MLB Thread

[Caliban]

Jax and the ESPN 'expert' recently quoted,

yes Theriot is greatly exceeding my exectations. However, expecting a 28 year old with 6-7 pro seasons under his belt to play better then he has in the minors and significant MLB time, is still wrong to do.

That said, and after just watching him spark a rally with a double and scoring on a single int he ninth.

[Caliban]

How about a 10 year anniversary draft recapp

Round 1 Notables:

Pat The Bat #1
Mark Mulder #2
Corey Patterson #3!
JD Drew #5
Brad Lidge #17
CC Sabathia #20
Aaron Rowand #35

Round 2
Adam Dunn #50

Others:

Zito #93
Josh Hancock #145
Bill Hall #176
Matt Holliday #210
Eric Bynes #225
Mark Teixeira #265 (Red Sox)
Morgan Ensberg #272
Jaun Pierre #390
Eric Hinski #496
BJ Ryan #500
Ty Wigginton #514
Adam LaRoche #550
Cliff Lee #609
Bobby Crosby #1021
Mark Buehrle #1139 Pick of the draft

[Scuba Steve]

[quote name='Săptămânăpaug' post='1386177' date='Jun 5 2008, 20.41']Also saw an interview with Coco. Fucking smug prick. Really obnoxious.[/quote]

:agree: Which interview did you read?


Edit: Kerry, Kerry, next time you're going to save the game, could you not load the bases with one of the opposing team's best hitters coming to the plate? Thank you.

[Whiskeyjack]

[quote name='Caliban' post='1386130' date='Jun 5 2008, 21.56']Cashner?

This pick makes sense if he can be in the big leagues all next year and if we convert Marmol to the rotation. So Im not super pissed that we drafted a reliever in the top 20. These college closers find the big leagues quickly and he was nutsfor TCU this year. Apparently, he throws a 95-97/98 fastball, has a good slider, and throws a 'power curve' at 82-85. He also has command issues, but if he is really throwing this 98 mph fastball i really dont care if he has movement or if he can locate. Thats a fast pitch.[/quote]

Nope, we don't advise him.

As a Cubs fan, Cashner's not a very exciting pick. But at least he's a guy who might be able to help relatively soon. I guess it fits with the current makeup of the team (win now).

[Caliban]

[quote name='Săptămânăpaug' post='1386177' date='Jun 6 2008, 00.41']Also saw an interview with Coco. Fucking smug prick. Really obnoxious.[/quote]

I thought the jawing between him and Maddon was pretty stupid. I dont know what either was thinking. Im not really into managers yapping at players and vice versa.

Mlb.com has this article which contains a bunch of Coco quotes and he actually comes off fairly decent:

[url="http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080606&content_id=2851246&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb"]http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20...sp&c_id=mlb[/url]

[quote date='Jun 6 2008, 00.41']"Just charged the mound," said Crisp. "He tried to hit me with a haymaker, missed. I threw a punch, I pretty much missed. I was feigning like I was going to go to first base just to get [catcher Dioner] Navarro off me a little bit. The rest went down to the ground."[/quote]

[quote date='Jun 6 2008, 00.41']"I didn't really like the scratches on my face," Crisp said. "People were trying to scratch like we're playing football or something. After that, people were trying to pull my hair. I'm down on the ground. The fight is pretty much over, baseball time-wise. You want to come in late and throw some extra blows, get your little blows in. That's cool. I covered up. It's all good."[/quote]

[quote date='Jun 6 2008, 00.41']"I think Navarro, I credit him, and I actually credit Shields, too," Crisp said. "Even though we went at it, he hit me in the leg, he didn't try to hit me in the head. That's good. He didn't try to kill me. Then I went out there, then he tried to hit me in the head. It is what it is now. I would say tit for tat. I'd say I got the worst of it, because I'm running out there, and they can get to me before our guys can get there to help."[/quote]

[[quote date='Jun 6 2008, 00.41']"I don't know if it's over or not, but like I said, tit for tat," Crisp said. "Right now, it's even to me, so it is what it is."[/quote]

Also this gem from from 27 year old 3 year veteran Shields who apparenently doesnt know that admitting to plunking a guy right before the league office sentences you is retarded

[quote date='Jun 6 2008, 00.41']"I'm all about protecting my players," said Shields. "I think what he did yesterday was an absolutely dirty move, and I think it's bush league. And I don't think it's supposed to be in professional baseball. I'm out there to protect my players, no matter what the cost is. If I've got to get out in the second inning, I've got to get out in the second inning. I felt I did it the right way, and he came after me."[/quote]

What a jackass. "Im all about protecting my players". You supposed to protect your guys and then tell the press you "have to throw inside to be successful". Idiot.

[Week]

If you catch the interview with Crisp on SC he has this smug grin and says those quotes as if he won the fight. I wish Gomes had hit him harder. Gomes really doesn't belong in 2008, he should have been born during the heyday of the Visigoths or Vikings. I can really picture him in my mind with a huge mace or hammer braining someone in ASOIAF and, frankly, that makes more sense to me than seeing him in the MLB.

[Week]

Don't remember when [url="http://img398.imageshack.us/img398/6457/bddjgrays6508bgjbsa7.jpg"]this[/url] happened during the brawl, but man..I was right about Gomes. Coco is lucky to be alive.

:P

[Lord O' Bones]

[quote name='Săptămânăpaug' post='1386325' date='Jun 6 2008, 00.32']Don't remember when [url="http://img398.imageshack.us/img398/6457/bddjgrays6508bgjbsa7.jpg"]this[/url] happened during the brawl, but man..I was right about Gomes. Coco is lucky to be alive.

:P[/quote]
Clearly, he should be playing hockey for the Flyers.

[Mexal]

Yanks grabbed three pitchers in the first 2 rounds (had a 1st round supplemental). I'm happy, especially with the pick of Gerrit Cole.

[Whiskeyjack]

[quote name='Mexal der Mann' post='1386486' date='Jun 6 2008, 08.04']Yanks grabbed three pitchers in the first 2 rounds (had a 1st round supplemental). I'm happy, especially with the pick of Gerrit Cole.[/quote]

They should have taken Casey Kelly. Instead, the Red Sox got him, which makes the fan part of me happy.

And, yes, I'm biased. :P

[Jaxom 1974]

[quote name='Scuba Steve' post='1386207' date='Jun 6 2008, 00.05']Edit: Kerry, Kerry, next time you're going to save the game, could you not load the bases with one of the opposing team's best hitters coming to the plate? Thank you.[/quote]

It's like he was channeling wassisname...? :lol:

And I don't know a whole lot about the guy the Cubs drafted, but the idea that Cal floated about about moving Marmol to the rotation next year...? What????

[Mack Kilimaro]

Finally got around to watching some video of that Sox-Rays brawl. Coco Crisp was about three inches away from getting laid out flat from that first punch from Shields. Really can't do it justice unless you watch it in real-time, that was going to be painful. That might even have turned out more one-sided than Pedro Martinez body-slamming Don Zimmer. As it is, Crisp comes across looking like a bitch because he pretty much got body-slammed by the catcher and then gang-banged.

And the Sox fans look like douchebags for practically giving him a standing ovation as he's walking off. This may be a biased opinion.

My favorite part of the video I saw (which was actually on MLB.com in its entirety) was this subtle moment where you see the back of Longoria as he kind of hovers around the back of the pile and you see this Boston player give him a look that's like, "Welcome to the show, kid."

If I'm the Rays I've got to like how quick the team is to back a guy up like that. Can't buy that kind of camaraderie.

[Ender]

[quote name='Fatuous' post='1385343' date='Jun 5 2008, 12.25']AL Central:
Is there anybody out there? Come on, is the best team really the White Sox? Detroit, Cleveland, where are you?[/quote]

RE: The White Sox

As bad as they've been, they have been the best team in the Central thus far.

They have had a solid pitching staff. Their starters have all shown they can pitch 6 innings and keep the Sox in games despite horrid hitting, and then they hand it off to a fairly shut-down bullpen of Logan-Linebrink-Dotel-Jenks.

TEAM (AL):
ERA 3.31 (1st), BAA .238 (1st), SO 414 (4th) , BB 175 (2nd)

STARTERS:
Contreras 6-3, 12 GS, 2.76 ERA, .215 BAA, 6.77 IPS (innings per start)
Vazquez 5-4, 12 GS, 3.43 ERA, .257 BAA, 6.52 IPS
Buehrle 2-6, 12 GS, 5.20 ERA, .304 BAA, 6.02 IPS
Danks 4-4, 12 GS, 2.88 ERA, .243 BAA, 5.68 IPS
Floyd 6-3, 11 GS, 3.15 ERA, .196 BAA, 6.46 IPS

BULLPEN:
Logan 2-1, 2.05 ERA, .232 BAA
Linebrink 2-1, 1.44 ERA, .207 BAA
Dotel 3-2, 2.93 ERA, .206 BAA
Jenks 2-0, 14/17 saves, 2.13 ERA, .227 BA

It's not as good a staff as the one they had in 2005, but IF nobody gets hurt and they can continue to play at this level--certainly no given--they should be able to remain in contention for the division for awhile. Because, honestly, the hitting has been really bad:

TEAM (AL):
.249 (13th), 265 R (T 7th), 72 HR (2nd),

Their 4-5-6 hitters look like this:

Thome (.212, 12 HR, 62 Ks, .446 SLG, .776 OBPS)
Konerko (.199, 7 HR, 38 Ks, .337 SLG, .658 OBPS )
Dye (.286, 9 HR, 44 Ks, .481 SLG, .817 OBPS )

Orlando Cabrera is their leadoff hitter (.246, 3 HR, 29 Ks, .303 OBP)

My brother commented that they're the first team he's ever seen where you truly root for the bottom of the order to come up.

Konerko looks done as a hitter (15th inning heroics the other day not excepted--that would have been a monster shot pulled foul for any real hitter). He makes feeble swings at the plate, is behind in the count every at-bat, and has lost his power. While I'm waiting for him to place himself on the DL, their first base options are extremely limited, their best option might be having Thome play first as much as he can, have Crede DH, and put minor leaguer and Crede's replacement next season, Josh Fields, at third. Crede gets hurt a ton (as he appears to be right now), so keeping him off the field might make sense anyway.

Ozzie's criticism of GM Kenny Williams earlier in the week was somewhat justified IMO. They tied up a lot of money in guys that not only aren't doing shit, but are old to the point that you can't expect they will get better over the course of the season. They have young guys that they needed to mature into real players, and most haven't and won't. If they stay near the top of the division one would hope Williams would make some moves, but there's not a lot of maneuverability with the salaries involved and rumors are that the minors have been badly depleted.

Anyway...

They've played a disproportionate number of games on the road this season, and still have the AL's second-best road record: 17-17 on the road; They're 16-9 at home, though they haven't necessarily been a great home team over the years, so that might not mean much. They're also 17-8 against their own pitiful division.

I have no delusions. Minnesota could easily put 5+ games between them and the Sox by the break, and Cleveland and even Detroit could get hot and do so before July is out. And they still have six against the Cubs this month, who in all seriousness should probably be a favorite to take 5 out of 6. But as things currently stand, Chicago should be able to stay in contention in the division for awhile, perhaps even until the final month, where Ozzie teams have historically been terrible. If they can find a solution for their hitting, they could, maybe, put some valuable distance between themselves and the division heading into August and September and make a run at the playoffs. They definitely aren't anywhere near as good as Boston, Tampa Bay, or Anaheim, but the pitching could still make them dangerous for any of those teams in any given playoff series.

[Jaxom 1974]

[quote name='Ender' post='1386844' date='Jun 6 2008, 13.18']I have no delusions. Minnesota could easily put 5+ games between them and the Sox by the break, and Cleveland and even Detroit could get hot and do so before July is out. And they still have six against the Cubs this month, who in all seriousness should probably be a favorite to take 5 out of 6. But as things currently stand, Chicago should be able to stay in contention in the division for awhile, perhaps even until the final month, where Ozzie teams have historically been terrible. If they can find a solution for their hitting, they could, maybe, put some valuable distance between themselves and the division heading into August and September and make a run at the playoffs. They definitely aren't anywhere near as good as Boston, Tampa Bay, or Anaheim, but the pitching could still make them dangerous for any of those teams in any given playoff series.[/quote]

Couple things: The White Sox have one of, if not their most important series this weekend with the Twins in for 4. Losing the series or splitting the series, and the Sox could be looking at some real trouble.

Though what they're going to do come trade deadline time will be interesting. They have nothing to trade and some serious needs, especially if they're going to try to win with just their pitching. Some of that decent pitching moved above might have to be shipped out for some actual bats.

Could be interesting in the end. But you know what, whatever. Cubs are in first too. They're much more fun to watch. :P

[naz]

Speaking of the White Sox....

I'm going to be in Chicago this weekend and will be free Sunday afternoon. As part of my stadium tour, I was thinking of catching the Sox-Twins game. I need some advice from some Chicago baseball fans...

I'll be in Naperville Sunday and won't be free until about 1:00, which unfortunately is also when the game starts. I imagine I won't get there until the 3rd inning. Should I still go? I'm one of those people that likes to be there for the first and last pitches, but I'm not sure when's the next time I'll be in Chicago. (And the next time, I'd probably try a Cubs game.)

Secondly, since I'll get there late, should I wait to buy a ticket from a scalper on the street? I did this in Toronto - got there in the 2nd inning and paid only $10 for a field level seat.

Thirdly, any of you Chicagoans feel like joining me? If so, then obviously tix should be bought beforehand.

Fourthly, should I take mass transit or try to get my host to drop me off at the stadium? He'd be willing to do it, but I don't want to inconvenience him. I'd take mass transit back again.

Any help would be appreciated.


eta: Sorry, one more thing: How long will it take to get from US Cellular to Union Station on the Red Line? On a Sunday?

[Scuba Steve]

[url="http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3429782"]MLB has handed down the punishment for the Sox/Rays Brawl.[/url] Five Rays players get suspended, and only three Boston players do? Lame.

[BLU-RAY]

[quote name='Scuba Steve' post='1387301' date='Jun 6 2008, 16.25'][url="http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3429782"]MLB has handed down the punishment for the Sox/Rays Brawl.[/url] Five Rays players get suspended, and only three Boston players do? Lame.[/quote]

To be fair, it was kind of a four-on-one beatdown at one point. Naz, have fun at the game, dude! We should try and get that Mets game together this summer, I'll be in town.

[Week]

[quote name='Scuba Steve' post='1387301' date='Jun 6 2008, 20.25'][url="http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3429782"]MLB has handed down the punishment for the Sox/Rays Brawl.[/url] Five Rays players get suspended, and only three Boston players do? Lame.[/quote]
Did you even watch the fucking brawl??? Don't be obnoxious, it should be obvious to anyone that watched the brawl that more Rays should and would be suspended. 7 games for Crisp is quite a lot and he certainly deserved it, although I don't know how Gomes gets only two more games than Iwamura.

[BLU-RAY]

[quote name='Săptămânăpaug' post='1387306' date='Jun 6 2008, 16.34']Did you even watch the fucking brawl??? Don't be obnoxious, it should be obvious to anyone that watched the brawl that more Rays should and would be suspended. 7 games for Crisp is quite a lot and he certainly deserved it, although I don't know how Gomes gets only two more games than Iwamura.[/quote]

Yeah, I didn't get the Gomes thing, myself. I guess the 5 for the pitcher is standard, and since Crisp charged the mound you maybe ding him extra... but Gomes was pretty ridiculous.

[Scuba Steve]

[quote name='Săptămânăpaug' post='1387306' date='Jun 6 2008, 16.34']Did you even watch the fucking brawl??? Don't be obnoxious, it should be obvious to anyone that watched the brawl that more Rays should and would be suspended. 7 games for Crisp is quite a lot and he certainly deserved it, although I don't know how Gomes gets only two more games than Iwamura.[/quote]

Yes, I did watch the brawl. And while more Rays did deserve to be suspended, there were more than 3 Boston players involved in it.

Edit: There were also more than 5 Rays involved.