MLB 2023 Season - The Winter Stove of Warmth

We are 1/3 of the way into the MLB season.

The Oakland A's are 10-44.

Mike Bordick.

Assuming Nevada's stupid enough to give that team $300 million-ish, the new estimated $1.5 billion stadium's going to be the second smallest in the league and right about here:

IMAGE(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FxEu_-iWAA8xo4i?format=jpg&name=4096x4096)

Yeah, I guess it'd be nice if you're a defense contractor getting back to the Janet Air terminal at the airport from your job at Groom Lake or Tonopah to immediately walk over and partake in a ball game from a currently 10-44 team.

What's next in the regional sports networks battle

This week could turn out to be a major turning point in Diamond Sports Group's bankruptcy proceedings, one that could significantly influence how baseball games are broadcast -- not just now, but well into the future.

Diamond failed to pay the San Diego Padres before the end of its grace period Tuesday, a monumental development that will prompt Major League Baseball to take over the team's broadcasts moving forward.

Soon, more teams could find the same fate.

On Wednesday in Houston, a bankruptcy judge will preside over Diamond's claims that it should essentially pay lesser rights fees to the Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers, Arizona Diamondbacks and Cleveland Guardians to account for market forces that have greatly diminished the traditional cable model in recent years. (Diamond initially missed its rights payments to those four teams and was ultimately forced to pay 50% of what it owes them in the weeks leading up to the hearing.)

The judge's ruling, which should come by Thursday night at the latest, will play a big role in determining which other contracts Diamond sheds, if any. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred will be among those testifying. With that milestone ahead, here's a look at the current regional sports networks (RSN) situation of a few other teams across sports.

Delino DeShields

Baseball is at its best when it's just incomprehensibly stupid:

That is game with zero RBIs, all the scored runs were on wild pitches, and the walk-off run came when the ump got hit in the mask with a fastball.

Excellent work everyone.

Prederick wrote:

That is game with zero RBIs, all the scored runs were on wild pitches, and the walk-off run came when the ump got hit in the mask with a fastball.

Excellent work everyone.

That was a fun game.

I played catcher in HS and once got hit square in the mask off a foul-tip. I do not recommend the experience.

billt721 wrote:

Super Mega Baseball plays a better game of baseball than The Show does. The Show is only better if you really need the actual teams and players.

Oh my God, I kinda doubted you on this, but you're right.

Even more importantly though, it's available for the Switch, and it is an absolutely PERFECT commute game. I'm in love. My pitching stinks, but I'm in love.

Good to see deGrom is still unhittable, as always.

Hey! Remember last year's AL Cy Young winner, Alek Manoah?

Yeah, he just got demoted. To the lowest rung of the minor leagues.

The Blue Jays made the move one day after Manoah lasted just one-third of an inning and allowed six runs in a loss to the Houston Astros. The 2022 American League Cy Young Award finalist is 1-7 with a 6.36 ERA in 13 starts this season.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider acknowledged after Monday's 11-4 loss that "everything is on the table" in terms of the organization's options for Manoah, whose demotion came amid a series of roster moves.

Formerly known as the Gulf Coast League, the Florida Complex League (FCL) is considered one of the lowest levels of affiliated minor league baseball. The Blue Jays' FCL team operates out of the organization's spring training complex in Dunedin, Florida, where Manoah will have access to resources that may have been limited at higher levels of the minors.

Manoah, 25, was an All-Star last season, when he finished third in the AL in wins (16) and ERA (2.24).

Chairman_Mao wrote:

Good to see deGrom is still unhittable, as always.

Can't give up a hit if you're on the IR.

Prederick wrote:

Hey! Remember last year's AL Cy Young winner, Alek Manoah?

Yeah, he just got demoted. To the lowest rung of the minor leagues.

The Blue Jays made the move one day after Manoah lasted just one-third of an inning and allowed six runs in a loss to the Houston Astros. The 2022 American League Cy Young Award finalist is 1-7 with a 6.36 ERA in 13 starts this season.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider acknowledged after Monday's 11-4 loss that "everything is on the table" in terms of the organization's options for Manoah, whose demotion came amid a series of roster moves.

Formerly known as the Gulf Coast League, the Florida Complex League (FCL) is considered one of the lowest levels of affiliated minor league baseball. The Blue Jays' FCL team operates out of the organization's spring training complex in Dunedin, Florida, where Manoah will have access to resources that may have been limited at higher levels of the minors.

Manoah, 25, was an All-Star last season, when he finished third in the AL in wins (16) and ERA (2.24).

Interesting. IIRC the Jays did the same thing with Roy Halladay way back when. Worked out pretty well then.

Prederick wrote:
Chairman_Mao wrote:

Good to see deGrom is still unhittable, as always.

Can't give up a hit if you're on the IR.

Not even insured. I always thought it was pretty standard practice to insure those massive contracts. I wonder if they couldn't get anyone to do so given his injury history.

Prederick wrote:

Even more importantly though, it's available for the Switch, and it is an absolutely PERFECT commute game. I'm in love. My pitching stinks, but I'm in love.

Genuinely surprised by the sheer amount of negativity about SMB4 in the reddit for it. You'd think it was the Gollum game from how they're talking about it there. (Although I suspect a lot of that hate is because EA got involved.)

I'm still finding my Ego level, but broadly, I'm really enjoying it. Gonna start my own franchise soon and see how deep that is.

Honestly, for me, the only things missing are Instant Replay and total Player Creation control.

So the Reds have a new guy.

Prederick wrote:
Prederick wrote:

Even more importantly though, it's available for the Switch, and it is an absolutely PERFECT commute game. I'm in love. My pitching stinks, but I'm in love.

Genuinely surprised by the sheer amount of negativity about SMB4 in the reddit for it. You'd think it was the Gollum game from how they're talking about it there. (Although I suspect a lot of that hate is because EA got involved.)

I'm still finding my Ego level, but broadly, I'm really enjoying it. Gonna start my own franchise soon and see how deep that is.

Honestly, for me, the only things missing are Instant Replay and total Player Creation control.

Do you own SMB3? If so does it seem a worthwhile update? I’m mostly in for the franchise mode, but so far hadn’t been convinced it was worth moving to 4.

Nope, this is my first SMB experience, so I have no frame of reference.

IMAGE(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FyJi873akAAvniA?format=jpg&name=small)

When are we getting that dislike button again?

No one deserves that, not even Mets fans.

If Atlanta wants to stay in first they gotta get their wins against easy opponents if they're gonna continue losing 2 of 3 to juggernauts like the .... Oakland A's.

Steve Avery

Otis Nixon.

billt721 wrote:

Steve Avery

A perfectly serviceable #4 who probably had his reputation elevated by being on the same rotation as three HoFers.

Is there some rhyme or reason to the rando player names you are all linking? Having been a rotisserie baseball player since like 1995 i will admit its fun to see names that I haven't heard in years or didn't think anyone except idiots like me would even remember, so maybe I want to throw a few more in there, but not sure what the criteria is

Prederick wrote:

Remember Some Guys is a fantastic game, but it's always best in baseball. If I had the ability, I'd make it so you have to Remember A Guy whenever you post in this thread or it gets deleted.

David Segui.

Prederick wrote:

Otis Nixon.

billt721 wrote:

Steve Avery

A perfectly serviceable #4 who probably had his reputation elevated by being on the same rotation as three HoFers.

Yeah, in my memory Avery was great and just fell off a cliff early, but looking at his bbref page, he had one pretty good season and then a bunch of shiny ERAs thanks to some lucky BABIP numbers.

The thing I think about with Otis Nixon is that he always looked much older than his age. Greg Oden before Greg Oden.

IMAGE(https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0536/1434/6416/products/486_20154b19-6711-4eec-8288-b6fee343a0a8.jpg?v=1628373773)

That is a 1987 Topps card of Otix Nixon, when he was allegedly 28, going on 54.

Also on Cleveland in '87? The literally eternal Julio Franco. (He played for another 20 years.)

EDIT: In retrospect, there's almost no way Tony Batista wasn't doing steroids, huh? Cuz those HR totals are.... interesting. Albeit not as hilarious as Brady Anderson's '96 season.

Scott Erickson

I remember hoping my upper deck card of this guy was going to shoot the moon.

Julio Franco is one of my all-time favorites just because he played so long. Up there with Rickey, Satchel Paige, and to a lesser extent, Jamie Moyer.

So I'm not a huge fan of the AppleTV broadcast, though I do appreciate that they make it easy to play either of the teams' radio broadcasts (and sync it up with the game! which MLB.tv doesn't do). But damn are their cameras fantastic. The AppleTV games look better than any other broadcast that I've seen.

Another Jaime Moyer enjoyer, I salute you sir.

Was delighted by that man for years. Fastball topped out at like 84 for half of his career and still pitched 196 innings with a 3.71 ERA at 45. All 3 of his Cy Young noms came after 36. A king.

Another Julio Franco fan here, by way of a Mets-loving roommate. What a legend.