'Back To The Future' in Baseball
'Back To The Future' in Baseball
ALSO: DAN SCHLOSSBERG'S 2022 AMERICAN LEAGUE PREVIEW
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Pregame Pepper
Did you know…
In a classic conflict of interest, the New York Mets have announced that fans at their CitiField game July 24 will receive a Gil Hodges bobble-head — even though most Hodges fans will watch his long-awaiting induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame that day in person or on MLB Network . . .
Congratulations to Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer, starting his 30th year as MASN analyst for his old team, the Baltimore Orioles . . .
Atlanta ace Max Fried led the majors with a 1.74 ERA after the 2021 All-Star break . . .
The 1970 Minnesota Twins had five Hall of Famers, including 2022 inductees Jim Kaat and Tony Oliva as well as Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew, and Bert Blyleven . . .
Miami’s Sandy Alcantara mixes his pitches better than most, throwing a 98 mph sinker 28.2 per cent of the time, a 90 mph slider at 24.1 per cent, a 92 mph changeup at 23.5 per cent, and a 98 mph four-seam fastball 21.6 per cent of the time . . .
San Francisco third baseman Evan Longoria, a three-time All-Star on the Injured List for the fifth straight year, has not made 600 plate appearances since 2017 . . .
Paul McCartney, who has more hits than anyone on the Orioles, will perform at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on June 12 . . .
Rick Sutcliffe blanked Cleveland for Baltimore, 2-0, in the first game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards 30 years ago . . .
Eutaw Street bleacher seats in Batimore for Monday-Thursday games will cost only $10 this season.
Leading Off
Back to the Future: Baseball Edition
By Alex Kielar
Everyone loves the Back to the Future movies as they are some of the more rewatchable movies ever. In Back to the Future Part II, Marty McFly and Doc Brown travel to 2015, which was 30 years ahead of the year the movie took place, in 1985. With that in mind, if time travel existed and we could travel ahead 30 years, to 2052, what would be different about Major League Baseball?
Rob Manfred is the Biff Tannen of our world and in 30 years, baseball looks drastically different because he decided to put his evil hands all over it. The commissioner took away the minor leagues entirely and now teams have to have a limit of 26 players in total. Bat flips are gone as well as any kind of celebration, bases are 20 feet apart, and there’s a 10-second pitch clock. That along with much more needs to be stopped to save baseball.
Let’s first set the scene with who would be the Marty and Doc of the baseball world.
Obviously, Marty was a 17-year-old high schooler in the movies. So, who’s a current high school ball player who could save the future of baseball from the wrath of Rob Tannen or Biff Manfred?
The first kid that comes to mind is the son of Atlanta Braves’ great Andruw Jones, Druw Jones. The young outfielder is the top overall prospect in the 2022 MLB Draft and could have an even higher ceiling than his father. He is someone who can really help to grow the game along with the other young prospects and players, such as Bobby Witt, Jr., who made the Opening Day roster for the Kansas City Royals. With Jones as the Marty, the Doc Brown in this scenario is Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan.
Jones and Ryan enter the DeLorean and reach 88 miles per hour to travel to 2052. When they get there, they see how much the game has changed and need to stop Manfred.
They realize that to stop Manfred from ruining the game, they have to go back and stop him from ever becoming commissioner.
So coincidently, the year they have to go back to is 2015, when Manfred officially took over as leader of Major League Baseball. Jones and Ryan talk the owners into not hiring Manfred as commissioner, and instead talk them into going with Tim Brosnan, another top candidate at the time.
Brosnan oversaw the league’s new national television contracts, the launch of MLB Network, and MLB’s deal with SiriusXM worth $650 million. He was also in charge of licensing and sponsorships, while also being behind MLB Fan Cave, which showed the fun and human sides of players. Manfred has a law and business background, and so does Brosnan. But Brosnan was the better candidate and was looking to grow the game by using clever marketing, which has been lost on Manfred.
Now, how would an older Nolan Ryan and young son of Andruw Jones be able to talk the owners into making this decision? Well, since they are from the future, all they would have to do is tell them that the Chicago Cubs broke their 108-year drought in 2016.
The owners (besides the Ricketts family perhaps) would look at them like they were crazy. To prove it to them, Ryan and Jones would bring a championship ring from 2016 to 2015. Without getting into the semantics and how that could potentially mess up the whole space-time continuum, the owners believe them.
Brosnan is instead hired as the new commissioner and immediately incorporates new marketing factors into the game. That includes working out a deal to get rid of blackouts and making it easier to share content across social media. Players are able to market themselves and are able to do bat flips and other celebrations without repercussions. The game goes global and more fans get into the game while bringing new players who maybe wouldn’t have been interested in playing before. Not just at the major league level, but minor leagues, college, and high school showcase circuits are marketed a lot more and baseball is once again “America’s Game”.
Ryan and Jones go back to 2052 to make sure things changed for the better. They get there and see that the game has changed, as it always does. But this time it changed in good way with the game grown beyond what anyone could ever imagine.
Ballparks are filled with fans, and every stadium has incorporated betting areas, where fans (of legal betting age) can make live bets on the action. The fans are involved in all the live action.
Seeing that the game is in good hands again, the unlikely heroes return to 2022. Jones is drafted first overall later in the year and goes on to have an outstanding career and help grow the game into what it is destined to become. He becomes one of the best players of his generation and leads the charge on growing the game.
Meanwhile, Ryan watches from a distance but smiles on a brand new day for the game he loves. With Manfred not becoming commissioner, he goes back to being a lawyer and stays far away from the game of baseball.
Alex Kielar is a writer and editor with Prime Time Sports Talk (@TalkPrimeTime) where he covers MLB and fantasy baseball. You can find him on Twitter @AlexKielar as he provides baseball news including Yankees prospects and a lot more.
Cleaning Up
Big-Spending Blue Jays To Make First Series Appearance Since 1993
By Dan Schlossberg
Last fall, the Toronto Blue Jays missed making the playoffs by the slimmest of margins. It won’t happen again.
After finishing fourth in the formidable AL East with a 91-71 record, the Jays beefed up their rotation with Kevin Gausman and Yuseo Kikuchi, extended Jose Berrios, and obtained Gold Glove third baseman Matt Chapman from Oakland. Other than a bullpen that needs help, the Jays have an All-Star cast headed by MVP contender Vladimir Guerrero and holdovers George Springer, Bo Bichette, and Teoscar Hernandez.
Tampa Bay, which always finds a way, won’t win 100 again but will be tough — especially now that Wander Franco enters his first full season. The Rays also get power from Brandon Lowe, Mike Zunino, and Randy Arozarena plus pitching from Shane McClanahan and ex-Yankee Corey Kluber but losing reliever Pete Fairbanks (injured) is a problem even innovative manager Kevin Cash can’t solve.
Both Boston and New York bank on big hitters to overcome pitching deficiencies. The Red Sox, defeated by the Astros in the 2021 AL Championship Series, roll out Rafael Devers, J.D. Martinez, Xander Bogaerts, and newly-signed Trevor Story to flatten opponents but will miss lefties Chris Sale (injured again) and Eduardo Rodriguez (left for Detroit as free agent). The Sox were so desperate they signed over-the-hill Rich Hill and fellow vagabond Michael Wacha.
Keeping sluggers Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge healthy (and getting the latter signed) are top priorities for manager Aaron Boone, who gets a big boost from newcomer Josh Donaldson but desperately needs comebacks from DJ LeMahieu, Gleyber Torres, Joey Gallo, and Aaron Hicks. New No. 1 catcher Kyle Higashioka became a sudden slugger in spring training but is it sustainable? Gerrit Coleand Luis Severino head a so-so rotation backed by a better bullpen, led by lethal lefty Aroldis Chapman.
Baltimore will lead the majors in losses but has wisely moved back its left-field fence nearly 30 feet so the scores won’t be so lopsided. Trey Mancini and Cedric Mullins, a 30-30 man last year, lead the attack but both have been bandied about in trade talk.
One team virtually certain to reverse its fortunes is the Minnesota Twins. Look for surprise signee Carlos Correa to lead a rebound that reverses last year’s 73-89 mark and knocks off the White Sox in the Central. Mighty Minny, which once hit a record 307 home runs in a season, is powered by Byron Buxton, Jorge Polanco, Miguel Sano, and ex-Yankee Gary Sanchez, while newcomers Sonny Gray, Chris Archer, Chris Paddack, and Dylan Bundy bolster the rotation. Emilio Pagan, just acquired from San Diego, joins a bullpen that may need more bolstering.
Chicago won 93 games to take the division last year but lost three good arms in Carlos Rodon, Ryan Tepera, and Craig Kimbrel. That leaves Tony La Russa, oldest manager in the game, with Jose Abreu, Tim Anderson, Luis Robert, newcomer A.J. Pollock, and comeback candidate Eloy Jimenez on the attack and Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease, Dallas Keuchel, and Michael Kopech on the mound. A knee injury to All-Star Lance Lynn could prove devastating despite a pen inhabited by Liam Hendricks, who led the AL in saves, and Joe Kelly, signed as a free agent.
The could even be a Tiger in the American League tank; Detroit went 77-85 to finish third under A.J. Hinch last year and has added a bunch of blue-chip rookies to the varsity roster. The team has also signed defensive standouts Javy Baez, a shortstop, and Tucker Barnhart, a catcher, plus pitchers Eduardo Rodriguez, Michael Pineda, and Andrew Chafin. The big bat still belongs to Miguel Cabrera, backed by Jonathan Schoop, Jeimer Candalario, Austin Meadows, and rookie Spencer Torkelson. Kids Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal follow E-Rod as starters, backed by the left-right closer tandem of Gregory Soto and Michael Fulmer (yes, he’s still hanging around).
Kansas City (74-88 with a late rush last year) is also improving. Salvador Perez, who led the majors in runs batted in, will have men on base again with Whit Merrifield, Andrew Benintendi, and Carlos Santana in the lineup. Rookie Bobby Witt, Jr. could also make an impact. Aging but experienced Zack Greinke returns to lead a young pitching staff whose best incumbent is closer Scott Barlow.
Even Terry Francona won’t be able to save Cleveland from a cellar season and awful nickname. The team wisely re-signed switch-hitting slugger Jose Ramirez for five years, has another 30-homer man in Franmil Reyes, and owns a pair of top pitchers in starter Shane Bieber and closer Emmanual Clase. There’s not much else — to be expected from a bottom-feeder payroll of $51 million [Max Scherzer alone makes almost that much].
It won’t be the same Old West in the American League. The Los Angeles Angels have re-tooled, the Houston Astros have come down a notch, and the Seattle Mariners are enjoying an influx of youth in an effort to win its first pennant (you read that right).
The Angels won’t be heaven-sent to rival pitchers if comeback candidates Mik Trout and Anthony Rendon combine with defending MVP Shohei Ohtani to form the best batting troika in the majors. The Angels also have a formidable bullpen, with Aaron Loup, Archie Bradley, and Ryan Tepera behind Raisel Iglesias. That group will be busy even if Noah Syndergaard proves healthy, Michael Lorenzen makes a smooth transition to starting, and Ohtani pitches more often.
Veteran manager Dusty Baker, who has piloted five playoff teams, will miss free agent deserters Carlos Correa and Kendall Graveman but won’t miss extending his streak for most games managed without a world championship. The offense that petered out in the World Series against Atlanta needs an Alex Bregman comeback and big years from Michael Brantley, Yordan Alvarez, Jose Altuve, and AL batting king Yuli Gurriel. The Astros also have to hope 39-year-old Justin Verlander has something left after Tommy John surgery. There’s plenty of pitching in Framber Valdez, Luis Garcia, and Jake Odorizzi but Lance McCullers, Jr. is idled by injury issues again. Ryan Pressly heads a decent pen.
Seattle is depending upon newcomers to fuel its fight for the flag it has never won. The M’s were second to Houston last year with a 90-72 mark and have added sluggers Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez, versatile Adam Frazier, and pitchers Robbie Ray and Sergio Romo. Key contributors should be Mitch Haniger, who had 39 homers in 2021; ex-Met Jerred Kelenec; and Ray, who teams with returning Marco Gonzalez to give manager Scott Servais a pair of solid southpaws in his rotation. A spring injury to closer Ken Giles could hurt, however. Ray won the 2021 AL Cy Young in Toronto.
Texas deserves a better fate after spending so much time grabbing headlines before Rob Manfred unleashed 99 days of nuclear winter. The free-spending Rangers won’t repeat the 60-102 ledger that left them in the AL West basement but won’t have enough pitching to contend. Not yet, anyway. The club has nine new players, including heavy hitters Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Mitch Garver, Brad Miller, and Kole Calhoun, plus pitchers Jon Gray, Martin Perez, and Greg Holland.
The one certainty of the season is the selection of the Oakland Athletics to hit bottom. The payroll-slashing, ballpark-seeking team hands a bunch of unknowns to rookie manager Mark Kotsay. Watch out for a rookie catcher named Shea Langeliers, acquired from Atlanta in the Matt Olson trade.
Here’s how the American League should finish:
EAST — Blue Jays, Rays, Red Sox, Yankees, Orioles
CENTRAL — Twins, *White Sox, Tigers, Royals, Guardians
WEST — Angels, *Astros, *Mariners, Rangers, Athletics
(*) Wild cards
ALDS — Blue Jays over White Sox; Twins over Mariners; Astros over Angels
ALCS — Blue Jays over Astros
WORLD SERIES — Braves over Blue Jays
Former AP sportswriter Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ has been covering baseball since 1969. The author of 40 books and a regular speaker about the game, his byline appears in forbes.com, Latino Sports, USA TODAY Sports Weekly, Sports Collectors Digest, and elsewhere. E.mail him at ballauthor@gmail.com.
Timeless Trivia
“That [Gary] Sanchez conspicuously resisted all attempts, including private tutoring, to become even a minimally efficient catcher who ran he bases, with even a minimal degree of enthusiasm and situational awareness, and batted with the goal to hit the ball rather than strike out, only seemed to escape Aaron Boone, Brian Cashman, and YES’ broadcast teams.”
—Phil Mushnick of The New York Post on ex-Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez
New Yankee shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa, a Yankee fan growing up, was at Yankee Stadium for Mariano Rivera’s 400th career save . . .
Yankees “closer” Aroldis Chapman walked 6.1 batters per nine innings last year . . .
Ironic that Sonny Gray, who hated pitching to Gary Sanchez, arrived in Minnesota the same day the Twins acquired Sanchez in a separate swap . . .
Do you think Robinson Cano will actually run out ground balls this season? . . .
Remember when the Mets spent $110 million to sign Yoenis Cespedes? . . .
Giancarlo Stanton, Mookie Betts, Bryce Harper, and Mike Trout are on long-term contracts that carry through age 37. Aaron Judge may be about to join them.
Rob Manfred’s 2017 letter to Brian Cashman regarding Yankee involvement in sign-stealing may become public because of a ruling by Judge Debra Ann Livingston of the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals . .
The five super shortstops who tested free agency this time around got a combined $885.3 million – all from AL teams.
Know Your Editors
HERE’S THE PITCH is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Brian Harl [bchrom831@gmail.com] handles Monday and Tuesday editions, Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] does Wednesday and Thursday, and Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com] edits the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HTP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.