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MLB General Discussion (Official Thread)

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They can lock 'em out until next football season for all I care. Somehow, I'd get by without another 100-loss shit show from the Pirates. :pirate:
 
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This was linked to a Super 70s Sports Guy tweet:



I don't remember ever hearing that he had a heart & kidney transplant back in 2016:

‘Second chance’: Rod Carew saved by heart from NFL player who died at 29

170414194141-02-rod-carew-heart.jpg

Mary Reuland listens to her late son's heart in the chest of Rod Carew.

Rod Carew likely doesn’t remember the first time he interacted with Konrad Reuland.

It was the late 1990s and Reuland was a sixth-grader in Southern California.

Reuland told his mother one day, ‘Mom, I met Rod Carew today!” the Orange County Register reported.

Almost 20 years later, they are forever together. Reuland was an organ donor; after he died in December, his heart and a kidney went to Carew, who desperately needed a heart.

On Friday, the American Heart Association revealed the story of how the families of the baseball legend and the young NFL player who passed away after a brain aneurysm learned of unusual circumstances surrounding the gift to Carew.

Entire article: https://www.cnn.com/2017/04/14/health/rod-carew-heart-transplant-nfl-player-trnd/index.html
 
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Baseball Hall of Fame ballot: Why I voted for these 10 players
By Ken Davidoff
https://nypost.com/2022/01/23/baseball-hall-of-fame-ballot-why-i-voted-for-bonds-clemens/
Contemplate the narrative that the Baseball Hall of Fame is constructing for itself in real time:

“For its first 115 years or so, the grand old game was played, generally, by gentlemen of the highest moral fiber. Then, inexplicably, a swarm of rapscallions descended upon the scene and threatened the sport’s very integrity.”

Do we really think that the people competing in Major League Baseball collectively suffered a sportsmanship swan-dive beginning in the late 1980s? Or is the illegal performance-enhancing drugs era a function not of character, but rather technology? Mike Schmidt and the late Bob Gibson, both long ago enshrined in Cooperstown, are among those self-aware and clear-eyed enough to concede that they very well might have tried steroids had they been easily accessible in their playing days.

That concern dominated my thoughts as I filled out this quite consequential 2022 Baseball Writers Association of America ballot, the results of which will be announced Tuesday evening on the MLB Network. Here’s where I landed:

1. Barry Bonds
Baseball Hall of Fame
Barry Bonds

He is the first (alphabetically) of four highly accomplished players who find themselves in their 10th and final shot with the writers, and gosh, what impact does it have on the game’s primary museum to not include the undisputed home-run king in its Plaque Gallery? Unlike hit king Pete Rose, also not there, Bonds never received any discipline for his alleged usage of illegal PEDs, let alone being banned permanently.

2. Roger Clemens
Baseball Hall of Fame
Roger Clemens

Bonds’ partner in crime, so to speak, as 1) the two men faced similar levels of illegal PED scrutiny without ever being found guilty of anything; 2) Clemens is arguably the pitching equivalent of Bonds; and 3) this is The Rocket’s last shot here. He’s an all-timer, regardless of how he achieved it.

3. Todd Helton
Baseball Hall of Fame
Todd Helton

The first baseman’s major controversy, a minor matter compared to the two names above him, is that he played all of his home games at hitter-friendly Coors Field. Nevertheless, the lifetime Rockie performed well enough (a 133 OPS+ and a massive peak from 2000 through 2004) to silence such doubts.

4. Andruw Jones
Baseball Hall of Fame
Andruw Jones
Corbis/Icon Sportswire via Getty
If the center fielder retired after his age-30 season, 2007, he probably would be off this ballot and in the Hall already. Instead, he fell off a cliff his final five years, after he left the Braves; he is trending the right way in his fifth year of eligibility. I say, let’s honor his pre-cliff run.

5. David Ortiz
Baseball Hall of Fame
David Ortiz

Putting aside the illegal PED issue (he failed only the 2003 survey test, which really shouldn’t matter for these purposes), you can examine his regular-season statistics and wonder if he merits a coveted slot on this maximum-10 ballot. Once you factor in his postseasons, though — a .289/.404/.543 slash line and three rings with the Red Sox — he should be a slam dunk. Based on Ryan Thibodaux’s tracking, Ortiz ranks as the most likely player here to be elected.

6. Manny Ramirez
Baseball Hall of Fame
Manny Ramirez

It is the Hall of FAME, right? How many players of his era were more famous than Manny Being Manny? For good reason, too, as one of the most accomplished and dramatic hitters of his era. As for his two suspensions for violating baseball’s illegal PED protocols, well…

7. Alex Rodriguez
Baseball Hall of Fame
Alex Rodriguez

….to all of the writers who complain that the Hall hasn’t provided guidance on how to deal with illegal PEDs, I submit that the Hall provided all the guidance we’ll ever need when it sprinted to induct retired commissioner Bud Selig through the Today’s Era Committee. Selig, as Brewers owner, was found guilty of violating baseball’s collective bargaining agreement thrice for colluding with his fellow lords of the manor to suppress free agency, a crime far more damaging than drug usage. Hence A-Rod, found guilty only once, merits my vote.

8. Scott Rolen
Baseball Hall of Fame
Scott Rolen

One of the top third basemen of his era on both sides of the ball. It’s looking quite good for the fifth-year candidate to eventually gain entry.

9. Curt Schilling
Baseball Hall of Fame
Curt Schilling

As much as I disagree with his defenders who claim that he’s a victim of “politics” — no principled conservative would endorse any of his hateful messages — I disagree more with my fellow voters who punish him for his toxicity. When he whiffs in his final shot here, as looks very likely, it will reflect more poorly on the Hall than on him.

10. Sammy Sosa
Baseball Hall of Fame
Sammy Sosa

The fourth member of the last-chance group, he never has gained any serious traction, partly because of the illegal PED suspicions and partly because a deep dive into components like his on-base percentage and defense don’t help. I support him because of his monster peak from 1993 through 2002, and his good cheer during his 1998 home-run chase.

Close calls: Andy Pettitte and Gary Sheffield, both on my ballot last year, left to make room for Big Papi and A-Rod. Perhaps they’ll return next year.

On deck: Because at least four and quite possibly five of my choices will be gone from the 2023 ballot, could that leave room for worthy considerations Bobby Abreu, Mark Buehrle, Jeff Kent and Billy Wagner?
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These former MLB players deserve more love from Hall of Fame voters
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/33092760/these-mlb-players-deserve-more-love-hall-fame-voters
Who will make this year's Baseball Hall of Fame class? We don't quite know that yet (results will be announced Tuesday), but there are a number of players who we're pretty sure won't make it. Either they're not getting enough support on public ballots or they're staring at a too-significant deficit from their previous year's vote totals, among other factors. For many of these players, that's justified -- there's no shame in lasting long enough to make a Hall of Fame ballot -- but for others, we're not quite sure it's fair. We asked some of our experts to make their best cases for players who really should be getting more love from the voters.

Bobby Abreu
Bobby Abreu was a five-tool player in the truest sense -- a patient hitter with power who acted as a perpetual stolen-base threat and could alter a game both with his arm and with his glove. But his career has also been defined by glaring slights, such as:

  • Only two All-Star Game appearances.

  • Only one Gold Glove.

  • 8.7% support for the Hall of Fame.
The final bullet represents the percentage of Baseball Writers' Association of America ballots Abreu appeared on last year, in his second year of Hall of Fame eligibility. The year prior, he just barely reached the 5% threshold required to remain a candidate. This year, with 42.1% of ballots revealed, Abreu has pulled in only 11.5% of the vote, according to the data compiled by Ryan Thibodaux.

Abreu is admittedly not a surefire Hall of Famer. But his case is a lot closer than it appears, and he deserves far more consideration than he has been granted. From 1998 to 2004, Abreu ranked fifth in FanGraphs wins above replacement, behind only Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Scott Rolen and Andruw Jones. He played in at least 142 games in 14 straight seasons and frequently finished with at least a .300 batting average (six times), a .400 on-base percentage (eight), a .500 slugging percentage (five), 20 home runs (nine), 20 stolen bases (13), 100 RBIs (eight), 100 runs (eight), 100 walks (eight) and 3.0 FanGraphs WAR (10).

The average Baseball-Reference WAR for Hall of Fame right fielders is 71.1, and Abreu falls noticeably below that at 60.2. But that list of Hall of Fame right fielders includes Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Stan Musial, Mel Ott, Frank Robinson, Roberto Clemente and Al Kaline -- inner-circle Hall of Famers. Abreu isn't at that level, but that doesn't mean he isn't worthy of inclusion altogether. His JAWS score (Jaffe wins above replacement), famously developed by Jay Jaffe, ranks 20th at his position, sandwiched between a couple of Hall of Famers in Dave Winfield and Vladimir Guerrero.

Again, he's close. Abreu's career totals might not jump off the page -- he finished just shy of a .300/.400/.500 slash line, 2,500 hits, 300 home runs and 1,400 RBIs, though he did steal exactly 400 bases -- but he deserves far more consideration. -- Alden Gonzalez

Andruw Jones
What you need to know about HOF vote »
Former players who deserve more love »
The best non-Hall of Famers (ESPN+) »
Class of 2022 Hall of Fame coverage »

More than ever we can calculate the impact that elite relievers have on winning, and it is disproportionate to what you'd expect from aggregate raw statistics. You have to judge relievers through the prism of leverage-based statistics, and the practice of doing so is only going to become more necessary in the years to come, as increasingly those metrics determine how relievers are deployed in the first place.

Among the eight Hall relievers, five of them rate as the top five in Jaffe's R-JAWS metric. Wagner is No. 6. He's also sixth in both career saves (422) and win probability added among career relievers. He's 44th all-time in win probability added among all pitchers, not just firemen. He was consistent and dominant for nearly his entire career -- his 187 OPS+ ranks second among Hall-eligible relievers, behind Mariano Rivera.

Wagner appears to have gotten lost in the shuffle of a still-swollen backlog of qualified Hall candidates on the ballot. Seven years into his eligibility window, he has crept up on the 50% mark but hasn't seen much growth in his support over past year. That needs to change and fast: Wagner has just three more years of eligibility remaining. -- Bradford Doolittle

Andy Pettitte
ESPN column, it was tough being a pitcher born in the 1970s and surviving the steroid era. Only Martinez and Roy Halladay have more career WAR than Pettitte among pitchers born in that decade.

I get it: Pettitte's peak performance doesn't scream Cooperstown -- two qualified seasons with an ERA under 3.00, four top-five Cy Young votes, only three seasons above 5.0 WAR. He was a bit of a compiler, a guy who churned out his 200 innings every season, although of course there is a lot of value in doing that. With Pettitte, however, we also need to consider the postseason. For modern players, with multiple rounds of playoffs and so many more opportunities to pitch, this can add a lot to a player's legacy.

Pettitte has won more games than any pitcher in postseason history (19), started the most games (44) and pitched the most innings (276). He went 19-11 with a 3.81 ERA and, yes, volume is again part of the success, but he allowed two runs or fewer in 23 of those 44 starts and pitched at least six innings in 35 starts. Yankees fans happily remember his greatest moments, including 8⅓ scoreless innings in Game 5 of the 1996 World Series and two wins in the 2009 World Series. Maybe he's a borderline candidate via his regular-season numbers, but the five World Series rings are the exclamation point to his career. -- David Schoenfield
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