2019 MLB Thread

I feel really bad for Oakland. They spent the 9th overall pick on a guy only to have him tell them to shove it less than a year later. Drafting guys who aren't commited to the sport is dangerous, but the baseball draft is funny in how it works. As I understand it, he wasn't going to sign unless they agreed to let him play football for one year. And that came back to really bite them when they trusted him to live up to his word.

Eh we will see what Kyler is 3 years from now. His baseball career isnt over yet. The fact that he is very awkward socially (almost Ricky Williams levels of anxiety) is a red flag to me. He reminds me of Greinke with the way he speaks in public, and thats not a good trait to have as a NFL qb.

"Vertical Limit wrote:

Eh we will see what Kyler is 3 years from now. His baseball career isnt over yet. The fact that he is very awkward socially (almost Ricky Williams levels of anxiety) is a red flag to me. He reminds me of Greinke with the way he speaks in public, and thats not a good trait to have as a NFL qb.

What would his road back to MLB be? Low contract free agent with Oakland? It'll be interesting to see if he tries that should he wash out of the NFL.

Hard for me to gauge how the Mets will do this year. I think our pitching can be lethal if they can stay healthy. The offense seems to be feast or famine but I do think Michael Conforto will have a monster year. In the end I think we'll be competing for a wild card spot.

Of course, it would be nice to sign Bryce Harper or Manny Machado, but ya know.

"Rocky Raccoon wrote:

Hard for me to gauge how the Mets will do this year. I think our pitching can be lethal if they can stay healthy. The offense seems to be feast or famine but I do think Michael Conforto will have a monster year. In the end I think we'll be competing for a wild card spot.

Of course, it would be nice to sign Bryce Harper or Manny Machado, but ya know.

I really see the NL East as a wide-open, four team race. I don't think that Atlanta is as good as their record showed last year, and Washington is likely to fall off some of course.

Please don't discuss the N.Y. Mets in a Major League Baseball thread. It might confuse the children. Thank you

"adamprez2003 wrote:

Please don't discuss the N.Y. Mets in a Major League Baseball thread. It might confuse the children. Thank you

Who's your team?

"Unlucky 13 wrote:

Who's your team?

"adamprez2003 wrote:

Of course. Enjoy putting up monster home run numbers this season and then getting eliminated in the playoffs by any team with good pitching...just like every other year. :shifty:

"Unlucky 13 wrote:

I really see the NL East as a wide-open, four team race. I don't think that Atlanta is as good as their record showed last year, and Washington is likely to fall off some of course.

I agree with you about Washington but I think Atlanta and Philadelphia are going to be good not only this year but for many years ahead, unfortunately.

We'll see. They were both ahead of schedule last season, but that doesn't always last.

"Rocky Raccoon wrote:

Of course. Enjoy putting up monster home run numbers this season and then getting eliminated in the playoffs by any team with good pitching...just like every other year. :shifty:

We'll see. I'm a believer in small ball, but that's almost dead since the analytics guys took over the game. Every team is the same now. They all swing for the fences. No one knows how to bunt anymore when the shift is on. It's a weird time in baseball history. Hell we have enough bullpen talent our starters only have to pitch four or five innings. This ain't the sport I grew up on

"Rocky Raccoon wrote:

Hard for me to gauge how the Mets will do this year. I think our pitching can be lethal if they can stay healthy. The offense seems to be feast or famine but I do think Michael Conforto will have a monster year. In the end I think we'll be competing for a wild card spot.

Of course, it would be nice to sign Bryce Harper or Manny Machado, but ya know.

Conforto imo will be better then the pre injury version we saw in 2017 which had him heading for 30+ hr/100rbi and a very strong OPS. I also think Syndergaard and Matz could see breakouts. Matz finally made 30 starts and is now a year removed from the same elbow surgery Jake had in 2016. Noah needs to use that deadly curve more. If Wheeler has a year like the 2nd half of last year, we will have the best rotation in baseball no matter how much Vargas sucks.

Im most excited about Brandon "Finding" Nimmo and seeing if he can be even better then last hear and Rosario hopefully being even better. Nimmo could be a massive impact guy if he can develop more consistency with his bat. His OBS is off the charts but theres a 200 points swing when facing rhp (975) vs lefties (734). Nimmo also gave us 4.4 WAR in 140 games which was top 10 among NL OF. And not having a trash bullpen will help. Id love to get Machado or Harper but its the coupons...they still shop in the discount aisle.

"Unlucky 13 wrote:

I really see the NL East as a wide-open, four team race. I don't think that Atlanta is as good as their record showed last year, and Washington is likely to fall off some of course.

i think washington and atl are legit, even if washington loses Harper. ATL is going to keep spitting out prospects (8 in the top 100 in baseball america), Acuna and Albies will better and guys like Newcomb could take the next step. Thats a well run organization.

Man every time I see Derek Jeter I just think about how damn ugly he is lol

Will my team ever be good *sigh*

Do any of you guys use MLB tv to watch games? This will be my first year with broadband since its existed, and I'm considering it.

Is the framerate and picture quality good? I've had really negative experiences trying to watch nfl games online via DirecTV, and dont want to pay for the baseball service if its similar.

One team I think that competes for the wildcard is the Cincinnati Reds, I believe the best rotation on the NL is the Mets and in the AL Tampa two teams I also believe compete for wildcard spots. My heart aches for Tampa having a team that can probably beat any NL team in the playoffs but unfortunately reside in the AL east with the Yankees and Red Sox.

It'll be hard for the Reds to get the WC when they're clearly the 4th best team in the Central, unless at least two of the clubs ahead of them suffers a big rash of injuries. Plus, they need to fend off Pittsburgh, who's a lot closer to them in talent than they are to the third best team, IMO.

"Unlucky 13 wrote:

Do any of you guys use MLB tv to watch games? This will be my first year with broadband since its existed, and I'm considering it.

Is the framerate and picture quality good? I've had really negative experiences trying to watch nfl games online via DirecTV, and dont want to pay for the baseball service if its similar.

I have had MLB.tv for many years. I have always loved the experience.

Machado got a crazy contract today, but if required I would spend that kind of money on him over Harper.

"TheOne wrote:

One team I think that competes for the wildcard is the Cincinnati Reds, I believe the best rotation on the NL is the Mets and in the AL Tampa two teams I also believe compete for wildcard spots. My heart aches for Tampa having a team that can probably beat any NL team in the playoffs but unfortunately reside in the AL east with the Yankees and Red Sox.

The worst team in the NL central could win at least 80 games this year.

"TheOne wrote:

The worst team in the NL central could win at least 80 games this year.

Its true. A lot will depend on how the teams beat up on one another. As a Cubs fan, I'm hoping that the rest of them split down the middle while we beat up on them. :up:

I still think the NL east is the best division. You could see 4 teams win between 85-95 games. Although that assumes the Phillies sign Harper and/or Kimbrel since they have no pitcher aside from Nola who are worth a poop. I suppose Robertson is ok also but not the same he was 3-5 years ago.

I really want to see Alonso have a big spring. The less at bats Turd Frazier gets this spring, the better off we will will be. Plus a line up with Alonso’s 80 grade power (it’s the highest on the scouting scale...think Judge/Stanton) is unique to Mets fans like myself. The last time we had a true 80 grade power guy was Carlos Delgado and before that Daryl. Not Beltran, Wright or anyone else has ever had an 80 grade for power in a Mets uniform for the 30 years I have been following this team.

Nimmo CF
Lowrie 3B
Cano 2B
Conforto RF
Alonso 1B (vs Frazier)
McNeil LF
Rosario SS
Ramos C

And Peter Alonso mashes his 1st spring training homer in his first AB.

Bryce Harper to the Phillies. 13 years, 330 million!!! No opt-outs either. Personally, I think Manny Machado is the better player, but the Phillies are stacked. The NL East should be quite fun this season.

I keep wondering how much Mike Trout is going to get...

"Rocky Raccoon wrote:

Bryce Harper to the Phillies. 13 years, 330 million!!! No opt-outs either. Personally, I think Manny Machado is the better player, but the Phillies are stacked. The NL East should be quite fun this season.

I keep wondering how much Mike Trout is going to get...

I wonder if they move Hoskins to 1B. Their offense looks pretty powerful, though their defense could be suspect, and they look like they could be pretty slow on the base paths.

13 years is also so dangerous. What happens if Harper falls off in his 30s, or gets lazy? I'm glad that the Cubs didn't do it. But I'm also worried about what they'll need to do to retain Bryant and Baez now.