Baseball PODs and Scenarios

I'm sure the Expos can find another closer somewhere.

BUT, can they find one who was as dominant as Wetteland was?

That's the trick.

And bear in mind, unless they find a way to get him out of Queens, they're going to have to face him (and a pretty good Mets team on the whole, once you see who the Player to be named from the Strawberry trade is) just as they're getting rolling.
 
Much more than that, what impact will no Johnson have on Seattle in the mid 90s?

Johnson was key in their dramatic run to the ALCS in 1995, beating the Yankees. That run was essentially what got Safeco Field built.

I think your TL will see the Mariners getting relocated from Seattle, but where to?
 
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Winter of Discontent Part 2

Much more than that, what impact will no Johnson have on Seattle in the mid 90s?

Johnson was key in their dramatic run to the ALCS in 1995, beating the Yankees. That run was key in getting Safeco Field built.

I think your TL will see the Mariners getting relocated from Seattle, but where to?

I think that Eiland and Adkins, removed from the insanity and pressure that they came into in New York and be far more effective ITTL, plus I think Muelens will develop a more patient bat in Seattle, something a string of poor hitting coaches and, again, pressure to perform at an all-star level right out of Triple A in New York messed with him.

Seattle was (and still is) very good at developing young talent. Take Johnson himself for example. Griffey Jr., Tino Martinez, Jay Buhner, etc...all developed by Seattle into the players they became.

Buhner in TTL developed a bit earlier and more successfully than OTL while staying in New York because of the Chambliss as Piniella's hitting coach and Gene Michael's dedication to building a solid core of young players (TTL: Drabek, Buhner, Morris, Kelly and Leiter) POD and getting steady work in the majors much sooner than he did OTL.

Langston's not the only player leaving Seattle in the 1988-89 off-season...the next player to go is going to bring in a very valuable piece to that puzzle.

It's not Johnson, but it's close...


Meanwhile, the Mets just keep on dealing...

December 23, 1988, the Mets continued the dealing, seeking to fill the hole left in right field by the Strawberry trade and get younger at first base...

Mets get: RF Darrin Jackson and 1B Rafael Palmeiro*

Cubs get: RP Randy Meyers and RP Roger McDowell

Jackson's trade value would never be higher than it was in December of '88: He was 23, coming off a killer season at Triple A Iowa in '87 (.273, 23 HR's, 81 RBIs, 13 steals in 132 games) and a strong showing with the Cubs in 1988 (.266, 6, 20, 4 in 100 games and 188 ABs).

Palmeiro is 23 and coming off a strong season of his own (.307, 8, 53 in 152 games in 1988.) and is a young option with great potential to replace an aging Keith Hernandez at 1st.

Butterfly: Jamie Moyer's staying in Chicago and gets a chance to continue to develop in the same system that made Gregg Maddux the major league stud he became. Palmerio may not 'roid up like he did in Texas. Thing is, being that we now know he's of questionable character, he may very well juice in Queens too. Figure he's 50/50.

One thing's for sure: The Cubbies are going to be very tough ITTL with Maddux, Moyer*, Sutcliffe, Bielecki and Sanderson in the rotation and Myers and McDowell in the bullpen in '89.

Speaking of the Mariners...

On that same day:

Orioles get: 2B Harold Reynolds#

Mariners get: 2B Juan Bell, P Curt Schilling and OF Steve Finley*.

(See what I meant?;))

And nobody's done trading yet...more trades to come and maybe a few FA's will sign before the 1st of the year.
 
I think that Eiland and Adkins, removed from the insanity and pressure that they came into in New York and be far more effective ITTL, plus I think Muelens will develop a more patient bat in Seattle, something a string of poor hitting coaches and, again, pressure to perform at an all-star level right out of Triple A in New York messed with him.

Seattle was (and still is) very good at developing young talent. Take Johnson himself for example. Griffey Jr., Tino Martinez, Jay Buhner, etc...all developed by Seattle into the players they became.

Buhner in TTL developed a bit earlier and more successfully than OTL while staying in New York because of the Chambliss as Piniella's hitting coach and Gene Michael's dedication to building a solid core of young players (TTL: Drabek, Buhner, Morris, Kelly and Leiter) POD and getting steady work in the majors much sooner than he did OTL.

Langston's not the only player leaving Seattle in the 1988-89 off-season...the next player to go is going to bring in a very valuable piece to that puzzle.

It's not Johnson, but it's close...


Meanwhile, the Mets just keep on dealing...

December 23, 1988, the Mets continued the dealing, seeking to fill the hole left in right field by the Strawberry trade and get younger at first base...

Mets get: RF Darrin Jackson and 1B Rafael Palmeiro*

Cubs get: RP Randy Meyers and RP Roger McDowell

Jackson's trade value would never be higher than it was in December of '88: He was 23, coming off a killer season at Triple A Iowa in '87 (.273, 23 HR's, 81 RBIs, 13 steals in 132 games) and a strong showing with the Cubs in 1988 (.266, 6, 20, 4 in 100 games and 188 ABs).

Palmeiro is 23 and coming off a strong season of his own (.307, 8, 53 in 152 games in 1988.) and is a young option with great potential to replace an aging Keith Hernandez at 1st.

Butterfly: Jamie Moyer's staying in Chicago and gets a chance to continue to develop in the same system that made Gregg Maddux the major league stud he became. Palmerio may not 'roid up like he did in Texas. Thing is, being that we now know he's of questionable character, he may very well juice in Queens too. Figure he's 50/50.

One thing's for sure: The Cubbies are going to be very tough ITTL with Maddux, Moyer*, Sutcliffe, Bielecki and Sanderson in the rotation and Myers and McDowell in the bullpen in '89.

Speaking of the Mariners...

On that same day:

Orioles get: 2B Harold Reynolds#

Mariners get: 2B Juan Bell, P Curt Schilling and OF Steve Finley*.

(See what I meant?;))

And nobody's done trading yet...more trades to come and maybe a few FA's will sign before the 1st of the year.

Haha. Pulled a rabbit out of your hat for the Ms on that one. If Eiland and Adkins develop well behind Schilling they'll be contenders in the 90s.

Speaking of the Orioles, is Eli Jacobs still buying the team?
 
Winter of Discontent Part 3

Haha. Pulled a rabbit out of your hat for the Ms on that one. If Eiland and Adkins develop well behind Schilling they'll be contenders in the 90s.

Speaking of the Orioles, is Eli Jacobs still buying the team?

Seemed like a reasonable trade, all parts considered.

Let me do some research on Jacobs and see.
_____________________________________

December 29, 1988:

The Yankees, looking to address their most pressing concerns from the previous season, struck again, with three moves:

First, to add a left handed bat to a decidedly right heavy bench, the Yankees signed free agent OF/1B Danny Heap to a two year deal.

Next the Yankees turned a couple of trades:

Yankees acquire: C Tony Pena

Cardinals acquire: SP John Candelaria*

The trade made sense for both teams; Both vets were in their walk year. Candelaria gave the Cards a one year rental on a player who'd earned the AL Comeback Player of The Year Award and a quality left handed starter to bolster their rotation. Mega Prospect C Todd Zeile was, by most estimates, ready for the show. Pena was entering his walk year and the chance to get something now, rather than nothing later was enough to convince the Cards to deal.

The Yankees, simply put, picked up one of the best defensive catchers in the majors. Talks of a contract extension began almost immediately.

The second deal of the day involved the Yankees dealing with yet another NL East team, this time, the Pirates:

Yankees acquire: RP Jeff Robinson

Pirates acquire: C Don Slaught and 1B Kevin Maas*

Robinson gave the Yankees a clear successor to the aging Jay Howell as the premier arm out of the bullpen.

The Pirates were basically taking a catcher off the Yankees hands in exchange for Maas, a major league ready prospect who had shown power and excellent defense in the limited time he'd seen in the majors**.

The NL East was becoming far more competitive, with the recent moves made by the Cubs and Cardinals. The Pirates had made what they felt was a strong play, but they needed more...



** Figuring that Morris having been in the majors for half of 1987 and all of 1988, Maas's path through the Yankees farm system was unimpeded and went much quicker, seeing him playing at Columbus for the second half of '87 and the whole 1988 minor league season there, before being brought up by the Yankees on September 1, 1988.
 
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While waiting for the next installment of your cool TL Sigma, I'd like to propose another WI.

WI the players and owners can agree in 1994 on the plan to institute a salary cap for baseball?

Not only does this cause no strike (and all the well known impacts of that such as the Expos staying together, etc.), but what impact would this have on the next 16 years of baseball? With the salary cap in place it becomes much easier for teams to retain their homegrown stars in free agency.

How would it end up playing out?

Also: Giants one win away from World Series!!!
 
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It's going to take a while now as it's started spiraling outwards to include many other teams.

I never realized just how big busting up collusion a year early would really be when I first thought of it.

I'm still working out the probable opening day rosters of just the NL East!:eek:
 
Here's one that's a bit strange when you think about it:

OTL: The Athletics, who, while in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, had won 9 AL Pennants and 5 World Series titles ended up leaving Philly, while the Phillies, who to that point had only made two appearances in the World Series (winning 1 game in those two appearances) stayed in Philly.

What if The A's stayed in Philly and the Phillies moved to KC prior to the 1955 season? Or what if the A's found better local owners and stayed in Philly and the Phillies, rather than the Giants, moved to San Francisco in 1957?

Remember, the only way the NL would allow the Dodgers to go to LA was if a second NL team moved as well, so as to make the trip to the west coast economically feasible for the other teams (seven to eight games per trip to the west coast instead of just three or four) and it was almost the Braves that moved to San Francisco to accommodate them.

But what if the Phillies, with the A's still in town in 1957 had left for California instead?

What would they be called? (Can't call them the Phillies in Frisco.)

What impact would it have on the baseball landscape going forward?

What teams might have ended up in Oakland instead of The A's? Or would Oakland have gotten an expansion club over one of the cities that eventually did?

Without San Francisco as an option, would the Giants have moved out to Flushing Meadows, found another way to stay in Manhattan or still left New York?

Last but not least, would the A's of today (and yesteryear) be spared those ridiculous white shoes and yellow socks?!:D
 
Here's one that's a bit strange when you think about it:

OTL: The Athletics, who, while in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, had won 9 AL Pennants and 5 World Series titles ended up leaving Philly, while the Phillies, who to that point had only made two appearances in the World Series (winning 1 game in those two appearances) stayed in Philly.

What if The A's stayed in Philly and the Phillies moved to KC prior to the 1955 season? Or what if the A's found better local owners and stayed in Philly and the Phillies, rather than the Giants, moved to San Francisco in 1957?

Remember, the only way the NL would allow the Dodgers to go to LA was if a second NL team moved as well, so as to make the trip to the west coast economically feasible for the other teams (seven to eight games per trip to the west coast instead of just three or four) and it was almost the Braves that moved to San Francisco to accommodate them.

But what if the Phillies, with the A's still in town in 1957 had left for California instead?

What would they be called? (Can't call them the Phillies in Frisco.)

What impact would it have on the baseball landscape going forward?

What teams might have ended up in Oakland instead of The A's? Or would Oakland have gotten an expansion club over one of the cities that eventually did?

Without San Francisco as an option, would the Giants have moved out to Flushing Meadows, found another way to stay in Manhattan or still left New York?

Last but not least, would the A's of today (and yesteryear) be spared those ridiculous white shoes and yellow socks?!:D

If the Phillies moved to SF, I'm not sure what they would be named.

The Giants weren't long for New York even if another team moves to SF. The stadium was crumbling, the fanbase was declining. The Dodgers and Yankees really overtook the Giants in the 1950s as the prime New York teams.

Now, maybe being the only NL team revitalizes their fanbase, since they aren't sharing the spotlight with the Dodgers.

However, if they were to move, they would have moved to Minneapolis. The Giants would move to Phoenix, where their Triple-A team of the time was. That was actually the original plan that Horace Stoneham had when he wanted to move the franchise. O'Malley and George Christopher (SF Mayor at the time) swayed him over to Frisco.

Now, where would the Senators go in this case? I'd say Kansas City.

Oakland gets the expansion franchise that Kansas City did.

Wish you success on continuing your TL.
 
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