Our National Pastime: 2015 Baseball Thread

[Joe.t]

You might want to check out the stats of a fellow by the name of Chasen Shreve who is one of the top bullpen arms in the game so far this season

Here, let me help you MISTER Holliday

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/shrevch01.shtml

PS. SK, i remember you asking a month or two ago who the heck is Chasen Shreve, you also have your answer in the link above

Easy on the eyes bro, those Red Sox fans are not used to seeing those type of numbers 1.72 ERA, 0.862 WHIP.

Betances is also very good, as good as Miller in my book. But Miller's more potent because he's a southpay. The Yankees are okay with Betances as their closer, but the rest of the bullpen sucks monkey balls.


I've also heard about Cueto interesting the Jays. They're still looking for a starter and a closer, so anything's possible. But they do know they'll have to pay a hefty price in order to get a quality arm and they're still not sure they're willing to give other teams what they want.

It certainly is nice to hear names like Cueto being tossed around as possible New York or Toronto bound, notice no names are being mentioned to Bosdone or maybe the Red Sox are relying on the great arms that they have in their "great" farm system.:lol:

 

[Doc Holliday]

You might want to check out the stats of a fellow by the name of Chasen Shreve who is one of the top bullpen arms in the game so far this season

Here, let me help you MISTER Holliday

Who? Chasen Shreve?? Are you fucking kidding me, Mister 69? :lol:

 

[lgna69xxx]

Do stats all the sudden lie, Mister Holliday? :lol:

Who? Chasen Shreve?? Are you fucking kidding me, Mister 69? :lol:

 

[Doc Holliday]

It certainly is nice to hear names like Cueto being tossed around as possible New York or Toronto bound, notice no names are being mentioned to Bosdone or maybe the Red Sox are relying on the great arms that they have in their "great" farm system.:lol:

The Red Sox have already made it known to insiders that they will be sellers this offseason and have already approached some teams about trades for some of their rejects.

No, i do not believe the Jays and the Yankees want Mike Napoli. But the Jays may be interested in Clay Bucholz and the closer Uehara. Would the Yankees want Little Pappi? Quite possibly.

 

[lgna69xxx]

You funny!

Have you started the party early or what!?!?!????


Le Mer.....encore! encore!!!!!

Would the Yankees want Little Pappi? Quite possibly.

 

[smuler]

Have you started the party early or what!?!?!????

:lol:

Best Regards

Smuler

 

[Doc Holliday]

The Jays host the Red Sox tonight at the Rogers Centre. Clay Bucholz, the only decent starter that the Sox have, goes against knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, who's pitched fairly well this season. Bucholz has pitched quite well against the Jays over the years, so it should be an interesting contest. But the Jays should prevail against one of the worst teams in baseball.

I'll say this: John Farrell might actually beat the odds and survive past the all-star break. Even though he's still the worst manager in baseball, his buddy and GM Ben Cherington has been quite a contributor to Farrell's reputation. Not many GMs around the league have performed as poorly as Cherington has, and it's mind-boggling how he's still managed to hold on to his job.

 

[Doc Holliday]

It's just been reported that Red Sox owner John Henry has accompanied the team to Toronto. Will Farrell or Cherington get fired if the Red Sox lose the series? Will both get fired?

 

[Merlot]

What an embarrassment to the great game of baseball! What a joke of an organization! The Curse of the Bambino has returned!

Yeah it would be a HUGE embarrassment if the Jays lost to them. Ooooops!!!!! Not only did they lose the Jays were completely inept against a pitcher (Buchholz) Doc has been deriding for years, except the last day or so to cover himself from the chance of losing. At least the last showed a little sense if not guts.

Meanwhile the Yankees played baseball yesterday as if they were a bunch of goats only interested in checking out the grass. One would have thought the ball was radioactive the way Jones and Gardner handled it. You get it...NO, you get it. BWAHAHA! They gave up a schoolyard inside the parker like a couple of girls worried they'd mess up their freshly painted nails.

DOH!

Now that's Yankees baseball. :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

Cheers,

Merlot

 

[hungry101]

We need to start a Red Sox and Yankees Hall of Suck for you guys.

Can we talk about the All Star game or are you all too busy hating each other?

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-b...inal-al-all-star-voting-update-195728543.html

It looks like 5 Royals are winning in the voting and I can live with 4 of the 5. Infante is struggling. Hopefully Altuve will catch him at 2nd base. Kipnes should be the starter this year. he is hitting like a machine right now.

 

[Doc Holliday]

It looks like 5 Royals are winning in the voting and I can live with 4 of the 5. Infante is struggling. Hopefully Altuve will catch him at 2nd base. Kipnes should be the starter this year. he is hitting like a machine right now.

Hopefully (and deservably) we'll see Josh Donaldson getting voted in as the starting third baseman. He'll also participate in the homerun derby. Some of the rules were changed for this year's derby in order to make it quicker and more interesting to watch. Donaldson was one of the panel members who advised MLB in how to improve the format.

 

[Merlot]

Men,

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-b...inal-al-all-star-voting-update-195728543.html

It looks like 5 Royals are winning in the voting and I can live with 4 of the 5. Infante is struggling. Hopefully Altuve will catch him at 2nd base. Kipnes should be the starter this year. he is hitting like a machine right now.

I'm not up on how the Royals who were in the lead or very close in the All-Star voting have been doing in the last weeks since I wrote my own picks, but I would guess when people see how many Royals had a serious chance (8) they began to back off of any Royals they could justify replacing with someone else or they did it just because of being unable to handle the number of Royals they saw heading to the game. I hope less votes for any players have been because those players have slowed down and now voters have a genuine change of opinion. I support merit, I don't react just because of one team's players seems to have earned a large share of the places available. I think I picked 3 Royals for the batting positions and 0 for pitching. I thought that is what they earned.

Here are my All-Star picks, ranked 1st and 2nd choice(s), two per position. (AL only):

1st Base - Fielder, P | tex .352 10 40 0 219. Cabrera, M | det .327 11 36 1 199

2nd Base - Pedroia, D | bos .311 8 23 1 222. Kipnis, J | cle .329 5 27 7 222

SS - Iglesias, J | det .329 1 7 7 152. Bogaerts, X | bos .298 2 19 4 181

3rd Base - Donaldson, J | tor .311 15 39 2 219. Moustakas, M | kc .316 5 17 1 190

Catcher - Vogt, S | oak .306 11 39 0 160. Perez, S | kc .272 6 25 1 180

DH - Cruz, N | sea .322 18 39 1 214. Morales, K | kc .299 6 38 0 197

Fielders (1st team) - Brantley, M | cle .303 4 33 7 178. Trout, M | laa .284 14 31 8 204. Jones, A | bal .310 8 29 3 203
(2nd team) Garcia, A | cws .300 5 20 1 170. Reddick, J | oak .293 8 32 2 184. Cain, L | kc .289 4 23 9 187

Cheers buds,

Merlot

I had already taken Donaldson on June 6, post 458. I hadn't voted for either Infante or Altuve, but I sure would pick Altuve way ahead of Infante and I can't see how Infante got the lead at all. His numbers are not comparable to a number of others at his position on the ballot. Actually I had taken 4 from KC.

Oh Yeah, sorry Hungry but the $23 million 300 lbs atrocity knows as C.C. Sabathia blew another one last night. Amazingly he'll still get that raise of $2 million next year for a 5.65 ERA and a 1.437 WHIP.

Cheers,

Merlot

 

[hungry101]

Hopefully (and deservably) we'll see Josh Donaldson getting voted in as the starting third baseman. He'll also participate in the homerun derby. Some of the rules were changed for this year's derby in order to make it quicker and more interesting to watch. Donaldson was one of the panel members who advised MLB in how to improve the format.

Donaldson is certainly my pick for 3B but I didn't realize it. The moose is haveing a great year (finally) for the Royals. He had a great post season but they were waiting for 3 years or more for this guy to break out of his shell.

Men,



I'm not up on how the Royals who were in the lead or very close in the All-Star voting have been doing in the last weeks since I wrote my own picks, but I would guess when people see how many Royals had a serious chance (8) they began to back off of any Royals they could justify replacing with someone else or they did it just because of being unable to handle the number of Royals they saw heading to the game. I hope less votes for any players have been because those players have slowed down and now voters have a genuine change of opinion. I support merit, I don't react just because of one team's players seems to have earned a large share of the places available. I think I picked 3 Royals for the batting positions and 0 for pitching. I thought that is what they earned.



I had already taken Donaldson on June 6, post 458. I hadn't voted for either Infante or Altuve, but I sure would pick Altuve way ahead of Infante and I can't see how Infante got the lead at all. His numbers are not comparable to a number of others at his position on the ballot. Actually I had taken 4 from KC.

Oh Yeah, sorry Hungry but the $23 million 300 lbs atrocity knows as C.C. Sabathia blew another one last night. Amazingly he'll still get that raise of $2 million next year for a 5.65 ERA and a 1.437 WHIP.

I really think Kipnis ought to be the 2nd baseman. He is tearing it up batting ~0.330 with power. I also think that someone from the Royal's pen - if not the entire back end - should go. there is also a Royals starter....the one that starts all the fights. He is very good.

I have to laugh about the fans and their voting. Things don't change much. I can remember Reggie Jackson at the tail end of his career always got the start. I think he was voted in 5 years in a row after he retired. So things are no better.

At least CC is still pitching. JV missed another start due to his back. Are CC, JV, and Limsicum are all part of baseball's illustrious past?

Hey this is fun talking baseball isn't it? My favorite sport!

 

[Merlot]

Guys,

What has happened to all the blustering and BS from New York and Toronto? :lol: Nevermind.

The Red Sox may not be contenders but Eduardo Rodriguez manhandled the BJs best allowing only 1 lousy hit to potential All-Stars Donaldson, Bautista, and Encarnacion. Rodriguez has been good although he has to watch out about tipping pitches which Farrel and his teammates made sure he kept in mind between starts. The result was dominating against one of the league's better offenses. Take out a couple of innings this season where E-Rod made those very costly tipping mistakes (along with errors by the team in fielding) and he's got an ERA significantly under 3.00. If he and Buchholz could be consistent they could be deadly to opponents. Meanwhile they have kept a fairly strong offensive team practically silent.

I have to laugh about the fans and their voting.

Fan voting is a marketing strategy. I like the idea of it but I hate the way it works out. There's so much favoritism and entitlement given to players long past being able to earn a place on merit.

I really think Kipnis ought to be the 2nd baseman.

Yup, there's a number of strong candidates and I put Kipnis in the top 2. Still, along with very good stats Pedroia has achieved on a team that much of the years has given little support, he's magic on the field. So it's a wash for me between them.

Cheers,

Merlot

 

[Joe.t]

Only a fan of a team in dead last place would get his pants all wet over a 3 game winning streak.

Reality number 1.

Reality number 2.

Reality number 3.

Reality number 4(my personal favorite).

 

[lgna69xxx]

And there you have it MISTER Hungry101 as to why things go back to their usual and not real baseball talk, first post of the day in here. Some things never change lol......

Go Yankees!

We need to start a Red Sox and Yankees Hall of Suck for you guys.

Can we talk about the All Star game or are you all too busy hating each other?.

 

[Joe.t]

Rick Porkcello for desert anyone?.:lol:

 

[Merlot]

Guys,

So how are the Yankees big deal additions panning out?

A half-billion dollar bust for the Bombers?

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/1...ees-half-billion-dollar-investment-paying-off

by Andrew Marchand, Wallace Matthews

NEW YORK -- Between the end of the 2013 season and the beginning of spring training 2014, the New York Yankees committed nearly a half-billion dollars to four players, with one goal in mind: to return to October baseball after missing the postseason for only the second time in 18 years.

So far, they have yet to recoup hardly a nickel -- or a playoff game -- on their investment.

The quartet was signed in rapid succession after the Yankees decided to pass on giving Robinson Cano the 10-year deal he was demanding. Instead, Cano signed with the Seattle Mariners and Ellsbury, Tanaka, Beltran and McCann became Yankees.

But despite signing the four to long-term contracts totaling $438 million in guaranteed money, the Yankees missed the playoffs again in 2014. And as the 2015 season hurtles to its halfway point, the Yanks remain in a four-team dogfight in a diminished but still highly competitive AL East.

And of the four players signed before the 2014 season, only one -- McCann -- is performing anywhere near his career standards this season; the other three have either been slowed by injury or bedeviled by underperformance.

And while all four have a chance to rewrite the narrative, it is generally assumed that the early years of a long-term deal are when a player can be expected to perform at his best; the longer a contract goes on, the more a club is likely to experience diminished returns on its investment.

Currently, Ellsbury is on the disabled list -- he has not played since May 19, when he sprained his right knee on a swing-and-miss -- and despite staying healthy for most of 2014, eh has missed more games this season (40) than he has played (37). He is in the second year of a seven-year, $153 million contract.

Beltran had a miserable 2014, batting just .233 with 15 home runs and 49 RBIs, all well below his career averages. He also missed 53 games with an elbow injury that required off-season surgery.

And while both his body and his bat have been healthier this season, he left Tuesday's loss to the Los Angeles Angels with a rib injury. He is batting .260 with seven home runs and 30 RBIs in 66 games so far. Even Beltran himself cautions that at 38, he no longer should be expected to be the player he had been for 16 seasons prior to arriving in the Bronx. His three-year, $45 million contract has one more season to run.

But it is Tanaka who is possibly the cause of the most consternation, coming to the Yankees with the reputation of being a lights-out starter in Japan, and carrying the baggage of a seven-year, $155 million contract, not counting the $20 million posting fee.

Tanaka was a certified ace in Japan, with a 99-35 record and 2.30 ERA in seven seasons with the Rakuten Golden Eagles. And in the first half of his first season as a Yankee, Tanaka seemed to be able to duplicate that success in the States.

Then came disaster, a partially-torn ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow suffered on July 8 in Cleveland, and since then, Tanaka has not been the same pitcher.

Through 18 pre-injury big-league starts, Tanaka was 12-4 with a 2.51 ERA and was being talked of as not only a potential Rookie of the Year, but a Cy Young candidate as well. He had allowed just 111 hits in 129 1/3 innings, struck out 135 batters, walked just 19, and had a WHIP of 1.00, lower even than his WHIP in Japan.

But in his 11 starts since -- including two made last September after missing two months while the Yankees attempted to rehabilitate the injury without surgery -- Tanaka is 5-4 with a 4.33 ERA. He has allowed precisely a hit an inning, and combined with 13 walks, has a WHIP of 1.21.

Tanaka's two most recent starts were particularly distressing: in back-to-back appearances, Tanaka allowed 11 earned runs in 10 innings, including six home runs. Last Saturday, Tanaka was staked to a 6-0 lead over the Houston Astros -- and subsequently gave it all back, including surrendering three home runs. The Yankees wound up winning the game, 9-6, but such a turn of events in a Tanaka start would have been unthinkable a year ago.

After a slow start in April, in which he batted .162, Beltran has gradually heated up. In May he hit .298 with four home runs and in June hit .300 with three homers and an .866 OPS -- 20 points higher than his career average. But he has not played well in the field, and his defensive liabilities have threatened to reduce him to a bench player, especially with Alex Rodriguez performing above and beyond all expectations as the full-time DH.

"Last year was very disappointing because I came in with the expectation of helping the team," Beltran said. "Once I got hurt, I was never the same player. The first month [this season] was a bad month. But at the end of the day, you have to play the whole season before you can evaluate your season. Right now, I feel like physically I'm healthy. I'm looking forward to finishing the season strong and hopefully we are in the playoffs."

But Beltran added a note of caution: "I'm not 21 anymore. I'm 38. That doesn't mean I'm broke, but they won't see the Carlos who was stealing bases and making crazy catches in the outfield. Of course, every year passes by, you lose a little bit of everything. I still feel like I can be productive."

At 31, McCann should be in his physical prime, and after his adjustment period last season, appears to be settling in as the same type of offensive player he had been during his nine seasons with the Atlanta Braves. Where he has made a marked improvement is in his play behind the plate, particularly in throwing out baserunners.

As a Brave, McCann had caught an average of 24 percent of runners trying to steal; but in his first year as a Yankee that number jumped to 37 percent (29 of 78). So far this season it has improved even further, to 44 percent (12 of 27).

McCann credits his improvement behind the plate to working with Yankees bullpen coach Gary Tuck. As for his offense, he acknowledged that 2014 got off to a very bad start.

"Last year, I felt like I had some mechanical things off," he said. "I was getting 2-0, 90 mph fastballs that I knew were coming and I was fouling them off to the third base dugout. I'm having consistently better at-bats this year."

Ellsbury has probably been the biggest puzzle so far; when he is on the field he has been among the Yankees' most productive hitters. But he is a quintessential leadoff hitter whose game is based on his legs, similar to Brett Gardner. He is not a game-changer in the Mike Trout/Bryce Harper/Giancarlo Stanton mold, and his speed-based game can only be expected to diminish as he ages. Ellsbury will turn 32 in September and he will be approaching his 37th birthday in the final year of his contract. The Yankees also hold a team option for an eighth year (2021), in which Ellsbury will turn 38.

DEVASTATING!!!

Merlot

 

[hungry101]

Only a fan of a team in dead last place would get his pants all wet over a 3 game winning streak.

Reality number 1.

Reality number 2.

Reality number 3.

Reality number 4(my personal favorite).

Geeze! Look at the celler dwellers and I am surprised to see the team that was picked to take the Central (Cleveland) in last place and the team that was picked to take the West (Seattle) in last place. The Tigers are playing like pretenders and the Red Sox look like shit. Oakland - with all those wonderfil trades for prospects that probably will never amount to a hill of beans - are just where I expected.

The pitching ERA is another stat. yes, Boston is sucking hind tit but look at Detroit. What happened to the once mighty starting rotation? The perennial crappy bull-pen is no surprise.

Question: Was the Fister trade the worst trade in the history of sports? Not just MLB and not just professional sports. I'm asking if it was the worst trade in the history of sports? I heard there was a Gladiator that the Romans just gave away to Constanstinople and I believe the Ancient Greeks released a marathon runner that was picked up by the Macadonians....but I digress. Dave Dumb-browski should be tarred and feathered for that trade. Lombardozi, Robbie Ray, and Ian Kroll for a guy that cost 7MM$ and was 3rd or 4th in ERA last year. All the peices of dog shit in return are in AAA or out of baseball. Ray was traded for Green and Green, after a blazing start- is at AAA and is not pitching like he wants to come back.

I think the Fister trade was too much to overcome for Detroit. The trade was made so that the best Tigers BP pitcher, Smyly could start because he is left handed. Bit they never backfilled in the Pen and Smyly wasnt that good. So he was traded for Price and we lost Smyly and Fister and a ton of cash. Stupid fucking move.

 

[lgna69xxx]

Look???.....

the Red Sox look like shit.