The 2021 Major League Baseball Player Chatter, News and Fantasy Thread

[JAKEPEAVY21]

Vlad dropped some lbs, will that help his hitting?

Maybe slightly, there have been some awful good hitting fat guys in the history of baseball.

[Stallion]

Maybe slightly, there have been some awful good hitting fat guys in the history of baseball.

Yes but that was back in the good ol' days of baseball.

[stevenash]

Man, after analyzing that Cardinal team going into spring training all I can say is that team is a mess.
Goldy is hurt and his skills are in a serious decline.
Arendo has a bad shoulder and although will put up good numbers in St. Louis he's not going to replicate Colorado numbers.

In case anybody is interested the home/away advantage/disadvantage between Denver and any other MLB city is 18 percent.
Call it 20 percent, so if a power hitter hits 20 homers at Coors expect about 14 say for instance at Citi.

Pretty much the same with BA
If one hits .320 at Coors, expect a .280 BA at say Camden.

Anyway I digress, well I am the king of digression, it's who I am, it's what I do, and getting back to the 2021 Cards that outfield is a trio of no names (Tyler O'Neill, Harrison Bader, and Tommy Edman)
I do like Edman though, he could have a breakout season and he's very versatile too, (IF,OF)
Who doesn't love Benji, but he's getting old.
I guess you can live with DeJong at 2B.

The pitching staff is OK, but besides Flaherty, nobody else puts the fear into hitters.

[BigSpoon]

Vlad dropped some lbs, will that help his hitting?

Maybe but it should help his fielding at 1B/3B in theory.

[stevenash]

Maybe slightly, there have been some awful good hitting fat guys in the history of baseball.

Babe and Prince, Gates, Mo, Kruk all come to mind.

[EmpireMaker]

Teams contacted the Nationals about third baseman Carter Kieboom this offseason, manager Dave Martinez told reporters (including Todd Dybas of NBC Sports Washington). Kieboom hasn’t found any success at the MLB level to date, but it’s no surprise rival clubs would have interest in the 23-year-old. Washington held onto the former top prospect, who looks like the favorite to open the season as the starter at the hot corner.
More from Washington and other Senior Circuit cities:

• Stephen Strasburg had a normal offseason, he told reporters today (via Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com). The Nationals star right-hander was limited to five innings last season by carpal tunnel syndrome in his throwing hand. Fortunately, the procedure he underwent last summer addressed the issue. The former World Series MVP will be a key piece in the Nats’ hopes of contending in a difficult NL East.
• Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi discussed the team’s newest addition to the pitching staff this afternoon (via Andrew Baggarly of the Athletic). Right-hander Shun Yamaguchi, who worked exclusively out of the bullpen last season for the Blue Jays, will come to camp as a starting pitcher. The 33-year-old can opt out of his minor-league deal at the end of spring training if he doesn’t make the team, Zaidi said. That’s a rather typical feature for non-roster arrangements.
• When Rockies outfielder Ian Desmond opted out of the 2020 season, Colorado signed Matt Kemp the following day. With Desmond announcing his intent to sit out in 2021 as well, some speculation had arisen the Rockies could again turn to Kemp, who is back in free agency. Colorado manager Bud Black cast doubt on the idea, though, telling reporters (including Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post) the organization hasn’t recently discussed signing Kemp, even though Desmond had notified the team he was considering opting out a few weeks ago.
• The Marlins signed Ross Detwiler to a one-year contract in January. Detwiler has started 95 games across his 12-year MLB career (including 12 starts for the 2019 White Sox). However, Miami views the veteran southpaw as strictly a bullpen option in 2021, manager Don Mattingly told reporters (including Craig Mish of SportsGrid). Detwiler worked solely in relief for Chicago in 2020, tossing 19.2 innings of 3.20 ERA/3.90 SIERA ball.

[stevenash]

https://apnews.com/article/mlb-baseball-arizona-mlb-spring-training-coronavirus-pandemic-bf8b608e58f45f5289267500b881a4e9

[Cross]

Those fat guys in RBI Baseball could hit that ball pretty far into the night sky.

[jrgum3]

Babe and Prince, Gates, Mo, Kruk all come to mind.

Tony Gwynn arguably the best pure hitter of all time outside of Ted Williams of course was a pretty large human being. He may have been fat but he was a hitting machine.

[BigSpoon]

Giants take a flyer on Aaron Sanchez on a 1 year deal worth $4M. His 2016 season seems like so long ago but he's still only 28 years old.

[Otters27]

Those fat guys in RBI Baseball could hit that ball pretty far into the night sky.

Baseball Stars was the best baseball game imo

[JAKEPEAVY21]

Tony Gwynn arguably the best pure hitter of all time outside of Ted Williams of course was a pretty large human being. He may have been fat but he was a hitting machine.

Yep. I loved Gwynn but often wonder how much better he could've been if he kept himself in shape?

[Chi_archie]

Tony Gwynn arguably the best pure hitter of all time outside of Ted Williams of course was a pretty large human being. He may have been fat but he was a hitting machine.

guy was gifted.

drafted to play in MLB and NBA

two time all conference hoops player at San Diego St.

maybe near end of career, he thought he'd give the NFL a go, as a nose tackle

[JAKEPEAVY21]

guy was gifted.

drafted to play in MLB and NBA

two time all conference hoops player at San Diego St.

maybe near end of career, he thought he'd give the NFL a go, as a nose tackle

He had a lot of knee issues later in his career. Who knows if those issues stemmed from his weight or not? Many forget he stole a lot of bases early in his career(56 one year and over 26 five times). He also would have probably legged out a few more infield hits/season. Always loved the guy but can't help pondering this once and awhile.

[stevenash]

Gwynn, Kirby, and Boggs were the best hitters I've ever seen.
Didn't see Teddy or Willie, or the Mick play so I can't include them as the best I've seen.

Kirby was chubby too.
Boggs, well he was fit but he was a strange man.
Diet of strictly chicken.
For the most part chicken is pretty healthy but come on Wade, a cheeseburger wouldn't kill you, just like a salad every now and then wouldn't kill Kruk either.
Can you imagine the numbers Mantle would have put up if he didn't fuk up his knee?
And I'm sure the booze didn't help him either.
Come to think about it Bob Horner was mighty hefty too.

[Stallion]

Wow you guys are going way back. RBI Baseball 1 had fat guys, then 2 had tall skinny guys.

[kucyk9010]

Wow you guys are going way back. RBI Baseball 1 had fat guys, then 2 had tall skinny guys.

True

[jrgum3]

Giants take a flyer on Aaron Sanchez on a 1 year deal worth $4M. His 2016 season seems like so long ago but he's still only 28 years old.

Interesting signing but I can't get my hopes up about him because he has a history of arm problems. We'll see if he's over them now and can be a consistent pitcher for the Giants after sitting out last year to deal with his shoulder problems.

[Cross]

RBI 2 was a decent follow up, but original RBI is legendary.

[stevenash]

Baseball Stars was the best baseball game imo

I was addicted to Strato-Matic for 20 years.

[EmpireMaker]

Deirdre Pujols, wife of Angels first baseman Albert Pujols, suggested on Instagram on Monday that this will be the final season of the 41-year-old’s storied career. However, she quickly amended her post and made it clear that he won’t necessarily retire after 2021. Indeed, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times was among those to report that Pujols hasn’t made a decision on his future beyond this year. But as someone who has struggled immensely over the past few seasons, it doesn’t seem likely that the future Hall of Famer will land another guaranteed contract even if he wants to play in 2022. Regardless, he’ll earn $30MM this season on the 10-year, $254MM deal he signed with the Angels entering the 2012 campaign.

• The Brewers were among the teams that tried to sign reliever Trevor Rosenthal before he inked a one-year, $11MM guarantee with the Athletics, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. The Braves were also known to be in the mix, and they made the right-hander a back-loaded offer for two years, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Trevor Rosenthal ultimately chose the A’s back-loaded proposal (they’ll pay him through 2023).
• Outfielder Brett Gardner re-signed with the Yankees for a $5.15MM guarantee, but at least a few other teams considered prying him out of New York. The Braves, Angels and Blue Jays all showed interest in Gardner during his long stay in free agency, per Heyman. However, Gardner’s goal was to remain a member of the Yankees. A 2005 third-round pick who made his big league debut in 2008, Gardner is easily the Yankees’ longest-tenured player.
• Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins, who underwent Tommy John surgery last October, said that he has been “medically cleared” for all spring training activities, Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer relays. It’s not certain whether Hoskins will be in the Phillies’ lineup on Opening Day – that will depend on how many reps he gets this spring – but it’s not “out of the picture,” he stated. After a somewhat disappointing 2019, the 27-year-old slugger enjoyed a major rebound last season, when he slashed .245/.384/.503 (140 wRC+) with 10 home runs in 185 plate appearances.

[Chi_archie]

Gwynn, Kirby, and Boggs were the best hitters I've ever seen.
Didn't see Teddy or Willie, or the Mick play so I can't include them as the best I've seen.

Kirby was chubby too.
Boggs, well he was fit but he was a strange man.
Diet of strictly chicken.
For the most part chicken is pretty healthy but come on Wade, a cheeseburger wouldn't kill you, just like a salad every now and then wouldn't kill Kruk either.
Can you imagine the numbers Mantle would have put up if he didn't fuk up his knee?
And I'm sure the booze didn't help him either.
Come to think about it Bob Horner was mighty hefty too.

if you look at the all time batting avg leaders. It's pretty impressive how separate a handful of guys that are modern-ish era are. And just 3-4 guys from our child hood, head and shoulders above the rest. The majority are just 1890s-1920 slap hitters or murderers row yanks

Williams .344
Gwynn .338
** big drop off***
Musial .330
Boggs .327
Carew .327
** big drop off**
Kirby .318
Vlad .317

[JAKEPEAVY21]

Baseball Stars was the best baseball game imo

Agreed, i spent countless hours sculpting and building up my teams .

[Stallion]

RBI Baseball 1 was a great game for Nintendo, I spent many hours playing that hitting 450+ ft homeruns.

[BigSpoon]

We need to let Pujols use PEDs in his last season to go out with a bang. Get over 700 career homers.

[JAKEPEAVY21]

RBI Baseball 1 was a great game for Nintendo, I spent many hours playing that hitting 450+ ft homeruns.

Yep, I played a lot of that as well...another classic baseball game.

[batt33]

Deirdre Pujols, wife of Angels first baseman Albert Pujols, suggested on Instagram on Monday that this will be the final season of the 41-year-old’s storied career. However, she quickly amended her post and made it clear that he won’t necessarily retire after 2021. Indeed, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times was among those to report that Pujols hasn’t made a decision on his future beyond this year. But as someone who has struggled immensely over the past few seasons, it doesn’t seem likely that the future Hall of Famer will land another guaranteed contract even if he wants to play in 2022. Regardless, he’ll earn $30MM this season on the 10-year, $254MM deal he signed with the Angels entering the 2012 campaign.

• The Brewers were among the teams that tried to sign reliever Trevor Rosenthal before he inked a one-year, $11MM guarantee with the Athletics, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. The Braves were also known to be in the mix, and they made the right-hander a back-loaded offer for two years, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Trevor Rosenthal ultimately chose the A’s back-loaded proposal (they’ll pay him through 2023).
• Outfielder Brett Gardner re-signed with the Yankees for a $5.15MM guarantee, but at least a few other teams considered prying him out of New York. The Braves, Angels and Blue Jays all showed interest in Gardner during his long stay in free agency, per Heyman. However, Gardner’s goal was to remain a member of the Yankees. A 2005 third-round pick who made his big league debut in 2008, Gardner is easily the Yankees’ longest-tenured player.
• Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins, who underwent Tommy John surgery last October, said that he has been “medically cleared” for all spring training activities, Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer relays. It’s not certain whether Hoskins will be in the Phillies’ lineup on Opening Day – that will depend on how many reps he gets this spring – but it’s not “out of the picture,” he stated. After a somewhat disappointing 2019, the 27-year-old slugger enjoyed a major rebound last season, when he slashed .245/.384/.503 (140 wRC+) with 10 home runs in 185 plate appearances.

Pujols has a 10 year 10 million dollar personal services contract with the Angles after he retires......

[mr. leisure]

Pujols has a 10 year 10 million dollar personal services contract with the Angles after he retires......

Wow , I didn`t know that .

[jrgum3]

Deirdre Pujols, wife of Angels first baseman Albert Pujols, suggested on Instagram on Monday that this will be the final season of the 41-year-old’s storied career. However, she quickly amended her post and made it clear that he won’t necessarily retire after 2021. Indeed, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times was among those to report that Pujols hasn’t made a decision on his future beyond this year. But as someone who has struggled immensely over the past few seasons, it doesn’t seem likely that the future Hall of Famer will land another guaranteed contract even if he wants to play in 2022. Regardless, he’ll earn $30MM this season on the 10-year, $254MM deal he signed with the Angels entering the 2012 campaign.

• The Brewers were among the teams that tried to sign reliever Trevor Rosenthal before he inked a one-year, $11MM guarantee with the Athletics, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. The Braves were also known to be in the mix, and they made the right-hander a back-loaded offer for two years, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Trevor Rosenthal ultimately chose the A’s back-loaded proposal (they’ll pay him through 2023).
• Outfielder Brett Gardner re-signed with the Yankees for a $5.15MM guarantee, but at least a few other teams considered prying him out of New York. The Braves, Angels and Blue Jays all showed interest in Gardner during his long stay in free agency, per Heyman. However, Gardner’s goal was to remain a member of the Yankees. A 2005 third-round pick who made his big league debut in 2008, Gardner is easily the Yankees’ longest-tenured player.
• Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins, who underwent Tommy John surgery last October, said that he has been “medically cleared” for all spring training activities, Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer relays. It’s not certain whether Hoskins will be in the Phillies’ lineup on Opening Day – that will depend on how many reps he gets this spring – but it’s not “out of the picture,” he stated. After a somewhat disappointing 2019, the 27-year-old slugger enjoyed a major rebound last season, when he slashed .245/.384/.503 (140 wRC+) with 10 home runs in 185 plate appearances.

Pujols should ride off into the sunset. He's had a tremendous career but it's past time to hang it up.

[Otters27]

Pujols should ride off into the sunset. He's had a tremendous career but it's past time to hang it up.

Na keep going. Try to get to 4k hits

[EmpireMaker]

The Reds have failed to add an established shortstop since last season ended, leaving them with Kyle Farmer and Jose Garcia as the leading in-house candidates to handle the position at the beginning of 2021. Third baseman Eugenio Suarez played a significant amount of short at the start of his career, so perhaps he’d be able to emerge as the Reds’ solution there now, though manager David Bell said the club is not considering the 29-year-old for the spot, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com relays. While the Reds “know” Suarez is cut out for the position, they have not had “any serious discussions about it yet,” per Bell. Putting Suarez at short could enable the Reds to move Mike Moustakas from second to third, where he has played for the majority of his career, or open up the keystone for Nick Senzel.

• Free-agent right-hander Anibal Sanchez has rejected “multiple” major league offers since he held a showcase a month ago, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. Sanchez is holding off on signing for the time being over concerns centering on COVID-19 and the protocols that accompany it, though he’s not opting out of the season as of now, per Heyman. The soon-to-be 37-year-old struggled last season as a member of the Nationals, with whom he logged a 6.62 ERA/5.03 SIERA in 53 innings.
• Blue Jays free-agent pickup Tyler Chatwood revealed that he will work as a late-inning reliever in 2021, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet relays. Chatwood, who joined the Jays for a $3MM guarantee, has started in 143 of 197 career appearances, but the righty mostly had a rough time out of the Cubs’ rotation from 2018-20. Historically, though, there hasn’t much difference between Chatwood’s work in either role. The sample size is much larger as a starter, but he has a 4.38 ERA/.337 weighted on-base average allowed in that job versus a 4.53 ERA/.332 wOBA as a reliever.
• Outfielder/designated hitter Shin-Soo Choo returned to his native Korea on Monday, signing a one-year, $2.4MM contract. But Choo indicated that he heard from up to eight major league teams that offered him more money than he’ll make in Korea, per Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. In explaining why he chose to go to the Korea Baseball Organization, Choo said, “I want to play in Korea because I want to play in front of my parents and I want to give back to Korean fans.” As Wilson notes, the 38-year-old Choo’s parents have never seen him play pro ball in person. They’ll now get that opportunity

[Bcatswin]

Senzel has been a flop was #1 prospect a couple years ago. They got Winker, Akiyama, Castellanos can man the OF, hell throw him in see what happens.

[JAKEPEAVY21]

Senzel has been a flop was #1 prospect a couple years ago. They got Winker, Akiyama, Castellanos can man the OF, hell throw him in see what happens.

Yep, he has underwhelmed bigtime. My Padres were in trade talks for him a year or 2 ago and I wanted it to go through. I guess it was a blessing it fizzled out.

[stevenash]

Angels are in town for a weekend series in the middle of May.

My last chance to see Albert up close and personal.
Plus I love watching Trout play the outfield and this'll be my first time watching the Asian import live.

I hate spending a couple of hundred for tickets but this will be money well spent.

[Chi_archie]

Pujols has a 10 year 10 million dollar personal services contract with the Angles after he retires......

Jesus