This Week in Baseball 9/8 - 9/14

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

This is a bad time for the Mets starting pitching to suddenly become lackluster. The Nationals offense is not this good that both Oliver Perez and Mike Pelfrey have gotten tripped up over the past two days.

I agree with this. The Phillies are slipping, the Mets need to step on their throats.

[devo 0]

Aaron Heilman has a BAA of .313 for left-handed hitters. He's brought in to face four in a row, the last of which hits a two-run homer to tie the game and erase a six run lead. Baffling.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Did Dave O'Brien really say that Mark Kotsay is the Red Sox' best defensive outfielder? I know that defensive evaluation is still somewhat subjective, and that Kotsay was pretty nifty before the back injury, but would anyone take his current D over Crisp, Ellsbury or Drew? That's such a retarded statement.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Theo Epstein visibly mouths "what the fuck?" on that call. I agree.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Did Dave O'Brien really say that Mark Kotsay is the Red Sox' best defensive outfielder? I know that defensive evaluation is still somewhat subjective, and that Kotsay was pretty nifty before the back injury, but would anyone take his current D over Crisp, Ellsbury or Drew? That's such a retarded statement.

He's better than Drew I think.

[devo 0]

Forty-one runs scored between the Mets and Nationals in their two game series. Not exactly what I was expecting going in.

 

Also, congrats to Reyes on breaking the Mets record for stolen bases.

 

Also also, Elijah Dukes is a nitwit. But that's nothing new.

[NYU 0]

Mets open up their biggest lead of the season and sit 3 and a half games over Philly. The offense has really been looking good, and it's nice to see Wright have a breakout night again going 4 for 4.

 

But, of course, if last season has shown us anything, there's still way too much baseball to be played.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Did Dave O'Brien really say that Mark Kotsay is the Red Sox' best defensive outfielder? I know that defensive evaluation is still somewhat subjective, and that Kotsay was pretty nifty before the back injury, but would anyone take his current D over Crisp, Ellsbury or Drew? That's such a retarded statement.

He's better than Drew I think.

I'll concede that one.

 

Rick Sutcliffe is now saying that George Kottaras could be the starting catcher for the Sox next year. No he won't. I'd consider it an absolute long shot for him to even be the back-up. I know these guys have to fill three hours with talk, but at least do a little research.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Did Dave O'Brien really say that Mark Kotsay is the Red Sox' best defensive outfielder? I know that defensive evaluation is still somewhat subjective, and that Kotsay was pretty nifty before the back injury, but would anyone take his current D over Crisp, Ellsbury or Drew? That's such a retarded statement.

He's better than Drew I think.

I'll concede that one.

 

Rick Sutcliffe is now saying that George Kottaras could be the starting catcher for the Sox next year. No he won't. I'd consider it an absolute long shot for him to even be the back-up. I know these guys have to fill three hours with talk, but at least do a little research.

This is a guy who once ranked on top prospect lists. While he has flaws, he's still young, has power and discipline, and the IL league OPS is 20 points lower. The catching market is extremely thin, so I could see a cheap internal option ranking better than an expensive "proven" catcher of similar quality. Kevin Cash is clearly inferior and he's started 36 games.

[jimmy no nose 0]

The Astros win today makes 13 of 14 and 15 of 18. Odds are it's a little too late for them, but it's still a very impressive run. In other hot streak news the Blue Jays winning streak was stopped at 10, but they almost came back from down 5-0 and had the tying run at 3rd in the 9th.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

The Astros win today makes 13 of 14 and 15 of 18. Odds are it's a little too late for them, but it's still a very impressive run. In other hot streak news the Blue Jays winning streak was stopped at 10, but they almost came back from down 5-0 and had the tying run at 3rd in the 9th.

They are tied with the Phillies in the wild card race. Goddamn.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Did Dave O'Brien really say that Mark Kotsay is the Red Sox' best defensive outfielder? I know that defensive evaluation is still somewhat subjective, and that Kotsay was pretty nifty before the back injury, but would anyone take his current D over Crisp, Ellsbury or Drew? That's such a retarded statement.

He's better than Drew I think.

I'll concede that one.

 

Rick Sutcliffe is now saying that George Kottaras could be the starting catcher for the Sox next year. No he won't. I'd consider it an absolute long shot for him to even be the back-up. I know these guys have to fill three hours with talk, but at least do a little research.

This is a guy who once ranked on top prospect lists. While he has flaws, he's still young, has power and discipline, and the IL league OPS is 20 points lower. The catching market is extremely thin, so I could see a cheap internal option ranking better than an expensive "proven" catcher of similar quality. Kevin Cash is clearly inferior and he's started 36 games.

 

He's 23rd in the Red Sox system, behind two other catchers. The offense is good enough to hang, but there are major questions concerning his game calling and defense. I'm not giving up on him, but he has little chance of being a starter in the league next year. As far as internal options go, Dusty Brown would get the first shot. If Kottaras was even being marginally considered for that role, they wouldn't have stuck with Kevin Cash and they wouldn't have signed Dave Ross.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Wood almost blew another save. He didn't really need to be in there, as Lilly had given up one run through eight innings and only thrown 90 pitches. Win's a win, even if the Cubs again decided to do all their scoring in one inning and leave men on base the rest of the game.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

He's 23rd in the Red Sox system, behind two other catchers. The offense is good enough to hang, but there are major questions concerning his game calling and defense. I'm not giving up on him, but he has little chance of being a starter in the league next year. As far as internal options go, Dusty Brown would get the first shot. If Kottaras was even being marginally considered for that role, they wouldn't have stuck with Kevin Cash and they wouldn't have signed Dave Ross.

 

Brown is 26, having a fluke year at AAA. It's over even anything he established at lower levels. Cash is a defensive backstop. Ross was a nice pickup for a backup, but is he any sort of long term solution? Obviously the Reds did not think so. I just don't see anyone else in the system beyond Kottaras.

[Precious Roy 0]

I'm watching the Sox-Rays game (it's in the 12th) and David Ortiz just bunted to move Pedroia to second. WTF is that?!

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I'm watching the Sox-Rays game (it's in the 12th) and David Ortiz just bunted to move Pedroia to second. WTF is that?!

Apparently it's not working the other way.

 

Marathon games seem to be in fashion tonight. The Scranton/Durham game went 13 innings as well, a 1-0 victory.

[Precious Roy 0]

Rays had first and second with no outs and Perez hits into a double play. Runner on third with 2 outs now.

[jimmy no nose 0]

Not a huge surprise when you consider they're through 13 with only 1 run in, but the top 6 spots in the Red Sox lineup are a combined 2 for 28 with the 2 hits both coming from Pedroia. That includes 0-6s from both Ellsbury and Bay.

[Precious Roy 0]

CARLOS PENA FTW

[jimmy no nose 0]

Not if Troy Percival has anything to say about it.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Percival trying to one-up Timlin in late inning suckiness.

[naiwf 0]

I know the Mets won, but why does Heilman ever get in to pitch in games where the Mets are winning? The guy is a fucking train wreck. His ERA is almost 5.50 and his WHIP is over 1.5. With the exception of June where he gave up 1 ER in 14 IP he's been atrocious and I just can't understand why Manuel keeps letting him go out there to blow leads.

[Guest]

We MUST keep Manny Ramirez. Sign him to whatever.

 

3.5 up with a trip to Pittsburgh and six against the Giants remaining. I see the finish line. Get there.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Really? I mean, yes, he's helped, but I think the Dodgers are only four games over .500 since he joined them. Obviously he's helped them in achieving their goal of winning the West this year (if that pans out), but I don't know if that means you want to get tied up in yet another big, risky contract.

[Guest]

I know people get mocked for saying things like this, but ever since Jeff Kent went out, the clubhouse culture has been very loose, and as a result, the players are just playing better baseball. Andre Ethier said that Manny told him to just have fun out there, and boy howdy, he's havin' fun. I think he's a part which has greatly helped the young players on our team. With Kent being injured, nobody's been around to ride everyone's ass. That's without getting to Manny's production, which is just amazing.

 

It's a big risky contract in that his defense is going to get worse and worse, but offensively, he's better than any player we could get to fill his position. Should stay that way too.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

If Kent is such a cancer, why not get rid of him? I don't think it's like his production overrides his baggage.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I'd be careful what you wish for when it comes to Manny. He's playing great now and having fun out in LA, but the "other Manny" still lurks. I'd advise enjoying this run and collecting the draft picks in the offseason. Manny's not the guy that you want to commit to long-term, especially with other outfield options in the organization.

 

It should be somewhat telling that Red Sox fans don't miss him AT ALL. You're still in the honeymoon period.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

I remember hearing that Manny only wanted like a two year deal from Boston. I don't know if that is true or not, though.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Does anyone care about K-Rod breaking the saves record? The media seems to be giving it a lot of attention, but I certainly don't care and it doesn't seem that fans really do either. Is this something we should be celebrating, or have we come to the point where the Save itself no longer means anything? I have a hard time getting excited for Rodriguez when he is, at best, the fifth best reliever in the AL this season.

 

Also, what does this mean for Rodriguez this offseason? Any ideas on how much money he will get? Which team will overpay for the "proven" closer?

[naiwf 0]

The Mets will likely offer him a monster contact for 5 or 6 years ($60-90 million), and then he'll blow out his arm midway through year 2 and render the rest of the contract worthless like Wagner's is now or Pedro's has been for the last few years.