The Nats continue to put together an aging, bargain basement roster that is heavily dependent on a lot of key players having good comeback years. Scherzer, Corbin, Strasburg, Lester, Bell, Schwarber, Zimmerman, Ross, and Kieboom all had down or injury afflicted years in 2020 and will have to bounce back in 2021 for the Nats to have any kind of chance at contending in the NL East, the toughest division in MLB. Nats still need a big bat so it remains to be seen if the purse strings will come open to fill that hole. I kind of doubt it but I don't underestimate Rizzo's ability to make a surprise deal, either. He's done it several times. Realmuto is still out there. :wink2: -- Al
2020-2021 Hot Stove League (2 Viewers)
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Combat
Brigadier General
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Tough couple of weeks for us old Dodgers fans. Tommy Lasorda died and now Don Sutton. Old Don was a card. He reminded me a bit of John McEnroe. I remember he once got into a fight in the clubhouse with Steve Garvey. Those were the days.
Combat
Brigadier General
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Old Hammerin Hank. I remember his Babe Ruth home run chase. Of course he had to break the record against the Dodgers. He is still the HR king to me. I don't count Barry Bonds.
Louis Badolato
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I agree wholeheartedly, Hank Aaron is still the home run king. The world is a poorer place for his passing. Rest in peace, to one of the greatest of all time.
Panzer ace
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755 is still the record, and I am a huge Giants fans.
RIP to a all-time great, not just in baseball but in the entire sports world.
RIP to a all-time great, not just in baseball but in the entire sports world.
Panzer ace
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The Nats continue to quietly rack up key free agent acquisitions.
Their most recent signing, closer Brad Hand, all but solidifies a fantastic rotation.
Their most recent signing, closer Brad Hand, all but solidifies a fantastic rotation.
On the surface, a fantastic rotation, with Scherzer, Strasburg, Corbin, and Lester, with Hand the new closer. Problem is that Strasburg is coming off an injury year while Scherzer, Corbin, and Lester need to bounce back from off years in 2020. There is concern about the ages of Scherzer and Lester as both are 37 this year. It could be a great year if all clicks or could be another down year if Strasburg doesn't recover completely or if age catches up or if... Just going to have to hope it all holds together.:rolleyes2: -- Al
Panzer ace
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One thing I like about the new signings is the way the Nats avoided over paying and over extending themselves.
Lester got a 1 year $5 mil contract and Hand got a 1 year $10.5 mil contract.
There is that, a bunch of relatively low cost, 1 year deals. At least 8 of them, to include Hand, Lester, Zimmerman, Soto, Turner, Bell, Avila, and Schwarber for about $54.5 million total, with Avila's terms undisclosed at this time. The Lerners and Rizzo know how to hold onto the purse strings. We'll see how that all works out in a few weeks. Nats still need at least 1 more big bat, preferably a 3B. The Nats have added 11 names to the 40 man roster this off-season, leaving 1 spot unfilled. Rizzo still has room to operate. -- Al
Warrior
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Ah, the great steroid/PED debate.
It wasn't called "The Steroid era" for nothing.
Baseball after that idiotic strike was dying a slow death, the Sosa/McGuire home run race breathed life into the corpse that was MLB.
The thing is, Bonds, McGuire, Sosa, ARod, Clemens, etc, etc, were great players before PEDS, they then hit 500 foot home runs vs 450 foot home runs and Clemens threw harder.
You can't keep certain players out of the HOF or put an * next to their records, how do you know who else used PED's and did get into the HOF?
Baseball turned a blind eye to what was going on; no regulation, no testing, no nothing, then the holier than thou writers want to keep certain players out of the HOF.
It's hypocrisy at it's finest.
Panzer ace
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The Rockies instantly had buyer’s remorse when they signed him to an 8 year $260 mil contract in 2019.
When they weren’t active in the free agent market prior to the 2020 season he started to complain saying that management was not committed to winning despite the fact that the majority of the team’s budget was tied up with him.
Unfortunately they play in the NL West with the Giants, now they are more competitive without him.
Panzer ace
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It looks like the start of the season is going to be delayed and/or shortened.
I can’t help but wonder why this is a surprise? The NHL and NBA both started late with truncated seasons, why would MLB be different?
I can’t help but wonder why this is a surprise? The NHL and NBA both started late with truncated seasons, why would MLB be different?
The proposal is to be a season that starts at the end of April with 154 games to be played and a universal DH. The players union has to OK it and apparently they have rejected it according to the AM news so the season is now slated to start on schedule with a full 162 game season. We shall see. -- Al
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He's a decent pitcher but not worth that kind of money. He's got 9 years in MLB and is only 11 games over .500 at 75-64 with a 3.90 ERA. Just not all that impressive as he tends to be a bit inconsistent. Well, if anyone can afford the chance and the money, it's LA. He could pay off big time with that offense. -- Al
Panzer ace
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As noted in previous posts I’d really like to continue to attack the Dodgers for their spending.
Then again, SF won multiple World Series’ in the past few years when they had either the 2nd or 3rd highest payroll in the MLB.
Then again, SF won multiple World Series’ in the past few years when they had either the 2nd or 3rd highest payroll in the MLB.
Warrior
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Looks like the Dodgers and the Padres are trying to one up each other.
The Braves will still be good, the Mets have made some nice upgrades too, I heard they were in on the Bauer deal until the last minute, imagine him added to their rotation, wow would they have been stacked, they are pretty good as it stands now.
So you've got four very good teams, but on paper, the Dodgers look like the team to beat.
In the AL, you've got the Yankees..........................................and.....................
The Indians and Tampa have taken steps back, I don't see any team that will challenge them for the pennant.
The Braves will still be good, the Mets have made some nice upgrades too, I heard they were in on the Bauer deal until the last minute, imagine him added to their rotation, wow would they have been stacked, they are pretty good as it stands now.
So you've got four very good teams, but on paper, the Dodgers look like the team to beat.
In the AL, you've got the Yankees..........................................and.....................
The Indians and Tampa have taken steps back, I don't see any team that will challenge them for the pennant.
jazzeum
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In hindsight I’m relieved the Mets didn’t sign him. If Bauer is worth 40MM, what is deGrom worth? 80MM.
Moreover, Bauer has a large social media profile that has gotten him in trouble over the years. Combined with the GM fiasco, the accusations against Callaway while he was Mets manager, Cohen suspending his Twitter account due to GameStop and other allegations, suspensions and fines levied against his firm, this is a headache the Mets don’t need right now.