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Thread: *** OFFICIAL *** MLB 2023 Thread

  1. #61
    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    Twins acquired Pablo Lopez and two minor leaguers from the Marlins for Luis Arraez.

    Good trade for Minnesota, as they get a strong starter (albeit one with on-and-off health issues) and two decent prospects, and only give up a high-average slap hitter.

    I don't know what the Marlins are doing. This power-challenged squad (144 HR in 2022, 2nd worst in the NL) didn't need a slap hitter, and they definitely didn't need to give up one of their better starting pitchers. Really their only chance this year would come from improving their offense and hoping that their pitching carries them.

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    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    Oh, and Mike Clevinger might be the next Trevor Bauer, minus the freaky sex stuff.

    He has three kids from two baby mamas, and one of them filed a complaint against him, complete with pictures. One of the pictures depicted him spitting tobacco chew on an infant!

    Clevinger seemed to be going places, with a strong 2017-19 with the Indians. However, after a 2020 trade to San Diego, he injured himself, missed the entire 2021 season, and pitched to a mediocre 4.33 ERA in 2022. Now 32 years old, I don't know how much better he'll get.

    He's with the White Sox now, so it's not the Padres' problem, even though these incidents date back to last year.

    https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...estigation-mlb

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    Plutonium Sanlmar's Avatar
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    You buried the lead Druff

    Gavin Lux is pegged to be the Dodgers Opening Day shortstop.


    Also:
    Any other year Pablo Lopez woulda been got by Doyers

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    Plutonium Sanlmar's Avatar
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    On a related note ….

    Andrew Fraudman protege’ L’Chiam Bloom & John Henry get mercilessly boo’d at Winter Weekend. All the Dodgers cast offs don’t appear to be a hit with Boston.

    .


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    Will Fraudman and the Insurance Company will get similar treatment. Are Dodgers fans close to maturing?

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    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sanlmar View Post
    You buried the lead Druff

    Gavin Lux is pegged to be the Dodgers Opening Day shortstop.


    Also:
    Any other year Pablo Lopez woulda been got by Doyers
    Last I heard. another former Marlin -- Miguel Rojas -- will be playing SS. He will provide good defense, but hit .260 with no power.

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    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sanlmar View Post
    On a related note ….

    Andrew Fraudman protege’ L’Chiam Bloom & John Henry get mercilessly boo’d at Winter Weekend. All the Dodgers cast offs don’t appear to be a hit with Boston.

    .


    Name:  C9ABA4F9-45CA-4A33-8A13-05368D6D934E.jpeg
Views: 168
Size:  135.9 KB


    Will Fraudman and the Insurance Company will get similar treatment. Are Dodgers fans close to maturing?

    You know what the Dodgers thought of Justin Turner's declining skillset if they didn't give him a career-finishing contract, given his beloved status in LA. Dodgers believed him to be done, and instead signed another aging has-been for DH in JD Martinez. You know that Turner is probably done if his replacement at DH is JD Martinez.

    Turner is slated for DH in Boston because his defense has slipped more than his hitting. Once a good defender who could play 2B and 3B well, now he moves like an old man -- because he's 38 and has had various injuries over the years.

  7. #67
    Plutonium Sanlmar's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Sanlmar View Post
    You buried the lead Druff

    Gavin Lux is pegged to be the Dodgers Opening Day shortstop.


    Also:
    Any other year Pablo Lopez woulda been got by Doyers
    Last I heard. another former Marlin -- Miguel Rojas -- will be playing SS. He will provide good defense, but hit .260 with no power.
    I have heard many reports it’s Lux.

    Here’s a quick take.

    LA will ultimately make their final decision in Spring Training. But an infield of Lux at shortstop, Muncy at second, and Vargas at third with Rojas playing a utility type of role may be the Dodgers’ best course of action.
    https://clutchpoints.com/dodgers-how...ects-gavin-lux

    My understanding of Dodgers has them trying to make Lux work. He will get a long leash. Maybe they give him til All Star break.

    Dodgers value the bat over defense. Rojas is damaged goods (wrist)

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sanlmar View Post
    On a related note ….

    Andrew Fraudman protege’ L’Chiam Bloom & John Henry get mercilessly boo’d at Winter Weekend. All the Dodgers cast offs don’t appear to be a hit with Boston.

    .


    Name:  C9ABA4F9-45CA-4A33-8A13-05368D6D934E.jpeg
Views: 168
Size:  135.9 KB


    Will Fraudman and the Insurance Company will get similar treatment. Are Dodgers fans close to maturing?
    Looks like Henry and FSG have grown tired of both Red Sox and Liverpool. They're trying to sell Liverpool to fund an NBA team...

  9. #69
    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sanlmar View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post

    Last I heard. another former Marlin -- Miguel Rojas -- will be playing SS. He will provide good defense, but hit .260 with no power.
    I have heard many reports it’s Lux.

    Here’s a quick take.

    LA will ultimately make their final decision in Spring Training. But an infield of Lux at shortstop, Muncy at second, and Vargas at third with Rojas playing a utility type of role may be the Dodgers’ best course of action.
    https://clutchpoints.com/dodgers-how...ects-gavin-lux

    My understanding of Dodgers has them trying to make Lux work. He will get a long leash. Maybe they give him til All Star break.

    Dodgers value the bat over defense. Rojas is damaged goods (wrist)
    Yes, with the departures of various regulars, Dodgers need some offensive help again.

    Gavin Lux's bat is highly regarded, but the defense is .... well, questionable. So they really want to give him a chance to play every day in 2023 and break out to a huge season. It's just a matter of where he plays.

    I still think they will put Lux at 2B, Muncy at 3B, and Rojas at SS. Maybe Rojas will split time with Miguel Vargas, and they will demote Rojas to utility status if Vargas' bat really catches on.

    Hard to believe they're actually going to put Lux at the most important defensive position on the field.

  10. #70
    All Sorts of Sports gut's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
    Oh, and Mike Clevinger might be the next Trevor Bauer, minus the freaky sex stuff.

    He has three kids from two baby mamas, and one of them filed a complaint against him, complete with pictures. One of the pictures depicted him spitting tobacco chew on an infant!

    Clevinger seemed to be going places, with a strong 2017-19 with the Indians. However, after a 2020 trade to San Diego, he injured himself, missed the entire 2021 season, and pitched to a mediocre 4.33 ERA in 2022. Now 32 years old, I don't know how much better he'll get.

    He's with the White Sox now, so it's not the Padres' problem, even though these incidents date back to last year.

    https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...estigation-mlb
    Clevinger and Bauer are buddies actually!

  11. #71
    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    Dexter Fowler's career is over. He has retired at age 36. He couldn't find a job in MLB in 2022, and has finally given up.

    He signed a 5-year, $82m contract with the Cardinals in 2017. He played decently that year, and then completely hit the skids in 2018, never recovering. This surprised the Cardinals, as he was only 31 at the time and coming off two pretty good seasons (one with the Cubs, one with the Cardinals). Shows you how much a risk signing players over 30 really can be. It wasn't really an injury which took away his hitting ability. He was performing really badly in 2018 while healthy, and then fractured his foot in August. That fracture might have been the final nail in his career's coffin, though he did continue playing through 2021.

    Fowler had somewhat of a role in the Cubs' 2016 championship season.

    https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...s-14-years-mlb

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    Zack Greinke is returning to the Royals, at age 39. He's pretty much a non-factor at this point, having gone 3-9 with a 3.68 ERA, striking out just 73 in 137 innings. He did manage to allow 0-2 runs in 17/26 starts last year, which is consistent with his career. He's been one of the better pitchers over time at avoiding getting bombed, presumably because he does not get emotionally rattled by runs scoring against him.

    Greinke was one of the best pure athletes of MLB pitchers, consistently being one of the best hitting pitchers (back when that was allowed) and also winning Gold Glove awards.

    He has social anxiety, which caused him to miss an entire season of MLB early in his career, and he considered quitting altogether. I also believe he has Aspergers, though this has never formally been stated. I actually think the Aspergers is what helps him distance himself emotionally from the frustration of allowing early runs in games.

    His best years were with the Dodgers.

  13. #73
    Gold The Boz's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
    Zack Greinke is returning to the Royals, at age 39. He's pretty much a non-factor at this point, having gone 3-9 with a 3.68 ERA, striking out just 73 in 137 innings. He did manage to allow 0-2 runs in 17/26 starts last year, which is consistent with his career. He's been one of the better pitchers over time at avoiding getting bombed, presumably because he does not get emotionally rattled by runs scoring against him.

    Greinke was one of the best pure athletes of MLB pitchers, consistently being one of the best hitting pitchers (back when that was allowed) and also winning Gold Glove awards.

    He has social anxiety, which caused him to miss an entire season of MLB early in his career, and he considered quitting altogether. I also believe he has Aspergers, though this has never formally been stated. I actually think the Aspergers is what helps him distance himself emotionally from the frustration of allowing early runs in games.

    His best years were with the Dodgers.
    Hall of Fame in your mind? What would he have to do yet to make it?

  14. #74
    Plutonium Sanlmar's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
    Zack Greinke is returning to the Royals, at age 39. He's pretty much a non-factor at this point, having gone 3-9 with a 3.68 ERA, striking out just 73 in 137 innings. He did manage to allow 0-2 runs in 17/26 starts last year, which is consistent with his career. He's been one of the better pitchers over time at avoiding getting bombed, presumably because he does not get emotionally rattled by runs scoring against him.

    Greinke was one of the best pure athletes of MLB pitchers, consistently being one of the best hitting pitchers (back when that was allowed) and also winning Gold Glove awards.

    He has social anxiety, which caused him to miss an entire season of MLB early in his career, and he considered quitting altogether. I also believe he has Aspergers, though this has never formally been stated. I actually think the Aspergers is what helps him distance himself emotionally from the frustration of allowing early runs in games.

    His best years were with the Dodgers.
    My boy, always leaving out the fact that Greinke for a year or two was the best pitcher on the Dodgers.


    “Five years later, so much has changed. Zack Greinke has been a phenom, and he has been a bust. He has walked away from baseball, and he has come back. He has been a starter and a reliever, a genius and a flake, and even now he's still only 25 years old. And, for the moment, Greinke is the best pitcher in baseball."

    - Joe Posnanski In Sports Illustrated (05/04/2009, 'Zack Greinke is in Total Control')
    Chill runs up and down my spine.

  15. #75
    Plutonium Sanlmar's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Boz View Post

    Hall of Fame in your mind? What would he have to do yet to make it?
    Kershaw is the “worst great pitcher” in the postseason for the modern era but Grienke isn’t far behind.

    They both get in though.

  16. #76
    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sanlmar View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by The Boz View Post

    Hall of Fame in your mind? What would he have to do yet to make it?
    Kershaw is the “worst great pitcher” in the postseason for the modern era but Grienke isn’t far behind.

    They both get in though.
    We will forever debate about postseason Kershaw, but if you look beyond his bad numbers, you will see that most of the runs were allowed when he was left in for far too long, due to managers (mostly Roberts) fearing using the shaky bullpen.

    If they hook Kershaw when everyone watching knew he was out of gas, he'd have far different numbers. There weren't many postseason starts where he just got outright bombed.

    100% Kershaw gets into HOF, as his regular season numbers (197-87, 2.48/1.001, 2807 K, 629 BB) are among the best ever in the modern era.

    Greinke's numbers are more "good but not great". 223-141, 3.42/1.167, 2882 K /739 BB. He had a lot of excellent seasons, especially 2015 at the age of 31, but plenty of mediocre ones in there, as well. Kershaw was excellent almost every year of his career.

    I wouldn't put Greinke in the HOF. But there's nothing he can do at this point, at age 39, to really solidify it further. Maybe reach 3000 K.

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    Plutonium Sanlmar's Avatar
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    I apologize for the awkward cut and paste but Kershaw is so far down the list ….

    True the Dodgers suck coaching and analytically but being left in too long? … we both intimately know the specific situations. Kershaw isn’t even in the HOF post season conversation.

    What he was missing I think we both understand. Greatness.

    Postseason ERA compared to Regular Season ERA

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    I hope this proves informative
    Last edited by Sanlmar; 01-31-2023 at 09:30 PM.

  18. #78
    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    Some of Kershaw's postseason fail is due to his perfectionism which borders on being a personality disorder. Basically he freaks out when things don't go well.

    And as I said, some of it stems from the Dodgers mismanaging his postseason appearances.

    This is why the 7th inning is known to be Kershaw's postseason kryptonite. And this begs the question, "Why is he still pitching in the 7th, and if he is, why is his leash not super short?" I never got a good answer to that one.

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    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    There was a rule of thumb with Greinke and his effectiveness.

    As soon as Greinke gives up a late inning HR, take him out. It's a sign he's out of gas. I saw this play out time and time again, but the Dodgers just wouldn't learn. Not once did I see him give up a late inning HR and then pitch well after that. It was always a sign that he was done, but they often left him in to give up a few more runs before finally hooking him.

  20. #80
    Plutonium Sanlmar's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
    Some of Kershaw's postseason fail is due to his perfectionism which borders on being a personality disorder. Basically he freaks out when things don't go well.

    And as I said, some of it stems from the Dodgers mismanaging his postseason appearances.
    Phrased this way, I think we have common ground.

    Kershaw was not a “screw loose” mental case like that Nazi Curt Schilling - who would have overcome anything including bad coaching.

    Curt Schilling will not make the HOF because he ran his mouth. Which is wrong and yet another example why nobody cares anymore about Cooperstown

    Woke mental health millenial voters will absolutely usher my boy Grienke in first ballot. I will yawn.

    Greinke was an incredible athlete but still a ‘sperg underdog and we like underdogs. So damn fascinating. The Grienke stories could be swapped for days.

    Kershaw was an underachiever. Blame his team. I do. It has been my theme for a decade. I recognize the fraud. Yet the asterisk and the post season will always be there for Clayton.

    That’s how we keep score.
    Last edited by Sanlmar; 01-31-2023 at 10:12 PM.

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