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2014 Official Major League Baseball Thread

hungry101

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Guys, more evidence of changing strategies in baseball as we see Don Mattingly successfully deploy another radical defensive shift:

https://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-...Rjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkA01PVVMxMjdfMQ--?.tsrc=sams

This is the new baseball. Adapt or perish. Only the brightest can now be allowed to manage a team! And the one dimensional pull hitters of the past have to adapt and learn to situational hit or they will end up like the dinosaur, extinct and a relic of the past.

Incredible!!! You mean Seth Smith can't lay down a bunt or punch the ball to the left side of the infield????
 

EagerBeaver

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Doc,

There are a number of strong points Hitler makes in the video, among them over tinkering with the team by Beane (I think he calls him an "over-tinkering monkey"), and upsetting the chemistry of the team. The bottom line is As have not played well since the trade and are now 4 games out of first, left to fight for a wild card berth with KC/Detroit, which they look like they are in good shape to get.

I thought Detroit would be the team to beat in the AL. I
am surprised by Baltimore as I do not think they have very good pitching.
 

EagerBeaver

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Incredible!!! You mean Seth Smith can't lay down a bunt or punch the ball to the left side of the infield????

Seems like he should be able to do it but some guys cannot bunt or situational hit very well. In playing a shift like that the Dodgers assess not only that he pulls the ball but that he sucks at bunting and has trouble punching the opposite way. They are also going to jam him and throw inside to invite him to pull the ball and not make it easy for him to punch it to left.

These shifts make it imperative to have guys who can handle the bat and bunt. I have been watching McCann and Teixeira getting eaten up by shifts all year. They get pitches they can only pull and they try to pull them. This is why they have low batting averages well below their career norms. It becomes very frustrating to watch. The Yankees themselves are aggressively using shifts quite often as well.
 

Doc Holliday

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Doc,

There are a number of strong points Hitler makes in the video, among them over tinkering with the team by Beane (I think he calls him an "over-tinkering monkey"), and upsetting the chemistry of the team.

EB, you do realize that it's an actor portraying Hitler in the video, right? :D
 

EagerBeaver

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It's a scene from the German movie Downfall but the point of all of the Hitler Rants videos is that they are rants Hitler would make - in this case, if he was an As fan.
 

hungry101

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Doc,

I thought Detroit would be the team to beat in the AL. I
am surprised by Baltimore as I do not think they have very good pitching.

I hope I am wrong but I think the winners of the AL will come out of the west.

The Tigers have had some injuries to deal with and I think the Fister trade to the Nationals was the worst trade the franchise has made since they dealt Smoltz for Doyle Alexander. But the Fister deal was even worse than the Smoltz for Alexander deal. Alexander helped the Tigers immediately. Fister's was traded to avoid increasing his pay from $3.5MM to $7.2MM this year. His WAR this year is 3.7 and his ERA is the lowest on the Nationals at 2.2 with a 12-5 record. In return we received 3 players. One has been dealt and the other two have been demoted to AAA and their cumulative WAR is -1.
The Tigers picked up Joe Nathan who turns 40 in November. We are paying him $9MM/year and his WHIP, ERA, and average against, and stirkeouts are the worst in the AL Central for closers. Nathan's WAR is -.5

The David Price deal was good but we traded Smyly .5MM/year WAR of 1.8 and Austin Jackson $6MM/year with a WAR 1.6 for Price with a Salary of $14MM with a WAR of 3.2. In fact, when you look at the bad Faster trade, Nathan acquisition, and the Price deal we increased the Payroll by $10MM and our cumulative WAR was reduced by 5.

Injuries - Iglesius, Dirks, and Rondon were hurt prior to the season. Iggy was supposed to be the cornerstone of our Defense at SS. and Rondon threw 102MPH and he was supposed to set up Nathan. More recently Sanchez is on the DL due to a pectoral injury and Cabrera has been sitting every 3rd game due to a high ankle sprain. His production has been reduced to that of a mere mortal. JV missed a start due to shoulder soreness

If we can get healthy we may be able to get back to the WS but we may not get back to the playoffs this year. The clock is ticking on this team.

These shifts make it imperative to have guys who can handle the bat and bunt. I have been watching McCann and Teixeira getting eaten up by shifts all year. They get pitches they can only pull and they try to pull them. This is why they have low batting averages well below their career norms. It becomes very frustrating to watch. The Yankees themselves are aggressively using shifts quite often as well.

Interesting that MLB was talking about Yankees personnel that could hit to all fields prior to becoming a Yankee. They mentioned Teixeira and Macann as left hand batters that used to hit to all fields. You come to Yankees stadium with that short RF porch and you become a pull hitter very quickly.
 

smuler

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Derek Jeter day :hail::hail:

I wish Mattingly was there

Best Regards

Smuler
 

Merlot

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BOYZZZZZ!!!

Well here we are, 30 or so games left and the Yankees are still in it and playing meaningful games.

The 2014 Yankees, down, down, down:

yankeescaponfire.jpg


Get out the marshmellows for the annual $200 million barbecue...BOYZZZ, :D

A New Yorker I know says he's disgusted with the Yankees and their total lack of farm system prospects. Tip of the day...buy stock in NY marshmellows and Yankee cap firestarters.

Cheers,

Merlot
 

Doc Holliday

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Stanton Beaned

This is awful, very similar to the beaning of Tony Conigliaro in 1967:

Fiers was simply very wild. I hope Stanton is OK as he is one of my favorite players.

He suffered various facial fractures & he's likely out for the season. His manager said that he'll heal up, but who knows what psychological damage he may have suffered. It likely will be tough for him to step into the batter's box again.
 

Doc Holliday

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Martin Prado out for the rest of the season

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — New York Yankees infielder-outfielder Martin Prado has had an appendectomy and will miss the rest of the season.

The team announced that Prado had the surgery early Tuesday. He was placed on the 60-day disabled list.

The Yankees are in Florida for a three-game series against Tampa Bay that ends Wednesday night.

Prado has been a solid performer for the Yankees, posting a .316 batting average with seven homers and 16 RBIs in 37 games since being obtained from Arizona on July 31.

New York signed minor leaguer Jose Pirela to a major league contract and added him to the active roster.

If he plays, he would be the team-record 57th player to appear for the Yankees, one more than in 2013.

Martin Prado out for the season
 

Doc Holliday

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Girardi finally benches slumping Jeter

ST. PETERSBURG — It’s been more than a decade since Derek Jeter went through the longest hitless streak of his career, a 32-at-bat skid back in April 2004.

The Captain’s current skid is at 24 at-bats, but Joe Girardi didn’t give him a chance to snap it Monday, resting the shortstop in the opener against the Rays.

“He’s just scuffling; he had somewhat of a tough August, and September has been even tougher,” Girardi said. “There are a few guys that are going through that. It’s not the time of year that you want it to happen. We’ll give him a day off today, see if we can get him out of it and get him going.”

After hitting no lower than .272 in any of the first four months, Jeter hit .207 in August and is batting .116 (5-for-43) in September. With only two weeks remaining and the Yankees clinging to the faintest of postseason hopes, Jeter is more concerned with the Bombers’ record than with his own batting average, which currently stands at .250.

“I’m not thinking about myself,” Jeter said. “I’ve been 0-for-more than I am right now in the past. You think about it, you’re constantly answering questions about it, constantly talking about it. I’m just trying to help us win.”

Jeter finally gets benched

Were Derek Jeter an old dog, he likely would have been put out of his misery a couple of months ago.
 

Doc Holliday

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MLB Worst-of-the-Year Annual Awards

by Paul Sullivan, The Chicago Tribune

If MLB had ‘worst’ awards, these players would win.

There are some interesting races shaping up for the worst performances of the 2014 Major League Baseball season.

Baseball’s awards races are winding down and the Baseball Writers Association of America has some difficult choices to make in the four voting categories for each league.

Mike Trout, Clayton Kershaw and Jose Abreu appear to be shoo-ins for American League MVP, National League Cy Young and AL Rookie of the Year, respectively. But the other categories — including the two Manager of the Year awards —may come down to the final weeks.

On the flip side, there are also some interesting races shaping up for the worst performances of the 2014 season.

Here’s how one man’s ballot would be shaping up, if these awards actually existed:

Least Valuable Player Award — Dan Uggla, Braves and Giants: Uggla, who earned $13 million in 2014, was released twice in less than one month and wound up hitting .149 with 10 RBIs. That’s $1.3 million per RBI, if you’re counting.

There were plenty of perennials in this category, including Adam Dunn (.225, 142 strikeouts) and B.J. Upton, who ranks fourth in worst strikeout percentage (30.3 per cent) with only 34 RBIs in 542 plate appearances. Dunn’s candidacy has taken a blow after performing well for the A’s since being acquired for the stretch run.

Also in the running are the Rangers’ Shin-Soo Choo, who hit .242 with 40 RBIs after signing a seven-year, $130 million deal, but suffered a season-ending ankle injury, making it tough to overtake Uggla. Another LVP candidate is the Yankees’ Brian McCann, hitting .241 with a .292 OBP after signing a five-year, $85 million deal.

Not Cy Young Award — Edwin Jackson, Cubs: Jackson’s late August lat injury left him stuck on 14 losses, giving him little chance to match his major league worst 18 losses from 2013. But Jackson’s 6.09 ERA —aided by a 7.91 in four second-half starts before heading to the disabled list on a rebuilding team —should be high enough to eke out the triumph. Left-handers batted .341 off him.
He has some stiff competition from stiffs like the Padres’ Eric Stults (6-16, 4.55 ERA), the Cardinals’ Justin Masterson (6-9, 6.03 ERA) and the Rangers’ Colby Lewis (9-13, 5.29 ERA).

Rookie Bust of the Year Award — Xander Boegarts, Red Sox: Boegarts (.238 average, .668 OPS) and teammate Jackie Bradley Jr. (.208 average, .284 OBP, 142 strikeouts) were neck-and-neck all year, but Boegarts gets the nod after coming up in August of 2013 and getting 12 games of post-season experience on a World Series champion.

Several other rookies had worse seasons, but did not meet the necessary hype quotient to qualify. The good part for Boegarts and all other struggling rookies? Mike Trout hit .220 in 40 games with the Angels in his first call-up in 2011, yet won the AL Rookie of the Year award in 2012, finishing second in AL MVP voting in 2012 and 2013.

Overhyped Executive of the Year Award — Jon Daniels, Rangers: The general manager was heralded as one of the best and brightest young executives in the game, at least before acquiring Matt Garza at the July 2013 trade deadline for four minor league prospects, including C.J. Edwards and Neil Ramirez.

Last winter, Daniels signed Choo for $130 million and acquired the Tigers’ Prince Fielder, who makes $24 million annually through 2010, for Ian Kinsler. Despite having the eighth-highest payroll at $136 million, the Rangers were the worst team in baseball, giving Daniels a chance to guess wrong on the top draft pick in 2015.

Arsonist of the Year Award — Jim Johnson, A’s and Tigers: The opposite of the Fireman of the Year award, Johnson is the overwhelming choice as worst relief pitcher of 2014, despite having only one blown save to his name. He entered the weekend with a 6.89 ERA and 1.95 WHIP with two teams who may meet in the AL wild-card game. The A’s released him Aug. 1, eating around $5 million of his $10 million salary. The Tigers then picked him up for their bullpen as their 1.48 WHIP is tied with the White Sox for worst in the majors.

The Rockies’ Rex Brothers (six blown saves, 5.71 ERA, 6.6 walks per nine innings) and the White Sox’s Ronald Belisario (4-8, 5.57 ERA) deserve dishonourable mentions.

Un-Manager of the Year Award — John Farrell, Red Sox: Another tough call, especially with the Astros’ Bo Porter not getting a chance to finish out his embarrassing season. Late-season collapses by the Brewers (Ron Roenicke) and the A’s (Bob Melvin) put those two in contention, though both were Manager of the Year candidates in their leagues only weeks ago.

But the winner has to be the Red Sox’s Farrell, who earned plaudits leading the World Series champs in 2013 only to watch them helplessly careen into the gutter in 2014.


Drug Suspension of the Year Award — Chris Davis, Orioles: The modern-day answer to the Comeback Player of the Year Award, this one goes to the Orioles’ “Crash” Davis for testing positive twice for amphetamine use and being handed a 25-game suspension on Friday. If the Orioles crash-and-burn in the post-season without him, they have a ready-made scapegoat for the off-season.

MLB Worst-of-the-Year Awards
 

daydreamer41

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BOYZZZZZ!!!



The 2014 Yankees, down, down, down:

yankeescaponfire.jpg


Get out the marshmellows for the annual $200 million barbecue...BOYZZZ, :D

A New Yorker I know says he's disgusted with the Yankees and their total lack of farm system prospects. Tip of the day...buy stock in NY marshmellows and Yankee cap firestarters.

Cheers,

Merlot

Those who live in glass house shouldn't throw stones. Don't you think so, Mr. Red Sox fan?
 

Special K

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Those who live in glass house shouldn't throw stones. Don't you think so, Mr. Red Sox fan?

You should really address him as Mr. "Reigning World Series Champion" Red Sox fan. Hahahahaha.
 

Merlot

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BOYZ,

You should really address him as Mr. "Reigning World Series Champion" Red Sox fan. Hahahahaha.

Thanks Mr. SK "3-Times this Century Reigning World Series Champion" Red Sox fan.

I wonder if anyone is fool enough to put on the putrid looking Yankees cap and hand me those stones. I think a revelation would be imminent for that person whoever it would be. ;) It's always dumping on the Yanks season all year round. No one can be a real baseball fan and not know that. Besides. Do I really have to explain to anyone the point was the endless wasted billions and no future without a farm system.

Geeeezzuuuuzzzzz,

Merlot
 
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