Well, we believe in exit velocity, bat flips, launch angles, stealing home, the hanging curveball, Big League Chew, sausage races, and that unwritten rules of any kind are self-indulgent, overrated crap. We believe Greg Maddux was an actual wizard. We believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment protecting minor league baseball and that pitch framing is both an art and a science. We believe in the sweet spot, making WARP not war, letting your closer chase a two-inning save, and we believe love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good, too.
How do the Dodgers, Braves and Mets attack the offseason?
The Atlanta Braves, New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers all won at least 101 games. None of them advanced past the National League Division Series.
Their offseasons will be marked by different questions, with the Braves offseason revolving around free-agent shortstop Dansby Swanson. The Mets, meanwhile, have pending free agents that include Jacob deGrom, Edwin Diaz and Brandon Nimmo, among others. The Dodgers’ free agents include Clayton Kershaw, Andrew Heaney and Tyler Anderson. They must figure out whether to tender Cody Bellinger a contract or non-tender him while facing a difficult decision with Justin Turner’s 2023 club option.
What’s the one move that each of these teams should make that doesn’t include their in-house free agents?
Braves: Sign Trea Turner
If the Braves don’t re-sign Swanson, they should go all-in on Turner. Turner’s deal will be north of $30 million per season on at least a 6-7 year contract, so it will require Alex Anthopoulos to splurge, but they saved money in the long haul after doing early extensions with Spencer Strider, Michael Harris II, Ronald Acuña Jr and others.
Mets: Sign Justin Verlander
To me, Verlander would be a very good replacement for deGrom should he leave New York. He’s battle-tested and a veteran who can handle the pressure of New York. Besides, the money saved on Verlander can be used elsewhere, perhaps to re-sign some of their in-house free agents or even to pursue Aaron Judge.
Dodgers: Sign Jacob deGrom
This move would send shockwaves throughout baseball. The Dodgers have the need for starting pitching and have proven very open to doing short-term deals at a high AAV. They did it with Trevor Bauer a couple of years ago and tried doing it with Bryce Harper as well. It’s easy to see them doing it again with deGrom on, say, a three or four-year deal with a higher AAV than Max Scherzer’s recent contract with the Mets ($43.33 million).
Announcements from an interminable rain delay at Yankee Stadium
Hello, fans! And welcome to Yankee Stadium, home of the 27-time World Series champion … New YORK Yankees, a fact we’ll be telling you … 300 more times! Tonight’s do-or-die playoff game is currently in a weather delay, but that doesn’t mean our concession stands and stores are a washout. There, you’ll find such items as blankets for warmth and chicken buckets for warmth. Consume enough chicken buckets, and the resulting blubber is almost like ingesting a blanket au naturale. While we wait for the game to begin, please enjoy our various amenities.
Hello, fans! Thanks for sticking around Yankee Stadium, home of the 27-time World Series champion … New YORK Yankees. The rain hasn’t cleared as fast as you hoped, but it’s not cleared exactly as slowly as we hoped. If you’ve already eaten, may we suggest a second dinner? And if you’ve already purchased a blanket, your night of purchasing won’t be complete without pajamas, a little nightcap, or a candle on a small plate. Head back to the concourse to check out our new-and-improved amenities. Whoa, is that a Lily Pulitzer? No; it’s a small Armenian man selling sausages. But still!
Hello, fans! The people who collect cash inside Yankee Stadium, home of the 27-time World Series champion … New YORK Yankees, want to remind you to please refrain from taking the loose condiments on the table without paying your ketchup tax. The rain may be lightening up (at some point in theory), and when it does, and we can start the game (maybe), we don’t want to have to kick out any ketchup thieves.
Fans! The clock has struck 9:30, the tarp is on the field, and the game cannot start until a half hour after it’s removed at least. And that means … flash sale on third dinner! We wait.
Fans! The Yankees want to thank you for your patience by reminding you that the item of the game is Hat! The item of the game is also $58.Fan! Yes, we see you. The one guy still wandering the grounds. Want some peas and fidget spinners? It’ll cost you!
Fans. Sadly, it’s time to announce that Monday night’s game was canceled about an hour ago. On your way out, please return any leftover chicken or candles. Those are property of the 27-time World Series champion New YORK Yankees, and if you’d like, we will hold them for you and you may purchase them again at tomorrow’s rescheduled game.
The latest episode of The Baseball Insiders
There’s nothing wrong with bandwagoning in the postseason
Major League Baseball’s postseason is bigger than ever.
The new format — three division winners and three Wild Cards — ensures that 12 of 30 teams make the playoffs each year.
But even with the Wild Card round now a best-of-three series rather than the previous one-game winner-take-all, the bracket narrows quickly. So, as October gets farther from September and closer to November, more and more fans are without teams to support. Should they abandon the sport until spring training, or hop on another team’s bandwagon?
Many fans will tell you that you’re unwelcome. You weren’t here in the bad times, so you don’t get to enjoy the good times now.
My question to those fans is simply, why?
Why not let people enjoy things? Whatever happened to ‘the more, the merrier?’
Often, the answer is that you’re not a real fan because you’re only showing up now. You don’t deserve to revel because you didn’t suffer first, which isn’t unlike an old curmudgeon saying that kids today shouldn’t get to ride school buses because he walked six miles to school every day.
It’s gatekeeping at its most absurd level. Sports are supposed to be something that unites us above our differences. Two strangers sitting at a sports bar can bond over how annoyingly good the Houston Astros are, or lament the fall of the Seattle Mariners. In an increasingly divisive world, we need that more than ever.
Rooting for a postseason team that isn’t your usual squad doesn’t mean you’ve been there from the start, and almost no one who bandwagons pretends otherwise. Of course, the irony is that unless you were born in the 1800s, you haven’t been with your team since the beginning. My family comes pretty close, though. I grew up with a 104-year-old great-uncle telling me about the 86-year drought that began when he was an infant and didn’t end until he, too, was 86, and a father who lamented the painful losses of 1967, 1975, 1986, and so on. Neither of them ever told me that I couldn’t enjoy the Red Sox reversing the curse because I hadn’t lived through most of it; they were happy that I wasn’t suffering the way they had.
I love baseball, so I want to watch baseball, even if it’s not my lifelong favorite team. Some years, the Red Sox are so hard to watch that I’m actually glad they aren’t in the hunt. This year, 2020, and 2012 come to mind.
Every team in the history of sports has underperformed or simply been terrible at some point or another. Likewise, almost every team has been good and fun to watch at least once. Watching your favorite team in the postseason is stressful. You hang on every pitch. It feels like nothing else matters. Sometimes, the best way to enjoy baseball in its purest form is to watch teams that aren’t your favorite. Being less invested in the teams, you can simply appreciate the game itself.
Here’s to bandwagoning. Go Phillies.