# MLB Off Season/Hot Stove **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** baseball-mlb\ **Created:** [March 11, 2020, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799 "2020-03-11T04:00:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/302 "2020-05-24T04:16:15Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Oakland no longer has the Raiders but it would be very costly to redo that park. Probably easier to build a new place. Tampa should also start over and they need a dome due to the heat. That area is full of retirees who are not likely to go to an outdoor stadium. Could Oakland do what the Angels did and completely redo their stadium after the Rams left? IIRC, the Oakland stadium is right next to a BART stop, but I haven’t been there in over ten years. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/303 "2020-05-24T04:19:36Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Could Oakland do what the Angels did and completely redo their stadium after the Rams left? > > IIRC, the Oakland stadium is right next to a BART stop, but I haven’t been there in over ten years. The Angels re redid their stadium to make it back to a baseball only stadium. The difference is that Disney paid for all or most of it and the City of Anaheim was willing. The City of Oakland just doesnt seem to want to work with either the A’s or the departed Raiders. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/304 "2020-05-24T04:31:24Z")
Red Sox probably cheated by stealing signs in 2018. So they know what to expect if they are found guilty by MLB ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/305 "2020-05-24T04:33:32Z")
One new question I have is that are the Astros hitters really as good as we think if they new when a pitch was a changeup, for example. MLB should have fined the owner a figure well above 5 mil if they have the authority. Its the guy on top who has to accept final responsibility for wrongdoing. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/306 "2020-05-24T04:36:39Z")
$5 million was the maximum penalty. It will be a weird situation for the interim GM (especially) - do you make a big trade if there’s an opportunity near the trade deadline and the team is in contention? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/307 "2020-05-24T04:37:34Z")
Brendan Taubman also suspended for the year for his misogynistic outbursts during the WS. > **[Houston Astros fire executive Brandon Taubman over outburst at reporters | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/24/sport/houston-astros-brandon-taubman/index.html)** > > A Houston Astros executive accused of verbally accosting female journalists has been fired, the team said. Nice culture there Houston. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/308 "2020-05-24T04:38:45Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > $5 million was the maximum penalty. It will be a weird situation for the interim GM (especially) - do you make a big trade if there’s an opportunity near the trade deadline and the team is in contention? I would think any GM would need owner OK to make a major trade, no? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/309 "2020-05-24T04:40:59Z")
Also, apparently Carlos Beltran was identified as one of the leaders of the sign-stealing scheme - it will be interesting to see how that affects his hall of fame case (which otherwise looked pretty solid) in a couple years. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/310 "2020-05-24T04:41:16Z")
Guess who led MLB in team batting in 2017 by 20 points? > **[2022 MLB Team Batting Stats | ESPN](https://www.espn.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/batting/year/2017)** > > Visit ESPN to view 2022 MLB team stats ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/311 "2020-05-24T05:13:49Z")
Hinch and Luhnow fired. Correct move by Astros owner Crane. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/312 "2020-05-24T05:20:29Z")
Carlos Beltran is the new manager of the Mets, at least for now. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/313 "2020-05-24T05:20:41Z")
Crane’s decision is probably also sound from a competitive standpoint (at least the Luhnow firing) - you want a GM who can make personnel decisions without worrying about being second-guessed by the guy who is coming back in a year. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/314 "2020-05-24T05:30:15Z")
They should also get a playoff ban for a few years but I guess that may not be allowed. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/315 "2020-05-24T05:36:53Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > They should also get a playoff ban for a few years but I guess that may not be allowed. There is nothing remotely like that in baseball. They can throw the people involved out of baseball. They can penalize draft picks, MLB share money, international signing money and the like but the MLB does not take back titles or ban you from postseasons. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/316 "2020-05-24T05:41:13Z")
They can certainly change the rules to allow no postseason or removing titles in the future for cheating in the future. Baseball HOF formally agreed to not allow banned for life players in the HOF. You can probably figure out why they did that. Hint, it was because of something that happened in 1989. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/317 "2020-05-24T07:00:43Z")
The stuff coming out is interesting. Looks like every team suspects every other team of doing similar things, and some of them (maybe most?) are going to be right. It’ll be interesting to see how many other teams get slammed over the course of the next season or two. The Red Sox, at a minimum, and the Yankees are already under heavy suspicion. That, for one, is a reason you won’t see too many postseason bans - half the league or more may eventually get implicated. I suspect MLB will eventually relent on technology. Trying to keep it out in perpetuity is a mug’s game. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/318 "2020-05-24T07:30:22Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > The stuff coming out is interesting. Looks like every team suspects every other team of doing similar things, and some of them (maybe most?) are going to be right. > > It’ll be interesting to see how many other teams get slammed over the course of the next season or two. The Red Sox, at a minimum, and the Yankees are already under heavy suspicion. > > That, for one, is a reason you won’t see too many postseason bans - half the league or more may eventually get implicated. > > I suspect MLB will eventually relent on technology. Trying to keep it out in perpetuity is a mug’s game. You seem to be the only one that has the Yanks under heavy suspicion. [Reports are saying Cora’s punishment](https://nypost.com/2020/01/13/red-soxs-alex-cora-is-going-to-get-crushed-after-astros-cheating-scandal/) will probably be heavy. It appears he is involved in both Astros & Red Sox scandals. I’m reviewing the 9 page report from MLB now. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/319 "2020-05-24T07:37:40Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > There is nothing remotely like that in baseball. They can throw the people involved out of baseball. They can penalize draft picks, MLB share money, international signing money and the like but the MLB does not take back titles or ban you from postseasons. The share money is the place to really put the screws to teams. Take away **all** of their share money for the next 5 years or so. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/320 "2020-05-24T07:44:03Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I’m reviewing the 9 page report from MLB now. After Manfred’s memo in 2017 came out, teams have either stopped or, more likely, slowed down. The Yankees were caught in 2017 before that memo but are still somewhat under suspicion. It doesn’t help that Carlos Beltran was on the payroll in 2019. One of the problems is that it appears to be player driven. Hinch and Luhnow didn’t direct the sign stealing but didn’t do enough to stop it, and the lack of organizational control is what they are being punished for. Alex Cora is the only coach to be thought directly involved. And with player driven schemes, things spread as players move to new teams. It might be a mistake for no players to have been punished. The hope is with the heavy penalty, that coaches and front offices are pro-active about stopping things, and that players take note and stop on their own. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/321 "2020-05-24T07:44:38Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > The share money is the place to really put the screws to teams. Take away **all** of their share money for the next 5 years or so. I like that. Doesn’t upset direct competition, but really punishes the team. If you sentence a team to not be eligible for the post season, it upsets the game too much. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799.md?page=17)