Major League Baseball: 2019 Season

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Angels OF Mike Trout to sign a 12 year $430 Million dollar contract with the Angels (essentially an extension). This is the largest contract offer in professional sports in terms of AAV and total value.
 
And this kids is why you play baseball (looking at you Kyler Murray). That contact is absolutely insane. Hopefully, it doesn't come back and bite them.
 
Just came to this thread, to see if anybody was talking about it. Wowzers. :D
 
Twitter was talking about (indirect quote) "the largest contact in pro sports history." So I was surprised jumping onto GTPlanet and learning of the figures. Man- 12 years for $430M USD? Doing semi-rough math, that's an estimated $36M USD a year! Some players make about $36M USD with their contracts. When you sign a big contract, you'd better live up to it. That's not to say Mike Trout is a bad player. It should be very interesting to see how all of this goes.
 
It's still a crazy amount of money no matter how you look at it.


Opening Day of the 2019 season of Major League Baseball is March 28- the earliest Opening Day in MLB history. All 30 teams will play on that day. When Opening Day comes around, here are the first games of the regular season:


--- Opening Day (March 28, 2019) Games ---
* BAL Orioles at NYY Yankees
* NYM Mets at WAS Nationals
* STL Cardinals at MIL Brewers
* ATL Braves at PHI Phillies
* DET Tigers at TOR Blue Jays
* HOU Astros at TB Rays
* CHC Cubs at TEX Rangers
* LAA Angels at OAK Athletics
* CLE Indians at MIN Twins
* PIT Pirates at CIN Reds
* ARI Diamondbacks at LAD Dodgers
* SF Giants at SD Padres
* COL Rockies at MIA Marlins
* CHW White Sox at KC Royals
* BOS Red Sox at SEA Mariners


Remember- you can't make the Playoffs winning in the opening series, but you can surely lose it. It's a 162-game grind to determine who the best teams in the league are. So don't feel bad if your favorite team(s) lose their first series. Still plenty of time to bounce back. Opening Day 2019 is next Thursday.
 
Opening Day is in less than 12 hours. The Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan will play host to the Oakland Athletics and the Seattle Mariners in a quick 2 game series in the birthplace of Ichiro, so it is only fitting that Ichiro will be starting said game(s) for the Mariners, his adopted US team following his long stint with the Orix Blue Wave. This will be the 2nd time these two teams played in Japan (they split the 2012 season's opening series), the 2nd time the Mariners have played in Japan (2012), the third time the Athletics have played in Japan (2008 and 2012) and the 5th time the MLB season has opened in Japan (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012). The starting pitchers are Marco Gonzales (SEA) and Mike Fiers (OAK). The game will begin at 5:35 AM EDT.
 
Ichiro Suzuki has officially retired. Now 45 years old after starting his pro career 27 years ago and playing in 18 MLB seasons, Ichiro is going to hang it up and call it a career. It would be a travesty if he doesn't get any kind of Hall of Fame recognition from anybody. He has been very solid in his entire baseball career.

More info: https://sports.yahoo.com/ichiro-suz...-retires-after-series-in-japan-143148463.html


All of the teams go to work next Thursday for the start of the regular season, even though this quick Mariners-Athletics series happened in Tokyo today and yesterday. So get psyched for the new season of MLB baseball!
 
Extension Time is upon us. P Blake Snell (Rays), 1B Paul Goldschmidt (Cardinals), 3B Alex Bregman (Astros) and P Chris Sale (Red Sox) all have agreed to contract extensions with their current teams.
 
Yeah, Blitz24. I'm glad we locked up Alex Bregman for a good long time. A-Breg surely is solid for the the Houston Astros. Only thing I really hope for is the Astros to keep having consistent hitting as well as having a solid pitching rotation.


So I usually ask a lot- what, if anything, concerns you about your favorite team(s) this upcoming season? And how well do you think they can limit those concerns?
 
Reports indicate Justin Verlander signed a two-year extension with the Houston Astros. The extension starts in the 2020 season. The deal is worth $66M USD.

Since being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals from the Arizona Diamondbacks, Paul Goldschmidt signed a five-year deal worth $130M USD to play for the Cardinals. I'll be interested to see how Goldy does with STL. He was basically the man with Arizona. I'm sure he'll deal damage with the Cards as well.
 
Jacob deGrom has agreed to a 5 year extension with the Mets for $137.5 million. The 2014 ROTY and 2018 Cy Young Award winner receives a full no trade clause and the Mets have a team option for 2024. Essentially this deal is a 4 year, $120.5 million extension, as deGrom's $17 million contract for 2019 was absorbed into the deal.
 
JohnBM01
How do you think your New York Mets will do this season, Blitz24?
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Somewhere between 78 and 92 wins. The NL East is probably the toughest division overall (AL East has 3 teams competing) as 4 teams could win the division. Washington improved their SP, Philadelphia improved their hitting and RP and Atlanta shored up it's bench. Right now, I would say Philadelphia 1st, Washington 2nd, Mets 3rd and the Braves 4th. That could change though as both Atlanta and Washington may not have covered all of their weaknesses.
 
Blitz24
Somewhere between 78 and 92 wins. The NL East is probably the toughest division overall (AL East has 3 teams competing) as 4 teams could win the division.
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As a result, I would not be surprised if the winner of the division is the only one going to the playoffs. I expect the NL wildcards to come from the Central and West. Although the Pirates and Reds may take quite a few wins from the other central teams.
 
I don't see the Tigers making the playoffs this year. All I hope to see is improvement from the young talent to show signs that the rebuild is actually happening successfully.
 
AnthonyD1993
I don't see the Tigers making the playoffs this year. All I hope to see is improvement from the young talent to show signs that the rebuild is actually happening successfully.
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On a positive note, they should be better than the Royals.
 
I do like my Houston Astros, but I am not as confident they will be any kind of fire-breathing team. I actually feel good about the Astros even in their 2017 World Series triumph. They got crushed like a monster truck crushing old jalopies against Boston in last season's ALCS. Houston knocked down 103 wins last regular season. Some of the offensive firepower from the Astros went on to other teams. However, I think we still have a solid team that could possibly win another World Series. I don't know about 100+ wins, but a fair assessment would be 90 or more. Something tells me Houston isn't going to run away with all kinds of wins. I do think Houston will be solid in defense and in pitching. I haven't seen recent Astros teams struggle too much on the mound whether starting pitching or relief pitching. So... I feel good about the Astros in 2019, but my confidence is kind of shaky. We'll see what happens.

If there's a Division to watch this season, I'm going to say it's the NL Central. I do at times wish the Astros were still in the NL and in the NL Central, but it will be interesting to see how the likes of the Cubs, Cardinals, and even the Reds will do in determining who will be tops in that division. The defending champs in the NL Central are the Milwaukee Brewers. And don't get me wrong- the Brew Crew will still make like difficult for the rest of the NL Central, and perhaps even the NL in general.


Any other assessments or predictions you want to make before the games happen tomorrow?
 
Hey, you... yeah- YOU reading this post right now! Feel something... funny? Is there something in the air? Are you tingling with excitement for some reason? Well, guess what? That's because the Opening Day 2019 is here! Sure we had that quick two-game series in Tokyo, Japan between the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics; but, today is where all 30 teams begin their grind towards becoming MLB champions this season (or continue for SEA and OAK). So get ready to have baseball action between now and the final World Series game. Get psyched, GTPlanet!

As a mini omission from my previous post, the Houston Astros' slogan this season is "Take it Back." Kind of fitting though today is Thursday, and we often have "Throwback Thursday" in social media. The "Take it Back" is in trying to win another World Series after failing to do so in 2018 (granted they didn't get to the World Series last season).


Anyhow, good luck to all of your favorite teams this season.

PLAY BALL!!!
 
The 2019 MLB season for the Houston Astros starts with a 5-1 victory at Tampa Bay. Justin Verlander got roughed up early with a leadoff home run by Tampa Bay. Since then, the Astros scored five unanswered runs including three jacks from George Springer, new Astro Michael Brantley, and José Altuve. Justin Verlander picked up the win for HOU, and B. Snell was the loser for Tampa Bay.


Congratulations to all other winners up to and beyond the time of this post, including the likes of the New York Yankees and the New York Mets. I will still post series summaries, but I wanted to shed light on the Opening Day matches.
 
The Reds can't make it easy, allowing the Pirates to load the bases in the 9th (thanks to 3 walks allowed) while leading 5-3. Thankfully, they held on to win.
 
Here is my first series summary of the 2019 season. My Houston Astros start their first seven games on the road, with the first stop being in Tampa Bay. Here is what happened:

GM1 HOU at TB: (5-1; Houston)
GM2 HOU at TB: (4-2; Tampa Bay)
GM3 HOU at TB: (3-1; Tampa Bay)
GM4 HOU at TB: (3-1; Tampa Bay)

So far, so bad. Hit the ground running in Game 1, not much else since. I feared the offense may not be as effective for the Astros considering some of the many off-season moves. Tampa Bay was just that much better to start this 2019 season. To be fair, the Astros have struggled often times against AL East teams. Still- we're 1-3 to start 2019.

Up next for Houston... more important business- a Division game. The Battle for the Silver Boot will be in full anger starting tomorrow in Arlington as the Houston Astros pay a visit to Sanji Himura's Texas Rangers.


You can't win the championship during Opening Week, but you can surely lose it. There's still a LONG way to go. Congratulations to all series winners from this weekend's games.
 
New York fails to sweep the Nationals as Trea Turner hits a walk-off HR to salvage the finale, 6-5. ROTY candidate Pete Alonso had a successful first 3 days with 6 hits in his first 3 games.

Orioles wait forever to beat the Yankees after a 3 hour rain delay to win their opening series.

Dodgers win 3 out of 4 vs. the Diamondbacks, scoring 42 runs in the 4 game series.

Mariners win 3 of 4 vs. the Red Sox, battering their pitchers in the process.

Bryce Harper has a successful first 3 games, hitting 2 HR as the Phillies sweep the Braves, and are the only remaining undefeated team (as the Braves are the only win-less team).

The Padres had successful debuts by Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. as they won 3 of 4 vs. the offensively challenged San Francisco Giants.
 
The Battle for the Silver Boot in 2019 began in earnest recently. Lone Star State pride is on the line when the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers square off. Let's see how this rivalry started off this season:

GM1 HOU at TEX: (2-1; Houston)
GM2 HOU at TEX: (6-4; Texas)
GM3 HOU at TEX: (4-0; Texas)

So the 2019 Houston Astros have yet to win a series and yet to win successive games. Maybe they can get to where they need to be with their next series. And speaking of...

Up next for the Houston Astros Baseball Club... after this Thursday off (for soul searching, I'm sure), we begin our first home series by hosting the Oakland Athletics for three followed by the New York Yankees for three more games. But first things first- Oakland comes to H-Town starting this Friday.


Congratulations to all other series winners as well as those who won today/tonight. How did your boys do in their most recent series?


[UPDATE] It was 6-4, TEX in GM2. Changes made.
 
Reds are 1-4. Great start to the season...:rolleyes:

After winning opening day, we've yet to pick up another one. We just got swept by the Brew Crew. Each by 1 run. After the incredible feat of going 10-29 in 1-run games last season, we've already pulled the feat off 3 times this year...in only 5 total games played. It's not like the pitching was terrible this series either. We only gave up a total of 9 runs, including a great game by Castillo today. He was rewarded with a 1-0 loss.

Fun stat I heard on the radio on my way home from work: Not counting Puig, the rest of the Reds' outfield is a combined 1 for 47. Seems impossible. But this is Cincinnati, where winning has been futile lately, and the pro teams seems to defy all odds. At least the Cyclones are good. Yeah, it may be the ECHL, not the NHL, but at least they compete every year. And they can win championships.
 
Mets are 5-1 following a sweep of the Marlins. Jacob deGrom went 7 innings and struck out 14. He hasn't allowed a run in 26 innings, he extends his streak of 31 games in a row of 3 runs or less and he ties Bob Gibson in consecutive quality starts at 26. Oh, and he also hit a home run.
 
The Reds took another loss today, 2-0. Third time already we've been shut out. The pitching continues to be solid, sporting a fine 2.89 ERA. Unfortunately we are dead last in hitting, batting a handsome .164 as a team. Now 1-5. Stellar.
 
How about 3 straight shutouts? Yup, it was the third consecutive game without any Redlegs crossing home plate in a 0-2 losing effort. This is the complete opposite of last season. Pitching has been stellar, but the offense has been nonexistent. We've scored a total 11 runs in 7 games so far. Record stands at 1-6.
 
Man. Sorry about your Cincinnati Reds so far, Dolph Drago. There's still a WHOLE lot of games left. I mean, who's to say the Reds may get hot and reel off a set of wins and maybe go to mid-pack in the NL Central? Anything can still happen.

Blitz24's New York Mets look pretty good so far. As far as the NL East goes, I surely will want to see how the Mets/Phillies matchup go. I think the NL East will come down to the Mets and the Phillies. Not sure who my third favorite would be between Washington and Atlanta. Part of me wants to go with Atlanta.

I'll do my series summary when it's done, but my Houston Astros defeated Oakland 3-2 last night in their home opener. The season has just started slow for a lot of the talented teams. That even includes my Astros. You always want to try to beat your division teams. So we'll have to knock down as many wins as we can in this series before the New York Yankees come to H-Town on Monday.


I hope your favorite team(s) is/are doing well so far.
 

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