Hank Chinaski

Right. They are very invested in the narrative that the Texas defense is super shitty and always will be under Sark, based on 2021. 2022 doesn’t fit the narrative as well, because the defense was actually kinda good. Oh and one of the Texas LBs was an AP 3rd-team AA. Anyway, the defense and LBs were terrible in 2021. They much prefer to concentrate on that.

Martes is one. Was really highly rated at one point.

Honestly, 2012-13 were awesome. The new regime had a clear plan (and it was the only reasonable plan), Altuve had just come up, Springer was close…and you could go to games for free and sit wherever the hell you wanted. I went to so many goddamn games those years, sat a few rows behind the dugouts, and spent money only on peanuts and beer. They gave away tickets at work all the time. It was actually great. As a cheap, grouchy, claustrophobic introvert, I fucking loved MMP with 4,000 people in it (compared to the 38,000 that were there in the two games I went to in ‘22, my first at MMP since I left Houston 6 years ago).

Right, and $30mm in 2022 isn’t the same as $30mm in 2032. The owners know they’re buying depreciating assets; they’re just choosing to spread the cost out over more years. They’re essentially financing the expected production - e.g., Judge needs to produce 36 WAR over his deal (4 WAR/season) for the NYY to get fair value, based on Wulaw’s math. He’ll probably deliver most of that in the next 5-6 years, and he’ll probably deliver much less in the final 3-4 years. So he probably won’t be worth $40mm in those final years, but he probably outperformed his salary over the first half of the contract. I suppose spreading it out is happening to lower the payroll overall for luxury tax purposes.

How does the “why” not matter? If it doesn’t matter why, then you hold people accountable for things completely beyond their control. And we’re not talking about professional negligence here - we’re talking about holding someone accountable for another’s actions in his personal life. That’s totally irrational.

Oh I agree that they needed to move him; I just didn’t think they’d take a package like they ended up getting from SD. I figured it would take more. I was wrong.

I don’t think I mocked you, but I definitely didn’t think he’d get moved with that much team control remaining. I guess I underestimated how bad Washington really was and how relatively crappy Soto was going to be last year. It shouldn’t have changed anyone’s minds, but I wonder what that trade would’ve looked like if he was having a typical Soto season.

Don’t they all sound like the same person?

It’s nuts. The trend for a decade has been to move away from paying big salaries to guys in their late 30s. The Pujols and Cabrera deals were held up as the examples of why those deals are almost always terrible. And suddenly this year everyone is getting signed through age 40. What in the actual fuck is happening.

Ok, can’t say I know much about his defensive ability in the OF (I live in a region where blackout rules apply to D-Backs and Rockies, so I can’t say I’ve ever actually seen him play). If he’s an elite defender then I get it (though his K/BB ratio isn’t promising).

I get that Varsho’s ability to play C and OF makes him a valuable piece. But he’s been an average hitter in his 3 seasons in MLB. I’d like to have him for his versatility, but not if they’re asking for a package that could get you, say, Bryan Reynolds. Thomas would be interesting too, but much less of a sure thing.

Is the plan still to play him in the OF a bunch? I wouldn’t be super excited about giving $80mm to a 31 year-old catcher to play LF. If the plan is for him to catch 120 games and DH some, cool. If it is for him to play 50 games in LF, I’d rather they just sign an OF.

God they’re such fucking dorks.

Oh gotcha…I don’t know what the %s are, I thought we meant that 1-3% of active players at any given point in time are HOFers. That sounds about right to me, but I didn’t look at the numbers to determine what that actually means or use it to imply any sort of precision. In sum, I was talking out of my ass. Truth be told, I’m probably a “medium hall” guy.

This award lost all meaning in 2005.

I mean, Javier is already there. 200 K in 150 IP and a 2.54 ERA (152 ERA+). Then was untouchable in the postseason.

I’m not a big Hall guy at all. I think top 1-3% is about right. I think we have enough statistical/evaluative savvy at this point to determine player value and set soft thresholds that can serve as a general guide (Jaffe’s is good IMO). Of the guys mentioned here, I’d say no to Mattingly (only 4 very good seasons) or Murphy (good peak but not much value outside of 5/6 seasons). I could be talked into Kent, Pettite, Wagner, Sweet Lou and Andruw (would put McGriff in this group). I’d say yes to Lofton, Helton. On the PED guys, that just seems like a different conversation because it isn’t about the numbers anymore. I’d say yes to Bonds and Clemens (because they never actually failed a test and were light years better than their peers) and no to Palmeiro and Manny (because they failed tests and weren’t light years better than their peers). I’d say no to Schilling because he is a petulant, unlikable dipshit that doesn’t know how to shut the fuck up. (I’d actually vote for him, begrudgingly.)

I always liked McGriff. I’m on the fence as to whether I think he actually belongs in the HOF (though I’m glad he got in), but it’s not like a Harold Baines situation or anything. I guess if he’d hit a few more HRs and gotten to 500, he would have been in years ago; and he’s obviously not any less of a player because of a handful of HRs he didn’t hit. So good for him.

I think TCU still gets in. I don’t think they’re as good as Bama or maybe even Clemson or Tennessee or USC, but they probably still get in.

Well they got Musgrove, they just decided to flip him to SD. That’s kinda on them.

I mean I know he was also an OF but Lance Berkman?

What am I missing - it seems like Yuli would used in a utility role, where he figures to be a liability at every position except 1B (where we just paid $60 million for a new guy) and his offense fell off a cliff, and he’s 39. Why is this someone we want?

To me, it’s more a horrible use of a roster spot than money. Yuli at age 39 isn’t a utility guy. He’s a 1B only. I get that the guy is popular and you’d rather have him around than not. But he’s not Bagwell/Biggio status where you keep him on the roster as long as he wants to be (Altuve is that guy, we’ll have that discussion in a few years).