The sign stealing thing historically goes back to the 1990s championship teams, but at the time the accusation was that Blue Jay runners on second base were passing signs along (which is unlikely, unless the signs are incredibly easy to figure out) or at least passing on the catcher’s setup (which is believable.)
The current conspiracy theory started in 2010, when the Jays suddenly hit a ridiculous number of home runs - Jose Bautista’s 54-homer season obviously being the highlight of that, but the team would actually have just missed leading the AL in homers if Bautista had hit no home runs at all.
It is of course nonsense. There is no practical way a guy sitting in center field could interpret and pass along catcher’s signals to the batter in an effective manner. The Blue Jays just happen to have acquired a lot of guys who hit home runs.
Agree, it’s highly unlikely for information to be coming from some guy in the outfield stands. And if a base runner or base coach are communicating something to the batter, more power to 'em. But the fact that these accusations (from other MLB players!) persist, seems a bit much if it’s just sour grapes.
Another Royals pitcher, I believe Volquez, said in a press conference in not so many words that he thought the outfield idea was nonsense and that if they were streaming signs from second, he had to make better signs. So I think it’s Cueto just trying to pass the buck.
Very poor defense on the part of the Cubs. When Cespedes stole third, he was halfway to the base before the ball was pitched. And scoring a run on a dropped third strike? The ivy did a better job of catching the ball than the Cubs outfielders.
Maybe. Certainly his post-season heroics will earn him some extra money, but I would ask (A) will it be a lot of extra money, and (B) if so, why?
By “a lot,” I mean more than another $1M per year or so (i.e. more than might be expected just for averaging in his postseason with his regular season numbers and paying him on the basis of the new level of recent performance). I don’t think it’s rational to value him much more highly on the basis of the last two weeks. OTOH, I could envision him cashing in from a so-so GM of a mediocre or worse team, who needs a way to show that he’s trying, and give fans a reason to hope, without totally breaking the bank.
Side question: how much extra money did Carlos Beltran make himself with his preposterous postseason in 2004?
I’m not a Mattingly fan and never did like that a Yankee was managing the Dodgers, but I think the GM and Andrew Friedman are going to continue to damage this team beyond recognition. In their first year, they traded Dee Gordon and Kemp for a one-year rental of a second baseman and a catcher who didn’t hit in the second half. Meanwhile, Kemp gets 100 RBIs (more than Gonzales) and Dee wins the batting title. Pathetic.
Not to mention, all I heard when he came aboard was how good Friedman was at putting together bullpens. I think it is safe to say that this was one of the worst bullpens I’ve ever experienced in a season. With the exception of Jansen and JP Howell (who were both there prior to his arrival), the bullpen simply didn’t perform.
Unfortunately, I don’t see the front office losing their jobs this year. I do think that McGuire should probably start gathering his belongings though.
It might even cost him money. The Mets, who were previously willing to let him go, now have decided to give him a qualifying offer, which means the team that signs him gives up a draft choice. With that, they might not want to offer him as much.
Most teams will see this as a fluke, anyway (which it is).
Beltran got a jump from $9 million to $11.5 million after his postseason tear, with a seven-year contract that increased to $19.3 million the final year. But the Mets went above market for him; he was willing at the time to take a contract with the Yankees for less. It’s impossible to quantify how much more he made because of his postseason, though.
There’s one thing I think we should nip in the bud- letting those fantasy league scams advertise MLB. Now you see Draft Kings or whatever pasted on the bullpen walls and such. I think these are nothing more than seedy ways to separate gullible people from their money and MLB and their networks should have no part of it.
When Beltran had his big postseason, he was 27 years old and was coming off four seasons where his OPS+ was 123, 114, 132, and 133, with WARs of 6.4, 4.3, 5.8, and 6.8.
Murphy will be 31 in 2016, and his last four seasons show an OPS+ of 103, 108, 111, and 113, with WARs of 1.5, 1.8, 1.9, and 1.4.
Anyone who hand over millions of extra dollars to Murphy based on these last half-dozen games or so will be an idiot, and/or the sort of GM—described above by VarlosZ—who wants to be seen to be “doing something.”
I despise all these daily fantasy sites and their incessant advertising. But, it’ll take state and federal intervention to stop them. MLB has an ownership stake as well as marketing agreements.
It’s not just MLB. Every major sports league, and even some individual teams, has a relationship with on of the daily fantasy sites. I play them, I enjoy them, but I also can’t stand the insane amount of advertising.
