For the folks who have never lived in Chicago: the White Sox quite possibly have more fans there than the Cubs. It’s the footprint the Cubbies have in the suburbs and Midwest in general that sets them apart.
Damn. Why don’t all those White Sox fans show up to games? Does anyone know the most recent season that the Sox had better fan attendance vs the cubs? It seems like they’re on opposite ends of the spectrum most years
You know what really grinds my gears? When someone on here is trying to put a player down and in an attempt to do so they bring up an element that is already baked into a stat that already cited and that stat still says that player is good. Like when they are trying to put down a Rockies player and they say “He only had a 105 OPS+ while playing half his games in Coors Field!” even though the Coors Field factor is already baked into OPS+. Or when someone is trying to put down Trevor Bauer, I bring up his ERA and they say “But he gave up 2 home runs to Alexi Amarista in one game!” even though the Amarista dingers are already baked into his ERA. That sort of thing.
LFGS – You’re right, unfortunately the Sunday chats tend to have lower quality questions and comments selected. It is what it is.
I hadn’t popped into a Sunday night chat transcript in ages, but I did tonight and saw the two about Devers that were selected. The first one made a great reference, but the question was silly and I wish Mark had pointed out the reason why it was silly, Ohtani included an opt-out if Friedman bounces, which is smart. So they asked if something similar with Bloom would have helped Devers.
How would it have helped? The contract was signed in early 2023. Cora got Bloom fired later that year. Would Devers have opted out after the 2023 season? Doubtful, because he foolishly trusted Cora & Company to let him play 3B …. which they did last year. That was an eye-opening experience for Devers, who finally saw why Cora earned the reputation of being a double talking jive snake.
The second Devers question was even worse, but that one Mark nailed. When the “Dwight Evans” guy basically asked why Devers is complaining when Bregman is clearly better, he obviously was oblivious to the fact Devers signed the extension in part because he was promised 3B for several more years. One has absolutely nothing to do with the other.
The Rays are not in Tampa, they are in St Petersburg. That is the problem. The chances of Sternberg and Silverman selling before 2028 when the lease at the Trop is up are somewhere between nil and non-existent.
Right, and it’s two different counties. The county Tampa proper is in, and the most easily accessible for patrons, doesn’t seem to be interested in deal7ng with the Rays at all. The county St Pete is in has done all the negotiations thus far. (I’m an outsider so this could be really screwed up, but it was my understanding…)
There’s a big gap between what teams know and what fans know. This leads to bad decisions, and the internet makes it worse by creating a lot of loud, but not always accurate, opinions. Baseball needs to find a way to balance the numbers with the human side of the game.
A lot of the mistakes that front offices make are either because of an over-reliance and misuse of analytics, or because their personal feelings cloud their judgement.
Case in point, the Sale/Grissom trade.
The analytics said Sale was too old and too injury prone to be even a #3 starting pitcher ever again. But Red Sox Nation said it’s future HOF’er Chris Freakin’ Sale, he’s worth the risk of keeping him. Could the trade have gone either way? Of course, you can’t always predict future injuries. But if you can afford to take expensive high risk gambles on guys like Paxton, Hendriks, Buehler, Giolito, Kluber, and Sandoval then you damn well should do the same with future HOF’er Chris Sale whose performance declined ONLY because of multiple injuries.
Remember, analytics are always based on a vast majority of mediocre players. You can’t expect the great ones like Sale, Clemens, Ryan, Unit, etc to follow the same path as the mediocre ones.
There is more to the Cardinals tanking ….. or making a crude attempt to tank the Franchise.
The entire Franchise has been going rapidly down hill for the past 6-7 years!! The President of Baseball knew it!!! He chose not to build around Goldschmidt and Arenado with any other top Quality players
Here’s the real question::::
Was John Mozeliak told by the owners — he could not have the funding to go after any other Quality players?? No Quality Players —- neither through Free Agency or by trading high level Prospects for Quality players??
It certainly seems the blame lies with the majority owners —- the DeWitts —- rather than the President of Baseball Operations!!
To take that one step further!!!
The Eldest DeWitt … Bill DeWitt Jr. — has always seemed dedicated to the Cardinals being a perennial contender for the NL Central Division on a yearly basis —- no matter what he needed to do!!!
It truely appears —- since Bill DeWitt Jr. has turned over more command of the Franchise to Bill DeWitt III over the past 7 years —- Bill DeWitt III could care less if the St. Louis Cardinals are ever a contender for a World Series Title ever again under the DeWitt era!!
As long as the Cardinals and Cardinals Facilities and Ball Park Village is bringing in big profits —— Unlike Bill DeWitt Jr., —- Bill DeWitt III could car less about the Cardinals team or Cardinals Nation’s Fans!!!
We’d Love for “Trade Rumors” to investigate and find out WHY????
The owners are part of the 2/3 of franchises who prioritize net profit over winning. No easy fix because of the revenue disparities. The Mariners are also part of the 2/3 unwilling to spend.
Yorky! That’s what team beat reporters and MLB journalists like Jeff Passan and Rosenthal are for…to be interlocutors between the team and the fans. And why does Fever Pitch Guy have me muted, makes no sense whatsoever?? We have always been cordial and such. Weirdness abounds.
For the folks who have never lived in Chicago: the White Sox quite possibly have more fans there than the Cubs. It’s the footprint the Cubbies have in the suburbs and Midwest in general that sets them apart.
Damn. Why don’t all those White Sox fans show up to games? Does anyone know the most recent season that the Sox had better fan attendance vs the cubs? It seems like they’re on opposite ends of the spectrum most years
Worse part of town, lower-earning fan base, and less competitive team.
You know what really grinds my gears? When someone on here is trying to put a player down and in an attempt to do so they bring up an element that is already baked into a stat that already cited and that stat still says that player is good. Like when they are trying to put down a Rockies player and they say “He only had a 105 OPS+ while playing half his games in Coors Field!” even though the Coors Field factor is already baked into OPS+. Or when someone is trying to put down Trevor Bauer, I bring up his ERA and they say “But he gave up 2 home runs to Alexi Amarista in one game!” even though the Amarista dingers are already baked into his ERA. That sort of thing.
LFGS – You’re right, unfortunately the Sunday chats tend to have lower quality questions and comments selected. It is what it is.
I hadn’t popped into a Sunday night chat transcript in ages, but I did tonight and saw the two about Devers that were selected. The first one made a great reference, but the question was silly and I wish Mark had pointed out the reason why it was silly, Ohtani included an opt-out if Friedman bounces, which is smart. So they asked if something similar with Bloom would have helped Devers.
How would it have helped? The contract was signed in early 2023. Cora got Bloom fired later that year. Would Devers have opted out after the 2023 season? Doubtful, because he foolishly trusted Cora & Company to let him play 3B …. which they did last year. That was an eye-opening experience for Devers, who finally saw why Cora earned the reputation of being a double talking jive snake.
The second Devers question was even worse, but that one Mark nailed. When the “Dwight Evans” guy basically asked why Devers is complaining when Bregman is clearly better, he obviously was oblivious to the fact Devers signed the extension in part because he was promised 3B for several more years. One has absolutely nothing to do with the other.
The Rays are not in Tampa, they are in St Petersburg. That is the problem. The chances of Sternberg and Silverman selling before 2028 when the lease at the Trop is up are somewhere between nil and non-existent.
Right, and it’s two different counties. The county Tampa proper is in, and the most easily accessible for patrons, doesn’t seem to be interested in deal7ng with the Rays at all. The county St Pete is in has done all the negotiations thus far. (I’m an outsider so this could be really screwed up, but it was my understanding…)
There’s a big gap between what teams know and what fans know. This leads to bad decisions, and the internet makes it worse by creating a lot of loud, but not always accurate, opinions. Baseball needs to find a way to balance the numbers with the human side of the game.
York – Well said!
A lot of the mistakes that front offices make are either because of an over-reliance and misuse of analytics, or because their personal feelings cloud their judgement.
Case in point, the Sale/Grissom trade.
The analytics said Sale was too old and too injury prone to be even a #3 starting pitcher ever again. But Red Sox Nation said it’s future HOF’er Chris Freakin’ Sale, he’s worth the risk of keeping him. Could the trade have gone either way? Of course, you can’t always predict future injuries. But if you can afford to take expensive high risk gambles on guys like Paxton, Hendriks, Buehler, Giolito, Kluber, and Sandoval then you damn well should do the same with future HOF’er Chris Sale whose performance declined ONLY because of multiple injuries.
Remember, analytics are always based on a vast majority of mediocre players. You can’t expect the great ones like Sale, Clemens, Ryan, Unit, etc to follow the same path as the mediocre ones.
Opinions are accurate. Everyone’s saying so.
There is more to the Cardinals tanking ….. or making a crude attempt to tank the Franchise.
The entire Franchise has been going rapidly down hill for the past 6-7 years!! The President of Baseball knew it!!! He chose not to build around Goldschmidt and Arenado with any other top Quality players
Here’s the real question::::
Was John Mozeliak told by the owners — he could not have the funding to go after any other Quality players?? No Quality Players —- neither through Free Agency or by trading high level Prospects for Quality players??
It certainly seems the blame lies with the majority owners —- the DeWitts —- rather than the President of Baseball Operations!!
To take that one step further!!!
The Eldest DeWitt … Bill DeWitt Jr. — has always seemed dedicated to the Cardinals being a perennial contender for the NL Central Division on a yearly basis —- no matter what he needed to do!!!
It truely appears —- since Bill DeWitt Jr. has turned over more command of the Franchise to Bill DeWitt III over the past 7 years —- Bill DeWitt III could care less if the St. Louis Cardinals are ever a contender for a World Series Title ever again under the DeWitt era!!
As long as the Cardinals and Cardinals Facilities and Ball Park Village is bringing in big profits —— Unlike Bill DeWitt Jr., —- Bill DeWitt III could car less about the Cardinals team or Cardinals Nation’s Fans!!!
We’d Love for “Trade Rumors” to investigate and find out WHY????
The owners are part of the 2/3 of franchises who prioritize net profit over winning. No easy fix because of the revenue disparities. The Mariners are also part of the 2/3 unwilling to spend.
Yorky! That’s what team beat reporters and MLB journalists like Jeff Passan and Rosenthal are for…to be interlocutors between the team and the fans. And why does Fever Pitch Guy have me muted, makes no sense whatsoever?? We have always been cordial and such. Weirdness abounds.
@Ignorant Son-of-a-b
But it does nothing. I’m talking about the need for those making decisions to evaluate the whole picture.
I think “organic catchphrases” are something good, that’s also good for you.