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Our weekly look at some of the best and most interesting things I've seen over the last 7 days
A STEP CLOSER TO VEGAS
MLB owners this week voted unanimously to approve the Oakland Athletics’ move to Las Vegas. While there are still major details to be worked out before the deal is 100 percent finalized, the A’s future in Oakland certainly looks bleak.
With that in mind, it’s interesting to hear what Commissioner Rob Manfred once told Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times about the possibility of Major League Baseball abandoning Oakland.
PADRES LOSE “THE IDEAL OWNER”
Padres owner Peter Seidler passed away at the age of 63 Tuesday. Bob Nightengale of USA Today had reaction from his peers.
From Dennis Lin’s piece in The Athletic: “He saw the possibilities, the upside in everything.”
Veteran baseball writer Kevin Kernan has more on Peter Seidler, including a terrific remembrance from my old friend Dave Marcus.
SUDDEN IMPACT
As only he can, Jayson Stark of The Athletic goes inside the numbers to measure the impact of MLB’s rule changes on the 2023 season.
STOP THE STEAL
A new statistical metric tracks the job individual pitchers do at slowing down the opposition’s running game. With data dating to the 2016 season, no ML pitcher has been better in that span than a 2023 Marlin.
BEST OF THE BUNCH
MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand went around the horn with a look at the best free agent at every position this winter.
YOUR SERVICES WILL NO LONGER BE REQUIRED
The Athletic’s Chad Jennings ranked the 10 best players who were added to this winter’s free agent pool at Friday’s MLB non-tender deadline, when club’s opted to not offer 2024 contracts to current players to open spots on their 40-man rosters.
A LOOK AT WHAT’S COMING UP
ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan has an MLB offseason primer, looking at what players might be on the move before the start of Spring Training 2024.
ICYMI
In case you didn’t check out VFTB daily, here’s what you missed this past week:
A look at Skip Schumaker’s NL Manager of the Year selection.
While you’re here…
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Another comprehensive roundup from around the baseball reporting universe. A few thoughts, as usual. We Expos fans certainly commiserate with A's fans. Yet, it is apparent to me and most others that Oskland's future looks bleak. It's doomed to failure in large part because California is "difficult," shall we say. We know the stadium issue is symptomatic. RIP Mr. Seidler. I'd be interested to get your takes in the points in Stark's article. Although the league must be encouraged by the time/pace of game results, what's telling for me is the (meh) totally of offensive difference. If the powers believe it's still insufficient, what's next? You've mentioned the need for more refinement of the ABS as well as allowing fans to digest changes for a bit longer. Still, pitching wins 75%+ of the time despite banning analytics-based infield shifting, limitations on relief specialization, and pick-off attempt limitations. Accordingly, we'll have ABS in a couple of years, I figure, more uniform advertisements, and more gimmicky. Thinking a limited re-entry rule to facilitate pinch running with the goal of more base stealing, extended base running, plays at the plate, and, ultimately, more runs generated in later innings/2-out situations.