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MLB 2022

#21
Pilgrim said:
They have an owner who is probably the least rich owner in MLB. He has a great stadium that is a super place to spend a warm, low humidity summer afternoon in Colorado. He is ridiculously loyal to his top staff and hates to make changes. He also has somewhat limited pockets.

He and his GM tend to fill player slots with older free agents and guys who have been good earlier in their careers. Most of their free agents have never played at altitude for long and the vast majority of them don't play well in Denver.

People keep coming to Rockies games for the atmosphere, not for winning. It's going to take a fall-off in attendance for him to make changes. So far, he hasn't. And as long as there are butts in seats and the $8 beers and expensive foods keep selling, he doesn't need to change.
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Well, as a Mariners fan, I can sure relate to the plight of other fans with team owners who don't care about winning.
 
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#23
The Robbie Ray free agency has me somewhat intrigued. Looking at his previous years, he was inconsistent at best. In his 2nd year with the Jays, it seems everything came together for him, yet I hear nothing from the talking heads about the why he had a good year. Well, to my mind, Pete Walker, the Jays pitching coach was the reason he had the success he had.
Walker has a history of being able to get the most out of his players and if I were Robbie Ray, I would have a tent pitched in front of the Jays office, pen in hand, waiting for a new contract! Why would he leave such a successful relationship with the chance that he might regress to his former self.
Sure, money enters into it, but come on, how much money does he need versus maintaining a high level of performance?
Fishheadjoe
 
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#25
Fishheadjoe said:
The Robbie Ray free agency has me somewhat intrigued. Looking at his previous years, he was inconsistent at best. In his 2nd year with the Jays, it seems everything came together for him, yet I hear nothing from the talking heads about the why he had a good year. Well, to my mind, Pete Walker, the Jays pitching coach was the reason he had the success he had.
Walker has a history of being able to get the most out of his players and if I were Robbie Ray, I would have a tent pitched in front of the Jays office, pen in hand, waiting for a new contract! Why would he leave such a successful relationship with the chance that he might regress to his former self.
Sure, money enters into it, but come on, how much money does he need versus maintaining a high level of performance?
Fishheadjoe
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I'm a bit fuzzy on the details, but I can recall reading/hearing somewhere that Ray made noticeable mechanical changes to his delivery since he joined the Jays, probably as a result of working with Pete Walker and the other coaches and trainers on the Jays' staff. Obviously Ray should get a lot of credit for putting in the work, buying in, and being willing to make changes, but I agree that Pete Walker likely played an important role in Ray's turn-around too. If Ray is confident that he can continue doing what worked last season without needing the help of a specific coaching staff, then it makes sense for him to test the free agency waters. I hope he wants to stick around in Toronto, and I hope the Jays offer him a fair deal because he earned it, but I won't be shocked if he takes a better deal elsewhere. Last offseason, not many teams were willing to spend money on players, and Ray was very quick to take Toronto's one-year deal offer... but I think this winter, despite concerns re: the CBA, there are going to be more teams with money to spend on free agents. And the dude just won the AL Cy Young award. He should be getting a lot of interest. Super curious to see what happens.
 
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#26
I just saw this in Newsweek's? on line magazine, and thought of yous.

I mean Y'all…

C04AA90D-9651-45F2-AC42-79BF9CEEF178.jpeg
 
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#28
Camaro69 said:
It's soul crushing. Rooted for the Rox from day 1. Use to watch the Denver Bears and Zephyrs play on the same football stadium the Rox started in. Lots of good fans in this state

The Arenado situation was the straw for me. Go Cards. I hope Story can get out soon
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Trevor Story will be out this summer.

One sports goof put it pretty well:

The team wants to re-sign most of their guys from the 2021 team. But signing the same team and losing Story means the 2022 team won't be as good.

And I would point out that the previous year, re-signing everyone but Arenado meant the team in 2021 wasn't as good.

So projections are that the 2022 Rockies will be two steps worse then the teams with Arenado and Story. I'm sure they'll find some retreads from around the league to add. They did sign Elias Diaz the catcher, who was a bright spot this year...but that's status quo, not improvement.
 
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#29
BassGH said:
Well, as a Mariners fan, I can sure relate to the plight of other fans with team owners who don't care about winning.
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I think (hope) they do now. The Kid is an owner now. He likes to win, so that's going to help. And, he knows what he's doing when it comes to baseball. That's going to help, too.

They have built a farm system, and their coaching staff seems to be top notch for a change. Pitching and fielding, that is. Batting? They are still lacking. I don't know if coaching is the reason or not, but they sure do seem to be able to turn previously raw or iffy guys into infielders and pitchers.
 
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#34
A couple of things my S.F. Giants found out at the end of last year was that they have an emerging staff ace in young Logan Webb, as well as a closer in Camilo Doval. As far as the rest of the staff, that is up in the air as the very good staff they had was put together from one year contract signings. The front office is working on getting them mostly back. At the same time, we say goodbye to Johnny Cueto as the team declines to pick up his final year option.

First baseman Brandon Belt was one of the few potential free agents who accepted the team qualifying offer, so I am happy to have him for another year at least--pending a potential longer term deal beyond that.

Second year manager Gabe Kapler won N.L manager of the year for leading the Giants to a historic 107 win season. The vote was almost unanimous and obviously well deserved.

It will really seem strange without Posey behind the dish.

I'm sure like the other fans here, it's fun to see what pieces get added to improve our favorite teams.
 
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#36
Wow, Matz didn't stay on the market long! From MLBTR: "a four-year, $44MM guarantee, pending a physical. Incentives could eventually push that figure as high as $48MM."

He had a solid season in Toronto this year, but his overall track record is a bit spotty over his time in New York. That seems like a pretty fair deal for both sides. I wonder what Toronto offered Matz...
 
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#39
Gaolee said:
All is still quiet on the Mariners front. This seems like the longest trader Jerry has gone without making any deals of any kind. What are they doing!
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From what I am hearing, teams are waiting on the Collective Agreement to be completed before they really start to sign free agents. Without knowing the financial landscape, teams are hesitant to spend on premium free agents.
Fishheadjoe
 

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