MLB Offseason 2013-2014

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Rangers just sealed a new naming rights deal for their ballpark. It's now called "Globe Life Park in Arlington". Linky

Apparently the Rangers feel the need to continuously remind people that they do, in fact, play in Arlington, as that name has been part of all the iterations of the stadium's name.

 

[Tom Hendricks]

Rangers just sealed a new naming rights deal for their ballpark. It's now called "Globe Life Park in Arlington". Linky

Apparently the Rangers feel the need to continuously remind people that they do, in fact, play in Arlington, as that name has been part of all the iterations of the stadium's name.

That's almost as bad as the Angels.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ As much as I hate that one too, at least the Angels have an excuse: they want the name recognition associated with L.A., but they are required to have Anaheim in there as well.

On a much sadder note, Curt Schilling has cancer.

 

[SmoothieX]

Rangers just sealed a new naming rights deal for their ballpark. It's now called "Globe Life Park in Arlington". Linky

Apparently the Rangers feel the need to continuously remind people that they do, in fact, play in Arlington, as that name has been part of all the iterations of the stadium's name.

I'm waiting for an honest name for a stadium...

Some .com that's Going to Go Under Within a Year Stadium

OR

Energy Company to be Investigated by the Feds Park

 

[Yanks]

On a brighter note, it looks like we will be getting another baseball team in my neck of the woods.
http://hamptonroads.com/2013/04/group-gets-conditional-ok-bring-team-va-beach

 

[Tom Hendricks]

http://http://nypost.com/2014/02/06/ralph-kiner-dead-at-age-91/

My heart is broken, Ralph Kiner has passed away. As a kid growing up as a baseball fan and even more a Mets fan, he was baseball to me. I watched Kiners Corner every week. I'm very melancholy now, I hope the Mets honor him in some kind of spectacular way this season, I will be there when it happens.

 

[Timby]

Alex Rodriguez has withdrawn his lawsuits against MLB and the MLBPA. (Note: Because of the particulars in the CBA, in order to sue MLB, Rodriguez had to include the MLBPA in his suit.)

Collusion is a wonderful thing, I guess. (If Alex Rodriguez had signed a mammoth contract with, say, the Royals, does anyone legitimately think that MLB would have gone after him like this?)

 

[SmoothieX]

http://http://nypost.com/2014/02/06/ralph-kiner-dead-at-age-91/

My heart is broken, Ralph Kiner has passed away. As a kid growing up as a baseball fan and even more a Mets fan, he was baseball to me. I watched Kiners Corner every week. I'm very melancholy now, I hope the Mets honor him in some kind of spectacular way this season, I will be there when it happens.

Aww crap. I'm on board with you. Grew up in NY and went to a load of Mets game.

 

[Yanks]

Alex Rodriguez has withdrawn his lawsuits against MLB and the MLBPA. (Note: Because of the particulars in the CBA, in order to sue MLB, Rodriguez had to include the MLBPA in his suit.)

Collusion is a wonderful thing, I guess. (If Alex Rodriguez had signed a mammoth contract with, say, the Royals, does anyone legitimately think that MLB would have gone after him like this?)

Yes.

 

[Yanks]

http://http://nypost.com/2014/02/06/ralph-kiner-dead-at-age-91/

My heart is broken, Ralph Kiner has passed away. As a kid growing up as a baseball fan and even more a Mets fan, he was baseball to me. I watched Kiners Corner every week. I'm very melancholy now, I hope the Mets honor him in some kind of spectacular way this season, I will be there when it happens.

I've always thought of him as one of baseballs finest.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Rangers just sealed a new naming rights deal for their ballpark. It's now called "Globe Life Park in Arlington". Linky

Apparently the Rangers feel the need to continuously remind people that they do, in fact, play in Arlington, as that name has been part of all the iterations of the stadium's name.

I'm waiting for an honest name for a stadium...

Some .com that's Going to Go Under Within a Year Stadium

OR

Energy Company to be Investigated by the Feds Park

Oakland alone would have a hundred possible ones, such as:

Concrete Crap Stadium
Raiders-Wrecked Ballpark
3.7-Feet-Wide Concourse Stadium
Raw Sewage Field
Ugly-Ass Mount Davis That No One Ever Uses Anymore Field
Even Raiders Fans Hate It Ballpark
What The Hell Is O.co Anyway Stadium
Perfect Excuse For Publicly Funded Replacement Ballpark

 

[tomalak301]

Rangers just sealed a new naming rights deal for their ballpark. It's now called "Globe Life Park in Arlington". Linky

Apparently the Rangers feel the need to continuously remind people that they do, in fact, play in Arlington, as that name has been part of all the iterations of the stadium's name.

I'm waiting for an honest name for a stadium...

Some .com that's Going to Go Under Within a Year Stadium

OR

Energy Company to be Investigated by the Feds Park

Oakland alone would have a hundred possible ones, such as:

Concrete Crap Stadium
Raiders-Wrecked Ballpark
3.7-Feet-Wide Concourse Stadium
Raw Sewage Field
Ugly-Ass Mount Davis That No One Ever Uses Anymore Field
Even Raiders Fans Hate It Ballpark
What The Hell Is O.co Anyway Stadium
Perfect Excuse For Publicly Funded Replacement Ballpark

The day a new stadium is awarded to the A's might be a very good day. I hope they stay in Oakland (They have to) but this thing has gone on way way too long. It's another in a long list of reasons why I don't like Bud Selig.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Isn't Selig actually on the Athletics' side in this? IIRC, he's trying as hard as anyone to get the Giants to lighten up and allow the A's to move to San Jose.

Although in that case I wish Lew Wolff would remove the weed from his own ass and just arrange to have a new A's stadium built on the same site as the Coliseum. Hell, there's more than enough room there for both the A's and Raiders to do that. They wouldn't even have to move.

 

[tomalak301]

^ Isn't Selig actually on the Athletics' side in this? IIRC, he's trying as hard as anyone to get the Giants to lighten up and allow the A's to move to San Jose.

Although in that case I wish Lew Wolff would remove the weed from his own ass and just arrange to have a new A's stadium built on the same site as the Coliseum. Hell, there's more than enough room there for both the A's and Raiders to do that. They wouldn't even have to move.

But he's the commissioner and this issue has been on the plate for years. What's he doing about it other than stating obvious things. This whole issue is one cluster-f after another.

 

[Timby]

It's another in a long list of reasons why I don't like Bud Selig.

That's the funny thing about Selig. If you aren't a Montreal Expos or Alex Rodriguez fan, then his tenure as commissioner has been a net positive for the sport. Baseball's in the best shape it's been maybe ever -- consider, for example, that the sport has had two decades of uninterrupted labor peace, which no other North American professional sport can say.

His legacy will be mixed for a number of reasons, but if you start ranking MLB commissioners, Selig pretty easily ranks near or at the top, considering some of the hysterically bad jokers that have held the position.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Isn't Selig actually on the Athletics' side in this? IIRC, he's trying as hard as anyone to get the Giants to lighten up and allow the A's to move to San Jose.

Although in that case I wish Lew Wolff would remove the weed from his own ass and just arrange to have a new A's stadium built on the same site as the Coliseum. Hell, there's more than enough room there for both the A's and Raiders to do that. They wouldn't even have to move.

But he's the commissioner and this issue has been on the plate for years. What's he doing about it other than stating obvious things. This whole issue is one cluster-f after another.

I'm starting to wonder if the office of the commissioner actually has any kind of clout anymore, or if it's just a figurehead of the owners.

The days of a real commissioner who had powers like Judge Landis did, and was beholden to no one, are long gone.

 

[Timby]

^ Isn't Selig actually on the Athletics' side in this? IIRC, he's trying as hard as anyone to get the Giants to lighten up and allow the A's to move to San Jose.

Although in that case I wish Lew Wolff would remove the weed from his own ass and just arrange to have a new A's stadium built on the same site as the Coliseum. Hell, there's more than enough room there for both the A's and Raiders to do that. They wouldn't even have to move.

But he's the commissioner and this issue has been on the plate for years. What's he doing about it other than stating obvious things. This whole issue is one cluster-f after another.

I'm starting to wonder if the office of the commissioner actually has any kind of clout anymore, or if it's just a figurehead of the owners.

The days of a real commissioner who had powers like Judge Landis did, and was beholden to no one, are long gone.

Judge Landis was a terrible human being, though, so I'm reluctant to praise him. A better example would be Fay Vincent, who was fired because he actually acted like an independent entity, and is sometimes referred to by historians as the last commissioner. That being said, Selig is the first commissioner who has overtly been "head owner acting on behalf of the owners" only, and I'm not sure that the next commissioner will come from that pool (although I'll barf if Rob Manfred gets the job). There's always an extent to which the commissioner's office is a tool of ownership, but Selig as an actual owner really threw things out of whack. Things are going to get very interesting in the latter half of this year, because fuck if you can get 24 of the owners to agree on anything, much less a new chief executive.

As for the office still having clout, it certainly does -- look at how it got the MLBPA to roll over during the Rodriguez investigation, and there of course was the shell game that resulted in the Expos dying, Jeffrey Loria owning the Marlins and John Henry owning the Red Sox (all of that was orchestrated by the commissioner's office).

 

[Timby]

Phillies sign A.J. Burnett to a one-year, $16 million deal, because ... fuck if I know, because Rube gonna Rube.

If my math is correct, this gives the Phillies the most expensive rotation in the majors:

Yankees
Sabathia 23M
Tanaka 22M
Kuroda 16M
Nova 3.3M
Pineda / 5th Guy / Dude they claim off the street 600K

Rotation: 66.3M

Dodgers
Kershaw 4M (lol)
Greinke 26M
Beckett 15M
Ryu 4.3M
Billingsley 12M
Haren 10M

Rotation: 71.3M

Phillies
Lee 25M
Hamels 23.5M
Burnett 16M
Kendrick 7.6M
Hernandez 4.5M

Rotation: 76.6M

Phillies 76.6M
Dodgers: 71.3M
Yankees: 66.3M

The most expensive rotation in baseball on a team that will finish third at best in the NL East, and that's only if a zillion things fall in their favor.

Edit: Oh, I guess Derek Jeter is retiring. His farewell tour will dwarf the one Bug Selig was setting up for himself, which I love.

 

[Yanks]

Well, they will get the same thing the Yankees and the Pirates did.

A servicable pitcher that you don't dare pitch in the post season.

God it was frustrating "rooting" for him when he was a Yankee. Tremendous "stuff", but he gets flustered and in big games he can't keep his "stuff" in the strike zone.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Jeter to retire after 2014 season. Linky