Arena The Major League Baseball Thread

A's traded Yunel Escobar, just acquired from the Rays, to Nats for RP Tyler Clippard.

Obviously Beane didn't think Escobar could be salvaged defensively, and thinks that Clippard could be an answer for the bullpen (he's a good option, but relief pitchers can be bad investments in deals like this).

 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=programming

Oh, hello...

 

Kind of weird that the Nats are going to sign Scherzer and then trade Zimmermann. Could probably just extend Zimmermann for less and get similar production.

Amazing.

 

Possible Yovanni Gallardo to Rangers talks.

 

Apparently the contract for Scherzer is half deferred, so they're paying him an aav of $15 million per year through 2028. I also read that they intend on keeping Zimmermann and are going for it, not unlike the Phillies a few years ago. I'd think that'd rather retool since their future contact obligations are already kind of insane, with more to come (Strasburg and Harper, most notably).

Amazing.

 

I heard they have to trade Zimmermann and Desmond to have the money to sign Scherzer, but that could just be a rumor. The Nats are certainly not the team I expected to sign him. If they keep everyone, that is an insane rotation!

 

The AL Central won't miss him.

 

He'll have some easier pickings in the NL East, with Atlanta, Miami and the Phils trying to find traction. And the Mets still aren't exactly a contender yet, so the Nats should have an easy time this season in their division.

 

I hardly know'er!

 

... that's what she said?

 

Rob Neyer made a pretty good point. The Nationals won 96 games last year, had the run differential of a 98-win team. When you play to that level, it's really, really hard to improve. And Scherzer is replacing Tanner Roark in the rotation. Roark probably pitched way over his head last year, but according to bWar, he was the best pitcher in their rotation. I'm sure a lot of people are going to be predicting in excess of 100 wins this year, but the under seems much more likely.

Amazing.

 

I'm a little late with this but I am so freakin excited that randy johnson is going into the HOF as a dback. If I had to see him with a mariners cap on I might have cried for the rest of my life.

 

Farewell to one of the greats.

 

I just heard about this today

 

So, Selig's tenure commish is officially over... time for an opinion!


I'd grade Selig's tenure as commish as a solid B-/C+. Just enough good (labor peace post '94; expanded playoffs) mixed with the bad (blind eye towards PED's for the longest time; the plague of interleague play*; that ASG rule change; not reinstating Pete Rose, among other things).




*Admittedly there have been some interesting match ups over-the-years, but I'd still like to see it go.

 

I still have a real, real hard time looking past the 94 series.

 

I personally have no issue with inter-league play, I think it is fun. In other sports, you play teams that are not from your conference, so why not with baseball?
I do think the all-star game "meaning something" is one of Selig's worst ideas. They play a heck of a long season in baseball, and if you win 96-100 games, in my opinion, you have earned home field avantage. The midsummer classic should have no bearing on the world series.

 

So does Montreal...

 

To the extent that the Commissioner's job is to run the game for the owners and grow the game for them, it's hard to argue he's not the best commissioner the sport has ever seen. Not always great from the fan's perspective. But if Manfred's going to spend his entire tenure talking about crap like banning defensive shifts, then I already miss Selig.

Amazing.