The Official 2024-25 MLB Hot Stove Thread

[Trojan 24]

I think the padres a sleeper for sasaki

Yu darvish is a godfather to Japanese players ,they ALL look up to him and ask for his advice when coming to mlb.

They do, but then they look up into the heavens and see GOATani

 

[god shamgod]

Shotani hit more 450 ft hrs this season than 28 teams


This dude may be the greatest baseball player ever ,when you factor in he’s a cy young candidate too

 

[Spidey Man]

I think the padres a sleeper for sasaki

Yu darvish is a godfather to Japanese players ,they ALL look up to him and ask for his advice when coming to mlb.

If they cared about the OGs and the Godfather, they would all be in Seattle drinking saki with Ichiro.

 

[Remote]

If Soto doesn't sign with the Mets, he's going to the Dodgers with Roki.

The Yankees only hope now is that Jasson Dominguez starts taking steroids and wishes upon fortune teller machine Zoltar...and has some kind of magical body swap with Barry Bonds ...like a sports version of the movie Big with Tom Hanks.

 

[VegetasHairline]

Pete Rose's posthumous Baseball Hall of Fame argument

MLB legend Pete Rose's exceptionalism, even in death, never shook off the ills of his past.

www.espn.com

 

[Remote]

Pete Rose's posthumous Baseball Hall of Fame argument

MLB legend Pete Rose's exceptionalism, even in death, never shook off the ills of his past.

www.espn.com

Fantastic article.



Rose -- despite possessing 20/20 vision and world-class hand-eye coordination -- was lauded for being that gritty overachiever who was not the best player, but the hardest worker who got the most out of his limited abilities, which is precisely how Americans want to be portrayed in their self-made, come-from-nothing fantasies.

He symbolized exceptionalism. The big leaguer who never forgot the little league lessons, of how the game is played and who was treated as unique in his ferocious professionalism, even though the italicized quote above was not said by Rose, but by Bob Gibson during his 1981 Hall of Fame induction speech -- proof that many players brought passion and professionalism to their job. For an American colossus that always needed to be first and best, it somehow through Rose became an asset not to be the biggest, fastest and strongest. Because Rose provided the optic of the white, blue-collar little guy outworking the more talented (but assumed less disciplined) Black and Latino guys who were overtaking the sport.

The white ticket-buying dads, who were (and remain) the financial lifeblood of the game might admire the physical gifts of Black players, but through Rose, the game could still look like them. Run out every ball. Like Rose. Show it on your face. Like Rose. Think the game. Like Rose. Rose did not play along with the racial dramas that played out around him; he knew his hard-nosed Black teammates like Robinson and Hal McRae also weren't the most physically gifted but busted their asses every at-bat, every play, just as he did. Still, so many of these stereotypical optics were crucial to his public. The Black players saw through it all and loved Rose because they were pushing each other competitively, but the white public needed Rose to reflect them.

Through Rose, they, too, could appear less physically gifted but still superior. Rose provided the mirror. Long after his career ended, he would remain the avatar -- but not in the way they expected.

 

[Remote]

Man, I can't even quote all the good parts that Howard Bryant wrote:

While the writers were keeping the players out of the Hall, management was inducting itself in. Bud Selig, who presided over the entire period, is in. He even has a statue at Miller Park. The killer of two title droughts, Theo Epstein will soon be a well-deserved Hall of Famer, but without Ramirez, the 2004 and 2007 Red Sox titles are far less likely. Joe Torre and Jim Leyland are rightfully Hall of Fame managers, but Clemens and Andy Pettitte, Bonds, Pudge Rodriguez and Sheffield helped them get there.