2014 MLB Thread

[Megatron]

Since pitchers and catchers have now reported, it's a good time to start the new MLB thread. In case you were asleep all winter, here's some of the bigger movings of players

Prince Fielder, Shin-Soo Choo -> Rangers
Ian Kinsler -> Tigers
Robinson Cano -> Mariners
Brian McCann, Jacoby Ellsbury, Tanaka -> Yankees
A.J. Burnet -> Phillies
Mark Trumbo -> Diamondbacks
Omar Infante -> Royals
Doug Fister -> Nationals
Jhonny Peralta -> Cardinals

Additonally, Clayton Kershaw inked an extension, A-Rod is suspended for the whole season, and Derek Jeter announced 2014 will be his last year.

Use this thread to talk Spring training/regular season/postseason/trade deadline/rumors/etc.

 

[The Butcher]

Where O where to begin? As nice as it is for the O's to be winners again, part of me almost wishes MLB would shuffle up the divisions just so we'd get some jabroni teams in the AL East. Jonah Keri broke down their situation pretty well over at Grantland, but personally I don't begrudge Peter Angelos for not opening his wallet as wide as some other owners. Well, not anymore. Maybe it's just delirium after awakening from an eternity (give or take) of substandard baseball, but as was the case last spring I'm eager for O's to get out there and defy odds and exceed expectations.

While they didn't land Tanaka (as if there were ever a chance of that), they did pick up an Asian pitcher/top free agent: Korea's Suk-min Yoon. I liked the Bud Norris acquisition last season, and he'll be healthy for us now. Dan Duquette is trying to lock down our core players, but unfortunately the pens aren't hitting the paper fast enough. Dylan Bundy (after rehab) and/or Kevin Gausman need to find their way up from Triple A ball for good this year. Questions about Manny Machado's knee injury/rehab still loom fairly large, as well. For the good of the O's and even MLB itself, hopefully he's got that Adrian Peterson mutant healing factor. Manny's a gem.

I won't be as bold as I was a year ago in singing the praises of the Orioles, but suffice to say that I see a potential playoff team. The talent is there, and Buck Showalter's track record speaks for itself. Just hopefully we won't have to dump him to get to a World Series like his other teams.

 

[Akhilleus]

The AL East is definitely without a doubt the toughest division in the league. The NL Central is probably the second toughest division, arguably, but there is no doubt in my mind that if at least the top four teams in the AFC East were in another division then they would have a much easier time getting things done.

Red Sox, Rays, O's, and Yankees all finished way over .500 with the BoSox and Rays making the playoffs. You can't even complain about the seasons Baltimore and NYY had because they were way more successful then teams like the Astros. Yet only three teams at most can make the playoffs in one division, and with the AL East there are at least four that could, even the Blue Jays weren't too far off from .500. However I think if any team is going to get back in it after last season it has to be the Yankees. They simply loaded up on star power this year, and they're going to be right back up there like we're all used to.

So the question is if the Red Sox and Rays are going to have as good of a season as they did last year. I can't answer that yet, but tomorrow I'm going to stop by the store and pick up my Rotoworld magazine for my fantasy baseball stuff, so I'll check out all the depth charts in there and compare.

 

[NtwrestlingMaster]

I'm going to go on record here and say the Red Sox aren't making the playoffs this year. If they do, they will have to do it from the wild card game. I don't feel they are going to have another year like they did last year. Many of those teams that have a run like that never do as well the next year. The White Sox didn't make the playoffs in 2006, the Giants in 2011, and many teams In the AL this year, we have the Angels, Tigers and Yankees winning the Divisions, with the A's and Rangers making the Wild card.

 

[Akhilleus]

I'm going to go on record here and say the Red Sox aren't making the playoffs this year. If they do, they will have to do it from the wild card game. I don't feel they are going to have another year like they did last year. Many of those teams that have a run like that never do as well the next year. The White Sox didn't make the playoffs in 2006, the Giants in 2011, and many teams In the AL this year, we have the Angels, Tigers and Yankees winning the Divisions, with the A's and Rangers making the Wild card.

I definitely think I agree with you. The AL East is too tough, and I think the one the Red Sox has was simply in the heat of the moment. The definitely played well and deserved their title, but their is no way they can keep it up for another year especially after losing Ellsbury. Jackie Bradley is still young, and didn't really look all that good last year. Mike Napoli should have been moved back over to catcher, but instead they signed AJ Pierzynski who is really just average to me. With all the problems with A-Rod and friends, David Ortiz might try to stay off the juice for a little bit and if that happens he'll decline too, he's already thirty-eight years old. To make things tougher Ryan Dempster won't even be pitching this season as he's just decided to take the year off.

As for their bullpen, I love Koji Uehara. I hope he has a great year as a closer and keeps the job because I have him on my team, but the fact of the matter is he's going to be 39 years old after April 3rd. I just don't think he's going to have the same amount of zip on his fastball as he did in 2013. Koji had a great year, and the Red Sox really lucked out because had he not been there, then there is no way they even go as far as they did. After losing Hanrahan and Bailey the Red Sox looked hopeless, but Uehara saved the day. He was a huge factor in their 2013 season. Though I have a feeling that you can't get any higher than Koji did last year, and after that there's only one other direction to go and that is down.

The Yankees stacked up big time. They took out their wallets and they bought a baseball team. They are in it to win it this year, and if they don't take the World Series back this year then they'll consider it a failure of a season. I hope they don't win that division this year, but the fact of the matter is they're loaded. Their outfield is boss with Beltran and Ellsbury. They've got McCann at catcher, and Soriano at DH. Not to mention their bullpen is in pretty good shape too, as David Robertson will be taking over for Rivera. How he plays is sort of up in the air but I think he's going to do just fine. However if he goes out, with Shawn Kelley and Matt Thorton in the setup roles I think they may have closer problems. Then their pitching rotation, CC Sabathia lost a ton of weight. He looks like a new man, and I think it's going to show on the mound. He's going to have a nice bounce back season after doing not so well last year. With Hiroki Kuroda also in the rotation they're left in good shape. The Yankees are definitely in a good position to take back the AL East this year.

 

[CH David]

The White Sox were shit last year, and Rick Hahn went younger. The youth movement began with getting Avisail Garcia as the (White Sox) centerpiece of the three team deal with the Tigers and Red Sox for Peavy. Then getting super utility Leury Garcia from Texas. Then in the offseason signing Jose Abreu, trading for Adam Eaton and Matt Davidson, trading from a position of strength I might add, plus the additions of Mitchell Boggs, Scott Downs, Felipe Paulino. Hahn had a very good winter.

I'm not saying this team will completely turn it around, worst to first situation. There's still work to be done, catching needs to be addressed, or Flowers/Phegley need to step up and own that spot. The young guys need to prove that they belong. Eaton, Abreu, Garcia, Erik Johnson, and so on. If they can do that this year I'll be ecstatic.

The pitching staff. Sale is the ace, and Jose Quintana is a fine #2. John Danks is going to try and be his former self 18 months after surgery. Hopefully he can. Peavy did after experimental surgery! I digress. Erik Johnson and Felipe Paulino are penciled in as the 4 and 5 guys, and I'm fairly certain they will be the ones to round out the rotation if they, Paulino in particular, stay healthy. Questions in the rotation that will be answered. I'm overly optimistic that they will perform well, last year collectively they had an ERA under 4. Solid for a team that lost 99 games.

Bullpen will have a solid mix of veterans and young guys. Add some experience to a pen that was very inexperienced last year. Rick Hahn's plan to sign groundball type pitchers to pitch in US Cellular Field is a good idea. It's a hitter's park and during the summer fly balls can go a long way.

Lastly, it is Paul Konerko's last year. The MLB spotlight will be on Jeter, and for good reason. But PK has quietly gone about his business, been a very good hitter over the years. Quiet 400 HRs with the White Sox. He's not a HOFer, certainly a Hall of Very Good candidate. PK coming back puts the bench at a bit of a disadvantage since he will platoon with Dunn and spell Abreu every once in a while, but the Captain's last season will be special for me.

I don't expect this team to fight for a playoff spot. At least not right now. There are too many unknowns on the team. But that makes it exciting to me and other Sox fans. I'd much rather find out what young guys can do rather than hope old guys don't show their age and possibly still suck. Hoping for a 72 win season or better. The young kids showing they belong is my key to the season and beyond.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

The AL East is not the toughest division. That'd be the AL West. The Yankees are overrated, they over performed last year due to their ridiculous record in 1-run games (because of Rivera who they no longer have). The AL West has 4 playoff contenders and 1 awful, awful team that will in time become a powerhouse. The AL East has 2 contenders, 2 pretenders (BAL and NYY), and one bad team.

Predictions from me so far:
Cardinals win the world series, they're just ridiculously deep in every possible way (youth, vets, pitching, bullpen, every position, bench).

Yankees miss the playoffs. Too old and over performed last year.


As a Braves fan, I liked what I saw this offseason from the Phillies continuing their path of delusion and Atlanta locking in their young talent. Nervous about the Nationals getting Fister for practically nothing though.

 

[Akhilleus]

So spring training starts today, and I am pumped up. Anyone going to be watching any games this afternoon? I'll be paying attention to Dodgers vs Diamondbacks and Yankees vs Pirates. It's funny that some teams have their aces pitching this first game, and others don't. I wonder what the reasoning is behind some of that.

The Yankees have Ivan Nova set to pitch this afternoon, but I would have loved to see them put Tanaka out there. Tanaka is actually not scheduled to pitch until this Saturday against the Phillies.

 

[Akhilleus]

I'm not sure how it's looking for Atlanta pitcher Kris Medlen. He's a big name, and now he could be hurt once again. He's already had Tommy John surgery, but the team fears that there could be another problem. It's been confirmed that there is ligament damage, and they're going to be having Dr. James Andrews (the doctor who did the surgery on Medlen and many others) have a look at it. So there's not a lot confirmed, but it's a small possibility that Medlen could be out for the year. Actually if he has to get TJ surgery again, then you might as well call it a career because there's no easy way to come back from two Tommy john surgeries. One is hard enough. Best case for the Braves though is they shut Medlen down for spring training, that is a given to happen.

 

[therockiswwf]

And the Tigers are done. Rondon is now out as well as Iglesias. I will never understand why they waited so long to try to get a closer and an actual bullpen. I think their window is closed as they will not have the bat power or the bullpen to be great for awhile. Everyone says Dombrowski is a genius but how could he not even try to fix such a glaring bullpen problem for years? I'm truly baffled.

I can't believe I have to watch another season of Phil Coke being important.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

And the Tigers are done. Rondon is now out as well as Iglesias. I will never understand why they waited so long to try to get a closer and an actual bullpen. I think their window is closed as they will not have the bat power or the bullpen to be great for awhile. Everyone says Dombrowski is a genius but how could he not even try to fix such a glaring bullpen problem for years? I'm truly baffled.

I can't believe I have to watch another season of Phil Coke being important.

The AL Central is pretty weak. Don't worry about the Royals. Your rotation goes deep enough that you don't have to have the 2011 Atlanta Braves bullpen to win the division. You still have Miggy.

Dombrowski doesn't spend on bullpen help because bullpen pitchers are fickle and at the end of the day, you're paying for 40-80 innings. That's not worth multi million dollars.

 

[therockiswwf]

The Tigers would have a world series with a bullpen. Their bullpen is so bad it can't hold leads. That's the problem, most of their bullpen is awful. They need at least a decent bullpen. Plus each year their power is decreasing (due to guys getting older/leaving/trading). I do believe their window to win a world series with this core of players is gone. They are good enough to reach the playoffs but not good enough to win them anymore.

 

[Akhilleus]

They had Bruce Rondon set to come up and be awesome in there, but now he's out for the year and that's a HUGE setbeck for all of them. They've got Joe Nathan though who isn't awful, but yeah their bullpen is trash. The thing about the Tigers though is they want to stay in contention, and they're going to make whatever moves they need to in order to do that. I'm expecting them to trade up for some bullpen support around the all star break, maybe even sooner.

They also lost their shortstop for the year too. They traded for that Alex Gonzalez guy, who's an up and coming prospect, but he hasn't proven jack and could end up blowing chunks in there.

Luckily for them though their starting rotation is stacked, that may get them through the season enough to contend if they make the right moves at the right times.

 

[Megatron]

The Tigers would have a world series with a bullpen. Their bullpen is so bad it can't hold leads. That's the problem, most of their bullpen is awful. They need at least a decent bullpen. Plus each year their power is decreasing (due to guys getting older/leaving/trading). I do believe their window to win a world series with this core of players is gone. They are good enough to reach the playoffs but not good enough to win them anymore.

Last year their bullpen was 13th in WAR and in FIP. Not bad. The Red Sox were 4th in WAR and 12th in FIP (the Tigers WAR isn't as high because their bullpen threw the least amount of innings last year and WAR is a counting stat). They were 12th in WAR in 2012 and 17th in FIP. Again, average. The Giants that year were 11th in FIP and 26th in WAR. And they won the World Series.

Spending great amounts on a bullpen usually isn't a great idea. They went out and got Nathan and Joba (although I question him being used in a high leverage role before really proving anything) and the rest of the guys should fill in the holes with Al Al, Krol (who will likely get the first shot to be the LOOGY - Coke's spot). Then if Reed/Putkonen can have a mini-breakout/luck (a lot of bullpen success varies year to year) or someone in the minors can help out (Crosby, Lobstein if they want him to move from SP, etc.).

Their pen was shaky at times and they still won the division and were only a few breaks from making another World Series. Once you get into the playoffs, it's about luck getting to the WS. The 2013 and 2011 teams were better than the 2012 team but which one went to the World Series again? As long as they can get to the playoffs I like their chances against anyone.

They also lost their shortstop for the year too. They traded for that Alex Gonzalez guy, who's an up and coming prospect, but he hasn't proven jack and could end up blowing chunks in there.

Luckily for them though their starting rotation is stacked, that may get them through the season enough to contend if they make the right moves at the right times.

Gonzalez is 37 years old. He's not a prospect. Andy Romine and him will platoon to start, and I'd guess they're just going to try to ride the hot bat all season. The SS, no matter who they have, will be a tire fire offensively. They just need some solid glovework (not Iglesias like but at the very least worthy of starting a few games in a row) and a few timely hits.

And I agree I expect DD to make a move or two for a bullpen guy in July. Mainly because that's what he does and because they will likely need some help eventually. Could see him signing Stephen Drew if he's still around in June once his pick compensation is gone. Still the heavy favorites in the division though. Solid lineup (not as much pop but will run much more often) and strong staff will keep them at the top of the Central.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Can anyone tell me why the Tigers traded Prince Fielder? I thought they were thrilled with he and Cabrera protecting each other at the plate....and that Fielder's power hitting ability was so terrific that they thought they had found their first baseman for the next decade, given Prince's youth.

It wasn't the incredible salary Prince was getting, was it? After all, they knew about that when they signed him, no?

 

[Thriller Ant]

Can anyone tell me why the Tigers traded Prince Fielder? I thought they were thrilled with he and Cabrera protecting each other at the plate....and that Fielder's power hitting ability was so terrific that they thought they had found their first baseman for the next decade, given Prince's youth.

It wasn't the incredible salary Prince was getting, was it? After all, they knew about that when they signed him, no?

From what I've read, salary was a big part. In addition, the Tigers had three 1B/DH players on the roster: Fielder, Cabrera, and Victor Martinez. You obviously aren't going to trade the second best player in baseball and Martinez, while not really as good as Fielder, is more than capable of starting in whichever position Cabrera isn't on that day. Fangraphs has also done research lately showing that bigger guys, such as Fielder, do not age well. Put it all together, and Detroit had plenty of motivation to trade Prince.

 

[Akhilleus]

Yeah that's what I was saying, the big salary they signed the guy to before. They couldn't keep up with it apparently. But then they go and give Miguel Cabrera some gross huge 8 year contract where they'll be paying the guy $50 million dollars when he's 40 years old, so I really don't understand what they did with that.

Gonzalez is 37 years old. He's not a prospect.

Yeah I know, lol I noticed I said that later on. I keep getting him and Alex Guerrero mixed up for whatever reason. I'm sure they'd much rather have Guerrero.

 

[smizzy]

Man. Albert finally hit number 500. As a Cardinals fan it's bittersweet. Truly wish it happened in our uniform but ecstatic for Albert to finally accomplish it.

 

[Thriller Ant]

Man. Albert finally hit number 500. As a Cardinals fan it's bittersweet. Truly wish it happened in our uniform but ecstatic for Albert to finally accomplish it.

At the risk of sounding like an ass, the fact that he hasn't been ALBERT PUJOLS since he went to Anaheim made the whole deal hurt a lot less. Especially now that time has passed, I can really appreciate how lucky we were to have him. I'm very happy for Albert and hopefully he has a few good years left in him, unless he's playing the Cardinals.

 

[Megatron]

With everyone 20+ games in, there's a few pleasant surprises to notice. Milwaukee is the most obvious with a 17-6 record that's best in baseball. Thought as a potential sleeper by some (due to their offense of Gomez, Braun, Segura, etc.) it's been their pitching that's carried the load. The Mets have also treaded above water so far, and the Rockies as well with Troy Tulowitzki keeping his "Best SS in the League when healthy" tag.

For disappointments, the Mariners are probably the clubhouse leader with their still porous offense and maybe Tampa Bay/Boston for slumping around below .500 at the moment.

 

[Akhilleus]

So what does everyone think of Masahiro Tanaka at this point? I tried my hardest to get him in my keeper league, but the guy wanted too much for him. He wanted Felix Hernandez back, and I love Felix. I couldn't give him up. But I would've loved to have him, and he's been killing it lately in there for the Yankees. I know a lot of people think he's the real deal, and I think he definitely might be a true ace, but the way he's pitching now he's been unstoppable.

Here's the thing I don't like though. Yeah he was dominant in Japan, but he also went out and pitched eight or nine innings every start. That adds a lot of wear and tear down. And besides I also think that with him being a new pitcher in the league, it's going to take some time for batters to get to know him and everything he's doing. We're still in the first stretch of the season, and I think he's going to cool down.

At least that's the pitch I made when I tried to trade for the guy. I'd love to have him though. I already bought his jersey, and even if he's not on my team he's sort of become one of my favorite pitchers. I think I actually drafted him in the Wrestlezone league that I set up here, but I haven't paid attention to that league too much unfortunately.

 

[Paul Bunyan's Axe]

Tanaka has been great, but as you said, it could decline. The longer he's in the league, at some point he'll reach the point where he isn't playing out of his mind like he is now. However, I think he'll be a good pitcher, for possibly a good amount of time.

As far as him pitching late a lot, I'm not questioning his durability too much. In Japan, there were games where he threw over 160 pitches, and he always got a lot of pitches per game there as well.

 

[Jete24]

Tanaka has been incredible. He has a ridiculous splitter, paired together with a good fastball and a wipeout slider, and a solid change up as his fourth offering. He pitches deep into games and is among the league leaders in almost every pitching category so far. I definetely thought he'd be good before the season started, but not this good. He'll decline a bit, but the Yanks have no doubt found their ace for years to come.

I don't think workload will be an issue. It looks like he's adapted to the whole pitch every 5th day thing, and Girardis only been limiting him to max 120 pitches per game. I think he'll be fine in that regard.

 

[hatehabsforever]

Well that was the craziest umpire decision I think I've ever seen. Edwin Encarnacion on first base when a pop fly happens in the direction of the first baseman. First baseman backs into the base runner, with incidental contact between the two, but he still easily makes the catch. The umpires call the hitter out due to the fly ball being caught, but also calls out Encarnacion for interference. Both guys called out. Even though there was no interference in the play, the contact was unintentional and if anything was the fault of the first baseman.

The umpires converge and overturn the call. Sort of. Encarnacion remains out due to interference, but the hitter is awarded first base. I guess the play is dead due to interference, but for the life of me, I cannot understand why when all is said and done, there is one out on the play, but the base runners get switched. Weird.

 

[Bagpipes]

Seems a return to mediocrity is imminent for the Pirates.