I'm sure it will change by the end of the season, but the NL is kind of crazy right now. (about 1/4 into the season)

- There are 8 teams at the top with 15-18 losses so far
- The Braves are current the 1 seed
- The Diamondbacks and Brewers are the other division leaders
- If the playoffs started today, the Cubs, Nationals, and Dodgers would all be out.

Have the rangers ever been to the "mountaintop"?

I think they fell off the mountain while trying to summit.

BowSowy said:

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I think it'd take a lot to get Jake off the 25 man. He is hitting like **** but he provides good defense and good speed as a pinch runner. I still think a 10-day DL and rehab stint may benefit him, though.

Edit: Maybin hit 0.186 for us last year but he was on the playoff roster. He was essentially the Jake replacement and actually came up critical in a few moments. I don't think it's absurd to carry a good defensive guy with some speed and a bit of pop, even if he has a bad bat.

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I agree, but some have speculated he is out of options and according to this he still has two. Time to use one. https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.mlb.com/268856924-out-of-options-players-forcing-tough-decisions.amp.html

He's a career .223 hitter. He has some nice tools that have kept him in the majors for a few years but unless he can do better with the bat, he's phasing out as a major-league ballplayer as age starts to catch up to him and he becomes a less attractive option as a defensive sub & pinch runner.

Better to get regular playing time at AAA and get his confidence back. Can't afford to let him work out the kinks up here.

Small sample size for Gattis but it is promising,

Last 5 games (all with a hit)

BA .353, OBP .389, SLG, .706, 6 hits, 2 HR, 4 RBI

ClickClack said:

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We are dead center in the U.S. So dumb to be in the AL West.

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Do you have a better solution that doesnt involve us going to the NL or breaking apart us and the rangers? Theres simply not 5 central-ish AL teams.

ClickClack said:

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Should've moved the Padres to the AL instead.

Who TF cares about being in a division with the rangers? We never were before.

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Or the Rockies, or the Diamondbacks. But...yup.

Andyzipp said:

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ClickClack said:

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Should've moved the Padres to the AL instead.

Who TF cares about being in a division with the rangers? We never were before.

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Or the Rockies, or the Diamondbacks. But...yup.

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But then there would be a void in the NL west that would need to be filled. Basically there aren't enough "west" teams to fill two divisions but having 6 5-team divisions works best for MLB. The Astros and Rangers are the furthest west of the rest of the teams so they got stuck having to play on the west coast all the time.

ClickClack said:

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We are dead center in the U.S. So dumb to be in the AL West.

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and Pittsburgh is in the NL Central. I'd say the geographical regions don't make sense anywhere in the MLB

Yeah but at least they're somewhat close. Us being in the west is a 2-hour difference and here to Seattle is what, 2000 miles?

Not trying to sidetrack here I just get tired of waiting until 9:10 for a first pitch. Doesn't make sense for us.

WelchAg said:

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I won't complain about being in the AL west anymore. Got us a WS.

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This x1M.

MLB will expand sooner than later and Manfred has named Charlotte, Mexico City & Montreal as the top 3. The Rays could be on the move and then 2 more added. Having 32 teams will make it somewhat easier. If Manfred has the cojones to face the moans of the "purists", four 8-team divisions would make sense.

8 Mountain/West teams, I believe 8 Central (without Mex. City). Where to divide the North & South part of the East would be the most difficult. A lot of teams would have to change leagues, but since most if not all of the rivalries are regional, most would not lose those. Atlanta might be the exception to that, but eff those guys anyway!

Nothing is going to make everyone happy and they would have to figure out new postseason qualifiers, but playing the most games in the same time zone for most teams would be a good start.

Possiblity you'd see eight 4 team divisions?

Harry Dunne said:

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When I was a kid and we were in the NL West I was not allowed to stay up late to watch the end of the games Now I'm too old to stay awake!

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yep, those 10-day roadtrips to the Dodgers, Giants, and Padres...and the games would start at 9:35pm Houston time

CoachRTM said:

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I'm sure it will change by the end of the season, but the NL is kind of crazy right now. (about 1/4 into the season)

- There are 8 teams at the top with 15-18 losses so far
- The Braves are current the 1 seed
- The Diamondbacks and Brewers are the other division leaders
- If the playoffs started today, the Cubs, Nationals, and Dodgers would all be out.

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I think the national league is weaker than ever this season. The star players (Giancarlo, Cole, et al) keep migrating to the AL.

last year the Cubs sleepwalked through the first half of the season and still ended up in the NLCS

The Milkman said:

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ClickClack said:

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We are dead center in the U.S. So dumb to be in the AL West.

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Do you have a better solution that doesnt involve us going to the NL or breaking apart us and the rangers? Theres simply not 5 central-ish AL teams.

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Forget NL/AL, add 2 teams, and go to purely regional divisions.

Edit: to say Harry Dunne basically said it above.

Maybe so. It seems like the bigger the division, the less rivalries you have to alter and if you have the most same-zone teams in your division then you have the most games in your time zone.

IDK if MLB cares as much about that as we do but it seems like they should if they want the most eyeballs on their games. Either way, they play so many games that there would be plenty to go around regardless of the format.

I think the altitude in Mexico City is near 7,000 feet --- outfield dimensions would need to be enormous

WelchAg said:

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Home games against a team from Mexico City would be 10x worse than when the cubs or Yankees are in town

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Oh Haysus, can you imagine the vuvuzelas and flag waving?

Harry Dunne said:

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WelchAg said:

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Home games against a team from Mexico City would be 10x worse than when the cubs or Yankees are in town

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Oh Haysus, can you imagine the vuvuzelas and flag waving?

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There would have to be a strictly enforced no vuvuzela policy. Baseball would be unwatchable for 3.5 hours with that going on.

Did they ever ban those inflatable "thundersticks" or did they just fade away?

Harry Dunne said:

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Did they ever ban those inflatable "thundersticks" or did they just fade away?

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I think they just went away. They have handed them out at a few Rockets games through the years but they have never been as widespread as they were in the early 2000s.

They handed them out in '15 vs the Royals.

Ag_07 said:

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WES2006AG said:

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Harry Dunne said:

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WelchAg said:

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Home games against a team from Mexico City would be 10x worse than when the cubs or Yankees are in town

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Oh Haysus, can you imagine the vuvuzelas and flag waving?

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There would have to be a strictly enforced no vuvuzela policy. Baseball would be unwatchable for 3.5 hours with that going on.

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Can't be any worse than the drums in OAK

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A-****ing-men!!