nate82

Apparently the Cubs turned down Montgomery for Bellinger.

The one thing I worry about with Marquette this year is that they don’t play a ranked team until they play UCONN. They have to run the tables the rest of the season. They can’t really lose more than two or three games in conference if they want a #1 seed. Hopefully they don’t lay a few eggs during conference play. The conference looks really weak this year.

Durbin doesn’t have the arm to play 3B. His best position is 2B. I believe the thought with the Brewers brass is to move Turang to SS and keep Ortiz at 3B. I wouldn’t rule out a Frelick trade for another starting pitcher.

I am glad Cam Smith is no longer with the Cubs. He was someone I wanted the Brewers to draft. He is a solid piece going back to the Astros.

The Burnes piece was my own opinion. I thought he had already met with the Mets earlier. I do see that the Giants and Blue Jays have recently met with him so they may have outbid the Mets. The Red Sox are also a possible destination. It is weird that the Orioles haven't been linked at all to Burnes though. I wouldn't count the Mets or Orioles out on signing Burnes.

Essentially it was a 1 year deal but there was a mutual option for a second year with a buyout which is basically just a 1 year deal. Mutual options are very rarely ever picked up. The persons that I talked to they said it was an unlikely scenario but something that looks like it could happen as Alonso’s market is basically dead right now. The Mets have been the only team that has any serious connection with him right now. It is possible Alonso may have to take a 1 year deal if the Mets sign Burnes. Right now it looks like the Mets have the strongest offer out to Burnes.

Basically Alonso's market would have to be very similar to what happened to Grandal. I fully expect the Mets to resign Alonso either to a short term deal one year plus player options or to what they offered him previously. Though the market for Alonso right now is just the Mets and I don't think Stearns will bid against himself so a one year plus player options type of a contract sounds what Alonso is looking at right now. The question then becomes does he want to return to the Mets on a one year plus player options or does he want to go somewhere else on just a one year deal?

Take this with a very fine grain of space dust but I have heard the Brewers have some interest in Alonso on a deal similar to what they signed Grandal to. This would be a Mark A. move as Arnold and others in the front office prefer Goldschmidt over Alonso.

Look I don’t care if I was right or wrong. I just didn’t believe McCalvy on his serious offer part and that is just how I define a serious offer. There is a clear difference between what I think a serious offer is and what the Brewers do. Which is fine. They were in on him and rightfully so didn’t try to beat the offer the Red Sox put together.

Belichick has indeed taken the UNC coaching position. I don’t see him returning to the NFL.

This is good to hear. He would have been a huge loss.

I didn’t say he made it up I just don’t believe the serious part. Or at least his definition of serious.

I don’t believe McCalvy on this one.

The great Kringle war of 2024 started by Homer.

Overpay by the Red Sox but I am assuming they are going to extend him so not as much of an overpay. He should get something close to what the current FA pitchers are getting in terms of a contract.

Like I said the Brewers were out a while ago. The price tag was way too high for Crochet.

You trying to start a war? Because that’s how you start a war.

From some friends I know in MLB front offices I have been told the Brewers are not in on Crochet, but take this with a grain of salt they could be wrong. They have checked in on him but that is as far as the discussions went. From what I have been told the price on Crochet has actually gone up since the trade deadline. The White Sox want more than what they were asking for during the deadline earlier this year and it looks like they may just get what they want as there are three desperate teams wanting to add pitching without adding to their payroll majorly in the Red Sox, Yankees and Phillies with the Mets being interested if Burnes doesn't sign with them. Black doesn't really have a position in MLB and he is more of a DH. The DH position in MLB front offices has been devalued a lot. So take Black's value and cut it in basically half. This is why the White Sox wouldn't want Black regardless if he is a top 100 prospect. It is not filling holes in their MLB roster it is filling holes in their prospect list. The White Sox are devoid of talent at the MLB level but not at the minor league level at least pitching wise. They have two really good pitching prospects that they are probably looking to build around and Black just doesn't fill that void in terms of a positional player. Wilken had a horrible year after getting hit in the face. He continued that in the AFL which was the Brewers trying to get him more comfortable at the plate. The getting hit in the face has made him a bit more timid at the plate causing him to be late in recognizing pitches out of the pitchers hand. The Brewers wanted him to get more comfortable at the plate and seeing the ball better. I am not sure if it worked or not. Other teams have this same viewpoint on Wilken now. I doubt Wilken even makes the top 150 prospects from what I have heard from some scouts they don't see him as an everyday MLB player since the injury occurred. His on base ability has taken the biggest hit since the injury occurred and you could see some signs of this before the injury.

Two overpriced and one marginally overpriced sweatshirts?

Belichick to coach at UNC? https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/42873079/sources-talks-north-carolina-bill-belichick-ongoing If he does accept I am assuming there is very little to no interest from NFL teams to hire him as a HC.

But are they truly a #1 seed? I am not sold yet on them being a #1 seed team. They are good I am just not convinced they are that #1 seed team. Though I don’t really see any other teams as a strong #1 seed team.

The Brewers were never “in”. And by that they were never seriously in on Crochet. They had some discussions but that was it. The Mets, Yankees, Phillies and Red Sox have been far more aggressive in a trade for Crochet. My money is on the Mets or the Red Sox getting Crochet.

Will Ovechkin catch or pass Gretzky this year? Before the injury it looked like he was going to do it. He is only 26 away from tying and 27 away from breaking the record. He is supposed to come back after the new year. I think he will break it but there is very little news on this or much of a mention about it.

This feels like the right thread to put this in. I was going to put this in the Soto thread but that feels like it wouldn't really fit so I am going to put this here. MLB lost the battle for a salary cap after the 94-95 strike. The owners were willing to put in a salary cap then but once the owners went on full greed mode and decided they didn't want to share the TV and other revenue streams with the players it died. If I remember correctly the union wanted something around 40-50% and the owners offered 0%. Once that died it was over for a salary cap in MLB. This was a Selig idea and he tried to get it done but the large and mid market teams were not 100% on board. They wanted a salary cap but to also keep all of the revenue streams coming in without having to share with the players or to increase the players salaries all that much. The only other way for this to happen is if the TV revenue completely dries up for a team like the Dodgers. We will have to wait and see if the Dodgers will be able to get another deal like they got last time or if they will have to join MLB's streaming and media platform. I am hoping the Dodgers have to join MLB's offering as that will increase the payout for the Brewers. The Yankees I think are the only team that owns its full TV and digital rights and they own their production. I think MLB would have to buy this out from the Yankees and I am not sure the Yankees will even sell it. MLB's current plan is to get about just over half the league on its platform and I think they are only at 8 teams right now. We will have to wait until 2026 or 2027 to even know what the plan maybe and then we won't know for certain until 2028. I doubt a salary cap will be implemented unless the TV money completely dries up for the large market teams. The Dodgers would have to see a significant loss to their TV revenue to get behind a salary cap along with the other large market teams. I just don't see that happening so a best case scenario is more revenue sharing through MLB owning the TV and digital rights of teams and that will need to get past the players union in the next CBA. I don't believe the owners have changed their stance all that much on sharing this revenue so baseball may see either a strike or a lockout at some point. That may be the only option to get a salary cap and I am not sure the large market teams will be ok with this along with the players union.

The way that college football is trending you may have a super conference of about 30-40 teams in it. There are already discussions to do this at the NCAA level along with discussions with the NFL. Basically all of the premiere talent will be allocated to this super conference with all of the NIL money going to this but the NIL will go away in this conference. The early discussions on this would be that it would be a semi-pro league where the players will be paid by the conference (schools). Where does the NFL come in this? Simple really the players would still be draft eligible in this new league. That is where the NFL comes in on this. This will also allow for players to stay for 4-years as they will be getting paid closer to the NFL minimums compared to what they are getting paid now. Right now the NIL is a top heavy payout where the majority of the money goes to the top few while the bottom get paid just not all that much. This also gives the players some insurance for their health while playing. The schools are not required to pay for medical expenses for injuries sustained on the field right now. The players are not considered employees of the school so they don't have any obligations right now to pay though some schools do pay for injuries that occur on and off the field. The getting paid part here is the reason why the NFL needs to get involved as they would need to amend their rules otherwise these players would become free agents instead of being draft eligible as they would no longer be non professionals entering the league. The NFL wants to keep the gravy train of money from the TV deal for the draft to keep coming in and if this new super conference that will be paying players means all of the superstars are no longer participating in the draft well that is a problem for the NFL. It is also a problem for the NFL as it loses the cost control of the players at a younger age. If they are considered free agents they can sign for a higher amount. So this is why the NFL is involved in creating this super conference. What benefit does this do for the NCAA? It fixes the NIL issue and the paying of players. It is now a simple and easier transaction that the league can follow and control. Another benefit for the schools is they no longer need to give out scholarships as they would now be paid employees instead of some weird employee student athlete situation that the players are in now. It also reduces the cost for the schools as they will no longer have to house or feed the players. This would all be on the players to find and do themselves. No more special treatment for the athletes at the schools. The transfer portal will also be closed and will only be open on special circumstances. Meaning the player will have to opt out of their contract and pay back any money they have received for the next season that they have been paid for. The schools that don't want to or who won't participate in the new conference can still have a football team but I think they will be limited to only local TV rights and only NIL money that the players can find. Basically it just expands the D3 school list for the teams that won't be in the new super conference. The super conference itself will be 30-40 schools from the B10, SEC and other conferences. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a fee to join also. Recruiting will also change but I think this is for the good as it should even out the talent around this new conference. The biggest benefit would be the removal of the transfer portal. If you want to leave get ready to pay for any money received for the next season and possibly finding yourself in the D3 with only NIL money to count on and your draft prospects being a late 6th or 7th round pick at best. The more I think of the super conference the more I like it. It should fix a lot of the issues that people have with college football.