The Warriors’ record 73 wins is more than some MLB teams will have

Thursday’s Say Hey, Baseball includes a depressing truth for a number of MLB teams, the collapse of the relationship between Pablo Sandoval and the Red Sox, and a weird ESPN story on Adam LaRoche.

by Marc Normandin

Apr 14, 2016, 12:52 PM UTC

Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Listen, we know it’s tough to catch up on everything happening in the baseball world each morning. There are all kinds of stories, rumors, game coverage, and Vines of dudes getting hit in the beans every day. Trying to find all of it while on your way to work or sitting at your desk just isn’t easy. It’s okay, though, we’re going to do the heavy lifting for you each morning, and find the things you need to see from within the SB Nation baseball network, as well as from elsewhere. Please hold your applause until the end, or at least until after you subscribe to the newsletter.

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Don't worry, you didn't accidentally open up SB Nation's NBA newsletter. The Golden State Warriors won 73 games this season, though, and that record win total is worth pointing out even in this baseball-centric space. And that's mostly because 73 wins -- out of just 82 games, in case you're not all devotees -- is somehow more than a number of MLB teams are going to win in 2016. As if you needed another reminder that a baseball season is as long as it is cruel.

The Braves started 2016 clearly in a rebuilding phase, and now they’re 0-8. They were potentially a 100-loss team even before this start, so they go in the “fewer wins than the Warriors” bin first. The Twins are also 0-8, and while they had a core that looked like it could contend, history does not smile too kindly on this kind of start, so they have a chance to finish with fewer victories than the Warriors, too. The A’s were considered the weakest link in the American League to begin 2016, and their 4-6 start already has them on pace for a sub-Warriors performance. At least the Bay has the Warriors, though.

The Padres could be in real trouble, as they weren’t supposed to be outright bad until later in 2016, after they traded away some players and went more obviously into a rebuilding phase. Starting out 3-6, with that rebuilding phase still on the horizon, is about as close to a 90-loss guarantee as you can get in this game -- and a team only needs 90 losses to have fewer wins than the Dubs did this year. The Brewers could be there if the youth they collected doesn’t gel, one of the five AL East teams could easily fall to that level if the wrong injuries hit -- six teams finished with fewer than 73 wins a year ago, and you’ve got more clubs openly rebuilding this time around. It’s going to get ugly.

So, congrats to the Warriors on 73, a number that seemed impossible in the NBA but is worse than mediocre over MLB’s arduous campaign. Sports can be so great and so soul-crushing at the same time.

Sports can also crush you with flying kicks, as Yoenis Cespedes showed this fan while jumping after a foul ball.

The relationship between the Red Sox and Pablo Sandoval is reportedly collapsing. Boston didn't even bother to give Sandoval an MRI before putting him on the disabled list when he mentioned shoulder pain, and Sandoval doesn't want to be in Boston if he's not playing every day.

There was a very transparent piece purportedly explaining Adam LaRoche's side of the story, but it did not do that at all. On the bright side for the White Sox, that piece didn't make them look bad since it almost avoided them entirely, so, small victory?

Carlos Correa is the most valuable player in baseball now, writes Grant Brisbee, who would also like you to know he did not say "best" and that he loves Mike Trout.

Hector Olivera was arrested for alleged domestic abuse on Wednesday morning, and MLB almost immediately placed him on administrative leave and opened an investigation of their own.