The 2008 MLB Offseason Thread

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

I meant that I think Mussina will be this generation's Blyleven. Blyleven should be in, in my opinion, but all we hear are reasons why he shouldn't be in rather than why he should be in. Mussina didn't win 300 games and just won 20 for the first time last season. Just seems like something that the voters will harp on, like Blyleven who never won 20 or 300.

Blyleven actually won 20 games in 1973. I get the idea though. Blyleven suffers coming from an era where many pitchers won 250-300 games. He is in close proximity to Tommy John and Jim Kaat, neither of whom are in the Hall. Blyleven is better than those two. When it comes to Mussina though, that's really an insurmountable winning percentage. There is not a single eligible pitcher with that high a percentage and less than 200 wins who is not in the Hall. Mussina has 270.

[Dobbs 3K]

I think both Blyleven and Mussina should get into the Hall. I think Mussina will get in, but it won't be on the first ballot.

 

As far as the Royals, seems like a decent move for them. It's nice to see the Red Sox finally trade Crisp, as he was one of those guys that is always rumored in trade talks.

[treble]

I think when Mussina gets in might depend on who else retires this year. If guys like Thomas and Griffey hang it up, voters might not see him on the same level as those two and make him wait.

[devo]

http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/h...o-yankees-exec/

 

Apparently Hal Steinbrenner is now solely in control of the Yankees.

 

Too bad. I was hoping they'd go with crazy Hank.

[USC Wuz Robbed!]

http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/h...o-yankees-exec/

 

Apparently Hal Steinbrenner is now solely in control of the Yankees.

 

Too bad. I was hoping they'd go with crazy Hank.

 

Sounds more like Hal was chosen to be the guy that gets credit and blame for anything the Yankees does, but he will still share true control of the team with Hank and etc.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Chase Utley to have hip surgery, could be out until May.

 

Wait, are you telling me he was fudging it a bit in the 2nd half when he kept insisting his hip was OK? I am shocked (shocked!).

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

Real surprise trade here. The Phillies have traded Greg Golson to the Texas Rangers for John Mayberry. Golson was a toolsy prospect who was showing some baseball ability at AA. Mayberry is a career .255 hitter in the minor leagues, and a lot of that accumulated in hitters' parks. He's a huge right handed power hitter though (6'6"), who can play left field. Baseball America before the season remarked that "he could be an everyday big league right fielder who hits 35 home runs." Obviously the Phillies acquired him with an eye towards replacing Pat Burrell, possibly in a platoon role.

[YourKock'sReallyGreat]

I meant that I think Mussina will be this generation's Blyleven. Blyleven should be in, in my opinion, but all we hear are reasons why he shouldn't be in rather than why he should be in. Mussina didn't win 300 games and just won 20 for the first time last season. Just seems like something that the voters will harp on, like Blyleven who never won 20 or 300.

 

 

Mussina has the unfortunate luck of being a pitcher who spend his whole career in the toughest division in baseball during the Juice Ball era. Mussina had the unfortunate luck of pitching during a time when Pedro was the best ever and the years when Roger was winning Cy Youngs due to him sticking a needle up his ass. If Mussina had pitched in the National League he would have won 300 and be compared to Glavine and Maddux. Mussina is a much better pitcher than Glavine. More K's, a better Era plus, a lower whip. Glavines career era is only .08 better than Mussina's. Mike didn't have the luxury of pitching against the pitcher every game and playing in a lesser quality division his whole career without facing the dh.

 

As far as the 20 wins comment. Mussina was hurt by the strike shortended seasons of 1994 and 1995. In 1994, Mussina had 16 wins with close to 50 games left in the season. He would have had another 10 starts to win 4 more games. In 1995, Mussina won 19 games in a strike shortened 144 games. He would have had another 3-4 starts to win 1 more game if the season were 162 games. In 1996, Armando Benetiz blew what should have been Mikes 20th win of the season at the end of the season. Mussina isn't a borderline Hall of Famer he is a first ballot Hall of Famer. He will go down as the second best pitcher in the American League during his generation. Pedro will go down as being number one. Clemens is removed due to his cheating.

 

I hope that Mussina isn't hurt in his chances of entering the hall due to him not winning 300 games and falling 30 short. I rather seem him retire out on top instead of becoming a complier like Randy Johnson and Glavine who both stuck around 3-4 years too long to win 300.

[USC Wuz Robbed!]

I fail to see how a pitcher injecting steroids eliminates his natural talent, which is undeniable? I mean all the roids does is maybe bump his average pitch speed a little bit. You still need to know how to pitch in a controlled fashion where hits are limited and strikeouts occur. Otherwise, you're just Rick Ankiel.

[YourKock'sReallyGreat]

The slighest fraction in pitch speed is the difference between a 400 foot homerun and a strikeout. PLus it enabled Roger to recover faster from fatigue and injury.

[Guest Smues]

I rather seem him retire out on top instead of becoming a complier like Randy Johnson and Glavine who both stuck around 3-4 years too long to win 300.

 

YOU MUST COMPLY!

[USC Wuz Robbed!]

The slighest fraction in pitch speed is the difference between a 400 foot homerun and a strikeout. PLus it enabled Roger to recover faster from fatigue and injury.

 

Yet the changeup is an effective pitch. I'll concede the point about recovery though.

[Guest Czecherbear]

I thought that the change is effective because it's such a significant difference in velocity, as in about 15 mph or so, that catches the hitter off-guard, like getting 83 when you're expecting 95. Getting 92 when you're expecting 95 is just a slower fastball.

[jimmy no nose]

Big time free agent signing:

The Pirates apparently signed 2 19 year old pitchers from India who won some sort of nation-wide contest by being able to pitch in the upper 80s-low 90s. They went on to get training by USC's pitching coach and then worked out for major league scouts. The best part? They've never pitched to a batter. Ever. Interesting strategy. Maybe the Detroit Lions can start signing kids away from Punt-Pass-Kick contests. I guess there isn't really a downside, now they've got a billion people to try to sell jerseys to.

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

Big time free agent signing:

The Pirates apparently signed 2 19 year old pitchers from India who won some sort of nation-wide contest by being able to pitch in the upper 80s-low 90s. They went on to get training by USC's pitching coach and then worked out for major league scouts. The best part? They've never pitched to a batter. Ever. Interesting strategy. Maybe the Detroit Lions can start signing kids away from Punt-Pass-Kick contests. I guess there isn't really a downside, now they've got a billion people to try to sell jerseys to.

I can't wait until they play for the Indianapolis Indians myself.

[Guest Czecherbear]

That's pretty fascinating. I'd like to see how this turns out.

[YourKock'sReallyGreat]

Rumor going around is that the Angles have matched the Yankees offer to CC Sabathia.

[Guest Czecherbear]

How obtuse of them.

[devo]

Due to their financial troubles it appears that the Mets may allow Citigroup to back out of their naming deal for the new stadium. This might be good news on the off chance that they decide to go with a a non-corporate name, but since the odds of that happening are basically non-existent, I don't really care either way. I do hope there's footage of construction workers striking everything with the Citi logo from the stadium 'cause not only would I watch that but I would laugh the whole time.

[Guest Vitamin X]

How obtuse of them.

 

I thought that was acute thing to do, personally.

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski]

Due to their financial troubles it appears that the Mets may allow Citigroup to back out of their naming deal for the new stadium. This might be good news on the off chance that they decide to go with a a non-corporate name, but since the odds of that happening are basically non-existent, I don't really care either way. I do hope there's footage of construction workers striking everything with the Citi logo from the stadium 'cause not only would I watch that but I would laugh the whole time.

 

It will be harder for those new stadiums to get corporate naming rights during these tough times. I heard that Yankee Stadium was having trouble selling their corporate boxes.

[YourKock'sReallyGreat]

Due to their financial troubles it appears that the Mets may allow Citigroup to back out of their naming deal for the new stadium. This might be good news on the off chance that they decide to go with a a non-corporate name, but since the odds of that happening are basically non-existent, I don't really care either way. I do hope there's footage of construction workers striking everything with the Citi logo from the stadium 'cause not only would I watch that but I would laugh the whole time.

 

 

 

Thats also due to bad publicity. Citibank is cutting thousands of jobs and they were keeping the naming rights for Citifield. I would be pretty pissed if I got layed off during these times but my previous employer found 20 million every year to pay the Mets for naming rights to a baseball field.

[CanadianChris]

How obtuse of them.

 

I thought that was acute thing to do, personally.

It may have been just a reflex, but it was certainly the right move. Straight up.

[the max]

How obtuse of them.

 

I thought that was acute thing to do, personally.

It may have been just a reflex, but it was certainly the right move. Straight up.

 

It was the right move to any degree.

[Guest Czecherbear]

Were it not for playing Geometry Shtick so very many times on this board, I don't think I'd remember anything from geometry.

[the max]

The Angles hope to sine Sabathia and cosine Mark Teixeira. That team would go on a tangent and probably win the division handily.

[JaMarcus Russell's #1 Caucasian Fan]

Then would lose to the Red Sox in the ALDS.

[YourKock'sReallyGreat]

Then would lose to the Red Sox in the ALDS.

 

 

 

You mean get beat up to a pulp to the Red Sox.

[Guest Smues]

Then would lose to the Red Sox in the ALDS.

 

Way to kill the flow there.

 

How's this instead:

After summing up the division they'd lose the remainder of their games to Boston.

 

 

[the max]

I think they'd match up better if it were a long division series. But with a fraction of the games, the common denominator has always been a loss for them. No matter the variable, they always find a way to subtract any advantage they might have.