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We have the ability to improve the officiating of baseball, especially in the most difficult task for any referee/umpire in any sport. Why is that a bad thing?

NOBODY likes Rick Sutcliffe. Not even Mrs. Sutcliffe. She just says she does because it gets him out of the house every Sunday…

As long as it’s Workingman’s Dead. New Speedway Boogie is just perfect for baseball. Or any activity…

Seriously? THAT is the example you're going to use? It's not even pertinent, since you used an example where the automation did the same job as the people who were replaced. Calling balls and strikes is not the province of the players. Or are you thinking bout how when pin boys were replaced by a system that reset the pins automatically in every bowling alley, and then within hours, there was nothing but robot bowlers? Oh wait. That didn't happen. And really, proving it is foolish is done quite easily. The last few pages of this thread offer evidence to that effect. Just because you deny this proven truth does not make it less proven...

The Reds did get absolutely screwed that season...

I have no problem with ARod on ESPN. He's infinitely better than Rick Sutcliffe...

Good thing Branch Rickey wasn't a fan of tradition...

I thought it all went downhill when they started letting pitchers throw overhand...

It is somewhat amazing fans will embrace actual game-altering changes to the game, like specialized bullpens, DH's (but in one league only!!!), 3 batter minimums, fouls balls as strikes, foul poles and no more "last seen fair", 162 game schedules, free agency, mound visits, banned pitches, instant replay, etc. And fans are accept it. But someone proposes improving the ball and strikes calling, and suddenly it's the end of the game as we know it..

If Kike plays 2B, then Arroyo effectively becomes the 4th OF...

Nope. Next question...

Are you sure that is not already happening?

No. Mascots need to be robots so we can have Battlebots-style fights in between innings. f*** sausage races!

And our seats will become pods that drain us of our natural electrical impulses, which are then used to power the players on the field. Teams like the Marlins who have no attendance might see a player shut down and stop completely mid-inning...

Here is the sad part. Beyond how foolish this slippery slope argument is, the reality is e-sports leagues already exist. What advantage would MLB have to break into those leagues? And as many of the virtual players used in e-leagues are based on real players, if MLB implemented robots, the e-leagues would have no source material and therefore would collapse. So if MLB tried this step, they would be taking themselves down. Of course, the real problem is there is absolutely no link between the automated calling of balls and strikes leading to turning MLB into an e-league....

Oh sure we will. Thanks to advancements in AI, robots have learned to create arguments and develop their own languages. The ability to negotiate is inevitable, and the ability to out-negotiate humans and financially ruin MLB for the sake of greedy robots then becomes the obvious next step...

I do that once in a while. Usually by accident...

I figure Rosario's ceiling is 4th outfielder anyway. He's here. He's cheap. He can field. Duran (surplus value 23.5) for Quantrill (surplus value 25.1) also works out per the model at BTV. But if I was Cleveland, Quantrill would be my least available of the three. I would suspect McKenzie is the most available, assuming in reality any of them are available at all...

That's because he coated the splint with vaseline. Oldest trick in the book..

Did a700 just quote me?

Duran for Civale. DHernandez for Trivino Bring back ERod and Schwarber and maybe even Robles. And finally, purchase new paint for the duck boats!!!

Unless Bloom starts reading my posts!!! I can see him now. "Brilliant!! This has to be the plan going forward!!! I couldn't possibly have figured out a better one!!" Sure, he's probably being sarcastic, but that doesn't show up in text...

Nope. I don't have to. He's really good anywhere. Anyway, that only matters if they bring back Schwarber...

I suppose it also depends how particular he is. I remember an old SI story about how Jerry Rice would try in multiple jerseys before every game to find one that just felt right. Maybe that plastic fixture in his glove just threw Barnes off his game somewhat. A lot of athletes are very particular...

The Notin Plan 1B: Dalbec. And eventually Casas is he makes a case for himself, which he is very capable of doing. 2B: Kike Hernandez. CF defense will suffer, but 2B defense will improve 3B: Devers SS: Bogaerts. Opt out is a concern, but after the Great Shortstop Re-Shuffling of 2021, Boston might still be his ideal landing spot anyway. LF: Schwarber: He won't exercise his part of the mutual option, but he can still come back CF: Verdugo: Not my favorite for CF, but if Kike plays 2B, he is the Last Man Standing for the job RF: Renfroe DH: Martinez. I know there is a chance he opts out, but for now I will assume he doesn't. BN: Plawecki, Arroyo, OF capable of CF (Jeisson Rosario? FA?) SP: Sale, Eovaldi, Pivetta, and 2 acquistions that can include ERod either via QO or extension. BP: Houck, Whitlock, Barnes, Brasier, Taylor, Sawamura, Valdez, Davis, DHernandez Darwinzon and Duran might be adequate trade bait to fill a pitching role or two. I know Oakland will be trying to move a bunch of arbitration eligibles, although Sean Manaea and Chris Bassitt each have one year. Montas has two, but Duran probably isn't an attractive enough piece to get him. Pitchers with roughly the same BTV value as Duran include Sonny Gray (Cincinnati), Casey Mize (Detroit), Kyle Muller (Atlanta), Chris Flexen (Seattle), Joe Musgrove (San Diego), and Cal Quantrill and Aaron Civale (Cleveland). I don't see Detroit moving Casey Mize here. Atlanta, San Diego and Seattle are both largely all set with young outfield talent either in MLB already or beating down the door. That leaves Cincinnati (30th in fWAR for CF last year, but is Duran the solution?) and Cleveland. Per Roster Resource, the Cleveland 2022 OF features Harold Ramirez, Myles Straw and a Bradley Zimmer/Oscar Mercado platoon. Very, very weak. Now they are far more likely to move around the middle infield depth problem to solve the OF as opposed to dealing Civale or McKenzie, but it's not the most ridiculous solution, either. And clearly BTV would call it fair, not that theyare the end-all of trade value. But they do better than I could on my own. And at the very least, arbitration eligible closer Lou Trivino (Oakland) needs to be on the radar in another potential deal. His BTV trade value is actually very low, at a surplus of $1.1 million. So either he is undervalued or is expected to get a substantial raise from last years's $912,000 salary...