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Look,how much worse can the Yankees be in 2024 than they were last year? If the pitching ticks up even a little bit, like Rodon is half the pitcher he was in 2022, well there's 10 games improvement right there.
With the hitting, I can't think of a single Yankees batter who had his best season, or even close to it, so with a 15% improvement in batting, add 10 more games to the W column.
Then there's addition by subtraction. Not relying on Hicks or Donaldson for all of 2024 adds 8 more wins.
Finally, your gritty new bench coach will school up Boonie, to the tune of a 9 game improvement.
This leaves the Yanks with a 2024 projected record of 125-37 (give or take).
Mets with another blockbuster move: The Mets claimed catcher Tyler Heineman off waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday and outfielder/catcher Cooper Hummel from the Seattle Mariners.
I like that thought of Ohtani as closer. He has the make up and strike out pitches to do the job. The transition from starter to closer sure helped Eckersley's career.
SASI
Pitching is what wins. And there's not much high-quality, proven MLB pitching on the market right now. Once the dust settles on the off-season and spring training begins, we'll get a much clearer picture of what contenders we can expect in 2024. The only known right now is that clubs are going to overpay for the pitching that's available.
If teams do indeed make it to October, the pitching staff shrinks considerably, and if you have Bruce Bochy calling the shots, you have a great chance of riding the 5-6 hot arms deep into the playoffs, but there's not many guys like that out there: Look how many years it took Dave Roberts to learn to let Urias finish the pennant and World Series instead of being the manager who sticks to the plan and gets the joy of making excuses for Kershaw and Jansen in the losers press conference.
And as much as you might have wanted Counsell, he's proven himself to be a regular season manager. He has not shown that he can adjust his strategy in the playoffs, especially with the bullpen, and this lack of thinking outside of the analytics box is a big reason the crew are 1-9 in their last 10 playoff games. I do think you're right about your rookie manager: I doubt he'll be confident enough to deviate from the line up card and the in-game change recommendations that the front office slides under his door 162 times next year. Maybe Stearns chose him because he'll fit so well under the bus at the end of the 2024 season.
I know you love Alonso, but the Mets have shown they can lose plenty of games with Alonso hitting 40 HRs and batting in 120 runs. Is that a reason to walk away from him? Well, I guess that depends on if your plan is to ink Soto long term, or if Cohen wants to show off his big fat wallet again and sign Ohtani and create an east coast Angels. The way 2024 stacks up, I think the Mets are in worse shape than the Brewers, but let's see what happens with Burnes and Williams.
Love this line from ESPN about Stearns after the Severino signing: The joke here goes you can take the exec out of Milwaukee, but you can't take Milwaukee out of the exec.
Yup, with Cohen, who doesn't love seeing a big-mouthed upstart knocked down a few dozen rungs? The way he made the Mets all about himself, you would have thought he was the one stepping in the box to face a 98 mph inside fastball.
I love that he actually believed that he was going to teach baseball a lesson with his bank account. Pure genius! Have you noticed he's not crowing so loud these days?
Nice when you can roll the dice on a 13 million dollar flier! Seve's available becuase he has sucked dog's balls the past couple of seasons. It could be injury, it could be Cashman, but whatever the case, this is a guy who was forecast to anchor the Yank's rotation for the next 10 years. Well, after Cole. If the med reports come back clean on him, it's a great deal for both parties. Seve gets a year to rebuild his value and the Mets get a year of a pitcher with tremendous potential upside for what will be seen as a bargain. To be honest, there aren't many pitchers out there who offer this much reward vs risk for any price IMO.
I've seen too many Rodons and Verlanders in free agency: guys who somehow manage to string together a career season in their walk year, which they parlay into 5-7 years at astronomical dollars. Then in their first first season of the new contract, the wheels fall off and they spend the bulk of the time in the trainer's room crying about how badly they want to be out there. Maybe Rodon performs well in 2024. Maybe Verlander wins another Cy, but when I look at Snell, Nola, Gray and Montgomery, I'm not too eager to open the wallet for more than 3 years. Guys with 5-7 year deals are playing the long game and aren't about to blow out their careers in year 1. At the first toe stub, that's 15 days minimum.Severino will be highly motivated this season. If injuries stop him from pitching, fire the guy who said he'd be fine, but considering how rarely a Cole hits the market, signing the likes of Seve is a solid move.
Yup. Better for the Mets to ink Severino!!
Looks to me like it's tear down time in Milwaukee. The Brewers have excellent young prospects, but very few of them are pitchers. They've dumped Canha, who was a great fit in Milwaukee, which signals that the youngsters are going to get a lot of playing time. I'm fine with that; the team they've fielded for the past 5-6 years has hit the wall in October, for whatever reason, and with Woodruff gone, there's no reason to think the 2024 team will fare any better than the teams in the Counsell era. The other teams in that division are ready to spend to compete, which Milwaukee isn't.
The Crew has some very juicy trade chips: Burnes, Williams and Adames atop the list. Burnes is far and away the best pitcher possibly available in 2024. Any contender would be ecstatic to have Burnes in their rotation. It could be time to move them, but they better get a huge haul in return, mainly young pitching that can develop with the young hitting they've begun showcasing. I don't want to see a Mets redux of last year: move pitching for non-pitching and wonder why you're struggling to field a decent line up in 2024. Keep Fastball Freddy and build around him.
Hader's going to get paid better than Diaz, so no point in fantasizing about him in a Mets uniform. I doubt Timmy Trumpet would be willing to tune it up for the 8th inning anyway.
Yamamoto is a no-brainer for the Mets. Senga sure worked out fine, and this guy had better numbers and is younger. Or you can overpay for 5 innings of Snell every 5th day for 7 years. I'm not a big believer that this is an awesome FA year for pitchers, but if I had Cohen's money.....lol
Either way, it's an uphill climb in that division, especially if you trade the polar bear. Of the guys who will certainly get overpaid, I like Montgomery the best. For one Snell or Montgomery, you could probably get Wacha, Flaherty and/or Martinez.
Sums it up nicely: Lots of smoke, nothing to get high about....
Mets could definitely recycle that sign for the 2024 season, 'cause that's exactly what it's going to take! This is a team built for...what? The 2023 roster was a team built for 2019. Who knows? Could be the rotation puts up the 2nd best ERA in MLB. And maybe Baty hits .315 with 32 dongs and 106 RBIs. Or Marte finds his legs again and logs a .400+ OBP with 53 swipes. Mendoza wins Manager of the Year? Any other miracles you want to believe in?
Well, at least you hired a qualified babysitter to act as bench coach for your new manager. Weird pairing; often the experienced veteran is the master and the rookie youngster is the apprentice, but the Mets are subverting the norm again.
Wonder what the salary range is for a bench coach. And if Mendoza had any input in the selection process.
Trade for little Yaz and trot him out to left field every night. Build on that history!
Can't be much worse than Houck or Whitlock! I guess one thing the Sox have going is a decided lack of innings on Sales' arm. Seems like another era when he K'ed Manny for the title. Hard to believe it was a mere 300 innings ago. If mileage is a decider, Sale should pitch well into his 60's at his current rate!
Too bad you let Big Game Nate walk away. Wade Miley is available!
You definitely need to sign Yamamoto. Minimum. Let Ohtani play in LA- his best years are behind him, which is to say I can't see him pitching for more years at a level approaching his 2022 stats when they glue his elbow back together.
The formula for playoff relief pitching was inked by the Royals in 2015: win every game you lead after 6 innings with the same 3 reliable arms. Those arms know when they're coming in before the game starts. Stearns knows this, as it has worked very well in Milwaukee during their playoff run. Stay away from guys who are a roll of the dice in the playoffs. IMO, if you trot out Kimbrel and you lose, there's no surprise there. But to let it happen twice in a pennant series...Grady Little was fired for less! Look how long it took Dave Roberts to not let Kenly Jansen lose another big game for the Dodgers.
I wouldn't quit on 2024 just yet. If the snakes and fish can make the playoffs given the predictions for them at the start of the 2023 season, anyone can get in.
And learn to love your GM! It cracked me up when I read "your former GM..." Or is there someone else you would have preferred? Bring back Brodie?
Have you been copying and pasting this post for the past 5 years??!!!
I think Isaiah tried the product and has been watching Cheech and Chong movies and eating pizza ever since.
Disagree on Lynn. That's waayy too much for a guy his age and ERA. Cards gotta win now, before Goldie and arenado lose more of their pop. They need lots of pitching, and in spite of all that's been written about this being the FA year for starting pitching, everyone of the top names is a total gamble IMO.
Burnes is the best arm going followed by Woodruff, but neither will come cheaply. Snell? Good luck there.
Pick: SASI
Mets gotta clear some space for Severino.
Counsell screwed again for MOY in the NL. Maybe the voters knew he was going to the Cubs!
Cashman really knows how to make his players feel supported:
https://www.espn.com.au/mlb/story/_/id/38897151/giancarlo-stanton-agent-responds-brian-cashman-warns-free-agents
No GM should be making derogatory comments about anyone on the roster in public. Ever. This seems to be Cashman's MO to rationalize long-term, $$ wasting signings instead of admitting it didn't work out, or even more honestly, admitting that he screwed up.
Love this quote about the new Mets skipper: "Carlos has a brilliant baseball mind and a finely honed ability to collaborate with others," Stearns said in a statement.
Read: he'll trot out the lineup the front office sends down every night.
Joey Ego isn't the first guy to stay too long at the party and he won't be the last.
The sentimental journey is clearly done in Cincinnati. Had he contributed in a more meaningful way,they may have found some pine for him in 2024. The Reds were in the thick of a playoff run when he returned. After a one game tease, be reverted to the norm. Bye bye time.
I can't believe the Jays actually think this guy is going to put any bums on seats, so the "let's cheer on Mr Canada" card has no currency IMO.
Perhaps the only idiot willing to sign Votto is Cashman. He certainly bucks the trend of what you alluded to in your last message, mainly that GMs are wising up to the lunacy of acquiring washed up veterans.
It's unavoidable! Luckily there's been very little Yankee gloating to endure for the past many years....a couple of individual accolades, which is in order for a payroll of the Yankee's magnitude, but mostly it's been bitterness and tears!
I suspect next year will be the same.
On to baseball talk: with teams locking up their young talent early by signing them to more long term contracts, free agency has become a bit boring. Sure, someone will dramatically overpay for Ohtani, but there's not the same depth of superstars, both batting and pitching, that we used to regularly see. The big fish are players from overseas, fantasy signings with no MLB experience. Bellinger? Nola? Good luck there wringing value for money.
Man, I just cannot read this enough!!!
It has been one week since the Texas Rangers won the first World Series in franchise history
Crazy feeling that I've only been waiting 50 years for.
I'm really happy for you. Though I'm no Rangers fan and never cared much for Nolan and the Crackers, it's great when any team can break the bubble and win it all for the first time. In the Rangers case, being so close against the Cards before losing in 2011 was a load of pain that's now exorcised. There's no reason you can't repeat with that line up, especially if Degrom can hit 80% of his former ability by the end of the 2024 season. Seager, Semien, Garcia and the kid are as good a core as there is in MLB.... and most teams would see significant improvement with any of the other 5 bats in that line up. The rumour mill has you picking up Hader, too, which is a huge upgrade.
I saw that. No doubt the Yanks were a mere few bunts away from being pennant contenders!!
As Monty Python might say about Boone: "what a silly bunt"
"The Yankees brought in an outside company called Zelus Analytics to evaluate how New York operates its analytics department."
This is getting Orwellian!
That's the possibility we're all hoping for, because the other possibility is that the outsized dump is because someone knows something about the upcoming results.
Yup. The Mets have shown they need a veteran presence with a firm hand in the dugout. Maybe this Mendoza is that guy, but there's a difference between the manager you hire to work with your young, developing players and the manager you hire to work with your veterans.
On the surface, it would seem the Mets got a good, cheap yes-man.
This is the worst news possible. Not that I think Counsell is a magic ticket to the world series, but there are 2 uniforms I never thought I'd see him in, the Cubs and Cards.
Disaster in Milwaukee.
Exactly what I was thinking! Nothing too risky....maybe only 3 years with club options for 4&5. Kluber's available as well.
....and Aroldis Chapman, mid-season additions that proved instrumental in the Rangers’ playoff push.
Talk about clutching for a storyline!
Let him go. Woodruff is out for all of 2024 and won't be back with the team in 2025. Burnes is going to be traded as he's in his last year before becoming an FA.
The Brewers have enjoyed a decent regular season run for better than 5 years. It's done.
Big Game Nate got it done again. Well, I can't say that this was the most captivating world series, but the better team definitely won.
When does spring training start?
Keep an eye on JAGX. News coming today.
Bochy stuck with him. And while it wasn't pretty, Chapman did the job. His slider to strike out Carroll was a throwback to 2015. He still brings it at 100 mph, which is faster than most.