I didn't realize, but I should have, that there is a homerun derby payout, and that the winner gets $1mil (another 1.5 mil go to the rest of the participants)

Julio Rodriguez had a nice debut. 32 HR in the first round.

Don't have espn, so watching it on the mlb.com homerun derby, and this thing is kinda cool. Distance per homerun, total distance (Rodriguez hit 2.54 miles)

32 hrs is insane though. Acuna at least can hold his head high with the hardest so far at 117 mph.

Pete struggled a little bit in round 1.

Rodriguez is the only one who’ll notice the money if he wins. It’ll roughly double his wealth.

Rodriguez is the only one who’ll notice the money if he wins. It’ll roughly double his wealth.

Outside of Rickey Henderson, I think everyone would notice a million dollar check.

Pujols couldn't get enough to muster the bonus time, but did out homer Schwarber in regulation, but no way does he win.

okay they tied...

This is the thing, Pujols swing no longer produces 440 foot homeruns, and he was never going to get the bonus so was always going to be relying on the "just over the fence homeruns" ...

7 homeruns in the swing off? That is going to be tough to beat.

Soto just turned down a $440 million payday, but if only the Nationals had gone to $441…..

Soto just turned down a $440 million payday, but if only the Nationals had gone to $441…..

this is tremendous - way, way better than any skills competition in other sports and better than all the All-Star Games, too.

I still can't believe they took the least entertaining major-sport offering - by a million - and made it great. I mean, it used to be worse than the no-tackling Pro Bowl, for God's sake.

Alonso already said tonight that all of his prize money goes to his family's foundation again.

this is tremendous - way, way better than any skills competition in other sports and better than all the All-Star Games, too

I hated the timed idea originally, but loved it after seeing it in practice.

I won't be surprised if the non-Rodriguez prize money ends up going to charity. That said, lots of contracts including big money ones include relatively small bonuses for MVP finishes, nicer hotel rooms, use of box suites at games and things like that. Who was it that had access to the owner's private jet like 6 times a year?

Rodriguez really wants the money... I wish I could be watching this, because he just put on a show for the ages.

Alonso will have to earn it this round that rodriguez kid is mashing.

That was a chainsaw... Rodriguez is also young enough that he can recover from those two performances and continue doing what he has done.

If Alonso had to go down in his bid for the threepeat, at least he went down to a beast like Julio.

We all think Schwarbs tanked it, right?

We all think Schwarbs tanked it, right?

Without actually watching it, I couldn't say, but my guess is he tanked the bonus round, 7 hrs in a minute is tough to beat, not impossible obviously, but not easy either.

Soto just needs to end this without dealing with the bonus time

well close enough 13-15, should be an easy win for Soto now.

Looks like Pujols wont be advancing usless soto tanks the bonus round

drawback of the last round, fatigue.

future Cardinal Juan Soto looks to be winning the homerun derby. :)

The fuss about his contract situation didn’t seem to affect Soto’s performance.

It would have been nice if somebody had been keeping better track of Soto's HRs in that last round, so we all had known when he won it.

The thing about Soto's victory is that in no round did he have to maximize his effort. Rodriguez had no idea what the number for victory would be and just launched a #### ton of balls... Soto knew each round what he needed and it worked out great for him. Seeding is important in this thing.

whoops, gamblers are venting.

https://www.actionnetwork.com/mlb/2022-home-run-derby-controversy-kyle-schwarber-albert-pujols?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=darrenrovell

apparently they forgot to post Schwarber's HR 18 in OT, so he was mistakenly listed as losing 20-19 when he actually tied, 20-20 (I thought they missed one, too, but didn't really care).

another batter was credited with a HR even with the clock at zero before the pitch even left the pitcher's hand, and there were numerous instances of pitches illegally being thrown before the previous ball had landed. you can see the ump wave off the pitchers, but they'd pitch anyway and they would count the HR as well.

I think the books have modest stake limits, like $500 max, via many state regulators - which if so, would mitigate some of the damage.

but if you're going to endorse gambling on your product, it's no longer a slap-and-tickle event. MLB will have to decide which this thing is.

Or maybe people will just decide it’s frigging stupid to bet on baseball, stupider to bet on home run derbies, and decide to bet on sone thing more rational like horses or something…

1. Not really chatter material

2. Formatting sucks, might eventually turn this into some sort of Gantt chart or something

This is the Cubs ML pitching staff transactions for 2022, from opening day to the ASB. The dashed line is, near as I can tell, where the opening day roster ends. I think I've missed one or two. Abbreviations are hopefully mostly obvious but there seems to be "replacement players" (Rep) for covid guys and 27th players (U27) for double-headers and these guys are (Ret)urned. Up is called up or purchased from minors, Opt is optioned although I'm pretty sure many aren't technically options but aren't DFAs, etc. I have no idea what was going on with Manuel Rodriguez.

I get a total of thirty pitchers and 88 distinct transactions including opening day ILs. There are some bereavement, etc. type stuff I left off. Leiter and Espinoza lead the way with 8 transactions, poor Espinoza having been the 27th man three times (although I think Caleb Kilian was technically the 27th guy for one of those). Adrian Sampson was brought up, optioned, DFAd, then re-signed three weeks later. Cub pitchers are so marginal that 3 DFAs plus Sampson stuck around although one is now in Korea or Japan. The recently DFA'd Matt Swarmer is a good bet to be the fifth.

Kyle Hendricks IL 7/6
Justin Steele
Marcus Stroman IL 5/8 Act 5/19 IL 6/10 Act 7/9
Drew Smyly IL 5/1 Act 7/10
Daniel Norris IL 6/23 Act 7/13 DFA 7/17
Chris Martin
Rowan Wick
Mychel Givens
David Robertson IL 5/9 Act 5/18
Keegan Thompson
Scott Effross
Ethan Roberts IL 5/2
Jesse Chavez Tr 4/21
Michael Rucker IL 5/19 Act 5/1 Opt 6/10 Up 6/11 Opt 6/12 Up 7/3 Opt 7/10
Locke St John Opt 4/16 Up 4/30 Opt 5/1 DFA 5/3
Wade Miley IL 4/7 Act 5/10 IL 5/29 Act 6/10
Alec Mills IL 4/7 Act 6/7 IL 7/3
—-------------
Mark Leiter Up 4/16 Opt 4/30 Up 5/11 Opt 5/18 Up 5/29 Opt 6/3 Up 6/21 Opt 7/16
Sean Newcomb Acq 4/21 IL 5/11 Act 6/12 DFA 6/13 Out 6/20
Robert Gsellman Up 5/3 DFA 5/30 Out 6/6 Rel 7/16
Adrian Sampson Up 5/8 Opt 5/9 DFA 5/10 Sgn 5/31 Up 6/16 Opt 6/20 Up 6/23
Connor Menez Rep 5/9 Ret 5/17 DFA 6/4 Out 6/7 Rel 6/24
Brandon Hughes Rep 5/17 Ret 5/28 Up 5/30
Matt Swarmer Up 5/30 Opt 7/13 DFA 7/16
Anderson Espinoza U27 5/30 Ret 5/30 U27 6/4 Ret 6/7 Up 7/6 Opt 7/12 U27 7/16 Ret 7/16
Manuel Rodriguez Up 6/1 IL 6/1
Caleb Kilian Up 6/4 Opt 6/5 Up 6/15 Opt 6/21
Eric Stout Up 6/13 DFA 6/16
Steven Brault Up 7/16
Erich Uelmen Up 7/17

I missed Miley's return to the IL.

1. Not really chatter material

who died and made you king? you have veered way more off topic many times. and on tangents rarely ventured - whereas complaints about MLB's tie-in with gambling is pretty much a daily topic on these boards by other posters. but I never recall you objecting to any of those.

2. Formatting sucks,

agreed. after we make a post, it's an unappealing choice between not providing a link, or providing an ugly link. if there's a third option, I'd like to hear it.

agreed. after we make a post, it's an unappealing choice between not providing a link, or providing an ugly link. if there's a third option, I'd like to hear it.

You can embed an ink by clicking the <> that has an a in it, then you get a box that pops up for you to post a link, and then an option to make it a word.

Like the link you posted above could have click here

Edit: too late for that. If you decide to add a link after you made a post, I just make a link as if I'm going to post a new post, copy the entire thing, then paste it into the edit.

#35 ... my #1 and #2 were in reference to my post.

#37 ... or if you forgot the link in the original post, just put a tidy one in a follow-up post. Not like we're wasting paper here.

#35 ... my #1 and #2 were in reference to my post.

I was going to say that was the way I took it, I didn't at all think you were criticizing the thread, just that you were pointing out what you were about to talk about was maybe non-chatter material. I even wrote a post on it, but then never hit submit thinking 'it's not my job to speak for Walt'.

Of course chatter is where I think almost anything baseball related is chatter material, it's why I keep hammering for multi-day chatters so that we can have random non-article subject chatter if it pops up.

FTR, I have no issues with Howie mistaking the context. I often write "conversational" posts that are meant as direct comments on the previous ... which of course might no longer be the previous by the time I get my post out. And I think I've written a few in that style in response to Howie recently. Also, perhaps folks have noticed :-), I sometimes cover multiple topics in one post, almost in a rambling style, so I can't blame anybody for not connecting parts 1 and 2 of my post as a cohesive (?) whole. So no worries.

No worries here, either. carry on.

Goldie with a hr to give the NL a 2-0 lead.

Kershaw already pulled, so it looks like that everyone is getting just one inning.

I don't have an antenna so can't watch the game, but can get the highlights, and nice double play by Gimenez. (drawback about my recent move, I packed my antenna thinking I wouldn't need it for a few months)

seriously, don't even let the presumptive NL MVP take two at bats? That's ####### stupid.

after pulling Goldschmidt after one at bat, I stopped caring about this game, why the #### would you do that?

Just when I thought the Yankees duo would get a combined Golden Sombrero, Stanton hits one halfway to San Francisco.

And then Buxton matches it. A bonus is that they were off a Dodger.

I really don't like the FOX approach of just giving David Ortiz a microphone and asking him to walk around talking to people.

I can't really shake the feeling that Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge are actually the same guy.

after pulling Goldschmidt after one at bat, I stopped caring about this game, why the #### would you do that?

Maybe he asked for it?
I get that the pitching seems to be limited to one inning, but the NL let replacement 2B Jeff McNeil (not even owned in my fantasy league) hit twice, and Acuna just came up a third time.

But maybe he planned it? Maybe he went to Snitker on Monday and said "one AB, then I want to enjoy, give another guy a chance" Or maybe he did it after he hit that bomb? Maybe we'll never know why the ####?

the NL let replacement 2B Jeff McNeil (not even owned in my fantasy league)

wow - talk about putting the "Hal" in "SHallow League!"

McNeil is hitting .300 - good for 21st in MLB - and a dozen of those ahead of him are DH, 1B, or OF.
he has a 123 OPS+ this year and 124 career, and qualifies at 2B and OF.

I don't have an antenna so can't watch the game,

Well we know your internet works since you're posting here...I have to show my overseas ignorance here, but can't you just stream it?

after pulling Goldschmidt after one at bat, I stopped caring about this game, why the #### would you do that?

I hope you stuck around to see Helsley hit 103 on the gun. Great Gatsby, but that's fast.

We're not supposed to talk about our fantasy leagues here, but yes it's a small league, and it's a week-to-week points. McNeil has been way too inconsistent to roster. Six of his last twelve weeks have been below average. Maybe my league rewards power too much, but McNeil only has 4 HRs. I've owned him before. (If this was real roto and I got McNeil at a low price, I'd be putting up with him. But there are no keepers in this league, and it's pretty relaxed, I think half the owners are football coaches.)

Back to the ASG, I'm struck by how many guys are in their 1st, or 2nd AS appearance. Albert Pujols is an old man (obviously) at 11, but so is Xander Bogearts at 4 on these teams.

thanks for the explanation, snowboy.

I haven't quite adjusted to the new reality. my league - almost 40 years old now - rosters any NL player who can fog a mirror, basically. GPerdomo and GMarquez have the most AB and IP of available players.

and now, back to the ASG chatter !

Best things about the game, in ascending order:

3. All the Yankees came through.

2. The AL continued its domination.

1. No extra innings, and no ####### home run derby to decide the winner.

What ASG chatter?

Howie, I get it re: McNeil, and I didn't mean to offend a Mets fan. Or a real pure roto player.

I was there once, AL-only, the league just died out due to some shady shenanigans among some owners (literally: guy kicked out, then let back in after a year or two. How was that going to work out? As well as Liz Taylor+Richard Burton, Part Two!) and it was mainly a work-based league, so it folded after a few guys retired, and because of the shenanigans.

I won it a few times, most memorable in 2004 by acquiring minor league keepers Francisco Cordero and Johan Santana in 2002. League had simplified the $260 limit to $65, and I owned them both in 2004 for $0.50 each, 49 saves and 20 wins in a five category league. After that, Santana was a $10 player. It cost me (among other things) 2002 Magglio Ordonez, but I was out of it, so what you gonna do?

I know what you're saying, in a real roto league (with reserves, minors?) what can you do when you spend money on Bryce Harper, but he gets injured and the next best option is now the remains of Nomar Mazara {whimper}

Back to the ASG...wait, is no one here to talk about the ASG? How's that for an indictment on the state of the game of baseball?

I sensed a lot of mainstream buzz about the ASG today. A lot to like, in no particular order:

- Shohei announcing he'd swing at the first pitch, hitting a single, and getting picked off
- The sick Gimenez/Anderson double play
- Manoah throwing a back-foot slider per Smoltz's recommendation, and literally hitting McNeill's back foot
- Giancarlo hitting one of the hardest home runs I've ever seen - it sounded like Reggie Jackson's famous ASG blast off the light tower at Tiger Stadium
- AL pitching dominance in innings 2-9: 8 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, HBP, 9 K

The game needs to be played in Dodger Stadium more often.