MLB 2024

Should be a great year for the Orioles. I'm thrilled to see this team climbing out of continual rebuilding and throwing a monkey wrench in the AL East.

For me, the last month has given me some hope for the Giants. Not getting out over my skis but it's a much better place than the start of spring training.

I wonder how long before the evil empire Dodgers freak out and reactivate Bauer and Urias

Play ball!

Still haven't decided if I'm going to renew the season MLB package. I can't ever remember feeling this way about baseball. Usually by this time of year I'm chomping on the bit for opening day. The free runner in extras and pitch clock are killing the game for me. Oh well it's official I must be old...

.

always thought that "interpreter" dude looked odd...

anyways, I get it. Bring on the Hate.

I watched a lot of spring training games this year and the dodgers and orioles both look incredibly strong to me

my team won't even be playoff contenders until at least the 2030's so we can probably skip the whole Oakland saga for now

kind of bummed SF hasn't really picked up any big bats, and I'm not real confident in their pitching rotation either at the moment

It was damn nice seeing the king fu panda back in orange though (and looking really fit too), even if it's all temporary  

Dave, you must really like orange and black....

Canyon, I agree that the extra innings runner is total BS.  The pitchclock has it's benefits. 

I am as exited for the season as I  have ever been.

Just waiting for it to come out that he was placing bets for Ohtani.

Disagree BSS. I think the Giants improved greatly this off-season and I look for them to make the playoffs. Although I think they might have a reliever game or 2 while Snell ramps up.  And Cobb will be ready very soon also. I think they are set up well for the last 5 months of the season. GO GIANTS!

The pitchclock has it's benefits

To me it seems like the main benefit is freeing up 3 hours of my day to do something else. But seriously the un-timed aspect of baseball was what made it my favorite pastime. No clocks, the game takes it's own sweet time. Idk. Used to be it's a lovely day let's play two. Now it's a lovely  day let's gets this game over with as  fast as possible. Blah.

why do they keep trying to "fix" sports?

Just more shrinkflation. Higher prices, less product. I read somewhere the owner were complaining about paying the stadium workers. So sad to kill my favorite game for a few extra dollars on the bottom line.

I'm with Mark on the clock. I hated the idea of it, but I came to hate why it was needed even more.

The gamesmanship of hitters & pitchers endlessly working to freeze each other by stalling had gotten completely out of control; hitters all slowly walking four feet away from the box after every single pitch, then readjusting all nine of their protective shields, five deep breaths, then re-digging their foot plant before slowly stepping back in, pitchers walking around the mound after every pitch, slowly messing with the rosin bag, constantly stepping off the rubber, shaking off signs.

Because of all that, baseball games had become slower than erosion and the quality as entertainment had cratered.

Now with the "evil" pitch clock, hitters step in & stay in ready to hit and pitchers step on the rubber, get the sign and pitch. It has created a crisper game to watch and a better brand of ball, since the action is more consistent and the players aren't all endlessly standing around waiting for the next pitch. The clock has forced the players to, you know, actually PLAY.

It's a shame it had to come to that, but it HAD come to that.

No defensive shifts, larger bags and pitchers limited on throws to hold runners are also annoying rules in principle but in fact have also created a more enjoyable game to watch, as there are more balls in play, more base running and more base stealing, which means less standing around and more consistent action, which is what at least I enjoy about watching baseball... action on the field/the game itself actually being played.

The extra inning rules are an abomination but since the point of that is to simply create a result I deal with that by simply not watching when a game goes to extras and I just check on the result later. It's bullshit but nothing is perfect.

I'm also cautiously optimistic about the Giants. Their offense will be sporadic at times but should be much better than recent seasons, while their defense will definitely be better and their pitching should be really strong right from the start, and if things go just a little bit their way, by August they could have the best pitching staff from top to bottom in the league.

Here before the season I'm getting a bit of a 2010 Giants hit from this group, no big name stars but good players across the board and an extremely underrated pitching staff. They're not going to win the division, but they could well get into the expanded playoffs, and that's when sporadic hitting but good defense and deep, excellent pitching can rule the day.

And the Dodgers? Just grumbling admiration from me, they're fucking great. In a way they remind me of the Durant era Warriors; they were great & champions before they got Durant, after he joined they were basically unbeatable.

Baseball is a little more complicated than that, their pitching might struggle at times, but with Ohtani added to their already brutal lineup they aren't going to need great pitching, at least in the regular season. The Dodgers aren't going to lose many games 3-1, 4-2, they're going to win a lot of games 9-8, 14-7, 17-1.

Sigh.

Overall, despite the new rules and this era of virtually all the players constantly trying to hit home runs or striking out continuing, major league baseball in 2024 is a still good and entertaining product. It's crisp and active on the field, there are lots of excellent and exciting young players on the rise, and ultimately, it's still baseball.

So get on the bus or get out of the way.

And........

GO GIANTS!!!!!!

Can you guys help me figure out Pablo Sandoval's playing status?

on 2/18/24 the Giants signed him to a minor league contract and was assigned to the river cats

so far in spring trainig he has posted a .118 avg and .250 obp with 2 hits and 12 walks in 17 at bats. not great.

on its face this doesn't really meet the standard, but in context consider this is only a few points under what starting CF Mike Yazstremski has posted up

on 2/25/24 Pablo was promoted up to SF

on the Giants roster (today) he shows up on the infield depth charts at both 1B and 3B positions

However; he's not on the 40 man roster, not on the injured list, and according to the giants' own transaction sheet hasn't been sent down or DFA'd

How is #48 technically accessible to the team via depth chart?

There is no roster limit in spring training.   When the season starts, they will go to a 26 man roster. At that point only those on the 40 man roster can be on the team. Pablo was never going to make opening day roster.   He is there  for the vibes.

So then his minor league contract was only for the duration of spring training? because he's not on the AAA roster

As far as actually playing in SF, I understood he was a non-roster invitee to spring training. An elder cheerleader/mentor of sorts

i guess I just assumed regardless he would be playing in their farm system in 2024 for a minute at least

But seriously the un-timed aspect of baseball was what made it my favorite pastime. <<<

THIS !

Nevermind, seems he is indeed in active status on the rivercats roster now

i swear he wasn't when I made that first post!

next game: sunday 3/24 in sacramento. against........ SFG

what a world

I can't understand how MLB allows this mess and also can't really see how the current ownership survives this next three (five, six...) years unscathed and prepared to open the season in a billion dollar Las Vegas stadium with a quality on field product. I just don't see it.

also trying to understand how the Oakland a's can just "take" a stadium from the giants farm system rather than at least having to move to a field within their own system (summerlin, which is also brand new this year) regardless of their intended final destination.

FYI the pitch clock in 2024 has been dropped from 20 seconds to 18 with a runner on base

and the first baseline runner's path has been clarified (as it always should have been imo) to include all the dirt. Dirt good, grass bad. Too easy. Strangely the runner's right side white line from halfway until the bag will remain. I think the reason is just field aesthetics.

Sure are gonna be a lotta green and gold banners hanging in the river kitties outfield next year.

^^ The A's are officially done on Oakland after this season:^^

Regarding this news I'm done w MLB forever.  This degree of selfishness from Jon Fisher to me echoes that of Trump. F them both.

Life sure seemed better to me in the 1990s. I've got nothing more to say other than the best days to me are in the past and

If things are going great for you in this day and age, Great!

The underdog in baseball wins 44% of the time 

This is good news for me personally.

I've been saying for 20+ years that the A's are going to end up in Sacramento (and that Sac is the best place for them, as the people in that region are hungry for major league sports and would strongly support the team, something that Oakland/BA never consistently has) so now I get to say I told you so to all my friends.

And unlike most people, I openly admit that I love to say I told you so.

And here's a bonus prediction......

The Vegas deal will fall apart and the team will end up permanently in Sacramento.

Hmm time to update my old bumper sticker. Who Are the A's and why do they keep following me. The reason they get to play in the Giants minor league park is because Vivek the owner of the Sacramento Kings owns the River Cats park so it was his decision. The A's aren't paying any rent for the stadium in Sacramento which made POS Fisher happy.  I'm looking forward to going to games there but I think it will be a really hard ticket for teams like the Red Sox because so many people will travel to see them play in a small park. 

I think the only place left in America that will give Fisher the money he wants for a stadium is Vegas because it just gets added to the hotel tax. As desperate as Sacramento is for big city approval I don't see them giving any money for a stadium for the A's when there are more Giants fans here than A's fans and we already have a minor league team. 

That said I would be happy to see it happen, but will be avoiding day games in the summer.

 Oakland is just not friendly enough for Billionaires. 

I will keep my priceless memories of Oakland ~ baseball, music, and a bunch of others forever. They can't take those from me. I will not be seeing the A's in Sacramento (nothing against Sacramento). Sometimes you need to make a clean break. John Fisher and enablers ~ FUCK YOU!

Lance - the Tropicana is going down. They will break ground on the new LV stadium. No stopping the A's move when that happens.

Personally- I'd rather see them stay in Sacto.

Today in baseball history

friend has Angels season tix. Going to day game tomorrow. They let me hang out with them still.

>>>Lance - the Tropicana is going down. They will break ground on the new LV stadium. No stopping the A's a move when that happens<<<

Adjusted that for you.

Something will be built on that spot, but not the stadium as designed now, since like everything else the A's owner touches, that design isn't workable, at least so say multiple experts.

Cohan is a complete buffoon who has failed badly at everything he has ever attempted and his organization is an amateur hour. Like every other plan they've pitched, this one has been rushed with multiple quick changes and multiple holes and the finances are still sketchy, so in classic Vegas style I'm betting that the plan to move the A's there will fall apart.

My bet says an expansion team will end up in Vegas and after a couple of years of the ever-growing Sacramento region warming to & bonding with the A's Vivek will work a deal to keep them in Sac, with part of the deal including him buying the team.

As for the dozens of Oakland A's fans that exist, their best hope is that the Vegas deal collapses, Cohan decides to sell and Joe Lacob out-maneuvers Vivek to buy them and move them back to Oakland.

I'd say the Vivek/Sacramento & Lacob/Oakland deals are both about 45% possibilities, with the Cohan/Vegas deal actually happening at about 10%.

I'm not basing any of that on anything other than history and my intuition, and I'm not much of a betting man, but fuck-ups tend to fuck up & winners tend to win, so in this situation my money is on the winners.

We will see.

I do think that if this team is not sold to new ownership, it is way more likely that they'll be playing in sacramento indefinitely than they will play in Las Vegas in 2028. Fisher ain't gonna get it done.

which in my mind means best case scenario is the A's might be playing (somewhere) in a new stadium around 7-8 seasons from now, if some kind of Prince Charming or a new MLB commissioner comes to their rescue. As of now, Rob manfred seems ok leaving them dying on the roadside.

I don't think there is any "plan" for the sacramento (or Nashville, or Salt Lake City, or wherever) athletics to happen, I think it will be more of a convergence of successive bad management decisions, lost opportunities, and a AAA-ish level on field product over years of time.

all of this not even considering the NV teachers union is about to take the public portion of this stadium funding to the cleaners.

so yeah, fundamentally I pretty much agree with lance

And I can't believe the players union isn't stonewalling this thing cold.

Who the hell is Cohan???

That owner is so lacking in substance I can't even remember his name.

Or, I'm just a derp.

Or both.