2016 MLB Thread

[Stommped]

I mean it totally makes sense, you only have to sacrifice 2 weeks to keep control of the player for an extra year. That date definitely needs to be pushed back, but as a Cubs fan I'm all for waiting 2 weeks if that means an extra year before him potentially walking for some mega deal from the Yankees or Dodgers.

[Gumboy]

I mean it totally makes sense, you only have to sacrifice 2 weeks to keep control of the player for an extra year. That date definitely needs to be pushed back, but as a Cubs fan I'm all for waiting 2 weeks if that means an extra year before him potentially walking for some mega deal from the Yankees or Dodgers.

Can't the Cubs pay him to?

[koodledrum]

The cubs sure as hell can pay him. The BS has already started apparently he has a "sore shoulder" to go along with his gaudy slugging percentage meaning he's been unable to play the field & as such is expected to start the season in AAA, no offence but there's only one condition in this whole mess & the diagnosis is cheap bastarditis on the Cubs. Sub replacement level guy on the opening day roster all to save a few bucks on the guy who should be playing, no offense intended here Stommped, but that's a kid who needs to walk away at the earliest opportunity cos he's being slapped right in the face here & even those with rose tinted specs on know it.

[Gumboy]

IF I were him and they did that, I would just bail on them as soon as I could. Why have loyalty to them if they treat you like that?

[Nellise]

It's not really saving "a few bucks" though. It could be $20-30 million if he pans out. Most teams don't like throwing away that much money if they don't have to.

Don't blame the Cubs, blame the players union who always throw amateur and minor league players under the bus during CBA negotiations. They're the ones that put stuff in that allows things like this to happen since those players aren't even part of the union. I think Bryant isn't even on the 40 man roster yet and still isn't part of the union that negotiated the rule.

[koodledrum]

No, you can 100% blame the cubs on it, they could have him on their opening day roster, I know he belongs on that roster, the majority of people watching baseball know he belongs on that roster & the cubs front office know he belongs on the opening day roster, but they will not have him on there all in order to gain a year of extra control over a player. It's not the players union stopping him being on that roster, there is no rule saying he cannot be, there is merely a rule saying that he only qualifies for a year of service time if he is on the roster for 173 days, there's no justification for it other than for the cubs own benefit, they're the ones holding him out - they're the ones at fault in this whole sorry mess. It's about saving nickels & dimes and it's not like the cubs can't afford it, they're merely abusing the system.

[Nellise]

If they delay him 14 games or so now, they gain 162 later, when he ought to be even better. Regardless of the cost, that seems like a decent trade off for the team. Even if they could pay him later for that year, there's no guarantee he'll take their offer, so this gives them that extra time for minimal cost. This isn't a pure money saving move like the super 2 silliness.

[Stommped]

Yeah I mean I think it's silly to chastise the Cubs for something literally every other team in MLB does. Who was the last rookie to have his MLB debut on opening day? I can't think of anybody. Trout, Puig, Giancarlo, none of them were on the opening day roster, but suddenly the Cubs are the bad guys? You can't tell me those teams didn't know that those guys were one of their 3 best outfielders back in Spring Training.

[draynay]

Dodgers/Dbags rivalry is in mid-season form.

[Gumboy]

Yeah I mean I think it's silly to chastise the Cubs for something literally every other team in MLB does. Who was the last rookie to have his MLB debut on opening day? I can't think of anybody. Trout, Puig, Giancarlo, none of them were on the opening day roster, but suddenly the Cubs are the bad guys? You can't tell me those teams didn't know that those guys were one of their 3 best outfielders back in Spring Training.

So when he leaves as soon as he can and cites this very decision, will you regret it then? :P /speculative.

[draynay]

Time Warner Cable is bleeding money, nice job assholes. They paid a ton of money to the Dodgers and then tried to hold every other cable network ransom with over-priced coverage and nobody bit. So nobody gets to see the games, and nobody is paying TWC for their rights creating a big black hole they dump a billion dollars into.

[Gumboy]

Standings:

AL EAST:

1. Yankees (Throwback pick)
2. Baltimore
3. Boston
4. Toronto
5. Tampa bay

AL. Central:

1. Detroit
2. Cleveland
3. Kansas City
4. Minnesota
5. Chicago White Sox (Spite pick, hi chicago fans!)

AL. West

1. Angels
2. Seattle
3. Oakland
4. Texas
5. Houston

NL. East

1. Washington
2. Miami (Surprise pick?)
3. Atlanta
4. Mets
5. Philaedalphia

NL. Central

1. St. Louis
2. Cincinatti
3. Pittsburgh
4. Brewers
5. Cubs (Not a spite pick, over-rated postseason moves, Maybe up to like third if maddon is doing well in his first year)

AL. West:

1. Dodgers
2. Giants
3. Arizona (lol right)
4. Padres
5. Colorado

Seeding:

Al:
1. Angels
2. Detroit
3. Yankees
4. Seattle
5. Oakland

NL.

1. Dodgers
2. Washington
3. ST. Louis
4. Giants
5. Cincinatti


Wildcard play in games:

Seattle>Oakland
Giants>Cincy

Round 1:

Seattle>Angels
Detroit>NYY

Dodgers>Giants (Sorry, you only win every other year SF!)
ST. Louis>Washington

Round 2:

Seattle>Detroit
Dodgers>St.Louis (Kershaw finally gets that monkey off his back)

World series:

Dodgers>Seattle in five, Kershaw MVP of the series, two wins.



I probably messed up the playoff formatting. I am fairly sure they made it so that teams in the division can play in the "First round" now that the wild card play in game exists.


TL;DR: Dodgers win the world series.

- - - Updated - - -

Time Warner Cable is bleeding money, nice job assholes. They paid a ton of money to the Dodgers and then tried to hold every other cable network ransom with over-priced coverage and nobody bit. So nobody gets to see the games, and nobody is paying TWC for their rights creating a big black hole they dump a billion dollars into.

I couldn't have happened to a more deserving cable company...other then comcast maybe :P

[Stommped]

So when he leaves as soon as he can and cites this very decision, will you regret it then? :P /speculative.

Highly doubt he will care about this 5 years from now, as I said it happens to everybody. If the Cubs can pony up the money he'd get elsewhere he'll stay, if they can't, he won't. He's not going to turn down more money from the Cubs just to stick it to them for pushing back his FA a year.

[Gumboy]

Highly doubt he will care about this 5 years from now, as I said it happens to everybody. If the Cubs can pony up the money he'd get elsewhere he'll stay, if they can't, he won't. He's not going to turn down more money from the Cubs just to stick it to them for pushing back his FA a year.

I hold grudges for life about things so I'm probably not the right person to think about it, but when my free agency came up and the cubs made me an offer, I'd basically be like "Hey, remember when you fucked me over my rookie year? Your offer has to be TWICE anyone elses to even have a consideration"

[Stommped]

I hold grudges for life about things so I'm probably not the right person to think about it, but when my free agency came up and the cubs made me an offer, I'd basically be like "Hey, remember when you fucked me over my rookie year? Your offer has to be TWICE anyone elses to even have a consideration"

You would turn down millions of dollars just to hold on to that grudge? Now if the Cubs offer is only equal to those of other teams, then maybe yeah he peaces out because of this. But he might like playing in Chicago too and the Cubs could coming off of a WS win who knows!

[Gumboy]

You would turn down millions of dollars just to hold on to that grudge? Now if the Cubs offer is only equal to those of other teams, then maybe yeah he peaces out because of this. But he might like playing in Chicago too and the Cubs could coming off of a WS win who knows!

Yeah, its pretty far in the future to really worry about now, i'd just enjoy him while you have him.

[draynay]

You would turn down millions of dollars just to hold on to that grudge? Now if the Cubs offer is only equal to those of other teams, then maybe yeah he peaces out because of this. But he might like playing in Chicago too and the Cubs could coming off of a WS win who knows!

I think at worst he remembers this moment as teaching him "baseball is a business" and carries that attitude to free agency, so no hometown discount.

[Gumboy]

I think it's time to really get the predictions rolling:

NL East: Nats
NL Central: Cards
NL West: Dodgers
NL WC1: Padres
NL WC2: Marlins

AL East: Red Sox
AL Central: Tribe
AL West: Angels
AL WC1: Mariners
AL WC2: Orioles

NL Awards: Stanton, Harvey, Soler
AL Awards: Trout, Sale, ???

Man, did we ever pick some wildly different teams in most slots :P

[Nellise]

I think at worst he remembers this moment as teaching him "baseball is a business" and carries that attitude to free agency, so no hometown discount.

Just as a recent example, the Angels screwed Mike Trout as best they could on his salary and he still signed a deal with them. I think they gave him the minimal possible raise after his rookie season.

[Brogrom]

Gumboy if your predictions are right it looks like I am going to be spending some money on World Series tickets later this year. I have been telling my wife that if the Mariners finally make it to the World Series we are going. At least I am close and have a place to stay in Seattle