Moose Milligan

Nice to see a little Adley and Felix love while we're handwringing over the impending offseason. https://theathletic.com/4995000/2023/10/26/all-mlb-team-best-2023-ohtani/ He picked Bochy for the manager spot though.

Should have used Don Newcombe or Roy Campanella for the Dodgers Negro League player but didn't want to think too much about it.

9/9 for 208 rarity score. I'm assuming that might come down, it's only 5 mins past 9. But I'm on a work conference call and this was a good distraction.

The Wizard is still with the organization! I am relieved.

Do Astros fans feel anything?

I just didn't think Cliff Lee was that memorable.

This dude's nickname has to be "Country Club"

Can we also bathe in some Philly tears right now? NSFW, language, even though the F-bombs have been cut out. "Wait, where'd you get that banana?" "From a homeless guy." I can't stop laughing. I love seeing Philly fans being miserable.

Nope!

Also, MLB absolutely has to hate this. They're going to pretend like it's great, of course...but not having a marquee team in there, not having any real superstars in there...they're hating this.

9/9 46 rarity score

I disagree. I don't need to see more than 2 rounds of playoffs before the WS. This is becoming like the NHL which is a joke of a league.

They did. They absolutely did. Two things that offset it a little bit though: It was the Cardinals and they're a classic team with a large fanbase and steeped in history. A lot of people of a certain age still view the Diamondbacks as an expansion team for lack of a better explanation. That, and they had prime Albert Pujols...so anyone that was annoyed with their presence couldn't be annoyed at seeing a player that great getting a chance at a WS ring. The Diamondbacks aren't the Cardinals on any level and there's no player on that team as good as Pujols was.

Yes. This is the setup that I'd want. Because you still don't have to spend a lot to make the playoffs. If that were the way it was set up this year, IIRC, it'd have been the Orioles but Tampa still would have been the WC, right? This inclusivity stuff is annoying. No, 4 best teams from each league. Keep it simple.

MLB haaaaaates this matchup.

7/9 327 rarity score

This isn't a slight, but you do seem to have a distaste towards "high paid mercenary free agents" (I've seen you use that term before, mostly in regards to Mussina). Like you, I prefer to see teams being built the way we've been built, the way Tampa has been built, etc. But it's been shown time and time again that teams that spend a lot don't always win it all, or even make the playoffs. Speaking strictly for myself, I don't understand the agenda against "high paid mercenary" players. deGrom was going to be high priced wherever he went. So was Semien, so was Seager. Any free agent who commands a six figure contract is pretty much a high paid mercenary no matter where they end up. It just so happens Texas did a Texas thing and went big and gobbled up a few of them. Tip of the cap to them. Spending money to cover up mistakes isn't hard, but it's still a gamble. Steven Cohen tried it this year with the Mets, it backfired spectacularly. He might be the first to tell you that you can't necessarily buy your way out of a funk.

Never really thought of John Henry as a dbag.

Yeah, I'm with this. Given his size, he certainly looks like he should be durable enough to get through the rigors of a full season as a starter. But we've all watched enough baseball to know that how tall a player is and how much that player weighs doesn't always tell a full story. I'm fine if Wells gets a shot as a starter for next year but I do hope they have a backup plan in mind. While I actually kind of like Smoltz on the broadcast for the postseason games, I really think holding up what he has to say about Wells doesn't mean much of anything. That's the thing that people on this board routinely fail to understand, people in the media at a national level are paid to know a little bit about a lot of things. Everything they know is at a surface level, unless you're a guy like Keith Law who only focuses on something specific like minor league baseball and prospects. And so when a national writer does a puff piece on the Orioles, people here get all out of sorts about key details and facts that were omitted, missed or just wrong. They're not beat writers, they're not a guy like Dan Connolly or Schmuck or whoever else is tied to the team. So for John Smoltz to call Tyler Wells "a horse" is a bit odd. I mean, it's easy to look at how big Tyler Wells is and come to that conclusion which seems to be exactly what he did.

I would love nothing more than to see the Red Sox flail around all offseason trying to find someone to hire for their GM job, then hire someone totally inept and just see them wither at the bottom of the AL East for the next decade because they make poor choice after poor choice. Glad to see Kim Ng decline an interview for them, that says a lot right there, IMO.

I think there are some fair critiques when a player leaves a team and goes on to immediate success somewhere else. Jake Arrieta literally stepped off the plane in Chicago and turned into a different guy overnight. If you don't believe me, go to his baseball reference page and see what his stats were for the Orioles and then for the Cubs in 2013. That is an indictment on the Orioles staff at the time and their inability to coach a guy up. As noted, we traded Heim to Tampa to bring Steve Pearce back. Then he got traded to Oakland as a PTBNL, then traded to the Rangers. Glad to see the guy having success but this is far from an indictment on the Orioles and their developmental system from that era. As an aside, I do believe every fanbase thinks they're alone when it comes to their team trading guys and having their guys go on to succeed elsewhere. Like, I'm sure the Cardinals fans right now are bemoaning Adolis Garcia and thinking that only a team like the Cardinals trades guys away only to have them succeed somewhere else.

If you click on the green NEW under it says that players born in the US Territories like PR, USVI are considered born outside of the USA.

Of course it is. The fact that it's happening in SF isn't a coincidence.

Get used to hearing it! I am 50/50 on Cease. It would depend on what we gave up. I like to think we can be a place where analytics, pitch mix, etc could help a guy like that. I get why people like him, big guy, throws hard, etc...but I don't know if I'm completely sold on him.

9/9 32