2022-23 Hot Stove thread

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.

no. and his replacement (jason benetti) is v. good

The last good Rangers TV guy was Josh Lewin a decade-plus ago was shocked that Tom Grieve was retiring after 30 years of being the most boring guy on air not named Babe Laufenberg.

Adalberto Mondesi to Boston in exchange for mediocre reliever Josh Taylor

i have to admit i have a weakness for soft-hitting infield wizards (cf Andrelton Simmons) (not that Mondesi is as good with the glove as Simmons) (but still)

he's also made of glass

Once I had an infielder, he played off the grass
Soon found out

Passan:

BREAKING: National League batting champion Jeff McNeil and the New York Mets are in agreement on a four-year, $50 million contract extension, pending physical, sources familiar with the deal tell ESPN. It includes a fifth-year club option that could take value to $63.75 million

also, Diamond Broadcast Group (owned by Sinclair, owns Bally Sports) confirms the rumors and is headed to bankruptcy court. they broadcast for these teams:

Arizona, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City, Los Angeles Angels, Miami, Milwaukee, Minnesota, St. Louis, San Diego, Tampa Bay, and Texas

it also affects other sports that feature balls, such as the NBA and NHL

https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/80012/in-the-dirt-sinclair-prioritizing-buybacks-over-baseball-hurts-fans-the-most/
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-25/sports-broadcaster-diamond-faces-8-6-billion-debt-reckoning

xp someone ask keith law if he thinks jeff mcneil is a prospect

*correction: the NHL does not feature a ball

Greinke is a Royal for one more (likely final) year

he had a pretty solid 2022, hope he finishes on a high note.

i hope so too, but his peripherals didn't look great last year

Beltran hired by the Mets:

https://baseball.realgm.com/wiretap/55598/Carlos-Beltran-Joining-Mets-As-Special-Assistant-To-GM

Timing in interesting, after he did better in HOF voting than I think was the general expectation (because of the scandal and the Mets bailing last time).

(I think George Costanza was once up for the same job with the Yankees but lost out to Wilhelm.)

is anyone else excited about the world baseball classic

I am, but not so excited that I have any idea when it starts

still a month away - first games are march 8.

some teams are still announcing rosters, but you can see them here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_World_Baseball_Classic_rosters

team gb is going to…. lose badly lol

yeah, it's probably going to get ugly for czech republic as well.

dominican republic is gonna be mighty good again

People are saying Japan is the fav to win it?!

yeah, i'm really, really looking forward to getting to see them play, especially to get a chance to watch Munetaka Murakami and Roki Sasaki

Baseball’s Best Young Hitter and Pitcher Play in Japan

also, Ohtani.

the US starting lineup is going to be monstrous (OF: Trout, Betts, Tucker; IF: Goldschmidt, Arenado, Turner, Witt Jr, Alonso, Story; Realmuto catching), but good pitching is even important in a tournament and japan has some of the best pitchers on earth on their team

even ^more^ important

I am now sufficiently excited.

ONLY ONE MONTH REMAINS!

haha but yeah i am relatively excited for it. i had never watched a WBC before the last go round and found it really gripping and way more intense than i thought it would be. it also led to unforgettable (for me) moments that wouldn't be possible in MLB, like

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuiEAdveNE0

something like that might happen in an all-star game, i suppose, but even then there's something about it coming in the midst of a competitive game where they really, really want to win (and have fun) that made it special

I always pay *some* attention to the wbc (I think we have a thread for it). I always enjoy seeing guys explode onto the scene through it

padres extend Yu Darvish through 2028, $108M, $18M AAV. when the contract is up at the end of 2028, darvish will be 42 years old.

a lot to pay for his Phil Niekro years

that is…pretty generous of the padres

spring training, pitchers and catchers reporting, all of that. is time for a new season thread yet? i want to get past this horrible, awful winter and part of it, psychologically, is the idea that baseball is happening again.

i took a screenshot of facebook content that i didn't ask to see but thought was intersting

https://i.imgur.com/jWPnC1b.png

There’s still a month of spring training to go though. Feels like the general thread needs to be closer to opening day.

That chart made me laugh. If you overpay enough people, you look come out looking pretty good.

midseason form

Jacob deGrom felt some tightness in his left side, and — given the cold weather and how early it is in camp, we’re told — they’re going to hold him back a day or two. We’re told the seriousness level is such that he would play through it if it were the regular season.

— Levi Weaver (@ThreeTwoEephus) February 15, 2023

good luck, texas

for anyone who cares about the bally sports mess, today is the day of their first missed interest payment, which kicks off the bankruptcy process. the next 30 days is a grace period for the missed payment. at that point, mid-march, it'll become more clear what kind of bankruptcy this is going to be, whether it's one negotiated and handled with MLB participation or more of a free-form chaotic thing

Diamond Sports' future was a topic on this week's podcast.

Listen here: https://t.co/jDj7q2c1tj pic.twitter.com/5JsP3v7CUI

— John Ourand (@Ourand_SBJ) February 15, 2023

a couple arbitration things. i guess the big one is corbin burnes. he asked for $10.75M, brewers countered with $10.01M, he lost his case. burnes wasn't happy about it:

Every fear that going to an arbitration hearing against Corbin Burnes could harm his relationship with the Brewers was founded.

“There’s no denying that the relationship is definitely hurt from what [transpired],” Burnes said. pic.twitter.com/Xv8DFyiKde

— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) February 16, 2023

sounds like during the hearing, the brewers (or their reps in the case at least) tried to blame not making the 2022 playoffs on burnes (who pitched very well last year), and he's pissed.

in less notable news, ryan helsley also lost his arbitration case. he asked for $3M, will receive $2.15M instead. he was one of the very best relievers in the game last year and can throw 104 mph, but ok cardinals

Seems like a bad way for the brewers to save 749k

Textbook illustration of why arbitration hearings are a minefield to be avoided.