MLB Off-season Thread

[MarvinisaLunatic]

I apparently missed somewhere last week when Aubrey Huff was on Bubba the Love Sponge and talked about baseball..and apparently he called Baltimore "A Horseshit town".

 

So essentially neither player in the "he sucks to much to be fulltime first baseman" the Os have really wants to be in Baltimore, as Kevin Millar was seen rooting for the Red Sox on national television. And of course neither would probably be playing as much on any other team cause they both stink, but thats not really the issue.

 

and O's fans wonder why the organization is absolutely in shambles..Id say most of the players dont even wanna be there either.

 

 

[Guest Pizza Hut's Game Face]

Dude, it's Baltimore.

[snuffbox]

Thay want to see their kids grow up.

[Guest Smues]

C.C. Sabathia is YOUR 2007 American League Cy Young award winner.

[naiwf]

http://www.baseballwriters.org/awards/2007/2007_AL_cy.html

 

It wasn't even that close. I'm not sure what the guy who didn't have C.C. on his ballot was watching this past year.

[Cheech Tremendous]

I am a huge Red Sox homer and even I consider this the right call. The numbers were damn close, but Sabathia pitched 40 more innings. That's huge.

 

I can't believe that CC was left off one ballot and Beckett off of two. What the hell were they watching this year?

[devo]

The Yankees have apparently offered Mariano Rivera a deal at three years, forty-five million.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/13/sports/b...amp;oref=slogin

 

Hot damn. Guess they have the money, but I'd be hesitant to give Rivera such a generous offer after his declined performance last year.

 

Edit: Also, the Twins get Craig Monroe from the Cubs for a player to be named later.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/press_releases/pre...sp&c_id=min

 

 

 

[Boon]

The Yankees have apparently offered Mariano Rivera a deal at three years, forty-five million.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/13/sports/b...amp;oref=slogin

 

Hot damn. Guess they have the money, but I'd be hesitant to give Rivera such a generous offer after his declined performance last year.

That's absurd, even for the Yankees.

 

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

Rivera's ERA was 2.26 after May 1. Take out the last game he pitched and it's 1.87. Rivera's peripherals were actually better this year than last year.

[Cheech Tremendous]

The Yankees have apparently offered Mariano Rivera a deal at three years, forty-five million.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/13/sports/b...amp;oref=slogin

 

Hot damn. Guess they have the money, but I'd be hesitant to give Rivera such a generous offer after his declined performance last year.

 

What decline? Mariano was as good last year as he's ever been. He's going to decline eventually, but I'm not event that sure it will happen in the next three years.

[Brett Favre]

I don't mind. It's only 3 years and he's still nasty.

 

The four years for Posada I don't like so much. I rather give him more money than years.

[Cheech Tremendous]

http://www.baseballwriters.org/awards/2007/2007_AL_cy.html

 

It wasn't even that close. I'm not sure what the guy who didn't have C.C. on his ballot was watching this past year.

 

 

You know what's ironic about CC winning the Cy Young? The 40 extra innings he pitched burned him out and probably cost the Indians a chance at the World Series and winning the award probably made it cost prohibitive for the Indians to resign him next year.

[Brett Favre]

He pitched well in his third game, second one against the Red Sox. If it had been against someone other than Beckett, they would've won.

[King Kamala]

Dude, it's Baltimore.

 

I like Baltimore. Touristy parts I've been to, at least. Haven't ventured too far outside on my visits there. Didn't want to end up in a real life version of The Wire. Course the enjoyable times I've had in Baltimore don't mean I want to read Marvin's musings on their sports teams.

 

I will say though (just to add something mildly baseball related to the post) that the Os have slowly come to overtake The Devil Rays as the AL East's most inept organization.

 

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

I don't mind. It's only 3 years and he's still nasty.

 

The four years for Posada I don't like so much. I rather give him more money than years.

Why sweat the years? He might make an expensive backup, but he's a franchise guy at this point.

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

Dude, it's Baltimore.

 

I like Baltimore. Touristy parts I've been to, at least. Haven't ventured too far outside on my visits there. Didn't want to end up in a real life version of The Wire. Course the enjoyable times I've had in Baltimore don't mean I want to read Marvin's musings on their sports teams.

 

I will say though (just to add something mildly baseball related to the post) that the Os have slowly come to overtake The Devil Rays as the AL East's most inept organization.

Agreed about the city. The shame is that NO city in the world supported a non-MLB team like Baltimore did. It's one of the great baseball cities, and they deserve better.

[Boon]

Anybody else hearing the trade offers for Johan?

 

Apparently the Yankees are willing to part with Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera and Philip Hughes, while the Red Sox are offering Clay Buchholz, Jon Lester and Jacoby Ellsbury.

 

Looking for a credible source other than WEEI on this.

[Brett Favre]

Hellll no. That's probably what the Twins want. Both teams are giving up a shitload.

[Boon]

Yeah. I'm hoping I heard that wrong. Talk about a king's ransom.

[Guest scooter3230]

I thought C. C. would win but i thought it would be a closer race between him and Beckett and Carmona and that Carmona would get more consideration too

 

Unfortunately for the Indians the Cy Young will likely drive C. C.'s value up and make it harder for them to sign him to an extention this offseason or even sign him next offseason when he's a FA.

 

Also the idiot who gave Lackey a first place vote should lose his voting rights.

[Cheech Tremendous]

Anybody else hearing the trade offers for Johan?

 

Apparently the Yankees are willing to part with Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera and Philip Hughes, while the Red Sox are offering Clay Buchholz, Jon Lester and Jacoby Ellsbury.

 

Looking for a credible source other than WEEI on this.

 

 

I'd give up Buchholz, Ellsbury and another top prospect (Lowrie?) for Santana, but would probably balk at the inclusion of Lester.

 

Earlier in the offseason, I thought the Yankees should offer up Cano, Wang, Melky and Kennedy for Santana and Nathan. That'd give them their ace starter and Rivera replacement while allowing them an opportunity to fix their up the middle problems. I don't think it's that realistic though.

[Brett Favre]

Cano should be untouchable at this point. He's a good defensive 2nd baseman, and he's arguably the best hitting 2nd baseman in baseball (2 years ago Cano was better than Utley, and he's younger).

[Cheech Tremendous]

Also the idiot who gave Lackey a first place vote should lose his voting rights.

 

Lackey led the league in ERA and park adjusted ERA. He beat Beckett in VORP and posted a better strikeout rate as well while pitching almost 24 more innings. I wouldn't have voted him first, but I don't think it was terrible enough to question his right to vote.

 

Let's save that hyperbole for the NL MVP vote, which is going to be an absolute mess.

[Cheech Tremendous]

Cano should be untouchable at this point. He's a good defensive 2nd baseman, and he's arguably the best hitting 2nd baseman in baseball (2 years ago Cano was better than Utley, and he's younger).

 

 

Nobody in baseball is untouchable, especially when Johan Santana is on the return end.

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

I would not hesitate to give up any pitcher for Santana. If Lester reaches the peak of his potential, he's still not Santana.

[Cheech Tremendous]

I would not hesitate to give up any pitcher for Santana. If Lester reaches the peak of his potential, he's still not Santana.

 

 

I'd give up Lester in a heartbeat for Santana, but that's not the issue. It's giving up Buchholz, Ellsbury AND Lester that I find hard to stomach. That's three premium, cost-controlled players with major league experience for a pitcher about to reach free agency.

[Cartman]

I'm sure what he meant was Buchholz being the far better of the two he wouldn't give up BOTH he and Lester plus their starting Center Fielder next year for Santana.

 

That being said, I would. It IS Johan Freakin' Santana.

[Cheech Tremendous]

My Vote - and Cy Young - Goes to Sabathia

C.C. Sabathia captured his first Cy Young Award today - and I couldn't be happier.

 

That's because this year marked my first time as a BBWAA voter, and I had the American League Cy Young as my vote. I put Sabathia first on my ballot, and 18 of the other 27 voters agreed with me, handing the Cleveland ace the award. Sabathia also got eight second-place votes and was left off one ballot.

 

Josh Beckett finished second, getting eight first-place votes, 14 second-place votes and four third-place votes. Beckett was left off two ballots – including mine. (USA Today's Jorge Ortiz was the other)

 

Now before you start screaming about New York bias, let me explain. Beckett had 20 wins. I voted for Sabathia-John Lackey-Fausto Carmona as my three choices.

 

All three of those pitchers had 19 wins, which is only one behind Beckett. Wins are probably the stat that starting pitchers have the least control over, so I don't hold that against them. They all had better overall numbers than Beckett, including ERA (Lackey and Carmona were 1-2 in the league), and after analyzing the numbers, I decided Beckett was fourth on my three-man ballot.

 

Quality starts is a great stat, one which does a good job of representing how often a pitcher gives his team a solid chance to win. If you throw six-plus innings and allow three runs or less, you've done your job.

 

Beckett had 20 quality starts out of his 30 starts, 67 percent. Sabathia had 25 out of 34 (74%), Lackey had 24 out of 33 (73%), while Carmona had 26 out of 32 (81%). To me, that's a big difference. Essentially, one out of every three of Beckett's starts didn't register as quality.

 

In addition, I had a chance to see Beckett pitch four times this year in person, and in three of those starts, he pitched poorly. In his final start against the Yankees, Beckett destroyed them, but that was the only time this year he pitched well against New York. Sabathia became the first pitcher ever to beat Johan Santana three times in a season. In the regular-season, Sabathia was a better big-game pitcher.

 

Had I been allowed to vote at the end of the World Series, Beckett would have been first and I wouldn't have voted anybody second or third, because nobody belonged on the same ballot with the guy who dominated October. But my vote was due the day after the regular season ended, which turned out to be a good thing for Sabathia.

 

Small sample size, anyone? By the way, this just proves what I've always though about these awards. The ones voting put far less thought into them than I do.

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

It actually sounds like this voter put in far more thought than most voters. He recognized the team bias in win totals, looked at quality starts and probably some other statistics. The bolded part is incidental information. Most voters look at wins or RBIs and have done with it.

[Jorge Gorgeous]

Small sample size, anyone? By the way, this just proves what I've always though about these awards. The ones voting put far less thought into them than I do.

 

Did you even read all that stuff above the part you bolded? Because it does a pretty good job of explaining his thinking. Your argument is like watching the last 20 minutes of Star Wars and getting mad because "Who the fuck is this huge black robot with the Mufasa voice?"