This Week In Baseball: 5/12-5/18

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

Jay Bruce is hitting .366 with 9 doubles, 5 triples, 8 home runs, 33 RBI's, with a on base perc. of .398, slugging .662 and OPSing 1.060 in AAA

 

oh, and he has 7 stolen bases too

 

 

Walt Jocketty said in a meeting with writers today that there is no place for Bruce due to the number of strong hitting left handed outfielders on the reds. I will personally drive Griffey's old ass to Seattle if that's what it takes. I swear to god if Bruce sits in AAA all year while I have to see Dunn hit .203 and Griffey hit .250 I will go down the stadium and start snipering people.

 

I echo the frustration with Bruce. I'm getting quite tired of seeing the strikeout show that is Adam Dunn game in and game out and I echo the sentiment that Griffey needs to be dealt away as the tread wore off of those tires a long time ago due to injuries. Pains me to say it because I'm a big Griffey mark but his time has passed and new blood needs to come to this organization that can build for the future.

[MFer 0]

Tigers are just killing me right now...for once, they get a good pitching performance, and they can't score any fucking runs (especially with runners in scoring position; this was a major problem at times last year as well).

[Guest Desensitized]

That map is a little generous to the White Sox, Marlins, Rays, and Rangers, I feel. At least vivalaultra proves the existence of Astros fans. I don't think anybody cares about the Texas Rangers. I think it must've grown out of delineating Cubs/Cardinals and/or Yankees/Red Sox, but there wasn't enough to the premise to extrapolate it across all thirty teams. The Rockies are a road team against anyone remotely popular.

[Dandy 0]

They do in DFW!

[Guest Desensitized]

Got me there. DFW FTW, evidently.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Expect Dunn to be gone before the deadline, though.

Haven't we been expecting it before every trade deadline the last three or four seasons?

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

I dont know if its live or not (?) but Saturday MASN is showing a Norfolk/Lehigh Valley AAA game at 2pm. I know Norfolk lost to them the other night..ha

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Hollywood Edmonds is a Cub. I hope he crash and burns.

[Guest Desensitized]

I hope he produces and helps win games. I can't root against anyone on the team.

 

This is for you, Marvin. No. This is for the world.

Orioles Magic 2008

Uploaded by gatecitycanes

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Well, the bad taste in my mouth from seeing the Brewers lose at Miller Park last night has been completely washed away by the fact that the Brewers just announced they have signed Ryan Braun to an 8 year, $45 million deal, which buys out two years of free agency.

 

I understand, reading from the message boards, it could reach 51 million with incentives (or more accurately if he reaches Super 2 status)...even so, that's a steal for the Brewers.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

That map is a little generous to the White Sox, Marlins, Rays, and Rangers, I feel. At least vivalaultra proves the existence of Astros fans. I don't think anybody cares about the Texas Rangers. I think it must've grown out of delineating Cubs/Cardinals and/or Yankees/Red Sox, but there wasn't enough to the premise to extrapolate it across all thirty teams. The Rockies are a road team against anyone remotely popular.

Consider how much of that is open space in Texas. I think it shows well what teams have strong secondary markets and which do not.

 

Before the '93 expansion, the Royals used to claim the entire area from Kansas City west to the Rockie Mountains.

 

Expect Dunn to be gone before the deadline, though.

Haven't we been expecting it before every trade deadline the last three or four seasons?

This year Dunn is a free agent following the season, no club option or anything.

[Guest Desensitized]

What a strange signing for the Brewers. They would've been better off pawning him off to the American League where he won't have to field a baseball, which would net lots of talent and open up left for Matt LaPorta (who also cannot field a baseball). If the Kosher Butcher is here to stay, then Boras client Prince Fielder's days are numbered.

 

Consider how much of that is open space in Texas. I think it shows well what teams have strong secondary markets and which do not.

 

Before the '93 expansion, the Royals used to claim the entire area from Kansas City west to the Rockie Mountains.

I was amused that the Cubs seem to have lost all of their metropolitan area to the White Sox (false), but whoo! We got Iowa!

[Dobbs 3K 0]

What a strange signing for the Brewers. They would've been better off pawning him off to the American League where he won't have to field a baseball, which would net lots of talent and open up left for Matt LaPorta (who also cannot field a baseball). If the Kosher Butcher is here to stay, then Boras client Prince Fielder's days are numbered.

 

Strange signing? You're nuts. I'm sure "pawning him off to the AL" would be a Cubs or Cards fan's wet dream, but that's not gonna happen. Braun had one of the best rookie seasons ever...well, at least since Albert Pujols. Braun isn't that bad in the outfield, and he's getting better. Really, if you want to discuss defense, Rickie Weeks is the butcher with the glove, not Braun. The guy is an athlete, and can hit for average and power. I think a big part of this is that it gives the Brewers some cost certainty moving forward as well.

 

I don't think it's any secret that Fielder's days are relatively numbered. Boras won't let him sign a deal similar to Braun's. I could see them getting Corey Hart locked up down the road, though.

[Smartly Pretty 0]

Mike Pelfrey, guys.

[NYU 0]

Pelfrey's pitching an excellent game, yet the Mets have only gotten three hits and no runs off Bergmann with his sterling 7.85 ERA.

[NYU 0]

For the record Smartly Pretty, I blame you for posting about Pelfrey and he immediately gave up his first hit of the game.

[Smartly Pretty 0]

Ugh, damnit. I think I jinxed it. Howie Rose just gave us the exact number of games it's been, but still no Mets no hitters.

[NYU 0]

I should abuse my AWESOME MOD POWERS and send you to the Gulag!

 

But I won't.

[Guest Desensitized]

Right now, the National League is better than the American League. Am I correct in this assessment?

[Bruiser Chong 0]

If nothing else, they've got more homers than the league that lets its teams have a guy in the lineup whose job is strictly limited to hitting.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

I hope he produces and helps win games. I can't root against anyone on the team.

Oh, please. The sooner this colossal mistake is exposed, the better for the team. Any success Edmonds finds is going to give Hendry the idea he made a good decision. On top of that, it'll only further stunt the development of Felix Pie. I know I come off like a Pie fanboy here, but it's discouraging to see that the organization is so hellbent on preventing him from getting a real chance. At this point, he's a better hitter than Edmonds and has MUCH more defensive range. Let's not hang our hats on what Edmonds used to be. Otherwise, the Cubs should go sign Ray Lankford, too. I know you aren't defending the signing itself, but I can't in good faith hope he does anything positive for the team.

 

And so far, he's off to a great start. One-for-four with SEVEN runners left on base. I hear his last at-bat with the bags full where he struck out was particularly ugly.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

I forgot to mention they're already booing him. Good.

[Guest Desensitized]

I hated Jim Edmonds when he wore a red hat, but I don't see the point in wanting him to fail in a blue hat. I'd prefer that whoever comprises the lineup excels. I don't particularly like this signing, but it's low-risk, and I just hope they get some production out of him. It's not as if Pie is very good, by the way.

 

I can't in good faith hope he does anything positive for the team.

This is stupid. You have to hope that even the worst players on the roster are able to do positive things.

 

Dempster has eleven strikeouts. I can't tell if this rotation is any good or not!

[sfaJack 0]

It's not as if Pie is very good, by the way.

But how do you know if Pie is any good unless you play him??? We've been hearing about the kid's potential for three years now--LET'S SEE IT. At his absolute worst, he'll probably give you about what Edmonds is going to, so why not play him and see what happens?

 

The Cubs have scored more runs than any team in baseball so clearly the Johnson/Pie platoon isn't killing them. Why not let this pitching staff benefit from Pie's defense, if nothing else? Anybody who thinks that Edmonds has it over Pie there needs their head examined.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

How are we ever going to find out if he's good or not? He's been allowed to play just ELEVEN of the team's games the whole way through this year. And we're talking about a guy who had allegedly won the spot in ST.

 

It's idiotic to give the guy the shaft on the basis of his sub-par performance in a small fraction of the team's games. Especially if your alternative is hitting even worse and has much more limited range defensively. I know you're all about the vanilla fuckers like Ryan Theriot and don't want to give guys like Pie and Cedeno a shot, but don't be blind about the specifics here.

[devo 0]

Today's game made me embarrassed to be a Mets fan.

 

Dropped three out of four to Washington at home. Not a single run off of Jason fucking Bergmann. Jesus Christ.

[Guest]

Andruw Jones hit a homer today. This is quite possibly a season-changing event.

[Annabelle 0]

tigers swept by the royals again.

 

is it maybe time to fire jim leyland?

 

probably not. he'll quit in two weeks.

 

but this is their fault. their starting pitching is awful. i am totally fine with the bullpen. but the starting pitching is killing them. k-i-l-l-i-n-g them.

[strummer 0]

It's like old times at Shea as Billy Wagner went over management's head to ownership to make sure Joe Smith was not sent down. Minaya wanted to send down Smith and keep Jorga Sosa (who was DFA'd) Of course Wagner was right but it's the same old shit Leiter and Franco pulled.

 

This should be a real fun rest of the season.

 

Wagner snapped at the press post game and went to the "The Latin players can speak English too" deal

[vivalaultra 0]

Lance Berkman just hit a homerun in the 9th to give the 'Stros an 8-7 lead against the Giants in a game in which they trailed 6-0 after 3 innings. This Astros' offense is scary good, especially Berkman. He's batting .604 in the month of May and leads the ML in HRs (15), doubles (16), total bases (122), runs (45), OPS (1.31), and extra base hits (32); he's 2nd in average and 3rd in OBP. He's also in the top 20 with 7 SBs. It's especially encouraging to see him off to such a good start after his crappy start last year.