Oh, Ruth didn’t get fired for going into the stands. It was more for going after an Ump and a few other issues. He was a man child and force of nature, not a Captain.
OK, I checked. Going into the stands appears to be part of the reason for his very short time as Captain.
On May 25, the slugger threw dirt in the umpire’s face and climbed into the stands to confront a fan
The Mets have too much talent to be lousy in '23, but a huge payroll obviously doesn’t guarantee a World Series victory.
The Dodgers massively shelled out for players starting in 2013 and their spending was said to be in “uncharted territory” for baseball. They nevertheless came up short of their ultimate goal until the aberrant 2020 season. So the Dodgers tally since going on a big spending spree is ten postseason appearances and one championship.
The Mets could be in for a similar ride. Or not.
I’m not sure I’d take anything away from them for 2020. A team that good for that long will probably win the World Series at least once. That they won the playoff dance in 2020 instead of 2017 doesn’t mean much.
It perhaps illustrates, though, that when you have such a massive number of playoff series to win, being perennially dominant doesn’t guarantee anything. Losing a five game divisional series really doesn’t say anything about your team. When the Yankees were dominant in the days of Yogi Berra they only had to win one playoff series to win it all.
The question therefore is whether spending metric fucktons of money is smart. In the case of the Mets, of course, they have an extremely tough divisional opponent to surpass to get the first round bye - but it was the Phillies who won the pennant, not the Braves.
I’m not - I hope it spurs John Sherman to plan on spending piles of cash in the future. But I bet if I wasn’t a Royals fan but rather a fan of a team who currently has a good competitive team built on good player development and savvy trades/spending I’d be pissed.
I can’t imagine Chase being named manager. He was notorious for cheating and throwing ballgames in his time.
David Wright was the last Mets captain, though there has been some speculation about it going to Nimmo
Chase did manage the Yankees (well, Highlanders) for awhile.
Speaking of the Yankees, Hal Steinbrenner is speaking out on behalf of fans whose teams don’t spend the biggest bucks (target: Steve Cohen, owner of the Mets):
“I think it’s something to be looked at. Another thing I said in March, which I truly believe, is that every fan of every team, nobody should have to go into spring training thinking their team has no chance of making the playoffs. That’s just not good for the game.”
The irony is so thick, you’d need a limited nuclear device to blast through it.
Yeah - the 2005 Yankees spent 69.8% more than the 2nd biggest spending team. The Mets would need to get to $438 million (before taxes) to get there (they’re at $384m).
Not only that, but manager George Stallings accused Chase of laying down, (possibly to get rid of Stallings), and Stallings was fired and replaced by Chase
especially since the trop and all its branded casinos are dumps in my opinion …
Small trade, barely covered.
Yanks needed to make room on the 40 man for Kahnle & Rodón. So they designated Lucas Luetge LHRP for assignment and made a deal to move him to the Braves.
Caleb Durbin SS & Indigo Diaz RHRP. Durbin was rated #23 prospect for the Braves. He’s 22. Diaz is 24 and reached AA level.
Luetge had resurrected his career with the Yanks and is now 35 despite still being in arbitration years. In the last 2 years he pitched well I thought in lower pressure situations. A solid 6th inning guy effectively and a lefty. I’m assuming he had too many bad outings and was deemed expendable. Sometimes he lost the plate and was walk happy last season but in the 2 years with the Yanks he was about 9.5 K/9 but last year he dropped to 3.53K/BB and his whip jumped up to 1.395.
A month after giving him a one-year $1.4m contract, the Royals designated professional uniform wearer Ryan O’Hearn for assignment. Aside from wearing a uniform, O’Hearn provided little value, and this move is about 2 years in the making. I guess the contract was to avoid arbitration - but I don’t really know what the arbitrator would have awarded him above the $1.4m. The Royals now only have 14 1B on their roster, so I assume they’ll go try to acquire Eric Hosmer, who is also capable of wearing a uniform while standing near first base.
Toronto’s trade for Daulton Varsho is interesting.
Varsho is a better and slightly younger player than Lourdes Gurriel, who was half the trade package, so in that regard Toronto is ahead, but the other half of the package was Gabriel Moreno, an A prospect stuck behind two very good and affordable catchers. Long term Arizona could win this trade easily.
Short term though is Toronto’s concern, since they’re in a win now window. What interests me about the Varsho and Kiermaier acquisitions is this doesn’t improve offense over Gurriel/Hernandez, but wildly improves defense - and Toronto is changing the dimensions of the outfield. While nothing is yet official, it does appear at most points the dome outfield will be further back, increasing the need for capable defensive outfielders, and Varsho and Kiermaier are exceptional fielders.
It certainly is a curious long-term deal from Toronto’s perspective, but as you say, now’s their time. I don’t know if Varsho was the final piece for them though. I really like him, but he’s not a full short term replacement of losing Teoscar.
I think Arizona really comes out ahead in the short term here as well - they have a huge glut of good OFers, and this solves that problem while adding a huge piece at catcher.
I wonder what else it would have taken for Toronto to get Carroll - likely far too much.
He’s a better player than Teoscar. I would rather have Varsho every single day of the week. I liked Teoscar but he’s a poor defensive player, while Varsho is elite; the difference between them could easily be 20 runs. Teoscar isn’t likely to be any better a hitter over the next three or four years. Varsho is going into his peak, so ya never know.
What they do need is another outfielder, because… well, I don’t exactly know who their fourth outfielder is? Is it Whit Merrifield? I hope not, because I think he’s over the hill too and honestly he’s more valuable as a multi-position piece/pinch runner/spot starter against lefties.
I think that’s a fair assessment - I wasn’t thinking of defense at the time (it’s my damn fantasy baseball mode brain).
Found this gem, anyone who collected baseball cards of the 1970s was surely aware of Oscar Gamble, known for his prominent Afro. The photo is older as Gamble died in 2018.
How times have changed, and wasn’t 70s baseball just pure fun?
It’s Trevor Bauer Decision Day!
Today (Friday) is the deadline for the Dodgers to either add him to the roster or release him. Either way they’re on the hook for his $22 million salary for 2023. Another team (Rangers, Astros, Mets and San Diego are among the speculated suitors) may decide to risk the bad publicity by picking him up if released.
And, the Dodgers’ decision is that they’re done with him.
They designated him for assignment today; they have until next Thursday to trade him, and if they are unable to trade him by that point, he receives an unconditional release.