2014/2015 Official MLB Offseason Thread: Signings, Trades, Rumors, Etc.

[lgna69xxx]

If that happens my friend, not only are the Yanks a good team, they will be a very good team contending for the division and not just for a wild card spot. "If healthy" you have two cy young candidates in Tanaka and Pineda and when you have that on any staff combined with a top 3 bullpen in all of baseball then you are a contender to win the division and considering how wide open the AL East is this year, that is a understatement. Of course the key is health which i get but as you see wth stroman, anything can happen to anyone at anytime so no sense fearing the worst, just go out and play and let fate be. With Eovaldi (whom i have loved this trade since day 1) and some of the other young guys in the minors and having one of the best pitching coaches in the game in Rothschild (man, that guy reminds me of someone around here) I am totally confident in this years Yankees team "if" healthy, that is the key and is so to all teams. That is one thing in any sport you can't predict, injuries happen.

If everyone on every team stays healthy as is right now, i see it 1. Yanks/Jays/Orioles in a free for all for the top 3 spots, red sox and rays to bring up the rear but with bostons lack of any real dominant starters i could see them in the dumpster in last again, not likely but very well possible with any injury to that already "iffy" starting 5. It would not surprise me however if they were to trade for Cole Hamels at any moment within the season if they are willing to give up Swihart.

I'll be honest.....I see the Jays & Red Sox battling it out for first place in the East. I see Tampa in last place, with the Yankees and the Orioles battling it out for 3rd. The Yankees are not a good team, period. But maybe Joe Girardi will pull a rabbit out of a hat once again & squeeze every ounce of this team to make them contenders until August. But for this to happen, Tanaka & Pineda will have to remain healthy. It wouldn't surprise me to see Tanaka go on the DL prior to the all-star break & then have to undergo TJ just like Yu Darvish.

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

I'll be honest.....I see the Jays & Red Sox battling it out for first place in the East. I see Tampa in last place, with the Yankees and the Orioles battling it out for 3rd. The Yankees are not a good team, period. But maybe Joe Girardi will pull a rabbit out of a hat once again & squeeze every ounce of this team to make them contenders until August. But for this to happen, Tanaka & Pineda will have to remain healthy. It wouldn't surprise me to see Tanaka go on the DL prior to the all-star break & then have to undergo TJ just like Yu Darvish.

You're pretty much dead on with this, though if the Yankee pitching doesn't hold up, the cellar could be in their future. One thing we do know about the Yankees, they will be in the bottom five in MLB in runs scored.

When was the last time you heard a pitcher who had thrown a total of 76 innings in the last three years referred to as a Cy Young candidate? You hear some amazing things here on merb, but usually it comes from Joe, not his twin.

Will three consecutive years out of the playoffs cost Brian Cashdollar his job? Let's hope not. His replacement might not be as much of a total fuckup.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I need to clarify my last statement. When i stated that Tanaka & Pineda have to remain healthy, i should have said that Tanaka's health cannot get worse than it already is. He'll start the season pitching with a damaged arm....an injury very similar to Yu Darvish's, who is about to undergo Tommy John surgery. I honestly cannot fathom a pitcher starting the season with an already damaged pitching arm having any chance of a Cy Young-type season. My guess is that the Yankees are already aware of this & are hoping to get a 10-12 win season out of him. I also suspect that they do expect him to undergo TJ sometimes in the future. And for the sake of their future, the sooner, the better. It also wouldn't totally surprise me to see them shut him down & send him to Dr. Frank Jobs should the team stumble out of the blocks in the first 2-3 months. No use causing further damage to his arm if the team is going nowhere.

Personally, i would have told him to under TJ the minute they found out the extent of damage to his arm last season & have him ready sometimes this season.

 

[lgna69xxx]

Seems I hit a nerve lol.......Lets see here tho, by rumpies standards of predicting (guessing) this year the sox should be better because every other year the guesses look better than every other year, got that? Joe go easy on the old boy this time around, it is his year to predict (guess) that the rouge hosers be better than last year, then again can they actually be any worse Kinda easy to predict they will improve to 4th place, eh?

When was the last time you heard a pitcher who had thrown a total of 76 innings in the last three years referred to as a Cy Young candidate? You hear some amazing things here on merb, but usually it comes from Joe, not his twin.

 

[Doc Holliday]

As for the Red Sox, i feel that there are still many question marks when it comes to pitching...especially starting pitching. The offense should be okay. Plus other than Pappi, there average age won't be a problem. Older players (like the Yankees have) tend to be more injured more often & wind up missing a lot of time.

So here's my early prediction for the AL East:

Toronto Blue Jays
Boston Red Sox
Baltimore Orioles
NY Yankees
Tampa Bay Rays

As i've mentionned, 1 and 2 will be close, so will 3 and 4. I do expect the Rays to finish last, but who knows, the new manager may just surprise everybody.

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

As for the Red Sox, i feel that there are still many question marks when it comes to pitching...especially starting pitching. The offense should be okay. Plus other than Pappi, there average age won't be a problem. Older players (like the Yankees have) tend to be more injured more often & wind up missing a lot of time.

Doc, the Sox offense is absolutely stacked. Their number 8 hitter would bat cleanup for the "Bombers" lol. They also have a loaded farm system so, if needed, they can pick up an ace along the way. The only hole in the lineup is the best defensive catcher in baseball.

 

[Joe.t]

I almost shit my pants in laughter when I saw the projected starting rotation for Boston, I personally think that this will be their downfall, 8 earned runs yesterday and 11 the other day against Phily, I know that it's only ST but this could be a telling sign, also if you look at Clay(Plastic)Buccholz's trajectory he is slated to spend a significant amount of time on the DL according to his past history, also a nice little article in the Boston Globe about the prospects of Boston's Pitching this year.

"Red Sox rotation has questions about ability, durability"- The Boston Globe, March 17, 2015.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2...-durability/lSqM1NU5uXr4bRchd1cWDO/story.html

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

In today's Yankee news, Masahiro Tanaka delayed the "inevitable" one more day. Maybe Joe's bookie can set up a pool for us on when the date for Tanaka's TJ surgery will be.

Tanaka, Yankees not letting the inevitable ruin strong spring

In further Yankee news, it now appears their only decent hitter is going to be on the shelf for much of April. Knowing Ellsbury's history, he ought to be back sometime around the All Star break. We know how those obliques can be; for Jacoby only more so.

Jacoby Ellsbury in bubble wrap for 7 days with oblique strain

“We will take about six or seven days and see where he is at. I am not too concerned,’’ manager Joe Girardi said. “This is the time we can take some time and not rush him back. I am not bothered by it. There is plenty of time [to be ready for Opening Day] I think.’’

Obviously, Girardi doesn't know Jacoby "Man of Glass" Ellsbury.

 

[lgna69xxx]

Ahhhhhhhh the smell of pine tar, leather gloves, hot dogs and cotton candy in the air as the ump yells "Play ball" It must be spring! Another sure fire way of telling it is spring, rumps is posting in the thread, until about May 1 lol.

As is today, the day before SPRING actually arrives (just a few hours now!!!, goodbye winter you SOB!!!) my predictions:

NYY/Jays.......... too close to call
Baltimore.......... a very close third
Rouge Hosers.... not even in the hunt for a wild card
Tampa............. stuck in the basement for a year or 2

Actually it would not at all surprise me to see Baltimore flip spots with the Jays seeing the Jays seem to never live up to the hype and with stroman going down for the season but hope I am wrong, Go Yanks! Go Jays!

 

[Joe.t]

Ahhhhhhhh the smell of pine tar, leather gloves, hot dogs and cotton candy in the air as the ump yells "Play ball" It must be spring! Another sure fire way of telling it is spring, rumps is posting in the thread, until about May 1 lol.

As is today, the day before SPRING actually arrives (just a few hours now!!!, goodbye winter you SOB!!!) my predictions:

NYY/Jays.......... too close to call
Baltimore.......... a very close third
Rouge Hosers.... not even in the hunt for a wild card
Tampa............. stuck in the basement for a year or 2

Actually it would not at all surprise me to see Baltimore flip spots with the Jays seeing the Jays seem to never live up to the hype and with stroman going down for the season but hope I am wrong, Go Yanks! Go Jays!

Totally agree, especially with the rotation that they are trotting out there to start the season, really leaves a lot to be desired, at least the Red Sox will be fun to watch with their hitting and the mashing of their pitching.

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

Well, let's see what we've got so far:

Doc: Toronto
Joe: Yanks/Jays, basis: rectal analysis
Iggy: Yanks/Jays, basis: rectal analysis
Fangraphs: Red Sox, basis: player performance projections
Baseball Prospectus: Red Sox, basis: player performance projections
Vegas bookmakers: Red Sox, basis: gambling activity

Iggy's baseball thread activity: see hockey threads.

 

[lgna69xxx]

Joe,

Speaking of the red socks hitting. I see it much more as a crossing of the fingers than anything exciting lol. At some point dave ortiz is gonna age and mark my words this is the year he starts slowing down. However he has not been getting caught juicing is mind boggling (besides that one year he was exposed to be on that "list") but eventually age catches up with everyone, juice or not.

Then you have a super fat guy playng thrid base that will either land on the DL with back problems or food withdrawls when the team forces him to go on a diet. Pedroia is coming off a bad year for him and aging and injury may be taking it's toll on a smaller player like him. Hanley Ramirez is a ticking time bomb waiting to go off and it is only a matter of time. Napoli is getting old and injured more and more, and their SS and Cathcer cant hit a lick. Nava is an average hitter at best. Victorino is just meh, a real take him or leave him and that is when he is healthy. Brock holt was a nice story while it lasted but is a utility man not a everyday player at the major league level. Their best hitter at this point might be Mookie Betts and he has all of 189 career ab's in the big leagues. Jackie "ALL STAR" Bradley jr. ..... Pawtucket or bust!

I have a feeling tho that Boston will go out and get Cole Hamels, if they do that they will finish in 4th comfortably or possibly 3rd barely. Just nothing to get excited about this team this season.

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

Of course, as noted clown John Sterling likes to point out mindlessly and endlessly, "You can't predict baseball." Much changes between April and September. What you can do is take a snapshot in time and, rather than pull a prediction out of your ass as some like to do, you can analyzed a roster based on past production and expected future production. That's what the wizards at Baseball Prospectus doe when they calculate Pecota, the prediction system that has been amazingly accurate over the years, notably picking the Tampa Rays to win 90 games in 2007 while everyone else picked them to lose their usual 100.

Here's how the AL East shapes up at the moment:

American League East odds

Boston: 55.8 percent
Tampa Bay: 53.8 percent
Toronto: 28.3 percent
N.Y. Yankees: 23.9 percent
Baltimore: 19.3 percent

Of course, these projections were made before the Rays lost Alex Cobb and the Yankees Jacoby Ellsbury. Knowing the rate at which Ellsbury has healed over time, he might be out until August, leaving the "Bombers" lol with perhaps the worst lineup in all of baseball.

 

[lgna69xxx]

Of course, as noted clown John Sterling likes to point out mindlessly and endlessly, "You can't predict baseball." Much changes between April and September. What you can do is take a snapshot in time and, rather than pull a prediction out of your ass as some like to do, you can analyzed a roster based on past production and expected future production. That's what the wizards at Baseball Prospectus doe when they calculate Pecota, the prediction system that has been amazingly accurate over the years, notably picking the Tampa Rays to win 90 games in 2007 while everyone else picked them to lose their usual 100

BOYZ!!

I absolutely LOVED how accurate those mighty WIZARDS (lol) were in the year of the "Best Team EVAH!!!" back in 2011 :lol: Remember this great night of baseball, my friends?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPNpJX8b-bc (damn, that never gets old)

Not even the playoffs let alone a world championship like every "Wizard" (lol) predicted, haha.

American League East odds
Boston: 55.8 percent
Tampa Bay: 53.8 percent
Toronto: 28.3 percent
N.Y. Yankees: 23.9 percent
Baltimore: 19.3 percent

:lol: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dzmb4O67o8

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

You do love ancient history, don't you, iggy. Here's a few old-timers for you.

The greatest collapse in the history of professional sports: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkblpPxLrcw
The greatest one game collapse in the history of professional sports: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYanopv3NCs

I guess when you root for a team that has no offense and a pitching staff that consists of a bum elbow, a bum shoulder, a bum knee, a flat fastball, and just a bum, what else you got...other than 15 years of 21st century failure and billions wasted.

 

[Special K]

One of my favorite quotes of all time sums up the Iggy / Joe t. team lovefest perfectly.

W.C. Fields once said "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit."

and Rumps, don't let the bullies try to push you off the playground (they hate competition in here :nod:,) because we ALL know just like in the NHL threads once their team goes to squat yield:no later than June 1) there will be no more chirping from them. Bwwaahhhh! :lol:

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

because we ALL know just like in the NHL threads once their team goes to squat yield:no later than June 1) there will be no more chirping from them. Bwwaahhhh! :lol:

I think you misspelled December.

 

[lgna69xxx]

Seems the Rouge Hose fans 'round these parts are quite touchy when other fans of the game (those not wearing the red and white blinders) speak about their not so great starting pitching, average bullpen (compared to the best in the game in the Bronx) and a lineup that will never live up to the hype they think it will. Dave ortiz, Napoli and Shane "Mr. DL" Victorino will likely all hit the injured list sometime this season for extended periods of time. Ortiz because father time will likely and finally catch up with him and the juice will as well, and the other 2 just because age and history of injuries lately. Don't forget Broken Back Bucholz as well but i hope not, he does more damage to that already iffy starting 5 when he is actually healthy. Look at it this way, you still have Future Mvp and Hall of famer Jackie Bradley Jr. on the bench :lol: (perfect place for a bwahahahahaha but the smiley seemed just as fitting)

Hey it is the preseason tho, go ahead and dream like last year at this time, it is what every team and their fans do in march and april, by may 1 you can start dreaming for next season boyzzz.

And K, it is not BS, just common sense like last year and 2 seasons before that and lets not 4get all non red hoser fans here predicted "The best team EVAH" in 2011 would not win jack. You can have *2013, me thinks it's the last for decades, in fact i would not be surprised if Theo Epstein wins a WS in Chi-town b4 another WS Flag is ever raised at fenway.

Ahhhhhh Spring is Here!! :thumb:

 

[Special K]

Your shit gets so repetitive, old, and asinine. Do you really want to rundown the lineup of the Yanks and their inevitability of falling apart? Hahahaha. Beltran, Arod, Teixera, Tanaka, Triple Cheeseburger, Jacoby Glassbury, Stephen f'n DREW, etc, etc, etc, etc.....Sure is going to a fun season of watching the 2nd best team in NY take their place at the bottom of the division!!

Oh and I wouldn't have any problem with the Cubbies finally winning a World Series but at least we KNOW it won't be the Yanks.

and Rumps, I was referring to June 1 when the Yanks are in the dumps of the East. We already see how the hardcore Leaf "fan" deserts their team early in the season :thumb:. Bwwwaahahahahahah

 

[lgna69xxx]

BOYZZZ!

Ya know my brother, I certainly could say the exact same things about the 2 current sox fans posting and the other one due back in a few days, but i dont, at least rarely There must be some reality tho in my assessment of the 2015 rouge hose based on your outburst. The truth is the American League East is as wide open as it has ever been.

Anyone seen Jman

Your shit gets so repetitive, old, and asinine.