Fat Athletes With Wood - aka The Baseball 2014 Thread

[Guard Dog]

The Rays just traded the best LHP in the game and got back (drumroll please...)  A Tigers gym bag with a broken strap, 6 cans of pine tar, and the contents of Dave Dombrowski's office waste basket.

 

Actually they got back a borderline starter whose best upside is major league mediocrity, a AAA infielder with an underwhelming .214 batting average in his few major league appearances, and an 18 year old nobody whose hitting .267 in low A league. Friedman said they would have to be blown away to make a trade. Apparently that doesn't take much.

 

I'm trying to take this in stride. I understand the realities of the Rays position and the need to trade players. BUT FOR GOD'S F-----G SAKE IF YOU ARE TRADING A VALUABLE COMMIDITY DOESN'T IT MAKE SENSE TO GET SOMETHING VALUABLE IN RETURN?

 

There are better infielders on the Rays AAA club than Franklin. What the hell Friedman? Were you drunk last night? That al least I could understand. Did Dombrowski point a gun at your head? PLEASE TELL ME THE GM EVERYONE PRAISES AS SO SMART DID NOT MAKE SUCH A STUPID EXCHANGE AS THIS? Apparently the bar for being called smart isn't as high as it should be. 

[Leferd]

Yeah, that seems like an incredible haul for Dombrowski. Surely the Rays had better offers.

Edited August 1, 2014 by Leferd

[Keyrock]

Damn, that's highway robbery for David Price.  To steal some Simmons terminology, they traded a dollar for a quarter and a bunch of nickles.  At least the Sawx got a power hitting outfielder for their ace.  Cespedes, by all rights, should hit an ungodly amount of doubles off the Green Monster, plus he's got a cannon for an arm.  On the other hand...

 

/looks at current Sawx rotation

//cries

Edited August 1, 2014 by Keyrock

[Inyourprime]

Did Kevin Towers posses Friedman for a day? Hell, the Rangers got more value from Detroit for Jokaim Soria. They must REALLY like that SS.

Edited August 1, 2014 by Inyourprime

[Leferd]

Lester will just be a two month rental for Oakland. Cespedes will still be under contract through next year. Barring injuries, I don't see any reason why he wouldn't hit 40 bombs hitting in Fenway.

 

In an ideal scenario for Boston, The Sawx may end up with both Cespy and Lester next year.

 

The A's are definitely going all in this postseason. Detroit - Oakland will be a very interesting matchup.

 

The Tigers have the last three AL Cy Young winners and the last three MVP's. Oakland has Nerdpower.

[Inyourprime]

Marlins got screwed. I know it's the Marlins, but c'mon. Bud... just fire yourself right now.

[Keyrock]

Cespedes will still be under contract through next year. Barring injuries, I don't see any reason why he wouldn't hit 40 bombs hitting in Fenway.

 

I'm hoping for 40 bombs and about a billion doubles off the monster.  The Sawx definitely improved their lineup quite a bit with all the moves they made, but they completely gutted their rotation.  They do have some good arms in the farm system, but how many of them, if any, will be ready to play in the majors in 2015?  We'll get to see some of them during the rest of this year since they will have to get the call up, ready or not.  Somebody has to pitch for the Sawx this year and they traded away almost all their starters.

 

As for Lester coming back next season, I don't see it happening.  I'd be happy if I was wrong, though.

[kgambit]

 

Cespedes will still be under contract through next year. Barring injuries, I don't see any reason why he wouldn't hit 40 bombs hitting in Fenway.

 

I'm hoping for 40 bombs and about a billion doubles off the monster.  The Sawx definitely improved their lineup quite a bit with all the moves they made, but they completely gutted their rotation.  They do have some good arms in the farm system, but how many of them, if any, will be ready to play in the majors in 2015?  We'll get to see some of them during the rest of this year since they will have to get the call up, ready or not.  Somebody has to pitch for the Sawx this year and they traded away almost all their starters.

 

As for Lester coming back next season, I don't see it happening.  I'd be happy if I was wrong, though.

 

 

Just for grins (or not if you're a Sawx fan ..) here's what you have to look forward to in the 2015 FA starting pitcher market (age in parenthesis, followed by contract option if pertinent) ......

 

Starting Pitchers

 

Brett Anderson (27) – $12MM club option with a $1.5MM buyout

Josh Beckett (35)

Chad Billingsley (30) – $14MM club option with a $3MM buyout

Joe Blanton (34)

A.J. Burnett (38) – mutual option

Chris Capuano (36)

Bruce Chen (38) – $5.5MM mutual option with a $1MM buyout

Wei-Yin Chen (29) – $4.75MM club option with a $372K buyout

Kevin Correia (34)

Johnny Cueto (29) – $10MM club option with an $800K buyout

Jorge De La Rosa (34)

Ryan Dempster (38)

Gavin Floyd (32)

Yovani Gallardo (29) – $13MM club option with a $600K buyout

Jason Hammel (32)

J.A. Happ (32) – $6.7MM club option

Aaron Harang (37)

Dan Haren (34) – $10MM player option if 180 innings reached in 2014

Roberto Hernandez (34)

Hisashi Iwakuma (34) – $7MM club option with a $1MM buyout

Josh Johnson (31) – $4MM club option

Kyle Kendrick (30)

Hiroki Kuroda (40)

Jon Lester (31)

Colby Lewis (35)

Francisco Liriano (31)

Paul Maholm (33)

Justin Masterson (30)

Brandon McCarthy (31)

Brandon Morrow (30) – $10MM club option with a $1MM buyout

Felipe Paulino (31) – $4MM club option with a $250K buyout

Jake Peavy (34)

Wandy Rodriguez (36)

Ervin Santana (32)

Joe Saunders (34)

Max Scherzer (30)

James Shields (33)

Carlos Villanueva (31)

Ryan Vogelsong (37)

Edinson Volquez (30)

Jerome Williams (33)

 

If resigning Lester is unlikely, there is only one name that really jumps off that list if you're looking for a front end guy for the rotation. 

 

 

Did Kevin Towers posses Friedman for a day? Hell, the Rangers got more value from Detroit for Jokaim Soria. They must REALLY like that SS.

 

Apparently so.      A report from Peter Gammons said that the Pirates actually made a better offer for Price but the Rays turned it down.

 

http://www.raysindex.com/2014/08/rays-david-price-pirates.html

 

I was hoping to see the Rangers move both Cotts and possibly Rios for additional prospects. (still possible that both get moved if they clear waivers)   Especially outfielders or first base since the Rangers are fairly well stocked at middle infield and pitching in the farm system.  Losing Rios would hurt since the free agent market for outfielders sucks in 2015 and Gallo projects at 3B and isn't ML ready (he's only 20) although he's bashing the crap (37 HRs) out of AA.  Still it's only AA Frisco ........

Edited August 2, 2014 by kgambit

[kgambit]

Alex Rios placed on revocable waivers - teams have until Thursday to place a claim.  Rangers are said to be willing to eat some of Rios' salary.

 

Rios has a six-team no-trade clause that allows him to block trades to the Yankees, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Royals, Astros and Athletics.

 

Teams said to be interested include  Seattle, NY, KC, and Detroit from the AL and  Giants and Reds from the NL.

 

No word on whether the Rangers have asked for waivers on Neil Cotts - the Orioles, Braves and  Nationals are interested and the Rangers are still pursuing signing Cotts to an extension.

 

Edit:  Nationals have claimed Matt Thornton  off revocable waivers from the Yankees.  Thornton is a lefty RP (same as Cotts).  That may cool their interest in Cotts if they can come to terms with the Yankees on Thornton.

Edited August 6, 2014 by kgambit

[Hurlshort]

Giants are starting to get healthy again, so hopefully they can get a strong push for the playoffs.  Angel Pagan makes such a huge difference for this team.  

 

It's also looking like they found a decent 2nd baseman in Joe Panik.  But I thought that bout Brandon HIcks for a couple of months, so I'm not going to put any money on it.  

[AGX-17]

As a person who has been cursed with American culture, I have to say, baseball is somehow far more entertaining than handegg (a.k.a "football" minus the feet and the ball except for occasional special occasions.) I'd rather fall asleep at a baseball game than stay awake for a whole handegg game. Tactics, schmactics. Sun Tzu would attack from the bleachers.

 

Come on, you can't legitimately call it "football" when the one single player on the team who acually kicks the "ball" with his foot is the lowest ranked/least respected.

Edited August 7, 2014 by AGX-17

[kgambit]

Giants are starting to get healthy again,

 

Healthy?  What means this word ....  as a Texas Ranger fan it is unfamiliar to me.

 

Here's the litany - 

 

I can't bear to even copy and paste the list ....  

 

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/texas-rangers-historic-injury-woes/

 

That is actually two months old and it got worse.  At last count, the Rangers had used 32 different pitchers. 

[ShadySands]

Going to my first professional baseball game tonight

[Leferd]

Going to my first professional baseball game tonight

Nice! Who's playing? I notice you conspicuously wrote "professional" - indicating it's not necessarily an MLB contest.

[Hurlshort]

 

Going to my first professional baseball game tonight

Nice! Who's playing? I notice you conspicuously wrote "professional" - indicating it's not necessarily an MLB contest.

 

 

Well the Rockies are mostly professional.  

Edited August 12, 2014 by Hurlshot

[Leferd]

The Rockies are also playing in San Diego tonight though. That was another giveaway.

[ShadySands]

I suppose I should have said first real MLB game since I've been to minor league and spring training games. I even saw Michael Jordan play badly once. I'm in Seattle but I have no idea who they are playing and to be honest it's mostly a work thing

[Leferd]

They're playing the Blue Jays. Safeco Field looks like a really nice ballpark.

[ShadySands]

Thanks!

 

I hope it's a good game

[Guard Dog]

Thanks!

 

I hope it's a good game

And I hope you are the good luck charm to get the M's to beat the Jays.

[ShadySands]

So they won and I'd like to take all the credit but really I think they did it just to spite the fans. At least 3/4 of everyone there wearing beisbol stuff had on some kind of Blue Jays gear.

 

Edited August 15, 2014 by ShadySands

[Hurlshort]

Hey, the Giants won the first protest since 1986, that's pretty crazy.  

 

They also lit the Cubs up today in response, so we'll see if this is them turning the corner, or just a fun blip against a bad Cubs team.  

[Keyrock]

What's happened to the Oakland Billy Beanes?  They should still at least get a wild card spot, because they hold a pretty big lead there, but they have been slumping hard as of late.  They need to get their **** together.

[Leferd]

What's happened to the Oakland Billy Beanes?  They should still at least get a wild card spot, because they hold a pretty big lead there, but they have been slumping hard as of late.  They need to get their **** together.

Yeah. They're playing their worst stretch of baseball right now. Starting a series with the Angels on Friday. Key series for both teams.

[kgambit]

 

What's happened to the Oakland Billy Beanes?  They should still at least get a wild card spot, because they hold a pretty big lead there, but they have been slumping hard as of late.  They need to get their **** together.

Yeah. They're playing their worst stretch of baseball right now. Starting a series with the Angels on Friday. Key series for both teams.

 

 

Angel's Garrett Richards went down with left patellar knee injury.   Huge hit for the Angels as Richards was their staff ace this year. 

 

The injury could be anything from a dislocation of the knee cap or a tear of the patellar tendons or ligaments.  Won't know more until the MRI results come in.  I'm not an Angels fan but really hoping this isn't serious.

Edited August 21, 2014 by kgambit