Sorta like Miami? The problem with those franchises is that as soon as the development/winning stalls, they can no longer afford to keep any high priced talent. At one point Miami had an OF of Yellich-Osuna-Stanton. Then it didn’t work out and everybody had to be traded. The only solid mid-market franchises that can afford and do try to retain players long term are STL, Houston, Detroit, Seattle, and I supposed San Diego (although they’re not really that big of a market… but they have an owner who’s gone scorched earth). I consider SF to be big market.. and about to be bigger if they no longer have to worry about the A’s as competition.
For now I’d say 50/50. If he pitches well in the WS and Houston wins, I think it increases the odds another team goes crazy to disrupt what Houston is doing. Verlander is smart but in the end he’s pretty much a mercenary; he will happily return to Houston but he’s not going to give them any kind of discount. And it only takes one team to say “name your price, sign here”, since we know Crane/Houston won’t match an offer that doesn’t make sense for them. Verlander was very close to leaving last season.
Giants fans are some of the most holier-than-thou fans I've ever met. They will talk about trash cans all day but when you mention Bonds' incredible growing head, they have all sorts of excuses. Beautiful stadium, though.
Pretty sure you can add Atlanta to that list. They've spent to keep players over the years and locked up their current core. Will be interesting to see if the A's become big spenders if they move to Vegas. One would think so, but maybe only if the team got new ownership.
Why do you think he is a mercenary and just after the money? I haven't gotten that impression from him.
Because he’s smart and he’s not sentimental. It is all within reason; he’s not going to sign with a non-contender unless they are the highest bidder by a wide margin. He values winning and his legacy, but loyalty isn’t really a major factor for him. Familiarity is, so that will work in Houston’s favor, but again he’s not going to come back to Houston unless they offer him something very close to the highest bid. Luckily for him the only teams likely to pursue him are teams that are in position to win in the near term: the Yankees, Dodgers, Mets, and Astros. Other teams like the Orioles and Rangers and Mariners might give his agent a call but one of the true contenders is extremely like to make him an acceptable offer.
Yeah, sorry… meant to include them. As well as Washington. I also think the small market teams could actually afford to spend much more than they are right now. Even though nobody’s buying tickets, they still have a decent TV deal, they get a boat-load of revenue sharing money, and they have very little operational costs.
So random question. They apparently gave me an NFT ticket for the ALCS game I attended but I don't really understand the purpose of having this now? Is just to say I have it?
I guess they are doing this around baseball. I got one for the Braves NLDS that I didn't even attend because I sold the actual tickets.
But doesn't it make sense to go back to a team that just helped you win a WS? Like do you think he's that much of a mercenary? Now granted, the Astros give him another 2 year, $50 mill deal ... he will tell them to go pound sand. I agree. But if it's a fair offer, I would think he stays even w/ a crazy offer. He already has too much money as is lol.
I want to start to breakdown Astros-Phillies matchup. @Castro27, can we get a WS thread going soon please?
*shrugs* I'm glad I don't know those particular Giants fans, but I think I've heard them call in to sports talk radio. LA fans seem much more obsessed by trash cans. But since all fan bases are composed of human beings, and human beings are incredibly similar and flawed, this whole convo is kind of silly. But Correa could be good in SF.
I have a little bit of sympathy for the Yankees on this point. Remember the letter jackets the Texans had made back in the day? I'm sure that seemed like a fun, kind of silly but solidarity building exercise when they first came up with the idea. Then the idea was executed and everyone realized it was stupid. The Yankees were in a very desperate place once they got down 0-3. Desperate people/groups do crazy things. They don't deserve this level of roasting for the idea. It seems silly and I doubt it ever would have amounted to anything in the way of special insight or motivation, but I'm sure they were grasping at straws at that point and willing to try anything.
You forget that he was paid $33 mil and $25 mil over the previous 2 years for 1 game of service. Of course he was rehabbing to get back into playing shape so not like he was vegging out on the couch but I don't see him demanding $35 to $40 a season. He most likely will want to bank off of the Cy-Young he's about to get so if the Astros can negotiate a 3 year $90 mil deal I think he would take it. That guarantees him $90 mil over the next 3 years even if he slows down or gets re-injured.
