2017 Major League Baseball Thread

[hungry101]

Interesting article on what could have been. The Yankees were trying to deal for Tigers Ace Michael Fulmer. I am wondering if the new luxury tax is so punitive that big money teams like the Yankees are even less willing to part with top prospects for proven talent which will ultimately hurt the lower market teams.

https://www.blessyouboys.com/2017/1...michael-fulmer-new-york-yankees-clint-frazier

Any of you Yankees fans hear about this perspective trade and the players that the Yankees were to have offered? I hear that Wade and Estrada lack power but have speed and I am not sure about Frazier.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Wade played on the MLB roster last year and didn’t hit much but he is very fast and defensively versatile and can play almost every position. He is sort of a young Ben Zobrist without the power. Estrada is a minor league middle infielder who has improved the last two years but he isn’t an elite prospect. Frazier is the key guy in any deal. I like him and hate to see him go. He had tremendous bat speed, runs well and hustles. He became a fan favorite pretty quickly last year. He was brought up after Dustin Fowler had a devastating season ending injury in his first MLB game, for which he is now suing the White Sox. Fowler was traded to the As for Sonny Gray. Frazier then came up for good and played like a guy who wanted to stay in the majors. His bat speed is most imoressive. I think he will be a very good MLB outfielder for somebody.

 

[smuler]

Congrats to the 4 new Hall of Fame members .

Especially to Trevor Hoffman who amassed all those saves playing for a poor San Diego Padres team throughout his career. IMHO, he was the best reliever of all time:clap2:

And fuck the cheaters for not making it again..Clemens and Bonds..please just whither away
Thanks to Joe Morgan for lobbying the exclusion of them

Best Regards
Smuler

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

If you kicked out all the cheaters, the spitballers like Whitey Ford and Gaylord Perry, the guys who took greenies illegally from the 50s through the early part of this century (ie. the whole lot of them), then booted out the racists who kept the color line up through WWII, like KM Landis, Cap Anson, Tom Yawkey, then followed with the gamblers (Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker and a whole lot more) you'd have a might empty hall.

 

[EagerBeaver]

If it were up to me Trevor Hoffman would be out and Edgar Martinez would be in. Hoffman did amass very good career stats, but I never felt like he was all that great or a difference maker. Martinez, on the other hand, was one of the toughest outs I have ever seen and got it done in the clutch, big time.

I am kind of on the fence on the so called cheaters for the reasons stated by rumples. Shenanigans in baseball have been going on for 100 plus years. It’s hard to cherry pick who played by the rules, depending on what your version of the rules actually is. Arguably, at least, Bonds, Sosa, McGwire et al broke no rules in place at the time and did things other players could have done as well. There is also a question as to the advantage they actually got, based on the scientific evidence on hand. I believe McGwire’s career ended due to steroids related issues he was having, thus preventing him from amassing greater stats.

Shoeless Joe Jackson is not in the Hall of Fame. In the 1919 World Series he batted .375, made no errors and gunned out a runner at the plate. Also set a then WS record with 12 hits. I believe he hit close to .356 for his career. Yet he was labeled a cheater and a game fixer. I don’t believe there is any valid proof that he did anything to influence the outcome of that World Series.

IMHO there has long been controversy over the HOF selection process. I think it really started when they elected Bill Mazeroski. There are plenty of guys not in HOF who are much better players than Mazeroski. These selections and omissions could be debated endlessly. I think with the advent of advanced stats the process might be a little more scientific now, if nothing else.