You can’t spell ‘no big contracts’ without RSN: 2024 regular MLB season thread!

Rendon probably doesn't even like SpongeBob

You know who does though

“I feel like SpongeBob going into work” - Dugie pic.twitter.com/J21Rk50gaY

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) February 19, 2024

queuing this one up for gyac:

The catcher hits for .318 and catches every day
The pitcher puts religion first and rests on holidays
He goes into cathedrals and lies prostrate on the floor
He knows the drink affects his speed, he's praying for a doorway
Back into the life he wants and the confession of the bench
Life outside the diamond is a wrench

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXiRbf-4RXc

(Did you know that Stuart Murdoch married a SF bay area gal after spending quite a bit of time here and he became a SF Giants fan whether by proxy or choice?

The first time I saw him live he was wearing a Barry Bonds jersey)

Thank you! I had been linked this song before and I didn’t know that about them.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3oBxgMSxtB/?igsh=dmN0bXEyeXY2dWhz

Teoscar is bringing some of the best vibes you can possible ask for to this team. Contagious smile

Spring training starts tomorrow people. Baseball is just about back!

Buenos días, fanáticos!

We are going to the Dodger-Angels game Saturday. My nephew wants to see Shohei.

Thanks, I hate this

Kodai Senga has a mild strain of his posterior capsule in his shoulder.

He will be shut down until symptoms subside and is expected to begin the season on the IL. pic.twitter.com/N9Ok7eVstW

— SNY (@SNYtv) February 22, 2024

Mets are so fucked

Speaking of, Sheehan has this to say about Pete Alonso

Hitters are losing value earlier and earlier in their careers, as power pitching and designer breaking balls put a premium on eyesight, reflexes, and hand-eye coordination. Lose even a tiny bit of that at 31, at 32, and you get run out of the league. Shortstops, center fielders, even catchers can make up for that with baserunning and defense. First basemen cannot.

Is he saying Alonso is already not ageing well? He’s projected to hit over 40 next year. Or is he suggesting this is why they haven’t extended him?

i'd be slightly wary about extending him, just due to the fact that while he's a good guy to have, i think he's not as good as the counting stats might indicate. he's more a Schwarber than a Judge. ftr i like Pete, but maybe not at whatever he'll eventually get paid.

he hit .217/.318/.504 with 3 war in his age 28 season. the homers are lovely, but yeah that's edging into schwarber territory. i'd pay him a fair bit of money on a four-year deal, but i'm sure he'll want 8+

not to be all 'wahh, boras' but boras' clients almost never sign extensions before hitting the market. and considering the deals he's gotten bogaerts and kris bryant and eric hosmer, that seems pretty effective! it only takes one sucker

if being a met means that much to alonso, i'm sure they can get a deal done -- boras works for him, after all. but they're all just posturing now

I was looking at this looking for parks that are friendly to right handed pull hitters who might be looking for a first baseman whose main skill is hitting it out, and I didn’t realise Citi field is actually so unfriendly to Alonso!

Also, now I understand why Alex Cora is always trying to get his left handed hitters to go oppo. Had no idea Fenway was that difficult for lefties.

yeah it’s a vast prairie out there in right for the most part

Unless you’ve got like 70 or 80 power or are lucky enough to reach the pole, I guess? I was surprised that Ted Williams claims he only had four oppo homers there.

Anyway, Alonso could do well in St Louis maybe? Goldy is still good but he’s a free agent at the end of 2024 at the age of 37, and they’d be able to pay Alonso if they want to.

so are they going to fix the uniforms?

word on the street is that of universal concern is the pant

word on the street is that of universal concern is the pant

there is spring training baseball on tv!

New statement on the pants from an MLB official: “The uniform pants have the same material and thickness as the uniform pants used last season. There were changes to the fabric of the jersey, not the pants.”

i.e. design and sizing changed but not the material, per the league. https://t.co/1km20Q3U3E

— Lindsey Adler (@lindseyadler) February 23, 2024

They’re going to be laughing on the other side of their faces when there’s a rainy game at Citi or Fenway and having to see Kenley or Pete Alonso exposed to the eyes of children. Otoh maybe players will finally start wearing cups again?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqEFzxpGQx0

Baseball.
On at Australian prime time.
Only 10 hours away?

We are so back

First AB of the 2024 MLB season ends with a pitch clock violated walk. Didn't have that on my bingo card

atmosphere sucks

Facts

Omg I love Ohtani

Look at his happy mother! Wholesome 🥰

Oof this padres catcher. Not quite the cannon arm is it?

I feel like Manny Machado's ears get even more elvish as the years go on

commentators keep going on about the passion of the fans in korea but all we see on tv are bored millionaires in half-empty leather seats looking at their phones

Tbf, that's the case behind homeplate for most games

maybe in LA lol

exactly the right pitch from darvish there

Well, they're full in la, and the bleachers make up for it.

Hyunjin ryu spotted. King

Wtf is that hat mullet yamamoto?!

Sheeeeeesh lotta spikes tonight on glasnow

And the first great AB and run of the year comes from: Tyler Wade?

Never doubt the -.6bwar guy

Tatis' cannon arm still blows me away

speaking of cannon arms, damn kim

Imagine having a functioning short stop

Okay wtf is this ump?

The duality of man those two tyler wade AB'S

Betts looking good at short so far

mookie betts is extremely good at baseball

how many ex red sox will come up big today?

welp defense doesn’t win ballgames but it can sure lose them

I would wager* not if pressed.

My preferred channels are via smoke signal, telegraph or fax.

I'm trying to think if we have any IRL mutuals... hrmmm.

I burnt my bridges with the London ILXgentsia sadly.

can you webmail me your email, that’s probably the best way? If that’s ok?

I’m going on trust here and same applies ofc ofc

done!

Ken Rosenthal says that the Dodgers may trade for Kenley and all I can say to this is PLEASE

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/bob-nightengale/2024/05/28/negro-leagues-statistics-officially-incorporated-into-major-league-record-book/73882293007/

(Josh) Gibson is MLB’s new all-time career leader in batting average (.372, moving ahead of Ty Cobb), slugging percentage (.718, moving ahead of Ruth), OPS (1.177, ahead of Ruth), and holds the all-time single season records in each of those categories.

Now that these available new statistics validate Gibson’s greatness, Sean Gibson is hoping that the Baseball Writers Association names the league’s Most Valuable Player Awards in Gibson’s honor.

The MVP award used to be named after former MLB commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, but his name was stripped off the plaque in 2020 after former MVP winners Barry Larkin, Terry Pendleton and Mike Schmidt voiced their discomfort. Landis was MLB’s first commissioner from 1920 to 1944 and baseball was not integrated until three years after his death.

That's a great idea. (Sean is Josh's great-grandson.) I grew up thinking Landis was a hero because of the White Sox scandal and didn't know anything about his mission to keep the game segrated. (Should have been able to figure that out myself past the age of about 15.) His role in coming down hard on gambling--which was in danger of killing the sport--was huge and shouldn't be forgotten. But the other is unforgiveable.

segrated = segregated

worst umpire of all time retiring!

https://x.com/MLB/status/1795827293937389738

how long to Angel H.'s podcast?

tbh i'm not sure mlb *can* force angel out, due to the umpires union (and the fact that, as defector recently pointed out, he's not actually the worst umpire). they could maybe deny him plum assignments, but given his seniority that would probably just end up in court again

if mlb approached him, it was probably to point out 'you're 62, you've been in the majors for 25 years, and everybody hates you. how long do you really want to keep doing this?'

also probably nagl to be seen as "forcing out" someone who sued you for racial discrimination

While Angel may not have been consistently the worst, he possessed this sort of high-leverage shittiness where the more was at-stake, the higher propensity he'd make the wrong call.

the timing of this is the oddest thing. why not wait til the season is over? makes me feel like mlb had something on angel

There were a lot of recent videos about how bad he was this season, maybe it put some pressure on them

https://i.postimg.cc/Xv8RWYxb/IMG-1381.jpg

Is the love affair with Jared Jones.... over?

What do his analytics say?

That he’s a 23 year old with great stuff who’s two months into his big league career?

this skenes guy is a problem

Sorry he’s actually 22

absolute skenes

on his 22nd birthday no less

lmaoooo

Jorge López after today’s game pic.twitter.com/XNqXS6Lnhv

— The Mike Francesa Podcast (@FrancesaPodcast) May 30, 2024

Lol

I was at that game. glasnow was doing his light calisthenics in thin workout wear before the game and let me tell you that dude is fucking HUGE and extraordinary to watch move

Extraordinary, you say 😏

Pat Burrell being the instigator for actual context is very, very funny

Funniest part about this whole thing is everyone just stared at each other until Pat Burrell started shoving for no reasonpic.twitter.com/oS7GD2vjA6

— Dan Wilson (@dan_wilson4) May 29, 2024

Contact my God autocorrect

I said what i said! Professional athletes are wild!

I mean that I assumed you meant he was astoundingly hot

it looks like the nats may have made out really well in the soto trade in the end

mackenzie gore has been awesome as of late and is now just putting up a great season -- both his ERA and FIP are under 3.00 and he's eighth among qualified SP in K/9 after mowing down the braves line up last night

cj abrams is on pace to put up a 3-4 WAR season after being a 2+ WAR player last year

and james wood is one of the 5 or 10 best prospects in the game

prospect guys think robert hassell looks like a bust now, but still even abrams and gore if they keep progressing at this rate would prob put them over the median return for this kinda trade let alone w/ wood waiting in the wings

Yep Abrams still needs work with the glove but he’s looking every bit like the kind of core piece you build a team around. Gore great as you said.

I like Bobby Witt Jr. but why does he have the same haircut as Butthead