Monday, August 8, 2022

MLB Mid-Season Update 2022


Why am I doing this? 

 

While I’ve been watching and listening to plenty of baseball, the foregone conclusion of a Yankee championship has drained all enthusiasm out of the outcome of this season for me.  Yeah, I didn’t pick them at the beginning of the season, but it’s hard to disagree with the reality of how impressive the Yankees are.  That said, the Astros do seem to have their number.  Meanwhile, the Dodgers are looking unstoppable in the NL.  Groan.  I was going to blow this off, but the more I thought about it, I did have a few post-trade deadline comments.   

 

You have to start with the Padres.  Their GM, AJ Preller, wheeled-and-dealed for Juan Soto, Josh Bell, and Josh Hader to win the deadline.  The farm system is going to be hurting, but the big league team is trying to win now.  However, everything really depends on Fernando Tatis Jr. coming back and performing well after his injury.  With him, they’re contenders.  Without him, they’re going to disappoint.

 

One of my co-workers, who’s a big Padres fan, was all smiles afterward.  Another woman, who coincidentally has the same name and they work in the same department, was all frowns.  She’s an Orioles fan.  The birds have been a very pleasant surprise this season as they’re playing over .500.  I’ve watched a couple of their games, including a nail-biting home win over the Yankees in front of a full house.  They’re legit.  In another division, they’re competing for the lead.  In the AL East, they’re near the bottom. 

 

What was making my co-worker so distraught was the deadline trade of Trey Mancini.  This guy has been the cornerstone of the team during their time in the trench.  I hope the Orioles got something worthwhile for him, because that really sent the wrong message to their fans.   

 

Another person unhappy with the trade deadline was my Aunt Judy.  Her favorite player on her beloved Cardinals, Harrison Bader, was traded to the Yankees.  I think the explanation was that they wanted his Gold Glove in centerfield to move Aaron Judge to a corner.  Judge has been having a prodigious season home run hitting.  The Yankees need to keep him healthy.  The team is scuffling a bit with Giancarlo Stanton injured (yet again).    

 

The Yankees nearly lost Judge before the season.  The NYC v*xx mandate for players had to be lifted, otherwise they were going to have to trade him.  Judge was forced v*xxed anyway in order to play in Canada.  Last month, 10 players on the Royals wouldn’t take the shot and couldn’t go to Toronto to play the Blue Jays, including Whit Merrifield.  (My heroes, also including those players on the Rays who wouldn’t wear the gr***mer pride jerseys.) 

 

Ironically at the trade deadline, Merrifield was traded to Toronto.  He announced he’d take the shot to play there, while he wouldn’t bother to do it while playing for Kansas City.  Merrifield’s just dying for a shot at the playoffs.  He’ll take whatever risks necessary to do it.  Thus, he’s pissed everyone off.  The leering v*xxheads are unsatisfied.  Everyone else has written him off as unprincipled.  To this point, it’s only been European soccer players who’ve died on field believing in medical strategies that could never have worked and have proven ineffective and dangerous.  Look for a professional player to drop dead on court or on field in this country soon with the next mandatory round of shots.

 

Just to add an aside, our good friend Tim Hagerty, voice of the Chihuahuas, has been out sick this week with the cold.  Given that he’s still tweeting, I think he’s okay.  (He had to say something.  Fans were worried that Tim had been traded at the deadline.)  It was initially said over-the-air that it wasn’t the cold, so I don’t know why the deception.  Anthony Rifenburg has done a good job this week covering.  He’s had good material to work with as the Chihuahuas have had five wins in a row over Isotopes.  Two games have been extra inning walk offs.  This even after several personnel changes from the trade deadline.

 

The Phillies made a bunch of moves like they think they’re contending.  After dismissing their manager, Joe Girardi, the team went on a run.  Meanwhile, the Angels fired their manager, Joe Maddon, and have continued to circle the drain.  It’s gotten bad enough that even Shohei Ohtani was rumored to be on the trading block.  The Halos have already wasted the career of Mike Trout, who’s being nagged by persistent injuries.  Look for Ohtani to be dealt next year, when I think his contract is up.

 

To set the season standings to this point, the Yankees, Astros, and Dodgers are running away with their divisions.  The Twins and the (disappointing) White Sox and Cleveland (who are not drawing fans in spite of winning because of their name change) are all stumbling towards somebody winning the AL Central.  (Detroit has also been very disappointing this year.)  Seattle, with the expanded playoffs, may finally end their drought.  The Mets and the Braves and the Cardinals and the Brewers are fighting over their respective NL divisions.  I’m still sticking with my Blue Jays pick, though I have no enthusiasm for it.

 

Lastly, the biggest story in the baseball last week was the death of Vin Scully.  His contribution to the game is, as always, immortal.  Just to chip in a couple anecdotes of my own, Vin always made an effort to talk about players on the opposing team.  He figured their fans were also listening to the broadcast.  He was the very opposite of a “homer,” as an announcer.  I remember a player saying, “Vin knew things about me, I didn’t even know.”  My favorite game clip was Vin calmly mentioning that there was an earthquake in progress.  “We get these all the time here in Southern California.  Nothing to get too alarmed about.  The count is 3 and 2.”      

 

The next big MLB event is this week’s Field of Dreams game.  It should draw a good viewing crowd, but unfortunately it’s featuring two loser teams this year, the Cubs and the Reds.  This evening, I saw an exciting 1-0 win by the Cardinals over the Yankees.  I was also peeking in on a Mexican League game that finished 18-17.  I think I’d kind of rather see that game at the Cornfield, rather than a tense pitcher’s duel.  

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