2014 Official Major League Baseball Thread

[Doc Holliday]

Ya but it was against the Red Sox and previously against the lowly Cubs, wait until he plays against a good team, the jury is still out on him.

I totally agree. The Red Sox are nothing this season as far as hitting goes. It's still all about Big Pappi & Pedroia....who aren't getting any younger (or healthier). Napoli is okay. But the outfield is one of the worst in baseball & the loss of Ellesbury is a devastating one.

Regarding the Yankees' signing of Ellesbury: I think (like most people) that they overpaid for him. That money would have been better served to re-sign Robinson Cano. Ellesbury would have signed with some other team (possibly from the west coast) had he not signed with the Yankees, so they didn't have to worry about him re-signing with the Red Sox. However, as long as he remains healthy, Ellesbury is producing and a big reason why the Yankees are fighting it out for the basement. But it's a big 'if' if he'll remain healthy, something he hasn't been able to do in his major league career on most times.

Tanaka was very impressive, but again, it was against the light-hitting Red Sox. John Lester showed that he doesn't have what it takes to be considered a true ace. He certainly is not an 'elite' pitcher yet & unless he decides to smarten up and get in decent shape, he never will be. He needs to hit the threadmill and work on his conditionning.

I also don't expect 'Greasy' Buchholz to have much of an impact on the Red Sox this season. Their best pitcher just may be Jake Peavy, who also has had a history of battling injuries in the past. So far, so good.

And in Toronto, the Jays hit 3 three-run homeruns late in the game & beat the surging Baltimore Orioles. RA Dickey pitched extremely well for 6 innings, but allowed 3 runs on a 3-run homer in the 7th. Like Tanaka, he has a tendency to allow the long ball at least once or twice a game in games he has pitched very well for the most part. Edward Encarnaciion with his first of the year, Brett Lawrie & Melky Cabrera hit the Jays' homeruns.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Joe t. should be managing the Red Sox (aka Boston Fluke). Maybe not. They would win 10 more games than they normally would but ... it's still last place. :lol:

I watched part of the game on RDS & the announcers (Roger Brulotte & Jacques Doucet) couldn't believe that John Farrell left John Lester in the game when he was well over 100 pitches and trailing by many runs. They basically said that it was stupid on the manager's part & risky for Lester in a game that was already lost.

Welcome to the 'real' John Farrell, baseball manager, Red Sox fans.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Ellsbury Has Last Laugh

Good article from Jeff Jacobs of the Hartford Courant:

http://www.courant.com/sports/baseball/red-sox/hc-jacobs-column-0423-20140422,0,2130403.column

 

[Merlot]

BOYZ,

Merlot, ...It was a great strategy, but it did not work, because Napier dribbled through the trap (still don't know how he did it), and although he bricked his first shot, DeAndre backtapped the rebound to Napier for the game winning shot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3NPUDWhqZI

Only tough as nails players beat a trap that good.

Super second shot. It shows guts and heart, something Rondo of the Celtics tends to lack at times. Maybe Napier would develop into a better replacement.

... the jury is still out on him.

Be careful Joe, don't hurt yourself with an honest thought. You don't want to lose your invite.

It was a poor hitting Red Sox team against a very hot pitcher as we all knew it would be.

Regarding the Yankees' signing of Ellesbury: I think (like most people) that they overpaid for him. That money would have been better served to re-sign Robinson Cano. Ellesbury would have signed with some other team (possibly from the west coast) had he not signed with the Yankees, so they didn't have to worry about him re-signing with the Red Sox.

Correct. It had been known forever he would chase the money and the Sox weren't offering enough by far. Still, he never threw BS at anyone about staying. That I can respect. Overall the Yankees would have gotten more out of Cano.

BTW Doc, there's no second e in Ellsbury. The way your write it it sounds like a French town for girls only.

Welcome to the 'real' John Farrell, baseball manager, Red Sox fans.

You're still angry about his time in Toronto. The Sox have key injuries they didn't have most of last year. The fact is Farrell turned around a poor dispirited team from last into WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS last year. That says a lot.

Their best pitcher just may be Jake Peavy, who also has had a history of battling injuries in the past. So far, so good.

Peavy the best? LOL! Lester had a poor game, that's all.

Cheers gents,

Merlot

 

[lgna69xxx]

BOYZZZ!!

I think this Yankees team can be a big time contender this season and yes a lot of that depends on staying heallthy, JUST LIKE EVERY TEAM.

A lineup with the talents of Ellsbury, Jeter, Beltran, Texiera, McCann, Soriano, and Gardner all healthy is a great lineup day in day out. Of course Ichiro still has many hits left in that bat of his and role players like Roberts and Johnson add experience to a mix oif young and old and the makeup of this years team is pretty damned good. I think we are beginning to see how great and valuable Brian McCann really is, not just with the bat but handling the staff. He seems to be a dedicated guy in all aspects of the game and a great guy that his teammates love, a true Warrior and future Captain material, someone that rouge hose fans would of ate up and loved for years. Smart signing by Cashman.

The pitching is better than last year and maybe in years (that still remains to be proven, but we have 5 more months to see) And the Yankees have a great manager to go along with all that talent. Some good talent on the farm is coming along nicely as well. Mark Montgomery is off to a fine start and is probably the most talented of the bunch as of now, I would like to see him be the set up guy eventually in a perfect world but a 7th inning guy this season is possible if he keeps progressing the way he is.

The Yanks have a nice mix of veterans and youth and people say injuries are a risk to certain players, well newsflash, injury happens to all teams all the time and no sense worrying about it. The signing of Ellsbury was genius by Cashman because it helps the Yankees tremendously and hurts the red sox just as tremendously, so far anyways until future hof'er jack bradley jr. gets going to the tune of a consistent .330 hitter.

Test #2 tonight as Pineda takes the mound at that old ugly park in baw-stin.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Iggy,

Things look good so far and it should be noted that although Vidal Nuno has been named the #5 starter, potential reinforcements for the starting rotation exist in David Phelps, Adam Warren, and Manny Banuelos. Banuelos is at AAA still recovering from Tommy John surgery and it is believed that he could be ready by the 2nd half to really, really help this team.

Should injuries happen, it is comforting to know that this kind of depth exists. I agree with you that top to bottom the Yankees pitching staff is greatly improved from the last few years, and even with the season ending injury to Nova, adequate replacements, or possibly even better than adequate, exist on the roster or in the system, and no panicked trades need to be made.

 

[lgna69xxx]

EB,

Good points about the depth we have down on the farm. I usually check in on all the Yankees farm teams 4-5 times a week to see how the young guys are doing and there is a nice mix of talent in the organization.

The one thing I love about Tanaka is he does not get rattled. He spoke after the game last night and said to himself after the 2 homeruns "ok, no more runs" as if to give himself a pep talk to bear down and get his head together. You cant teach that and it is one of the intangibles I love about this guy.

 

[EagerBeaver]

The homer he gave up to Ortiz was estimated at 485 feet, the longest homer Ortiz is recorded having hit since 2006. 485 feet would be enough to win longest HR at the HR Derby in most years.

Tanaka is around the strike zone and is not walking anybody, so I feel he will be nicked for solo homers here and there. Virtually all of the runs he has given up this year, which have not been many given his ERA of 2.15, have been on taters. But we have to keep in mind that Dave Ortiz does not get an extra run for hitting it 485 feet. It is 1 run. And so far, Tanaka has merely been nicked by homers, not deeply cut. They have been solo shots.

In other news, The Red Sox have demoted Dan Nava to the minors. Danny has been struggle city so far this year.

http://espn.go.com/boston/mlb/story/_/id/10828297/daniel-nava-demoted-boston-red-sox

 

[lgna69xxx]

When is Daniel Bard gonna be brought up? To the Rangers that is. It seems that Bobby V ruined this kid in beanie town. Seems like a good guy and I hope he comes back to haunt his former team one day.

In other news, The Red Sox have demoted Dan Nava to the minors. Danny has been struggle city so far this year.

http://espn.go.com/boston/mlb/story/_/id/10828297/daniel-nava-demoted-boston-red-sox

 

[Doc Holliday]

In other news, The Red Sox have demoted Dan Nava to the minors. Danny has been struggle city so far this year.

I've been saying for over a year that Daniel Nava was playing over his head last season. Not a single Red Sox fan agreed with me & tried to convince me that he was a late-bloomer. I wasn't so certain about this since last season everthing seemed to be going right for the Red Sox. I believed that Bobby V simply had picked the wrong year to manage the Red Sox & that the inept (in my opinion) John Farrell couldn't have arrived at a better time considering how disastrous the previous season had been.

As i've stated in one of my earlier posts, the Red Sox' outfield has to be among the entire league's worst since Ellsbury's departure. Shane Victorino's absence hasn't helped either. But he's no all-star either. Jonny Gomes is a decent hitter coming off the bench & can get you a clutch it once in a while, but that's the extent of it. He can barely hit his weight for average & he wouldn't be a starter on most teams. Jackie Bradley Jr. has promise, but he's simply not ready for the big leagues. And Grady Sizemore? He's been surprising so far, but i don't expect his luck to continue considering he's not getting younger & had been absent from the game for nearly 2 seasons.

I also believe that the Red Sox are worst with Pierszinski than with Saltamachia, who seemed to be a crowd favorite. Pierszinski was a cancer throughout his career with Chicago & i have seen no reason for things to be different with a new team.

This is still a team that relies way too much on the aging "Pappi" and team success all begins with an productive Dustin Pedroia. In general, the starting staff is decent, but other than Tazawa the bullpen has huge question marks (and no closer).

They are a worse team than last season. The even worse news are the fact that they weren't expected to accomplish much last season. The shocked everybody (incl. themselves) when they went on to win the World Series.....WITH JOHN FARRELL OF ALL PEOPLE!!!!

I still believe that they'll bounce back and contend, likely battling it out with the Orioles for the 3rd spot. I also don't believe they'll end up behind the Yankees. But i could be wrong.....

As for tonight's game, i believe it'll be closer than people believe. Many expect the Yankees to chase John Lackie out of the game early, but he could bounce back after a couple of disappointing outings. I'm also not sold on Pineda as much as our local Yankees fans. He's been good so far, but the season is still very young.

 

[Merlot]

BOYZ,

Tanaka is around the strike zone and is not walking anybody,...

http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/splits/_/id/33150/masahiro-tanaka

If it wasn't for the Cubs his ERA would be a full run higher. He's faced Chicago 0.00, Toronto 2.57, Boston 2.45, Baltimore 3.86. So the Orioles were his toughest test, Boston is weak and Chicago amounts to a gift. No doubt that he's very good. He might even go sub 3.00 for the year. But he has not been tested. You can expect more "nicks" when that happens unless he pitches 20 games against the Cubs.

the signing of Ellsbury was genius by Cashman because it helps the Yankees tremendously and hurts the red sox just as tremendously...:

Why do you insist on being so dishonest all of the time. Cashman signed Ellsbury out of desperation to save face when he got snookered on his failure to resign Cano. Not one of you considered Ellsbury better than Cano until he was signed by the Yankees so the fact that this trade-off is a net loss for the Yankees is as obvious as your pinstriped kool aid view. Since the Yankees don't care about money, as you always claimed, the best move would have been to sign the more productive and less injury prone Cano. Cano averaged 154 games over 9 full years, while Ellsbury averaged 102 over 7 full years. If averages hold up the Yankees could lose 52 games played, almost a full third of a season. Jacoby was gone from Boston anyway, so the Yankees would have kept their best player and the Sox still would have lost a very effective lead-off player...the best of both worlds. Jacoby is a very talented player, but his offensive numbers aside form 2011 don't measure up to Cano. Jacoby is very fit but he's also 30 now, very early in the first full year of his contract. His speed will start to waver then slip long before those 7 years are filled.

The only reasonable justification that would favor Ellsbury over Cano is avoiding the burden of giving him 3 more years to an even older age. But we can't credit Cashman for that wisdom because he's always been dumb enough to give outrageous contracts for guys into their late 30s and into 40.

But hey, go ahead and keep calling Cashman a "genius"...just like you always did for that fellow perennial genius loser Burke. :thumb: Face it, if Cashman painted pinstripes on 9 pigs you'd still be kissing his buns.

I've been saying for over a year that Daniel Nava was playing over his head last season. Not a single Red Sox fan agreed with me & tried to convince me that he was a late-bloomer.

Untrue. I never said anything like this. I always thought of him as a gamer with very average skills who would do his best to put out. This is what I heard on WEEI constantly regarding him. No one, no analyst or anyone connected with the team has ever said more than that. Besides "late-bloomer" does not mean a developing star. He made it to the Majors and did fine for a time. He could be back, who knows.

I was hoping Cherington would make some improvements with a smart trade or free agent signing or two, but the word seems to be that Cherington will wait for their plentiful prospects to develop. With the Perfect Gift of a 2013 World Series Championship (can't say that enough ) he gained time to do just that.

Ahhhhhhhhh, it NEVER grows old. :nod:

Cheers,

Merlot

 

[Joe.t]

I've been saying for over a year that Daniel Nava was playing over his head last season. Not a single Red Sox fan agreed with me & tried to convince me that he was a late-bloomer. I wasn't so certain about this since last season everthing seemed to be going right for the Red Sox. I believed that Bobby V simply had picked the wrong year to manage the Red Sox & that the inept (in my opinion) John Farrell couldn't have arrived at a better time considering how disastrous the previous season had been.

As i've stated in one of my earlier posts, the Red Sox' outfield has to be among the entire league's worst since Ellsbury's departure. Shane Victorino's absence hasn't helped either. But he's no all-star either. Jonny Gomes is a decent hitter coming off the bench & can get you a clutch it once in a while, but that's the extent of it. He can barely hit his weight for average & he wouldn't be a starter on most teams. Jackie Bradley Jr. has promise, but he's simply not ready for the big leagues. And Grady Sizemore? He's been surprising so far, but i don't expect his luck to continue considering he's not getting younger & had been absent from the game for nearly 2 seasons.

I also believe that the Red Sox are worst with Pierszinski than with Saltamachia, who seemed to be a crowd favorite. Pierszinski was a cancer throughout his career with Chicago & i have seen no reason for things to be different with a new team.

This is still a team that relies way too much on the aging "Pappi" and team success all begins with an productive Dustin Pedroia. In general, the starting staff is decent, but other than Tazawa the bullpen has huge question marks (and no closer).

They are a worse team than last season. The even worse news are the fact that they weren't expected to accomplish much last season. The shocked everybody (incl. themselves) when they went on to win the World Series.....WITH JOHN FARRELL OF ALL PEOPLE!!!!

I still believe that they'll bounce back and contend, likely battling it out with the Orioles for the 3rd spot. I also don't believe they'll end up behind the Yankees. But i could be wrong.....

And luck, but luck can only take you so far(2013), this team will end up exactly where they are sitting right now at the end of the year, this team is flat out terrible, even their fans (posts 259, 274) seem to admit this.

 

[Doc Holliday]

PINEDA JUST THROWN OUT OF GAME FOR CHEATING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The right side of his neck was covered with a substance (probably pine tar)!!!!

Here's my assessment: PINEDA WAS KICKED OUT FOR BEING EXTREMELY STUPID!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Special K]

Dirty Rotten Pine tar Pineda EJECTED!

After a pathetic, though clean (no cheating,) 30 pitch first inning Pinetar Pineda decided who couldn't perform without the advantage of using pine tar to doctor up the ball. 2nd inning he comes out with dollops of it on his NECK!! Farrell called the ump out for it and the HP ump tossed Pineda after rubbing his neck and getting doused with PT!

Hahaah...Not a very smart individual. Cheating scumbag!

Oh hey...what's that you got on your neck there, Scumbag?

 

[lgna69xxx]

A dnf for Pineda I guess ROFL!

What is funny tho is hearing the Homer rouge hose fans cheering as soon as they realised why the umps were heading to the mound, this coming from those same homer rouge hose fans who look with a blind eye when lEster and bUckholz have done it several times in the past lol..... Gotta love red sox fans! :lol: Kinda like how they know that Dave ortiz took roids but wont ever admit it, yup love them hose fans :thumb:

This might actually play to the Yanks advantage as Pineda did not look to be on his game tonight anyways.....

Would MLB suspend Pineda for this?

***EDIT*** possible he might miss ONE start if that.

Decent test for Tanaka and Pineda.

 

[Special K]

Obviously he wasn't on his game because he didn't have his PT binky in the first inning. Looked great in the 2nd when he got ejected!! Hahaha.

I'd expect some type of suspension for it, especially since MLB supposedly talked to him about it after the first incident and now he just stuck his middle finger up at them.

Now that I think about it, I'm a little embarrassed as a Sox fan for bringing this up because I know for a fact that the Yankee Stadium classy crowd wouldn't say a word if the same thing happened in the Bronx and it was the Sox on the receiving end of the ejection. :nod::lol:

 

[lgna69xxx]

Joe Torre is back in good standing with the Yankees tho lol....... he will likely miss one start, plus the rest of tonights game obviously. Al Leiter, David Cone and likely pitchers EVERYWHERE want this rule changed. What is the matter with having a good grip on a ball being thrown close to 100mph? Would it be better to not know where the ball is going and crack someones skull? I tend to agree with them. Sometimes rules should and need to be changed.

I'd expect some type of suspension for it, especially since MLB supposedly talked to him about it after the first incident and now he just stuck his middle finger up at them.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Both David Cone and Al Leiter stated on YES Network that this kind of thing is fairly common and both admitted to doing it on cold nights like this, but Cone stated that Pineda needs to be more discreet about it. In the future he will probably smear the pine tar in his cock region where they cannot inspect.

Leiter said he used something called "firm grip" and Cone said he used something else. Both said the substances were illegal and they knew them to be illegal. It's necessary on cold evenings like this to get a grip on the ball especially on the split fingered fastballs.

SK, a suspension is automatic under the rule. I believe it is 8 games.

BTW you guys think the Red Sox pitchers never did this? You fucken kidding me? And you can rest assured they will be called on it if the Yankees video guys see anything.

 

[lgna69xxx]

Man, that is a whole lotta pine tar if the stereotypes are accurate

Cone stated that Pineda needs to be more discreet about it. In the future he will probably smear the pine tar in his cock region where they cannot inspect.

 

[Special K]

man, that is a whole lotta pine tar if the stereoypes are accurate

hahahahahahahahahah!!!!!