Games are so late out there

Yanks are still spending kinda like they used to in terms of dollars, they just aren't way ahead of the field like they used to be because of the Dodgers.

Yanks have needs at both corner spots and a ton of salary coming off the books in Sabathia and Holliday (enough right there to pay for Hosmer and Moose) and then another nice chuck the season after with Headley, Gardner and Robertson.

I think the need at the corners is greater than the need for Harper.

You already have someone playing the same position as Harper in Judge who has a very bright future.

Plus they also have Clint Frazier waiting in the wings although he hasn't really taking that next step forward, but neither had Judge prior to this year.

Plus they can probably sign Moose and Hosmer for less combined than Harper and use the extra money on SP.

I'm in Central time zone and West Coast games are too late, can't imagine being on the East Coast. Games start at like 10-10:30 lol

Going to see the Royals play the Tigers tonight and again going to see the Royals on Sunday to say goodbye to the Championship Core.

Sucks that such a good bunch of guys has to be split up, but that is the reality of the game and the majority of revenue in the local media contracts that severely handicap the small market teams, plus the Royals current TV contract is terrible by even small market standards. But it is also the result of decades of bad baseball.

I am always a glass half full guy so I still hold a little hope that they can work out deals with some of the guys that can get them paid when the Royals get their new local TV deal after the 2019 season.

Right now they are only getting like $20M a season despite having the best local ratings of any team in the league.

Even worse is the Royals probably missed the bubble in the local TV revenue explosion that has like at least five teams earning $100M or more a season.

Yeah, we have a need in the corners, but I think we'll be happy with a healthy Greg Bird and are grooming Gleyber Torres for 3rd. Though he may spend another season in the minors. I think the greatest need going into the next season will be starting pitching to replace Sabathia and possibly Tanaka, if he opts out.

I acknowledged that it's harder to be a good bullpen with more innings. It's definitely more of a caveat for the Indians than it is a bonus for the Yankees when you compare them both to the league as a whole. The fact that we can't reliably extrapolate is what makes it impossible to definitively say one is better than the other. K% does depress OBP and SLG though, in exactly the same way it depresses AVG. I generally find those stats less useful for evaluating pitchers because they tell a rough and incomplete picture.

I doubt the Yankees will sign both Moustakas and Hosmer, though it would be appropriate because I can't stand either of them.

Do you guys do most of your following of teams that aren't your own by watching? I can't really ever catch an east coast game because they all start at 4 here, but I still feel like I keep pretty good track of everyone around the league.

I feel like I keep decent track, but always have less of a grasp of teams on the west coast just because I don't see them. Especially if they aren't a good team on the west cost I won't bother tracking them much at all

One thing that has been briefly addressed regarding bullpens is bullpen depth, which becomes less of an issue in the playoffs with the increase in off days.

In the regular season you need to have to call on all seven guys in the pen at a given time.

In the playoffs, you really won't be going deeper than 3-4 deep which gives an advantage to bullpens weighted towards the back end of the pen.

I've kept less track of baseball overall this year than probably the last 30 years since this is the first year I am not playing fantasy baseball in that time frame.

That's a good point too, plus you get your backend starters in the bullpen too if you want them. The Indians' pitching staff as a whole is probably the best one for playoff baseball.

I wouldn't be shocked if the Yankees signed Harper despite Aaron Judge and made Clint Frazier trade bait for another starter. The Yankees could end up turning a useless half season without a good but not always great closer into a few prospects and the centerpiece in a trade for someone like Gerrit Cole maybe, plus they still have room for Harper.

I, of course, hope that literally none of this happens.

Maybe the Yanks will sign both Harper AND Bryant lol

Excellent reading, I won't pretend I understand stuff like K:BAA, of what K or BAA mean, but I enjoyed reading the last page and a half.

K = strikeouts
BAA = batting average against
OBP = on base percentage
SLG = slugging percentage

I enjoyed reading about the strategy of cricket too - that was a few pages back now.  That is a more interesting and alien game than I realized. 

Baseball is mountains of stats.  If you can ever watch the movie "Moneyball,"  it's worth it.  It gets to the idea of using the stats to maximum effect.  I'm a low involvement fan.... to much else going on to pay enough attention like you guys.  I'm a bit jealous.

I was lucky enough to be in KC for May and caught 8 Royals games.  It was fantastic - incredible fans, awesome beer and a great stadium.  Even caught a Yankees game there.   Of course though, let's not pretend the American League compares to the National League (I'm a DC Nationals fan). 

For Major Mitchell's benefit, the AL does not require their pitchers to actually bat (sissies)..... but there is inter league play and the World Series is the best of each league playing best of 7 games by the rules of the home team. 

I'm hoping to see some playoff games here in DC. Actually, I should check the schedule

Yes, I have both "Moneyball" & "Trouble with the Curve (ball)" on DVD. Both are, imho, very good movies about baseball. "First class" Cricket is a statistician's delight, there are "mountains" of Cricket statistics ranging from "common basic" statistics to the most obscure & esoteric.

I do enjoy reading the contributions in this thread, they're far more interesting than some of the posts in the "divisive political" threads.

On Base Percentage is the percent of time a player reaches base not by error. So it includes hits and walks divided by plate appearance to achieve that number.

Slugging Percentage is the number of bases a player averages per at bat. It takes 1 for every single, two for every double, three for every triple and 4 for every HR.

For perspective, an OBP over .360 is pretty good and a SLG percentage over .500 is good.

Just thought that might help our cricket friends.

Jason - Glad you enjoyed Kauffman Stadium. I think it is an under appreciated jewel of major league ballparks, especially after the renovations just prior to 2010 that added seating in the OF.

MM - this is more interesting talk because we are actually listening to each other and not taking comments and totally twisting them to fit an agenda.

Bumpity bump