Baseball 2017

[Epaminondas]

I always want the American League to win, and so I'm stoked.  I was ambivalent about the Astros vs. Dodgers, but I'm still glad the American League won.  Granted, the league has gone home winners over half the time, but almost half of that is the Yankees.  If there's one American League team I might like to see take a beating, it's the Yankees.  Not for personal reasons, but because they've got more World Series wins than the next two runners up combined.  rat bastards.

[Guard Dog]

I always want the American League to win, and so I'm stoked.  I was ambivalent about the Astros vs. Dodgers, but I'm still glad the American League won.  Granted, the league has gone home winners over half the time, but almost half of that is the Yankees.  If there's one American League team I might like to see take a beating, it's the Yankees.  Not for personal reasons, but because they've got more World Series wins than the next two runners up combined.  rat bastards.

Someone once said "Rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for the House in blackjack"

[Guard Dog]

That throwing error to Darvish in the first was the back breaker it seems. It was all bad for the Dodgers after that, For all the drama of this series Game 7 didn't have much. Although a LOT of base runners got stranded last night.

 

But in terms of drama and lead changes this WS was a sight to see. I don't know if it was the best ever but it was certainly in the top 10.

[Guard Dog]

I turned off the TV after the last out so I missed this: http://m.mlb.com/cutfour/2017/11/02/260415808/carlos-correa-proposed-after-astros-world-series-win

[Guard Dog]

The Pirates exercise their option on McCutchen. Smart money is they will still trade him: http://m.mlb.com/news/article/260650812/pirates-exercise-andrew-mccutchen-option/?topicId=27118122 

 

Mashahiro Tanaka has declined to opt out and will be back with the Yankees next year. 

 

The Marlins have let Ichiro Suzuki go. He may have one more season in him though. But even if he does not he'll be in two halls of fame on each side of the Pacific. 

 

The Arizona Fall League All Star game is tonight. I'm going to watch and see the stars of tomorrow. Plus it's likely the last baseball game on TV until March.

 

The Winter Leagues in Mexico, the DR, Venezuela, and (maybe) Puerto Rico start at the end of the month. The Australian League starts in January. 

 

Houston had a party yesterday. Big time.

 

The Hot Stove will be firing up in a few weeks as free agents declare and restrictions on trades are lifted. Some big names will be tossed around. Giancarlo Stanton may be in LA, Eric Hosmer in Boston, and Japanese dual threat Shoeni Othani figures to make a splash. It will be interesting.

 

And that's it. It's all over. It's been a pleasure talking hardball with all of you. Nothing before us but football, hockey, and basketball. But it's ok.... pitchers and catchers report in 101 days!

[Hurlshort]

Stanton to SF!

[Guard Dog]

Stanton to SF!

 

His career slg% in AT&T Park is .633, everywhere else it's .554. That thinner air helps. http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=4949&position=OF

[Hurlshort]

He also wants to come here, which is a big deal, as not many sluggers want to play in SF.

[Leferd]

RIP Doc Halladay.

[Hurlshort]

If the Yankees land Stanton, it is pretty clear that Jeter is still working for his old team. 

[Guard Dog]

I've been a Marlins fan since 1993. I've seen the worst fire sales and deconstructions any sports fan can imagine. This time it's a little different because it's new ownership cleaning up a mess. I get why it has to be done. But they really got nothing for Stanton. It really was just a salary dump. Starlin Castro will never play an inning as a Marlin so hopefully there will be a better return when he is traded. The real pain is coming though. Justin Bour, Christian Yelich, and Marcell Ozuna will likely be traded off too. That will hurt much more. Somewhere down the road though it will be OK.

[Epaminondas]

I've been an Angels fan forever. It was the Anaheim Angels when I became a fan but switched back to Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim). I understand the history, but Anaheim Angels just makes more sense since they are, indeed, in Anaheim and not even in LA county. Anyhow, I went to school with Troy Percival. In fact, I had several classes with him. Doubt he remembers me and, frankly, I don't really think that much about him, but he's done a lot of his alma mater, UCR. I do remember that he played baseball back in high school, but I think he was a catcher. I'm almost certain he was on the team as catcher, but I never paid much attention. The pitching thing didn't come until later, but he certainly proved to be formidable on the mound. I do find it hilarious that the manager was a Dodger. Anyhow, I was at the stadium last year when the Angels beat the Yankees. Damned Yankees. There were probably as many Yankees fans in attendance as Angels and there was a call on the last play so I got to see the Angels beat the Yanks twice in one night. First time was a practice win. heh heh heh We were with friends from Canada and my buddy walks over to a Yankee fan wearing a Babe Ruth shirt. I didn't know what he was doing, but the guy's a deacon. He certainly wasn't going to insult the Yankee fan, but I wasn't sure what was going on so I followed only to find out my buddy was talking up the virtues of Babe Ruth. lol If you only knew my friend the deacon, you'd understand. Gotta shake my head sometimes.

[Leferd]

 

I've been an Angels hater since the days when Wally Joyner was featured as a Starting Lineup action figure for the California Angels.

 

 

I mean, C'MON. This guy??

Edited December 10, 2017 by Leferd

[Guard Dog]

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/rays/2017/12/20/tampa-bay-rays-trade-franchise-cornerstone-evan-longoria-to-giants/

 

F--K!. Just, F--K! F-----g f--k!

 

So... the Rays traded the best player in their history, Evan Longoria, the biggest Yankee killer they have ever had, to the Giants. And in return they got:

 

Christian Arroyo: A former 1st round pick. He's a sub .200 hitter that after 194 innings at 3B last year plays defense their like he's wearing his glove on the wrong hand. 

 

Denard Span: A 34 year old outfielder whose best years are behind him. And were not that good to boot.

 

Matt Krook: A RHP in Advanced A League. His numbers include a particularly horrifying 5.25 ERA and a WHIP of 1.644. He gets a lot of SO's so he's probably got good velocity but he's choking up 7.9 hits and 7 BB every 9 innings. In other words he's more of a suspect than a prospect. 

 

Stephen Woods: This might be the only good part of this trade. MIGHT be. He is in low Class A. His numbers are sharp with a sub 3.0 ERA and a WHIP of 1.4. He's only been used in relief so far. It looks like he only has two good pitches. But trading for guys below AA is like buying f-----g lottery tickets. You don't know and the odds are against you. 

 

Yeah they got four players for one. But this looks like quantity over quality. And it leave me wondering who the bloody flaming F--K is going to play 3B next year. Arroyo? Next year was Longoria's  10th season. After that the 10/5 rule applies to him. I will just BET that is what this BS trade is all about. So it is just a cynical Jeffrey Loria-esque salary dump. This f-----g SUCKS!

[Volourn]

He's paid 13.5mil. That is rather cheap nowadays.

[Leferd]

Lols.

 

The Giants traded for Tony Parker's ex brother-in-law!

 

They could have Evan Longoria's production at half the cost with Todd Frazier without trading away any prospects.

 

And that folks is how you spend more than $200 million a year for a 98 loss team while stifling your ability to improve organically.

[Hurlshort]

It's only a bad trade if Arroyo turns out to be any good at the MLB level. The Giants have a core group that they are going to try and win with for the next couple years. They aren't going to rebuild or go organic (Their farm system is pretty empty.) They also cleared out Span's contract, so I'm not sure it is that bad financially. 

 

If they turn in another stinker of a season, odds are Bochy and a few of the core players will end up somewhere else, so I'm hoping they can compete.

[Leferd]

Sorry Hurlshot, but the Giants are gonna continue to stink next year. Especially after striking out on Stanton and Babe Ruth Jr.

[Hurlshort]

Sorry Hurlshot, but the Giants are gonna continue to stink next year. Especially after striking out on Stanton and Babe Ruth Jr.

I am not saying they won't. I am saying if they are, then Bochy will probably be out and they will start shopping the guys that won 3 titles. That is going to be hard to watch, so if they want to make some desperate moves to see if they can capture magic one more year, I can't blame them.

 

They still need an entire outfield, so more moves are on the horizon.

[Leferd]

Maybe they should have done that and started the Bam-Bam Meulens era before they lose him as well. Worst place to be is field a non-competetive team without actually rebuilding.

 

Luckilly, the Giants have cash and so that could make the rebuild process faster. The Astros and Cubs have a great blueprint for big market rebuilds. But that's not gonna happen for the Giants if they stay on their current trajectory of grabbing overpriced has-beens when they should blow things up.

[Guard Dog]

I've been looking at Arroyo's minor league stats. It's a much more promising. But minor league success and major league success are not even distant cousins. Nick Franklin, Richie Schaeffer, and other Rays I could name can all attest. 

 

I wonder who in the Giants system were the Marlins going to ask for for Stanton? I wonder if Woods or Krook were on the list? I can guarantee Arroyo was not. The Giants farm system looks pretty poor. Their number one prospect is Chris Shaw in AAA but after that their next best prospect is in Advanced A, at least two seasons away. 

 

This trade just makes no sense. Span will get paid more than Longoria the next two years and the only place he can play in Tampa is LF and he told Botchy he didn't want to do that in SF. This comes down to Arroyo and Woods. If they are busts then Longo was sold for nothing. 

Edited December 20, 2017 by Guard Dog

[Guard Dog]

Kudos to Jeter to stand up there and take it from angry fans for 90 straight minutes: https://ballparkdigest.com/2017/12/20/upset-marlins-fans-question-jeter-at-town-hall/

 

For my part, I get it. This rebuild became inevitable and unavoidable the day Jose Fernandez died. Better to get on with it. 

[Epaminondas]

Kudos to Jeter to stand up there and take it from angry fans for 90 straight minutes: https://ballparkdigest.com/2017/12/20/upset-marlins-fans-question-jeter-at-town-hall/

 

For my part, I get it. This rebuild became inevitable and unavoidable the day Jose Fernandez died. Better to get on with it.

Wow. There's an even better article embedded in the one you cited. I would say that's a standup guy. I've always kind of thought Jeter was a class act, but staying cool in the face of an angry crowd commends him.

[Guard Dog]

Epaminondas are you liking what the Angels are up to signing Ohtani & Zach Cozart?

[Guard Dog]

RIP **** Enberg. He called the "The Drive", and he called "The Fumble" and the "Greatest Game of All Time" the 1979 NCAA Men's championship game with Johnson & Bird meeting the first time. He brought us Montana's big comeback in the Superbowl against the Bengals. He told Joe Cater to "touch them all Joe" when he walked off the 2nd World Series Championship for the Blue Jays.  If you had to live a different life, his would have been a good one to choose.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5rQmdKKQgI

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSRfwJlnuBM