gil4

The 1991 team had 7 players from the 1987 team, four starters (Gagne, Gladden, Hrbek, and Puckett) and three bench players (Bush, Larkin, and Newman.) From 2019, we have Buxton, Araez, Polanco, and Kepler. Cave and Duffy were still around. There are a couple of guys from that team who are still on the roster but are trying to have their arms reattached. If that team had won a championship rather than flaming out, it might have bought some guys some more time (Sano) . 2020 did cause some upheaval across baseball. With more pitchers on the roster, there tends to be more movement at the margins of the position players. (In today's game, would Bush, Larkin, and Newman have lasted 4 years with the team? How many players did the Astros still have from their last championship? (Legit question - the answer might go against my point.)

I'll say it. This contract takes him to age 39. My guess is his arm falls off closer to age 34 than 39. If they get two very good seasons and one decent season from him, I would consider that a success (and I would be surprised.)

If I was a Rangers fan, I wouldn't be happy. If they get one season worth anything neat $37M from DeGrom, I will be surprised, and they are paying that AAV for 5 years. It's a very 1980s Yankees type of signing.

His success wasn't too long after he was a rule-5 draftee. He was one of the older guys selected in rule 5 - age 32. (Dec 2007) But in March 2008, the Twins technically received him back from Seattle and traded him to them instead. Then he came back to the Twins in Dec 2008. After spending the 2009 season with the Twins, (33 innings in Rochester, 64 innings with the big club), he signed with the Mets that offseason. With the Mets, he had two really good seasons (3.6 WAR each) followed by his Cy Young season in 2012.

The team is too soft as it is, and now they are bringing in this guy? Will the 7th inning stretch be replaced by 7th inning nap time (players included this time - I know plenty us were already in full nap mode by the 7th inning in half the games last year.)

What pitcher doesn't have an injury history? I'm more concerned about guys who have unresolved injury histories (Paddock, Mahle, Maeda) than guys who have had TJ surgery and are back throwing like they did before.

I agree. Every pitcher is a gamble. May doesn't seem like an unusually risky option. If the price is right, sure. If he's a big splash, I'd prefer to splash elsewhere.

Will we be shopping for a pitcher whose arm is about to fall off or one whose upper-90's fastball is only topped by the resulting exit velocities? (Or will we just take one of each again?)

Adding more to your defense, Correa might have been last year's Judge, with some differences. (Correa wasn't coming off a historical season and his previous team wasn't the Yankees and had already moved on.). So yes, anything can happen.

Godwin's law - make Hitler comparison = thread over/you lose Gil4's law - Suggest signing Aaron Judge...

I looked through the names from the 90s and the only one I could see it being was Mike Milchin (1996). It takes a lot of squinting to see that name in there, but for the other names even squinting didn't help. There probably aren't a lot of samples to compare it to, so I'm not sure how you would validate it.

You don't like he Sano version?

One of my favorite GIFs. Any offense I might have taken to your comment is faked so I could use it.

My first thought was "Why are they going to show a 'highlight' of him striking out?"

Maybe it has something to do with the "ex" part. (100% tongue-in-cheek) Some people don't like it when former MLB players (or top level athletes in any sport) won't give it up after they can no longer compete at the top level, but I'm all in favor of it. If he wants to play and someone will have him on a pteam, let him play. I played slow-pitch softball through age 45, when my knees just would no longer allow it. When my wife asked when I was going to quit, I would tell her "when they pry my DeMarini from my cold, dead hands," but it didn't last quite that long. Now I umpire.

Gonna throw some BP so they stay hot tomorrow.

1987

I hope your first in-person game is a perfect one (especially the result)

As soon as the catcher moved inside on Sanchez, I knew it was a mistake. I wasn't sure he would do that with the mistake, but that was a risky place to put it.

I also don't necessarily disagree with you. The Twins might win Cole's start.?

That must have been what finally put him over the top with the HoF voters.

Especially when almost everyone was all-in on Mahle at the time of the trade.

Bummed that I missed the auction. They all went for reasonable prices. (And that really was a nice-looking uniform.)

I like those jerseys - are they ones they use regularly (an alternate road jersey) or are they a special occasional or one-time jersey?

Against the Yankees he has spent more time choking than breathing...