MLB 2019: Mad Max Beyond Astrodome

[Timby]

My friends, once again, our long national nightmare is over. The coals on the stove have cooled (not they they ever got terribly hot to begin with), and after the One True Hit King retired last week, it is now time for the regular season to begin in earnest.

Stories to watch:

- Manny Machado, Bryce Harper and Mike Trout finally wound up signing some of the biggest contracts in baseball history. Will the Padres succeed now that they have a cornerstone player? Will Harper regain his form? Will the Angels ever put a decent team around potentially the greatest player of our generation?

- MLB seems to have quietly told teams to avoid being so blatant with their service time fuckery; Fernando Tatis, Jr., Francisco Mejia and Chris Paddack will all begin the season on the major-league roster. And yet Eloy Jimenez sits in AAA for two weeks to, uh ... work on tying his cleats?

- Is Joe Maddon toast in Chicago if he doesn't generate a substantial improvement? The Cubs had a pretty nasty meltdown in September, and it was reported in The Athletic that the Cubs' front office has imposed certain rules upon him, such as having players take mandatory BP 4 - 5 times a week (previously, it was "if you don't want to do it, that's fine), releasing lineups to the players on a series-by-series basis (in exit interviews last year, players complained that they never knew what the fuck was going on), and calling the team out on "trap" games (e.g., an afternoon home game after a night game away)--apparently Maddon's attitude towards them was to shrug and say, "Well, we're expected to lose those."

- How many dingers is Vlad Jr. going to hit when he gets called up?

- SIGN KIMBREL AND KEUCHEL, YOU FUCKS

- How many goddamn dingers is #PuigYourFriend going to smash at Great American Ballpark? (The answer: A lot.)

- Will the Orioles break the single-season loss record? That's a team devoid of talent.

- Greg Bird is the Yankees' opening-day first baseman. Will he have his much-anticipated breakout / rebound year?

- Will Boston repeat?

- How many more asinine rule changes will Rob Manfred impose until he evolves into his game-destroying final form?

PLAY BALL!

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Yup, that's Japan for ya!

- MLB seems to have quietly told teams to avoid being so blatant with their service time fuckery; Fernando Tatis, Jr., Francisco Mejia and Chris Paddack will all begin the season on the major-league roster. And yet Eloy Jimenez sits in AAA for two weeks to, uh ... work on tying his cleats?

Jimenez was called up, too, yesterday.

- Is Joe Maddon toast in Chicago if he doesn't generate a substantial improvement? The Cubs had a pretty nasty meltdown in September, and it was reported in The Athletic that the Cubs' front office has imposed certain rules upon him, such as having players take mandatory BP 4 - 5 times a week (previously, it was "if you don't want to do it, that's fine), releasing lineups to the players on a series-by-series basis (in exit interviews last year, players complained that they never knew what the fuck was going on), and calling the team out on "trap" games (e.g., an afternoon home game after a night game away)--apparently Maddon's attitude towards them was to shrug and say, "Well, we're expected to lose those."

One can only hope he's toast.

- SIGN KIMBREL AND KEUCHEL, YOU FUCKS

Considering Knebel's partially torn UCL, it seems possible the Brewers will sign Kimbrel.

An annoyance for me in fantasy since I didn't keep Kimbrel (got Trienen in exchange) and drafted Knebel later on. Oh, well.

- Will the Orioles break the single-season loss record? That's a team devoid of talent.

At this point, I'm sadly rooting for it to happen. If you're going to suck bad, you might as well go all the way.

- How many more asinine rule changes will Rob Manfred impose until he evolves into his game-destroying final form?

Far too many, I fear.

 

[Timby]

Yup, that's Japan for ya!

Korea, actually.

Jimenez was called up, too, yesterday.

I missed that. The "needs to work on his defense" statement is almost even more ridiculous than what the Cubs did with Bryant (who never played a single half-inning in the outfield before he was called up).

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Korea, actually.

Oops.

Well, they're crazy like that, too.

 

[Herbert]

From the 2018 MLB thread

I'm never having kids, both for health and personal reasons, but I can imagine a world in which it's impossible for anyone making less than six figures a year to attend a game.

At this point, I'd rather watch games on TV. It's cheaper and I'm going to be more comfortable on my couch. If I want to see live baseball, I'd rather go see a minor league game.

 

[Jim Klag]

Opening Day! Just checked - my MLB Extra Innings package is up and running. Games start at noon Chicago time.

 

[Franklin]

Opening day is here. [Late great Chuck Thompson] Ain't the beer cold! [/Late great Chuck Thompson]

 

[tomalak301]

What is the story with Maddon? Didn't the Cubs win the world series like 3 years ago? Doesn't that automatically give you a 5 year free pass, especially since before the Cubs won the world series, they hadn't won one in like a century? I thought Maddon was one of the best managers in baseball.

 

[Jim Klag]

What is the story with Maddon? Didn't the Cubs win the world series like 3 years ago? Doesn't that automatically give you a 5 year free pass, especially since before the Cubs won the world series, they hadn't won one in like a century? I thought Maddon was one of the best managers in baseball.

He is. The Cubs just really have FUBAR fans. After 108 years of waiting for a championship, they expect another immediately. GO White Sox.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

He is. The Cubs just really have FUBAR fans. After 108 years of waiting for a championship, they expect another immediately. GO White Sox.

Not necessarily. I love the guy, but he got much weirder after the WS win. 2017 & 2018 were both years he started with Schwarber at leadoff, then a succession of others (Rizzo was actually really good there). And I'm a firm believer that the leadoff hitter, leading off only once guaranteed, is an overrated concept.

Add in the higher instances of no BP and the carousel batting order, other things he really didn't do that much in 2015 & 2016 and I wonder where his head is sometimes (though I could make an educated guess). He's taken the mad professor thing a bit far the last two years and it has shown.

Get back to basics and throw in a little unconventionality, not the other way around.

 

[Timby]

What is the story with Maddon? Didn't the Cubs win the world series like 3 years ago? Doesn't that automatically give you a 5 year free pass, especially since before the Cubs won the world series, they hadn't won one in like a century? I thought Maddon was one of the best managers in baseball.

It's become patently clear over the past two years that he and the front office are not on the same page, particularly regarding Maddon's lackadaisical attitude towards team behavior (apparently a lot of players complained in exit interviews that Maddon had no problem with players going to the clubhouse in the middle of games to fuck around and play video games or whatever, and one of the new rules imposed by the front office this year was a strict limit on post-game drinking), his constant lineup fuckery is maddening, and, really, his response to the Addison Russell situation--literally shrugging and saying "I haven't read the report"--was nauseating.

Maddon's a guy who likes to push buttons and pull levers and see what happens. That works, but only to a certain extent. I imagine he's toast unless the Cubs make a deep playoff run. That said, I'd totally smoke a bowl with him in his RV.

 

[tomalak301]

It's become patently clear over the past two years that he and the front office are not on the same page, particularly regarding Maddon's lackadaisical attitude towards team behavior (apparently a lot of players complained in exit interviews that Maddon had no problem with players going to the clubhouse in the middle of games to fuck around and play video games or whatever, and one of the new rules imposed by the front office this year was a strict limit on post-game drinking), his constant lineup fuckery is maddening, and, really, his response to the Addison Russell situation--literally shrugging and saying "I haven't read the report"--was nauseating.

Maddon's a guy who likes to push buttons and pull levers and see what happens. That works, but only to a certain extent. I imagine he's toast unless the Cubs make a deep playoff run. That said, I'd totally smoke a bowl with him in his RV.

Wow. Maybe he's just too casual with everything. When you win it's no big deal. When you lose, the flaws are much more glaring.

 

[Timby]

I mean, bear in mind that the team keeps firing his hand-picked coaches. That's warning sign number one that the front office and the manager are not at all experiencing a good working relationship.

 

[Kronos]

Thom Brennaman off and running on the year, not only a claim that the Reds are the oldest team in baseball but they are the oldest team in the history of all sports.

 

[Timby]

Thom Brennaman off and running on the year, not only a claim that the Reds are the oldest team in baseball but they are the oldest team in the history of all sports.

Put him, Joe Buck and Chip Caray into the "guys who have their jobs solely because of who their sperm donors were" Thunderdome.

No one leaves alive.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I know he's not sportscasting anymore, but can we throw in Tim McCarver in that pit while we're at it?

 

[Timby]

I know he's not sportscasting anymore, but can we throw in Tim McCarver in that pit while we're at it?

McCarver wasn't the son of a sportscaster. He's the special guest referee.

He gets speared into the cage at the start of the match.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

That works for me.

 

[Jim Klag]

I'm afraid I may be saying this a lot this year - Cubs won, Sox lost.

 

[BillJ]

My first season without cable TV. So I was investigating MLB TV. But can't get same market games (so why pay for a subscription?). But they do have a "free game of the day" that you can apparently watch anytime. Watching the White Sox-Royals from yesterday through my Roku on the MLB.TV app.