This Week in Baseball 9/15 - 9/21

[jimmy no nose 0]

I cannot believe that a team would fire their manager with two weeks left in the season, especially when said team is leading the Wild Card. This is either absolutely brilliant, or tremendously stupid. I'm going to lean toward the latter, but we'll see.

 

And Dale Sveum is taking over? I remember Sveum's work at third being something of a running joke during his tenure in Boston.

For what it's worth, when Sveum was managing the Altoona Curve he was actually considered a pretty good manager with a possible major league future. He's a few years removed from that though, and nothing's come up.

[NYU 0]

I really wish the Mets would stop advertising registration for 2008 playoff tickets.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

And here I thought they'd wait until the last week of the season before rolling over and dying. Well, live and learn.

In fairness, the beginning of their collapse last year was a loss on Sept. 14.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I really wish the Mets would stop advertising registration for 2008 playoff tickets.

Potential playoff tickets. With any team eyeing a berth, it has to be done. You can't possibly expect to work it the other way, trying to sell 58000 seats in a rush.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

I'd like to see Dontrelle get it back together. I took a bit of a twisted pleasure in his early demise because of my desire to see the heavily touted (around here, especially) Tigers tank. But he's always come off as one of those genuinely good guys who just loves the game. His line isn't very impressive tonight, unfortunately.

[snuffbox 0]

Go Dale Sveum.

[jimmy no nose 0]

Notable event of the day:

Juan Pierre finally hit his first Dodgers HR after over 1000 at-bats spread over the last 2 seasons. Most surprising thing about it is he had a home run trot prepared. I guess he had a lot of time to think about it.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

And Robin Yount will be back as Brewers bench coach for at least two weeks.

[devo 0]

And here I thought they'd wait until the last week of the season before rolling over and dying. Well, live and learn.

In fairness, the beginning of their collapse last year was a loss on Sept. 14.

 

Yeah, but since they were three up I figured they'd hold off until there were five or six games left to make it as excruciating as possible. Downright courteous of them to throw it now and not waste our time.

[Guest]

In regards to the Dodgers, I suppose this is what happens when a good team starts to play like a good team. I hope these guys make it to the finish line. I just...want to see more than one playoff game at Dodger Stadium this time. We've got a pitching staff that can carry this team.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I'd like to see Dontrelle get it back together. I took a bit of a twisted pleasure in his early demise because of my desire to see the heavily touted (around here, especially) Tigers tank. But he's always come off as one of those genuinely good guys who just loves the game. His line isn't very impressive tonight, unfortunately.

He cut his walk rate in half, and doubled his K rate!

 

At least he's back in the majors. I don't think Willis will be an elite starter, but he should yet perform at this level.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

He'd walked five and struck out four last I checked; the bottom line at that point was good, but the command looked like it was still something of an issue.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

He'd walked five and struck out four last I checked; the bottom line at that point was good, but the command looked like it was still something of an issue.

Yeah, and coming in he had walked 21 in 11 innings, and struck out five. Something of an improvement.

[vivalaultra 0]

About the Cubs/'Stros series. On Sunday, the Astros wore their gray road jerseys and stayed in the visitor's clubhouse. It wasn't out of protest from what I hear. The gray road jerseys were already packed for their road trip to Florida so instead of packing up a whole new load of equipment, they just went with what was already packed. And they stayed in the visitor's clubhouse because they're familiar with it and they really like the visiting clubhouse attendant. As far as not scheduling ahead and getting the 'Stros out of Houston to a neutral site before the hurricane hit, Drayton said he didn't do that because he didn't think it would be fair to have the team leave Houston right before a major storm hit and leave all of their family in Houston. Nolan Ryan offered to let the series be played at the Dell Diamond outside of Arlington (the Round Rock Express' home field and the nicest field in all of the minor leagues), but it was nixed because the Dell Diamond isn't a "major league" park. Surely there was some doublespeak and chicanery from both Drayton McClane and Bud Selig over the whole deal, but I certainly wouldn't point to the whole debacle as what would keep the Astros out of the postseason. There was the horrible June and July, after all. And also, despite losing both of the games, the Astros gained a half game in the WC standings. And if the game on the 29th has to be played for playoff implications, I can imagine that the Cubs would go with the B squad since they'll want to set up their team for Game One of the NLDS. Still, the whole thing was a little weird; they did Astros trivia and showed Astros videos between innings to keep up the appearance of it being an Astros home game, but I don't think that worked out too well. The only time the "home" team got cheered was when Humberto Quintero fouled a ball off his knee and was able to walk off the field under his own power.

 

And it was kinda weird to see the Astros playing a home game in Miller Park right when Ned Yost was fired.

[Smartly Pretty 0]

I think if Mike Pelfrey steps up tonight, and pitches well, and pitches 7 or 8 innings and the Mets win, they'll avoid another let down (this year it wouldn't really be a "collapse" but it'd be a let down). If they lose though, that just may fuck any momentum they once had.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

The Red Sox avoided the possibility of any offseason gorilla suit antics by finalizing a new deal today for Theo Epstein. Somehow they managed to do this without the normal circus that surrounds all of their front office moves. I am thoroughly pleased. Epstein is the most valuable piece of this team's success.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

The Red Sox avoided the possibility of any offseason gorilla suit antics by finalizing a new deal today for Theo Epstein. Somehow they managed to do this without the normal circus that surrounds all of their front office moves. I am thoroughly pleased. Epstein is the most valuable piece of this team's success.

 

I'd be careful about placing emphasis on Theo Epstein. He's no doubt one of the best minds in baseball, but remember when people thought that about Billy Beane? Look what happened there.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

The Red Sox avoided the possibility of any offseason gorilla suit antics by finalizing a new deal today for Theo Epstein. Somehow they managed to do this without the normal circus that surrounds all of their front office moves. I am thoroughly pleased. Epstein is the most valuable piece of this team's success.

 

I'd be careful about placing emphasis on Theo Epstein. He's no doubt one of the best minds in baseball, but remember when people thought that about Billy Beane? Look what happened there.

 

Are we no longer in agreement that Beane is a top 5 GM? He's been through his ups and downs, but the track record is one of proven success on a limited budget.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I am of the thought it was the collective of Beane, DePodesta, and even Riccardi that helped the A's be the success they were. Beane's good for talking other GMs into doing things he wants to do, but that's pretty much it.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I am of the thought it was the collective of Beane, DePodesta, and even Riccardi that helped the A's be the success they were. Beane's good for talking other GMs into doing things he wants to do, but that's pretty much it.

I still think of Beane as being an excellent evaluator of both talent and market inefficiencies. The most serious flaw he had was the development of the farm system, which just collapsed under his watch. Some teams can overcome such a setback, but not one as cash-strapped and dependent on cheap talent as the A's. It's clear that he now understands this and has worked diligently over the past season and a half to rectify things.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

If he rights the ship, I'll firmly believe that I can credit Beane with the success, but until then, I'd have to reserve my judgment on him alone.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Nolan Ryan offered to let the series be played at the Dell Diamond outside of Arlington (the Round Rock Express' home field and the nicest field in all of the minor leagues), but it was nixed because the Dell Diamond isn't a "major league" park.

 

And how long ago did MLB sanction a series at Disney's Wide World of Sports in Orlando?

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Reserving judgment on Beane at the moment, I took a look at the team stats. God damn, only one player on the whole team slugged above .400?! That's bad, but thankfully it is not a hard problem to solve.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Regarding tonight, I think the Brewers are much deeper in the hot seat than the Mets tonight. They already made a panic move and if Sabathia loses, what next?

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Here's an inquiry for those of you who know your team's prospects. I'm coming up with a top prospect for each organization, but I think I may overlook a guy or two who made a huge jump this season. So here's the preliminary list. Any names I should consider?

 

Arizona: Jarrod Parker

Atlanta: Jason Heyward

Baltimore: Matt Wieters

Boston: Lars Anderson

Chicago Cubs: Josh Vitters

Chicago WS: Gordon Beckham

Cincinnati: Drew Stubbs

Cleveland: Matt Laporta

Colorado: Dexter Fowler

Detroit: Rick Porcello

Florida: Cameron Maybin

Houston: Jason Castro

Kansas City: Mike Moustakas

LA Angels: Nick Adenhart

LA Dodgers: James McDonald

Milwaukee: Alcides Escobar/Mat Gamel

Minnesota: Aaron Hicks

NY Mets: Fernando Martinez (Yeah, I considered Wilmer Flores and it's close)

NY Yankees: Austin Jackson

Oakland: Brett Anderson

Philadelphia: Carlos Carrasco

Pittsburgh: Andrew McCutchen

St. Louis: Colby Rasmus

San Diego: Allan Dykstra

San Francisco: Buster Posey

Seattle: Carlos Triunfel

Tampa Bay: David Price

Texas: Neftali Feliz

Toronto: Travis Snider

Washington: Ross Detwiler

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

And speaking of minor leaguers, I talk about this Bricktown Showdown game from time to time. The section behind home plate is 3/4ths empty. I like the minors, but it's apparent that there's little interest in a glorified minor league exhibition at a neutral site.

[RepoMan 0]

It's always sad that minor league attendence almost always tanks for the playoffs. Pepole care more about the "wacky" minor league promotions that the games themselves. I'm not that surprised that a single game neutral site AAA game is drawing flys.

 

Wierd that the Portland Beavers decided to buy national ad time.

[Smartly Pretty 0]

I have trouble naming a minor league player who is already injury prone a top overall prospect. It's Flores. And then you also have to consider Jefry Marte.

[Bored 0]

Here's an inquiry for those of you who know your team's prospects. I'm coming up with a top prospect for each organization, but I think I may overlook a guy or two who made a huge jump this season. So here's the preliminary list. Any names I should consider?

 

Oakland: Brett Anderson

I think Trevor Cahill would warrant serious consideration as their top prospect right now. The other day John Sickels did an interview with Athletics Nation and said that he thought Cahill will end up being the better pitcher.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

That'd be quite the statement by the Cubs to not only hand Sabathia his first NL loss, but do so the day after the front office removed the club's biggest perceived flaw.

 

Houston lost, so maybe they haven't shook the trauma of playing a home game dominated by Cubs fans. Or maybe they just aren't that good.

 

I expect to see quite a few "the sky is falling" posts from Mets fans in a few minutes. It'll be with good reason, too, I suppose. The Nats are quite the spoilers, aren't they?