2 Burst results for "Playing Rules Committee"
Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast
"playing rules committee" Discussed on Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast
"The Orioles haven't even done that aspect. They haven't signed athlete Richmond. They have basically no long-term commitments whatsoever, like $0 beyond next year, I think. So it's just like they're so close and maybe they thought we won't be that close again. Maybe they thought we're going to run into the plexiglass principle and regression. We talked about this on the Orioles preview. Because what they're doing is really impressive to have improved by as much as they did last season, and then thus far, at least, not to have taken a step back, but in fact taking another step forward. Historically, that is extremely rare. And so it would be a shame if they did that, and then they did not add. Now, of course, they could add at the deadline potentially once they've established that they're for real. But still to come into the season with coal Irvin who was sent down in mid April or Adam Frazier who never really seemed to fit that well in that roster anyway. If Kyle Gibson, okay, leak average ish innings eater shirt. They need someone like that, but that's not like your headline acquisition. No, it shouldn't be. Exciting team that's on the rise and has this great young inexpensive core build on build on the good vibes build on the progress. Don't just stop or say we're one year away. So every time I look and they're in roughly the same spot like the Mariners right now have a one in four chance to make the playoffs, the Orioles about one in three. Different divisional situations, obviously. But same wild card race. So, you know, you just kind of wish when I look at those two teams and I see the weaknesses, the contrasting weaknesses, but the same sort of lack of aggression at least when it came to this past off season specifically. Could have done a little more, but they've managed to make it interesting nonetheless, but you'd like to see a little more support from above. Yeah, I think that it's a lot like what we've said over and over again. There are a lot of different modes of talent acquisition in baseball and right now I think that you look at the Orioles and what they've done, they've demonstrated that they are really good at the inexpensive ones, the ones where you are able to because you have the first overall pick, get a generational potentially generational talent and adley Richmond. You know, maybe spend some money while he's not even arbitrary. He's still pre armed. So just spend some money because you should do it now. If you are going to constrain yourself and say, we're not ever going to run a big payroll. Well, that's kind of dumb, don't do that. But if you insist on doing it, deploy the payroll flexibility you have now to win. Right? Like otherwise, what are we doing? Why are we here? You're not going to change divisions. In all likelihood, right? You're just not. So this is the division you're in. Go in in it. If you can't do that, then hire someone who can. Like, what are we talking about here? And with Seattle, I think part of why I find unlike granted, it's may 11th. There's a lot of season left to play. And so Seattle's fortunes could turn around. It would be nice if they could spend like a day over 500. But like Seattle could go on a run. Do I think the rangers are going to win the west? Probably not. But I look at the west and it's like, well, Houston is vulnerable. They're vulnerable in a way they haven't been in a long time. And that doesn't mean that they won't do things at the deadline to try to get better, that doesn't mean that they can't turn things around. It doesn't mean that the angels are going to stay in place in the division. They probably want to do that. But the best team in the division is vulnerable. So sure seems like this is a year you should try to win the west. This is a year where they could be justifiably just like I'm not going to be satisfied by a wildcard. The west is winnable. Let's go win it. I want that energy and that doesn't seem to be the approach they took. And you know, did they know that they'd be sitting here on May 11th in fourth place, but that the Astros would only be a game better than them in third, like probably not, but maybe bolster your roster better in the off season so that you're better positioned to take advantage of underperformance above you. I don't know who could say. All right, let's wrap up with the past blast, which comes from 2005 and from David Lewis who is an architectural historian and baseball researcher based in Boston. 2005 MLB puts minor leaguers in a box. Literally, well, kind of literally, I guess, but a 2D box, the batter's box to be specific. Not like inhumane kind of confining one. Stop me if you've heard this before, David says, but in 2005, Major League Baseball wanted to speed up games. To do so, they tried out a new rule in the minor leagues, attempting to limit the length of it bats, a new rule ordered hitters to keep at least one foot in the batter's box at all times. If a better stepped fully out of the box and automatic strike would be called against them and they'll be officials said that if the rule was successful in the minor leagues, it would be called up for use in the majors. Sandy alderson and they'll be executive VP for baseball operations, said the playing rules committee hopes that the adoption of this rule in the minor leagues will encourage players as they progress toward the majors to develop and maintain habits that will improve the pace of play. As part of an initiative to speed up play, the league had shaved 11 minutes off of the average game length since 2000, but hope to go even further with additional rules changes. So like many of the rules changes that were put in place to attempt to speed up the game prior to the pitch clock. It didn't have a whole lot of effect. I mean, sometimes it did for a year or two and then enforcement would get lax or there would be loopholes or it just didn't have as dramatic effect as they wanted it to in the first place, right? Because it wasn't entirely better stepping out of the box and dawdling and walking around there was some of that certainly. But it was also the pitchers playing a big part in that too. So obviously this was not the panacea that MLB wanted in. That's why we got the pitch clock 18 years later. There was a brief moment there where they started doing that stuff in the majors. And it helped, like, you know, there was a little bit of a downturn in the game lengths, but it wasn't huge and it didn't last for everyone. And all the measures were sort of piecemeal and reinforcement was lacking and it was just kind of a game by game umpire by umpire sort of situation and no one really wanted to call anyone on it. That was just kind of the consistent theme of a lot of the rules changes. Until this year, you know, which they really have made it consistent and uniform and top down and backed up and whether you like the rules changes or not. And I think most people do, they're actually being enforced, which is nice and they're having the intended effect, which is satisfying on a certain level. Once again, it's about having the will to do it. Yes. Well, we couldn't even get this episode up without another pitcher suffering some sort of forearm ailment, this time it's exciting, a's rookie, mason Miller, placed on the IL with forearm tightness, maybe tightness isn't quite the same as a strain, MRI came back clean for any structural damage.
Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast
"playing rules committee" Discussed on Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast
"Some size at the end, just like at the beginning. So part of the reason why I think they're fan base is in the mood that it is in, is that they got promised a lot. They got a lot of talk about multiple championships. They got a lot of talk about how the White Sox basically sold 2016, 2017. At least bet at the time, we had not seen a team that had like two friendly rotation starters locked up on a really team friendly deals and even at the time had a meeting it was a big trade asset. We had not seen the team that had that level of core in place with that level of value stripped out. And so this was supposed to be this big rebuild that set them up for good for the long term. They're going to be a dynasty the way the Astros have become where they're annually in the playoffs regularly and you could have a 5 to 6 to 7 to 8 year competitive window where they have multiple World Series appearances in there. So I don't think there's really any way they can match up with the level of expectations they set. I think any reasonable standard would just be winning the Yale central getting back to playoffs winning a playoff series being relevant in the late playoff discussion. All I think would be a reasonable successor seems certainly given what was actually put into this off season, which was more two real major additions, one, which is now Paris fraught around the core that that's probably a reasonable expectation for them if everything goes right. I don't really think that given what they've sacrificed for this to be the competitive window given the fact that kind of abundant three years and hyped us up as a time where they'd be annual contenders. I don't think just when he had division is really going to satiate their fans because they were promised a lot more, but I think just looking at this rasa day and what they have, I think that if they won the AL central, they won 93 plus games. I would certainly write that Pedro go folded a really good job with what he had. And it'd be hard for me to give another F to the front office if the pieces they put together delivered that. It's hard to win the divisions. I would know because I covered the White Sox now. They haven't won that many. So I think that's what a success is. I think when he a playoff series, they haven't won one since 2005. Even if they just get flattened in the LCS by an Astros or a Yankees team that I think is a tier above them, I think that'd be a successful year. But theoretically given that they were 81 and 81 last year and really bad that maybe even worse from a run differential perspective, even just add winning 90 games and being a wild card team or just being in the hunt all season long and just looking better, but obviously better, but there's this gulf between what they say to their expectations where and what I think is actually reasonable to expect from the group that they've assembled, which is a lot more just, you know, win a bad division. I think that'd be a good year for them. Right, well, we will see if going to summer school can help the White Sox salvage their GPA. You can read about their studies, I'll see you some lung at the athletic, and you can find James on Twitter at JR vegan, James, thanks, as always. I thought this had to end with me doing a prediction is that sometimes last year. Yeah, we've scrapped it. But if you've got one holstered and ready to go, I don't want to waste your time. If I'm out, I don't have to be wedded to some prediction. I would definitely not do more than what's required me. I will take, I will give a sea level performance where I do nothing above. What is it? Perfect. Okay, we will conclude with the past blast, which comes to us from 1970 and from David Lewis and architectural historian and baseball researcher based in Boston. David writes, 1970, Finley covers his bases. In 1970, ever eccentric athletics owner Charlie Finley was, as UPA put it, at it again. In an effort to liven up opening day in Oakland, Finley requested and received permission from baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn to use bases painted a bright gold on a one game trial basis. The experiment called for first second and third base but not home plate to be painted, finlay was quoted as saying it should make players want to reach base more often. Which is an interesting hypothesis. Should it? The fact that the bases are painted gold is the idea here that we will fool the players into thinking that they're golden that they get to take the bases back with them. I don't know that it would make them want to reach base more often, but I guess it's pretty to look at. Continuing here, adding to the opening day spectacle, a's pitcher Jim mudcat grant was tapped to sing the national anthem, reportedly the first active player to do so. Finley evidently liked the experiment enough that he suggested colored bases as a permanent rule change at the 1970 winter meetings in December. This suggestion, along with a proposal to add a 22nd pitch clock, was ultimately rejected by the playing rules committee. So finlay, he was et cetera is a good word for it. He was ahead of his time in some ways, and he was a showman and promoter and he liked some sideshow elements and he liked colors, colorful uniforms, colored bases, colored balls, right? Orange colored baseballs. Initiative, but colored bases. I don't know. I mean, it's similar to today where we're talking about a change to the bases and an actual pitch clock. So finlay would probably be pleased about that, but I guess you would be disappointed that the bigger bases are still just plain old boring white and not break gold. Yeah, I mean. Wow, wow, could have had an even better photo up. Short air in Arizona earlier this week if the basis were not only bigger, but bright gold. Gold. You know? Championship bases. It's like when it's like when a club wins the World Series and then their numbers get to have the gold outlining, you know? Yeah. Maybe someday. Maybe someday. All right, that will do it for today and for this week. Thanks as always for listening. RIP to Tim mccarver, who died on Thursday at age 81, 21 year playing career, two time all star, two