Killeverything's (New)NeverEndingBaseballThread

[killeverything]

YYYEEEAAAAHHH it's truck day! Word around the horn is other teams are going to start copying our arbitrary celebratrion.



6 days till pitchers and catchers report.

Life is good. Fuck I love baseball.

[WhiteHouseSubsAC]

Will this be the year we finally catch a game together?

[SkyDog112046]

YYYEEEAAAAHHH it's truck day! Word around the horn is other teams are going to start copying our arbitrary celebratrion.



6 days till pitchers and catchers report.

Life is good. Fuck I love baseball.

I do too, but I just can't get excited about this team. I am usually pumped this time if year. Hell, I could even get excited by some of those early 90's teams that I knew were going to be pretty bad, but I just don't care for this team. I don't like the off season moves. I don't like the Scutaro signing, I don't like the Manny-to-Bay-to-Ellsbury move in left field(Yaz, Rice, Greenwell, Manny, Bay - Ellsbury?), I don't like the Beltre signing, and I still think Lackey is going to have issues making 18 starts in Fenway.

I don't like the OBP philosophy or this new defensive stat the front office is hung up on. It still comes down to pitching, defense up the middle, and power on the corners. And besides Youkilis all the bats on the corners are anemic. If Ortiz starts off slow and teams can pitch around Martinez and Youk then this team will be done by the All-Star break.

They need to make a move soon. Theo has to stop falling in love with his prospects and be willing to move them. Too bad the best move they could have made is now complicated by the Beltre signing. If they go and get Adrian Gonzales, then who is the odd man out - Youk or Beltre? That's why I think they are just locked into this lineup for the season. If they were going to just write this season of and wait for next year I would have preferred that they didn't sign Beltre or Cameron and brought up a couple of AAA players so that guys like Middlebrooks and Kalish could move up and they could accelerate them through the organization.

[JakeYonkel]

Will this be the year we finally catch a game together?

Can we cuddle afterwards?

[TawnyVonJagger]

Went to Marlins FanFest yesterday.

Believe it or not, there were a SHIT TON of people there. And they sold 40,000 single game tickets, most in team history. (in one day) I think that people now know this team has a future here, and are coming out and supporting them again. We shall see after their home opener.

We did the usual, toured the press box and down in the clubhouse and shit. We were on our way to go to the club level for the Town Meeting, and who do we meet at the elevators? HANLEY! (with David Samson) I finally met Hanley! I did get one pic of him waiting by the elevator, but I haven't uploaded it yet. He was being mobbed, poor thing, so I just went up to him, said, "Sup, Hanley!?" He said, "Sup!" And we bumped fists. Fuck, I felt like such a fangirl.

I <3 Josh Johnson.

Before we went to FanFest, we drove down to the construction site for the new pond. Things are moving along nicely, and they're right on schedule. Didn't even occur to me to get pics though. Dumbass. But it's looking good! But I HATEHATEHATE Miami traffic, and it's gonna suck even more when the ballpark opens. People there are just flat out fucking crazy drivers.

[WhiteHouseSubsAC]

Will this be the year we finally catch a game together?

Can we cuddle afterwards?

Dude, I want to go to the HMZ shtick but I just can't. I won't sully our pastime in that manner.

[tin00can]

Went to Marlins FanFest yesterday.

Believe it or not, there were a SHIT TON of people there. And they sold 40,000 single game tickets, most in team history. (in one day) I think that people now know this team has a future here, and are coming out and supporting them again. We shall see after their home opener.

We did the usual, toured the press box and down in the clubhouse and shit. We were on our way to go to the club level for the Town Meeting, and who do we meet at the elevators? HANLEY! (with David Samson) I finally met Hanley! I did get one pic of him waiting by the elevator, but I haven't uploaded it yet. He was being mobbed, poor thing, so I just went up to him, said, "Sup, Hanley!?" He said, "Sup!" And we bumped fists. Fuck, I felt like such a fangirl.

I <3 Josh Johnson.

Before we went to FanFest, we drove down to the construction site for the new pond. Things are moving along nicely, and they're right on schedule. Didn't even occur to me to get pics though. Dumbass. But it's looking good! But I HATEHATEHATE Miami traffic, and it's gonna suck even more when the ballpark opens. People there are just flat out fucking crazy drivers.

Just imagine how good the Marlins would be if they kept even 50% of the talent they develop. Wow.

[Facedown]

Edwin Jackson signs with D-backs 2yr/13.35mil.
Victor Martinez will not talk contract extension once season starts. Sound familiar?

[killeverything]

#35 for the White Sox is making it official right now.

Did he do enougH to earn a 1st time ballot into
the HOF??

I think that he should. I came across these numbers for him. Using Sabremetric and traditional standards.

Here's a brief summation, mixing both traditional and sabermetric measures.

301/419/555 career line (974 OPS is 15th all time; his career OBP and OPS each would've been good for 2nd in the AL last year)
521 HRs (18th all-time)
1704 RBI (22nd all-time)
2003 Runs Created (19th all-time)
2 MVPs, 5 times top-3 in voting, 9 times top-10, including 7 straight seasons (1991-97)
1 batting title, 7 times in top 10
4 times led league in OBP and OPS
1st or 2nd in OPS+ 7 consecutive seasons (1991-97)
Top 20 all-time in Adjusted Batting Wins and Adjusted Batting Runs
43rd all-time in Offensive Winning Percentage
Most Runs Created Above Average (from Lee Sinins' Sabermetric Encyclopedia) for AL player since WWII.

He was the only active player to co-operate with the Mitchell Report. No one who played in this era can be assumed to be clean, but of this era's big sluggers, Thomas is the only one presumed to be clean.

He's one of the guy's effected by the '94 strike. The MF was on his way to a Triple Crown. For him seeing like an asshole. Think about if for a sec. He was completely against the PEDs, basically everyone else had to take them to be as good as he was naturally. The guy was Manny Ramirez good when he was healthy.

I think the only thing that can hold him back is the fact that he spent more time as a DH ( for example think of Edgar Martinez ).

[JakeYonkel]

Here's some good Cashman quotes on Johnny Damon from the other night:

“The industry the last two free agent markets seems to be going downward and the player’s ages are going upward,” Cashman said. “It makes more sense to be patient. My attitude is if this is the place you want to be, you will make it happen. Johnny Damon professed his love for the Yankees, wanted to be here and was given every chance to be here. He’s not here anymore and I don’t feel that is the Yankees’ fault. They have to reconcile why they are not here, not me.

Speaking of Damon, the left fielder is still without a team one week before spring training begins. Cashman confirmed he made a two-year, $14 million offer that Damon’s agent, Scott Boras, turned down. The Yankees went back to the 36-year-old one more time after having signed Nick Johnson to be the designated hitter. The offer would have been $6 million for one year, half of it deferred.

“I told (Damon and Boras), ‘I don’t know if Hal (Steinbrenner, the team’s part owner) would approve it, but I’m not going to fight for it unless we know you will do it,’” Cashman said. “Scott Boras said, ‘Bobby Abreu’s (new) contract is $9 million a year right now on the table so why would we do that? So I expect to see a Bobby Abreu contract.’ ... I hope he does not sign for something less than our offer. That means he should have been a Yankee and that’s not our fault.”

[killeverything]

Here's some good Cashman quotes on Johnny Damon from the other night:

“The industry the last two free agent markets seems to be going downward and the player’s ages are going upward,” Cashman said. “It makes more sense to be patient. My attitude is if this is the place you want to be, you will make it happen. Johnny Damon professed his love for the Yankees, wanted to be here and was given every chance to be here. He’s not here anymore and I don’t feel that is the Yankees’ fault. They have to reconcile why they are not here, not me.

Speaking of Damon, the left fielder is still without a team one week before spring training begins. Cashman confirmed he made a two-year, $14 million offer that Damon’s agent, Scott Boras, turned down. The Yankees went back to the 36-year-old one more time after having signed Nick Johnson to be the designated hitter. The offer would have been $6 million for one year, half of it deferred.

“I told (Damon and Boras), ‘I don’t know if Hal (Steinbrenner, the team’s part owner) would approve it, but I’m not going to fight for it unless we know you will do it,’” Cashman said. “Scott Boras said, ‘Bobby Abreu’s (new) contract is $9 million a year right now on the table so why would we do that? So I expect to see a Bobby Abreu contract.’ ... I hope he does not sign for something less than our offer. That means he should have been a Yankee and that’s not our fault.”

That would be hysterical if he gets less than they offered.

[SkyDog112046]

I would love to see the owners get together and lowball all of Boras' clients. I know it's collusion but it be fun to watch them screw with the biggest scumbag agent out there.

[JakeYonkel]

I don't think Boras is a bad guy, personally. He's trying to get the best deals for his clients, which is his job. But he's clearly mis-read the market recently.

And, once again, the client ultimately decides to say "yes" or "no" to any proposal. If they don't like the job he does, they fire him, like Felipe Lopez just did.

He's not ruining the game as long as stupid teams cave to his demands. Not saying the Yankees haven't been victims of this, but look at what the Cardinals just did - effectively tied up a huge portion of their yearly payroll for the next 8 years on a guy who's good, not GREAT, and with whom there really was no other teams competing for.

THAT'S Boras doing a great job.

[killeverything]

The Nationals agreed to terms with Chien Mang Wang on a 2m/1y contract, with incentives to reach 3m.

[Facedown]

Here we go again...
Dice-K has mild back sprain and is expected to miss start of ST.

[JakeYonkel]

Here we go again...
Dice-K has mild back sprain and is expected to miss start of ST.

Can't blame the WBC for that one.

I'd say the great Japanese free agent pitching signings before the '07 season were a HUMONGOUS flop.

Performance-wise, well... the Yankees have had an anchor in the Triple A rotation for 3 years with Kei Igawa.

Financially, the Sox spent $100M to import a guy to chill on the DL and nibble the corners when he wasn't.

But at least they got Okajima.

[Crazy Levi]

Seriously? It's fucking baseball season again?

I swear to Christ it seems like a 10 month season.

All the lame ass sports like baseball, hockey, basketball etc. last forever. Football is but so brief, so fleeting a pleasure.

[JakeYonkel]

Well, spring training starts in mid February and now the playoffs go into November... so it's damn near a 12 month season. And the off-time Hot Stove is fun as hell to follow.

I agree that the NBA season takes forever though, probably because they play what, 3 games a week?

And fuck football.

[Machado]

Seriously? It's fucking baseball season again?

I swear to Christ it seems like a 10 month season.

All the lame ass sports like baseball, hockey, basketball etc. last forever. Football is but so brief, so fleeting a pleasure.

Blame Bud Selig. This moron feels he knows what is right for the league.
Beginning the regular season late
Scheduling the playoff games with additional day offs
that are for the sake of tv(ratings/ads/revenue)
Playing the World Series in Nov

[killeverything]

Seriously? It's fucking baseball season again?

I swear to Christ it seems like a 10 month season.

All the lame ass sports like baseball, hockey, basketball etc. last forever. Football is but so brief, so fleeting a pleasure.

Man, I would fucking love football if I was entertained by shiny things. You know shit like Nascar, monster trucks, wrestling, Must See TV. But alas I have an IQ above 20, so baseball it is.

[Hootchietoad]

Well, spring training starts in mid February and now the playoffs go into November... so it's damn near a 12 month season. And the off-time Hot Stove is fun as hell to follow.

I agree that the NBA season takes forever though, probably because they play what, 3 games a week?

And fuck football.

This.

Man, I would fucking love football if I was entertained by shiny things. You know shit like Nascar, monster trucks, wrestling, Must See TV. But alas I have an IQ above 20, so baseball it is.

And this.

[SkyDog112046]

It's possible to like baseball, football, hockey, basketball, and motor sports all at the same time. Following one doesn't mean you have to exclude the others.

[JakeYonkel]

It's possible to like baseball, football, hockey, basketball, and motor sports all at the same time. Following one doesn't mean you have to exclude the others.

Sure, but he was the one doing the comparison of football to baseball, which of course there is none.

[johnk5150]

Pitchers and catchers reported yesterday and Spark hasn't started his annual Cubs Suck thread. Does anyone know if he's alright?

[JakeYonkel]

I dunno but at this point isn't it a little redundant?

[TawnyVonJagger]

Pitchers and catchers reported yesterday and Spark hasn't started his annual Cubs Suck thread. Does anyone know if he's alright?

I saw Sparky in one of the Iggy RIP threads, but he up and went poof again. I'm sure he'll pop in here soon enough.

[johnk5150]

Pitchers and catchers reported yesterday and Spark hasn't started his annual Cubs Suck thread. Does anyone know if he's alright?

I saw Sparky in one of the Iggy RIP threads, but he up and went poof again. I'm sure he'll pop in here soon enough.

Last home Cubs game of the season is against the Cardinals. I gotta get him up here for a game.

[Facedown]

Eric Gagne signs minor league deal with Dodgers.
Russell Branyon sign 1 year deal with Indians.

[Facedown]

Damon signs with Tigers 1yr/8mil.

[JakeYonkel]

Damon signs with Tigers 1yr/8mil.

L O FREAKING L.