MLB 2010 Thread

[Red001]

And the Cubs play in a Division with no dominate team so with the right breaks and some master managing the could compete for the playoffs

red001

 

[tony c]

Guys....this is a baseball thread, not a fucking humanities class. Shayd started this as an MLB thread and I'd like to suggest we stick to it. No offense meant but maybe you guys could take your little debate private since no one else really seems to care one way or the other? :dunno:

Just a thought.... :glugglug:

Just trying to defend a position many people have on sabremetrics. My bad.. maybe if baseball were actually being played this thread could contain some more substance, but I thought it could have lead to a fairly fruitful discussion about how Bill James and the merry mathematicians can wave numbers in front of Mark Teixeira's face as he polishes off his gold glove award.

Can we get back to trying to figure out who will hit homers for the Sawx and whether or not a lot of 2-0 wins will get the job done (if no big sticks can be found...)

The Sox aren't going to find that bat until they make a move for Adrian Gonzales later into the season. Victor Martinez, Kevin Youkilis, David "off the juice" Ortiz, JD Drew, all guys who will hit 20ish homeruns this year. The Sox have a lot of good bats this year, but not one of these guys strikes the fear into an opposing pitcher. It's going to be a pretty cyclical lineup (similar to the Yankees) and certainly will score runs, but they won't come on the long ball all the time. They're going to have to start manufacturing more runs, stealing, bunting, hit and run.. with Beltre and Cameron consistent strike out victims, they are going to tear your heart out at times. Scutaro is coming off a banner year, which was also the final year of his contract. It remains to be seen what kind of bat you'll be getting out of him.. his career .265 average or the .282 he posted last year.

Winning a lot of 2-0, 3-1, 4-2 type games is fine, so long as you're on the winning side of the coin. At the end of the day a win is a win regardless of how you get it. Is Boof Bonser really going to help that middle relief? Does Bard have the guts or will he become another Kyle Farnsworth? Is Papelbon still lights out or did he show cracks in the facade last year?

Up in Boston they keep using the term "bridge year". We'll see where this bridge leads you.

 

[JacknCoke]

Can we get back to trying to figure out who will hit homers for the Sawx and whether or not a lot of 2-0 wins will get the job done (if no big sticks can be found...)

I'm pretty scared too. I guess we will have to wait and see at this point. I am not sure where Theo's head was at so far this off season but I don't like it. We were pretty dynamic when we had the Ortiz Manny 1,2 punch (juice or not it was exciting).

It would have been nice to get a bit bat or even two rather then more pitching. Lackey should be a nice addition but with a healthy rotation we were already very well off int he pitching department.

 

[ArabJames]

now that the rays have a legitimate closer....thatll probably bolster them an extra 10 wins that they blew last year....plus no way Upton has the hellish year he had last year

only problem is crawford...he will probably get traded....

in the end...the yankees just got better and will win it all again...as much as i hate to admit it

they'll play the cardinals

 

[feller469]

anyone besides me still trying to figure out how a hitter like Mark McGwire got a job as hitting coach? Maybe he is a good teacher, but this just feels like a PR move by LaRussa and the Cards to get McGwire back in the game. It feels dirty to me.

 

[shayd]

anyone besides me still trying to figure out how a hitter like Mark McGwire got a job as hitting coach? Maybe he is a good teacher, but this just feels like a PR move by LaRussa and the Cards to get McGwire back in the game. It feels dirty to me.

Eh, he's pretty much credited with helping Matt Holliday refine his swing into the "power" swing he's got now, so that may be what's behind it.

 

[feller469]

maybe it was Holliday moving back to the NL that got his swing back. maybe he should be working on his glove and following the flight of line drives

 

[tony c]

It would have been nice to get a bit bat or even two rather then more pitching. Lackey should be a nice addition but with a healthy rotation we were already very well off int he pitching department.

Didn't Red Sox fans say this last year with Lester, Penny, Smoltz, Beckett, Daisuke, Wakefield and Buchholtz?

 

[Jagger69]

anyone besides me still trying to figure out how a hitter like Mark McGwire got a job as hitting coach? Maybe he is a good teacher, but this just feels like a PR move by LaRussa and the Cards to get McGwire back in the game. It feels dirty to me.

Eh, he's pretty much credited with helping Matt Holliday refine his swing into the "power" swing he's got now, so that may be what's behind it.

maybe it was Holliday moving back to the NL that got his swing back. maybe he should be working on his glove and following the flight of line drives

Everything has been clouded over by the pall of steroids, but McGwire most certainly knows how to hit. PR move? I don't know....I do know that Big Mac wanted to get back in the game and LaRussa loves the guy so that is certainly part of it. Plus, the people in St. Louis absolutely LOVE McGwire in spite of his transgressions so it seems a logical move in a lot of regards. It does bother me a bit that Hal McRae (a pretty fair hitter on his own right in his day) was the only real sacrificial lamb as a result of the Cardinals' poor post-season showing last season. Is McGwire an upgrade? Debatable for sure but it is also true that he really helped Holliday as Shayd mentioned. How you interpret it as "dirty" is a little hard for me to accept. What's "dirty" about it? You think Big Mac is going to be the juice connection on the team now? That's a bit of a stretch I think. MLB players don't need a high-profile former player to get 'roids for them....there are plenty of much more inauspicious sources that are perfectly capable of filling that role if need be.

We'll see how things work out. I wish McGwire nothing but the best but, then again, I'm a Cardinal fan so....

 

[Krazy Kutie]

My Blue Jays let my favourite player get away... Roy Halliday

 

[D-rock]

But you have Piniella as manager.

That doesn't give me any comfort.

 

[feller469]

Jagger, I hear ya about St. Louis fans loving McGwire. I don't understand it, but I get it. The thing that bothered me most about the HR derby with McGwire and Sosa was that both had a strike zone about the size of a legal envelope. It is pretty easy to hit well when the pitch has to be in pretty much the same spot every time.

I don't like McGwire and have always felt that LaRussa was too smart not to know what was going on in Oakland and St. Louis with some of his players.

It is what it is and nothing I harbor a grudge about is going to change so I am better off dropping the topic and silently rooting against the Cards this year.

As if my NL Astros had a shot...ha ha ha ha ha ha

 

[shayd]

It would have been nice to get a bit bat or even two rather then more pitching. Lackey should be a nice addition but with a healthy rotation we were already very well off int he pitching department.

You can never have too much pitching depth. Lackey has had injury issues, as has Beckett and Matsuzaka. And the thing is, top to bottom, they've easily got one of the top three rotations in the game.

maybe it was Holliday moving back to the NL that got his swing back. maybe he should be working on his glove and following the flight of line drives

While there was a difference in his numbers between Oakland and St. Louis, he was actually really good during his time in Oakland.

But what I'm referring to is his time before 2006. His OPS in his two seasons before training with McGwire, was in the mid .800 range, with 14 and 19 HR, respectively. After, his average OPS is in the low .900 range, with 25+ HR.

 

[Red001]

well Giants fans are happy Benji Molina resigned pending pyhscial yesterday meaning Buster Posey isn't rushed and the Giants line up is better. oh now all they have to do is figure out how to close the 5 million dollar arbitration gap with Tim Lincecum

red001

 

[feller469]

when did Holliday start working with McGwire? I didn't know he was associated with baseball until the Cards brought him on board

 

[PlasmaTwa2]

My Blue Jays let my favourite player get away... Roy Halliday

And with Halliday leaves all hopes of a successful season. :crying:

 

[Krazy Kutie]

And with Halliday leaves all hopes of a successful season. :crying:

I know, it was always nice knowing that every 5th day we had a good chance of winning. He's an amazing pitcher

 

[shayd]

well Giants fans are happy Benji Molina resigned pending pyhscial yesterday meaning Buster Posey isn't rushed and the Giants line up is better. oh now all they have to do is figure out how to close the 5 million dollar arbitration gap with Tim Lincecum

red001

I have no idea what Sabean is thinking. Molina projects to be around 1.2 WAR, and Posey projects as a defense heavy 2.3 WAR. Molina is not cheap, Posey is. Sabean made the dumb decision to start the clock on Posey by calling him up last year, only to sit him for essentially a month and a half, and this only makes the decision look worse. Could Posey use more time at AAA? Sure, but he looks like a least a league average catcher.

when did Holliday start working with McGwire? I didn't know he was associated with baseball until the Cards brought him on board

They started working together in the offseason before the 2006 season. McGwire has laid low in the public eye, but in the baseball world, he's been pretty available. He's also worked with Bobby "Black Hole of Awfulness" Crosby, Skip Schumaker, and a number of others.

 

[Red001]

simply Saban and Bochy don't trust Posey with the job theyd rather have a veteran who knows the staff than trust a kid who will be there best postion player in 2 years only sandoval's close and he needs to be at 1st not 3rd

i like the A's signing of Ben Sheets they might actually catch lighting in a bottle this time

red001

 

[shayd]

simply Saban and Bochy don't trust Posey with the job theyd rather have a veteran who knows the staff than trust a kid who will be there best postion player in 2 years only sandoval's close and he needs to be at 1st not 3rd

There's no reason to believe the pitching will be any different with Posey than Molina. I grant that Molina has the history with the Giant's rotation, however since 2002, staffs that have caught Molina have had an ERA+ of 4.65, 5.77, 4.88, 5.96, 4.55, 5.12, and 4.55. Those numbers don't exactly pop out as outstanding, and for five of those years he's had elite pitchers in his rotation. This "veteran" nonsense is exactly why Sabean fields a team that so often isn't competitive. On top of that, wouldn't you want to put a player out there that will instantly improve your offense, and defense at the same time? If the Giants rotation looks awful next year, at some point, even the skeptics will have to realize that it's not the catcher's fault.

i like the A's signing of Ben Sheets they might actually catch lighting in a bottle this time

red001

I sure hope so. I like the signing too, greater depth, and a bargain too.