MLB 2018 regular season thread

Freddie

 

I know it’s only been three years since the title, but Dayton Moore and Ned Yost are rapidly pissing away their built-up goodwill by trotting out Lucas Duda and Alcides Escobar every day for a team that’s 50 games under .500 while guys who might actually be on the next decent Royals team waste away on the bench.

 

It's crazy to think that in six years, the Royals went from losing 90 games, to winning 95, making two World Series and winning one, and back again.
And it's almost as crazy that the Orioles have done essentially the same thing in seven years, as far as the wins, and that these two teams played in an ALCS. It's almost like those years were a dream that never really happened.

 

Goldschmidt is going to give him a run for his money as the best first base candidate

 

Carpenter is giving them both a run. He has played most often at first, though he has appeared in 66 games at third base and 11 at second base. I wouldn't call that versatility a negative. Carpenter has a higher OPS than either Goldschmidt or Freeman, mostly because he leads the National League in home runs. Then again, Arenado may end up with a better case than any of them.

I know some people don't like using team success as one of the criteria, but I'll bring it up any way. All four of those guys are on teams that would make the playoffs if the season ended today. Arizona and Atlanta are leading their divisions and St. Louis and Colorado currently hold the two Wild Card spots.

Carpenter may be the best story of the group. The Cardinals' fortunes seem to be following his. Both started out badly. Carpenter was truly awful until mid-May and the Cardinals were bad enough early on that they fired their manager. I'm sure there are other factors helping St. Louis make its run, but Carpenter's surge is a big part of it. Maybe that storyline earns him a few extra votes.

 

Rachel Phelps - Baseball Visionary.

 

Team success is always going to be a factor. The question, per voter, is how big of an interpretation the M and V are.

 

I’m glad you put that into words, because I’ve been thinking the same thing.

With one additional comment:

It’s almost like the Royals rose from the ashes, just to get in the Orioles way a few years ago, jaw at and defeat them in that ALCS, and now compete for the #1 overall pick this year.

FUCK THE ROYALS

 

If you said back in 2011 that group the Royals put together would win a World Series and get close to another, we’d all have shrugged and said, “Sounds about right.” If you told me the team would be completely dismantled by the year 2018, that I would’ve had a harder time believing.

 

I don't know about that. We Royals fans all knew the bullpen guys, Cain, Hosmer, Moose and others would be gone by now. Didn't know Ventura would die or Gordon and Escobar would slip quite so fast, but it was fully expected to be full rebuild mode by now.

 

Can we please add "came within a Bumgarner performance for the ages" of winning two world series?

 

You're probably right. But to be fair I thought in 2011 Wil Myers was going to be a Royal and better than all their other hitters. And that Mike Montgomery would be an ace. And perhaps I took Joe Posnanski's SI story too literally.