticket price), then that hurts your point. Doubling what was low in the first place proves Oakland and baseball do not mix.
The A’s nearly doubled ticket prices for 2022. It doesn’t matter what others pay for other teams. It matters what A’s fans going to THAT stadium pay to see that A’s team and only what those fans pay.
Its obvious you have no point nor any real knowledge of the situation.
Kaval told fans not to come in 2021. He said that the team would be cutting payroll and would not even attempt to compete. The following season he doubled ticket prices. The team sold off every star player and fielded a below replacement level team in 2023. That ANYONE showed up to see the worst team in baseball at the worst stadium in baseball for double the price shows that they have an incredibly good fan base.
They still had multiple games this season where they drew more fans than will be possible in Las Vegas.
FALSE There is no way for you to know how many MLB Owners support Fischer.
Apparently, a lot of them do not since they are pressuring Fischer to
spend more money, get off the MLB teet. of revenue sharing etc.
Moving the team is Fischer’s desperate attempt to “cash in”
since he has fallen well below the threshold for cash and net worth to even own an MLB Team.
Fischer should just sell the team to one of the SF Bay Area”s billionaire tech Owners who actually make tons of cash and know how to run a business,
unlike Fischer.
@SportsFanooooo – 100% positive vote required to move team. Have a nice day.
Well I don’t really believe most owners are particularly fond of Fischer, I do see them 100% supporting the move. They have a vested interest in doing so. It is leverage for teams in the future when bargaining with municipalities for public funding.
I’m sure the first few yrs to a decade will see a hefty increase in the franchises revenue as well. Which with revenue sharing will decrease amount other owners have to dole out.
Wrong. 75% of cow to move teams. You should try reading the articles about it on this website.
Yup, I’m sure that there are plenty of owners that the other owners dislike. But IMO, Vegas will be very good for the MLB. That’s what the owners vote for.
It takes a 3/4 or 75% Vote of MLB Owners to approve moving an MLB team.
There are 30 MLB team Owners.
So, Owners adding up to 8-9 votes
CAN BLOCK THE A’S MOVE TO LAS VEGAS
MLB Commish and Owners gave Fischer an ultimatum that they are
CUTTING THE A’s off of MLB Revenue Sharing in ’24 if he does not
get his act together, get a new stadium, start spending money on the
A’s and players.
That is what is prompting the rushed move to LV.
Fischer is BROKE. Cashflow is all from A’s revenues.
That is why Fischer just FIRED SALED A bunch of All Star
players who could have made the playoffs if the A’s team had been kept in tact and if Fischer had not fire saled away his best young players:
The League will still be giving revenue sharing to the
A’s in LV.
And, Manfred has. stupidly, waived hundreds of millions in franchise relocation fees that all teams must pay to move an MLB team.
The SF Bay Area is a “gold mine” for sports teams Owners’ who are competent and put a competitive team on the field and markets that team to fans.
Fischer is costing MLB Owners millions in revenue sharing EACH YEAR, a lower value TV contract in LV, NO HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS IN FRANCHISE RELOCATION FEES (WAIVED BY MANFRED).
Ownership, if anything is ticked off @ Fischer for exploiting the system and costing them millions of dollars every year.
Smallest ballpark. Smallest TV market. Smallest revenue. Smallest attendance. Smallest payroll. Yup, that should be good for baseball.
Oh I dont know, maybe because the commissioner works for the owners and not the other way around?
Why doesn’t Manfred ask Fisher to sell?
==================
Probably because Fisher is a lot more successful than most small market teams. Fisher has made the playoffs 7x since 2005. That’s more than SD, KC. Miami, the Mets, the Angels, Blue Jays, and maybe a half-dozen other teams.
Why not make them sell?
You can’t force an owner to sell a team. What should have occured is that the league should not have allowed Fisher to buy the franchise in the first place. Owners need to do a better job of vetting these guys who are eager to buy a franchise and make sure they are willing to spend money & not just sit there and collect revenue sharing & tank for years in a row.
Only reason his partner was Lew Wolfe who was close friends with old commish Bud. Fisher/wolfe deal wasn’t even the highest offer and the best backers. It was a inside deal.
MLB has forced the owners of the Reds, Rangers, and Astros to sell. There may have been others as well.
ARC – You are 100% correct, bag jobs were quite common under Selig. That’s what happened when Loria took over the Marlins and Henry took over the Red Sox.
To be expected of a sport that hasn’t had an independent commissioner for several decades.
make sure they are willing to spend money
=====================
But that is surely a chicken & the egg issue. How many people are going to invest in a team when no one will show up?
In addition, other owners might not want another Cohen or Seidler in the game. The local fans might like it, but it raises the player prices for the rest of the owners.
@Ognorant, they absolutely can force an owner to sell a “franchise”. Case in point the other teams mentioned and in the NBA Donald Sterling. Also the NFL with Dan Snyder. The teams being franchises, they have to comply with the contractual terms of a franchise agreement. I’m sure these agreements have numerous stipulations that a sale could be forced if they violated terms of their contact.
Now I do not see them doing that in this scenario. First off forcing an owner to sell has to be a nuclear option. If not fewer potential owners would be interested in the future due to possibly viewing it as an insecure investment. Second, MLB owners appear to love having portions of stadiums publicly funded. And since to some extent whether valid or not some of the blame is on the cityof Oakland for not helping with finding. Any owners probably view this as leverage if they need to one day threaten to leave
@ joebrady successful? He inherited all of his money and lost over 2/3 of it in the last few years. Only reason he was successful was because Beane was running it until 3 years ago. Look at the other big retail deal tat he tried a few years ago that failed too. All he ha sis the A’s gifted to him with family money.
I didn’t say he was successful. I said the team was successful. Without looking, I would guess the As rank roughly in the middle of the pack in terms of overall success .with maybe 79 wins per season and 7 playoff appearances.
Why would you force him to sell instead of all the other less successful owners? In the middle of complete rebuild, he is only 6 behind KC and 9 behind the Rox.
Sell has to do with how he doesn’t care about the team or fans. He just uses them as a ATM. He was caught in a photo wearing a giants cap when he owns the A’s. If he kept the team together they are in the playoffs.
Fischer is the Frank McCourt of MLB.(the Dodgers owner who owned parking lots and purchase the team with “smoke and mirrors, used the Dodgers as his and his wife’s own personal ATM machine taking huge loads of cash from team revenues to support a lavish lifestyle and away from putting a competitive team on the field
(all was disclosed in their Divorce Court depositions and testimony where the world got a look at the Dodgers books in a nasty divorce action
that forced the McCourts to sell the team.
Not sure if MLB pressured them to sell also?!
Fischer runs the A’s much worse than the McCourts ran the Dodgers.
Fischer should be forced to sell and the A’s should be blocked from
moving to a much smaller. less viable MLB market.
Any financial advisor or and/or financial. forensic accountant could explain to you why the SF Bay Area with billions in yearly GDP and Headquarters to most of the richest tech companies in the World is a much better business decision that Nevada with a statewide GDP of only a few hundred million per year.
California is passing Germany as the 4th largest and richest economy in the entire World when compared to other COUNTRIES.,
Just because Fischer is a TERRIBLE BUSINESSMAN, INCOMPETENT, has a business plan borrowed from the movie “Major League, where the Owner intentionally tanks the Indians team to lose, drive away fans and relocate to Florida,
Does not mean that the A’s are not viable in the SF Bay Area..
Numerous Tech billionaires have offered to buy Fischer out of the A’s franchise and
build a brand new stadium with their own funds on the site
of the current Coliseum (in parking lot, then tear down the old Coliseum)
Fischer and Manfred have blocked that from happening.
There is something very fishy about this whole Oakland A’s situation.
A’s attendance was high when, under former Ownership of Walter Haas Jr (Levi’s Strauss Company) put competitive teams on the field, spent money and dramatically increased attendance and Oakland A’s fan support.
When Ownership does its job, spends money, puts a competitive team on the field , then SF Bay Area fans supported the Oakland A’s.
A’s News
A’s News
Oakland A’s set Coliseum attendance record with 56,310 fans
It’s the largest crowd in all of MLB this season.
By Alex Hall Jul 22, 2018, 5:32am PDT
athleticsnation.com/2018/7/22/17599662/oakland-as-…
The Giants are in town from across the Bay, and in any year the local rivalry between the two teams is enough to bring out the fans from both sides. The stakes are raised this summer, though, as both teams have winning records and are within reach of making drives toward the postseason. On top of that the A’s are the hottest team in the sport right now, having won 21-of-27 heading into last week’s All-Star break. That success, along with some admirable marketing efforts by the front office, has helped reengage the green and gold faithful after three tough, last-place seasons.
Sell has to do with how he doesn’t care about the team or fans.
=============================
Since 2012, the teams with more playoff appearances (6):
NYY
CLE
HOU
ATL
STL
LAD
6 teams have matched Fisher’s level of success. So do the other 23 teams have to sell?
In the past 30 years, the A’s highest attendance was 2.2M, good for #16th.
Joe: perhaps if Fischer actually invested in his team and bothered to sign some of the players that helped them get to the playoffs more fans would be invested. I get the whole chicken and egg argument but it’s extremely hard for fans to get invested in a team or players when they know that ownership will demand that be dumped the second they hit arbitration.
acell102 hours ago
Joe: perhaps if Fischer actually invested in his team and bothered to sign some of the players that helped them get to the playoffs more fans would be invested.
=============================
If I were investing, that would be too many “what-ifs”. With Philly and the Mets, I applauded the higher spending. The market was huge. You can get your investment back in spades. I think the Angels should rebuild, but then go over the top like Philly.
If a team’s best attendance in 30 years was 2.2M, I don’t think I’d make that wager. In their absolute heyday, in 1974, having won 3 consecutive WSC, they finished 22nd out of 24 in attendance.
But that said, this is why I raised some other questions about who owns the market. If the market is good, and the city willing to help out, there will be a new owner there tomorrow morning.
The proof will be in the pudding.
Joe: The market isn’t really an issue. They have rights in San Jose along with Oakland. Further it’s hard to judge an investment in a team when the current owner has done so little to invest in it himself. Also I’m not sure what you mean by “help” from the city. if it comes in the form of = infrastructure sure but building a stadium for any team in any sport is a colossal waste of money and never works out for the city.
The A’s team success has has to do with the A’s Front Office: drafting,trading etc.
Fischer purposely tried to sabotage the A’s team to cut expenses to the bone and move it out of town.
If Fischer had been a reasonably good owner: signed his young All Star core to long term contracts instead of conducting periodic fire sales and if Fischer had spent money marketing the team, then
it would have been competitive on the field, drawn plenty of fans
increased revenues etc.
However, that would have hurt Fischer’s phony narrative to move the
A’s out of Oakland.
If fan support was consistent yes he should invest. Fan support is near extinction.
Fischer purposely tanked the team and fire sales away the A’s best young players every few years and said he was cutting payroll and budget
effectively giving “the middle finger” to his customers the fans.
Fans have proven they support the A;’s when the A’s have a responsible, competent owner who has a business plan the centers on fielding ‘the best team possible and winning.
Re read the earlier posts on these issues.
You many have missed a lot of the discussion that already covered
all these issues.
Joe,Fisher took over control of baseball operations in 2016. Before that Wolff ran the team.
I wouldn’t say aggressively, but it won’t shock me if the Brewers try their recent approach of being just good enough to make the postseason with the overall AAAA roster, when they should look really hard at moving all their expensive parts and focusing on 2025. Some or all of Adames, Burnes, Williams and if possible-Yelich-should probably be moved while they have decent value.
I’m just not confident they can cobble together a bunch of misfits for a 7th year in a row and be competitive…with or without Counsell as manager.
Impressive they make the playoffs in a moderately strong division despite the “AAAA roster” as you put it. 6 of the past 7 years with winning records. 5 of the past 6 years in the playoffs.
3 Division Titles in 6 years
1 Divisional Championship Series
1 National League Championship Series
St. Louis Cardinals 9x playoffs last 13 years, 1x World Series Championship. 2x World Series, 5x NL Championship Series.
Chicago Cubs 5x playoffs last 10 years, 1x World Series Championship, 3x NL Championship Series.
The NL Central isn’t the strongest division in baseball, but it sure as hell isn’t a pushover, either. The Cardinals and Cubs are stout competitors and the Brewers have been leading the way over both of them.
Winning 1 out of your last 10 postseason games is not impressive. So this is the highlight of over 50 years of the franchise, the glory years.
I’m a Twins fan. We set records! 0-18, livin the dream! Course, we did mess that streak up this year, but anyway.
I’m not a big Brewers fan, but I can recognize they’re more than AAAA talent level.
Side note, they went to game 7 vs. the Dodgers in 2018 for the NL Championship. One win and they’re in the World Series. They beat the Rockies 3-0 in the NL Divisional Series before that. So that’s 6 postseason wins in 2018 alone.
On average, the chances a random team makes the playoffs.
A) 1 every 3 years – Make the playoffs
B) 1 every 4 years – Win/Pass Wildcard Round
C) 1 every 8 years – Win League Division Title
D) 1 every 15 years – Win League Championship Title
E) 1 every 30 years – Win World Series Title
Brewers are 300% overperforming on A).
Brewers are 150% overperforming on B)
Brewers are 150% overperforming on C)
Brewers are 1 win away from overperforming D by 200%
Isn’t it interesting how cherry picking can make your point stronger?
Is that 2 “old school” Managers: Bruce Bochy in Texas
and Rob Thomson in Philadelphia are both just a game or 2 away from a World Series.
Those old seasoned veterans do not let the stats guys tell them what to do or run the game.
They rely on their own experience, judgment, gut feelings etc.
They are given the reports, but when the rubber hits the road, those guys make their own decisions and don’t rely on “Hal 9000” to tell them exactly what to do.
When that day comes, then I am done with baseball.
Baseball is supposed to be an intellectual game that matches, intelligence, skill, grit, with, decision-making etc and may the best team win.
If it turns into a “video game” run by machines,
then they will lose a lot of fans.
Bochy – si.com/mlb/rangers/news/texas-rangers-bruce-bochy-…
Astros are top 5 in analytics in MLB. Have been since Luhnow.
I wonder If the Boston Red Sox will talk to the ex GM of the New York Mets. Billy E
If Sandoval is not available, i see a compatible Pitcher would be Seth Lugo. thoughts?
The best team should not be the World Champion???
Huh?
Boring?
Huh?
Money over integrity with no facade. A reflection of our current culture.
And it is accepted, readily. No respect for the ” sticktuitivness” that used to be our culture.
Shocking. Not surprised.
Disappointing. Somewhat surprise that the concepts that invented baseball are not respected or even acknowledged.
Not to insult the podcast hosts, but….have you ever philosophically considered what baseball is? (or was)
Wow.
The Saber-toothed Superfife
A sport that got turned into a business and has been controlled by the big market owners for over a century? Right Answer?
The best team not being the World Champs is easy to explain…..There are a million or more small minded people that think it’s better to win the division every year and the world series is just icing on the cake. There is a name for those people…..losers. LAD and the Yankees have rationalized their lack of success at winning the big one for years. Heck, even TB thumps it’s chest about what a great system it has and how well it does yet it has as many rings as I do. It’s a completely screwed up way of think that I attribute to youth sports and participation trophies!!!
Ricky Bobby said it best…. “Always remember, If you ain’t first you’re last!” AND
“You gotta win to get love. Everybody knows that. I mean, that’s just life!”
Not enough organizations care that much about winning it all, they just want sustained slightly above league average results so they can brag about playoff appearances since they can’t win rings. It’s pathetic.
Lets hope the Red Sox don’t hire anyone lacking the need to win.
More on the TRAIN WRECK In the Red Sox Ownership/Front Office
that has produced at least half a dozen No’s and Rejections form experienced
Front Office Talent in MLB for their open position.
Funny Article in Boston Media that sums up the problems they have only themselves to blame for. ,
bostonglobe.com/2023/10/06/sports/dan-shaughnessy-…
And, there is this:
So far, NINE(9) qualified candidates
have turned down the Red Sox Front Office job and/or EVEN AN INTERVIEW WITH THE RED SOX
sports.yahoo.com/where-red-sox-gm-search-170907486…
“There surely should be more advantage/reward for regular season achievements.”
What do all these teams have in common?
1959 Indians; 1960 Orioles; 1961 Tigers, Orioles, Dodgers; 1962 Dodgers, Twins, Reds, Pirates; 1963 White Sox, Cardinals, Twins; 1964 White Sox, Reds, Phillies (!), Orioles, Giants; 1965 White Sox, Giants, Orioles, Pirates, Reds, Tigers; 1966 Giants, Twins, Pirates; 1967 Giants, Tigers, Twins, White Sox (CHW had some good teams back in the ’60s); 1968 Orioles.
They all won at least 89 games during the regular season but did not play in the post-season. There are only two ways to fairly “reward” (to use the author’s word) such teams. The first is to expand the playoffs, which of course happened starting in 1969. The second is to eliminate the current league system, implement a balanced schedule, and populate the post-season with the eight/sixteen/whatever teams that have the best records.
And look out, kids! That model, which would eliminate the National and American Leagues as we know them, is already being investigated by MLB. Don’t be surprised when it is implemented during the next round of expansion.
Some might like that (fairness, equality), others not so much (bye bye Yankees-Red Sox, hello Marlins-Mariners).
MLB should read up on NASCAR for a cautionary tale on what you can do to ruin a good thing.
NASCAR circa 2005 or so—
+Popular
+Began to constantly change rules
+Changed how the season points worked, used to award the champion each year, and made it difficult for casual fans to follow
+Added sponsors beyond reasonable limits
+Attending the sport became impossible due to high prices
+Tracks with long histories of being sold out now had 100,000 empty seats
+Following on TV was impossible due to how many different stations covered the sport
A lot of the changes were made solely to attract a new viewing demographic but they lost all of their loyal fans. NASCAR hasn’t been the same since its changes and lost its identity. Loyal fans were pushed away and the new fans didn’t stay for long enough.
I don’t know if I’d compare NASCAR to MLB. Both have their issues resonating with younger fans. However its far worse for NASCAR, most of today’s youth just are not interested in cars that intimately.
With baseball, kids are still playing it and the #s show that fans have supported by and large been very receptive to the new ruke changes as viewership is up.
And let’s call loyal fans what they truly are, aging fans. An aging fans suffer the fate of attrition, so loyal(aging) fans can complain all they want but the game will evolve as it always has.
For one year after a huge dip thanks to the pandemic. Attendance still down from 2017 and averaging below 30k. When MLB can break the 30k per game mark we can start discussing how great Manfred and his changes have been for baseball.
@hemlock. I agree the rule changes are getting too much. Manfraud needs to go.
Sadly, we are stuck with Manfrand. The owners appointed him and they love him as long as he keeps their pockets stuffed. Your best hope is to attract Aliens to our planet and have them abduct him. Or, there was a guy on here with Raiders of the Lost Ark type powers. He could melt Manfrang’s face down to candlewax but he was against using those powers unless there was a good reason? “With great power comes great responsibility!” Like we’re on the set of X-Men: Xfinity & Beyond
Attendance increased 6.2M last year.
Viewership worldwide was the highest its ever been in the history of the sport.
Partly because of Covid Joe Brady. Still down 2-million from 2017 and 9-million from 2007.
> Attendance increased 6.2M last year.
I have no idea why you are quoting attendance figures. I assume this is in response to my NASCAR comment as it has nothing to do with melting Manfred’s face off. If so, you completely missed my point.
NASCAR was the hottest ticket for racing with almost every race sold out. TV ratings were sky-high post Dale Earnhardt’s death in 2001. And then they started changing rules. I won’t bore you with those details but then everything fell apart. Attendance went down, drastically. MLB, and every major sport, should learn from those mistakes and try not to repeat them.
@Hemlock come on NASCAR is far more of a niche market than even hockey. Comparing it to any of the 4 major sports just doesn’t work.
I think you missed my point. You seem to have concentrated on MLB not having racecars. Of course baseball and racing aren’t similar.
Popular live event
Tv and attendance
Makes changes
Loses viewers
Any business that is a live event with TV viewers and an audience can conduct a risk assessment on the modern case history of Nascar. Where did they go wrong? Deep-dive to find any similarities. Identify weak points that might resist any changes that you plan to make to your business. The objective is to learn as much as you can from failures of similar modern businesses so that you do not repeat those same mistakes.
I think my comments have lost everyone so I will not reply again. If you do want to hear more (why would you?) reply back with any questions.
Regards,
Hem
Baseball changes rules. Increases attendance. Increases viewership. Increases revenue. That is the point.
I don’t really see France as a “great fit” for the Pirates, they already have a better, cheaper, younger option in Jared Triolo, who would probably put up roughly equal numbers at the plate and is a better, more versatile defender.
Sandoval would be a decent fit, but making a trade work between the two clubs would hinge largely on what happens with Drury. The Pirates have a glut of middle infielders, but little else to offer. None of those middle infielders are particularly stellar at SS, so unless Drury moves positions or gets moved, I don’t see the teams being able to match up on a trade. Sandoval is probably an upgrade over Falter, but not a significant one, so the Pirates may want to leverage their 2B trade bait elsewhere, given how thin the FA market there is.
Oh, you mean you’re not constantly refreshing your podcast feed for the latest scoop on front office drama, injury updates, and hot takes about the eternal playoff conundrum? Well, I can’t say I’m not intrigued by the burning questions like, “Do the Pirates need a first baseman?” I mean, who wouldn’t want to hear a deep dive into the riveting world of 1B speculation?
And don’t even get me started on the unfairness of the playoffs. It’s true, I too have been losing sleep over the dire need for more advantage and reward for those who conquer the mighty beast known as the regular season. Clearly, the postseason is just too dull when the “best” teams lose to “lesser” teams. I mean, how can you call yourself a true fan if you’re not passionate about playoff structure reform?
But hey, who am I to question the intrigue of podcasts about the Red Sox GM search and Kim Ng parting ways with the Marlins? Clearly, this is the cutting-edge content we’ve all been yearning for. ️
Ng is going to Boston
I doubt that.
Don’t think she wants to be micromanaged that was a problem with Ownership in Miami and why Jeter left.
She left MIA because the situation there would have turned into what BOS GMs have endured. I’d say the chances of her going there are slim to none.
Breslow is going to Boston.
I’d have gone with Klentak, based on the pitching staff he put together, plus Harper, or Click, based mostly on some great under-the-radar trades.
But the Cubs have come back quicker than I expected. I’d at least questioned Breslow.
Or, why not both Breslow & Ng? Their abilities don’t appear to be overlapping, and might complement each other very well.
That didn’t age well.