MLB 2011

[Paelos]

19 innings of hell for me last night. I was up till 2AM watching the Braves finally win on the worst call ever in baseball! 

[Ingmar]

Hearing we are now talking about trading Zach Wheeler or Gary Brown (or both?!) for Carlos Beltran, I think this is a mistake.

[Paelos]

We were in negotiations but it seems we weren't willing to deal the Mets young pitching in our own division.

[HaemishM]

The Giants really really ought to be willing to bet the farm on the Beltran train. He won't be worth whatever they put up, but fuck, he'll hit better than anything they've got right now.

Can the Cubs please please please trade Fukodome? He has been an overpriced bust in my opinion. Three years of .300+ OBP built on the backs of 300 walks a year and the inability to put the bat on th eball after July.

[Paelos]

Hearing we are now talking about trading Zach Wheeler or Gary Brown (or both?!) for Carlos Beltran, I think this is a mistake.

Yep, you gave up Wheeler. We couldn't match that.

[stu]

How desperate are the Mets to get rid of Beltran, because that guy hasn't been reliable since 2008. The Giants are going to pay most of his remaining salary and give up their top pitching prospect? Smells bad in the long run. Whatever happened to all that Jose Reyes rumor mongering? Now that was exciting.

I'm loving all the MLB and NFL personnel shuffling this week.  The Jays pretty much stole Colby Rasmus from the Cards, but I can see why they'd do it. La Russa's been trying to push him out the door for a while. Edwin Jackson has been traded seven times since he was 17. He's 27 now.

[Sjofn]

Suck it, Phillies. 

[Paelos]

Wow Cubs. Way to show off the prowess against the Cards. 

[HaemishM]

There's a reason I stop watching baseball around June every year. The Cubs are PHYSICALLY painful to watch play. They are terrible this year but at least they traded Fukodome away. It may also be time to shed some of that payroll. Soriano is way too expensive for a guy that hits .247. Ramirez at third has become too streaky. Pena was just a fuckstupid signing. Zambrano can go eat a bag of dicks for all I care. I'm tired of his primadonna shit. Our pitching staff has been goddamn atrocious, and that was the one area I thought we had some depth. So next year then?

Yeah, probably not.

[Azuredream]

Wow, Indians actually went out and acquired Ubaldo Jiminez.. we're usually trading away Cy Young candidates. Although considering how he's been performing this year I'm pretty sure he'll never return to his 2010 form as long as he's wearing an Indians cap.

[01101010]

Wow, Indians actually went out and acquired Ubaldo Jiminez.. we're usually trading away Cy Young candidates. Although considering how he's been performing this year I'm pretty sure he'll never return to his 2010 form as long as he's wearing an Indians cap.

Curse of Chief Wahoo

[Paelos]

Houston just dealt the Braves Michael Bourn for some magic beans.

[HaemishM]

Yeah, Houston gave away the damn house. I don't see that team getting better for YEARS. You know they won't spend in free agency, and they don't have enough to build off of anyway until some of that talent comes through the ranks. They just became the post-World Series Marlins.

The Yankees not adding anything at the deadline was weird, and looking at their pitching staff, that's not a team I'm afraid of for the playoffs. Their bullpen is average, beyond Sabathia they have guys that are #4 level starters at best. And the lineup honestly doesn't scare me that much either. It can put up a lot of runs, but it's got some serious holes. Of course, Boston doesn't much scare me either, considering Bedard was their best pickup and he's good for eating up a start and if you're lucky, you won't be 6 runs down when he leaves the game in the 6th. I think Texas really is the team that's going to come out of that AL unless something major changes in that division. Adding two big-time relievers to that team is a pretty big deal.

This year's NL playoffs are looking a lot like last year's, only with more offense. The Braves might actually be a force to be reckoned with thanks to Bourn. I think the Beltran trade was the best the Giants could get, but I don't think it'll get them back to the Series. I think the Phillies will come out of the NL this year - Starters #1-3 are electric, Pence is a good bat to add to a lineup that is not as good as it once was, but is still pretty damn good. Bullpen may be an issue with them, but I don't see Atlanta or San Fran having a better pen. Whoever comes out of the Central won't be good enough to get the Series. Pittsburgh is happy to be above .500, St. Louis' pitching doesn't scare me and Milwaukee is just not there yet.

[ghost]

Yeah, Houston gave away the damn house. I don't see that team getting better for YEARS. You know they won't spend in free agency, and they don't have enough to build off of anyway until some of that talent comes through the ranks. They just became the post-World Series Marlins.

The Marlins actually seem to have done pretty decent with that strategy.  They as many World Series as the Cubs, Indians, Phillies, Mets and Blue Jays who have all been around longer (in some cases much, much longer).  It seems like a lot of running a good club stems from managing the minor league talent appropriately.  Houston should have decent talent in the pipe as they always seem to have good players popping up. 

[Ingmar]

The Marlins get a bad rap on their roster strategy mostly because their owner is so completely odious, but they've done a good job, they just generate a lot of bad PR with their methods. They've had more winning seasons than losing since the last sell-off after 2003's win.

[Rasix]

Hello thar, Giants. Nice to see you.   

[Paelos]

I'm officially hitting the panic button on the Braves. We've lost our two best hitters, our pitching staff is melting down from overuse, and the fucking AAA replacements can't hit a sac-fly.

I am not pleased.

[Sjofn]

Hello thar, Giants. Nice to see you.   

Hopefully their win today means they won't totally blow against the Phillies now.

[Teleku]

I just thought this was funny:

http://www.onionsportsnetwork.com/articles/visa-calls-indians-to-confirm-they-actually-did-in,21072/

[WayAbvPar]

I just thought this was funny:

http://www.onionsportsnetwork.com/articles/visa-calls-indians-to-confirm-they-actually-did-in,21072/

Heh.

Visa also contacted Cubs owner Joseph Ricketts, not in regard to any recent account activity, but just to yell at him for fucking up another season.

100+ and counting!

[HaemishM]

That last bit really got me. Fucking Cubs.

[Paelos]

Uh, Giants? WTF! Stop brawling and win.

[stu]

Speaking of the Giants, here's a weekend WTF moment:


This was in response to the bench clearing shoving match from Saturday.


Slightly more in-depth version here:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/08/07/SPSI1KKHH2.DTL

I'm not familiar with Bruno, but that's a sleazy thing to say.

[Ingmar]

He used to have a segment with the late-morning guy on our sports talk here, I always found him to be pretty obnoxious but I don't recall anything overtly racist - sexist, at times (shocking on sports talk am i rite?)

They ended his segment like a week ago*, but I think last I heard his syndicated show was still on after hours. Probably will be gone after this considering the market, but I guess you never know.

*Possible this may have fueled a little extra anti-SF rage?

[Paelos]

The rage was obviously too much for Beltran to handle, since he's on the DL with a wrist issue. 

[Ingmar]

Where are you seeing DL? MRI just showed a strain and he's day-to-day AFAIK.

[Paelos]

Where are you seeing DL? MRI just showed a strain and he's day-to-day AFAIK.

DTD, my bad. Article was misleading.

[Ingmar]

Well DL could still happen.  

There's a mini drama about Aaron Rowand saying he liked Chicago better than San Francisco or something too, team is clearly falling apart.

[Sjofn]

I just realized I hate the Phillies so much, I want the Dodgers to beat them. I guess I can't fully shake my NY team bias, even when I don't actually root for a NY team. Plus, you know. Fuck Philly fans. 

[Paelos]

The Phillies are the NL Yankees, and the Braves are the NL Red Sox, without the ability to hit.

[Ingmar]

Nah, the Braves are just the Braves, they're worthy of scorn and hate all on their own without needing to be compared to an AL team.

[Paelos]

Nah, the Braves are just the Braves, they're worthy of scorn and hate all on their own without needing to be compared to an AL team.

The Braves are the light in the darkness that is the Southern sports landscape.

It's hard to hate on the Giants now that Barry Bonds is gone. They just aren't usually important enough to worry about until last year, and barely even then. I still don't know how they won!

[Ingmar]

If you stopped with that godawful chop that would be a start on the path towards redemption.

[Paelos]

If you stopped with that godawful chop that would be a start on the path towards redemption.

NEVAH!

[Teleku]

The Phillies are the NL Yankees, and the Braves are the NL Red Sox Indians, without the ability to hit.

The Red Sox?  Really dude?