Killeverything's (New)NeverEndingBaseballThread

[johnk5150]

Holy fucking shit. When the White Sox have a fire sale, they have a fucking fire sale. I don't know the details yet. It's being reported that Thome is heading to the Dodgers, and Conteras is going to the Rockies.

That's a hell of a pinch hitter in Thome, there is no way they let him play 1B. The guy's got the range of Mike Lowell now.

Reports out of Minneapolis say Thome was bawling when told being a Peoria kid. I wouldn't cry if I was able to not play for the Sox.

[Machado]

the white sox GM does not deserve an award this year for being
the best GM in the league.
he trades for peavy. 1 month later the guy still has not pitched.
he takes on rios and all his money.

1 month left to go in the season and williams screams, "we quit". what an idiot.

i understand getting rid of contreras. he was not performing at all. who knows, he might be lights out in the NL against teams that have never seen him. could be a cliff lee factor there.

[JakeYonkel]

Wow, so Tampa got Sean Rodriguez as the player to be named later in the Kazmir deal.

Damn, they fleeced LA.

[Machado]

I think "pulling a Hairston" will officially become part of baseball lexicon.

if the play happened in the 9th, then you might have
a valid point.

it was not the 9th inning, so your comments will FAIL

[Machado]

Its people like you why people hate Yankees fans. Not to mention people in general.

I guarantee it will be remembered and will define Hairston's career. The ninth inning has nothing to do with it. It was deep in the game and the drama was built. Check the back pages of The New York daily's. It was in New York, it was the yankees, and it was Pettitte. it was the biggest blunder in a perfect game that I have ever heard of. As big a mistake as the great play in Burhle's game was.

So stick the ninth inning up your stupid fucking ass as you continue to stretch the bounds of annoyance and idiocy you dumbfuck.

Either you are out of meds or you have not digested a decent meal in weeks. Which is causing your bad attitude?

The error will NOT define Hairston's career.
1 play later the o's got their 1st hit and 1 inning later the shutout was lost.
If Andy went 9, while throwing a no hitter, you might have a leg to stand on.
Instead, your case is weak and tomorrow you will still be angry!

[JakeYonkel]

Oh boy.

[tin00can]

So, the PTBNL for the Rays is Sean Rodriguez. I was afraid of this. This dude is like Figgins with less speed but more power. He can and has played all IF positions except 1B and he can play any OF position. I think he leads the PCL (Pacific Coast League) in HRs and has a solid BA as well. HUGE potential upside for this guy. I think the Rays did quite well with the trade.

That said, I'm still in favor of it. Fuck, you gotta take a chance NOW to win the WS. As good as Rodriguez projects to be the Angels don't really have an opening for him other than on the bench. If Figgins leaves next year Brandon Wood will move to 3b and they still have Aybar for SS and Kendrick for 2B, with Izturis as a solid backup for both positions. If Figgins comes back he'll probably move into the OF platoon, even though his D at third has been outstanding.

Sometimes you gotta roll the dice. I wish the best for Rodriguez but I will be a wee bit sad if he tears it up for the Rays.

[JakeYonkel]

Rays are great with financial moves and long-term planning. (all the more reason why spending $16M for 2 years of Pat Burrell was an atrocious and mind-numbingly stupid move)

That said they can pay Iwamura a $250k buyout rather than a $4.25M option for next season, and they've got the cheap and controlled Rodriguez ready to play 2B for them for years.

An infield of Longoria/Bartlett/Rodriguez/Pena can do some great things. I think they move BJ Upton in the offseason and will have enough money freed up to try and extend Carl Crawford. Ben Zobrist can play CF or RF, if not they've got some stud CF prospect whose name escapes me right now.

Trying to bring Carlos Pena back after 2010 with Scott Boras as his agent is going to be tough, interesting to see what happens with that one.

Add that Longoria, Price, and Shields are all locked up long-term - the Rays are the way that a small-market team HAS to do it. Great organization.

[killeverything]

Rays are great with financial moves and long-term planning. (all the more reason why spending $16M for 2 years of Pat Burrell was an atrocious and mind-numbingly stupid move)

That said they can pay Iwamura a $250k buyout rather than a $4.25M option for next season, and they've got the cheap and controlled Rodriguez ready to play 2B for them for years.

An infield of Longoria/Bartlett/Rodriguez/Pena can do some great things. I think they move BJ Upton in the offseason and will have enough money freed up to try and extend Carl Crawford. Ben Zobrist can play CF or RF, if not they've got some stud CF prospect whose name escapes me right now.

Trying to bring Carlos Pena back after 2010 with Scott Boras as his agent is going to be tough, interesting to see what happens with that one.

Add that Longoria, Price, and Shields are all locked up long-term - the Rays are the way that a small-market team HAS to do it. Great organization.

I came across some scouting reports on the prospects being discussed. The descriptions are very James/Sheehan/Silver-esque, which how I like my analysis.

Desmond Jennings
AAA: .295/.385/.438/.823 (slightly under 100 ABs at moment)
AA: .313/.393/.483/.876

He's actually somewhat similar to Crawford as a player. Excellent defensively (as a CF no less) with a strong arm. Excellent plate approach with high walks, low strikeouts. Extremely fast, good basestealer (49 SB to 7 CS in 2009). Decent present power with good power potential. He may not be fully MLB ready by the start of next year, but he'd probably be ready by midseason. Good thing the Rays also have...

Matthew Joyce
AAA: .276/.377/.492/.869
MLB (career, mostly last year):.245/.331/.493/.824

Joyce is a slightly different type of player than Jennings. He's also excellent defensively, strong arm. Joyce also has a strong walk rate, although he strikes out more than Jennings (although his K rate has improved this year to a very acceptable sub 20% clip). Joyce has a lot more present power, and while he's got a little bit of speed he's really not much of a stolen base threat. If not for Zobrist going insane this year, Joyce would probably have been the Rays' full time RF, but instead got relegated to AAA.

With Joyce, Jennings, Upton, Zobrist, and now Sean Rodriguez (who I'll talk about in a second) all in the fold, the team has got more than enough outfielders to replace Crawford, and probably get about the same production out of that slot in the long run. Its really the same deal with Kazmir. The Rays have Garza, Shields, and Price as their top three, with Niemann and Sonnastine also in the rotation at the moment, but they've also got strong starting prospects in Jeremy Hellickson (quite possibly the most under-rated pitching prospect in baseball) and Wade Davis both in AAA. I wouldn't be surprised if Hellickson, and maybe even Davis, were better than Kazmir next year.

As for the return for Kazmir, let's look at all three guys:

1) Torres-Law is basically off his damn rocker with this guy. A) Torres has hit the mid 90s...but throws consistently in the high 80s/low 90s. B) Torres has very inconsistent secondary stuff, with an ok curve that he can't always command or throw well. C) Torres doesn't have a third pitch. Unless his changeup has gone from non-existant to average this year, I don't really see him capable of starting. Throw in the fact he's really small, and has really mediocre to bad command, and I think everything basically screams "future reliever" for this guy. He's young, so maybe he'll improve and stick as a starter...I just highly doubt it.

2) Matt Sweeney-A lot of people who follow prospects paid a lot of attention to Sweeney coming into 2008, penciling him in as a huge sleeper. Then he missed basically the whole season, and a lot of people again said...huge sleeper. Why? Simple. He's young, he's got a good plate approach, he's got good power potential, and he's (supposedly) a decent fielder. His season this year actually concerns me a bit because he's hitting a ton better at home than away, but we'll see what happens next year at Arkansas (a pitchers park).

3) Sean Rodriguez-Sean Rodriguez, like Brandon Wood, is a guy who's made more than a few people scream in frustration at the Angels front office (and Mike Scioscia). Why? Well, because Sean Rodriguez is a potential star level hitter. His IsoP the last two years in the PCL has been over .300. He walks in over 10% of his ABs. He strikes out too much, but he's also shown the capacity to hit for contact (as in 15.6% K rate last year in AAA versus this year's 27.4%). He's an average defensive 2B, probably profiles as average in LF, and can fill in at SS as well. Basically, at worst he'll be an excellent utility player capable of playing a lot of positions around the diamond. Best case scenario he becomes a star caliber 2B in the Dan Uggla mold (with better defense).

It is pretty shocking that Anaheim gave up that much for Kazmir. With Stoneman notoriously "hoarding" his prospects, it's just surprising to see him give up more than he did for the Teix rental last year. Yonkel put the bat on the ball with the Rays playing how they have to. They seem like the best at it.

Now we'll see which Kazmir Scosscia gets........

[tin00can]

Um, yeah, KE....Stoneman hasn't been GM of the Angels since 2007. Which quite possibly would explain the mid-season trades the last two years.

[killeverything]

Um, yeah, KE....Stoneman hasn't been GM of the Angels since 2007. Which quite possibly would explain the mid-season trades the last two years.

Whoops. Last nite when I was typing that I thought " wait is Stoneman still the GM?" It was late, I was tired. In that moment he was. Goddamnit.

[Machado]

Its people like you why people hate Yankees fans. Not to mention people in general.

I guarantee it will be remembered and will define Hairston's career. The ninth inning has nothing to do with it. It was deep in the game and the drama was built. Check the back pages of The New York daily's. It was in New York, it was the yankees, and it was Pettitte. it was the biggest blunder in a perfect game that I have ever heard of. As big a mistake as the great play in Burhle's game was.

So stick the ninth inning up your stupid fucking ass as you continue to stretch the bounds of annoyance and idiocy you dumbfuck.

Either you are out of meds or you have not digested a decent meal in weeks. Which is causing your bad attitude?

The error will NOT define Hairston's career.
1 play later the o's got their 1st hit and 1 inning later the shutout was lost.
If Andy went 9, while throwing a no hitter, you might have a leg to stand on.
Instead, your case is weak and tomorrow you will still be angry!

And you will be stupid and talking out of your ass.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseb ... ality.html

Peter Park over here ^^^^

[Machado]

Its people like you why people hate Yankees fans. Not to mention people in general.

I guarantee it will be remembered and will define Hairston's career. The ninth inning has nothing to do with it. It was deep in the game and the drama was built. Check the back pages of The New York daily's. It was in New York, it was the yankees, and it was Pettitte. it was the biggest blunder in a perfect game that I have ever heard of. As big a mistake as the great play in Burhle's game was.

So stick the ninth inning up your stupid fucking ass as you continue to stretch the bounds of annoyance and idiocy you dumbfuck.

Either you are out of meds or you have not digested a decent meal in weeks. Which is causing your bad attitude?

The error will NOT define Hairston's career.
1 play later the o's got their 1st hit and 1 inning later the shutout was lost.
If Andy went 9, while throwing a no hitter, you might have a leg to stand on.
Instead, your case is weak and tomorrow you will still be angry!

And you will be stupid and talking out of your ass.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseb ... ality.html

Peter Parker over here ^^^^

[killeverything]

Tonite Pedro went up against Tim Lincecum. In 7 innings Pedro threw 87 pitches, 5 hits, 1 earned run and had 9 strikeouts. Nine Ks? Unbelieveable. I know he's been the "glass man" for the past few seasons, but sometimes still to this day.....Pedro reminds everyone why he is the most badass pitcher to ever, ever, ever step on the mound.

"It's ridiculous how nasty his stuff still is" - Tim Lincecum




I also realize Lincecum struck out 11 over 7, but he's quite a bit younger.

[killeverything]

Carlos Pena is out for the season. When Burnett's pitch hit him on the checked swing, it broke two of his fingers. Pena was trying/going to be the first League Leader in homeruns from Massachusettes since Tony Conigliario .

What a blow to Tampa. The team quit on Madden, the FO quit on the team. I thought for sure we would have a three team race this season within the Division.

http://www.tbnweekly.com/front_page/con ... fpg-01.txt

[Machado]

kill-i was watching the game. do you think when he struck out on the following pitch, that might have caused more damage to the fingers? obviously he talked his way into staying in the game, but that might have been a BIG mistake.

[killeverything]

kill-i was watching the game. do you think when he struck out on the following pitch, that might have caused more damage to the fingers? obviously he talked his way into staying in the game, but that might have been a BIG mistake.

I have no idea really. I didn't turn on the game until like the 6th to see the score. All I've seen of it is replays. It could have been a big mistake, but that's all we know is it COULD have been.

Everything I've heard is they were broke when he checked his swing. So hypothetically speaking, if he didn't stay in to finish it wouldn't have mattered. His fingers were broke anyway.

As "what the fuck happened to Tampa?" this season as we've all been. They're Farm is still loaded with pitching, I think they'll be right back in the thick of it next season. Plus Longoria and Price will have one more year experience.

[Machado]

kill-i was watching the game. do you think when he struck out on the following pitch, that might have caused more damage to the fingers? obviously he talked his way into staying in the game, but that might have been a BIG mistake.

I have no idea really. I didn't turn on the game until like the 6th to see the score. All I've seen of it is replays. It could have been a big mistake, but that's all we know is it COULD have been.

Everything I've heard is they were broke when he checked his swing. So hypothetically speaking, if he didn't stay in to finish it wouldn't have mattered. His fingers were broke anyway.

As "what the fuck happened to Tampa?" this season as we've all been. They're Farm is still loaded with pitching, I think they'll be right back in the thick of it next season. Plus Longoria and Price will have one more year experience.

Saw the game last night via ESPN. Phillips and Orel were discussing how the rays went wrong this year and what they need to do in the off-season to improve.
the bullpen
trade upton

those were 2 examples. i know during the telecast the broadcasters were ripping upton for not hustling in CF. he did injure his ankle, so that must explain why he's not busting his ass.
my ? is: why play him? how did he convince the team he was a better option in CF than someone else on the roster?
was he placed in the line-up out of desperation? just seems like one way or another, upton was put in a position to fail. kind of felt bad for the guy.

[JakeYonkel]

Upton's ankle has nothing to do with it. He's been benched a few times this year for not hustling on ground balls and running out pop-ups and shit like that.

If you've watched the Rays at all (which I doubt, since the only team you seem to know dick about is the Yankees) EVERY single routine flyball to center Upton does the same shit where he turns his back and floats underneath it and pulls his Willie Mays shit.

Just so happened that last night it bit him in the ass on the error. Then the next inning he let a ball fall in front of him that was easilly catchable.

The guy's a fantastic athlete, but his career has been crazy up and down. He was brought up really quick in 2004 at 19-20 years old and couldn't handle SS. He spent a year in the minors and had a tryout at 3B which he also couldn't hack it at. Then in 2007 he opened the year as the 2B until shifting to CF, where he's been great. But offensively he's up and down and seems to have a shitty attitude.

Tampa had no problem jettisoning Delmon Young and Elijah Dukes... they'll trim the fat witih Upton and probably still get a decent return on him since he's still so young. Why else do you think he's the only member of their youth core to have not been locked up yet? Tampa's FO is brilliant (aside from the Pat Burrell signing).

As for where they went wrong - it was impossible for their bullpen to have the same kind of year that they had last year. Grant Balfour was lights out and has been lousy this year. JP Howell threw way too many innings last year and he's burnt out. They expeted Kazmir and Shields to make big strides forward and neither did. Matt Garza is still developing nicely and David Price is getting there.

Their system is loaded. I wouldn't worry about the Rays having a tough time fielding a competitive team. You gotta almost feel bad for Baltimore and Toronto though... well, at least Baltimore's heading in the right direction. Toronto's just awful.

[killeverything]

Upton's ankle has nothing to do with it. He's been benched a few times this year for not hustling on ground balls and running out pop-ups and shit like that.

If you've watched the Rays at all (which I doubt, since the only team you seem to know dick about is the Yankees) EVERY single routine flyball to center Upton does the same shit where he turns his back and floats underneath it and pulls his Willie Mays shit.

Just so happened that last night it bit him in the ass on the error. Then the next inning he let a ball fall in front of him that was easilly catchable.

The guy's a fantastic athlete, but his career has been crazy up and down. He was brought up really quick in 2004 at 19-20 years old and couldn't handle SS. He spent a year in the minors and had a tryout at 3B which he also couldn't hack it at. Then in 2007 he opened the year as the 2B until shifting to CF, where he's been great. But offensively he's up and down and seems to have a shitty attitude.

Tampa had no problem jettisoning Delmon Young and Elijah Dukes... they'll trim the fat witih Upton and probably still get a decent return on him since he's still so young. Why else do you think he's the only member of their youth core to have not been locked up yet? Tampa's FO is brilliant (aside from the Pat Burrell signing).

As for where they went wrong - it was impossible for their bullpen to have the same kind of year that they had last year. Grant Balfour was lights out and has been lousy this year. JP Howell threw way too many innings last year and he's burnt out. They expeted Kazmir and Shields to make big strides forward and neither did. Matt Garza is still developing nicely and David Price is getting there.

Their system is loaded. I wouldn't worry about the Rays having a tough time fielding a competitive team. You gotta almost feel bad for Baltimore and Toronto though... well, at least Baltimore's heading in the right direction. Toronto's just awful.

Jake, hit it perfectly.

I thought that Tampa would be more competitive this season personally, but not as good as last year. There was no way in hell that BP was going to repeat last year's performance. God, Balfour had like a .208ERA entering the game with runners on. That's unreal, and the best setup for regression to the mean.

Anyways I think everyone ( me included ) was expecting a bounce back from both Crawford and Upton. Both had their ISO drop off considerably last year. If all the accounts are true, they moved Kazmir ( or raped Anaheim's farm considering where you stand ) to be able to re-sign Crawford. Who as stated previously his desire to stay in Tampa and see the team to fruition. They have the pieces to be right back in it next year though.

[killeverything]

So this is what I heard on Mike Francesca's show the other day:

(1) The Red Sox were actually VERY close to getting King Felix at the trade deadline;

(2) The padres are going to trade Adrian Gonzalez, and The Mets are the primary team being discussed;

(3) From a historical standpoint, Bernie Williams was very close to being traded for Larry Walker back in the 1990's;

I don't know how close the Mighty Red Sox were to getting King Felix. What I know happened is, Theo called Seattle and made them a few offers. Apparently all his energy was spent trying to aquire Felix. The reports were Seattle shot down all the offers. He was lambasted about spending all his time at the trade deadline by the media for going after a rich franchise team's star player. Of course in 2003 Theo was asked the question of "if you could build a team with anyone who would you want?" Epstein was adament about King Felix for the starting pitcher.

If San Diego trades Gonzalez the few fans they have left will leave.

Bet your glad that the Bernie Williams trade didn't happen huh?

[killeverything]

Wow.

I shouldn't be the first to comment on this.

Congratulations Derek Jeter!

Puddles soaked the warning track and ponchos dotted the stands when Derek Jeter stepped to the plate in the third inning, hoping to give the soggy Yankee Stadium crowd a reason for showing up in all this rain.

With one of his classic, inside-out swings, Jeter sent a sharp grounder skimming through the infield. And there it was, the record-setting hit that pushed him past Lou Gehrig.

Jeter broke the New York Yankees' hit record held by Gehrig for more than seven decades on Friday night with an opposite-field single against Baltimore. It gave Jeter 2,722 hits, one more than Gehrig, whose Hall of Fame career was cut short by illness in 1939.


That is fucking awesome. He may be a fithy MFY, but we are all truly lucky to be able to watch a player of his caliber. This is baseball history. History not tainted by PEDs, or any of that shit, just real ball.

Props to Jeter. This is a good day amongst baseball's controversies.

[JakeYonkel]

Great accomplishment by Jeter. Even Yankee haters respect him, and you've gotta hand it to him.

Pretty amazing that all the great players the Yankees have had since Gehrig's era never had the consistency and longevity to break that hits record until now.

[Sheep_Mafia]

Jeter has a good shot to put that pretty much out of reach in todays baseball world. It is surprising that none of the great Yankees past had 3,000 hits with the team.

Been pretty amazing to watch Jeter, Rivera, Pettitte & Posada play together for so long and now to see all the individual accomplishments accumulate to go along with the team success. In 1995 when they all found their way up to NY at various points, it was hard to imagine Jeter having the most hits in Yankee history, Pettitte with 228 and counting wins, Posada being a consistently top 3 offensive catcher in his era or Mo becoming one of the greatest pitchers ever. Probably just as amazing as that is that they are all still producing at a high level. Not many guys around from 95 still getting it done like that group.

[Facedown]

For a few years when he came up, I considered Jeter to be a spoiled little brat born into Championships. As the years went on, I still hated him as a Yankee, but realized he was a true talent.
Indeed, a great player and a great accomplishment.

History not tainted by PEDs, or any of that shit, just real ball.

Careful, kill. In this day and age.....

[TawnyVonJagger]

I tip my hat to Jeter. I've always had a soft spot for him, seeing that he's a Local Boy Who Made Good. Congrats to him.

[killeverything]

For a few years when he came up, I considered Jeter to be a spoiled little brat born into Championships. As the years went on, I still hated him as a Yankee, but realized he was a true talent.
Indeed, a great player and a great accomplishment.

History not tainted by PEDs, or any of that shit, just real ball.

Careful, kill. In this day and age.....

Yeah, I know. I said the same thing about Arod and Manny

[SkyDog112046]

Boston started playing good ball again after they brought back Alex Gonzalez. It's not a coincidence. He has settled down the infield and pitchers no longer have to worry about every ground ball hit into the hole. It's certainly great if your SS can play great defense, hit .300 with 25 HR's and drive in 100 runs, but since those guys are few and far between I'd rather have a great glove at Short than a guy putting up numbers and booting everything hit his way. Hopefully Theo hangs onto Gonzalez this time around.

[killeverything]

Holy shit.

King Felix is 8-2 on the road with a 2.01ERA, 111.2IP, 100K, 1.057WHiP, 2.64BABIP

How many pitchers pitch that well on the road? The guy is incredible.

Q: Moving to the NL from the AL, are there any pitcher's you'll be glad not to see again?
A: Felix Hernandez. If I never see that guy again I'll die happy. That guy's stuff is incredible. - Eric Byrnes taken from SI after his going to the D'Backs




Oh yeah, today in the PCL where King Felix came up as a prospect. Tacoma ( Mariners ) lost to Sacramento ( Athletics ) in the PCLCS. Which sets Sacramento up for a three-peat. I still think Beane is a genius when it comes to signing prospects.

[Machado]

What Jeter has done is an outstanding accomplishment. There will be negative sentiments because he's a Yankee and still has the clean image.

Will he ever to get 4,000 hits? Who knows. The media loves to speculate and show charts of his pace and what fucking month and year he could pass up Pete Rose.

Was not the greatest weather on the night he passed Lou and they lost the game, but I don't think that takes away from what he did.

1 game tonight vs the angels.
Joba is starting. Will he go 3 innings again or push it a little to 4? I say he goes at least 4, maybe 5.

Not that this game will determine much of anything, but it would be nice to beat the angels tonight, so we can get some kind of momentum with Joba as a starter.