MLB 2017: The Yankees are dead, Yankees burn in hell
- Thread starter Timby
- Start date
- Status
To be fair, only 4 out of 10 of those runs were earned by Lester. This is a team loss for sure.
So, just like your neighbor who can't stay off of QVC, the A's have some assets available for cheap, cheap, cheap!
Come on down to the Oakland Coliseum this Saturday (bathrooms are closed for renovation) and bring your best offer - all players are available. Cash/crappy minor league players are preferred.
Come on down to the Oakland Coliseum this Saturday (bathrooms are closed for renovation) and bring your best offer - all players are available. Cash/crappy minor league players are preferred.
This article is about a lot of things, including/especially the prospect of the Mets using Noah Syndergaard as a reliever while he gets back in pitching shape, but:
What the fuck is this? How is it even possible to not notice something like this semi-immediately? It heavily implies they didn't even think to look for atrophy, which is complete fucking insanity and bordering on medical malpractice.
What the fuck is this? How is it even possible to not notice something like this semi-immediately? It heavily implies they didn't even think to look for atrophy, which is complete fucking insanity and bordering on medical malpractice.
^Atrophy of that severity should have been noticeable on physical exam. Did the Mets' physicians never examine him with his shirt off?
This is the same staff that basically broke Zack Wheeler, let Jeurys Familia pitch despite reporting symptoms of a blood clot in his arm, literally just had a pitcher come out of thoracic outlet surgery, broke Matz's elbow, kept trying to push David Wright back, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. I mean, no shit Harvey's going out drinking at 2 a.m. when he has these clowns responsible for his health.
At this point, the league needs to step in, because the Mets' medical staff is actively harming their patients' health.
"Hm, this guy's velocity is down after he throws 20 pitches. I wonder if we should have him take a physical? Check out his muscle structure?"
"Nah, just rub some dirt on it."
^That's unacceptable. I'm not sure how MLB can remedy the situation, but someone needs to advocate for the health of the players in that organization.
Shouldn't that be the job of the MLBPA?
Unless they're like any other union and only out for themselves as a group.
Aaron Judge had his way with 47 baseballs last night, including four @500'+
Hard to say, though admittedly I am not a lawyer, but I have spent a shameful amount of my life writing and reading contracts. Taking a quick glance through the Basic Agreement and the Uniform Player Agreement, it would appear that the initial grounds for action would be under Article XIII of the Basic Agreement, which states that there is to be a Safety and Health Advisory Committee composed of both players and management, and its purpose is to address emergency safety issues that arise; a meeting can be called by any member on either side of the committee. The tricky thing, though, is that the committee's role is advisory only, and actual decisions about any emergency situation are made by the commissioner's office (though the union can file a grievance if they disagree with a decision).
So that's where it gets messy. Even though they should have been stripped of ownership years ago for malfeasance, the Wilpons are still very powerful kingmakers in MLB, much in the same way Nelson Doubleday was, and they are very much part of Rob Manfred's inner circle, just as they were with Selig. Even though there's absolutely precedent for the commissioner to step in due to mismanagement of a team, I highly doubt that Manfred would be willing to make a move against the Mets, given how shaky his election was. There are still a number of very influential owners who hate him--Jerry Reinsdorf and Arte Moreno, notably--and pissing off the Wilpons could make things very, very unsteady for him, as Reinsdorf was livid over the new CBA and he's shown he's not afraid to orchestrate a putsch.
Under Marvin Miller (who fucking hated the Mets for the way Nelson Doubleday treated him) or even Don Fehr, the union would have probably filed a grievance last year, and they certainly would have after Familia was sent out to pitch. But under the rather toothless leadership of today's MLBPA, which seems to think it's better to just play nice and hope for a few table scraps from the Lords, I doubt we'll see anything happen. Which sucks for the Mets' players.
In other "Rob Manfred sucks" news:
Step 1: Athletics and Rays get new ballparks
Step 2: *needle scratch* EXPANSION?! WAT
Step 1: Athletics and Rays get new ballparks
Step 2: *needle scratch* EXPANSION?! WAT
I would love it if Charlotte got a team, even if they're on the other end of the state from me. It's about time North Carolina got its own Major League Baseball team. I also like the idea of a Mexico team.
I can't believe it's been nearly 20 years since the last expansion. The Diamondbacks and the Rays (as well as the Rockies and the Marlins) still feel "new" to me.
I can't believe it's been nearly 20 years since the last expansion. The Diamondbacks and the Rays (as well as the Rockies and the Marlins) still feel "new" to me.
It's a half-baked plan, though. The Braves and Nats, to some extent, would not be thrilled about a Charlotte team, and the AAA Charlotte Knights just moved into a near-MLB-quality stadium.
Here's a list of markets larger than Milwaukee (currently the smallest market in baseball) without an MLB team:
Montreal
Vancouver
Las Vegas
Orlando
San Antonio
Portland
Sacramento
Austin
Indianapolis
Charlotte
Columbus
Hampton Roads
There are no straight-shot cities. Calfornia, Florida, Texas and Ohio already have 5, 2, 2, and 2 teams respectively, so it's unlikely we'll see another team in those states. Indianapolis would get whining from the Cubs, White Sox and Reds. Orlando isn't a viable baseball market. Hampton Roads would run into the Nats, and Vancouver would make Seattle raise a stink. Portland hates baseball so much that it turned its AAA stadium into a soccer-specific one. There are a number of issues with Mexico City (the peso's in the shitter, corporate sponsorship would be hard to come by, and there are significant safety / security concerns). And, finally, Montreal has a huge stadium issue: Olympic Stadium is not a realistic option, and there is massive political resistance against any sort of public funding for a new one, because the city's economy has been tanking, badly.
I mean, crikey, the only realistic option is probably Las Vegas, and there's no way MLB would move in that direction without seeing how the NHL and NFL shake out there (and they'd be especially concerned about Vegas considering the sport's gambling scandals).
While I get your point about viability, I have to roll my eyes at the Nationals and Braves complaining about North Carolina getting a team. Growing up, as much I loved watching the Bulls as a kid, I lamented that we didn't have a Major League team even remotely close to us with the Braves and the Orioles being multiple states away. Further, the Nationals are in no position to complain when they themselves stepped right into the Orioles' sphere of influence and the Orioles would've had far greater reason to complain about the Nationals than the Nationals (or the Braves) complaining about a potential Charlotte team.
That being said, I didn't know Charlotte's AAA team recently moved into a "near-MLB-quality" stadium. For that same reason, Durham would most certainly not be on the receiving end of an expansion. The greater Raleigh area also has an A team (the Carolina Mudcats), so it's unlikely that anywhere in the Triangle Area would get a Major League team. But I still hope the state will some day get a team (possibly the Greensboro area as a fair compromise for the minor league franchises).
I also thought Mexico City wouldn't be a viable option which is why Manfred suggested "somewhere in Mexico," but I imagine the peso and sponsorships would still be an issue. I was likewise surprised to see Montreal suggested so "recently" since the Expos left.
Wait a minute, I thought Arlington was the smallest city with a team. Where are you getting Milwaukee from?
That being said, I didn't know Charlotte's AAA team recently moved into a "near-MLB-quality" stadium. For that same reason, Durham would most certainly not be on the receiving end of an expansion. The greater Raleigh area also has an A team (the Carolina Mudcats), so it's unlikely that anywhere in the Triangle Area would get a Major League team. But I still hope the state will some day get a team (possibly the Greensboro area as a fair compromise for the minor league franchises).
I also thought Mexico City wouldn't be a viable option which is why Manfred suggested "somewhere in Mexico," but I imagine the peso and sponsorships would still be an issue. I was likewise surprised to see Montreal suggested so "recently" since the Expos left.
Wait a minute, I thought Arlington was the smallest city with a team. Where are you getting Milwaukee from?
I said smallest market. Arlington is part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex (since they're all within a few miles of one another), comprising something like seven million people. Milwaukee's metro population is around a million-five.
Eh, that's not nearly as ridiculous as the Giants continuing to be giant babies and blocking the A's from moving to San Jose -- when the only reason the Giants have the San Jose territorial rights in the first place is because of the A's' kindness.
Last edited:
Ah, okay. I always forget where Arlington is located.
Heh, fair enough. Still, both reactions are pretty damn lame.
Preach!
The Nats' opposition to a Charlotte expansion, were such a thing ever to be officially proposed, would be pretty understandable. The Orioles and Nationals have always had a very complicated, often ugly, relationship, due in large part to when Selig announced the Expos were getting blown up and moved to Washington, Peter Angelos essentially said, "What the fuck do you mean you're moving a team 40 miles down the road from me?" Because territorial rights are codified in MLB ownership agreements, Angelos was justified in his argument, as the Orioles' rights at the time extended from southern Pennsylvania all the way down to North Carolina, meaning a team couldn't move to Washington without his consent or the commissioner acting unilaterally under the "best interests of baseball" clause (which would have caused an owner revolt).
A compromise was eventually worked out, which allowed the Orioles to create MASN (Mid-Atlantic Sports Network), with MLB providing a decent chunk of the startup funding, and MASN would air Washington games, but the Orioles would be paid for airing those Washington games. Essentially, the Nationals would own a small chunk of MASN, but the Orioles would take the vast majority of the revenues. Over the years, the teams have squabbled over those revenues, particularly the rights fees values of each team, and it wound up in court a few years ago (which infuriated Selig, despite his moronic promise to Nationals ownership that the Orioles would eventually just settle down), and it's still going through the courts.
Long story short, the Nationals could make a semi-plausible claim that they have a limitation on one of their revenue streams (considering the money they're forking out for guys like Harper and Scherzer, though, I'd laugh at that), and as such an expansion in Charlotte would draw away from both their television viewership as well as their attendance.
You have to remember that MLB ownership absolutely sucks at working together, and a large percentage of the owners don't trust each other. That's why Marvin Miller was able to make huge strides in his years leading the MLBPA and basically pioneering labor rights in professional sports: Because he was never leading a divided union (and he always made very clear that if, despite his best arguments to them, the players didn't support one of his bargaining positions, he'd back down from it), but he was always bargaining with divided management, all of whom were just looking out for themselves.
Expansion is a terrible idea - contraction is a good idea, but one that will never happen as owners love those giant subsidized profit centers they convince cities/municipalities to build every so often.
I'm still of the opinion that Selig ranks near or at the top of the list of best commissioners (but, again, that's a pretty sad lineup; realistically speaking it's either him or Ford Frick), but I absolutely despise how he intimidated and blackballed owners who wouldn't go along with his "say you'll move unless your new stadium is publicly funded" plan. That's one of the bigger black marks on his tenure.
Last edited:
- Status
