This Week in Baseball 9/15 - 9/21

[Smartly Pretty 0]

The Dodgers moved their AA Team? Who gets the Jacksonville Suns then?

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

-The Red Sox are moving their High A club to Salem in the Carolina League. I think this one is important as it takes their prospects away from the EXTREME hitting environment in Lancaster, CA.

 

Yeah, this was one of the worst kept secrets in baseball after the Red Sox bought the Salem franchise last year. I couldn't be happier. Lancaster was such a disaster. It was impossible to fairly rate any prospect, hitter or pitcher. Everything was at such extremes that you couldn't make any kind of reasonable judgment.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

The Dodgers moved their AA Team? Who gets the Jacksonville Suns then?

Florida Marlins. The Carolina club is looking at either the Reds (likely) or Giants.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Bartolo Colon has been suspended without pay for refusing to work out of the bullpen. He's gone home to the Dominican for the remainder of the season.

[devo 0]

Allow me for a moment to give my compliments to Gameday Mini. All the relevant information in a tiny window that I can squeeze in next to the MLB.tv screen. What with Brewers/Reds on local TV I'm able to keep track of all three games I'm interested in at once. I'm hard pressed to think of a more profound affect technology has had on my life.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

The Os announcers just mentioned that 2 wins by the Os in the final series at Yankee Stadium will give them the most wins ever by a visiting team at Yankee Stadium. Currently they're 1 win behind Boston for the honor.

 

 

 

 

[jwest27 0]

Damn it, I'm starting to see the talking heads on the sports channels say "Ryan Howard is my NL MVP because uh....RBIs!" or "Manny Ramirez because his 164 at bats are really good." The only thing I've got to look forward to now is the bevy of awards Albert should win at the end of the season, now he'll probably get screwed out of them.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Damn it, I'm starting to see the talking heads on the sports channels say "Ryan Howard is my NL MVP because uh....RBIs!" or "Manny Ramirez because his 164 at bats are really good." The only thing I've got to look forward to now is the bevy of awards Albert should win at the end of the season, now he'll probably get screwed out of them.

 

This is going be a screwy year for awards.

 

-AL MVP is wide open, which makes for a scary possible outcome (see: Justin Morneau in '07).

-AL Cy should go to Lee, but writers might fall in love with K-Rod's saves

-NL MVP... if Pujols doesn't win, I don't know what to say

 

I think the only lock out there is Lincecum with the NL Cy. Then again, CC might have some momentum if the Brewers manage to get in the playoffs.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Some days you need to avoid watching to preserve your sanity, and I think this is one of them.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

I knew that by 3 p.m. EST today!

[devo 0]

Daniel Murphy is freaking amazing. Mets might just win this one despite some terrible, terrible defensive play.

[bob_barron 0]

The Braves screwed up a rundown.

 

Yep

[devo 0]

Productive evening. I was convinced the Mets had lost the game the second Reyes' throw hit the dirt, but thankfully some late offense made up for the three costly errors that occurred over the course of the game. Bullpen was pretty good tonight, with five pitchers combining for three innings with no earned runs.

[Mik 0]

I, for one, greatly await the Cameron Maybin/Hanley Ramirez era.

[Fierce! 0]

The Braves screwed up a rundown.

 

Yep

[snuffbox 0]

Damn it, I'm starting to see the talking heads on the sports channels say "Ryan Howard is my NL MVP because uh....RBIs!" or "Manny Ramirez because his 164 at bats are really good." The only thing I've got to look forward to now is the bevy of awards Albert should win at the end of the season, now he'll probably get screwed out of them.

 

This is going be a screwy year for awards.

 

-AL MVP is wide open, which makes for a scary possible outcome (see: Justin Morneau in '07).

-AL Cy should go to Lee, but writers might fall in love with K-Rod's saves

-NL MVP... if Pujols doesn't win, I don't know what to say

 

I think the only lock out there is Lincecum with the NL Cy. Then again, CC might have some momentum if the Brewers manage to get in the playoffs.

 

That's not going to happen.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Despite leading the NL East by half a game, CoolStandings actually sees the Phillies as slightly more likely to reach the playoffs. I disagree with that.

 

Twins and Brewers both trailing. After Thursday's comeback win, the Twins sure showed the value of momentum. Why do we give sportscasters the light of day when they ramble on about that? The Brewers are just listless at this point.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Congrats are in order for the Cubs. A couple of low points in the season, but other than that, there's been little to complain about. I can finally say I know what it's like to root for a great team, even if it's only this year.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Congrats are in order for the Cubs. A couple of low points in the season, but other than that, there's been little to complain about. I can finally say I know what it's like to root for a great team, even if it's only this year.

Indeed. The Cubs right now are on pace to post their best record since 1945. Of course that was a War season, so this club is certainly better.

[devo 0]

Pedro appears to be little more than a liability these days. I guess either Brandon Knight or Jon Niese could fill in his slot and be reasonably effective, but then what do you do with Martinez? I can't see him coming out of the bullpen since his first inning is virtually always his worst. If the Mets were to make the playoffs, I'd honestly prefer that he be left off of the roster.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

I still think Im in Bizarro World or something everytime I hear "Tampa Bay clinched a playoff spot" but anyway..I thought for sure that they'd blow it down the stretch and the held their own. I gotta think they want to win the Division and not have to play the Angels in the Divisional Round..

 

 

 

[Guest Smues]

Tampa Bay is in the playoffs. Amazing. And awesome. Now if they can just win the division as well.

[Smartly Pretty 0]

I'd just like to point out that I had Tampa in the playoffs 6 months ago, a prediction that outshines all of my other retarded predictions

[Guest Brady's Torn ACL]

Sure, I guess I'm happy. Not like ownership has been working hard to develop a contender for the last ten years, and not like legions of Rays fans have been supporting these guys through thick and thin and will finally get rewarded for their suffering, and not like I particularly care about Evan Longoria or Andy Sonnanstine beyond "hey, they's good at baseball" and not like there's any reason to care about this entire organization, but hey, they're not the Yankees (and to what extent are the Yankees the Yankees? "Sure, Mark Kotsay, why not?"), right?

[devo 0]

I'm happy the Rays made it solely because it gives me a team to root for on the American League side. Otherwise, the only participants would be teams towards which I'm indifferent (Angels), dislike (Red Sox) or outright hate (White Sox).

 

Edit: And Pedro Martinez hits a two-run double to make me look like a schmuck. Oh well, I can deal with it.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Sure, I guess I'm happy. Not like ownership has been working hard to develop a contender for the last ten years, and not like legions of Rays fans have been supporting these guys through thick and thin and will finally get rewarded for their suffering, and not like I particularly care about Evan Longoria or Andy Sonnanstine beyond "hey, they's good at baseball" and not like there's any reason to care about this entire organization, but hey, they're not the Yankees (and to what extent are the Yankees the Yankees? "Sure, Mark Kotsay, why not?"), right?

When it's both the Red Sox and the Yankees, there is a certain pleasure in seeing the underdog hand their collective asses to them. As for the organization, they acquired new ownership and management around 2005 which provided immediate improvement to their farm system, eventually paying off on the big league level. Next season will prove the big test, as they can begin to parlay their successful season into season ticket sales, a key factor in overall attendance.

 

I liken the Rays to the early days of the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners in their early years were a shit team playing in a shit stadium in front of shit attendance. Things turned around when their farm produced Edgar Martinez, Tino Martinez, Ken Griffey Jr., Erik Hanson and Omar Vizquel. Now they are a perfectly legitimate franchise.

 

Plus, if you watch this team, they are a pretty exciting bunch.

 

Note: I did not include Jay Buhner and Randy Johnson as they were trade acquisitions, in case anyone wonders.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Regarding the NL, it the Mets, Phillies, Cubs and Dodgers make the playoffs, that is a pretty interesting four from a historical standpoint.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I'd just like to point out that I had Tampa in the playoffs 6 months ago, a prediction that outshines all of my other retarded predictions

 

In the first post of that thread I said they'd be in the race in September. I just missed the important part about them winning the race.

 

If I wasn't a Red Sox fan, I'd be a little more excited. I'm intrigued by this version of the Rays, and my offseason prognosis of them being a modern version of the '91 Braves seems well-founded.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I missed that today was another Sabathia start. The Brewers are really floundering at this point, in danger of falling as much as three games out depending on tonight's games.

[Guest Brady's Torn ACL]

Not looking highly likely that the Twins make it back, either. Those non-Liriano starters just blow chunks, man. Oh well. I'm holding out hope for a Royals win tonight and a sweep at the Metrodome. They're probably already designing a statue of DIRTY THIRTY as we speak.

 

I'm happy the Cubs won, but the postgame field reporting didn't yield any classics like last year

He sounds vaguely like Seth Green.