MLB 2024-25 Hot Stove Thread

Christian Walker to the Astros. Three years, $60 million.

 

I thought for a second I read Pablo Sandoval signed a two-year deal with the Red Sox, and that for multiple reasons is impossible.

 

Lotta talk on the socials about Rickey dying.

 

Yeah, it looks as if there have been serious rumors floating for almost a day -- but still no normally credible source.

 

All fucking over and not a single confirmation.

Ozzie Guillen's tweet seems real but who knows at this point.

Rickey was the best offensive player ever but Jay Dunn still voted No.

JAY DUNN: Why I left Rickey Henderson off my Hall of Fame ballot

By JAY DUNN
Trentonian Baseball Columnist

POSTED: 07/23/09, 12:00 AM EDT |

The game on Oct. 19, 1999 was a dilly. The Mets were facing the Braves in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series. Atlanta had a 3-2 lead in the set and appeared to be on the verge of breaking open the champagne when it scored five first-inning runs.

But the Mets began showing signs of life when they scored three in the sixth inning. They put up four more in the seventh to tie the game 7-7, then took the lead when pinch- hitter Melvin Mora drove in a run in the top of the eighth.

The Mets' comeback was remarkable, but it was also exhausting. Manager Bobby Valentine had run through most of his bench and bullpen.

As I watched the game on television, I remember concluding that Valentine needed to make a double move in the bottom of the eighth and put his next pitcher in the leadoff spot. Valentine, obviously, thought so too, because that's what he did. He shuffled his outfielders, leaving Mora in the game and removing left fielder Rickey Henderson.

By then Henderson was 40 years old and in the twilight of a brilliant career. Even at his advanced age he had batted .315 and stolen 37 bases, but he had become a liability in the field.

The Mets manager, of course, wasn't interested in the past. He wanted to force a Game 7, and he was willing to do whatever he felt was necessary to accomplish that goal. That meant putting his best defensive team on the field and putting as many positions as possible in front of his pitcher in the batting order.

Both concerns required Mora, the rookie, to stay in the game and Henderson, the 10-time All-Star to come out.

Henderson didn't appreciate Valentine's managing. It was reported the next day that he stormed out of the dugout, taking an unnamed teammate with him. They both went into the clubhouse and began to play cards.

The Mets eventually lost the game in 11 innings, but my clearest memory of that day was the part that wasn't shown on television. The part that is still difficult for me to comprehend.

Here was a team fighting to get into the World Series. Yet two players on that team weren't interested enough to sit on the bench and root for their teammates. They weren't even willing to sit passively and share with them the emotions few ballplayers are ever lucky enough to share.

They went into the clubhouse and played cards.

Last December Henderson's name appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time. As always, the ballot came with a supplement that gave a brief synopsis of each candidate's career. Voters were reminded that Henderson had played in the major leagues for 25 years, producing 3,055 hits. He had scored more runs (2295) and stolen more bases (1406) than anyone else who ever played the game.

The synopsis didn't mention the card game. But I couldn't forget it.

As I filled in my ballot, I placed an X next to seven names. Henderson's wasn't one of them. An internal debate was raging inside my head.

The numbers next to Henderson's name told me he was indisputably a Hall of Fame player.

The card game told me he was indisputably a selfish me-first player.

The Hall of Fame is an individual honor reserved for only the greatest players, but baseball is a team game and great players are great assets to their team. A player who would pout over being removed from a game for strategic purposes is not a team player. A player who finds a card game more interesting than his teammates' bid to reach baseball's holy grail is not a team player.

The debate raged inside me. My thoughts bounced back and forth. I wasn't fully comfortable with either decision, but I had to pick one.

Finally I folded my ballot and put it in the mail with seven names checked. Not eight.

It was the 28th time I'd filled in a Hall of Fame ballot. It was the first time I had refused to vote for a player I thought would be elected. I knew most of the other voters had forgotten about the card game or didn't think it was a big deal.

I wasn't surprised in January when the announcement was made that Henderson had overwhelmingly been elected to the Hall of Fame. He had been named on all but 18 of the ballots.

I don't know who the other 17 were or whether the card game swayed any of them.

It swayed me.

I voted according to my conscience and make no apologies for doing so.

 

Rickey was great. Not close to the best offensive player of all time.

 

Best leadoff man, yes. Best offensive player, mo.

 

It is sadly true.

https://nypost.com/2024/12/21/sport...st_sports&utm_source=twitter&sr_share=twitter

Damn. RIP to a truly great player.

 

Wow. One of those guys who truly seemed invincible and could come back and swipe a bag or two, even at age 65.

TMZ says pneumonia. Awful. Wonder if he just didn't get to a doc, or an underlying condition.

RIP to a giant of the game.

 

Then he'll never leave St. Louis. His kind of town.

 

Paul Goldschmidt to the Yankees on a one-year deal. No such thing as a bad one-year deal, but he looks finished to me. And he's also a giant asshole. Yankees can have him.

The Pete Alonso market is getting smaller and smaller. Not sure he's getting a better deal than what the Mets reportedly offered in 2023 (seven years, $158 million).

Mets might keep him on a shorter but higher AAV deal.

 

Yeah, but he looks like Babe Ruth compared to Rizzo.