2019-2020 MLB Non-Phillies News/Notes Discussion

[el-pietro]

To add to this, in much of the English speaking world outside of the UK it is called soccer, because those countries have another sport called football.
America has American/Gridiron Football. Australia has Australian Rules Football. Ireland has Gaelic Football.

I can't speak for Australia but in Ireland it gets called Football/soccer interchangeably. In general it is more likely to be refereed to as football in more urban areas and soccer in rural areas, but even in the bigger cities/towns you will still hear it referred to as soccer.

Calling it Euro football is funny to me, its the worlds game, and there are records of versions of it being played in China. The current rule set was developed in England in the 1800s but they don't own the game.

[Jeff05]

In Australia, el-pietro, it is almost universally called soccer. The exception may well be the 'soccer' community, itself. I agree that it is undoubtedly the "world's game" - both in terms of participation and audience.

[zambonir]

They certainly wouldn't call it "Euro" in Argentina or Mexico or Africa.

People who call it football in the US are either deliberately doing it as an affectation, or actually do follow the Premier or other non-US leagues more closely than MLS (which is certainly common, just as fans in Asia like to watch MLB).

Speaking of soccer, I highly recommend the show Ted Lasso and you don't even have to like the game (or sports).

[Philsmania]

They certainly wouldn't call it "Euro" in Argentina or Mexico or Africa.

People who call it football in the US are either deliberately doing it as an affectation, or actually do follow the Premier or other non-US leagues more closely than MLS (which is certainly common, just as fans in Asia like to watch MLB).

Speaking of soccer, I highly recommend the show Ted Lasso and you don't even have to like the game (or sports).

Just as the world's premier baseball, basketball and hockey leagues--MLB, the NBA and the NHL--are all in North America and draw all the world's elite talent in their sports, the world's premier soccer/football leagues are in Europe and likewise draw all the world's elite talent in that sport. The EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Serie A are collectively soccer's/football's major leagues. That goes for MLS, too. Leagues in the Americas or Asia are, at highest, second tier leagues--minor leagues, if you will. NASL tried to push the envelope and enter the conversation in the '70's but couldn't.

[el-pietro]

That may be true, the finances aren't there to support the top players remaining in Brazil or Argentina, but they produce enough talent to be competitive in head to head matches and traditionally did better in intercontinental compeitions, though the Spanish teams have started to dominate that in recent years.

The Premier Football competition is not any European league however, its the World Cup. The most recent World Cup Final drew over 1 billion viewers across the 90 minutes (averaging 500M plus), compared to about 380M for the Champions League Final. Entire countries will shut down during their nations games, and many of the greatest cultural touchstones in Irish history over the past 30 years hinge on World Cup (or European Cup) games.

South American teams have always been extremely competitive at international level. Since 2000 there have been 5 World Cups, with the 15 semi finalists from Europe, 4 from South America and 1 from Asia. Though in that time the last South American winner was Brazil in 2002, and Argentina in 2002 were the only other finalist.

UEFA has 55 members, and usually gets about 13 places at each world cup, while CONMEBOL has just 10 members and gets 4 or 5 (the 5th decided by a playoff with another region).Though like with the Club World Cup, it is apparent that in recent years European teams are performing better than their South American counterparts

[Philsmania]

Interesting deep dive on Billy Beane's career. In the end, the article speculates that one reason he may be getting out of baseball is that he has run out of inefficiencies to exploit.

If Billy Beane Is Done With Baseball, He’s Left An Indelible Mark

[zambonir]

Hard to say if this guy is any good. He has a Rays background but that was a very long time ago. Obviously his moves the past few years have been solid. He was never Jeter's guy.

Jeter says Marlins parting with longtime exec Hill

[zambonir]

The 2016 draft, you say?

Rosenthal: World Series-bound Dodgers are a triumph of organizational might

May and Gonsolin were part of the team’s 2016 draft, which is likely to go down as one of the best by any club in recent memory.

Nine members of the class already have appeared in the majors. The group includes Smith, the 32nd choice overall, a compensation pick for the loss of Zack Greinke as a free agent; May, the third-round pick; and Gonsolin, the ninth-rounder. Gavin Lux, the Dodgers’ top selection that year at No. 20 overall, is one of the game’s top prospects, and projects to be a future member of the Dodgers’ infield.

[andyb]

If one looks at rounds 3-5 from 2016 the draft does seem to have some depth with about one third of the players in those rounds having made the majors so far. Of our top 3 picks Stobbe seems to have been the worst. It will be hard to evaluate Gowdy (in terms of pick quality) if he never recaptures his stuff, but Stobbe is a clear miss for a premium bonus ($1.1 million).

[fish]

It will be hard to evaluate Gowdy (in terms of pick quality) if he never recaptures his stuff,

Gowdy has such a narrow frame, its hard to imagine what they were thinking he projected to. I know there were rumors that he could sneak into the first round but really, he wasn't that highly regarded. The killer is that they then felt he had to be paid 3.5 million- that was slot for the 9th overall pick! He doesn't seem like an analyst pick or a old-school scout pick, but more like someone who had been on the job for 6 months. (I'm looking at you Matt Kentak!!!).

[allentown]

I also have wondered about Gowdy's health on the day we drafted him. He pitched 9 IP that year, then missed the next two seasons due to injury and was not good when he returned in 2019 with a poor ERA, awful walk rate, and mediocre K-rate. I think we were gulled into drafting and paying a huge bonus for damaged goods. A lot of our current problems trace directly to the horrendous 2016 draft. Stobbe just another case of our scouts are unable to evaluate H.S. position players.

[andyb]

It was my impression that they just loved his 4-pitch mix and thought he could win with it even if he did not project to throw more than 92-94. In hindsight the bonus was probably a bit much for the profile. Like they overpaid $500K to get him relative to his tools and scouting report.

I consider Gowdy more unlucky though than a bad pick. Lots of pitchers get hurt and we never know what they could have been. As I said, he was probably a bit of a reach but the team liked him and you give them the benefit of the doubt. They hit on Howard in such a situation.

[Philsmania]

They hit on Howard in such a situation.

Did they? Let's see about that. Early ML returns were not promising and he's got a sore arm, too.

[Philsmania]

Hard to say if this guy is any good. He has a Rays background but that was a very long time ago. Obviously his moves the past few years have been solid. He was never Jeter's guy.

Jeter says Marlins parting with longtime exec Hill

Eh, he's been with the Marlins since 2002.

[andyb]

Did they? Let's see about that. Early ML returns were not promising and he's got a sore arm, too.

You are jumping to an evaluation based on injury history. My statement was about ability. Howard has shown the ability and stuff to be a good major league pitcher. The draft choice (absent any injury concerns) seems a good value for that point in the draft. This contrasts with Moniak who is a bad value in terms of ability for a 1-1 pick.

Gowdy will probably always be an incomplete on this scale. We'll never find out if he had the ability to pitch in the majors because the health issues cropped up in the low minors and what is left is likely a shell of what he was.

[fish]

Did they? Let's see about that. Early ML returns were not promising and he's got a sore arm, too.

You are jumping to an evaluation based on injury history. My statement was about ability.

He built up prospect value which is trade value- whenever a guy reaches that point, it's a win in my mind.

[andyb]

It is not a good pick of course, unless he succeeds. But all you can pin on the scouts is whether you think he can develop major league stuff. I guess there is a small amount of being able to predict injury history, but that has not been the case with Howard. He really did not have any big injury flags when picked. I think it is just a question of whether his body can handle throwing in the upper 90s for sustained periods, like it was with Sixto.

In the same vein I consider a pick like Kyle Drabek a scouting success, and we actually got value for him after his first big injury. With pitchers especially you almost have to separate the tools and stuff from the injury reports to properly evaluate whether the scout evaluated the player correctly. Now this gets tricky with someone like Savery where injury risk is why he dropped in the draft. Unfortunately we may never get to know what Gowdy could have been if healthy.

[zambonir]

Eh, he's been with the Marlins since 2002.

Which means he has a World Series ring.

I hear you, but they drafted and developed a ton of talent, and have shown a pretty good knack for acquiring it in the fire sales too, even if they never put it together. And their failings (much likes ours!) obviously start with ownership, not sure that is actually gonna change either.

[flyers19rw]

I have to disagree with the fact that Gowdy was not highly regarded. He was the top pitcher in SoCal coming out of H.S. And the top commit at UCLA. He was seen as a major talent. Unfortunately he blew out his arm and has had a lot of difficulty since his surgery. Not all TJs come out well. Let’s hope for a turn in his recovery.

[fish]

I have to disagree with the fact that Gowdy was not highly regarded. He was the top pitcher in SoCal coming out of H.S. And the top commit at USC.

I just meant there was little chance he was going to be a first round pick, much less high enough to merit a bonus equal to the #9 slot. I don't think the phillies even had him targeted as their first choice in the second round, from what I understand they got their pocket picked by the Braves who selected Joey Wentz ahead of them.

Fun fact- the Pirates picked (and failed to sign) 2019 first rounder Nick Lodolo just before Gowdy.