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The MLB Daily Dish is a daily feature we're running here at MLBDD and rounds up roster-impacting news, rumors, and analysis. Have feedback or have something that should be shared? Hit us at @mlbdailydish on Twitter.
Good morning baseball fans!
Carter Capps was diagnosed with a torn ulnar-collateral ligament and will have to miss the entire 2016 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery yesterday.
The Angels and Nationals are building their teams around once-in-a-generation type talents.
We've reached the point where this is a nearly indisputable fact. The pair, who combined for roughly 18.5 WAR in 2015 per Fangraphs, are franchise-altering talents that will likely come to define our current generation.
Trout vs. Harper has been a fervent debate since the two dominated top prospect lists roughly four years ago (hey Matt Moore!). Trout seemed to have pulled ahead for a while, but Harper's historic 2015 campaign eclipsed Trout's astronomical production levels in many respects, indulging us with another generation-defining talent to complement Trout.
And while Trout and Harper maintain their soaring trajectories, the Angels andNationals benefit from the inherent advantage of having a player capable of putting up double-digit WAR seasons. However, where the two differ, is in their execution of surrounding their star with enough talent to create sustainable contention. After all, unlike other sports, one player isn't enough to carry a team to the postseason, let alone a championship.
The Rangers improved as a team this winter, without making moves.
Pedro Alvarez is a very Orioles-like signing, says Nicolas Stellini of Beyond the Box Score.
However, the addition of Alvarez only exacerbates an already-dire run prevention problem and adds to the heaps of strikeouts that the team's offense will accumulate. It's as if Dan Duquette looked at his roster, decided that there wasn't enough risk and volatility, and took out his checkbook. For every run gained by a ball clearing the fence, one has to wonder how many are given back by Trumbo's presence in right field.
What if Davis is hurt and Alvarez is pressed into duty in the field? What if Davis' offense tumbles back down to 2014 levels? With as many runs as this rotation projects to surrender, there's too much potential for disaster here for the Orioles to be running Trumbo out as the everyday right fielder. The Orioles were already going to be pretty bad after paying an arm and a leg to Davis, O'Day and Wieters to field the same team as last year. Then they replaced Wei-Yin Chen with Gallardo, and then they signed Alvarez.
This move, in retrospect, isn't very surprising. If there's one thing that Baltimore needed, it was yet another defensively inept high-strikeout power hitter. Totally. At least Duquette knows what he likes.
Owen Watson of FanGraphs looked at the impact of wins, the economy and stadiums on ticket prices.
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Today in Baseball History: In 1972, White Sox players vote 31-0 in favor of a strike, if needed, while the players and owners negotiate over health and pension benefits for the players.
Question of the Day: Will the Orioles make the playoffs in 2016?