Bally Sports saga gets much messier; second-best guys on the MLB stats leaderboard

jhon1 week ago

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You can find both Last night’s results are here (If you are unable to watch the matches on TV). also: Mike Trout He might be an angel for life after all, and we’re looking at some of the best players around. I’m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal – welcome to The Windup!

Terrestrial TV network issue: Comcast/Xfinity drops Bally Sports

After the last-minute bullet dodging by Diamond/Bally Sports, we always knew the other shoe would drop; We weren’t sure when. Will Bali — the television home of 12 MLB teams and 26 NBA/NHL teams — avoid bankruptcy, or will the world of RSNs spiral into chaos?

What we didn’t expect: Like this Huge development On May 1.

Comcast, one of three major cable providers that host Bally’s, removed the channel from their services due to a dispute between the two companies. Comcast wanted to position Bally’s at a higher level (“premium”) and issued a statement blaming Bally’s and insisting that they had made reasonable efforts to negotiate with Comcast at numbers similar to their deals with Charter and DirecTV.

For seven teams – Including twins – There is no option for Bally’s consumer streaming service, meaning a large proportion of the team’s regional fanbase has no way to watch games legally.

Ivan Drilić did All the details are hereAnd Another story On how the measures will impact the league’s plan for a blackout-free live streaming service. We’ve asked Evan a few questions for Windup readers, which we’ll be asking right after Ken’s Notebook…

Ken’s notebook: Mike Trout, angel for life?

from My last column:

No player is untradeable, not even an aging and broken-down Mike Trout who is signed through 2030. But with Trout’s latest injury, the terrifying thought is that he will spend the rest of his career with a team. Los Angeles Angels It’s getting close to becoming a reality.

Trout, who turns 33 on August 7 He is expected to be out for at least 8 to 12 weeks While recovering from surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. He earned $35.45 million this season and in each of the next six seasons.

Even if he returns on, say, August 1, and it’s over, which team will trust him enough this offseason to take most or all of his remaining $212.7 million? From 2021 to 2023, Trout missed more games than he played. Given that it has historically been a slow processor, it is not on track to reverse that trend in 2024.

Of course, the trout trade was far from happening at all. To the dismay of many opposing fans, the three-time MVP and 11-time All-Star steadfastly refused to ask out of Anaheim, maintaining that he wanted to spend his entire career with one team, like his childhood idol, Derek Jeter, and winning with the Angels.

At the start of spring training, Trout said that “Push, push, push“Upper management has added free agents, perhaps a sign of his growing impatience. Well, his fuse must be shorter. He’s waited too long.”

For the trade scenario to become realistic, it was necessary to:

That angels would stink again, something that was a given.

Trout to a) return to near-MVP level, which he at least had a chance of happening before he injured his knee; And b) he requested a trade, which even Angels fans would have understood given he’s never won a postseason game and hasn’t even appeared in the playoffs since 2014.

Angels owner Arte Moreno showed his willingness to not only grant Trout’s wish but also add big money in a trade, which… never happened.

Q&A with Ivan Drilić

Ivan Drelich has been on top of the RSN failure from the beginning (if you need some background, here We are Few Links to is reading). He kindly agreed to answer some questions for us.

We read quotes from both sides about who is to blame. Do you have an opinion?

For now, the almighty dollar must be blamed. Transportation disputes are not uncommon. Disney and Charter went at this for a while last year. Of course, the fans, viewers and your grandmother who just want to watch the match are the real losers.

But it’s an interesting insight into these things. Comcast certainly knows that Diamond needs to terminate its deal if Diamond wants to emerge from bankruptcy. Diamond certainly knows it can try to make Comcast look like an outlier, because Diamond already has deals with two other distributors: one with DirecTV and the other with Charter. Leverage plays everywhere.

How important is this to Bali’s plans to avoid bankruptcy?

It’s not great. Normally, when a big case like this gets to this point — a month and a half after the bankruptcy exit confirmation hearing — the company is in a pretty good position to emerge. This does not mean that it is a guarantee. Diamond’s plan includes some lofty expectations for business growth after bankruptcy, and MLB was very skeptical in court that Diamond could do what he says he’ll do.

But there’s no doubt that Diamond Locking’s distribution deals with all the major providers, like Comcast, are key. Another key: for Diamond to make enough money from those deals to be profitable while paying all the teams their rights fees. So, the outcome of the Comcast deal will be of great interest, especially in the context of other deals Diamond has reached with Charter and DirecTV. (Key details of these deals are not public at this point.)

Are these numbers enough to convince the court to confirm Diamond’s plan to escape bankruptcy? We’ll find out perhaps in June, when the confirmation hearing is supposed to take place. (But it wouldn’t be the most surprising thing if he was late.)

How long does MLB let this go before they step in for the health of the sport?

In theory, MLB could try to pressure one party or the other, but they would try to remain publicly neutral. The league will likely proceed more cautiously given the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings with Diamond. Of the two groups, MLB has had happier dealings recently with Comcast — its streaming partner on Peacock for the past two years — than it has with Diamond.

Runners-up leaderboards

Alec Bohm’s batting average is right behind Mookie Betts. (Orlando Ramirez/USA Today)

We love our stat leaders, but it’s always been interesting to me to see who’s in second place. How close are they? Is he a surprising man? Here are some of the stat leaders and their closest competitors.

Batting average: Mookie BettsDodgers – .377

Right behind Bates Alec Bohm of the Phillieswho hit .362 with 12 doubles in 128 plate appearances (after hitting 31 in 611 PA last year).

OPS: Bets — 1.104

Not really a surprise: second place is Marcel Ozuna Subordinate Brave, at 1.027. Coming off a 40-homer, 100-RBI season last year, Ozuna hasn’t slowed down.

Runs the house: Gunnar Henderson, Orioles / Mike Trout, Angels – 10

Ozuna is tied for second here as well, as his nine home runs match Tyler O’Neill Subordinate Red socks. Remember last year when O’Neal was sitting on the bench in St. Louis because “unacceptable“Basic operation? Anyway, basics’ His 21 home runs this year rank last in baseball.

Era: Shota Imanaga, Cubs – 0.78

Let’s not overlook Imanaga, who Seven scoreless innings last night He ties him with Fernando Valenzuela (1981) for the lowest ERA after his first six career starts. In comparison, second-placed goalkeeper Suarez looks merely pedestrian with a mark of 1.32, leading the pack. The Phillies rotation is strong.

Hits: Tyler Glasnow, Dodgers — 53

secondly: Zack Wheeler Subordinate Velezat 52. Did we mention that their rotation is Have a great year?

War*: Bets — 2.8

Henderson has been the second most valuable player in baseball this year, with 2.2 fWAR to lead the Orioles to the top of the AL East.

(*We used FanGraphs’ version of WAR, and the totals were over Tuesday night’s games)

Updated no-strike line

Stephen Cowan He went 3-for-5 in last night’s 3-2 win over Houston, without any strikes! His plan is now 62 Painting appearances. Cowan also drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th inning, then caught this one to start the game-ending double play:

Handshakes and high fives

Amid the injuries, trades and roster shuffling, the Red Sox have been working on a position Baseball tornado this year. They have also won eight of their last 11 games.

comment it has been delivred For breweries on Tuesday /rays Quarrel.

Good news for Minnesota: Their winning streak has been a huge success 10 matches. Bad news: Byron Buxton exited Wednesday’s game with a loss Obvious knee injury.

Grant compares to Brisby Odds of poker hands For probabilities of special plays in baseball. The whole thing made my head hurt, but when he explained to me the possibility that two shuffled cards were identical, I had to go for a walk. Grant, Please don’t do this again.

Let’s talk about Sonny GrayFastball. No, the other one. no last another one. No…you know what – he has Multiple slidersalso.

After another loss to Marlinsthe Rocky I was late in both Their 29 matches.

Walker Buehler It is expected that Back to the Dodgers From Tommy John’s recovery on Monday.

The beekeeper man from Arizona has his own Baseball card.

You can purchase tickets for every MLB game here.

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