Yup and moved to DC. I’m definitely watching.
Baseball.........Anybody still interested?
- Thread starter tanks1
- Start date
Yup and moved to DC. I’m definitely watching.
Yup. But they gonna make sure he doesn't say anymore stupid shit moving forward. Fans paying mad money to come support you while you make over 200 Mil talkin bout I don't really take dis shit seriously. Fuckin moron.
Red Sox star Rafael Devers calls out front office amid quiet offseason
The Red Sox finished in last place in 2023. Their 2024 season isn't looking like it will be much better.
sports.yahoo.com
Rafael Devers: Red Sox Needed To Do More In Offseason
Matt Snyder joins Chris Hassel to discuss Rafael Devers saying that the Red Sox needed to do more in the offseason
www.cbssports.com
@8:14
@jack walsh13
@dik cashmere
Mets say righty Senga likely to start season on IL
Mets ace Kodai Senga has a moderate capsule strain in the back of his right shoulder and is expected to begin the season on the injured list.
@dik cashmere
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Ty Cobb Was Not A Racist
Tyrus Raymond Cobb was by far the greatest player in Major League Baseball's history, but very few write about his personal side—the side that has been buried beneath the weight of time...
syndication.bleacherreport.com
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Juan Soto Q&A: The Yankees star on his trade to New York, contract outlook and more
By Chris Kirschner
Feb 28, 2024
264
TAMPA, Fla. — Gerrit Cole said Juan Soto has the best feel for the strike zone of any player he’s ever come across. Aaron Judge called Soto “the greatest hitter out there.” Marcus Stroman said Soto will go down as one of the greatest players in MLB history.
On the day Soto was introduced to the media at the New York Yankees’ spring training complex two weeks ago, he sat at the podium proudly wearing a shirt that said “THE GENERATIONAL … JUAN SOTO.”
The expectations for Soto and the Yankees to deliver World Series title No. 28 are extremely high, especially because of the potential that this relationship may last for just one year. It’s too early to speculate on what might happen next offseason. Soto said he’s using this year to get to know the organization and see what playing in New York is like before deciding on his future.
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The Athletic caught up with Soto last week to discuss his trade to New York, why he wishes he could have spent his entire career in Washington, his preferred lineup spot and more.
Questions and answers have been lightly edited for clarity.
Looking back on the offseason, when did getting traded become something you started thinking about?
I was always in touch with A.J. Preller, the GM. He was saying that he was just listening and wasn’t trying to make a move. I always tried to tell him to let me know if he’s gonna do anything. He always tried to keep it quiet and calm. As the days go on, the conversations were getting stronger and stronger. That’s when he told me that he was looking to trade me.
What was your initial reaction when it became a possibility that the Yankees were interested?
I mean, it’s always great. It was a great team and great organization. They have great people over there. When you hear good things and they’re trying to win, too, it just feels good. When they started talking about it, I was happy because it was another team that is going to have a chance to win a championship. I wasn’t that upset about it.
You started your career with the Washington Nationals. You won a title there. Looking back on that time, do you wish that you could have spent your entire career in Washington?
Yeah, 100 percent. I never wanted to leave Washington. It was a great team. I knew everybody there, from the bottom all the way to the top. I was really comfortable and it felt like home for me. I was happy. I had a house in Washington. I was really comfortable up there. Out of nowhere, they made that decision. They thought it was the best thing for the team. I just respected it because they were really clear with me. That’s one of the things I really respected from (general manager Mike) Rizzo. He was really clear about the trade stuff. But definitely I never thought I was going to leave D.C. I was really thinking I was going to stay there for my whole career.
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You’re 25. You’ve been traded twice and are now on your third team. It’s rare to have someone of your stature move as often as you have. Has it been challenging to bounce around?
It’s been tough. I think the toughest part is getting to know everybody and making that place feel like home. That’s the most challenging thing about it. It is what it is. This is the business part of the game. The first time I got traded, it really hurt big time. I’ve said it before but I cried the whole morning. After that trade, I learned that this is a business. You just have to follow through with it and see what happens at the end of the day. It was hard. It was tough. But we’re here to keep grinding.
Why were you so emotional when you got traded from Washington to San Diego?
That was the team that gave me a chance from when I was a little kid. They saw me when I was 15 years old. They saw me grow up. I grew through the organization. I felt the best in that organization. At the end of the day, they showed me that this is a business. We got to go through the business and learn from it.
Last season, you guys had a ton of talent in San Diego. Why do you feel like it didn’t click for you guys?
It is what it is. We tried our best. A lot of our players had a good season, like incredible seasons. We had a lot of good players. I don’t know. It just happens. We grinded every day but it didn’t work out for us. It hurts because we know we were capable to do more stuff. At the end of the day, it didn’t work out and we couldn’t get back on track.
Do you look back and think what if? You guys were rolling at the end of the season.
If we would’ve got into the playoff race, I think we would’ve had a chance to go all the way. It would’ve been a different vibe in the playoffs. We had the best players in the whole league. What team had more talent last year than the San Diego Padres? It was incredible. I think we would’ve had a really good shot to go all the way through the World Series.
You’ve had a good season every single year since you’ve been in the majors. Do you feel like hitting in front or even behind Judge could lead to your best season yet?
He’s an MVP-caliber player. Who doesn’t want to hit in front of Judge? That’s the best. You’re gonna get more chances to hit. You’re gonna get more pitches in the strike zone. I think it’s going to be great hitting in front of him, or even behind him. Even with the lineup we have, you hit in front of (Anthony) Rizzo, or Giancarlo (Stanton), you’re gonna get pitches to hit because who wants to face those guys? Those guys are huge players who’ve been in the league for a while. I feel like if you hit in any part of this lineup, you’re going to be fine.
I’ve seen some stories from last season that you prefer hitting third. Is that a thing? Do you still care?
Hitting third is where I’ve hit my whole career. Hitting second was new for me. I’m still learning from it. Right now, I’m learning and trying to get it clicked in. I think it’s gonna be fine this year. This is gonna be my second season hitting in the second hole. I think it will be better than last year because last year, it felt really uncomfortable. I had never done it. I had done it a little bit with Washington but it didn’t feel the same. I’m getting more comfortable.
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When you look across the league, most of the best hitters are hitting second now. What is the difference between hitting second and third?
It’s a different feeling for me. I think it’s just because it’s new. If you ask me right now, I don’t care. If you asked me last year when it was new for me, I didn’t know how it was going to be. I definitely would’ve told you I love to hit third instead of second. It was a different feeling for me. It’s just like changing a position. It’s the same thing. You come from the minor leagues playing right field your whole career and then they made me move to left field. I wasn’t gonna feel comfortable. With time, you get used to it and you get better at it.
Is it a matter of just seeing more pitches? Because you’re someone who usually sees lots of pitches in every at-bat.
I don’t know. I try to do the same thing when I’m hitting third or second. It should be the same thing. I just feel like pitchers are sometimes more careful when you’re hitting second rather than third.
Your contract situation is going to be a huge storyline this season. How is that something that you don’t think about?
I just believe in Scott (Boras, his agent). He’s been with me since I was a little kid and been helping me out with everything. He’s been helping me go through these kinds of things without any worry. Scotty has everything on his hands. I trust him to death. I just come here and play baseball.
You’re going to get life-changing, generational money next offseason. Have you envisioned the possibility of becoming the sport’s highest-paid player?
As a kid, you never think about money. You always think about playing baseball. It was always my mindset. I never had a problem with money. I was thinking about playing baseball and being prepared to do my best in baseball. You’re never worried about anything. When you’re a kid, you don’t give a f— about hitting third or second. All I ever wanted to do was play baseball, make the big leagues, make my family proud and my country proud. Those were the only things I was thinking about. I never thought about being the highest-paid player in the game.
When you look around this clubhouse, do you think this team has enough to win it all?
You tell me. You look around at what we have. We have everything we need. We have players who have proven themselves in the big leagues already. They know what they have to do to win games. I think we’re in a good spot because we have really good young talent.
There’s a massive Dominican community in the Bronx. What do you think that moment is going to be like on April 5th when you see countless Dominican flags in the stands and thousands of fans screaming for you?
I think it’s going to be great. It’s going to be really exciting. It’s going to be unbelievable. It’s going to feel like the World Baseball Classic every night.
@dik cashmere @jack walsh13
these players REALLY need to say less
denversports.com
deadspin.com
deadspin.com
deadspin.com
THIS aint what player empowerment about.
these players REALLY need to say less
Kris Bryant all but says he regrets signing 7-year deal with Rockies
The supposed star of the Rockies is all but saying he regrets inking the largest free agent deal in club history just two years after signing
denversports.com
The Colorado Rockies have crushed Kris Bryant's soul
The former MVP doesn’t sound like he loves life in Denver
deadspin.com
Phillies fans have problem with their wieners; Kris Bryant laments move to Rockies; Ohtani, Hideki Matsui share odd marital similarity
A collection of Deadspin’s best posts of the week from the baseball world
deadspin.com
The Colorado Rockies have crushed Kris Bryant's soul
The former MVP doesn’t sound like he loves life in Denver
deadspin.com
THIS aint what player empowerment about.
@dik cashmere @jack walsh13
these players REALLY need to say less
Kris Bryant all but says he regrets signing 7-year deal with Rockies
The supposed star of the Rockies is all but saying he regrets inking the largest free agent deal in club history just two years after signing
The Colorado Rockies have crushed Kris Bryant's soul
The former MVP doesn’t sound like he loves life in Denver
Phillies fans have problem with their wieners; Kris Bryant laments move to Rockies; Ohtani, Hideki Matsui share odd marital similarity
A collection of Deadspin’s best posts of the week from the baseball world
The Colorado Rockies have crushed Kris Bryant's soul
The former MVP doesn’t sound like he loves life in Denver
THIS aint what player empowerment about.
Bryant is an idiot. No one told him to sign it. He knew the Rockies wasn't shit and wasn't gonna be shit for a while and he has done absolutely nothing to help turn things around. Snell is not worth $280 million and Boras is a pain in the ass to deal with. He tried to get the Phillies to add more years to Harpers deal so he could get more money per year. Dave Montgomery kindly told Boras to fuck off!!! He’s under contact for 8 more years. We not doin' dat bullshit. I understand getting as much money for your clients so YOU can get paid as well. But Boras is doin' too much. If the Yankees say they ain't payin' you know you outta touch wit your asking price.
Bryant is an idiot. No one told him to sign it. He knew the Rockies wasn't shit and wasn't gonna be shit for a while and he has done absolutely nothing to help turn things around. Snell is not worth $280 million and Boras is a pain in the ass to deal with. He tried to get the Phillies to add more years to Harpers deal so he could get more money per year. Dave Montgomery kindly told Boras to fuck off!!! He’s under contact for 8 more years. We not doin' dat bullshit. I understand getting as much money for your clients so YOU can get paid as well. But Boras is doin' too much. If the Yankees say they ain't payin' you know you outta touch wit your asking price.
You not wrong cuzzo...
But Boras track record is solid as hell you would WANT him representing you too.
Yeah but teams are sick of his shit. Why do you think Montgomery isn't signed yet? Snell gon fuck around and sit out the year for that asking price. Boras is turned into a delusional whore pricing their pussy out the game.
Schwarber cannot lead off anymore. It's fuckin stupid. Name me in the history of baseball where a muthafucka hits .200 and leads off constantly? Hos on base percentage is not good enough to justify it. Put him in the cleanup spot where that muthafucka belongs as be done with it!!!!! 
Sick of this analytical bullshit. You see the shit definitely fails come playoff time cause his home runs go down per at bat because your facing better pitching. Plus, you have more viable candidates to lead off including Stott and Turner.
Sick of this analytical bullshit. You see the shit definitely fails come playoff time cause his home runs go down per at bat because your facing better pitching. Plus, you have more viable candidates to lead off including Stott and Turner.
Is it a big baseball town?
Yeah it's definitely a state(NC and SC) that could support a team....It's been talked about for years, esp. in NC...
There are alot of AAA teams in the state and people have been crying to get a MLB team here in NC...Most baseball enthusiast either travel to DC, Baltimore, or Atlanta if they want to go to a game...
MLB expansion: Breaking down eight possible locations for new baseball teams, from population to local clubs
Rob Manfred has his eyes set on expanding the league to 32 teams
[IMG alt=" Dayn Perry"]https://sportshub.cbsistatic.com/i/r/2016/05/04/c0a15597-4cff-47bb-af43-ba14438a7b1c/thumbnail/80x80/09cf3709d5e0d290889dd9558213baff/daynperry.png[/IMG]
By Dayn Perry
Feb 26, 2024 at 9:20 am ET•7 min read
Major League Baseball will expand from 30 to 32 teams in the coming years. The only uncertainties are when the process will formally begin and when the two new franchises to be named will begin play.
Commissioner Rob Manfred, who recently announced that he would step down from MLB's most powerful office when his current term expires in January of 2029, recently said the league's two newest entrants probably won't be seeing game action while he's still in office. However, Manfred also told reporters he "would like the process along and [cities] selected."
So let's proceed under the working assumption that we'll know which two cities will be awarded MLB expansion franchises before the current decade is up. As such, it's high time we probe the leading contenders to become MLB's 31st and 32nd clubs. While it's still possible a city not part of the rundown below could emerge as a viable candidate, the guess is that the forthcoming eight destinations are the most realistic contenders.
Those destinations in alphabetical order are: Charlotte, North Carolina;, Las Vegas (based on the very real possibility that the A's proposed relocation there does not come to pass); Montreal, Canada; Nashville, Tennessee; Portland, Oregon; Sacramento, California; Salt Lake City; and San Antonio. Five of these cities – Charlotte, Las Vegas, Nashville, Sacramento, and Salt Lake City – are presently home to affiliated Triple-A minor-league franchises. San Antonio has a Double-A team (and there's a Triple-A team not far away in suburban Austin), and the Portland suburb of Hillsboro is home to a High-A club. Montreal, of course, was home to MLB's Expos for decades before owner Jeffrey Loria's calculated efforts to destroy the club and the team's subsequent relocation to Washington, D.C., where they became the Nationals. Each of these locations also has an advocacy organization working to lure an MLB franchise and in some cases a proposed ownership group.
In addition to the considerations about to be laid out, it's of course necessary that the ownership group in question be willing to hand over an expansion fee that will surely be in the hundreds of millions of dollars (or considerably higher). As well, it's probably a prerequisite that the city/state of relevance be willing to fork over tax dollars and tax abatements toward the construction of a new ballpark. It's part of the grift, you know.
We'll break down the cities to come in four ways: metro-area population (more relevant and illuminating than city population alone); U.S. media-market rank, where applicable; per-capita gross domestic product, or GDP, for each city; the number of major-sports franchises already in the city; and the closest current MLB franchise to each city. All of these factors will provide some insight into how each market's viability may be perceived by the current guild of MLB owners.
Now let's get to it.
Metro-area population
Obviously, this is an important one, as a sizable population base makes it more likely that a team can thrive in terms of attendance and the number of cable/streaming subscriptions they can sell. As well, large-market teams probably don't want another "deep" revenue-sharing recipient on the rolls, and current revenue-sharing recipients probably don't want too much company on the dole. That said, the mega-markets are of course already home to franchises, and there's little appetite for, say, a third team in the New York City metro area. As for revenue-sharing, the structure will be determined by the next Collective Bargaining Agreement, which, barring a lengthy labor stoppage, will be in force by the 2026 season.So here's how our list of aspiring franchise locations rank in terms of metro-area population.
- Montreal: 4.38 million
- Charlotte: 2.76 million
- San Antonio: 2.66 million
- Portland: 2.51 million
- Sacramento: 2.42 million
- Las Vegas: 2.32 million
- Nashville: 2.05 million
- Salt Lake City: 1.27 million
For some context, Milwaukee is the current smallest MLB market with an estimated metro population of 1.56 million. Of our eight contenders, only Salt Lake City comes in under that figure. As for San Antonio, it's fair to give that metro area a "bonus" because of the proximity of the Austin metro area. The respective city centers are just 80 miles away from each other, and the sprawl of each of course comes even closer. Austin has a metro population of 2.42 million, the same as the Sacramento area, and a team in San Antonio would figure to draw some of that. Or maybe you put a team located strategically between the two metro areas – maybe San Marcos – and tap into some of both. For those reasons, you can probably think of the San Antonio market as the "San Antonio and/or Austin" market.
Media market rank
This is always relevant, even under the current, probably dying Regional Sports Network model. It matters for those lucrative national broadcast contracts, and it will of course matter for the eventual direct-to-consumer streaming model to which MLB aspires. Below you'll find each aspiring U.S. location, or "Designated Market Area" (DMA) in Nielsen parlance, ordered by its rank among domestic media markets.- Sacramento (20th in U.S.)
- Charlotte (21st in U.S.)
- Portland (23rd in U.S.)
- Nashville (26th in U.S.)
- Salt Lake City (27th in U.S.)
- San Antonio (31st in U.S.)
- Las Vegas (40th in U.S.)
Montreal is not rated by Nielsen, as it is of course not a U.S. DMA. As you probably surmised there's not a perfect relationship between metro population and DMA, but there's still some overlap. As such, Montreal would probably be at or near the above ordering of our of eight candidates. As for San Antonio, let's note that Austin is presently ranked as the No. 35 DMA in the U.S. Among current MLB franchises, Milwaukee is the lowest-ranked DMA at No. 38. Cincinnati is 37th.
Per-capita GDP
To give yourself the best chance of selling tickets and broadcast packages, you want a potential customer base that has plenty of discretionary income. This is increasingly the case for MLB teams, which increasingly target high-income customers as opposed to the rank-and-file (this is one of many unfortunate developments on this front).Per-capita GDP is a broad measure of average economic activity per person. The figures below are for the cities themselves as opposed to the metro area and are from 2020. All data are in U.S. dollars and are from Harvard University's Metroverse database.
- Las Vegas: $61,711
- Charlotte: $60,668
- Sacramento: $60,006
- Nashville: $59,213
- San Antonio: $56,756
- Portland: $55,518
- Salt Lake City: $49,855
- Montreal: $48,181
Number of major sports franchises
All of these cities are "major league" in the sense that they are represented by at least one of the "big four" North American sports leagues – the NFL, the NBA, the NHL, and MLB. Obviously, no MLB franchises are in play here, but here's a quick rundown of each city's major pro sports teams of note (sorted alphabetically by city).- Charlotte: 2 (NBA's Hornets, NFL's Panthers)
- Las Vegas: 2 (NFL's Raiders, NHL's Golden Knights)
- Montreal: 1 (NHL's Canadiens)
- Nashville: 2 (NFL's Titans, NHL's Predators)
- Portland: 1 (NBA's Trail Blazers)
- Sacramento: 1 (NBA's Kings)
- Salt Lake City: 1 (NBA's Jazz)
- San Antonio: 1 (NBA's Spurs)
Closest MLB city
- Salt Lake City: 520 miles from Denver
- Montreal: Roughly 307 miles from Boston and New York City
- Nashville: 248 miles from Atlanta
- Charlotte: 226 miles from Atlanta
- Las Vegas: 225 miles from Los Angeles
- San Antonio: 197 miles from Houston
- Portland: 174 miles from Seattle
- Sacramento: 88 miles from San Francisco
So where does this leave us? This is the part at which we allow you to draw your own conclusions based on the data above and how you think MLB should prioritize each category. Again, though, much hinges on a city's willingness to provide – let's speak frankly here – corporate welfare for the construction of a new ballpark and how eager they are to abet the new owner's assumed desires for mixed-use development around that ballpark. In other words, there's still much we don't know, but the above can help you put together some "pre-season rankings" for the expansion process if you're so inclined.
https://www.bgol.us/forum/https:
Solid
Damn first I heard about this. Good he is doing well
Wishing the best for him. Dude put his body through hell snortin' all that coke. Shit comes back on you at some point
Gerrit Cole injury update: Yankees ace will not throw for 3-4 weeks due to elbow nerve inflammation, edema
The reigning Cy Young winner is hoping to avoid Tommy John surgery
www.cbssports.com
Yankees say Cole unlikely to pitch Opening Day
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday that it's "difficult" to picture Gerrit Cole making the Opening Day start as he undergoes more testing on an unspecified elbow injury.
Gerrit Cole injury update: Yankees ace will not throw for 3-4 weeks due to elbow nerve inflammation, edema
The reigning Cy Young winner is hoping to avoid Tommy John surgery
Yankees say Cole unlikely to pitch Opening Day
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday that it's "difficult" to picture Gerrit Cole making the Opening Day start as he undergoes more testing on an unspecified elbow injury.www.espn.com
Damn