MLB Offseason 2012

[SmoothieX]

Note to SNY: Fuck the Mets. I'm already sick of them 2 innings into a Feb preseason game.

[Timby]

Mr. Laser Beam wrote:

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And a note to the NFL: Leave the Dodgers alone and don't make them move. Linky

There is no way that the Dodgers could be forced to move, considering they own Dodger Stadium outright and the NFL would have no standing to force them to abandon the location. They could have a dumptruck full of money put on their front lawn by the NFL, but the only thing that can actually force the Dodgers to move is the Dodgers themselves.

Traffic at Chavez Ravine is already ridiculous, though, due to the way the roads are constructed. There's no logistical way to fit another stadium in that area, especially because you'd need to rip up Dodger Stadium's parking lots, and now the ridiculous deal that Frank McCourt got for himself comes into play, as he owns 50 percent of the share in the lots and nothing can be developed on them without his consent.

The only arrangement that could work out here is if the NFL team rented use of the stadium from Guggenheim Partners, and even that comes with its own set of hurdles, like converting it from a Saturday baseball game to a Sunday football stadium.

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Timby wrote:

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There is no way that the Dodgers could be forced to move, considering they own Dodger Stadium outright and the NFL would have no standing to force them to abandon the location.

Well that's a relief.

The only arrangement that could work out here is if the NFL team rented use of the stadium from Guggenheim Partners, and even that comes with its own set of hurdles, like converting it from a Saturday baseball game to a Sunday football stadium.

Urgh. I think it'd be BETTER to demolish the stadium than do that. Remember what Angel Stadium looked like in the 80's?

[Timby]

And there's no way the stadium will be demolished, considering that Guggenheim Partners just dumped $100 million into renovating the building from top to bottom.

This is a situation where the Dodgers have all the leverage and the NFL has exactly zero. The NFL's sniffing around Chavez Ravine because the sale of AEG has taken much longer than anyone predicted, and so construction of Farmers Field next to Staples Center is on hold because no one knows if whomever winds up buying AEG is going to want to dump $1.2 billion into a football stadium.

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ The article I linked to implies that the NFL's main problem with Farmers Field is that it won't own it. Typical.

SmoothieX wrote:

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Note to SNY: Fuck the Mets. I'm already sick of them 2 innings into a Feb preseason game.

I'm liking what I'm seeing so far from d'Arnaud and especially Wheeler.

[Tom Hendricks]

SmoothieX wrote:

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Note to SNY: Fuck the Mets. I'm already sick of them 2 innings into a Feb preseason game.

You see today Jenrry Mejia gave up a Grand Slam to Casey Kotchman in the first inning.

[Ar-Pharazon]

The Indians are slashing concession prices in hopes of increasing attendance this year.

As long as they don't do a 10¢ beer night, they should be OK.

Ten Cent Beer Night was a promotion held by Major League Baseball's Cleveland Indians during a game against the Texas Rangers at Cleveland Stadium on June 4, 1974. The idea behind the promotion was to attract more fans to the game by offering 12 U.S. fl oz (354.9 ml) cups of 3.2% beer for just 10 cents each (regular price was 65 cents) with a limit of six per purchase.[1] During the game, fans became heavily intoxicated, culminating in a riot in the ninth inning which caused the game to be forfeited due to the crowd's uncontrollable rowdiness and because the game could not be resumed in a timely manner.

As infamous as Disco Demolition, that one.

[Use of Time]

Found this amusing for some reason.

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Watching the Yankees/Braves game right now...Ken Singleton said that there are so many players in Yankee camp that they had to double up on numbers. I wonder why they don't go to three-digit numbers.

Hell, the Yanks have retired so many numbers that they'll probably have to do that sooner or later anyway.

Oh, and as much as we all love Lou Piniella as a manger, he needs to get far away from the broadcast booth as fast as he can.

[Timby]

Mr. Laser Beam wrote:

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Watching the Yankees/Braves game right now...Ken Singleton said that there are so many players in Yankee camp that they had to double up on numbers.

It's because Project 189 has forced the Yankees to go into desperation mode regarding their roster.

Oh, and as much as we all love Lou Piniella as a manger

Lou Piniella needs to crawl into a hole and never be seen nor heard from again.

[Use of Time]

What is project 189? Does it involve A-Rod? I bet it involves A-Rod.

[tomalak301]

Spring Training is too long. Wish the Season started in 2 weeks (Or even a week) instead of starting the first week of April. I think Preseason in all the sports are too long but Baseball is the worst.

[Pegaritaville]

tomalak301 wrote:

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Spring Training is too long. Wish the Season started in 2 weeks (Or even a week) instead of starting the first week of April. I think Preseason in all the sports are too long but Baseball is the worst.

I agree that spring training is too long, but starting earlier would be risky, weather-wise. I'm pretty sure March baseball wouldn't go over too well in places like Minnesota.

[Timby]

Use of Time wrote:

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What is project 189? Does it involve A-Rod? I bet it involves A-Rod.

Hal Steinbrenner has publicly said that the Yankees intend to get their payroll down to the $189 million luxury tax threshold by next year. This is why they had such a quiet offseason, let Swisher walk, etc.

[tomalak301]

Pegaritaville wrote:

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I agree that spring training is too long, but starting earlier would be risky, weather-wise. I'm pretty sure March baseball wouldn't go over too well in places like Minnesota.

Playing baseball in late October/November wouldn't go well in some cities either, as we've seen in this decade. Since they're not going to shorten the season, why not start in the final week of March?