2023 MLB Thread; Say Hey, Charlie Hustle: Rest In Power, Willie. RIP, Pete.

[getback]

at least someone acknowledges the red sox did it. feel like everyone just forgot about it

I feel like every team does it because they had to keep up because everyone else has been doing it. Not that that's an excuse, but baseball is a cheater's game. If you watch it but don't agree with cheating in some shape or form you're gonna have an issue. Whether it's juice, sign stealing, sticky stuff, hacking. Baseball.

Former White Sox ace Jack McDowell says the team used a camera to steal signs in the late 1980s

Former White Sox ace Jack McDowell said during a radio interview Friday that the team had a sign-stealing system involving a camera at Comiskey Park. “We had a system at Old Comiskey Park in …

www.chicagotribune.com

 

[mr jordan04]

No baseball playoff series should be a 5 game series either, that’s a different topic itself.

I disagree. Potentially having 3 7 game series you have to play in (along with the wild card play in game) just makes it way harder on pitching. As it is it’s tough in a 7 game series, so having that 5 game series saves one of your pitchers.

Nobody wants to see 3 out of 7 games in a series be a bullpen game

 

[DeadsetAce]

just heard the bits from astros players quoting their team's OPS home and away

yeah them dudes still cheating. they got their bullet points and notes lined up and ready

 

[tupac003]

A 106 win team and a 107 win team playing a winner take all game to have the honor of playing an 88 win team in the NLCS. Make it make sense MLB.

And if the 106 win team happens to win. The 88 win team has home field advantage. Blows my mind.

Wait...The Braves would have home field? Why?

 

[mr jordan04]

Wait...The Braves would have home field? Why?

Because the dodgers are the wild card

 

[DsLee]

There has to be incentives for winning divisions. I know folks hate it, and I get the arguments for reseeding, but winning divisions have always mattered and should.

getback I also agree that just about every team walks the fine line, or surpasses it at times, to get an advantage/"cheat." The recent electronic cheating is very reminiscent of the steroid era where a lot folks felt they had to do it or get left behind as it wasn't being caught/punished. Kudos to those that are straight and narrow all the time, but they'd likely be exceptions.

 

[DeadsetAce]

cheating and walking the line to gain an advantage is just baseball. its part of the culture. all jokes aside, i couldnt careless about what the astros do or don't do or did cause most teams are doing **** and we all just decided to draw the line at banging a trash can

 

[a-friend]

This should've been a 7 game series. Either reseed or make divisional games Bo7. More playoffs, the better. Makes no sense that the 2 best teams are playing a short series.

They’re never going to get it right.
At least it’s righter than NBA playoffs where in a 30team league, 16 of them make the Playoffs

 

[dwalk31]

Lol @ Cobb County Braves.

The Dodgers didn’t win their division—period.

They were down 3-1 to the Braves last year. The Braves might be underdogs but it isn’t unrealistic for them to beat the Giants or Dodgers.

As a Braves fan, I hope the Giants win. But I also kind of want the Dodgers again and home field advantage.

#ChopOn

 

[Bantz Lord T]

There has to be incentives for winning divisions. I know folks hate it, and I get the arguments for reseeding, but winning divisions have always mattered and should.

Thank you. I’m tired of people crying that one of the two 100+ win NL west teams will be going home. It’s just the way it shakes out sometimes. Also, the fact that they both have 100 wins stems from their season-long divisional race. If they played in different divisions that weren’t as competitive until the end, they might’ve both ended up with 90+ wins like everyone else. It’s all relative and win totals are irrelevant now. The Braves are playing good baseball and could knock out either of these teams if they stay hot.

 

[cedric ceballos]

The incentive for winning your division should be a playoff spot. But if you win less games than a wild card team, you should be the one playing in the one game play in instead.

It’s weird though because all that division nonsense only applies toward the division series and lcs. In the World Series whoever has the better record gets home field regardless of divisional standing.

Like football wise. I’m fine with the 7-9 Washington football team getting an automatic playoff spot for winning their trash division. Even if it comes at the expense of another team from another division with a better record missing the playoffs because there’s only 3 wild card spots. They just shouldn’t be guaranteed a home playoff game out of it.

The NBA always got it right on this stuff. I remember times the Lakers were the 3 seed and the Spurs were the 2 seed because they won the Midwest division (I think 2001-02) and the Lakers had home court because they had a better record but Sacramento won the division that year.

 

[rolaholic]

 

[elpablo21]

Alright so I'm late on the A's moving

 

[aepps20]

I'm pumped to see what the Stros and Sox series becomes.

 

[Fozz]

Just build a new ballpark at the other end of the parking lot with mixed retail/housing. No need to move to Vegas.

 

[GreenNGold89]

Just build a new ballpark at the other end of the parking lot with mixed retail/housing. No need to move to Vegas.

**** Fisher and **** Manfred. I already cancelled my season tickets moving forward but still have hope they end up staying. If they build in Oakland, I’ll get tickets again.If they go to Vegas, **** em.

 

[Fozz]

**** Fisher and **** Manfred. I already cancelled my season tickets moving forward but still have hope they end up staying. If they build in Oakland, I’ll get tickets again.If they go to Vegas, **** em.

He's had since 2005 to work out a deal with the city of Oakland. That's terrible.

 

[GreenNGold89]

He's had since 2005 to work out a deal with the city of Oakland. That's terrible.

I'm not defending the city of Oakland but Fisher and the A's front office are a joke. They have done nothing but try to leave Oakland since 2005 (Fremont, SJ) and want to act like they have tried over and over to get a ballpark done here. They implemented some bogus "Rooted in Oakland" slogan and had no real plan to develop a ballpark here until this year.

My hope is MLB is using the A's to research LV for when they plan to expand but who knows at this point. Maybe just wishful thinking. Hope they end up staying because if they leave, I'll need to find a new hobby.

 

[spizike231]

Feel bad for A’s fans tbh.

Sac Rivercats dropped them as their AAA team to be SF’s AAA team, and now this. Smh California really turned their back on them.

 

[Bantz Lord T]

Feel bad for A’s fans tbh.

Feel bad for the people of Oakland. Lost the Warriors, Raiders, and now the A’s

 

[dland24]

Feel bad for the people of Oakland. Lost the Warriors, Raiders, and now the A’s

They didnt lose the Warriors. Moving 15 miles isnt losing the team.

 

[d3si]

**** Fisher and **** Manfred. I already cancelled my season tickets moving forward but still have hope they end up staying. If they build in Oakland, I’ll get tickets again.If they go to Vegas, **** em.

I remember the article I read last spring

Spoiler

Oakland A's stadium saga FAQ: What we know and don't know about a potential relocation

Why are the A's touring other potential cities? Can they get a stadium built in Oakland? We get you up to speed on their relocation drama.

theathletic.com

Would MLB charge a relocation fee?
The commissioner’s office hasn’t said, but it’s very possible. Baseball’s expansion fee could be as much as $2.2 billion if it’s indexed against franchise values — but MLB has no expansion plans. Other leagues have levied relocation fees in recent years: When the Raiders departed Oakland for Las Vegas, the NFL charged the team $378 million, which was distributed to the other teams. The Rams and Chargers were each charged $645 million to move to Los Angeles. The fees are typically paid over several years. MLB didn’t charge a fee for the Expos to move from Montreal to Washington, D.C., because the team was league-owned at that point.

Will the Athletics get the necessary local approvals for the ballpark plan?
We’ll find out on July 20 when the Oakland City Council votes on the stadium proposal. The Oakland mayor’s office has expressed concern about the $855 million public subsidy when it was proposed: “The City is willing to bring to bear its resources to help make this vision a reality; however, today’s proposal from the A’s appears to request public investment at the high end for projects of this type nationwide,” it said in a statement. Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf herself has been quoted as saying, “Hell no, we won’t let them go.” And also: “We’re working on bringing them a financial plan that we believe they can support. We are looking to do that before the end of July.”

Oakland City Council president Nikki Fortunato Bas and others sent a letter to MLB asking for relocation talks to stop while the city considers the ballpark proposal: “The Oakland City Council is committed to negotiating in good faith for a strong future for the A’s in Oakland, and we invite the A’s and MLB to do the same by agreeing not to seek relocation while the A’s complete the project process as the Council moves forward.”

Can a move be stopped?
Yes. Oakland could give the A’s what they want. MLB could set a relocation fee that’s too rich for John Fisher’s tastes. Lawsuits would be likely. The deals offered by other markets could be underwhelming. Fisher could sell the team. A comet could strike the Earth. But most likely, the politicians give Fisher what he wants.

Geez

 

[DsLee]

They didnt lose the Warriors. Moving 15 miles isnt losing the team.

Yeah they didn't lose the team, but I got family and friends in Richmond and Oakland that tell me how it's not the same. A's leaving Oakland would be absolutely terrible and from the outside looking in it really looks like the franchise could've done more to stay. I feel awful for folks on that side of the Bay Bridge...

 

[Bantz Lord T]

They didnt lose the Warriors. Moving 15 miles isnt losing the team.

How do they feel about it though? Aren’t most of them priced out from going to the games now?

 

[jpzx]

We can have a bigger discussion about ticket prices and how that sucks but if the Timberwolves moved 15 minutes to St. Paul instead of Minneapolis I wouldn’t consider it losing them if I still could get to them and go to games if I paid the price.