2019-2020 MLB Non-Phillies News/Notes Discussion

[zambonir]

Wonder if we'll hire some of these guys (kind of ironic the Orioles are behind the Phillies in joining the analytics revolution, and yet so much of our front office worked there).

Mike Elias calls it restructuring and not reducing, but the...

[andyb]

I am guessing it is restructuring (maybe more analytics and fewer traditional scouts) instead of budget cuts, but I will note that a court recently ruled they owe the Nats $100 million in their TV dispute.

[zambonir]

Yeah I didn't think much of the column which really did just come off as a veteran journalist empathizing with his pals. It's definitely still cheaper to have more analytics and fewer on-the-ground scouts but at this point, that is just deciding on the best way to spend $, not necessarily a way to spend less.

To the O's credit they are moving faster than MacPhail and Klentak did here.

[DurhamBull]

Future stars that got away from each team in MLB:

The Future Star Who Got Away From Each MLB Team

Thanks for posting this. To me, it feels relevant to the discussion on this board about coaching. So many players in the article had significant minor or even major league service time where they were mediocre and went on to excel somewhere else. What changed? I’d be surprised if coaching wasn’t the main factor in at least some or even most of the cases mentioned in the article.

[LoneStarPhan]

I think we tend to think along the lines of a typical development of successful players but there are always going to be some who struggle for years before breaking out at a higher level of performance. I'm sure there are many reasons and coaching certainly can be a factor, but coaching alone will not suddenly turn every mediocre player into a greatly improved player.

[Philsmania]

"Change of scenery" is somewhat overused but sometimes it works. Gavin Floyd is one that I think of. The Phillies made things work with other pitchers who came out of their farm system around the same time but, somehow, the mix with them and Floyd was oil and water. He needed to go elsewhere for things to click.

[Lawman]

I'd say this is fairly significant non-Phillies MLB news:

Sources: Royals owner negotiating sale for $1B

[bkox]

The sale could happen around the same time the franchise locks into a new local TV deal with Fox Sports that could pay the team around $50 million a year for a decade-plus, according to a source. That would more than double its current local TV rights fee

Sounds like the Royals could actually start becoming spenders.

[zambonir]

Mets have dropped six in a row so of course we'll probably struggle against 'em this weekend. Cubs now 2.5 up on us as a result too.

[LoneStarPhan]

Yes, any team that has six losses in a row is due for a win. I'd love to see the Mets leave the series with a nine game losing streak.

[Philsmania]

The Mets are getting into put up or shut up time. Things even out over time and things are definitely evening out from their 16-2 run of about a month ago. They are now five games out of the wildcard and only a game over .500. But yes, this series is still very dangerous, especially considering how until this season, the Mets have had their way with the Phillies at CBP since 2012. That's a pattern I would not like to see reassert itself.

[Lawman]

Really obscure rule here:

https://sports.yahoo.com/athletics-royals-rule-dugout-cuthbert-joseph-033353445.html

Rule 5.06(b)(3)(C) of the MLB rulebook, which states:

If a fielder, after having made a legal catch, should step or fall into any out-of-play area, the ball is dead and each runner shall advance one base, without liability to be put out, from his last legally touched base at the time the fielder entered such out-of-play area.

[Lawman]

https://sports.yahoo.com/report-mixture-of-opioids-alcohol-led-to-death-of-angels-p-tyler-skaggs-200750671.html

Report: Mixture of opioids, alcohol led to death of Angels P Tyler Skaggs

[julio]

https://sports.yahoo.com/report-mixture-of-opioids-alcohol-led-to-death-of-angels-p-tyler-skaggs-200750671.html

Report: Mixture of opioids, alcohol led to death of Angels P Tyler Skaggs

Yuck. Per the article:

A toxicology report determined that a combination of “alcohol, fentanyl and oxycodone intoxication with terminal aspiration of gastric contents” was the cause of death for the 27-year-old, which was ruled an accident.

We're not talking prescribed drugs here, from the sound of it, given the fentanyl. We're talking illegal drugs. Truly a shame - but frankly, more or less what I expected, when they announced the cause of death as TBD, pending autopsy/toxicology, and that results wouldn't be public for two months.

Evidently the family is suggesting that an "employee of the Angels" - by which I have to assume they mean a non-player (although Skaggs himself was an "employee" of the Angels) - may have been involved. The family statement, as tweeted by the Angels' beat writer:

Jeff Fletcher on Twitter

[mdougherty12]

Yankees set Injured List record with 29th injured player:

Yankees set IL record after shelving 3B Urshela

[Philsmania]

Yankees set Injured List record with 29th injured player:

Yankees set IL record after shelving 3B Urshela

Yet, they don't miss a beat. Farm systems matter.

[zambonir]

We can't get first place in anything!

[zambonir]

So you can trade guys who aren't on the 40 after all

Royals Acquire Ryan McBroom

[andyb]

That is definitely odd as a team would rarely want a non-40 guy for a major league injury replacement. PTBNL is a little sketchy also if it involves someone on the 40 later on.

I guess there is no real harm in these fringe trades. The whole point of the trade deadline is major league rosters and players not on a 40 are unlikely to have a major effect. I guess the huge test would be trading for a difference-making prospect, like a Vlad Guerrero Jr., before they are on the 40 with the intent of affecting the playoff race. And that will rarely happen of course, and might be good for baseball if it did (assuming the price going back was of equal value in non-40 man assets).

[Philsmania]

Verlander throws his third career no-hitter. If he gets another WS ring (or more) does he go in to Cooperstown as a Tiger or an Astro?