MLB 2020

You've got to be kidding me Severino!

Yankees shut down Luis Severino with forearm soreness

And now Severino needs TJ surgery and is gonna miss the year. WOW! Good thing we've got Cole but now we just lost our #2 starter for the entire season.

I just read another article about Severino and came here to post the news but you beat me to it. Bad news for Yankees. Someone is going to have to step up for them.

Yup. Looks like a blessing in disguise that we didn’t get rid of Happ as he’ll be our #3 for now. Montgomery will probably be our #4, so we’ll have to find someone at the end to shore up the rotation.

Not to mention Stanton now has a Grade 1 strain in his calf and Judge is having issues with his shoulders. This team better not be banged up again like it was last year! They already fired and replaced the strength and condition coach from last year.

It is not looking good for Judge. Thankfully we have a deep outfield.

I can't believe these guys are injured again! Paxton putting off surgery until right before spring training. Losing Severino for the year to Tommy John surgery. Stanton with a strained calf. Judge with his shoulder/peck. Just waiting for Cole, Andujar or someone else big to go down.

Now the season is being postponed!

Seems most every sport (as well as most all large public gatherings) has been postponed or outright cancelled (no March Madness!). I think we'll be extremely lucky if MLB (incl MiLB) is only postponed for a couple weeks -- there's a real possibility that it could be cancelled as well unless things really turn around with this virus.

This is nuts and a COMPLETE overreaction in my opinion!

I think it is too Irish. I want to see the Yanks out on the field. At least it gives some of our injured players some time to recover. Better safe than sorry with this stuff though.

Yeah, gives us time to get healthy but that'll delay German coming back since he's gotta miss the first 63 games. Plus, it allows other teams to get healthy as well. But I'm with you, I just want my Yankees back!

I think that this will all blow over soon. I read that the worst case scenario is that the season starts in June.

Yeah but they'll still have to do spring training again. Not sure how many games they'll get in this season or what they'll do with the draft and the trade deadline? But I heard players are getting full service time. So for a team like the Dodgers, who traded for Mookie Betts, they're getting an abbreviated season with him before he hits free agency next year. Kinda sucks for them but no one predicated this.

It looks like we could be getting baseball back next month. We finally have some good news in the world of sports.

I pray it's true. I just want my Yankees back!

Stanton will be ready for opening day so that is encouraging. I think Judge will be playing too.

The layover had been good for guys to get healthy (Judge, Stanton, Paxton), plus losing Sevy for the year doesn’t seem “as bad” now because of the shortened season. What hurts us German still has to serve out the remainder of his suspension. He has to miss games, not days.

So ready to see some baseball!!! Way to long of an off-season!

UNBELIEVABLE again from Rob Manfred dealing with the Red Sox scandal. Suspends the video monitor operator and they lose a second round pick and THAT'S IT! He has just green lit the entire league to continue to engage in this type of behavior due to his ineffective punishments because the players have nothing to lose and everything to gain. They will not be punished. Lose of draft picks, GM/coach gets fired? Fine, but the players are the ones getting off scot-free.

I have not been impressed with Manfred.

I’m starting not to be. Lost a ton of respect for the guy after the slap in the wrist to the Asterisks. I didn’t like Selig either but thought when Manfred came on board we could see some change in the game (namely, letting Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame). But after that didn’t happen and the way he and the league completely botched these two scandals, I’m quickly souring on the guy. When the Red Sox were caught in the Apple Watch scandal, he told all the teams that they were put on notice for the use of technology in the game. Then Houston systemically cheats and his penalties don’t have any teeth to them. And I know the players weren’t going to get punishment due to the players union, which is fine. But at the end of the day you still have to strip them of that title. And with Boston, they have a reply guy get suspended!? Oooohhhhhh! Wow, that’ll send a clear message to the rest of the league, which it has. Continue cheating, because you, the players, i’ll get off Scott free. The only people we’ll penalize are team personnel, managers, owners, etc.

I couldn’t have said it more perfectly.

LONG GONE SUMMER was put together very well. Definitely takes you back to 1998 and glad they at least touched upon the steroids issue and didn't ignore it completely. I was pleased with the results of this documentary. Looks like nothing's left in the pipeline for 30-for-30 unfortunately (or anything anytime soon).

Saw the JUNIOR documentary that aired on the MLB Network recently. It was good and I enjoyed it but it could have been more in depth and longer, which I feel would have turned out a better product. But what we were given, was enjoyable.

Indians say they're considering changing their name while the Braves aren't. Thoughts (especially those who follow those teams)?

Indians I can imagine, but are native Americans offended by Braves?

Tonight the start of the season FINALLY.

From a foreigner perspective, regarding the Indians, I'd say it's more their logo that could be considered offensive. It's not exactly a flattering representation of the native americans.

There's also the Chicago Blackhawks.

I'm just tired of all this cancel culture going on in America nowadays but that's another grip for another thread. Back to baseball!

Yanks looked good tonight (especially Stanton and Cole). Rain delay now. Hope they can finish it. Think A-Rod may be right that Stanton may really do well this season with no crowd. Time will tell but he's looked good so far (against Max Scherzer no less)

Nice come back win today for the Yanks to take the series 2-1 against Washington.

The Miami Marlins have 15 individuals test positive for COVID-19. The Yankees were supposed to play the Phillies (who played Miami just before). Monday and yesterday's games were canceled. The Yankees are now playing Baltimore to get some games in while the Phillies await test results. I REALLY hope they can get this season in.

Finishing the season does not look good. Marlins and Cardinals have multiple players test positive for COVID-19. Multiple teams have had their schedules shuffled. Hoping they can get it in as having baseball back has been a much welcome break!

Also, first meme I ever made

That’s gold! Yanks look great by the way. I would like for them to keep it up.

Just hope they can finish the season. That's what I'm most afraid of. Happy looked like garbage again today. I hope his vested option doesn't kick in for next year. He was good when we traded for him but he's done nothing since he resigned with us! Glad to see Judge and Stanton both healthy and mashing.

Former Angels employee charged in Tyler Skaggs’ fatal fentanyl overdose at North Texas hotel

https://www.fox4news.com/news/forme...l-fentanyl-overdose-at-north-texas-hotel


Eric Prescott Kay, who was the communications director for the Angels, was charged with conspiracy to distribute a mixture containing detectable amounts of fentanyl, and was arrested in Fort Worth.


Court documents show that a number of pills were found in Skaggs’ room, including a single blue pill with the markings M/30.


It closely resembled a 30-milligram oxycodone tablet, but an analysis of the pill revealed it had been laced with fentanyl.


Kay, 45, was interviewed by authorities, and reportedly said he didn’t know whether Skaggs was a drug user, and he hadn’t seen Skaggs since he checked into the hotel.


But investigators found text messages on Skaggs’ phone that showed he had asked Kay to stop by his room with pills.


It was later learned by investigators that Kay had lied to them, and told another Angels employee that he visited Skaggs’ room the night of his death.


The Drug Enforcement Administration determined that Kay would regularly give the blue M/30 pills – dubbed “blue boys” – to Skaggs and others.


The Angels put out a statement that investigation found no one in management was aware an employee was giving players, including Skaggs, opioids.


Kay made his first court appearance Friday morning, and faces up to 20 years in federal prison if he’s found guilty.

Stanton's back on the DL with a hamstring strain. That didn't take long. Only 15 games in to the season. What a blow though, they guy was starting out hot!

The starting pitching doesn’t look too good either. Our hitters are striking out a ton too. LeMahieu, Judge, Urshela and Voit have been great but everyone else has gotten off to a slow start. Stanton was tearing the cover off the ball for the first few games but then cooled off. I wonder if he was playing injured.

Now Judge is injured. He missed tonight's game due to tightness in his lower back. The team's unsure if he'll be back this weekend against Boston. That really makes me mad because Judge and Stanton were both healthy and smashing the ball and now they're both down. Glad they brought up Frazier and are playing him (AND he hit a homerun in his first AB tonight). I really want to see them give this kid a chance and some AB's. I don't want them to trade him! He's a good talent. He just needs experience at the MLB level.

Shouldn't be surprised that Judge and Stanton are both on the DL (again)! But definitely pissed because they were both mashing.

Yanks have been off almost a week and now they let Cole lose his first regular season game since May 2019.

Yanks are on a tear, winners of 8 straight. Players are coming back from injury (Judge, Stanton, Torres, LaMahieu). Hitters are smashing (Voit leads the league with 20 homeruns) and the pitchers are keeping the ball in the park. Looks like they're heating up at just the right time, heading into the playoffs.

FINALLY it's October baseball! Yanks going tonight against the Indians with Cole on the mount. Honestly, not a fan of the best of 3 series as anything can happen in a short series (plus the bats haven't been swinging too well lately). Also rooting for whoever best the Houston Asterisks, so don't let me down Minnesota!

The Yankees really roughed up Bieber yesterday. They had a great game plan and stuck to it: be aggressive in the box, get out to an early lead, and make Bieber uncomfortable. Hopefully they didn't blow their load last night and the bats stay hot because the Yankees do have a tendency to do that. Hopefully Tanaka can close it out tonight.

Awesome win for the Yankees last night. Never gave up, battled through all 9 innings, swept the Indians and moving on to the Rays now!

I am concerned about the Rays. We haven’t proven we can beat them yet. But we are healthy and there are no excuses now. The better team will win. I hope and pray that it’s the Yanks.

It'll be an interesting series, that's for sure. The bats have to come out swinging and they have to win when Cole pitches. They lose tonight, that could set the tone for the rest of the series.

Nice win against the Rays last night. These guys are swinging the bats really well so far this postseason. Gotta keep it up though. There's no break with the Rays pitching staff.

We did not hit. That’s what killed our chances against the Rays unfortunately. I am wondering what they’re going to do in the offseason. We clearly need a few more hitters like LeMahieu in the lineup and one more solid starter. I am unsure if Tanaka will be back or not. I hope he takes less to stay.

If I'm the Yankees, I sign Realmuto, put Sanzhez as backup or sell low on him and trade him (even though I have a feeling he'll come back to burn us, so maybe trade him to a NL team), resign LeMahieu and Tanaka and let everyone else walk. Next year's rotation would look like: Cole, Severino, Tanaka, German, and Montgomery (need a lefty in the rotation, plus I'd send Garcia down to the minors for more seasoning. No use in rushing the kid. He's got a bright future, but needs more fine tuning in the minors). Plus, I'd find a new closer. Chapman chokes when it counts the most. He almost blew the series for the Cubs in 2016 because of overuse, then last year and this year he's ended our season's on homeruns.

I am thinking the same. Is there any chance that we sign or trade for a big starter like Bauer? There are also some really good contact hitters who are available that I think we should make a run at.

The longer the Yanks go without signing DJ the more worried I am that he will sign elsewhere.

He's said he wants to come back to the Yankees and I know the Yankees want him. Just gotta make the numbers work but I won't lie with the new regime in Queens, I wouldn't be surprised to see them jack up the price on us. He and Tanaka need to be our #1 & #2 priorities.

Do you think we will get another starter? We have a lot of uncertainty in our rotation.

If we do, it'll be in the form of a trade. We've got Cole, need to resign Tanaka, will get Sevy back in June/July, will have German and Monty to start the year as well. I'd leave King, Garcia, and Schmidt in the minors for more experience. Not much on the market other than Bauer but if he would take a 1-year deal to help rebuild his stock, I'd take a flyer on Corey Kluber who's now a free agent that Texas declined his option.

The Padres add Blake Snell and are on the verge of also adding Yu Darvish. I respect them going all in. 2 big moves for the franchise while free agency has once again been quite this offseason.

The Mets make a move and trade for both Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco. They're making moves in the NL but the AL's pretty quite. Glad to see San Diego and New York better themselves and mostly via trades rather than through free agency.

The Yankees today resigned DJ LeMahieu to a 6-year, $90 million contract and are now signing Corey Kluber to a 1-year, $11 million deal. If they resign Tanaka, I think they'll be in good shape!

Great moves. I expect Tanaka to come back. They could trade for another pitcher too.

I hope they get Tanaka. I want to see the young guys remain in the minors and continue to develop. As such, we'll need someone to eat innings. I'd like to see the Yanks resign him to a 2 or 3 year deal. But yes, other than that, they'll have to trade for starting pitching as outside of Trevor Bauer, who I don't see them signing, the markets pretty thin.

I am very surprised that they traded Ottavino to the Red Sox of all teams.

I hate it but it was a salary dump. They're trying to get back under the luxury tax line. I would love to see them resign Tanaka to a 2-3 year deal because with the rotation they have now, it's not going to cut it in October I'm afraid to say.

Baseball Hall gets no new members; Schilling 16 votes shy

Screw Curt Schilling and I'm glad he and no one else got in. Too many PED users.

What is your take on people saying that players like Bonds should be in the hall of fame because he was a hall of fame player before he took steroids? A number of young people actually see him as the greatest player of all time. Which I will never understand and I think it shows that some people do not put much weight on how great older players like Ruth, Gehrig, Williams, Mays etc. were in comparison to how the game is played today. A lot of kids and proponents of today’s game do not believe that the players I named would make an MLB roster today let alone be the best of this generation.

I too believe Bonds, Clemens, and others were future HOFers before the connections to PED's. However, because of it, I don't want to see them in the Hall. They could have gotten in without them. It's like the Astros. Would they have won the World Series without the cheating scandal? We'll never know. But everyone outside of Houston views that title as tainted. So yeah, you put up even better numbers, but we'll never know where you would have fallen without them. You didn't need them, but got greedy or had too much of an ego to do it on your own. As for Schilling, as much as I may hate the guy personally, I think it's absurd to keep him out solely because of how outspoken about his politics he is. I don't even know why he was in the panel for the hearing back in the day along with Sosa, McGwire, Canseco, and Palmeiro? I think he's a borderline HOFer, and I'm sure he'll get in next year.

That’s how I feel about the situation. I was surprised they let Piazza in after all of the accusations against him. I don’t know how significant the effects of the PEDs were, but Bonds, Sosa and others during that time hit more home runs than they ever have in their careers prior to those few years. I think that’s evidence enough to say PEDs can turn someone who’s already a good hitter into an all time great hitter.

Bonds was great before he took steroids. But he was not looked at as an all time great hitter and player like some of the players in the top 5 discussion until the early 2000s when he started to hit home runs and walk at a historic rate. Coincidentally those may have been his biggest juicing years.

Like you said, Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, their numbers skyrocketed during the PED Era. I tip my hat even more to the pitchers of that day going up against guys like that. IMO, Aaron is still the homerun king.

Do you think the Yankees are done making moves? I like that Frazier will be starting in Left.

If they make any more, they'll be smaller moves like minor league contracts or inviting guys to spring training. I don't see them going after anyone big this late in the game. We're stuck with the rotation we have unless they make a trade unfortunately.

That’s concerning to me. I am not confident that this is a championship team but we must see how they all play first. And this is a full season so there is plenty of time for trades.

I say the same thing. I'm always optimistic about the Yankees every year but after the last few Octobers and seeing this rotation, I'm not convinced they can win with these guys. You know what you're going to get from Cole but Corey Kluber's only thrown 36 2/3 innings the last 2 years. Taillon's only thrown 37 1/3 during the same time frame. German's been out since September 2019 due to suspension. Severino's coming back by June/July but he's coming back from TJ surgery and those guys always need time to settle in, so I'm not expecting a #2 type pitcher as soon as he comes back. Monty will be your 5 and I want to see Garcia, Schmidt, and King all in the minors and continue to develop, rather than throw them to the wolves in the bigs. Speaking of Schmidt, he now has a strained tendon in his right (pitching) elbow and he's getting shut down. So yes, based on the amount of baggage this group carries with it, I'm not very optimistic unfortunately.

I second everything you said. Another thing that needs to be highlighted is the medical staff. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a team so riddled with injuries like we have been for the past few seasons.

The last 2 years, forgetaboutit! Kluber, Boone, and all of them are saying the right things and in years past that used to get me excited because I believed them, but not anymore. Let their game do the talking. I hope I'm wrong, I really do, but until they can prove to me that they're healthy and can play the way they used to, I ain't buying it. I've heard optimism around Judge and Stanton too. How they've slimmed down and I think started doing yoga and how they are hopeful they can remain healthy. I am too but again, until they prove it to me, I'm expecting both to be on the DL (not IL) at some point this season.

We have to hope for the greatest and expect the worst.

Not necessarily the worst but they need more pitching than what they currently have. The offense and bullpen should still be able to carry them to a division title.

Don't Drink & Drive, Please.