Centerfield

Looks like he was really good in AAA this year.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Well, Ron, no move ensures a World Championship. But he may be right that two $300-milion players are better than one $600-million player. Does he have any suggestions about who those two $300-million guys would be? I'm pretty certain the Mets will be in on Soto, and least until and unless he asks for a tent in the parking lot. And I'm very much hoping they sign him. Love Ron. But this is dumb. I mean, if we learned anything in this WS, is that one player making $600M doesn't ensure you win the World Series. What you need is one player making $700M, and another guy making $325M, and another guy making $365M, and another guy making and another guy making $160M and so on. If history tells us anything, the big contracts means you'll win. 1. Ohtani. Won the WS. 2. Judge. Played in the WS. 3. Harper. Played in the WS. 4. Seager. Won the WS. 5. Yamamoto. Won the WS. 6. Cole. Played in the WS. 7. Machado. Perennial playoff contender. 8. Trea Turner. Perennial playoff contender 9. Bogaerts. Perennial playoff contender 10. ARod. Won the WS.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I'm pretty certain the Mets will be in on Soto, and least until and unless he asks for a tent in the parking lot. And I'm very much hoping they sign him. He can have a tent in the parking lot, or his own merchandise stand, or whatever else he wants. (Incidentally, the original 10 year/opt-out after 7 deal that Rodriguez signed with Texas in 2001 turned out to be an all-time great contact signing for the club(s) he played for). Exactly. The "these deals never work out" crowd doesn't realize that this original deal was extended for more money.

"Stevie Nixed" is an excellent headline. Motocross is dumb.

So his signing risks losing someone in the Rule 5? Hope he's worth it. Dark Horse candidate.

Soler was kind of a disappointment with the Giants. Had a .749 OPS in the first year of his contract. They traded him to Atlanta where his OPS immediately jumped 100 points higher. Which more or less proves my theory that the Braves are cheating. I don't know if Griffin Canning is any good, but if it is, that means that the Braves would have gotten a half-season of Soler for nothing, then traded the rest of his contract for a useful piece. I hate Atlanta.

=G-Fafif post_id=177982 time=1730409349 user_id=55] Bob Costas retiring from MLB Network and Turner Sports baseball play-by-play. Will still drop in as a host/talking head.

For example, the Dodgers just won the World Series. But a case could be made that they were unlucky this year. Ohtani came into the year unable to pitch, but they also lost Glasnow, Yamamoto, Stone, Miller and Kershaw to significant injuries. Bueller was terrible after he came back. Freeman was injured the entire playoffs, and Ohtani got hurt in Game 2 of the World Series.

=batmagadanleadoff post_id=177910 time=1730346299 user_id=68] Even though almost half of all of the teams now make the playoffs, the Mets squeaked into the playoffs by one game on the last day of the regular season --- after they played 162 games, as did their main competitors, the Braves and DBacks. And after all of that, youse can safely rule out that there was no luck involved?

It's downright cruel how it all went down. Cole was cruising. Yanks were up 5-0. Everyone was already thinking about Game 6. Thinking hey, it's a long shot, but maybe. Just maybe. After going down 3 games to none. You could feel that slight glimmer of hope creeping back in. Then the errors. Bases loaded no one out. You could see the doubt creep in. But then Cole responded. Back to back Ks. The place was on fire. The ground ball to first, and everyone started to exhale, until they realized that no one was covering. Just brutal. And then, they took the lead again! And they started to think they dodged a bullet. The Dodgers pitchers are running on fumes. Only to see it come crashing down a final time. Brutal. Cruel. Beautiful. All at the same time.

https://x.com/MLB/status/1851995263633641663 Why does he not have a top half of his head

BTW. I'm super excited about the tabloid headlines we are about to see [bIGPURPLE]JUAN-DERING EYE[/bIGPURPLE] Yankees slugger courting offers from Mets and Dodgers, Nats also in the Mix [bIGPURPLE]THE JUAN THAT GOT AWAY[/bIGPURPLE] Superstar spurns Yanks, Mets, signs with Cubs [bIGPURPLE]THERE CAN ONLY BE JUAN[/bIGPURPLE] Cashman: With Soto Back, Yanks Out on Other Top Free Agents [bIGPURPLE]IT'S A JUAN-DERFUL LIFE![/bIGPURPLE] Cohen Gives Mets Fans the Christmas Present They Want. Signs Soto Away From Yankees [bIGPURPLE]JUAN TO GROW ON[/bIGPURPLE] With Soto Secured, the Mets Continue Efforts to Improve Club

So, I'll start with the caveat that you can give almost no weight to what an athlete says about his upcoming free agency. Especially within a few minutes of a tough loss like that. But the interesting thing from last night, and really every time he's been asked this year, Soto has not given any hint at all that he has any special feelings for the Yankees, or that they have any inside track on the bidding. In fact, he said multiple times it's just the opposite. He's open to all teams. No team has any advantage. And that's just kinda striking. Usually you hear stuff like "Hey, I loved it here. I'd love to stay. We'll see how it works out." One reporter asked him something like "if the money is right, would you be open to staying" And that's the biggest layup in the world. "Yes, of course. I loved it here. Would love to come back. Let's see how it plays out". But that wasn't Soto's answer. He was like "I mean, we gotta sit down and look at it...whenever we get a chance...." It's crazy. It's almost like he's going out of his way not to show any love for the Yankees. Again, you can't read much into this. I'm sure he's been coached by Boras. But it's almost like he either doesn't want to come back, or he wants to come back but is trying to tell the Yankees "hey, you're gonna have to outbid everyone, not just match them."

Seriously Mark Vientos? Wow. You fucking rock. Agreed. 12 years. A billion dollars. Let's go.

I love that the Yankees had to relive 2004 all over again to just end up losing in 5. And being on the wrong end of yet another historic comeback. Love it.

Wow. What a choke by the Yankees. Anyway. Did we sign Soto yet?

Three outs to go.

Yankees are gonna win the same games we did. The bullpen game and the second Flaherty start.

=Fman99 post_id=177892 time=1730334389 user_id=86] Man, fuck Jack Flaherty

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GbLGjSCXcAACk-m?format=jpg&name=small> It's even worse than you describe it. When the ball was in flight, one asshole closed his eyes, while the other one covered his entire face and squealed like a stuck pig. (I don't have the audio, but I'm sure this happened). I challenge you to find me two adult men more afraid of a baseball.

What I was trying to quantify, to the extent possible, if at all, was how lucky we were. After breaking out these guys into these different groups, I think maybe we weren't quite as lucky as I originally thought. Healthwise, yes. But in terms of performance, we had a similar number of guys overperform, as we did underperform. A secondary point is the one MMM made. For the players that missed the mark this season, the front office did a good job of getting those guys out and bringing in new guys, which, ended up giving us another shot to get lucky again.

It's a joke. Make an example out of them. These guys are the biggest assholes I've seen during my time watching baseball.

I think one of the differences with the new regime is that it is willing to move on from players when it stopped working. The old regime, I suspect, would have stuck with the Joey Wendells and Adrian Housers all year. I don't think that's luck, but rather good general managing. This is exactly right. In the past, those guys who sucked would have been run out there again and again and our season would have gone right into the tank. Part of it would have been from being stubborn. From wanting to be right. "Joey Wendle is a former All-Star. We've just got to get him going". But most of it would have been the money they made. Narvaez, Houser, Diekman, Wendle, and Nido combined to make over $20M. Can you imagine the Wilpons eating that money?

I honestly can't recognize society anymore. Hold a hate rally at MSG. Get elected President. Attack a baseball player. Get glorified on ESPN.

Also. You can't let them win on a night those asshole fans pull that move.