2022-23 Hot Stove thread

lol ok

Yes, Tommy Pham slapped a man because of fantasy football, but the background work Mets did on him turned up intel that he's a very well-liked teammate and good clubhouse presence. The man he slapped was on a different ballclub, after all

— Andy Martino (@martinonyc) January 18, 2023

On top of Pham’s $6MM, the Mets owe a 90% luxury tax of $5.4MM, bringing their total tab for the signing to $11.4MM.

sheesh

*Mets make “wooooooo scary” fingers*

I guess it’s a new era when lolmets = look how much luxury tax they have to pay

aroldis chapman to the royals on a one-year deal

make him a starter or gtfo!

Could see a dead cat bounce bc of the stadium

twins trade luis arraez to the marlins for pablo lopez and two prospects. surprised by this move, though i'm not familiar with lopez

What’s surprising is the Marlins giving up prospects

lopez's shoulder is a concern

what's also interesting is that arraez's arrival is going to push jazz chisholm to CF, a position he's never played before.

Is that what they’re saying? Arraez can play pretty much anywhere on the diamond can’t he?

(Except maybe CF and C)

that's the word

Marlins general manager Kim Ng told Craig Mish of SportsGrid.com that Jazz Chisholm will play center field in 2023.

This news comes shortly after the Marlins acquired Luis Arraez from the Twins to become the Marlins' new second baseman. Chisholm certainly has the athleticism to handle the position, but there was some thought that the 24-year-old would play shortstop -- a position he has previous experience at -- with Arraez in town. He'll have eligibility in the middle-infield to begin 2023, and should gain outfield eligibility shortly into the season.

https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/news/marlins-jazz-chisholm-will-play-in-center-in-2023/
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/01/marlins-to-move-jazz-chisholm-to-center-field.html

sorry, ignore the "eligibility" stuff - it's from a fantasy site

Had this crazy idea the Jays might pursue Arraez--seemed perfect for a team emphasizing pitching/defense.

Lol - the infield was the one thing (ok and catcher) where they were solid going into the offseason!

Lopez would have made way more sense (less so now that they have Bassitt)

the marlins gave up prospects because arraez has one more year of control and i think because of hitters being considered safer.

the marlins likely would’ve had one of the worst center field rotations in baseball this season so if jazz can get to just kinda bad on defense they should be upgrading two positions here. i’m intrigued by the idea but i worry about his health, he had back and knee injuries last year

Jazz Chisholm, Jr. tells me he told the organization if they didn’t acquire a Centerfielder he would “Go out, play the position and win a Gold Glove.”

— Craig Mish (@CraigMish) January 20, 2023

And he hasn’t played a single inning anywhere in the outfield in the major or minors?! Amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJpei5QrZ44

Lol - the infield was the one thing (ok and catcher) where they were solid going into the offseason!
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall)

I want all the good players, every last one of them. (I guess we are pretty solid at second with Merrifield.)

And Espinal and Otto Lopez too (and Addison Barger in AAA)

new cardinals broadcaster is chip caray

pleasing lineage, of course. i don't think i've ever heard him call a braves game, so i don't really know. hopefully he is better than joe buck

ooooooh fuck

Q: could i be a hotshot front office person by being aware of the fangraphs broadcaster rankings and advising a team to not pick the lead broadcaster from one of the worst ranked broadcast teams?

fuck man

i read recently, in a local st louis dispatch piece about how sinclair (who owns bally sports, who i think does the broadcasting for 10+ teams) is going bankrupt, that the cardinals ownership were letting bally sports drive the new broadcaster search. who would have known that they'd do a terrible job, weird

fangraphs rates broadcasters?!?!

the readers do. i think the last year they did the tv broadcasters was after the 2020 season. here were the results.

https://i.imgur.com/rhmn8wJ.png
https://i.imgur.com/ks3jcYg.png

here are the radio broadcasters:

https://i.imgur.com/5zK1dxY.png
https://i.imgur.com/6ltLlsC.png

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/broadcaster-crowdsourcing-results-part-3-10-1/
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/radio-broadcast-crowdsourcing-results-part-3-10-1/

you have to take it with a grain of salt, of course, because it's biased toward the readership, and they get a lot more votes for/against teams with larger viewerships, like the NY and LA teams. still, the fangraphs readership is relatively knowledgable compared to most fans, and especially a place like barstool sports. and although teams with higher viewerships get more votes, there are examples of teams at the top (the mets) and near the bottom (the cardinals)

and i think they generally get it right. the mets tv broadcast is great - i always love when the cards play the mets because i can tune in to their broadcast team and it's hundreds of times better. same with the dodgers (at least back in the scully era), the giants, etc, which rank highly here

Analysis/Charisma/Coherence--reminds me of the scorecard on Kool Moe Dee's How Ya Like Me Now. No rating for "Sticking to Themes"?

that might fall under "coherence":

“Coherence” focuses on play-by-play, but it also covers how well broadcasters stay in tune with the game. The most coherent broadcasts strike a balance between telling stories and informing viewers of the current state of the game. That’s a tough balance to strike, and many broadcasts that scored well on charisma did worse in terms of coherence.

I’ve tried a few STL broadcasts and found them practically unlistenable and flat. I don’t know how you do it, KM.

Chip, if I remember correctly, is a big Braves homer, so that could potentially be funny when the Cards play the Braves.

Gary Cohen and Howie Rose are going into the Mets Hall of Fame this year.

many broadcasts that scored well on charisma did worse in terms of coherence

Early Wynn, 1977! (Truthfully, I'm guessing--it's not like I remember.)

The note about Howie Rose’s curmudgeonly/get off my lawn rants is true though, and has been getting more prevalent every year.

i would settle for a broadcast that excels in even one of analysis, charisma, or coherence. it's not a 3-legged stool situation, where if you remove one the whole thing falls over. baseball broadcasting is like a 5-legged stool. it's perfectly fine until you knock out 3 of the fucking legs

Dan Schulman is pretty close to a five-legged stool.

Barves broadcasts are rid of Chip Caray? Best baseball news I've heard all winter!

i will dread him in your honor.

a true turd cannot die. it must be passed

I love Schuman

only heard chip on TBS playoff coverage iirc, but he was noticeably awful

schulman is grebt. i mean, if you can call games with dick vitale, you can call anything

The thing I'll miss the most about Chip Caray no longer being the play-by-play commentator for the Braves is him not being afraid to describe terrible throws accurately. pic.twitter.com/FOHfrYifv0

— Baseball GIFs (@gifs_baseball) January 24, 2023

I'm surprised that people watch enough baseball to be able to judge the broadcast teams in many cities besides their home team's city. Every team's broadcasters are something of an acquired taste, I think this is unique to baseball broadcasting compared with other sports, because you have to get used to hearing them every night. It would be like having drinks with the same two acquaintances every night for six months -- you eventually learn to tolerate (and even like) all their strange quirks and idiosyncrasies.

Idk man i watch the mets w the sound on and most other ny region sports broadcasts w the sound off

apparently arte moreno has pulled the angels off the market

no idea how this might affect ohtani's next contract

having to listen to chip caray's voice for 3 hours every day is not that different from something they might come up w/ at a CIA black site. i've been consoling my close friend who is a cardinals fan

Art was probably hoping for a competitive bid from the ILX collective

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred also released a statement on the matter, as relayed by Sam Blum of The Athletic. “Despite strong buyer interest in the Angels, Arte Moreno’s love of the game is most important to him. I am very pleased that the Moreno Family has decided to continue owning the team.”

:D

is the white sox broadcaster still the "you can put it on the board" guy.