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Padres fan
8:29
Your thoughts on what Preller has done for SD. Obviously lots of dumb trades and money thrown around. However it feels like we are on the verge of being a very good team. If you were ownership, do you give him another few years to see if he puts together a major league team, or can him sooner rather than later?
Mark P
8:31
Under normal circumstances, Preller would definitely have been feeling the pressure this year, based on what Ron Fowler said at the end of last season: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/09/padres-chairman-ron-fowler-on-e...

Now, however, I think AJP will probably be kept in his job through at least the end of his current contract, which expires after the 2022 season
Mike
8:33
Dabusscher played for the white Sox he was a picher
Mark P
8:34
So he did!  In fact, there have been 13 people who have played in both MLB and the NBA, including Dave DeBusschere.  I had no idea before tonight that DDB also played baseball....appeared in 36 games for the White Sox in 1962-63
Rangers29
8:34
Mike Hazen is the best gm in baseball: change my mind.
Mark P
8:35
I'm not sure he's THE best given a lack of postseason success, but I've been very impressed with the job Hazen has done in Arizona.  The D'Backs were my pick for a wild card before the season.
Greek the Freak
8:35
I don’t get how baseball is losing interest if it’s making 10 billion dollars and a team like the Yankees is top 5 franchises. If baseball is dying would the numbers be way down or not be a top franchise?
Mark P
8:37
Some of the "baseball is dying" rhetoric is overblown, given that the sport is in overall excellent financial shape (or at least it was prior to the pandemic).  

There is a gap, however, between local and national interest and seems somewhat unique to baseball.  Fans tend to follow their local teams passionately but, once their teams are eliminated, don't carry that interest into the postseason.  Compare that to the Super Bowl or NBA Finals, which are widely viewed by just about all football or basketball fans even if their favorite teams aren't playing for the title
Cleveland Clinic
8:38
Are the Cleveland Indians the team that has had the biggest benefit from a delayed season start.
Mark P
8:40
If the season is only "delayed," then sure, the Tribe has gotten a bit of a break since their many injured players will be healed up.

If the season is canceled, however, Cleveland is one of the teams that will be hardest-hit by a lost year.  Not only is the revenue loss even a bigger issue for a smaller-market team, but they also lose what was likely their last year of Lindor without getting one more shot at a championship.
Beat LA 4Ever
8:40
What do you think the next contract will look like for Buster Posey? He's clearly no longer the player he was when he was younger and will be playing first base primarily, with Joey Bart probably making it to San Francisco in 2021. I can't imagine the Giants letting an icon like him ever leaving town.
Mark P
8:41
My guess is that Posey (who has two guaranteed years left on his deal) is indeed probably a Giants lifer, and he'll stick around as a backup catcher and veteran mentor to Bart.
Sox fan
8:42
What happens with Pedroia if he doesn’t play this year?
Mark P
8:43
Nothing will "happen," per se....he'd just spend the year on the 60-day IL if play resumes.  He likely wouldn't officially retire since he is still under contract through 2021 and probably wouldn't walk away from that additional salary
Knows Pickin
8:44
Wouldn't it be smart to play the All Star Game in LA at the end of the season, and set aside some weather friendly venues for November post season baseball?
Mark P
8:45
An end-of-year ASG might be tricky, since then you'd be asking some players who'd already been shut down for a few weeks (after their teams had been eliminated) to get back into action.
Insert Clever Name Here
8:46
Counterpoint: It might be better to not ask the time traveler for further details in case it creates a temporal paradox.  In all seriousness, if you had to just guess, and assuming Puig being offered multiple deals is indeed true, which other teams do you think likely offered him a deal besides the Marlins.
Mark P
8:47
"It's your kids, Marty!  Something's got to be done about your kids!"

Probably any team that had a need in the outfield this winter.  I don't think it's at all unreasonable to assume that multiple teams did approach Puig with offers, though an "offer" could take many forms.  If a team floated a one-year, $2MM or something, I don't blame Puig for turning it down at the time
Jason
8:48
FYI, Mark 2024 would mark the 35th anniversary not 45th.
Mark P
8:49
See, with no baseball, my counting skills have gotten rusty.  Yeah, that's the ticket!
AZ Plan
8:49
Can you see some veteran players "holding out" if it meant staying away from there families? Mike trout as an example?
Mark P
8:50
Absolutely, which is why I'm skeptical this plan will get off the ground any time soon (if at all).  Even if, say, two-thirds of all players agree to play, that still leaves a big chunk of the league on the sidelines, especially when you consider how many notable stars have already expressed doubts about the concept.
Yankees fan
8:51
Incentive and vesting options.  Are they out the window,  or renewed automatically?
Mark P
8:51
In the same way that salaries would be prorated in the event of a shortened season, I'd guess incentive clauses and vesting thresholds would be similarly adjusted to reflect the fewer number of games
Jeter
8:53
To further duscuss Jeter. The question before he was voted in wasn't if he would be a 1st ballot hall of famer. But rather he would be consensus hall of famer in the 1st ballot. Per an article in the New York papers a couple of years ago they compared Jeter and Trammell. The New York paper said Trammell was slightly better. Jeter nearly a consesns 1st ballot and Trammell voted in by the veterans committee. Yankee fans said Trammell should not be let in because he is just very good and not great. Then Jeter does not belong in either. I actually like Jeter. But there should not be two standards, one for Yankees and one for other teams.
Mark P
8:54
I don't disagree that Jeter is overrated by a lot of New York fans, and that Alan Trammell was criminally underrated by HOF voters.

But let's also be clear, Jeter was a great player who absolutely deserved to be in Cooperstown.  And he is far from the only player in the Hall who benefited from being a one-team guy (Yankees or otherwise), or who benefited from winning multiple championships over the course of his career
kurt the hurt
8:55
Do you like the idea of 7 inning doubleheaders ?
Mark P
8:57
Not really.  I'm wary of any ideas that would alter the nature of a normal nine-inning game itself.

Two proposals from me....
  • I've written about this before, but if teams/the league are worried about extra innings, just have games end in ties after the 10th inning.
  • Introduce a mercy rule, so a game can end after six or seven innings if a team is losing by at least 10 runs
Rangers29
8:57
I hope the rangers sign Puig. Am I a mad man?
Mark P
8:58
Not at all.  Puig has almost become underrated at this point.
Braves fan
8:59
So if season cancelled braves lost hamels and ozuna 34 million dollars
Mark P
9:00
Nope.  As per the agreement between the league and union last month, players on guaranteed contracts (like Ozuna and Hamels) would only be paid a small fraction of their salaries.  

The latest on other reduced-salary scenarios: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/04/report-owners-could-pursue-furt...
Jorge78
9:01
So why doesn't someone start a Hall of Very Good (HVG!)?  Almost 20,000 players have participated in MLB and only a few hundred have awesome career numbers in each category.  I would would argue that the stats from the dead ball and juiced ball era (1000 BC to 1940) ruined things for all time!
Mark P
9:03
I'm not familiar with civic rivalries in upstate New York, but if Cooperstown has some version of a Dog River/Wullerton type of feud, that other town should absolutely found a Hall Of Very Good.  That would be hilarious.
(And yes, I just dropped a Corner Gas reference in the midst of this chat.  Oh Canada!)
Foul Ball
9:05
Have you ever caught a foul or home run ball?
Mark P
9:05
Nope.  Came relatively close to a foul ball once during batting practice in Montreal years ago, but that's it
Lt Data
9:06
Jeter had 73.1 fWAR, ranking him 6th all-time among SS.  So yeah, def overrated when you’re one of the top-ten in the history of the sport at your position.  Trammel is 14th (also extraordinary, don’t get it twisted).
Mark P
9:06
I meant overrated among some Yankees fans, who believe Jeter is better than, like, Mantle or Gehrig.
Andrew R.
9:07
Phillies still offer Didi a QO at season’s end, regardless, right?
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