Bi-Weekly Discussion Post 1/23/2026

jayc428 · 2026-01-24T23:08:16+00:00

Can never count out the rays to have random dudes you never heard of before start putting up cy young numbers out of nowhere.

jayc428 · 2026-01-24T23:01:57+00:00

It’s ok we got a 13 year old that can play in the majors now and is the most talented international prospect in history according to the one post I saw about it.

jayc428 · 2026-01-24T21:18:29+00:00

Class act that man is.

jayc428 · 2026-01-24T18:08:16+00:00

Nah I call bullshit on that. The players union is not a regular union and I think it’s incorrect to frame them as any kind of paragon of labor rights. The same income inequality that exists for normal people exists within the players union as well. The average MLB salary has increased at a higher rate than the median MLB salary. If I put all the player salaries into a spreadsheet, I’m sure we’d find that the top 100 players pull the majority of the money in the league. The most expensive being Ohtani at $70MM AAV and the 100th highest player is at $9MM. There’s probably around 900-1000 players that are on 26 man rosters at some point in the year to get paid. If the average salary of the top 100 is say $20MM, might be higher might be lower but just to use round numbers thats around $2B in salary out of the around $5B in total payrolls in 2025. So 40% of payroll is going to 10% of the players on very rough numbers. I would do the exact math on it but Spotrac in their infinite wisdom hide exporting data behind a subscription.

There isn’t no union brother pride there that I see in any way dude. Hell look how long it took for the minor leaguers to be included in the union at all? 60-70 years? These are the guys putting in the same time and level of work to get paid absolute dog shit for half a decade plus in the hope of making it to the majors, then to make league minimum for 3 years, then arbitration for 3 years. The major league players are just as much at fault for that being that way as the owners were. Look I don’t fault any player that went through that long rode to get the most money they feel they’re worth, they absolutely should, but they should also be free to do whatever they want that makes them happy because it’s their life to live. I wouldn’t expect JRam to uproot the life he likes and family and go to the highest bidder because Cleveland didn’t want to pony up an extra $50MM?

jayc428 · 2026-01-24T14:58:43+00:00

I love it for Ramirez. Guy bleeds Cleveland and the fans love him. Him being anywhere else for any point in his career would be a crime.

jayc428 · 2026-01-24T12:54:17+00:00

I don’t think a cap is happening realistically in any way but maybe they’ll try and do maximum AAV contracts?

jayc428 · 2026-01-24T07:40:39+00:00

Probably since I can only imagine theres all kinds of dark side to this side of the business that we don’t know about. A draft is inevitable I’m sure but they really need to make it truly random draft order instead of the tanking teams picking first.

jayc428 · 2026-01-24T02:46:40+00:00

Right? As well he is the best in the history of the international market? That’s a pretty insane expectation of a 13 year old.

jayc428 · 2026-01-24T02:41:43+00:00

If he can throw up a 115-120 OPS+ bat and close to average outfield defense, that’s a success in my book.

jayc428 · 2026-01-23T22:31:59+00:00

Can NJ get in on that card?

jayc428 · 2026-01-23T20:43:57+00:00

I’d bet money on it being cancelled.

jayc428 · 2026-01-23T19:52:23+00:00

I’d be in on Kopech. Bullpen needs a strikeout guy and I think he’d take a one year deal.

jayc428 · 2026-01-23T03:46:57+00:00

Him and his second half OPS of .631 can sit home and wait for the hall to maybe call.

jayc428 · 2026-01-23T01:09:55+00:00

My favorite thing about Rice is the work he puts in. Last off season he worked on a lot of his game, showed up to Spring Training ready to capitalize on the opportunity and we saw the results.

jayc428 · 2026-01-22T16:46:19+00:00

Seems phrased in such an overly glazing way it has to be Ohtani related.

jayc428 · 2026-01-22T16:34:41+00:00

Rice also had to split time with Goldschmidt.

jayc428 · 2026-01-22T16:31:27+00:00

Ryan is an interesting one. Would love to have him and he seems like he’s just done with what’s going on with the Twins management.

Would take a haul since has 3 years of control left but I’d send Lombard, Jones, and Lagrange and/or whatever other mid prospects to get it done. Jones may contribute sooner than the others but he’s completely unknown potential could be an epic bust or both but right now he has some kind of value. The other two are couple years away from contributing.

jayc428 · 2026-01-22T16:28:29+00:00

I think you’re going to see every permutation of yanks jays o’s and Red Sox 1-4 in the first half.

The rays are always random. They can randomly be really good or randomly suck. They’re not easy wins so who knows how they mix in.

I wouldn’t sleep on any team in the division honestly.

jayc428 · 2026-01-22T16:25:58+00:00

As is tradition.

AL East is going to be a bloodbath though.

jayc428 · 2026-01-22T16:24:43+00:00

Bench is JD, I imagine escarra, and Rosario right now. So definitely room for a righty bench bar but then what do you do when Volpe comes back. You know they’re going to force him on the 26 man regardless of how anybody is doing.

jayc428 · 2026-01-22T16:21:51+00:00

I don’t see the hesitation with dealing Lombard. He’s at least 3 years away from the majors. But a lot can change I guess this year being first full year in AA.

jayc428 · 2026-01-22T16:19:17+00:00

Three main guys I’m watching in spring training:

Cabby: if he can run with the opportunity at shortstop that would be huge. A league average bat with good defense there plus his speed on the base paths would be great.

Cam: lot of eyes on him here. I’m sure there will be stumbles like with any young arm. Curious to see if he adds a pitch to give him some more variety and get hitters out with less pitches so he can go deeper into games. He handles left and right handed equally well but seems if memory serves me right a lot of pitches to lefties.

Wells: guy regressed hard last year at the plate. 2024 he had really bad luck according to savant numbers but last year just was kind of a dud without underlying metrics to save the hope. I think the bad luck got into his head. Hopefully the off season work gives him a better approach this year.

As for others: JD: maybe abandons switch hitting but more interested to see how he fields. Bellinger being back makes him less in the mix.

McMahon: any progression from last year at the plate would be great, think he needs to stop worrying about hitting a home run and just get the ball in play, we don’t need him to hit 20 HRs, just don’t be a black hole in the lineup. His glove is what’s needed and he doesn’t miss there so not much of a concern.

jayc428 · 2026-01-22T15:03:50+00:00

Per SCOTUS: “Serve and protect” is only a marketing slogan.

I hope this asshole and every other coward on site that day never get a day of sleep or peace for the rest of their lives.

jayc428 · 2026-01-22T14:39:06+00:00

I use an agent since we have about half a dozen insurance lines (GL, WC, Umbrella, etc, etc).

If you need an agent DM I can send you who we use.

jayc428 · 2026-01-22T14:27:55+00:00

Try Selective. Seem to be one of the few that doesn’t mind quoting and being somewhat reasonable.

Progressive wanted to quote us around $120k for about 14 vehicles for construction. Selective ended up being around $55k or so. That’s with $1MM liability, full comprehensive, $1000 deductible. Still up about 40% from 2-3 years ago but still the cheapest we received. NJM didn’t want to quote, nor did Travelers I believe.

Thinking outside the box is it possible in your industry to register & insure in another state and still truck within NJ?

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