MLB Off-season Thread

[CanadianChris 0]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3123200

 

 

You know as a Twins fan, seeing Torii land in Anaheim is a 100% relief over Chicago,but im DISGUSTED by this guy. He was on a local sports talk radio show and said even if the Twins offered 5/75mill it wouldnt be enough and then he takes 5/80 mill from LA??

 

That just eats at my soul, AGAIN i watch a important part of a Minnestoa team lose to free agenacy.

 

Oh and not too mention Torii saying no more then 48 hoursago he wanted to waittil next week to decide on this..........Happy Thanksgiving!!

I didn't expect anything different -- there just seems to be an attitude in that clubhouse that the front office doesn't care about winning, and the players willing to bolt at the first opportunity.

[Brett Favre 0]

C.J Henry is a Yankee again. Once he got contacts he batted like .300.

[the pinjockey 0]

Taken from a Phillies board:

C.J. did hit .333 in August (51 ABs) but with a Babip of .472 and no HRs. He then went 0-7 w/ 5 SO in Sept.

 

I think for now that has to be taken as a lucky aberation.

 

Oh, and fuck CJ Henry. Not that he was ever going to amount to anything, and the Phillies may have cut him anyway, but the bullshit he pulled with "oh I don't want to play anymore can I have my release to go play hoops? Thanks, hey Yankees I do want to play baseball". Here is to two blown ACLs and a Jason Kendall ankle special for this piece of trash.

[Guest RyechnaiaSobaka]

Taken from a Phillies board:

C.J. did hit .333 in August (51 ABs) but with a Babip of .472 and no HRs. He then went 0-7 w/ 5 SO in Sept.

 

I think for now that has to be taken as a lucky aberation.

 

Oh, and fuck CJ Henry. Not that he was ever going to amount to anything, and the Phillies may have cut him anyway, but the bullshit he pulled with "oh I don't want to play anymore can I have my release to go play hoops? Thanks, hey Yankees I do want to play baseball". Here is to two blown ACLs and a Jason Kendall ankle special for this piece of trash.

 

I'd say the Phillies fans could get their revenge by pelting him with batteries (see: Drew, J.D.) but that would require C.J. Henry to make it to the major leagues, something this garbage player will not achieve.

[mike546 0]

Joe Kennedy dead as the age of 28 per ESPN.

[Guest RyechnaiaSobaka]

Joe Kennedy dead as the age of 28 per ESPN.

 

Wow! That's terrible!

 

I rather liked Kennedy when he played for the A's, even though he wasn't necessarily all that good.

 

This is a shame.

[CanadianChris 0]

That's awful. I got to see him pitch a bit in September for Toronto. I was hopeful he could pick things up again.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Early speculation is that it was a brain aneurysm. My mother suffered one last year and was lucky enough to survive and eventually, regain most of the personality traits that made her, well, her before that.

 

My condolences.

[Guest RyechnaiaSobaka]

Early speculation is that it was a brain aneurysm. My mother suffered one last year and was lucky enough to survive and eventually, regain most of the personality traits that made her, well, her before that.

 

My condolences.

 

I hope they don't find this was related to the use of any performance-enhancing drugs.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Because of the massive amount of players that have dropped dead from brain aneurysms in their prime in the steroid era? Let's be reasonable.

[Guest RyechnaiaSobaka]

Because of the massive amount of players that have dropped dead from brain aneurysms in their prime in the steroid era? Let's be reasonable.

 

Choo-choo! Watch out, the logic train is coming and you seem to be stuck on the tracks!

 

(1) The cause of death is still as of yet undetermined. We don't know if it's something that is already found to affect those who have taken PEDs at a higher rate than the rest of the population.

 

(2) If he did die of an aneurysm and he had taken PEDs, it would be useful to study if there was any connection between the two. It obviously won't help him but the whole "You could drop dead at Thanksgiving dinner with your family" thing might also help to deter other people from taking them in the future.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I find it bothersome that PED speculation has to come up just because he passed away. Hundreds of ballplayers used performance enhancing drugs. How many of them died from their use. (Caminiti and others abused hard drugs.) There is no reason to suspect ballplayers are dying in their 20s from the use of PEDs. It's insulting that its suspected in any case.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Looks like Francisco Cordero is heading to the Reds...4 yrs, $46 million.

 

That's quite a bit of coin for a relief pitcher.

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

Looks like Francisco Cordero is heading to the Reds...4 yrs, $46 million.

 

That's quite a bit of coin for a relief pitcher.

 

Dusty Baker is looking forward to using him 100 times a year. Gotta keep his arm loose ya know.

[Hawk 34 0]

I'm happy and distraught at the same time.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Does Dusty overuse his relievers now too? Or are we just slighting him for everything we can think of now?

 

Great talent acquisition for the Reds. Lots of money but I'm not sweating dollar amounts at this stage.

[Guest RyechnaiaSobaka]

I find it bothersome that PED speculation has to come up just because he passed away. Hundreds of ballplayers used performance enhancing drugs. How many of them died from their use. (Caminiti and others abused hard drugs.) There is no reason to suspect ballplayers are dying in their 20s from the use of PEDs. It's insulting that its suspected in any case.

 

I don't suspect it. I'm hoping that it's not the case. I think there's a difference. I'm hoping a young man with his whole life ahead of him didn't do something to his body that led to this. That's all.

[Guest RyechnaiaSobaka]

Does Dusty overuse his relievers now too? Or are we just slighting him for everything we can think of now?

 

Great talent acquisition for the Reds. Lots of money but I'm not sweating dollar amounts at this stage.

 

David Weathers 2007: 7.9 H/9, 0.5 HR/9, 2.5 BB/9, 5.6 K/9

Francisco Cordero 2007: 7.4 H/9, 0.6 HR/9, 2.0 BB/9, 12.0 K/9

 

Fewer hits, fewer walks, and a lot more strikeouts. The difference in home runs is marginal, but the Great American Bandbox in Cincinnati is probably going to lead to that HR/9 rate increasing next year.

 

I think this was probably a good signing, but it won't amount to much because Dusty Baker's an idiot. He'll destroy their starting pitchers and he'll misuse Adam Dunn.

 

Why can't they just trade Dunn to a team that knows how to use a player like him? Thank goodness Nick Swisher is on the A's or else he might have ended up the same way.*

 

(* This unfortunately and perhaps incorrectly implies that he's not on the A's only because a limited number of teams would have been interested in someone who would hit .251 with 80 homers in a bit more than 3 seasons. Dunn has hit .248 with 238 homers in a little more than 6 seasons, but surely Scott Podsednik is a better left fielder. I mean, that dude can set a freakin' table.)

[Bruiser Chong 0]

How exactly does this signing address any of the Reds' more important needs? Their closer wasn't lights out, but he was hardly near the top of the team's problem list.

[Guest RyechnaiaSobaka]

How exactly does this signing address any of the Reds' more important needs? Their closer wasn't lights out, but he was hardly near the top of the team's problem list.

 

Well, what else do they need?

 

I think it would be nice if they could get another starting pitcher (for Dusty Baker to poop on! It's kind of like that dog puppet). I also think it would be nice if they had a shortstop. Keppinger played 47 games there last year, but I get the feeling he's maybe not as good as his major league numbers suggest. What do you think?

 

If Dusty Baker was going to give Joey Votto any sort of chance to be successful, they could be a pretty good team. It might depend a bit on whether Edwin Encarnacion plays like crap or not. But Brandon Phillips is a real good player in my opinion, Griffey can still contribute, I think Josh Hamilton is a way better story than HGH-addled Rick Ankiel, and of course you have Adam Dunn pounding the ball out of the park.

 

Who do you think they should have tried to get instead?

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

what FA closers are left? The O's need one..Im beginning to think we'll end up seeing D-Cab as the closer since he stinks as a consistant starter.

[Guest RyechnaiaSobaka]

what FA closers are left? The O's need one..Im beginning to think we'll end up seeing D-Cab as the closer since he stinks as a consistant starter.

 

What's the deal with Chris Ray? Is he out still?

 

I think the Orioles could try Bob Wickman or something. I think Jorge Julio is available if y'all wanna try that one again...

 

Seriously though. Armando Benitez? Keith Foulke (if he comes back)? Eric Gagne?

 

Jose Mesa? Chris Reitsma? Al Reyes? Arthur Rhodes? David Riske? Byung-Hyun Kim?

 

Kerry Wood would be a cool experiment. But yeah, it doesn't look so good.

 

(P.S. Not to be difficult about Cabrera, but he has a career 1.53 WHIP and a roughly 14/10 K/BB ratio. Not sure that's closer material.)

[Hawk 34 0]

How exactly does this signing address any of the Reds' more important needs? Their closer wasn't lights out, but he was hardly near the top of the team's problem list.

 

Well, what else do they need?

 

I think it would be nice if they could get another starting pitcher (for Dusty Baker to poop on! It's kind of like that dog puppet). I also think it would be nice if they had a shortstop. Keppinger played 47 games there last year, but I get the feeling he's maybe not as good as his major league numbers suggest. What do you think?

 

If Dusty Baker was going to give Joey Votto any sort of chance to be successful, they could be a pretty good team. It might depend a bit on whether Edwin Encarnacion plays like crap or not. But Brandon Phillips is a real good player in my opinion, Griffey can still contribute, I think Josh Hamilton is a way better story than HGH-addled Rick Ankiel, and of course you have Adam Dunn pounding the ball out of the park.

 

Who do you think they should have tried to get instead?

 

Starting pitching but that's pretty weak market right now. Cordero adds a strong arm to what was a pretty desolate bullpen last season. Weathers will still be there as a very solid set-up man for Cordero.

[Guest RyechnaiaSobaka]

How exactly does this signing address any of the Reds' more important needs? Their closer wasn't lights out, but he was hardly near the top of the team's problem list.

 

Well, what else do they need?

 

I think it would be nice if they could get another starting pitcher (for Dusty Baker to poop on! It's kind of like that dog puppet). I also think it would be nice if they had a shortstop. Keppinger played 47 games there last year, but I get the feeling he's maybe not as good as his major league numbers suggest. What do you think?

 

If Dusty Baker was going to give Joey Votto any sort of chance to be successful, they could be a pretty good team. It might depend a bit on whether Edwin Encarnacion plays like crap or not. But Brandon Phillips is a real good player in my opinion, Griffey can still contribute, I think Josh Hamilton is a way better story than HGH-addled Rick Ankiel, and of course you have Adam Dunn pounding the ball out of the park.

 

Who do you think they should have tried to get instead?

 

Starting pitching but that's pretty weak market right now. Cordero adds a strong arm to what was a pretty desolate bullpen last season. Weathers will still be there as a very solid set-up man for Cordero.

 

Or you could try to trade Weathers to a team that desperately needs a closer and ask for a starting pitcher in return.

[Hawk 34 0]

You won't get a quality starter for a set-up man.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I think Josh Hamilton is a way better story than HGH-addled Rick Ankiel

 

Yeah. Thank goodness Josh Hamilton doesn't have any drug use in HIS past.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

what FA closers are left? The O's need one..Im beginning to think we'll end up seeing D-Cab as the closer since he stinks as a consistant starter.

 

What's the deal with Chris Ray? Is he out still?

 

I think the Orioles could try Bob Wickman or something. I think Jorge Julio is available if y'all wanna try that one again...

 

Seriously though. Armando Benitez? Keith Foulke (if he comes back)? Eric Gagne?

 

Jose Mesa? Chris Reitsma? Al Reyes? Arthur Rhodes? David Riske? Byung-Hyun Kim?

 

Kerry Wood would be a cool experiment. But yeah, it doesn't look so good.

 

(P.S. Not to be difficult about Cabrera, but he has a career 1.53 WHIP and a roughly 14/10 K/BB ratio. Not sure that's closer material.)

Ray is out until 2009 after TJ surgery and I wouldnt count on him being the closer when he comes back. It doesn't look that good from the FA standpoint does it..? I dont think they'd have as much luck in house with someone as they did with Ray either, which is why Im thinking they go with Cabrera whether it makes sense or not.

 

Its funny cause Benitez, Mesa and Rhodes were all Os at one point and I dont think anyone is pining for their returns. Rhodes had the best run as an Oriole of the bunch though but thats not saying much, and it was a good 10 years ago at that.

[Guest RyechnaiaSobaka]

I think Josh Hamilton is a way better story than HGH-addled Rick Ankiel

 

Yeah. Thank goodness Josh Hamilton doesn't have any drug use in HIS past.

 

No, I think Hamilton is a better story BECAUSE Hamilton had major drug problems but overcame them and appears to have gotten his life back on track.

 

Ankiel, in contrast, was a head-case who came all the way back to the majors as an outfielder after that epic collapse as a pitcher, and then it turns out he was on HGH.

 

One player overcame drugs to achieve in the majors. Another one used them to achieve in the majors.

 

You don't see a difference?

[Guest RyechnaiaSobaka]

You won't get a quality starter for a set-up man.

 

They won't get a quality starter in any case because there are so few. But they might get a younger guy who can be serviceable. Realistically you have to look for a better pitcher than Bobby Livingston. I think they could get that for David Weathers. What do you think?

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I think Josh Hamilton is a way better story than HGH-addled Rick Ankiel

 

Yeah. Thank goodness Josh Hamilton doesn't have any drug use in HIS past.

 

No, I think Hamilton is a better story BECAUSE Hamilton had major drug problems but overcame them and appears to have gotten his life back on track.

 

Ankiel, in contrast, was a head-case who came all the way back to the majors as an outfielder after that epic collapse as a pitcher, and then it turns out he was on HGH.

 

One player overcame drugs to achieve in the majors. Another one used them to achieve in the majors.

 

You don't see a difference?

Ankiel used drugs three years ago. If he used them since, it's unproven. Of course he could still be on PEDs. And of course, Hamilton could still be a cocaine addict.