The World Series is over. Congratulations to Dusty Baker for finally getting a ring as a manager. On to 2023. World Champion Mariners. You read it here first. More later. Lots more.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
MLB 2023
- Thread starter Gaolee
- Start date
latest astros rumor: dusty baker returns as manager. click may return as g.m., but must accomodate baker ...
baker going for the double-dip
baker going for the double-dip
Last edited:
Right there with you. I'm a Sox fan. But Dusty deserves his ring.
Off-season contract negotiations for the Red Sox are going to be insane. No "expert" can call it when it comes to what the Sox lineup will look like this coming Spring. For now, it's just sit and wait to see how it all plays out. The rumors run from Bogarts leaving, to Judge coming onboard. The last few years have not produced a ton of amazing decisions coming from the front office. Finishing dead last usually causes people to throw stuff at the wall to see what sticks. It's going to be a bumpy ride over the Winter. Even Spring training should be a wild ride. We're thinking of booking a flight and getting tickets to a couple of games at Jet Blue right before the regular season starts.
I still can't wait for the first smell of freshly-cut grass nest year. That always signals BASEBALL to me.
The Mets are starting the offseason with a bang! They going to re-sign Diaz for five years and $102 million. There's also a team option for a sixth year, and Diaz gets a signing bonus and no-trade clause. Relievers can be pretty volatile and this is a big contract. Hopefully it works out well.
well i'm not hoping for that
interesting to see how the over-spenders, i.e. the dodgers, yankees,and mets, handle the off season. is a higher-priced roster the answer?personally, i'm kinda interested in what the guardians do this off-season ... i'd like to see the mariners and guardians continue their playoff successes. stick it to the big spenders like the yankees
Last edited:
I have been a Dusty Baker fan for a very long time. But, I detest the Astros because they always seem to beat the Mariners. Never mind the cheating they did. Maybe the Mariners cheated, too, but not well enough.latest astros rumor: dusty baker returns as manager. click may return as g.m., but must accomodate baker ...
baker going for the double-dip
I don't think Julio needs to cheat. He's very much like Ken Griffey, Jr., except he's under contract now for some insane length of time. Plus, the Mariners play on grass instead of in the Kingdome, so Julio's knees will hold up far better. The Mariners need to have a couple more bats in the lineup around him. If Kelenic or Trammell learn to hit at the big league level, that will help. If Winker doesn't have a season long slump again, that will help. The crazy thing is that nobody on the Mariners seems to have had a career year, so I don't expect much drop off between this season and next. If anything, the Mariners should play better. They were all scrambled to start the year, and Julio was injured in the middle part of the year.
I'm a pathological optimist most of the time, but it doesn't seem pathological to be optimistic about the Mariners chances in 2023. They will add a pitcher, probably, and maybe a bat or two. I don't know who they will let go to make room. Ray gave up one enormously poorly timed home run, but he gives up the occasional home run. He also strikes out a lot of people. Castillo is a fixture at the top of the rotation, and Gilbert is solid. Any of those guys could be the ace of another team. Gonzales is a change of pace, like Jamie Moyer was. Then there are the young guys, Brash and Kirby, who will either start or be solid relievers. The 'pen has been good for a couple seasons, too. But, you can never have enough pitching.
As far as bats, I hope Kyle Lewis can get back on track. If Raleigh can hit for average as well as power, it will make a difference. Kelenic's average is hopeless. I don't understand what happens with him. Trammell's average is at least closer to the Mendoza line. Abraham Toro has a great name, but he only hit when he first got to the Mariners. Sorting him out would be good. And then there's Winker. He was supposed to be pretty good, but he was a complete dud. Either he turns it around or he will likely be gone.
Haniger, Frazier, Carlos Santana, and a couple other guys are now free agents. Haniger and Frazier are worth trying to bring back. Santana, not so much. I'm not sure who Casali is. He's a catcher. Boyd's name is familiar, but I don't recall much about him. He's a pitcher. Both seem like they are probably journeymen.
Last edited:
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
What saddens me is the ever-growing divide between the haves and have not. There needs to be more guidelines setting maximum and minimum salaries.
I say this as a Mets fan.
I say this as a Mets fan.
I don't know. The highest salaries didn't exactly all get to the big game, did they?
Long time Mariner fan here, too:
They have a history of trading off great players just before they have a career year, who then spend the rest of their careers pounding on the Mariners. Don't get me wrong - I had a great time watching them this year as they climbed into the playoffs (its been 21 years!). Even though they made it this year, I wouldn't be at all surprised if they trade any one of their best players before next season starts.
that's the rub. phillies were the 4th highest-paid roster, behind the dodgers, yankees, and mets. astros were 8th.
I'm just saying that if it were so "unfair", the Yanks and Dodgers would be playing in the World Series pretty much every year.
I don't think DiPoto will do that. He's been an active, but astute trader so far. I'm also a pathological optimist, so take what I say with that in mind.
He is. And his contract with the Mariners could last through 2039 when he will be pushing 40. It will last through 2029 without question. He has a player option to extend his contract through 2034, so there's all kinds of scenarios that could happen. But for now, he's a Mariner for the next seven years, minimum.julio rodriguez is gonna play in this league for a good long while
They may not play in it every year, but they are set up to have sustained runs at it. Being a Brewer fan, it's frustrating to know that most of our good players will be gone when they hit their prime. A player like Judge or Ohtani will never be a Brewer. The revenue is just not there.
Can a team win the World Series with a smaller payroll? Yes. Can they be 95+ win teams year in and year out? Not so much. And I fear that it's going to get worse before it gets better.
But the thing I love about baseball is that underdog always has a chance.
Well, I might be the only Astros fan here so far. So needless to say this has been quite the weekend.
but for the Brewers, and especially the Mariners, y’all are damn close. The Braves and the Astros have set the template for not overspending on 10+ year contracts in the middle of prime seasons like the Angels, Rangers, and Padres are apt to do. We definitely never see the first two competing consistently because they don’t invest in their draft picks.
My favorite part of last season was seeing how the Yankee fans got their souls taken away. They are approaching new levels of cannibalizing a$&h@lery that will eat through their players for years to come.
but for the Brewers, and especially the Mariners, y’all are damn close. The Braves and the Astros have set the template for not overspending on 10+ year contracts in the middle of prime seasons like the Angels, Rangers, and Padres are apt to do. We definitely never see the first two competing consistently because they don’t invest in their draft picks.
My favorite part of last season was seeing how the Yankee fans got their souls taken away. They are approaching new levels of cannibalizing a$&h@lery that will eat through their players for years to come.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
For the most part, the top teams were the top spenders, and the guys at the bottom spent the least. I can't imagine being a Pittsburgh or Cincinnati fan.
There are teams that win win less, but other than Tampa Bay, it's get lucky, then spend more at the end. Look at the NFL and NHL. They have hard salary caps, and more teams have a legit shot every year (and fewer are permanent cellar-dwellers).
^^ i am surprised how quickly some (most?) teams turn over their rosters. the '22 astros had but 5 players (2 pitchers) from the '17 team.
Professional athletes age out pretty fast. There are always a few with long careers, but most only last a short time, then fade away.
slobake
resident ... something
The SF Giants proved that you can win without going after high priced veteran stars. In the 2010's they won three W.S. titles with mostly home grown talent. They were fun teams to watch. I hope they can repeat that in the future.
