RE: MLB General Information PT 4 (Full Version)

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twinsfan -> RE: MLB General Information PT 4 (7/27/2016 12:31:44 PM)

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ORIGINAL: sixthwi

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ORIGINAL: twinsfan

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ORIGINAL: twinsfan

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ORIGINAL: sixthwi

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ORIGINAL: Mr. Ed

The Cubs' Kris Bryant struck out in the eighth against James Shields, leaving him 1 for 10 with seven strikeouts in three games against Shields, according to ESPN Stats & Info. Six of the seven Ks have come against changeups. He entered the game with a .065 average against change-ups, worst qualifying average in the majors.


Game was on ESPN. He swung at some awful pitches.

We have a closet Cubs fan on our hands.

5.....
4.....
3.....
2.....

[sm=fishing2.gif]


Not in the closet. [:'(]

WHAT?!!?




Mr. Ed -> RE: MLB General Information PT 4 (7/27/2016 1:58:46 PM)

SI.com looking at the future of MLB.
CBA ends December 1st

http://www.si.com/mlb/2016/07/26/mlb-schedule-future-shorter-season




Mr. Ed -> RE: MLB General Information PT 4 (7/28/2016 2:09:28 PM)

SI.com

Start with this: As a business, baseball is in good shape. Attendance is stable, averaging more than 30,000 fans per game in a season with 2,430 games. Primetime games for 22 of the 30 teams are the No. 1 ranked cable program on those nights in those markets. The MLB At Bat app is the envy of sports businesses for its popularity and ease of use.

The challenges for baseball are not about “saving” the game but about making it better, especially in increasing its national cultural relevance and being the gateway sport for children, who are the next generation of paying customers. So we’re talking not about a tear-down, but modernizing a beautifully crafted old house due for updating.

Major League Baseball is well aware of these challenges. The current negotiations toward a new Collective Bargaining Agreement to replace the one that expires on Dec. 1 will have a large say in where baseball is headed. MLB is also studying how quickly the game has changed in this Information Age, and examining the benefits and risks as data swings the game more toward run prevention than run production.

“Time of game” and “pace of game” are misnomers toward making baseball a stronger option in a world of growing entertainment options. We have become a nation that demands near constant amusement, much of it in a passive state via viewing screens. When baseball commissioned a study to measure youth participation in sports, for example, it was alarmed to find that in recent years, participation in every sport was down. Only one response showed a gain among the respondents: playing nothing at all. Scary.

As the need grows to swipe and click to the next source of amusement, “pace of game” isn’t important; “pace of action” is the barometer. Keeping players and the baseball in motion are more important than slicing six minutes off the time of game.

An era of modernization is upon us under commissioner Rob Manfred, who has an open mind about structural changes to the game beyond its immutable, sacred basics (four balls, three strikes, three outs, nine innings). Yesterday, I explained why baseball is facing a frightening future and why a shorter season might be an important solution. Today, I am proposing changes worth considering to the on-field product, all of which aim at improving the pace of action. Tomorrow, I will propose a handful of off-field changes.

1. Six timeouts per nine innings, two timeouts per every three extra innings

Baseball has a stoppage problem. It’s the only sport in which each team has an unlimited number of timeouts, and you can call a timeout as many times as you like whether you’re on offense or defense for any reason whatsoever. The only limitation is on the manager and pitching coach, who are allowed one visit to the mound per inning with no penalty.

Players and coaches now abuse this privilege of unlimited talk time. Catchers will visit the mound multiple times within the same at-bat to talk about what pitch to throw next or to change the signs with a runner on base. Pitching coaches routinely visit the mound to hold a pitcher's hand in times of trouble, or to allow a relief pitcher more time to warm up.

My goodness, if you watch any baseball game, you have to wonder how tennis players ever make it through the finals of a Grand Slam tournament without a visit from their coach. Uh, it’s called skill, and relying on all the prep work before the game to make adjustments.

Stopping the game cold has become a badge of honor. Catchers are considered to have the tactical skills of a five-star military general by constantly trudging out to the mound to “guide” a pitcher through an inning. Pitching coaches are lauded for “a good visit” while mumbling what we think is the mystical wisdom of a yogi, when most of them are getting TV time for glorified versions of what Art Fowler, the pitching coach and drinking buddy of longtime manager Billy Martin, used to tell his pitchers upon a visit: “I don’t know what the hell you’re doing, but you better stop it because Billy is getting real ticked.”

For almost one hundred years baseball wasn’t played with this splitting-the-atom kind of circumspection. Stopping the game has to stop. Pitching coaches, managers, catchers, infielders ... the whole lot of you get six timeouts to use for nine innings. Divide them any way you want, but you get only six.

2. Relief pitchers must face a minimum of two batters

The current rule is one batter, and specialized (and bigger) bullpens have made a mockery of it. From 1998 (the first year with 30 teams) to 2015, the number of one-batter relief appearances increased 43%.

Just imagine the concept of a relief pitcher trusted to get out both a righthanded and lefthanded hitter! Crazy, I know.

On May 25, interim Braves manager Brian Snitker used nine pitchers in a span of 16 batters; four of those nine pitchers faced only one batter. Time of game for the riveting, 13-inning game won by the Brewers, 3–2: four hours, 51 minutes.

Ted Williams hit his 521 homers off 202 pitchers. David Ortiz has hit 527 homers off 352 pitchers. Yes, interleague play accounts for more pitchers. But here’s the real difference between them: Williams took 603 plate appearances against lefties after the sixth inning. Ortiz has taken 1,048 plate appearances against lefties after the sixth inning—a 74% increase from how The Kid was treated.

Pitching changes stop the game and depress offense, neither of which is good for the future of baseball as an entertainment option.

3. A 154-game season in 183 days

As I detailed on Wednesday, the players need more off days. Give them two Mondays off in April, two in May, two in June, one in July and one in August—Monday being the least-attended game of the week.

I would make an exception on these Dark Mondays: One game only will be scheduled on those nights to create a true “national” feel for the game. Regional games typically out-rate national broadcasts when they compete. The Big Monday Game creates a showcase environment.

And yes, though they are arguing against it, the players will have to take a pay cut for playing fewer games, even if it’s not the full prorated 4.9%.

4. No expanded rosters—that includes September, too

I’ve already explained previously why giving managers more relief pitchers—even with a floating three-man taxi squad—is horrible for baseball. Let’s also get rid of the travesty of expanded rosters in September.

Here’s how it should work in the season's final month: You can call up as many players on your 40-man roster as you wish. All will be given major league service time. But before every series (not every game), the club will designate 25 players as active. In the event of an injury during the series, just as in the postseason, a player can be replaced, but he then becomes ineligible for the next series.

There is no good reason why teams play 25-against-25 for five months, and suddenly when pennant races are decided, we get an entirely different version of baseball.

5. Lower the mound two inches.

The height of the mound has remained at 10 inches since 1969, when it was lowered from 15 inches. Offense spiked in 1969, as MLB wanted, but the increase in run scoring also was due to a redefinition of the strike zone.

When pitchers get hurt, their normal recovery begins with throwing on flat ground, graduating to the bottom slope of the mound and eventually to the top of the mound. That pattern seems to be a recognition by the baseball industry that a less severe slope may keep pitchers healthier. That would be a fortunate byproduct to the main goal: getting the ball in play more. Reducing the downward angle of pitches should encourage more contact—more action.

The 1969 adjustment represented a whopping 50% reduction in mound height. This would be a more modest 20% correction.

6. A replay clock

We now have a 30-second clock on mound visits. Now put a clock on managers to issue a replay challenge (30 seconds from the end of the play) and a clock on replay officials (90 seconds; if you can’t determine an overrule within that time, it’s too hair-splitting of an exercise and the call stands and we get back to baseball).

7. The Bonus Batter

O.K., it's time to get really creative.

Cubs reliever Aroldis Chapman and Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper are once again National League foes, having previously spent four years in the NL together (2012 to '15). Who wouldn’t want to see the hardest-throwing pitcher in baseball against one of the hardest-swinging hitters in baseball? Do you know how many times they faced each other in those four years?

Four. That’s it. That’s all the randomness of a baseball batting order would allow.

The endgame of sport should come down to the best players. Tom Brady runs the two-minute drill. Lebron James gets the ball out of a timeout for the last shot. What if you knew the best player on your team would always get the key at-bat in a close game? Wouldn’t you be more apt to watch at home or stay in your seat in the park if you knew that Harper was going to face Chapman if the Cubs had a lead, or that Mike Trout would face Craig Kimbrel if the Red Sox were in front—no matter who was due up?

Here’s how it would work: Once a game a manager can pick any player—whether he’s due up or not, on base, or out of the game—to take an at-bat of his choosing. This is the Bonus Batter. Ortiz could be on second base with the bases loaded, down three runs in the ninth, and manager John Farrell can call him off the bases to take the turn of Ryan Hanigan. Or Ortiz could make an out, and then, as the Bonus Batter, take the next at-bat, too.

It’s a complete “free space” of an at-bat. The player who loses his turn is not replaced, and the hitter who took the at-bat goes back to his regular turn in the order after it’s over.

The keys here are: a) Getting the best players up in the biggest spots; b) Adding another level of strategy. Imagine all the second-guessing about when the manager should have used his one Bonus Batter; and c) Breathing some life—and maybe even some offense—into the dead ball baseball we are seeing in the late innings of today’s game, which I detailed on Wednesday.




Black 47 -> RE: MLB General Information PT 4 (7/28/2016 2:42:59 PM)

1-6 are great ideas, although I'm indifferent on lowering the mound. The constant stoppages in games are ridiculous. And I'm in favor of a minimum of 3 hitters per relief pitchers. 154 games is fine. End the season a week or two earlier too. If the players have a problem with any of this shut the game down. It's become a shit show.




twinsfan -> RE: MLB General Information PT 4 (7/28/2016 2:50:39 PM)

3. A 154-game season in 183 days

As I detailed on Wednesday, the players need more off days. Give them two Mondays off in April, two in May, two in June, one in July and one in August—Monday being the least-attended game of the week.

I would make an exception on these Dark Mondays: One game only will be scheduled on those nights to create a true “national” feel for the game. Regional games typically out-rate national broadcasts when they compete. The Big Monday Game creates a showcase environment.


Oh BS! They don't need more off days. I'm not totally opposed to a 154-game season, but that would mean playoffs start a week earlier so we're not playing the WS in November anymore.




Black 47 -> RE: MLB General Information PT 4 (7/28/2016 3:11:39 PM)

I have zero level of sympathy for players. I say MLB get every concession they want or shut the game down. Players are spoiled, coddled, wussies. And contracts like Mauer's, Howard's and so many others have ruined the game.

I'm not saying lower payrolls. I'm not in favor of owners pocketing more money. But no more guaranteed contracts, or at the least, no more contracts over four years. And for goodness sake, what a travesty slugs like Mauer get $184 million, and minor leaguers don't even make enough to put a healthy meal on the table (if they can even afford a table).




SoMnFan -> RE: MLB General Information PT 4 (7/29/2016 1:22:38 AM)

Ichiro only two away from 3,000
Dudes been an incredible player.
Have always enjoyed watching him.
If he had played his entire career in America .... wow.




Mr. Ed -> RE: MLB General Information PT 4 (7/29/2016 7:18:25 AM)

The Marlins have reached an agreement to acquire right-hander Andrew Cashner from the Padres, according to ESPN’s Buster Olney (via Twitter).




Trekgeekscott -> RE: MLB General Information PT 4 (7/29/2016 11:17:01 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: SoMnFan

Ichiro only two away from 3,000
Dudes been an incredible player.
Have always enjoyed watching him.
If he had played his entire career in America .... wow.



If he had played his entire career here...He would have surpassed Rose by now.




SoMnFan -> RE: MLB General Information PT 4 (7/29/2016 11:58:31 PM)

Ichiro didn't get his needed hits tonight, but did make one of his patented one-of-a-kind throws from the deep OF to nail a runner.

Looks like TimmyTimTims comeback is not working out for the Angels.

KC continues to scuffle.

Boston had dropped four but won tonight. The AL East is going down to the wire this year.




Black 47 -> RE: MLB General Information PT 4 (7/30/2016 12:43:16 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: SoMnFan

Ichiro didn't get his needed hits tonight, but did make one of his patented one-of-a-kind throws from the deep OF to nail a runner.

Looks like TimmyTimTims comeback is not working out for the Angels.

KC continues to scuffle.

Boston had dropped four but won tonight. The AL East is going down to the wire this year.

I knew KC's formula wasn't sustainable. I still think their WS victory last year was blind luck.




SoMnFan -> RE: MLB General Information PT 4 (7/30/2016 12:45:29 AM)

Agreed my man
Rode an incredibly hot bullpen and got timely hits in big spots, like we've never seen before.
Their question marks all over-performed, for the entire year
A good club. But not as good as we were told, I agree.




Steve Lentz -> RE: MLB General Information PT 4 (7/30/2016 10:03:27 AM)

Back to back World Series.
I'd sell my soul at this point.




Mr. Ed -> RE: MLB General Information PT 4 (7/30/2016 4:30:35 PM)

The Nationals officially have struck a deal to acquire Pirates closer Mark Melancon, finally getting the late-inning upgrade they’ve been seeking. Southpaw Felipe Rivero is heading to Pittsburgh in return, with lefty pitching prospect Taylor Hearn rounding out the package.

Washington also gets cash in the deal, per Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post (via Twitter). Melancon is playing on a $9.65MM salary this year before reaching free agency. As a result of the mid-season move, the righty will not be eligible to receive a qualifying offer, which means he’ll enter the market free and clear of draft compensation.

The Nats have long been connected to the top of the relief market with incumbent Jonathan Papelbon struggling to hold down the ninth. The Nats picked him up this time last year, but while he had at least gotten the job done despite declining peripherals, the results have been bleak of late. While the team chased Aroldis Chapman, it wasn’t willing to meet the high asking price. And the Nats also balked at the apparent requests of a top-tier prospect in exchange for top closers Andrew Miller and Wade Davis — each of whom come with future control.

FanRag’s Jon Heyman reports that the Pirates sent about $500K to the Nationals as part of the deal.




Mr. Ed -> RE: MLB General Information PT 4 (7/30/2016 4:31:31 PM)

Lucroy isn’t in the lineup tonight, and Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel tweets that he is not playing because he is being discussed in trades.

Manager Craig Counsell tells reporters that GM David Stearns is “progressing” on a Lucroy trade (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy). USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that there is a “strong sense” among some Brewers officials that Lucroy has played his final game for the team.




Mr. Ed -> RE: MLB General Information PT 4 (7/30/2016 8:50:42 PM)

Kemp and$$$ going to ATL for Olivera, who is serving suspension for domestic violence.




SoMnFan -> RE: MLB General Information PT 4 (7/30/2016 9:52:06 PM)

Interesting that the Dodgers are really pushing to move Puig, according to reports.




SoMnFan -> RE: MLB General Information PT 4 (7/30/2016 11:50:34 PM)

MILWAUKEE -- The Brewers struck an agreement with the Indians late Saturday to send two-time All-Star catcher Jonathan Lucroy to the Indians for four prospects, according to MLB Network's Ken Rosenthal.




SoMnFan -> RE: MLB General Information PT 4 (7/30/2016 11:56:08 PM)

What a crazy night in MLB

Chapman blows a save
Phils bat around ... without a hit, how can that even happen ...
3 walk-offs
Races heating up, Dodgers 2 back of the Giants




Mr. Ed -> RE: MLB General Information PT 4 (7/31/2016 7:40:42 AM)

Royals closer Wade Davis is flying back to Kansas City to undergo an MRI on his right elbow, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan tweets that the MRI is to examine Davis’ forearm, though regardless of the specific portion of the arm that is being checked out, the test is still an ominous bit of news out of Kansas City. Casey Jones first tweeted that Davis was flying back to K.C. for an examination.

Davis, 30, has seen his name pop up frequently in trade rumors over the past week as the Royals have reportedly begun to consider selling veteran pieces prior to Monday’s non-waiver trade deadline. The uncertainty around his elbow now, however, would seem to all but eliminate the already minimal chances of Davis being moved. Even if the MRI yields positive results, it’d be difficult for a club to meet Kansas City’s exceptionally high asking price just a day or two after the MRI.




Mr. Ed -> RE: MLB General Information PT 4 (7/31/2016 10:09:48 AM)

The Cleveland @Indians have their entire rotation, Andrew Miller and Cody Allen under control through at least 2018. Three shots at a ring.




Mr. Ed -> RE: MLB General Information PT 4 (7/31/2016 10:12:36 AM)

The Cardinals needed to add some relief help, and on Sunday they did just that, acquiring Zach Duke from the White Sox in exchange for outfielder Charlie Tilson. Duke has revitalized his career over the last several seasons, and ought to provide Mike Matheny with a rubber-armed middle-relief option who can generate groundballs and match up against left-handed batters. He's under contract through next season. Tilson, meanwhile, projects as a hard-nosed reserve outfielder type.

It appears the Yankees aren't going to give up on 2016 just yet after all. Right after trading Andrew Miller to the Indians, Brian Cashman has gone out and acquired Tyler Clippard from the Diamondbacks, per Jon Heyman. Clippard, of course, began his career with the Yankees. He's since enjoyed an extended career arc as a high-quality, reliable setup man. Over the past year-plus, however, Clippard has seen his performance dip, and he's coming off a stint in Arizona where he allowed far too many home runs to succeed. Yankees Stadium wouldn't seem to be the best fit for his stair-stepping ways, but the Yankees seem to think it'll work out okay. Clippard is under contract through next season, so they better be right.



Miller to Cleveland for the Indians' 1 and 5 rated prospects.




ewen21 -> RE: MLB General Information PT 4 (7/31/2016 10:21:09 AM)

Cleveland made the right moves. The kinds of moves the Twins under Terry Ryan never made when we had a chance.




Mr. Ed -> RE: MLB General Information PT 4 (7/31/2016 10:22:51 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: ewen21

Cleveland made the right moves. The kinds of moves the Twins under Terry Ryan never made when we had a chance.


During the Johan time frame, these are definitely the types of moves the Twins should have made.

But the Pohlads cried financial foul in the Dome. Couldn't do it [&o]

Forget that winning would pack the place.




Mr. Ed -> RE: MLB General Information PT 4 (7/31/2016 10:32:17 AM)

Lucroy vetoes the trade to Cleveland [:-]




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