the pitch clock is counting down to the MLB 2023 REGULAR SEASON THREAD

*hader

I was wrong, didn’t think the padres had it in them. Here’s hoping these trades bump the rangers out of this semi-slump

wow hate to see the new york yankees utterly humiliated on national television

giancarlo up over .200 tho!

In the first inning no less. Some say a competitive game is fun to watch; I strongly disagree.

Taylor ward on the 60 day IL. The angels are a mix of terribly run, but also cursed

Hoping for a neat trick in the next few days: every team in the AL East above .500, every team in the Central below.

(Actually, 4/5 are above in the West, too. Thanks you Royals and A's.)

Lads I’ll be honest: I find this trade deadline very stressful. It must be even worse for the players lol

this is one for the randal grichuk heads, but i see he was just traded to the angels (along with cj cron) from the rockies! he was infamously drafted one pick ahead of mike trout in the draft

What did the Rockies get for those players? A bag of balls?

for cj cron, i would hope that at least it would be a reinforced sack

xp juiced only

Plus

Rockies get: RHP Jake Madden, LHP Mason Albright

…acquired in exchange for pitching prospects Mason Albright (Angels’ No. 8 prospect per MLB Pipeline) and Jake Madden (No. 28). The Rockies are also sending over roughly $2 million to the Angels, who are above the luxury tax.

Two minor league pitchers. Well, lord knows they need pitching help, but this seems to be the usual Rockies MO.

Civale to Rays, Rays send their top 1B prospect to Cleveland

xp you’d assume they’d look for someone to take the Kris Bryant contract if they thought there was a chance to offload it, if they’re going full firesale

The Angels' acquisition of these players already paid a dividend. Grichuk hit a homer last night. Cron got a hit (nearly a HR) and was very solid at 1B.

Verlander seems to be the biggest name going around at the moment, do wonder if he will be dealt?

There’s a lot of talk about it, can only see him going to the Astros but depends how much of his salary the Mets eat and who they send, I guess. Might be tapped out after paying to get rid of Scherzer.

What are the Padres doing

Rich Hill and Ji Man Choi to the Padres

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) August 1, 2023

Lol, do the Padres have anyone left in their farm system?

Three hours to go, should be fun

I guess Bo is probably out for a while

Update: Blue Jays and Cardinals are close to finalizing the Paul DeJong trade. @MLBNetwork @MLB https://t.co/h8c5wNv5pu

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) August 1, 2023

Verlander has been moved

I’m just waiting to see how much money moves

Giants inquired but Astros win

I wonder what the return is because the astros farm system isn’t so great

Mets must have sent some money the other way if those prospects are halfway decent. Too into this now, getting notifications about this trade and banging an imaginary table going WHAT’S! THE! RETURN!

The Mets will receive OF Drew Gilbert from the Astros in the deal for Verlander, per source, plus at least one other propsect. It's not known how much money the Mets will send to Houston.

— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) August 1, 2023

Top prospect in Astros system, drafted 1st round last year

Look on my Works, ye mighty

Really, good to be selling this year.

Do they actually send money in a suitcase, like Fredo delivers to Havana in Godfather II?

Along with a literal bag of balls.

Astros GM: "That 20 million, in a bag in your room. I'm going in to take a nap--when I wake, if the money's on the table, I'll know I have a pitcher. If it's not, I'll know I don't."

Think they are just paying out his contract, but obviously I wish it was a hold-all stuffed with cash now

$100 bills fluttering out of a half-closed zipper

verlander was solid for the mets but his decline in strikeouts bodes ill

i can't imagine why anyone would trade for rich 'immaculate grid ringer' hill. i mean god bless him and sure he's cheap but also he's basically replacement level, and it's not like you can hide him on an expanded roster anymore

The New York #Mets are sending the #Astros about $54 million in the Justin Verlander trade, one executive said, if Verlander's $35 million option in 2025 becomes vested.
Verlander is owed about $93 million, meaning the #Astros would pay Verlander about $29 million for 2 1/3 years

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) August 1, 2023

lol

the power of the no-trade clause. mets are probably lucky to get whatever they got

Several teams were in on Verlander, most notably a Los Angeles Dodgers team with more intriguing prospects to offer. But Verlander held a full no-trade clause and the Astros reportedly held the upper hand thanks to his strong relationship with owner Jim Crane.

'immaculate grid ringer'--love that. I'm going to slighty amend it to "Immaculate Grid Fodder," make an acronym of it--IGF--and use that from now to describe the Rich Hills of the world. (Minimum of five teams before I declare you IGF.)

"now on"

Actually, career WAR/# teams yields an IGF index that can be used to measure just how marginal somebody is. It obviously wouldn't be fair to describe Rickey Henderson as IGF.

Rickey Henderson: 111.2/9 teams = 12.36
Rich Hill: 17.9/12 teams = 1.49

Making Rich Hill about nine times more marginal than Rickey Henderson (and true IGF--will have to figure out where to set that bar).

(Clearly, now that I have my under-50 Rarity Score, I need to find something new to occupy my time.)

i'm happy that rich hill went from a major league washout to an obscenely wealthy journeyman based on his admittedly always intriguing strikeout rate and being a crafty lefty, sort of a cross between francisco liriano and jamie moyer.

DBacks trade Andrew Chafin, why aren't they in the race?

oh, i don't mean to bag on rich hill personally -- being a legit big league pitcher at age 43 is no mean feat

Eduardo Rodriguez denies the Dodgers

What the hell?

He wants to be there for Miggy's farewell tour.

Rich Hill is one of the most aesthetically pleasing pitchers in the sport when he is on. His 45 degree MASSIVE looping curveball paired with his right on the upper corner 88mph fastball, to me it’s like the platonic ideal of a pitcher. His games were must watch TV for me when he was on the Dodgers (even over Kershaw, god forbid!). He is also the only reasonable argument against adopting the DH. Hill on the bases after getting a knock was a thing of beauty.

Very excited for post season Rich. As mentioned up thread, he deserves a ring and will be the only reason in my life that I ever cheer for the Braves

He clearly has vacation plans for October and couldn't be bothered about the playoffs.

Xpost

Oh wtf got my facts mixed up. No, I will not be cheering for the Padres, sorry Rich.