Killeverything's (New)NeverEndingBaseballThread

[tin00can]

I know it's early for the annual prediction threads but my take on the two aforementioned teams...

As for Oakland, I agree that their pitching staff is a mess. Duchsherer threw a lot of innings last year after never being a starter before. After that, what do they have? A bunch of young, unproven guys. No shot that all of them pan out - it never happens. Their bullpen should be OK, OAK usually puts together a good 'pen. They are 100x better offensively than last year, now with a middle of the order including Holliday, Giambi, O-Cab, maybe a healthy Eric Chavez (but probably not). Hard not to like the improvements they've made but they've made no effort to shore up the pitching staff. That could hurt.

On the LAA side... pitching is a wash from last year. Fuentes is an IMPROVEMENT over K-Rod, who really isn't that great anyway. Their setup men are top notch, and Lackey/Weaver/Santana/Saunders looks good to me. Offensively I don't really know what to make of them. Vlad seems to be sliding as his body breaks down. They've got like 12 outfielders. Abreu will have a nice year, Figgins is a nice player too. Morales is a question mark but doesn't seem to have as much power as you're projecting, Tin. I think 12-15 homers is more likely.

Seattle has made improvements. Really the only team in the division with pitching worth half a shit is LA, so I figure they'll be there at the end. But I could see Oakland pushing a bit if things fall right as far as their pitching goes.

Fair enough. I said he COULD hit over 20 HR and it wouldn't surprise me. I'm expecting about 17-20, but some people I know who are close to the team say he is really expected to break out this year. It's been a long time since the Angels have produced a power hitter, so I'm hopeful.

[Facedown]

Looks like Nomaaaah is going to the A's.

[JakeYonkel]

Rumor has it Manny is agreeing with the Dodgers tonight... 2 years, $45M. Probably not knowing Boras, but this shit has to be resolved at some point, no?

Also, I read in Peter Abraham's blog 2 things about A-Roid - 1) he made a comment today saying he'd love to have Jose Reyes playing for the Yankees, which the NY media will run with and take as a shot at Jeter. Shocking. And 2) apparently he's on his way to Vail, Colorado to see a hip specialist for a cyst that the team doctor found. Might be enough for the Yankees to keep him out of the WBC.

[killeverything]

Get the fuck outta here with the pythagorian estimates. People believe in that shit so much they get upset when it turns out wrong, which is often. I know baseball is a game of stats, but stats can only predict so much. Yeah, the Angels' offense was anemic for most of the year last year, but Tex really didn't help that much, either. Thing is, the Angels had a very good 1-3 starting rotation, and by the middle of the season Lil' Weave had come around and was dealing. A good rotation can cover for a weak offense, for the most part.

The Angels may be even better in starting pitching this year than last. Even losing K-Rod doesn't hurt that much, with the pickup of Fuentes. Remember, when he broke the saves record last year, everybody was saying how easy he had it - the same will be true for Fuentes this year.

The offense is probably a wash. Tex was only on the team for the last few months, so you have to weight his contributions to the overall offense last year. Abreu is a good addition, and Juan Rivera could have a big year (but I'm predicting 17-20 HR). The big Q is Kendry Morales at first, and I think he's gonna surprise some people this year. He won't be Tex, but I wouldn't be surprised to see around 23 HR from him.

As for the A's this year, their rotation is a HUGE question mark. I can't emphasize that enough. They would have to have a bunch of rookies simultaneously put up very good numbers, and the odds don't favor that. I'm guessing they'll do their usual, which is start quick and then fade. Their offense IS much better, though. O-Cab is a table-setter, Helton should still be at least good outside of Colorado, and Giambi is a safe bet for around 30 HR.

I think Pythagorean and Pecota is the best in player/team projections. I think it's been right for teams. In example with Anaheim, they're record was bigger than their projections, not by much. What it doesn't take into account is the competition ( or in last season's AL West, lack there of ).

A good reference point is the Mariners season in 2007. They went on a run for the Wild Card. They weren't going to repeat that last season. They just weren't that good of a team. Pythag/Pecota saw that. Of course there are exceptions, but there is always a regression to the mean. I just think that Oakland has the possibility to make a serious run. Meaning that the Angels won't slaughter the division.

I said "call me crazy". Look I know that the A's aren't going to win it, I just don't think the Angels will by 15 games again, maybe it could be close. Close like 5-7 games back in August.

[Machado]

I'm sick of hearing about manny and the dodgers. Can the fucking guy just sign or not play this year.
The ego his agent has is unreal. The ego the dodgers ownership has is also just as bad.
Face it-Manny wanted to shorten his time at camp. Plain and simple. He is not the kind of person that want to arrive at camp early, let alone on the day all players are to report.

[killeverything]

I'm sick of hearing about manny and the dodgers. Can the fucking guy just sign or not play this year.
The ego his agent has is unreal. The ego the dodgers ownership has is also just as bad.
Face it-Manny wanted to shorten his time at camp. Plain and simple. He is not the kind of person that want to arrive at camp early, let alone on the day all players are to report.

No. This was about money plain and simple. Manny faked injuries to get out of Boston for 5 million more dollars. Not the 100 million Boras said he'd get. Five.

I think it's hysterical. He seems to not hate the FO in LA. How can he? Deposeta has a hard-on for anything Boston. He thinks his market is going to return in a couple seasons. What Manny doesn't realize is team's are getting sick of dealing with Boras, and everyone saw him quit on his team.

In one or two years when he hits Free Agency again, it will be the same scenario. I love him for what he did, and helping win two rings, surpassing Ted Williams as the ultimate Yankee killer, most HRs at MFY Stadium, etc. But go fuck yourself Manny.

[Machado]

I'm sick of hearing about manny and the dodgers. Can the fucking guy just sign or not play this year.
The ego his agent has is unreal. The ego the dodgers ownership has is also just as bad.
Face it-Manny wanted to shorten his time at camp. Plain and simple. He is not the kind of person that want to arrive at camp early, let alone on the day all players are to report.

No. This was about money plain and simple. Manny faked injuries to get out of Boston for 5 million more dollars. Not the 100 million Boras said he'd get. Five.

I think it's hysterical. He seems to not hate the FO in LA. How can he? Deposeta has a hard-on for anything Boston. He thinks his market is going to return in a couple seasons. What Manny doesn't realize is team's are getting sick of dealing with Boras, and everyone saw him quit on his team.

In one or two years when he hits Free Agency again, it will be the same scenario. I love him for what he did, and helping win two rings, surpassing Ted Williams as the ultimate Yankee killer, most HRs at MFY Stadium, etc. But go fuck yourself Manny.

I hear ya. Money talks right? When Boras is involved, money is that much more important.

I saw a small interview with casey blake of the dodgers. He said all the right things about the situation as of last week, but at the end of the interview he said something like, "manny should be here because we are a team, all here working hard to get ready and he is not".
Not sure how the team will treat him once he shows up, but casey does have a point.

Bottom line. Now that the greedy duo have their money, can we fucking play some ball.

[thejuggernaut]

I'm sick of hearing about manny and the dodgers. Can the fucking guy just sign or not play this year.
The ego his agent has is unreal. The ego the dodgers ownership has is also just as bad.
Face it-Manny wanted to shorten his time at camp. Plain and simple. He is not the kind of person that want to arrive at camp early, let alone on the day all players are to report.

No. This was about money plain and simple. Manny faked injuries to get out of Boston for 5 million more dollars. Not the 100 million Boras said he'd get. Five.

I think it's hysterical. He seems to not hate the FO in LA. How can he? Deposeta has a hard-on for anything Boston. He thinks his market is going to return in a couple seasons. What Manny doesn't realize is team's are getting sick of dealing with Boras, and everyone saw him quit on his team.

In one or two years when he hits Free Agency again, it will be the same scenario. I love him for what he did, and helping win two rings, surpassing Ted Williams as the ultimate Yankee killer, most HRs at MFY Stadium, etc. But go fuck yourself Manny.

The LA Dodgers are the NY Rangers of baseball.

[killeverything]

I'm sick of hearing about manny and the dodgers. Can the fucking guy just sign or not play this year.
The ego his agent has is unreal. The ego the dodgers ownership has is also just as bad.
Face it-Manny wanted to shorten his time at camp. Plain and simple. He is not the kind of person that want to arrive at camp early, let alone on the day all players are to report.

No. This was about money plain and simple. Manny faked injuries to get out of Boston for 5 million more dollars. Not the 100 million Boras said he'd get. Five.

I think it's hysterical. He seems to not hate the FO in LA. How can he? Deposeta has a hard-on for anything Boston. He thinks his market is going to return in a couple seasons. What Manny doesn't realize is team's are getting sick of dealing with Boras, and everyone saw him quit on his team.

In one or two years when he hits Free Agency again, it will be the same scenario. I love him for what he did, and helping win two rings, surpassing Ted Williams as the ultimate Yankee killer, most HRs at MFY Stadium, etc. But go fuck yourself Manny.

The LA Dodgers are the NY Rangers of baseball.

Except that in that weak Division, they're almost certain to make the playoffs with Manny in the line-up.

[Machado]

All the nl west teams were hoping the dodgers would not sign the guy.
With him on the team, they are the team to beat.

Of course manny could easily ruin the team and vault them to the bottom of the division. So time will tell.

Finally the fucker has signed and ESPN will no longer talk about when he will sign, for how much, is the offer on/off the table, what other teams are in the running, etc....
SICK OF IT!!

[killeverything]

All the nl west teams were hoping the dodgers would not sign the guy.
With him on the team, they are the team to beat.

Of course manny could easily ruin the team and vault them to the bottom of the division. So time will tell.

Finally the fucker has signed and ESPN will no longer talk about when he will sign, for how much, is the offer on/off the table, what other teams are in the running, etc....
SICK OF IT!!

Yeah no shit.

Now they can go back to talking about Arod and steroids again.

[thejuggernaut]

Except that in that weak Division, they're almost certain to make the playoffs with Manny in the line-up.

LOL

I was referring more to the 90s when they were hording ex Oilers.

[Machado]

All the nl west teams were hoping the dodgers would not sign the guy.
With him on the team, they are the team to beat.

Of course manny could easily ruin the team and vault them to the bottom of the division. So time will tell.

Finally the fucker has signed and ESPN will no longer talk about when he will sign, for how much, is the offer on/off the table, what other teams are in the running, etc....
SICK OF IT!!

Yeah no shit.

Now they can go back to talking about Arod and steroids again.

All this week ESPN and Bob Ley have been reporting on Steroids.


I tell ya, all the manny coverage was overblown. ESPN should have let the story die until something newsworthy happened.

[killeverything]

Something news worthy happened.

"Alex Rodriguez, hip injury is worse than originally thought.

Joe Rodriguez, Alex’s brother, told Enrique Rojas of ESPNdeportes.com, that the Yankees 3rd baseman will have surgery to remove a cyst.

Alex Rodriquez, who was scheduled to play for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic, flew to Vail, Colorado to see Dr. Mark Phillippon, a hip specialist, on Wednesday.

Now he will have surgery that, according to his brother, is expected to keep him off the field for at least 10 weeks.

“It’s a big blow for the whole family,” Joe Rodriquez said. “Alex is destroyed.

“We were all very excited to see him play with the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. “But the most important thing is to have a successful surgery so that Alex may continue his career.”

Surgery is scheduled for Monday in Colorado."

Well that sucks for NY..........in April Alex is unstoppable.

At least Manny already signed.

[JakeYonkel]

Fuck, why can't he have the surgery like October 1st when the team won't miss him being out of the lineup anyway?

[Machado]

Something news worthy happened.

"Alex Rodriguez, hip injury is worse than originally thought.

Joe Rodriguez, Alex’s brother, told Enrique Rojas of ESPNdeportes.com, that the Yankees 3rd baseman will have surgery to remove a cyst.

Alex Rodriquez, who was scheduled to play for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic, flew to Vail, Colorado to see Dr. Mark Phillippon, a hip specialist, on Wednesday.

Now he will have surgery that, according to his brother, is expected to keep him off the field for at least 10 weeks.

“It’s a big blow for the whole family,” Joe Rodriquez said. “Alex is destroyed.

“We were all very excited to see him play with the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. “But the most important thing is to have a successful surgery so that Alex may continue his career.”

Surgery is scheduled for Monday in Colorado."

Well that sucks for NY..........in April Alex is unstoppable.

At least Manny already signed.

I was waiting for a Yankees hater to post the terrible news.

I can't believe it. Sugery. Out for up to 10 weeks.
This reminds me of the year when Jeter hurt his should/collar bone during the 1st week of the season while sliding into 3rd base vs the jays.

The glass is 1/2 full. Better to have this happen before the season vs during the season.

Cody Ransom and Angel Berroa now have a much better shot of making the team.
Given the choice, I would like Cody to play. He did well last Sept in limited action.

Where is drew henson when we need him,,,,,,,

[JakeYonkel]

Man, is A-Rod such a drama queen pain in the ass. Always something.

[Machado]

Man, is A-Rod such a drama queen pain in the ass. Always something.

[killeverything]

Man, is A-Rod such a drama queen pain in the ass. Always something.

Yeah, he's a lot like Manny in that sense. Except you know......without the game winning hits and Championships.

[Machado]

Man, is A-Rod such a drama queen pain in the ass. Always something.

Yeah, he's a lot like Manny in that sense. Except you know......without the game winning hits and Championships.

You and jake should take this comedy routine on the road

[Machado]

Despite the terrible A-Rod news, a couple positive things happened
today for the Yankees:

1)Mo threw for the first time this spring. He is scheduled to appear in his first spring game on the 17th.

2)Matsui was in the line-up today as a DH for the first time this spring.

[nycyankee]

As a Yankee fan I couldn't be happier. Nothing would make me more exciting than to see this prima donna, choke artist, mental weakling have a career ending injury.


The Yankees are fuckin stupid for giving this loser that huge contract. The guy was practically gone. What the fuck were they thinking? Did they actually think that things would work out for the drama queen in NY? Stupid Cashman is going to regret not signing Manny.

[Machado]

As a Yankee fan I couldn't be happier. Nothing would make me more exciting than to see this prima donna, choke artist, mental weakling have a career ending injury.


The Yankees are fuckin stupid for giving this loser that huge contract. The guy was practically gone. What the fuck were they thinking? Did they actually think that things would work out for the drama queen in NY? Stupid Cashman is going to regret not signing Manny.

You say this now, but if we don't win the World Series this year, I'm sure you will be very sad, depressed and blaming the loss on another player.

Your idea to sign manny would have solved the 3b hole yes?
No wait, that would have solved the LF hold yes?
No wait, signing manny would have solved the DH hole yes?

Uh huh, signing manny would do nothing.
We have Texiera instead of Manny.

We will be fine!!!

[killeverything]

Yeah, but with the exception of the first baseman whose name I can't spell, there is still no defense.

[Machado]

Yeah, but with except with the exception of the first baseman whose name I can't spell, there is still no defense.

I have a hard time spelling his name myself

[nycyankee]

I have some news for you Machado. As long as Aroid is on the field for the Yankees they will never win a World Series. The Yankees only hope is for him to have a season ending injury. The guy is a malignant tumor.

2018 is a long time away but us Yankees fans are going to have to wait atleast that long to pop the champagne bottle once again.

[killeverything]

NY has as many question marks as everyone else, but the upside is frightening. If that rotation can stay healthy, and Hughes finally beats the injury bug. Holy fuck. Sabbathia, Wang, Joba, Pettite, Hughes......


*edit*

Ha! I just read a funny quote . "If the whole staff's ERA doesn't rival Pedro in 2000. I'm running out on the field and beating Jason Varitek to death with his shin-guard."

[Facedown]

A-Rod to have surgery. Expected to miss 6 - 9 weeks.

[Facedown]

Sox give Lester 5yr/30mil extension.

[JakeYonkel]

Went to Lakeland today to see the Yankees and the Tigers. Brought my wife and the baby, so we only lasted 2 and a half innings! Awesome.

Took a few pics and I'll try to get em up in a little bit, but we were sitting way the hell out in the general admission hill behind the LF fence. Impossible to get a seat when the Yankees play here - for both Mets games I've got awesome seats. Go figure.

AJ Burnett looked good, effective, and didn't get hurt!