2013 MLB Thread

[CH David]

The ump made a bad call. It wasn't nearly as bad as it looks on video, as the catcher didn't catch it cleanly making it look like it bounced. Sure he fucked up, it happens. Live with it.

Are you serious? So you're telling me a shitty call made on a shitty pitch wasn't as bad as it looked on video? That's dumb. Yes he fucked up, and he even admitted to it. It was an egregious called third strike. It was not even close to being a strike. I'll live with it going forward, and probably even not worry about it tomorrow. But it was a terrible strike call, and it should be pointed out.

And Nathans right to an extent. He (like every other player in the history of the game) has been "victim" to a call that is not correct. It happens when you employ humans to judge other humans.

And that makes it okay?

People need to stop bitching about the officiating in all of sports and start just play the fucking game.

Or we can talk about bad officiating because it isn't good when an official becomes part of the game.

These assholes complaining are doing it strictly for their own benefit. The renovations will probably hinder the rooftop experience. Good. go to the stadium, not on top of a roof across the fucking street.

I agree with this. It likely will, but fuck them. They make so much money off of the people that go on the rooftops, but don't pay anything to the team.

The Cubs damn well better update Wrigley and tell the rooftops to fuck off. The stadium is ancient and in need of an update. And as far as I know, the Cubs don't get a dime from the rooftops (or much less then they would if they were in the building). Why should they give away their product for somoene else to profit off of?

Exactly. They get nothing from the rooftop owners, and people around Wrigleyville bitch about night games and what not. I can't stand it, and if the deal doesn't get done, I would actually hope the Cubs moved out of Wrigleyville. It will never happen, but I would love for them to at least entertain the idea of moving to the suburbs as a nice "Fuck you" to all the people around the area that are trying to fuck the franchise over. I'm not delusional to think they would actually leave Wrigley, but Ricketts needs to not bow down to some rooftop owning assholes that think they deserve a piece of the pie when they don't contribute a god damn thing.

 

[Stormtrooper]

Are you serious? So you're telling me a shitty call made on a shitty pitch wasn't as bad as it looked on video? That's dumb. Yes he fucked up, and he even admitted to it. It was an egregious called third strike. It was not even close to being a strike. I'll live with it going forward, and probably even not worry about it tomorrow. But it was a terrible strike call, and it should be pointed out.

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2...ve-the-call-that-ended-the-rays-rangers-game/
1. Yes. Yes I do think it is not nearly as egregious as it looks. Considering the visual evidence provided above, yeah I'd say I'm warranted in saying so. Don't watch the catcher, as he catches it a few feet beyond where the strike zone is, and the pitch dropped off even more after it reached the plate.

It's still a bit outside, but it's probably not even the most "egregious" ball/strike call of the game. It's only talked about because it ended the game.

2. Yes, he did fuck up, as it is still a pitch that would normally be considered a ball. And yes, it should be pointed out, as it was. But people are acting like this cost the Rays the game, and it damn sure didn't. What cost the Rays the game was their inability to outscore their opponent over 9 innings.

And that makes it okay?

Yes. Officiating is part of the game. Humans are part of the game. If Joe Nathan threw a shitty pitch that caused a wild pitch to end the game, is that okay? There is virtually no difference. Guy makes a mistake. It happens, acknowledge it and move on.

Or we can talk about bad officiating because it isn't good when an official becomes part of the game.

Then talk about good officiating too. That happens about 99.999% of the time. But nobody cares about that, and that's what causes people to shit on umpires when one fucking call is incorrect.


Here's a rundown of how commenting on a ballgame goes:
Official makes a ridiculously difficult call and is right: "Well he got that one right...."
repeat 30 times
Official makes a ridiculously difficult call and is proven incorrect after ten slow mo replays "see, what a shitty official, he needs to be fired."

Kinda unfair, don'cha think?


------------

the TL;DR version. Nobody is perfect, stop bitching. Expecting umpires to be perfect is nonsensical. I'm sure you fucked up at your job at some point. Did you get millions of people saying you're terrible and suck at your job? No, you fucked up, got spoken to and maybe reprimanded, and moved on with your life. Hell, the players fuck up too (MUCH more often then the umpires in fact). But no, lets not care about that, lets just bitch about the umpires (who make a pittance compared to the players, and have a MUCH more difficult travel schedule.

 

[Megatron]

I'm incredibly frustrated with the Indians right now. The starting pitching is blowing up on a fucking epic scale, and the rampant inconsistency of the offense is somewhat concerning. I'll admit that today's lack of run scoring is mildly excusable on a lot of reserves being in, as a result of the rigid early schedule they've had, but still, come on guys.

Brett Myers is the most alarming of all. He looks like total shit. I mean just absolutely abysmal. Carlos Carrasco being terrible is pretty expected, since he needs to be in AAA for a while longer yet, but they were forced into this situation as a result of Kazmir being hurt. Jimenez's fastball is officially dead and buried and he's proven now that he's just not good enough to be any good without it. Fortunately, Masterson and McCallister both look like they're okay for now, but there's no guarantees on either.

If you're doing the math, this rotation is a fucking godawful mess. It'll improve if Kazmir comes back, but in my mind, they should be phoning the Rockies nonstop about Aaron Harang. He's desperately needed right now, because at this point, there's a strong chance that Myers needs to go back to the pen, and Jimenez frankly could be given the Ricky Romero treatment if he can't get it together.

Not to be that "I told you so" troll, but is the rotation sucking that surprising? I know it's early and it will get better, but other than Masterson is there really a pitcher that you can be confident will give you even decent innings? Ubaldo's lost it. Carrasco got smacked around in his first start. Myers - ew. Bauer has a tough time with command and really has to cut down on his walks to live up to his potential. McAllister is okay as a back end guy, I guess. What confuses me, though, is that they decided to spend all this money on offense but virtually stuck with the same rotation they had last year plus whoever would make the team in spring (Kazmir). Why not go after Brandon McCarthy, Kyle Lohse, Edwin Jackson, Dan Haren, Ryan Dempster, etc? They aren't #1s, but they are all solid mid rotation guys who can at least give you quality innings (although Haren may be a concern now and Dempster I wouldn't trust all that much in the AL). That's what will hold Cleveland back in the division race. Sure Bourn and Swisher are fun toys to have, but if you can't pitch don't get your hopes up.

In Tiger related news, Torii Hunter is a great #2 hitter. Only 8 games in and I'm already enjoying him as a Tiger.

As for umps; I feel they do miss their fair share of calls, but until MLB adds instant replay more than just HRs they shouldn't be crucified. I'm not saying do it for balls and strikes (the games would take 2 hours longer) so the Nathan call wouldn't have mattered in terms of replay, but in general these plays are bang bang and the umps have to make a quick decision instead of being able to take a quick minute to review if the call was correct. If the game takes 10 minutes longer to get 4 calls correct, so be it. Why purists are so afraid of instant replay is beyond me. HR calls rarely take more than a minute or two. Let them use it for safe/out, fair/foul, catch/trap and HR/2B and umps don't get nearly as killed.

 

[CH David]

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2...ve-the-call-that-ended-the-rays-rangers-game/
1. Yes. Yes I do think it is not nearly as egregious as it looks. Considering the visual evidence provided above, yeah I'd say I'm warranted in saying so. Don't watch the catcher, as he catches it a few feet beyond where the strike zone is, and the pitch dropped off even more after it reached the plate.

Dude, you and I both know that most umpires consider where it is caught more than anything. Hell, catchers position the ball after an outside pitch that doesn't cross the plate and will still get the strike call.

It's still a bit outside, but it's probably not even the most "egregious" ball/strike call of the game. It's only talked about because it ended the game.

A bit outside? How about low and outside? C'mon, it was a fucking awful call. Don't try and sugarcoat it because you have a hard on for officials. That's not meant as a dig, just an observation.

2. Yes, he did fuck up, as it is still a pitch that would normally be considered a ball. And yes, it should be pointed out, as it was. But people are acting like this cost the Rays the game, and it damn sure didn't. What cost the Rays the game was their inability to outscore their opponent over 9 innings.

I even stated that the Rays can't lay it all on the umpire's bad call. But, when you kill a potential rally, which was going to result in two runners on with two outs. The potential tying run at second and the go ahead run at first. It was one factor to the Rays losing the game. Not the only cause.

Yes. Officiating is part of the game. Humans are part of the game. If Joe Nathan threw a shitty pitch that caused a wild pitch to end the game, is that okay? There is virtually no difference. Guy makes a mistake. It happens, acknowledge it and move on.

This is really just gibberish. Nathan was on the home team. A) if Nathan threw a wild pitch the game wouldn't end. B) if Zobrist swung at a wild pitch, he has the chance of running on the drop 3rd strike. C) I get to bitch about it because now I'm just having fun.

Then talk about good officiating too. That happens about 99.999% of the time. But nobody cares about that, and that's what causes people to shit on umpires when one fucking call is incorrect.

Good officiating means you don't need to talk about them. They aren't considered a part of the game any more than necessary, which is making correct calls.

Here's a rundown of how commenting on a ballgame goes:
Official makes a ridiculously difficult call and is right: "Well he got that one right...."
repeat 30 times
Official makes a ridiculously difficult call and is proven incorrect after ten slow mo replays "see, what a shitty official, he needs to be fired."

Kinda unfair, don'cha think?

No it's not and you are exaggerating greatly. Nine times out of ten people will say that the ump made a shitty call, and assuming it doesn't affect the game in a huge manner, will leave it be half an inning later. That goes for all of the major sports. Bad calls are always made and if they don't have a huge impact on the game, people forget them quickly. If they have a big impact, it will cause a bigger reaction.


------------

the TL;DR version. Nobody is perfect, stop bitching. Expecting umpires to be perfect is nonsensical. I'm sure you fucked up at your job at some point. Did you get millions of people saying you're terrible and suck at your job? No, you fucked up, got spoken to and maybe reprimanded, and moved on with your life. Hell, the players fuck up too (MUCH more often then the umpires in fact). But no, lets not care about that, lets just bitch about the umpires (who make a pittance compared to the players, and have a MUCH more difficult travel schedule.

Does my job get watched by millions of people? No, it doesn't. My job is watched by hundreds of doctors, nurses, and PCTs who criticize me/my department on a regular basis. Even if I do my job properly I'm bound to be bitched at by a nurse at least once a day.

Regardless, it was a terrible strike three call. That's really all I was commenting on. I never said he should be fired or even reprimanded. Umpires and other officials are under scrutiny because bad calls can change the course of games. That's a fact. Officials know this to be the case going into their careers, and if they don't, they are fucking idiots. I've been an umpire before for a league, and I was on my own until the championship game. If you are consistent with your calls behind the plate and pay proper attention in the field, people won't bitch too much. If you don't do that, you turn into Joe West or Angel Hernandez, two of the worst umpires in baseball.

 

[CH David]

Now the White Sox/Nationals game is on delay because the umpires are fucking LATE TO THE GAME!!! Honestly, how the fuck does this happen? How do you allow yourself to get to the stadium that late? Shouldn't umpires be at games a certain amount of time before a game? This doesn't exactly affect the game but I just want to give umps shit. When this happens, they deserve the shit that comes with it.

 

[Stormtrooper]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog...umpires-delay-start-nationals-white-sox-game/

http://espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/stor...tionals-game-delayed-due-umpires-traffic-woes

Now the White Sox/Nationals game is on delay because the umpires are fucking LATE TO THE GAME!!! Honestly, how the fuck does this happen?

Again, you've never been late to work? What they do is no different then you, regardless of how many people watch them. It's a job. Traffic is unavoidable, especially in DC, and especially during some festival in DC going on at the time (according to the first article)

How do you allow yourself to get to the stadium that late?

The game was delayed 16 minutes. Lets say they prepped quickly due to the traffic causing them to be late, and it was probably around 25-30 minutes late tops.

Shouldn't umpires be at games a certain amount of time before a game?

They are, and they were late for that. The game was delayed not because they weren't there, but because they were in the middle of prepping for the game, which was delayed by their late arrival due to traffic (that fact courtesy of the ESPN.com article).

This doesn't exactly affect the game but I just want to give umps shit.

Seriously, did an umpire fucking rape you or something, what the hell is your problem with them? I mean jesus, why do you fucking hate these people who are just doing their jobs (knowing that whatever they do everyone will hate them)?

When this happens, they deserve the shit that comes with it.

Yes, because people deserve getting shit for traffic. It happens to everyone. Deal with it.

Grow the fuck up, and quit your whining. It's pretty fucking pathetic.

 

[CH David]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog...umpires-delay-start-nationals-white-sox-game/

http://espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/stor...tionals-game-delayed-due-umpires-traffic-woes


Again, you've never been late to work? What they do is no different then you, regardless of how many people watch them. It's a job. Traffic is unavoidable, especially in DC, and especially during some festival in DC going on at the time (according to the first article)


The game was delayed 16 minutes. Lets say they prepped quickly due to the traffic causing them to be late, and it was probably around 25-30 minutes late tops.

They are, and they were late for that. The game was delayed not because they weren't there, but because they were in the middle of prepping for the game, which was delayed by their late arrival due to traffic (that fact courtesy of the ESPN.com article).


Seriously, did an umpire fucking rape you or something, what the hell is your problem with them? I mean jesus, why do you fucking hate these people who are just doing their jobs (knowing that whatever they do everyone will hate them)?


Yes, because people deserve getting shit for traffic. It happens to everyone. Deal with it.

Grow the fuck up, and quit your whining. It's pretty fucking pathetic.

Dude seriously, the fact that you couldn't tell I was being sarcastic goes to show just how up officials' asses you are. It was topical to what we were talking about, and I felt like being a smartass because that is what I do. If I was being serious I would have called them unprofessional fucks who need to be reprimanded. But I didn't, I? You tell me to grow up when you've acted like a sandy cunt from the minute I brought up a blown strike call.

Hi kettle, I'm pot.

 

[Megatron]

Well, to change the subject...

Two of the preseason AL favorites, the Blue Jays and Angels, are seated in last place (yes, the Angels are even 1/2 game behind the Astros for now) through the first 8-9 games. While the sample size is obviously quite small and each team will go through these 3-6 or 2-5 slumps throughout the year, we can take note of these two early on because of the hype they were getting. Both teams downfalls early on have been their starting pitching. The Angels are 5th worst in starters ERA and the Jays are the worst. The Angels already are an ace down with Weaver out the next 4-6 weeks, although there were warning signs of him not being healthy before the injury (even though this injury was to his non throwing arm). The Blue Jays have just gotten poor starts by their top 4 each of their first two turns. I think we all expect them to pick it up rather soon, so I'll change the question a bit and ask you all who you expect to slump for longer?

I'll say the Angels because I'm really not liking any of their pitchers right now, but once Hamilton starts hitting and Trout gets more power, they should be right in the thick of it.

 

[CH David]

Well, to change the subject...

Two of the preseason AL favorites, the Blue Jays and Angels, are seated in last place (yes, the Angels are even 1/2 game behind the Astros for now) through the first 8-9 games. While the sample size is obviously quite small and each team will go through these 3-6 or 2-5 slumps throughout the year, we can take note of these two early on because of the hype they were getting. Both teams downfalls early on have been their starting pitching. The Angels are 5th worst in starters ERA and the Jays are the worst. The Angels already are an ace down with Weaver out the next 4-6 weeks, although there were warning signs of him not being healthy before the injury (even though this injury was to his non throwing arm). The Blue Jays have just gotten poor starts by their top 4 each of their first two turns. I think we all expect them to pick it up rather soon, so I'll change the question a bit and ask you all who you expect to slump for longer?

I'll say the Angels because I'm really not liking any of their pitchers right now, but once Hamilton starts hitting and Trout gets more power, they should be right in the thick of it.

Tough choice. It's kind of an opposite sides of the spectrum type thing. Then Angels are going to beat you with their bats. Pitching will help if they get it, but once those guys in the heart of line up get going, I see them being right up there in September. Even with Encarnacion and Bautista healthy, or relatively healthy, the Jays are going to need their pitching more. Unless their pitching completely shits the bed and each guy has terrible years, they will pick it up. What's the weather like in Toronto right now? Is it conducive for Dickey's knuckleball? Does it matter?

Regardless, I say both will be in the thick of it when it comes down to it, but the Angels may take a little bit longer to get hot. Jays pitchers can't all have bad years together can they?

 

[Megatron]

Uh the Jays play in a dome lol. And I'd say the Jays lineup, with a healthy Lawrie, is almost as dangerous as the Angels. Bautista and EE can bash, Reyes has done very well in the small amount of games they've had, Melky's hitting well, and the bottom of the order will struggle to get on but can hit some homers themself.

Interestingly enough, watching the Sox/O's game and they're talking about Dickey. Thorn says he was talking to someone with the Jays (didn't catch the name) that said pitching indoors is better for the knuckleball so nature can't affect it. So I think it's just an adjustment period atm and he should pick it up soon. I do still like Morrow's stuff, but Buehrle I'm not a fan of at all. A 5th guy that's getting paid better than that.

 

[The Butcher]

Well, to change the subject...

Two of the preseason AL favorites, the Blue Jays and Angels, are seated in last place (yes, the Angels are even 1/2 game behind the Astros for now) through the first 8-9 games. While the sample size is obviously quite small and each team will go through these 3-6 or 2-5 slumps throughout the year, we can take note of these two early on because of the hype they were getting. Both teams downfalls early on have been their starting pitching. The Angels are 5th worst in starters ERA and the Jays are the worst. The Angels already are an ace down with Weaver out the next 4-6 weeks, although there were warning signs of him not being healthy before the injury (even though this injury was to his non throwing arm). The Blue Jays have just gotten poor starts by their top 4 each of their first two turns. I think we all expect them to pick it up rather soon, so I'll change the question a bit and ask you all who you expect to slump for longer?

I'll say the Angels because I'm really not liking any of their pitchers right now, but once Hamilton starts hitting and Trout gets more power, they should be right in the thick of it.

Gotta agree with you and CH-- it's probably gonna be the Angels. Weaver's gonna miss a few starts with the broken elbow, so for the short term their pitching situation just got much worse. Plus, just looking at their respective schedules for the rest of the month, the Jays have it better. Other than a 3-game set this weekend at home vs. the Astros, the Angels are facing stout teams with good pitching. Other than 3 games in a little over a week vs. the Orioles, the Jays are facing the beat up Yanks and a pair of milquetoast AL Central teams. Both squads will hit their stride in a matter of weeks, for sure. Personally, I really do hope the Jays keep hanging out in the AL East cellar.

 

[Harthan]

Uh the Jays play in a dome lol. And I'd say the Jays lineup, with a healthy Lawrie, is almost as dangerous as the Angels. Bautista and EE can bash, Reyes has done very well in the small amount of games they've had, Melky's hitting well, and the bottom of the order will struggle to get on but can hit some homers themself.

Interestingly enough, watching the Sox/O's game and they're talking about Dickey. Thorn says he was talking to someone with the Jays (didn't catch the name) that said pitching indoors is better for the knuckleball so nature can't affect it. So I think it's just an adjustment period atm and he should pick it up soon. I do still like Morrow's stuff, but Buehrle I'm not a fan of at all. A 5th guy that's getting paid better than that.

5th guy is a little ungenerous to Buehrle. His last three seasons have had fWAR of 3.8, 3.5, and 1.9, respectively, and RA/9 WAR of 3.0, 3.9, and 3.3, respectively. His first two starts this year have been disastrous, sure, but it's the second week of April. If he repeats the production of his previous years this year, he'd fit right into most any rotation as their third starter.

 

[Megatron]

5th guy is a little ungenerous to Buehrle. His last three seasons have had fWAR of 3.8, 3.5, and 1.9, respectively, and RA/9 WAR of 3.0, 3.9, and 3.3, respectively. His first two starts this year have been disastrous, sure, but it's the second week of April. If he repeats the production of his previous years this year, he'd fit right into most any rotation as their third starter.

You're probably right, taking a look at his fangraphs page, but it just dumbfounds me how he's been as consistent and productive he's been throughout his career. Maybe it's just because I'm a K's mark and he's topped 6 K/9 only once in his career. I don't think he's going to pitch as well as he did last year, particularly because he's going from NL back to the AL and there's 4 hitter friendly parks he'll be pitching in. But I should hold back on my judgment until at least the month is over and his numbers are a little more ironed out (even though 5-6 starts is still a small sample size).

EDIT: And I see you ignored what I said on your Indians pitching staff. Go back and respond dammit

 

[The Crock]

Anybody catch the Aaron Harang trade? It's nothing big, but he got flipped to the Mariners for a minor league arm, Steven Hensley. It's not a huge surprise, considering that the Mariners were trying to fill out the bottom of their rotation -- and both Maurer and Beavan underwhelmed -- and Harang had been dangled as train bait by the Rockies ever since they got him. He's serviceable and he'll probably do just fine for Seattle (his last season with the Dodgers was decent, all things considered), so it's a good move for them. Not to mention, a large portion of his contract is getting covered by the Rockies, apparently (they sent cash along with him, or something). Good move.

 

[CH David]

Wondering what you guys thought about the whole Quentin/Greinke/Kemp/Richard thing that happened last night.

Greinke and Quentin have a history which is why Quentin charged the mound after the HBP. In a late and close game, it likely wasn't intentional, and Q should have been smarter than charge the mound. Greinke has hit him 3 times in the past, and if I recall has thrown over his head a few times in the past as well. You never want to see an injury occur, especially a broken anything to a pitcher. Something tells me Greinke's injury will play into the coming suspension that Quentin will undoubtedly receiver. I agree he should be suspended for charging the mound.

But something that I want to bring up is this. Pitchers have almost free reign when they pitch. If they hit somebody people will likely say the ball just got away from him, and if the hitter gets hurt, well that's just a part of the game. Why should a hitter get hurt and miss time because a pitcher may or may not have thrown at him, and then nothing happens to the pitcher? I did some counting, and I gave him a 7th week to get healthy just in case, assuming he would still be starting every 5th game, he would be missing 9 starts. Otherwise in 6 he misses 7 or 8 starts. If an everyday player gets an injury like this, it hurts the team more than a pitcher. That's about 40-45 games that you miss. Just checked twitter and saw Ken Rosenthal say maybe 8 weeks depending on when Greinke starts throwing.

Back to the other part, after the game Matt Kemp got into it with Quentin in the tunnel and then Clayton Richard came in and got into it with Kemp as well. Police or security had to break them up. I don't really care a lot about this part, but it is worth noting.

Quentin probably gets 5-10 games for this. He didn't take any swings, just charged at him and went for a tackle. To me it looked like Greinke probably got the injury during the ensuing pile up. There are both sides of the spectrum to think about. Who is condemning Quentin and who is behind him?

 

[The Butcher]

Who is condemning Quentin and who is behind him?

He crowds the plate and leans into pitches. He doesn't just have a history with Greinke, but with being hit by pitches in general. There's very, very little chance that Greinke intentionally hit him, considering the score, the count, etc. etc.

Now that I'm done parroting what Buster Olney said on Mike & Mike, I'm fine with a batter rushing the mound. Even Carlos Quentin in that situation. And it's not because of any of that unwritten rule stuff or anything. I just feel that cooler heads should always prevail, but if they don't, give me a good bench clearer to watch. Forgive me if it makes me sound uncouth or whatever, but it's entertaining. I'm not in a position to assign blame or condemnation. I'm sure if I was a fan of the Padres or Dodgers I'd probably feel differently on that. I'm not, though. To paraphrase WWE Hall of Famer Booker T: if they can't get along, then let's get it on.

Also on the injury front, it looks like the Jays may have lost Jose Reyes. I don't cheer injuries, but I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, either. O's need to start stringing wins together while they're healthy and the Yanks and Jays aren't.

PPS- Quentin got 8 games.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

I know it can be ugly, but I don't have a huge issue with a batter charging the mound. So long as he isn't pulling a Jose Offerman and taking the bat with him, he is out there to defend himself. There is a difference between hitting a guy in the midsection with a 85mph fastball to return the favor of an early beaning, and hitting a guy in the head with a 98mph heater with the intent to hurt. What else is the batter to do if a pitcher has malicious intent?

I don't think Quentin should have charged though. I have been a fan of Greinke since he went public with his depression and anxiety issues, and has always been a fiery and competitive guy. I seriously doubt he would hit a guy, even if he hated him, in that situation. While I don't agree with Mattingly's opinion that Quentin should be suspended the entire time Greinke is on the DL, 8 games is too short.

Like the good Dr. said, if I was a fan of either team I may have a different opinion, but damn it, bench clearing brawls are so fun to watch, and they are good for ratings. Like they said on the SVP show today, hockey fights, bench clearing brawls, hard fouls in baseball, wrecks in NASCAR; fans eat that shit up, and even if the league officials won't admit it, they know they are good for ratings and attention.

 

[The Crock]

What does everybody think of the David Price/Giancarlo Stanton trade value debate? The general consensus seems to be that Stanton's worth more -- which is probably true -- but I'd rather have an ace than a bat, personally. Stanton's a superstar, but it's so much easier to find valuable batters than it is to find good pitching. It's much easier to win games when you have a shutdown pitcher than it is otherwise. All your offense could end up being worthless if you don't have the pitching behind it. If I were leading a team, I'd throw a lot more prospects at the Rays for Price than I would for Stanton, unless I was the Giants or something and didn't need any pitching.

 

[smizzy]

I don't know if anyone likes to sit around and listen to other people talk baseball but I do and the Fringe Average podcast has certainly catered to my interests. I have an inkling a lot of you would enjoy it. While the guys shoot the shit and talk about drinking and other off topic things, they're also highly intelligible baseball minds, one guy, Jason Parks, writes for Baseball Prospectus and the other, Mike Ferrin, hosts a radioshow on MLB Network.

Anyway, this is the link... here.

Seriously an entertaining podcast with great baseball discussion and plenty of laughs.

 

[Megatron]

What does everybody think of the David Price/Giancarlo Stanton trade value debate? The general consensus seems to be that Stanton's worth more -- which is probably true -- but I'd rather have an ace than a bat, personally. Stanton's a superstar, but it's so much easier to find valuable batters than it is to find good pitching. It's much easier to win games when you have a shutdown pitcher than it is otherwise. All your offense could end up being worthless if you don't have the pitching behind it. If I were leading a team, I'd throw a lot more prospects at the Rays for Price than I would for Stanton, unless I was the Giants or something and didn't need any pitching.

I don't think you can ever have enough pitching, so I'd probably go with Price. Stanton has great power, but if he could ever increase his contact more and not go on such cold streaks he would be one of the most coveted trade targets ever. Although it probably doesn't help that he's seeing less strikes this year than the greatest hitter of this generation, Barry Bonds, did during his prime.

In Yankee news, Jeter will now be out until after the ASB. Tough to hear, but father time catches up with everyone at some point.

 

[Skairipa Matrix]

Anybody else surprised by aces like Strasburg, Cain and Price not doing good so far this year?

I'm glad the Redsox are doing much better than people expected. Lester and Buchholtz are on top of their game like they need to be and if they keep it up all year, Boston could easily reach the playoffs again.

 

[The Crock]

Now that you mention it, I think the Strasburg situation is overblown. People kept talking about how he was just having awful starts, but he's not that bad. His ERA and WHIP are a bit higher than his career averages, but they're still pretty low. He's pitching well -- he's not allowing many hits and it's not like he's suddenly lost velocity or anything really bad like that -- it's just that his team hasn't been able to get him the wins he needs. He'll turn it around and go on a tear soon, he's an amazing pitcher. It's a definite slow start, but it's nothing too big.

Stanton's had a really slow start, which surprised me more than anything. He got his first homer today, though -- he might be getting it together.

 

[Megatron]

Those starts are getting overblown because it's April and all we have to go on is those small samples. If I was a fan of any of those teams aces I wouldn't worry too much with the reputations they all have.

 

[smizzy]

Stanton's had a really slow start, which surprised me more than anything. He got his first homer today, though -- he might be getting it together.

To be fair, he didn't just hit his first homer in, he fucking raped the baseball and the bull that supplied the leather. But yeah, I don't know what it is about Stanton, but I recall, he was slow out of the gate in 2011 as well 2012. He's the type of guy that can come out April with no home runs yet be leadin he league by the time the All Star game rolls around.

It's also a pleasure to watch him hit them, he doesn't hit any cheap shots.

 

[The Crock]

To be fair, he didn't just hit his first homer in, he fucking raped the baseball and the bull that supplied the leather. But yeah, I don't know what it is about Stanton, but I recall, he was slow out of the gate in 2011 as well 2012. He's the type of guy that can come out April with no home runs yet be leadin he league by the time the All Star game rolls around.

It's also a pleasure to watch him hit them, he doesn't hit any cheap shots.

Yeah man, that homer was a MONSTER. I'm pretty sure he's dialed in now (the homer will be a confidence boost) -- he might just be the type of hitter who takes longer to adjust back into regular season form. It wouldn't be the first time we saw a good hitter be notorious for his slow starts -- the problem is that the Marlins don't have anyone to supplement the offense he provides, so they're just dreadful when he's not swinging the bat well (not that they're much better when he is, though).