*** OFFICIAL MLB 2018 Thread ***

[Dan Druff]

Dodgers now in first by percentage points in the NL West.

Amazing given their 16-26 start.

Even more amazing given the limited contributions from Kershaw and Turner (both experiencing injury issues), the complete absence of Seager, and the reduced effectiveness of Bellinger, Puig, and Seager (though none of them have been terrible).

They can thank unlikely performances from Ross Stripling, Max Muncy, Matt Kemp, and Joc Pederson -- all of whom were expected to contribute little-to-nothing to the team in 2018.

They're helped by the fact that the NL has no particularly strong teams this year, whereas there are three monsters in the AL (Houston, New York, and Boston), along with a surprisingly good Seattle club.

Dodgers probably finish with the NL's best record when it's all over -- something I thought was impossible after the first 42 games. But this team has shown an ability to run super hot midseason, ever since they went 42-8 in 2013.

I think the Phillies, Braves, and Brewers will all regress in the second half. Will probably come down to the Dodgers, Diamondbacks, and Cubs as to which one finishes with the best record.

[gut]

Dodgers now in first by percentage points in the NL West.

Amazing given their 16-26 start.

Even more amazing given the limited contributions from Kershaw and Turner (both experiencing injury issues), the complete absence of Seager, and the reduced effectiveness of Bellinger, Puig, and Seager (though none of them have been terrible).

They can thank unlikely performances from Ross Stripling, Max Muncy, Matt Kemp, and Joc Pederson -- all of whom were expected to contribute little-to-nothing to the team in 2018.

They're helped by the fact that the NL has no particularly strong teams this year, whereas there are three monsters in the AL (Houston, New York, and Boston), along with a surprisingly good Seattle club.

Dodgers probably finish with the NL's best record when it's all over -- something I thought was impossible after the first 42 games. But this team has shown an ability to run super hot midseason, ever since they went 42-8 in 2013.

I think the Phillies, Braves, and Brewers will all regress in the second half. Will probably come down to the Dodgers, Diamondbacks, and Cubs as to which one finishes with the best record.

I don't. All three of those teams are in a great spot right now, quality MLB team with a good system still to trade from (Dodgers also are like that, to a lesser extent though). I think Philly gets Machado, and Brewers probably snag Happ or another quality starter at the deadline.

[Gookieheimowitz]

Dodgers now in first by percentage points in the NL West.

Amazing given their 16-26 start.

Even more amazing given the limited contributions from Kershaw and Turner (both experiencing injury issues), the complete absence of Seager, and the reduced effectiveness of Bellinger, Puig, and Seager (though none of them have been terrible).

They can thank unlikely performances from Ross Stripling, Max Muncy, Matt Kemp, and Joc Pederson -- all of whom were expected to contribute little-to-nothing to the team in 2018.

They're helped by the fact that the NL has no particularly strong teams this year, whereas there are three monsters in the AL (Houston, New York, and Boston), along with a surprisingly good Seattle club.

Dodgers probably finish with the NL's best record when it's all over -- something I thought was impossible after the first 42 games. But this team has shown an ability to run super hot midseason, ever since they went 42-8 in 2013.

I think the Phillies, Braves, and Brewers will all regress in the second half. Will probably come down to the Dodgers, Diamondbacks, and Cubs as to which one finishes with the best record.

I don't. All three of those teams are in a great spot right now, quality MLB team with a good system still to trade from (Dodgers also are like that, to a lesser extent though). I think Philly gets Machado, and Brewers probably snag Happ or another quality starter at the deadline.

Phillies make playoffs this year. Make NL championship in 2019 and Win World Series in 2020 .

Going to be very interesting 2019 Free agent market for Phillies with tons of money to spend. Think Trout !!! Harper!!!

Everything I've read the Phillies are out of Machado race as of today. I would love for him to be a Phillie but not for only half a season . We are not giving up any top prospects on a trade when we can sign many players for multi millions in the free agent market coming in 2019.

[Sanlmar]

Kershaw posts his 2000th inning and 3rd win last night against the lowly Padres.

Oh, there’s Forbes magazine posing the question again “is he HOF worthy”.

Stick to finance.

[PLOL]

New Rays ballpark proposal. Aiming for 2023 opening. ~$900 million

[PLOL]

New Rays ballpark proposal. Aiming for 2023 opening. ~$900 million

Also notice the dead/unconscious guy in the fountain in the lower left corner. Why would there even be a fountain there in the first place? It completely blocks the flow of people walking up those stairs. Unless it's just to entrap/kill unsuspecting people.

Kilgore Trout: super nice.... but what’s with the pile of balls on the left side, PLOP?

Another good question. It's like somebody went crazy with the clipart

[Sanlmar]

The Rays have to promote baseball in Tampa like they market the Harlem Globetrotters vs Washington Generals.

The Rays are the Generals. You know they’re gonna lose but we have a beautiful venue and a kid friendly atmosphere. Watch the Yankees. Red Sox etc hit home runs and pants the first baseman.

Embrace the losing in a climate controlled atmosphere

[GambleBotsChafedPenis]

New Rays ballpark proposal. Aiming for 2023 opening. ~$900 million

so which is going be a bigger fail, this park or the one in Miami?

guessing MIA has to be the front runner because didn't that one cost $2B?

[PLOL]

Miami was a little over $500m, so this is actually a lot more than the Miami stadium. The killer is the roof. The roof alone costs $250m.

I'm guessing this won't happen. The Rays said they will contribute "somewhere North" of $150m. Lol, so they want the city to pay for the remaining $700m+. Tampa's Mayor (who is very popular) wants the Rays to come up with closer to half of the money. So I think they're going to be at a stalemate.

[GambleBotsChafedPenis]

Miami was a little over $500m, so this is actually a lot more than the Miami stadium. The killer is the roof. The roof alone costs $250m.

I'm guessing this won't happen. The Rays said they will contribute "somewhere North" of $150m. Lol, so they want the city to pay for the remaining $700m+. Tampa's Mayor (who is very popular) wants the Rays to come up with closer to half of the money. So I think they're going to be at a stalemate.

oh wow, no shit...I thought the marlins stadium was a huge public money grab...maybe it will be $2B once all the debt is paid off? for some reason that number sticks in my mind...

LOL $150M, guessing its all the revenue sharing money that they're gonna get because there's no way in hell that team is any sorts of profitable...

honestly how the fuck can you even think about spending that much for a stadium for a team that draws like 15K a game...just get an MLS team in tampa and build a dual purpose stadium...

[Dan Druff]

Kershaw posts his 2000th inning and 3rd win last night against the lowly Padres.

Oh, there’s Forbes magazine posing the question again “is he HOF worthy”.

Stick to finance.

Do you actually not think Kershaw is not HOF worthy?

Now you're definitely just doing low-grade trolling

[Dan Druff]

Regarding the stadium, yeah, I don't get the desire to spend so much money in a market where it's been proven that baseball just isn't clicking.

So I guess that roof is the attempt to let the sun in, while keeping the sweltering hot temperatures out.

Interesting concept, but yeah, not in Tampa.

[big dick]

Kershaw posts his 2000th inning and 3rd win last night against the lowly Padres.

Oh, there’s Forbes magazine posing the question again “is he HOF worthy”.

Stick to finance.

Do you actually not think Kershaw is not HOF worthy?

Now you're definitely just doing low-grade trolling

1st ballot

[snake_in_the_ass]

I'm about to give up on the 2018 Dodgers. Will still follow, but won't be watching every game like I did in previous years, nor will I be attending any more games for the time being.

At 16-26 (and currently on a 6-game losing streak against 2 horrible teams), they would only win 87 games if they were to go 71-49 (.592) the rest of the way.

So even if they recover and play like a 96-win team the rest of the way, they will only finish with 87 wins, which won't be enough for the 2nd wildcard this year.

ESPN projected the Dodgers to only have a 24.6% chance to make the playoffs, and that was 2 days ago before they lost the last two games.

If things don't turn around drastically very soon, it might be time to call 2018 a loss, and focus on their plan for 2019.

They will have a large amount of payroll flexibility very soon, so at least they haven't buried themselves like the Phillies circa 2010.

They are in 1st place. This post is similar to the one where you sold Bitcoin at $250 only to see it soar to $20,000.

[gut]

The Rays have to promote baseball in Tampa like they market the Harlem Globetrotters vs Washington Generals.

The Rays are the Generals. You know they’re gonna lose but we have a beautiful venue and a kid friendly atmosphere. Watch the Yankees. Red Sox etc hit home runs and pants the first baseman.

Embrace the losing in a climate controlled atmosphere

Just the background of how that team came into existence is an under-told, and underrated story of expansion lore. A yankees "farm team" conveniently located in the same division as the yanks. Steinbrenner at his finest.

[Dan Druff]

I'm about to give up on the 2018 Dodgers. Will still follow, but won't be watching every game like I did in previous years, nor will I be attending any more games for the time being.

At 16-26 (and currently on a 6-game losing streak against 2 horrible teams), they would only win 87 games if they were to go 71-49 (.592) the rest of the way.

So even if they recover and play like a 96-win team the rest of the way, they will only finish with 87 wins, which won't be enough for the 2nd wildcard this year.

ESPN projected the Dodgers to only have a 24.6% chance to make the playoffs, and that was 2 days ago before they lost the last two games.

If things don't turn around drastically very soon, it might be time to call 2018 a loss, and focus on their plan for 2019.

They will have a large amount of payroll flexibility very soon, so at least they haven't buried themselves like the Phillies circa 2010.

They are in 1st place. This post is similar to the one where you sold Bitcoin at $250 only to see it soar to $20,000.

I don't think you saw Ross Stripling and Max Muncy coming out of nowhere to right the ship, either.

Also helped that the super-hot D-Backs went into a major tailspin and quickly dumping their seemingly insurmountable lead on the Dodgers.

Dodgers are 35-16 in their last 51. Not quite the 42-8 type streaks of 2013 and 2017, but still enough to extract themselves out of their massive hole and barely take first.

I've said for awhile now that they're probably winning the NL West, but I have far less confidence in this team's postseason abilities compared to last year.

Fortunately for them, there is no dominant NL team, but the AL has 3 monsters presently.

[BeerAndPoker]

The National League is such a pile of shit this year compared to the elites in the AL. It's like the Eastern Conference in the NBA versus the Western (so far at least).

[big dick]

Guess you guys are forgetting about the cubs.
Starting pitching starting to come around our bullpen is amazing and are hitting is as good as any team in mlb

[GambleBotsChafedPenis]

ken Rosenthal reporting yanks and dodgers are front runners for manny with the phillies coming on strong...

[gut]

They are in 1st place. This post is similar to the one where you sold Bitcoin at $250 only to see it soar to $20,000.

I don't think you saw Ross Stripling and Max Muncy coming out of nowhere to right the ship, either.

Also helped that the super-hot D-Backs went into a major tailspin and quickly dumping their seemingly insurmountable lead on the Dodgers.

Dodgers are 35-16 in their last 51. Not quite the 42-8 type streaks of 2013 and 2017, but still enough to extract themselves out of their massive hole and barely take first.

I've said for awhile now that they're probably winning the NL West, but I have far less confidence in this team's postseason abilities compared to last year.

Fortunately for them, there is no dominant NL team, but the AL has 3 monsters presently.

I know Boston has a better record right now, but I still think Houston is clearly the 1a: monster with the yanks and sox 1b's.

Houstons pitching staff top-to-bottom is the best I have seen in my lifetime I think, relative to the rest of the league. Mchugh and Peacock would be in the rotation for EVERY other team in baseball, and for plenty of teams, either of those guys would be a #3 starter probably. They are currently doing long relief/mop-up duty in the Astros pen.

Houston is having the opposite season of Seattle. Houston has been generally unlucky....and they are 62-34. 14-16 in 1run games lol. If they had average luck they might be on pace for a record season in wins.