Click here to read the transcript of tonight’s live baseball chat
By Mark Polishuk | at
Click here to read the transcript of tonight’s live baseball chat
MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com
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bhambrave
Still waiting hear about Freddie re-signing. Come on, Alex. Don’t get hung up on the sixth year.
MetsFan22
You guys are so poor lol. I hope you do design him lol
gbs42
Those poor World Series champions, they have it rough.
Sherm623
Designing players is hard
Gwynning
All the money in the world is useless if you’re not healthy enough to enjoy it. Say less, fam… otherwise you perpetuate the #lolmets tag that we all enjoy.
The Mets "Missed WAR"
I’m thinking it’s possible people are drastically underestimating the Braves payroll over the next couple years. A lot of predictions I see have the Braves retaining Freeman but not much else. When’s the last time a team won it all and didn’t spend above average money the next season? Maybe the ’97 Marlins? I don’t see the Braves behaving that way. Liberty Media is very good about reinvesting the profits back into the team.
Those predictions also came out before the news broke that Bally Sports was going to start paying the Braves an extra $100-$120M a year after next season. Even if they only reinvest half that money back in it will push them near the $210M luxury tax.
One YouTuber who I typically like (a Mets fan) named Giraffe Neck Marc predicted the Braves were going to spend their money by keeping guys like Chris Martin and Josh Tomlin and the only addition being Greinke. That has to be wishful thinking from a Mets fan. Martin and Tomlin both have to be gone and why would the Braves blow their load on an old pitcher who had an ERA over 4 whom they easily knocked off in the playoffs? He didn’t even have the Braves signing a single outfielder or DH other than Ehire Adrianza. Really? No DH and Adrianza and Duvall are going to be the Braves only 2 OFs until Acuna canes back?
Some of these predictions are so insanely low for the Braves that they wouldn’t even be able to fill out a 26-man roster and the signings the Braves are predicted to make are almost all bad ones. Why would they pull their foot off the gas after winning it all? I honestly think it’s just other fans hoping the Braves don’t make any moves because they are rooting against them. A starting outfield and DH of Duvall, Adrianza, Herrera and Pache would be the Braves conceding the season game 1. That isn’t happening.
gbs42
From what I read, the Braves are not getting an additional $100-120M a year. Their TV deal is going up from $80M to $100M next year and $120M some number of years after.
Samuel
I also wonder if we’ll see more true public “rebuilds” in the future, since teams have learned that it’s a real PR hit (not to mention a loss of TV rating revenue and ticket sales) to flat-out announce that you’ll be tanking for the next 3-4 years.”
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Come on Mark;
You don’t think fans of a team and the media in that market don’t recognize a rebuild when they see one?
The Guardians are coming out of a “rebuild on the fly”. I don’t read the Cleveland papers, but I read an article in a national publication a few years ago with Francona where he said that’s what they’re doing. I’d even written posts here on MLBTR the previous year saying that’s what they were doing. It’s not hard to figure that stuff out by watching what teams do and knowing what their FO’s have done in the past (if the FO’s are basically intact).
Mark Polishuk
Oh, there’s no question that it is very obvious teams are rebuilding, even if they are loath to use the actual “rebuild” word (instead calling it a “step back,” or a “reworking” or something). But if you use a more nebulous word, it creates at least some verbal wiggle room if anyone calls a GM out for doing a teardown of a roster.
As for a rebuild on the fly, fans are more forgiving of that tactic since the team is at least still also trying to win, as Cleveland successfully managed to do until 2021.
Samuel
“…the Athletics will have to do a lot of shuffling just to remain in the mix, when the simpler method — in a world without their self-imposed payroll restrictions — would be to just build around their already-good core”
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Here’s where I have a problem with many MLBTR writers and most posters.
What does “self-imposed payroll restrictions” mean? Like having a budget that aligns with revenue and fixed expenses? Or could it mean that they “go all in” with a few long-term high contracts and trading of prospects, and then have to go into a 3-6 year rebuild (which oftentimes doesn’t work) as they can’t meet the payroll and their farm system is depleted – as happened to the Jays and Royals around 2017.
The A’s have had their cycles for around 20 years now. They elect to take a step back, unload some players that are nearing their FA date, and are able to bounce back within a few years. The A’s are no different than any team in MLB. At some point every team has to take a step back if they want to be a serious, sustainable contender. It all aligns to a combination of their only retaining a players rights for 6 years (unless they buy out a few FA years) and hitting a point where they have too many long-term contracts on the books in which the players production is regressing while his salary is going up.
Shapiro supposedly reamed out AA in Toronto when he got up there for “going all in” and then leaving a mess that forced the Jays into a rebuild. Fact is that AA seems to have learned. He’s been far more patient with young players and measured in his moves in Atlanta – if not, that team would have never made the WS this year (and still has a bright immediate future to continue being a contending team.),
californiaangels
Dang who hurt you? Lol
Ummm the Indians have been quite competitive over the last decade? You can’t compare what they are doing to the Pirates, Os, Ms, Padres, etc.. that’s just sad to think that
Samuel
“You can’t compare what they are doing to the Pirates, Os, Ms, Padres, etc”….
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Dang, do you have any reading comprehension ability? Lol
I didn’t compare what they are coming out of to what the Os, Ms, Padres, etc. did. In fact, I said that was an alternative which teams like the A’s do to avoid a long-term rebuild.
Jean Matrac
Samuel:
Every team has “self-imposed payroll restrictions”. It’s called a budget. The implication is some teams restrict payroll much more than others. In other words some teams, like the A’s, just aren’t going to spend a lot of money.
The reasons, such as revenue and expenses is irrelevant. What is relevant is knowing whether a team will spend much money, or not. There is, and should be criticism for teams that have the ability to spend, but don’t. And I think most people understand why the A’s don’t spend a lot of money.
I think your criticism of the MLBTR writers is unfair. They, and others, analyze, and predict what the A’s will do, based on the knowledge that the A’s will not be spending money. In comparison to the Cubs, who were criticized heavily for not spending money when they could, there hasn’t been that kind of criticism for the A’s, only recognition that they won’t.
Halo11Fan
There is already a team AAA team named the Reno Aces. They the diamondbacks AAA affiliate. Even if they As move to Vegas, they will not be the Vegas Aces.
DarkSide830
I like the old Vegas club name – 51s.
JeffreyChungus
I’m fairly certain the Vegas Aces is the name of a WNBA team. It would be just like Cleveland’s roller derby fiasco. I think they should go with the Las Vegas Raiders
DarkSide830
how does a fairly small legal battle constitute a fiasco
JeffreyChungus
How do you constitute an intelligent poster on this site. Begone, thot
DarkSide830
bruh
Jean Matrac
That there’s a AAA team already named the ‘Aces’ is irrelevant. Since no ML team has that name, the A’s could, if they wanted to, change their team name to the Aces.
It would be odd, but there’s a precedent with a ‘Colorado Rockies’ affiliate named the ‘Indians’, which existed before Cleveland became the ‘Guardians’. I doubt they will, since ‘Athletics’ has such a long history, but to imply they can’t change it to ‘Aces’ is incorrect.
gbs42
The Indianapolis Indians are a Triple-A team. Of course, they are the affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who are also basically a Triple-A team.
Jean Matrac
Aww, don’t be mean. I’m not a Pirates fan per se, but I have a soft spot for them because Clemente was my favorites player when I was young (yes, I’m old, and I even got to see him play in the ’71 WS).
They were surprising tough against the Giants this season, though your point is taken. I do hope the talent they’re stockpiling will bring them back to relevance.
gbs42
tad – My apologies, but the opportunity was right there. I hope the Pirates return to relevance soon.
If I saw any of the ’71 WS, it was in my parents’ arms after they brought me home from the hospital.
Logjammer D"Baggagecling
I was scrolling through the transcript. I saw a question about the A’s Stadium in Las Vegas, is there anything in the works for that yet?
Gwynning
They’re interested in a particular parcel of land and trying to acquire it. You’re up to date!
Logjammer D"Baggagecling
Thanks
LordD99
…but they also continue to negotiate with the city of Oakland on a new stadium there.
Jean Matrac
lordd99:
Yeah, they’re pursuing parallel paths. It seems obvious that if the stadium deal in Oakland doesn’t happen they will be playing home games in Vegas.
James1955
The A’s made an offer on land for a Stadium in Las Vegas.
Brew’88
The new all-black Raiders stadium blocks the view of the sunset for the Trump hotel, I wonder if the Athletics will go for a similar effect?
tuna411
teams giving opt-OUT’s is just stupid
Jean Matrac
It depends on the situation, but a team losing out on a desirable FA because they wouldn’t include an opt-out, could also be considered stupid.