OT: Which ex-Vanderbilt player now in MLB is in the best situation?

[Golddore68]

College baseball is over so I turn my attention to the pros.

I used to be an adamant MLB fan. I memorized all the stats of all the players. I went to Braves games, spring training games in Florida and Sounds games regularly.

Then they had the strike in the 90’s and I started losing interest.

Then they started interleague play. I’m a traditionalist and I liked baseball the way it was so this annoyed me and I lost interest some more.

They had the Sosa-McGwire “steroid” controversy and that made me lose interest too.

Over the years they’ve made so many changes — removing day-night doubleheaders, for instance, that really annoyed me and I quit watching.

Until the insurgence of Vanderbilt players into MLB in recent years. David Price, Sonny Gray, Dansby Swanson, etc. You can’t turn on a MLB game on TV without seeing at least one former Vanderbilt star.

Which one is in the best situation?

I would say Walker Buehler with the Dodgers.

He plays for a team that wins a lot and he has been part of a team that won the World Series. The Dodger fans and media are not as harsh as in some cities like New York.

Los Angeles has great weather. He’s near the beach. And a lot of Hollywood celebrities go to Dodger games.

I think he’s in a great situation.

[MrMemorial]

Bryan Reynolds. He's hitting .312 with 14 home runs on a team that's so bad that Jacob Stallings starts.

The bar is so low for the Pirates that he's like Willie Mays compared to most of the rest of the team. And the sports media there probably already gave up on the Pirates, so there is no pressure to actually win games. They will probably trade him to a contender so he doesn't have to wait to have his agent sign him to a contender when he becomes a free agent. Either way, he's about to get paid.

[Levon]

Tony Kemp is having his best season yet, playing mostly 2B in Oakland. He's well on his way to career highs in practically everything on a team that is well on its way to the playoffs.

Curt Casali has become an extremely valuable back-up catcher with the Giants, playing every 4th game (I think that's the frequency) in relief of Buster Posey. The Giants (who currently have the best record in MLB) and the Bay Area fans & media love him. Offensive stats aren't great, but defensively he is at the top of his game. Earlier in the season, in his back-up role, he caught 5 straight shutouts. I guess the Giants pitchers love the guy.