Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
With the Nats crowned as the new world champions, we may now move on to what will happen during the off season, or any other matters which come to mind.
I'm wondering if Albert Pujols will make it to 700 home runs. He has two seasons left on his Albatross contract with the Angels and I cannot imagine him getting another contract with anyone. Albert has 656 blasts which leaves him five short of passing Willie Mays for # 5 all time. The last three seasons he has hit 23, 19 and 23 round trippers. He needs to average 22 each in these two next seasons to reach 700. He needs a total of 41 to pass Alex Rodriguez for 4th all time.
After Albert, among all active players, Miguel Cabrera leads with 477 home runs. He should be able to make it to 500 before being put out to pasture. Behind him is Edwin Encarnacion with 414. He is 36. After Edwin is Nelson Cruz with 401, he is 39.
And after that, no one is in sight. Ryan Braun has 344 at age 35, Curtis Granderson has the same total at age 36. Mike Trout is 27 and has 285. Barring some calamity to his career, he should be reaching the 500 level, but that won't be another seven or eight seasons.
Cruz is sort of the wild card in this. Though he is 39, all of his best power years have occurred since turning 33, which is the same sort of late career surge we saw with Barry Bonds and David Ortiz. All three of these players have been strongly connected to PEDs use, and I highly suspect that Cruz has been juicing all along, even after his suspension for getting caught.
Cole (will not accept it), Rendon (won't accept it), Wheeler (I think he'll accept it). Can't see anyone else getting it. Didi will likely take it, hoping he can bounce back and cash in for 2021 but I doubt the Yankees want to pay that. Ryu & Odorizzi won't get the offer since their teams (Dodgers & Twins) won't want to spend $18.2 million which I think what the QO will be. Do the Giants want to pay Bumgarner $18.2 million?? I doubt it, hence why I don't see the Giants offering it to Bumgarner. Cards probably want to get out from Ozuna, since they have capable options to fill in (Jose Martinez, Tommy Edman, Tyler O'Neil) and hence why he won't get one in the off chance Ozuna takes the offer.
Last winter was the year of the Free Agent. This winter is going to be the year of the opt out/trade.
somewhat. IMO Stras opts out and signs with Nats, more years, more $. They treated him with respect from day 1, and he knows that. I do like the class the Nationals Front Office exhibits.
Last edited by BobNJ1960; 10-31-2019 at 04:58 PM..
Cole's "I'm not an Astros employee" line was good to hear.
I hope Cole , Rendon, and lesser stars do very well this winter, as that may prompt the idiotic owners (such as Wilpons) to do what wise Nationals did with Strasburg years ago. Sign deal ahead of walk year-get lower AAU in what would be FA years for a bit more pre FA years.
PLAN. PLAN. PLAN.
I suspect we may see more players unwilling to sign for bargain basement prices just to be on a roster.
Too many owners are willing NOT to compete in the land of playoffville before the season even starts.
I wish MLB had the NHL plan, a floor and a ceiling per team, with ceiling hit by a luxury tax, but a floor would make the game far healthier.
Last edited by BobNJ1960; 10-31-2019 at 05:16 PM..
Do the Giants want to pay Bumgarner $18.2 million?? I doubt it, hence why I don't see the Giants offering it to Bumgarner..
I see what happens to Bumgarner as a defining moment for the Giants future. There are two forces at work. They have brought in Farhan Zaidi who trained under Billy Beane, and then directed the highly successful switch over to metrics for the Dodger organization. He is going to want to make severe changes to the way the Giants do business in every department.
The opposing force is that the Giants have always been, and have always marketed themselves in this manner, a team which loves tradition. Mays, Marichal and until his recent death, McCovey, were all employed by the club as symbols of glory past, and they were brought out onto the field for a few more cheers about a half dozen times each season. These are not people who are going to be enthused over the idea of 86ing the beloved stars from the three championship teams. Nor are they the sort to accept the idea of tanking for awhile in order to make rapid improvements a few years later. (Ironically, the Giants sort of accidentally invented modern tanking by having four crappy seasons ['04-'08] which gave them excellent draft positions. They used these to make first round selections of Tim Lincecum, Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner.)
Zaidi is going to scorn sentiment and try and jerk the club into the modern age. If Bumgarner walks without a qualifying offer being made, that will tell me that Zaidi is winning. If they make a qualifying offer but don't want to talk about a contract extension beyond that, that will tell me Zaidi's influence isn't strong enough yet. And if they resign Bumgarner for five years at 25 million a year, I'll know that Zaidi should probably start looking for work with some other club.
Beane must use his Value Meal MO, but the only club to win a WS using BB's methods at all, tacked on over $100 mill in payroll that year beyond BB's typical run rate.
I think its great Beane makes the playoffs now and then. Incredible. However, I feel safe saying he will never win the final game of any season.
Beane must use his Value Meal MO, but the only club to win a WS using BB's methods at all, tacked on over $100 mill in payroll that year beyond BB's typical run rate.
I think its great Beane makes the playoffs now and then. Incredible. However, I feel safe saying he will never win the final game of any season.
There is absolutely no rational reason to believe that a team capable of making the playoffs, cannot win in the playoffs. There were seven teams this season which won more regular season games than did the champion Nationals.
Which do you think is more revealing? Reaching a conclusion based on seeing 10-15 examples? Or reaching a conclusion after seeing 162 examples? In no other area than baseball do people claim to know more based on the smaller number of examples. It should be obvious that this is the incorrect way to go about evaluations.
If you're good enough to reach the post season, you are good enough to win. That you don't isn't a matter of inability, not the product of a curse, not the product of your being "Built for the regular season but not the post season." It is, believe it or not, mostly a matter of good or bad luck. The best teams do not always win, as should be manifest by this year's outcome.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
