Too many teams in MLB

[westofyou]

Base running is terrible, almost like these guys don't have a clue. Strikeouts are incredibly high, probably at an all time high as teams do not hit behind the runners or just go with the pitch. And Jacob deGrom? His ERA and strikeouts are almost non human to this point.

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/m...g-with-injury/

Reds hit five HRs off Rockies in first five innings which is a franchise record? Yes, TONS of talent all over the league. Expansion has watered down talent pool and impacted what is available in minor leagues.

“There’s no excuse for a major league player striking out 100 times a season. Unless, of course, he’s blind.”

~ Joe Sewell - 1960

[zigbeenuthouse]

Injuries this year are exposing all this lack of talent as the spreading OUT of minor league talent among the 30 teams isn't enough to replace those who are injured.

This really sums it up well as you guys are all into stats like OPS, WAR, OBPS, etc.

https://tht.fangraphs.com/tht-annual...-of-expansion/

[westofyou]

Don’t assume that the trend for lower offense numbers is being driven by the lack of talent in the game and not the way the game is played and executed. Similar complaints were leveled against the players of the 1960s and proved wrong eventually

[zigbeenuthouse]

Don’t assume that the trend for lower offense numbers is being driven by the lack of talent in the game and not the way the game is played and executed. Similar complaints were leveled against the players of the 1960s and proved wrong eventually

Link?

[JaxRed]

Link? Do you have any idea who you are talking to?

[westofyou]

Link?

Start with Bill James Historical Abstract, 1960 chapter covers the subject well. Rules were changed and the game changed, a good part of the reporters and executives in the game didn’t catch it and they were critical of guys for diminishing rate stats, problem was the environment was the reason not the players

[LARKIN]

My man Ziggy had this post locked and loaded for the last 9 years. We get to 500 in June and a quarter of the league isn’t fit to shine our shoes!

[zigbeenuthouse]

Yes, thank you. Are you referring to lowering the mound in 69 to help hitters? When you say environment can you give an example?

Also, not to get off track on what is going to today as the focus is NOT on players who can't hit...but on the high NUMBER of players who can't hit or run bases or pitch due to expansion.

I hope you read the link I gave, reading the Bill James ideas on this without buying the book or reading the excerpt is impossible. Given all this, and the fact guys on here think there is plenty of talent, does anyone really think 2 more teams could be added? If not, why?

[Falls City Beer]

There’s never been more parity in the game in my lifetime. Sure there are Pittsburghs, Arizonas, Colorados, Texases, but man there are a ton of teams that are still hanging around in mid-June. That’s a marked change from even 10 years ago, when you could pretty much throw out half the league or more by mid-June.

[zigbeenuthouse]

Not really. I was just ruminating on the fact our club should have beaten or at LEAST SHOULD have been in the last game of Milwaukee series but didn't have THE GUY available to bring in being Antone. WHY? Just poor talent in AAA to bring in and no one else on the club available to do the job. Add to this the fact that climbing up to 500 was on the back of a preposterously horrible club in Colorado Rox. I like Colorado, been to their park to see them play Astros few years back...but they and several other teams cannot compete. By the end of the year we'll see clubs with records which are going to be very, very, VERY bad.

[KronoRed]

If you want to start dumping teams then the Reds will be one of the first on the chopping block.

[RainHH]

Watching the Rockies is akin to AAA baseball.
Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Arizona, Washington, Miami, Baltimore, Texas....ugh. Talent around the league is stretched.

The Rockies have 3x’d the laughingstock reds in the last 20 years

[OGB]

I'm not agreeing with the OP, but aside from the NHL which I don't watch enough to accurately evaluate I would say that MLB currently has the most talent depth of the other 3 major sports.

Of course that is exacerbated when some teams bail on seasons entirely and have rosters full of prospects and AAAA players.

Injuries also seem to be at an all time high this year which can highlight the lack of depth beyond a team's starters.

All that said, this Reds team has twice the talent that a lot of the lost decade Reds teams had. Bullpen and bench struggles aside, we have way more talent than 2004.

They just aren't playing as well as we'd like.

[Captain Hook]

I don’t buy it. There’s independent teams with guys throwing close to 100 and that can hit the ball a mile. Also talented vets that still have something to offer the game on the field like Brandon Phillips and Scooter Gennett are being forced out of the game because even the bottom feeders have prospects that they value more. The talent is there.

[Wonderful Monds]

I don’t buy it. There’s independent teams with guys throwing close to 100 and that can hit the ball a mile. Also talented vets that still have something to offer the game on the field like Brandon Phillips and Scooter Gennett are being forced out of the game because even the bottom feeders have prospects that they value more. The talent is there.

Scooter not getting even so much as a ST invite is pretty absurd, the guy had 42 bad games at the age of 29 coming off an 850 OPS all star season, and the league decided he was done. Or rather, teams aren’t willing to pay any money at all to players who aren’t everyday guys anymore.