I agree that a lot of the baseball threads have turned into hot take after hot take. I really haven't visited or posted here as frequently over the last few months because of it.
Visually, I think this site is a major downgrade. Way too much going on. Ads are fine and I understand their need but I've got videos and popups all over the place. Not to mention, the site is constantly jumping all over the place as ads load. I'll open a thread and go to click on a link but the page jumps and I wind up clicking on some other link.
The articles all being posted in the main forum is just clutter. Based on the previous complaints I've seen about them and the general lack of replies to the post, I don't think they are really adding anything no matter where they are placed.
Overall, the Brewers lackluster performance has taken a lot of the joy and my interest away from this place but the reasons above a certainly are part of it too.