MLB Off-Topic

[Ghost Of The Year]

Quote: Originally Posted by Sportsforever

It’s a shame what injuries have done to Mike Trout; it’s so easy to forget his greatness already. I was reading a CBS baseball article about Acuna’s contract talk yesterday and the author stated “Acuna is not quite as good as young Trout.” I thought…ya, but they have to be pretty close. Then he showed a chart comparing the two players through their age 25 seasons…wow, not even close. Trout had a 172 OPS+ and 55 WAR…Acuna is a 141 OPS+ and 25 WAR. Granted, because of injuries and COVID Acuna has over 1,000 fewer plate appearances than Trout did, so the WAR would be/should be higher…but the level young Trout played at was something to behold. Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

And what's also something to ponder, as great as Trout and Acuna are, the Angels can't even get a sniff of the World Series, and the World Champion Atlanta didn't even have a winning record in 21 when Acuna went down for the season. Great numbers are great and all, but they aren't the thing that makes baseball great.

[Majingir]

Random rabbit hole I went down.

Selig was gonna contract the Twins AND Expos in 2002?!

What would baseball have looked like with 28 teams after just expanding 4 years prior?

A dispersal draft would've been insane too.

Ortiz, Hunter, Pierzynski, Santana, Guardado, Guerrero, Vidro being part of that?

[Dead2009]

Quote: Originally Posted by Majingir

Random rabbit hole I went down. Selig was gonna contract the Twins AND Expos in 2002?! What would baseball have looked like with 28 teams after just expanding 4 years prior? A dispersal draft would've been insane too. Ortiz, Hunter, Pierzynski, Santana, Guardado, Guerrero, Vidro being part of that?

I remember that. They werent in a hurry to get new stadiums so MLB was like **** it you're done.

Speaking of the Expos....

Nationals no longer for sale, principal owner Mark Lerner says
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...rk-lerner-says

[Master Live 013]

That was when the Twins had their magical season, went to the playoffs.

[Speedy]

Twins had thoughts of moving to NC too.

[Ghost Of The Year]

Quote: Originally Posted by Majingir

Random rabbit hole I went down. Selig was gonna contract the Twins AND Expos in 2002?! What would baseball have looked like with 28 teams after just expanding 4 years prior?

I feel like MLB may be headed for a repeat performance if Manfred does indeed push for expansion before he retires. But my gut tells me contraction will go all the way through this time. I hate knocking on Tampa Bay but it would have made more sense to go with Bakersfield California, Long Beach, Virginia Beach, Tulsa, Omaha, El Paso, Mesa Arizona, or Fresno way before TB. Instead of expanding wisely MLB will wind up going for a sexy pick. What's really crazy is they ever considered Tampa sexy. They might be rated an office hot 8 but it's a real world 5. I know New York City and San Antonio aren't even in the running for an expansion team but it really would be the two healthiest choices they could possibly make. But MLB will probably do something silly and expand in Montreal and Salt Lake City in 2028 and 4 years later Cincinnati and Kansas City will have to pay for the mistake by killing themselves by retracting.

[Majingir]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ghost Of The Year

I feel like MLB may be headed for a repeat performance if Manfred does indeed push for expansion before he retires. But my gut tells me contraction will go all the way through this time. I hate knocking on Tampa Bay but it would have made more sense to go with Bakersfield California, Long Beach, Virginia Beach, Tulsa, Omaha, El Paso, Mesa Arizona, or Fresno way before TB. Instead of expanding wisely MLB will wind up going for a sexy pick. What's really crazy is they ever considered Tampa sexy. They might be rated an office hot 8 but it's a real world 5. I know New York City and San Antonio aren't even in the running for an expansion team but it really would be the two healthiest choices they could possibly make. But MLB will probably do something silly and expand in Montreal and Salt Lake City in 2028 and 4 years later Cincinnati and Kansas City will have to pay for the mistake by killing themselves by retracting.

I don't see the league retracting at all.

Once the As and Rays situation is figured out they'll expand for sure. Too many markets and owners wanting teams for them to pass up on that opportunity.

[Ghost Of The Year]

Quote: Originally Posted by Majingir

I don't see the league retracting at all. Once the As and Rays situation is figured out they'll expand for sure. Too many markets and owners wanting teams for them to pass up on that opportunity.

I hope so. They just need to do it smart and not award franchises to the flavor-of-the-month cities.