I’m a Blue Jays fan and JA Happ had a wonderful season for us, and I’ll admit was way better than I expected. But I watched the guy all year, and I’ll tell you right now that anyone who thinks he was one of the three best pitchers in the league doesn’t know shit about baseball.
Hey, Trout wins the AL MVP! I’m pleasantly surprised! Yes, the Angels were terrible, but definitely not Trout’s fault.
I’m surprised too; my money was on Betts, and given the statistics I’mreally surprised it was as one sided a win as it was. Trout was a decent choice, he is a truly great player. Betts would have been a good choice.
I note that players are being referred to as “finalists” for awards. Bleacher Report called Trout a “finalist” for MVP for the fifth year in a row. I don’t remember this term ever being used before, but it is, of course, wrong. A “finalist” is someone who has made it though a preceding round of a competition into the last round. There are no “finalists” in MVP (or Cy Young, or ROY) voting. There is one vote, and theoretically anyone in the league is eligible to be voted for.
RickJay, I share your definition of “finalist,” but the BBWAA doesn’t.
The finalists are merely the candidates who finished in the top three spots in the voting. They are not the only candidates who were eligible for the award.
http://bbwaa.com/voting-faq/
Interesting side note: The Detroit Tigers had Verlander, Porcello, *and *Scherzer in their starting rotation in 2012.
The same year Miguel Cabrera won the triple crown.
And they did not make the playoffs.
mmm
Andrew Cashner signed a 1-year, $10mil deal with the Rangers. Among his reasons for selecting Texas was that Miami’s facial hair ban was a “big deal to me in free agency.”
St Louis signs LHP Brett Cecil on a 4-year, $30mil deal.
Edinson Volquez signs with Miami for 2-years, $22 million.
Still hearing rumors that the Red Sox want to trade for Chris Sale. I wish they’d have pulled the trigger at the deadline, if that was an option.
The Mets re-sign Yoenis Cespedes. That’s big for the team; they can then trade Jay Bruce to help fill holes.
In a move that could signal that Dexter Fowler is done with the Cubs, Chicago signed OF John Jay to a one-year, $8 million deal.
MLB and the union agreed on a new CBA for the next few years. Among the changes:
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DL stays have been reduced from 15 days to 10.
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The All-Star Game no longer decides the home stadium for the World Series. Now the team with the better record gets home-field.
Thank God they’ve changed the home field advantage for the World Series.
Not that I care how the decision is made, I just am ecstatic that sports talk radio and ESPN won’t beat that dead horse over and over again.
Exactly how I feel. I honestly didn’t care about the ASG determining home-field - it has to be determined somehow, so why not, right? Every argument against it just didn’t hold for me, but good god have I gotten sick of the discussion. I guess now I’ll have to spend my eye-rolling allowance on people who bitch about the designated hitter.
The CBA is going to be really interesting. The soft-cap rules as well as the drastic limits on spending in the international market could usher in even more parity going forward. As a fan of a team with a traditionally strong farm system, we could see a lot more of the Royals and other small-market teams in the playoffs.
No kidding. I never understood the controversy. Before, they assigned home field advantage based on whether it was an odd or even year, and I’ll be damned if I understand how that’s a fairer system.
Assigning it according to record is almost as random, given that they’re teams in two different leagues, but this will end the argument.
The most important part of the CBA is probably that, starting next offseason, teams that lose a free agent to whom they made a qualifying offer will only get a 3rd round draft pick, which is a huge difference from a first rounder.
I can’t wait until next year, when both the AL and the NL championship teams have identical records and the MLB management says:
“Well…uh…shit. Sooooo who won the all-star game this year?”
I think a very interesting report from the new agreement is the ban of smokeless tobacco for all NEW players. This means, in a handful of years, you’re going to have players who can’t chew surrounded by players who can (and do).
Oh Joy!
Huh… is there a contingency for that?
There are apparently some triggers that would cause a team to lose a 2nd and 5th round pick, something to do with team salaries. That’s a much bigger hit - but not like losing a 1st rounder.
I’m not a Jon Lester fan, but his tweet about it did make me laugh:
Some teams/stadia already ban it anyway. Players are whining about it, but I don’t think it’s going to be a big deal. You aren’t allowed to smoke in the dugout or drink whiskey, either. Seriously, it’s gross.
They’re adding more off days to the schedule, which means, I assume, that we’re going to be starting in March or guaranteeing November baseball. If I may make a really humble suggestion; if you’re going to play baseball games on March 30, make an effort to schedule the first series or two in a southern city or a domed stadium. If Opening Day is in Minnesota and it’s snowing, who’s surprised by that?
What’s interesting to me is what DIDN’T happen; there was much talk of the regular roster being expanded to 26 players and the September roster being reduced to something under 40. Neither happened, though I would have thought the first one would be quite popular with both sides.