mvp 78

I think that's a big reason we are getting the expanded playoffs. In a short quirky season, a quick losing streak or injury could hurt the Dodgers or Yankees dramatically. If you can just make sure to get them into the playoffs, you are more likely to have them at the top when the season ends.

Especially the Dodgers. If he starts messing with the big market teams "f*** around and find out."

I think the core is: Vaz, Bogey, Devers, Beni, Verdugo, ERod, Sale.

JBJ would have no takers because his salary is too high. Maybe the Sox eat a lot of it? It's more likely that they move Pillar. For Benintendi, you'd be selling low so it makes more sense to hold onto him. JD could possibly be traded, but it's a hard sell when you don't know what the NL will do about the DH long term. I don't think he opts out at any point. Barnes/Workman/Hembree/any other relief arm should be available. The only reliever I would not deal is DHern and maybe a young guy like Taylor. Moreland isn't going anywhere and I bet he re-signs here next year for another 1 year deal. I don't think anyone is untouchable (Xander, Raffy, whoever), but I don't believe there's a trade out there right now that would make it worthwhile to move them in season (considering that you can only trade for other teams' player pool guys). Peraza could probably be moved cheaply if he continues to hit. I can't think of many starting catchers that are moved during the season, so I don't think Vaz is going anywhere. They almost have to keep Martin Perez just to eat innings.

That would be Manfred.

Don't worry, robot umps will take care of this sooner than later. Then everyone will find something else to bitch about.

Have you ever looked at his spray chart before? https://www.fangraphs.com/players/rafael-devers/17350/spray-charts?position=3B&type=battedball&pid2=17350&ss1=2017&se1=2020&ss2=2020&se2=2020&cht1=hangtime&cht2=battedball&vs1=ALL&vs2=ALL

Honestly, if the season doesn't get to 8/31, Manfred is probably getting fired unless he can reset the Sox luxury tax issues. If MLB plays a month of games and then Henry has to go through another offseason to reset the luxury tax, he'll have Manfred's head on a platter.

Manfred is going to try to keep this s*** going as long as possible. NEW YORK (AP) — Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said he's confident his sport can get through the regular season and postseason without being stopped by the coronavirus, though not every club might play all 60 games and winning percentage could be used to determine playoff teams. During an interview Saturday, Manfred said Major League Baseball knows which player introduced COVID-19 into the clubhouse of the Marlins Marlins. Miami and Philadelphia both postponed games for an entire week. "I think that if everybody does what they are supposed to do, we can continue to play, have a credible season and get through the postseason," Manfred said. "It is what the public health experts have been saying from the beginning about this, that there is no one big magic fix," Manfred said. "The protocols are a series of little things that people need to do. We've had some problems. In order to be better, it's another series of little things. I think it's peer pressure. I think it's players taking personal responsibility. I think it's the union helping us like Tony Clark helped us yesterday. And I think it's us managing more aggressively," he said. Still, he does expect more issues. "I don't think it's realistic to think that we're not going to have any more positive tests," Manfred said. "We're going to be fluid. We think it's manageable."

Nope. Just money.

Yes.

His team has no PITCHING

Thank you.

I'm not sure Barnes is even a spare part anymore. Sometimes relievers just fall off a cliff. Maybe that's the case here.

Turns game on, second pitch is Judge hr. Sorry, my bad.

Someone making a gamethread or no?

2020 strikes again

I’d rather the Sox reset.

Will be looking forward to my mlb.tv refund.

After a four-month layoff, the ice is cooled, the teams are hot and the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs officially get underway on Aug. 11. The coronavirus pandemic has forced the NHL to get a bit creative with its restart, and because of that, hockey-starved fans get a little dose of semi-playoffs with teams jockeying for playoff position and playoff spots over a week span starting on Saturday. The gist: The top four teams in each conference will play each other once to determine seeding in the Stanley Cup playoffs, while the remaining eight teams in each conference play qualifiers to make the dance.

Isn’t it some sort of round robin tournament for seeding, not the playoffs?

Only 52 more to go!

But think of the TV ratings!!!!!!!

Ryan Weber is the first pitcher not to strike out a batter in back-to-back starts of 3+ innings since 2017 (Wainwright), and the first Red Sox with back-to-back starts sans K since 2012 (Cook).

Breaking: MLB commissioner Rob Manfred told MLBPA executive director Tony Clark on Friday that if the sport doesn’t do a better job of managing the coronavirus, it could shut down for the season, per @JeffPassan