MLB 2018 regular season thread

Team leader in runs scored is sidelined:

Pirates' Harrison (broken hand) out 6 weeks

 

118th in wOBA.

 

Maybe the other board will take him.

 

I Facebooked the Jeffersonville PD seeking contact info for Scott Oliver.

They replied: Lt. Colonel Oliver has retired after approximately 25 years of service to our community.

I sent a shot of that baseball card from '85.

They replied: That is a fine picture of him!

 

Nova isn't very good. He doesn't have the upside, durability or even as high a floor as Cole. He was also two years older when the Yankees dumped him.

I know it's not fun for fans of the Yankees to accept that their team has a huge built-in advantage, but Cole was dumped for financial reasons. The same is true of McCutchen. You don't give up your ace, who is going into his age-27 season, just because he had a bad season.

Do the Yankees have any history of being cheap? Of course not. They don't have to do it. The Pirates have been doing this for decades. In the early 90s, they were selling off parts of their team before the run of three consecutive NLCS appearances was over and they still lost Bonds and Drabek as free agents. In 2003, ownership forced the team to dump payroll in midseason, which led to a deal with the Cubs that was so bad that Chicago's GM publicly mocked the Pirates after it was done.

That is why the reaction to the McCutchen trade was so strong. Part of the issue is they hadn't made the deal for Dickerson yet, which made that look a little better, but in a short period of time the Pirates unloaded their ace and sold off the face of the franchise. At least they got some value for Cole. The only real value they got for McCutchen was dumping his salary.

A year ago, the Pirates made a lot of noise about asking for big-time prospects for McCutchen. Supposedly, any deal with the Nationals had to get them an elite arm or Robles. Perhaps it would take both. Then the trade didn't happen. Teams knew they just had to wait. The price would drop to pennies on the dollar. It took a full year this time, but the result is almost always the same. Eventually, ownership will force the front office to sell.

 

2 poor seasons.

And Cutch was done, and is still done.

And, they're 11-4. Excellent off-season.

 

Truth.

 

Hoping guys currently on the roster get better is not an excellent offseason. Selling off your ace, who is currently dominating for his new team, just makes it even worse.

Regarding Cole, I wouldn't define that as poor. His 2016 was better than most of Nova's career, which is the pitcher I was comparing him to in that post. Cole is an elite arm with one great season and a few good ones already on his resume heading into his age-27 season. If your team is a contender, you keep a guy like that. Unless you are the Pirates once again looking to cut the payroll.

 

I was thinking of simplifying things by asking "If Othani was in the minors with the Pirates, would they be in first place?"

 

Given your failed relationship with the truth, that doesn't mean much. But by all means, keep up your cowardly troll act.

 

The weird thing about Cole is his ERA and FIP are on a consistent upward trend throughout his career. Last year he was right around the league average for qualifiers in both categories.

Can definitely see not wanting to commit nine figures to that guy.

 

You need to start being embarrassed by how much space Dick takes up in your head.

(giggity)