Our National Pastime: 2015 Baseball Thread

[hungry101]

Andy VanSlyke Rips Robinson Cano

http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2015/11/19...n-radio-interview/?ocid=Yahoo&partner=ya5nbcs

“Robinson Cano was the single worst third-place everyday player I’ve ever seen, for the first half of a Major League Baseball season,” Van Slyke said, speaking about Cano’s usual spot hitting third in the batting order. “He couldn’t drive home Miss Daisy if he tried. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t get a hit when it mattered. He played the worst defense I’ve ever seen at second. I mean the worst defensive second baseman ever, I’ve ever seen, in 20 years in the big leagues.”

“Robinson Cano cost the GM his job, the hitting coach got fired because of Cano and then the manager and coaches got fired because of Cano, because that’s how much impact he has on the organization,” Van Slyke said. “He was the worst player and it cost people their jobs in the process.”

 

[Robert 21]

Boston Globe reporting Red Sox signing Pitcher David Price...
7 Year $217 Million more than $31 Million/Year through age 37.

The Red Sox are taking no shortcuts with their rotation this time. According to a source briefed on the negotiations, they agreed on Tuesday on a seven-year, $217 million contract with lefthander David Price.
The deal is the largest ever for a pitcher, $2 million more than the Dodgers gave Clayton Kershaw.
Price, 30, was one of the two best starters on the free-agent market along with Zack Greinke.

 

[EagerBeaver]

The Yankees signed CC Sabathia through age 37 and look what happened. 4 good years and then 3 lousy years. The only thing Price has in his favor is he is a better athlete in better shape than CC but who knows how he will age. He is also a lefty pitching in a stadium not known to be lefty-friendly. It's an awful lot of money to invest in any one player but what the Red Sox like to do is spend away as they did with Castillo and mediocre pitching last year. Now that they realize that they overpaid for mediocre pitching they decided the best course of action is to greatly overpay for good pitching. They hope to buy a pennant and we will see if that works for them.

 

[lgna69xxx]

Well well well, lookie there, the red sux are "trying" to buy a championship....where are those proud red sox fans now? This will turn out to be a horrible deal unless the rouge hosers win at least 3 WS with price leadng the way, which btw, Price sucks in post season

 

[Joe.t]

One very good starting pitcher does not make a rotation, the Red Sox had one of the worst starting rotations in all of baseball that still stinks, as we speak -

-Price.

-Buchholz.

-Porcello.:lol:

-Kelly:

-Miley.

I hope Dumbrowski isn't done yet for the Red Sox sake.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Year after year, the Red Sox keep changing directions. It gets confusing. Bob Ryan was on Bob McKeown's show last night and alluded to this. He was surprised that the Red Sox were also rumoured to be after Greinke prior to signing Price to the biggest contract in the history of MLB. Joe Kelly is expected to start the season in the bullpen and the starting rotation is expected to look like:

Price
Bucholz
Rodriguez
Miley
Porcello

Blue Jays fans really would have wanted David Price to return to Toronto. He was very well liked by the rest of the players and was already a mentor to their young ace Marcus Stroman. But let's be real: there's no way they would have agreed to match the contract Dombrowski gave him. Although i'm also a big David Price fan, you just don't give that kind of money to a player who will only be playing once every 5 games. I could be convinced to do so for maybe 3 or 4 years, but not 7. Too many bad things can happen over 7 years. Plus, Price has a type of pitching motion which may lead to shoulder problems in the future. And such contracts are team cap killers.

Although it's rumoured the Red Sox are done with giving large contracts this season, i'm not buying it. It wouldn't surprise me if they're going after first baseman Chris Davis, who would look great in a Red Sox uniform. He'd also look good in a Blue Jays uniform, but they re-signed Justin Smoak to a 1-year deal today. He'll likely be platooning with Chris Colabello.

The Jays instead chose to go another direction in regards to addressing their starting pitching needs: they acquired Jesse Chavez from the A's, re-signed Marco Estrada and signed former Jays starter J.A. Happ. Chavez, a former Jays product, had a decent career with the A's. Estrada was one of their best and most consistent starters last season. And J.A. Happ was one of the majors' best pitchers once he was traded to Pittsburgh and was their best pitcher down the stretch. He's also a lefty, which means he'll be taking over Mark Buehrle's spot in the rotation. The three players acquired or re-signed by Toronto will cost the same amount it would have cost them to re-sign Price. Plus, there's no guarantee he would have re-signed with the Jays, although it was rumoured Toronto, along with St-Louis, were his preferred destinations. St-Louis came up $30 million short. Price would have loved to play in the NL.

The Jays are now expected to sign a backup catcher (Navarro signed with the White Sox today) and look at acquiring some much-needed bullpen help. They may make a run at Chris Davis, but it would surprise me if he signed with them.

As of today, the Jays' rotation would look like:

Stroman
Dickey
Happ
Estrada
Chavez

 

[EagerBeaver]

It's unbelievable to me that the Red Sox gave Porcello a 4 year extension worth over $20 million a year and in return he gave them 4.92 ERA, a 1.36 WHIP and a 9-15 record. What kind of horseshit pitching is that? I don't understand why they are throwing around bundles of money to guys who stink.

 

[Joe.t]

It's unbelievable to me that the Red Sox gave Porcello a 4 year extension worth over $20 million a year and in return he gave them 4.92 ERA, a 1.36 WHIP and a 9-15 record. What kind of horseshit pitching is that? I don't understand why they are throwing around bundles of money to guys who stink.

If anybody can explain this it is none other than rumpleforskin, he was always a man of reason in the BB thread.

 

[lgna69xxx]

Hope and Desperation.....

I don't understand why they are throwing around bundles of money to guys who stink.

 

[Doc Holliday]

It's unbelievable to me that the Red Sox gave Porcello a 4 year extension worth over $20 million a year and in return he gave them 4.92 ERA, a 1.36 WHIP and a 9-15 record. What kind of horseshit pitching is that? I don't understand why they are throwing around bundles of money to guys who stink.

What's even more surprising is that they could have given Lester the same thing when he was already pitching for them and he wanted to stay in Boston.

 

[lgna69xxx]

What a Mickey Mouse Orginization over there in Chow-DUH town :lol:

What's even more surprising is that they could have given Lester the same thing when he was already pitching for them and he wanted to stay in Boston.

 

[Doc Holliday]

What a Mickey Mouse Orginization over there in Chow-DUH town :lol:

True, but they make watching baseball more interesting. I was happy when they hired David Dombrowski. I figured he'd spend John Henry's money like there's no tomorrow and although some hose fans may be encouraged by this, outspending everyone else in baseball rarely wins championships. The Red Menace will be nothing but this: a menace. Sure, they signed David Price, whom i like very much. However, Dombrowski had him in Detroit and it didn't prevent the Tigers from firing him since the team was going nowhere (which also led to them trading Price to the Jays).

There are still many holes on that team. The rest of the starting pitching staff is very average. Bullpen has big question marks. They don't have much of a first baseman. Pedroia isn't getting any younger and he gets hurt every season. Shortstop is promising. Third base (Sandoval) has been a tremendous disappointment. Same with catcher. Two of the three outfield positions are okay. They're still stuck with Hanley Ramirez, which they have no use for. And their big hitter (Ortiz) is retiring after this season.

Dombrowski MUST sign Chris Davis. If not, i wouldn't be surprised to see them repeat last year's dismal performance.

More bad news: John Farrell, the worst manager in MLB, will start the season as the manager. They would have fired him under usual circumstances, but did the right thing by not firing a cancer survivor. Yet.

I'm not saying that the Red Sox will finish last AGAIN, but they won't finish first. Big question mark.

 

[Joe.t]

Excellent evaluation as usual Doc but I disagree that they have to sign Davis, the Red Sox are pretty good at hitting, it's their starting pitching that sucks and still does despite signing Price, they need more help in the starting pitching department.

 

[Doc Holliday]

As strange as it may sound, i wouldn't be too surprised if Dombrowski would welcome a slow start by the Red Sox in order to give him a good reason to fire John Farrell. I think the only thing which will save Farrell's job is a strong start by the team and a successful season. A new GM and a new President usually want their own man.

 

[Doc Holliday]

The Yankees just traded lefty Justin Wilson to the Tigers for two minor leaguers.

 

[smuler]

Great news for my Mets

Bartolo Colon has agreed to return next year

Smart decision by both parties

Best Regards

Smuler

 

[lgna69xxx]

I was sure when i read that first sentence, that you were going to say "Bartolo Colon has retired" LOL...i thought you did not like him.

 

[smuler]

I was sure when i read that first sentence, that you were going to say "Bartolo Colon has retired" LOL...i thought you did not like him.

I don't know why you would say that

He has been one of the best deals that we ever made over the last couple years

Rumor is that he will also serve as the Mets new hitting coach :lol:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9zMvOG2ick

Best Regards

Smuler

 

[lgna69xxx]

I was sure you said something negative to the effect that you did not like him, must of been someone else, no worries amigo, good for the Mets then :thumb:

 

[EagerBeaver]

Colon had a 31 inning scoreless streak end of last year which is an MLB record for pitchers over the age of 42. The Mets signed him as a placeholder until Zach Wheeler is ready after TJ surgery. Colon can also swing between rotation and bullpen as needed. He is also reported to be a good clubhouse guy. The Yankees had him a few years ago and everyone liked him and he pitched better than expected.