With MLB teams reporting for spring training this week I would like to hear your predictions for 2018. How your team or teams are shaping up for 2018 season. Do they need to make a trade or trades. Sign a free agent or agents. Do you expect your team to compete for a world series title.
First off as a baseball fan,subscriber to the MLB package I am very disappointed with how the new Miami Marlins ownership group has broken up the team. The Marlins were on the verge of being a competitor in the NL East,now their fan base has years of rebuilding to look forward to. A beautiful new stadium will be emptier now than last season. A real shame as I thought Miami would have been a very strong baseball market. Now both Florida MLB teams will be basket cases. Hopefully MLB will pull the plug on the Rays and move the team to Montreal where they might actually sell some tickets.
My two teams have disappointed me. The redsox have failed to either trade for or sign a big bat. J.D. Martinez was low balled on their offer (If 5years at 125,000,000.00) is a low offer. Martinez wants to play in the outfield,sox more than likely want him to DH because of their young outfield. I would have rather seen them go after Eric Hosmer than resign Mitch Moreland. Hosmer is a superior first baseman both in the field and at the bat.. Sox also needed to acquire an additional arm for the bullpen. Again Dumbrowski refuses to improve the team. The sox will be lucky to be a wildcard team. The yankees definitely are the team to beat in the Al East.
My second favorite team the Pirates are definitely in rebuild mode. I hated to see them trade Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole. Hopefully this rebuild takes less time. Hoping to be around 81-81 at end of season.
World series Prediction Cleveland Indians vs LA Dodgers and Indians winning in 7.
Tampa Bay relocates to Montreal prior to 2020 season.
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Re: 2018 Baseball Predictions
Unfortunately, this year I probably won't be paying much attention to MLB alongside my beloved NHL. Just like the NBA the league is starting to seriously lack parity. It seems as though only a few dozen teams are trying to win while the rest of the league has become complacent and even some teams have been completely dismantled due to corrupt ownership (MIA, PIT, NYM). The whole debacle with the Marlins this offseason was a complete travesty and I can only imagine how pissed fans are of them right now.
The tire fire that is my Pirates was just so sad to watch over the past 2 years, in addition to the prior 20 consecutive years of losing. It got even worse this past month with Cole and McCutchen being traded as literal salary dumps. Ownership claims that the free agent system in MLB is "unfair" yet they are being investigated for pocketing the $150 million they are receiving from profit sharing. This has driven nearly every fan in Pittsburgh mad resulting in a petition to can the Nuttings that last time I checked over 60,000 had signed. I feel so bad for my father who grew up in the 1970s watching the Pirates win two championships. And now he's had to deal with this crap for the past 25 years. He has decided to no longer go and take me to another Pirates game again out of frustration. And frankly, I don't blame him.
MLB is going have a lockout within 3-4 years. Manfred has let greedy owners take advantage of certain franchises. The league and players' union seem to be at a standoff on issues such as game length. All of this is going to continue to snowball and eventually lead to a strike.
The tire fire that is my Pirates was just so sad to watch over the past 2 years, in addition to the prior 20 consecutive years of losing. It got even worse this past month with Cole and McCutchen being traded as literal salary dumps. Ownership claims that the free agent system in MLB is "unfair" yet they are being investigated for pocketing the $150 million they are receiving from profit sharing. This has driven nearly every fan in Pittsburgh mad resulting in a petition to can the Nuttings that last time I checked over 60,000 had signed. I feel so bad for my father who grew up in the 1970s watching the Pirates win two championships. And now he's had to deal with this crap for the past 25 years. He has decided to no longer go and take me to another Pirates game again out of frustration. And frankly, I don't blame him.
MLB is going have a lockout within 3-4 years. Manfred has let greedy owners take advantage of certain franchises. The league and players' union seem to be at a standoff on issues such as game length. All of this is going to continue to snowball and eventually lead to a strike.
Re: 2018 Baseball Predictions
Already eliminated from post season play before the entire squads have reported. Every team in the NL east but the Nationals, whom it probably their last chance to claim a NL title for some years to come. Pirates, Reds, Padres and the AARP Giants are already done also.
The only competitive race in the NL will be the Central division. Over in the junior circuit only the Astros appear to be post season quality at this point in the West, Indians in the Central, and if you believe the press the Yankees have already wrapped up the AL crown. (But there is a reason why they play the games)..A's and Tigers are light years from being contenders again, Tampa, Toronto and Baltimore will battle for 3rd place in the East, and the Central besides the Indians is a dumpster fire.
MLBPA really took a bad deal the last time around..Instead of playing these horrible high salaries to the over the hill gang, the union needs to compensate the younger players and MLB needs to play the lower minor leagues players a decent salary so the youth will once again look at baseball as a way to make a living instead of trying their luck with basketball or football.
The only competitive race in the NL will be the Central division. Over in the junior circuit only the Astros appear to be post season quality at this point in the West, Indians in the Central, and if you believe the press the Yankees have already wrapped up the AL crown. (But there is a reason why they play the games)..A's and Tigers are light years from being contenders again, Tampa, Toronto and Baltimore will battle for 3rd place in the East, and the Central besides the Indians is a dumpster fire.
MLBPA really took a bad deal the last time around..Instead of playing these horrible high salaries to the over the hill gang, the union needs to compensate the younger players and MLB needs to play the lower minor leagues players a decent salary so the youth will once again look at baseball as a way to make a living instead of trying their luck with basketball or football.
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- georgiabill
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Re: 2018 Baseball Predictions
Runway28L as a life long Pirate fan I hate to see the Pirates again going into rebuild mode. I am hoping some of the young kids in the farm system step up big time. As far as ownership, is there local investors willing to step up and buy the team? Based on the ridiculous price paid for the Marlins how much would the pirates be worth now? It was a sad day when they closed Forbes field. Many memories there as a kid. Three Rivers was blah,no character. PNC is a great place to catch a game.
Re: 2018 Baseball Predictions
georgiabill wrote:Runway28L as a life long Pirate fan I hate to see the Pirates again going into rebuild mode. I am hoping some of the young kids in the farm system step up big time. As far as ownership, is there local investors willing to step up and buy the team? Based on the ridiculous price paid for the Marlins how much would the pirates be worth now? It was a sad day when they closed Forbes field. Many memories there as a kid. Three Rivers was blah,no character. PNC is a great place to catch a game.
As far as I know, there are no investors that are up for buying the Pirates right now, and Nutting isn't going to sell the team anytime soon as it's his cash cow.
As far as how much the team is worth, I'll pull this info out from here: http://www.google.com/amp/amp.si.com/ml ... ob-nutting
Reading that response, keep in mind that Nutting is a billionaire who owns a newspaper conglomerate and is the chairman of a ski resort in Pennsylvania. Keep in mind that, before the 2017 season, Forbes valued the Pirates as being worth $1.25 billion. Keep in mind that the Pirates are revenue sharing recipients, and that their $109 million payroll in 2017 was 25th in the league, some $50 million below the MLB average. Keep in mind that, in 2010, the AP reported that Pittsburgh—which opened that season with the lowest payroll in baseball at just $39.4 million—made $29.4 million in ’07 and ’08
I read something about Mario Lemieux having interest in purchasing the Pirates right around the time he and Ron Burkle bought the Penguins out of bankruptcy. Since then, the Pens have drafted some of the best players their organization has ever had (partly thanks to luck too) while also spending right up to the NHL's salary cap on new contracts for their core players and free agents. They've won 3 Stanley Cups since 2009 all because of this.
The Pirates however have been unable to develop most of their prospects despite getting amazing drafting spots thanks to 20 years of mediocrity and have been very complacent in signing big free agents to big contracts.
I do agree that prospects coming up and playing terrific is this team's only chance. But we've seen history repeat itself so many times with this organization. Jonathan Sanchez was a total bust. Polanco and Glasnow are complete failures. Cole did very well his first 2 seasons but regressed quite a bit right after. And signing Jung Ho Gang is something I don't have to go into. Marte, Taillon, and Josh Bell are pretty much all what the Pirates have and that's if Josh Harrison gets traded.
PNC Park is imo top 3 in baseball stadiums in the MLB. Buts it's not an excuse to not invest money in improving a team while pocketing everything else for personal gain.
PS the profit sharing deal I mentioned is actually $50 million, not $150. My bad.
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- georgiabill
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Re: 2018 Baseball Predictions
If and when MLB decides to expand which cities might be considered? Does anyone think a team in Mexico might be considered? As for Montreal I think the best solution would be buying the Rays and moving them there. They would have natural rivalries with Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox.
For expansion I could see Austin TX, Charlotte NC, Nashville TN, Indianapolis IN, Sacramento CA and Portland OR under consideration for expansion in the U.S.
For expansion I could see Austin TX, Charlotte NC, Nashville TN, Indianapolis IN, Sacramento CA and Portland OR under consideration for expansion in the U.S.
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- SmithAir747
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Re: 2018 Baseball Predictions
georgiabill wrote:If and when MLB decides to expand which cities might be considered? Does anyone think a team in Mexico might be considered? As for Montreal I think the best solution would be buying the Rays and moving them there. They would have natural rivalries with Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox.
For expansion I could see Austin TX, Charlotte NC, Nashville TN, Indianapolis IN, Sacramento CA and Portland OR under consideration for expansion in the U.S.
I would love to see major league baseball come back to Indiana (my original home state). After all, that's where the first professional league game was played (in fact, specifically, in my old hometown Fort Wayne)!
On May 4, 1871, the Fort Wayne Kekiongas beat the Cleveland Forest Citys 2-0 in the first professional league baseball game in history. Fort Wayne has a long history since then with baseball, both major and minor league. There was even a women's team, the Daisies, from 1945-1954 (a team in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League). Since 1993, Fort Wayne has had a Minor League Baseball (MiLB) Midwest League single-A team called the Wizards from 1993-2009 (affiliated originally with the Minnesota Twins, and subsequently, San Diego Padres); in 2009 the team renamed themselves the Tin Caps, and they now play in a beautiful, historic-looking downtown ballpark (Parkview Field).
If MLB were to expand into Indiana, the most likely market would be Indianapolis (the capital city); Fort Wayne, despite its long history with professional baseball, is still too small a market for MLB. Indianapolis has a top-level (AAA) MiLB club, the Indians (affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates); AAA is the next thing to actual MLB. It wouldn't be much of a leap to go full MLB in Indianapolis. Might the hypothetical IND MLB team keep the existing Indians name, or come up with a different name?
SmithAir747
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- September11
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Re: 2018 Baseball Predictions
Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
Can you hear me?
Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
Can you hear me?
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- gunsontheroof
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Re: 2018 Baseball Predictions
As a Seattle Mariners fan, I look forward to be talking about 2019 shortly before the All-Star break!
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- georgiabill
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Re: 2018 Baseball Predictions
Redsox have yet to finalize the deal with J.D. Martinez. The delay is apparently due to medical issues and obtaining some protection in the event these issues prevent him from playing
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