MLB 2009

[Ingmar]

Fucking hell, the Giants traded one of their top 4 prospects (and it is a good top 4!) for empty-.300-hitting Freddy Sanchez.

When the fucking Pirates take you in a trade, it is time to fire the goddamn GM.

[cmlancas]

I'm going to say it now. They are winning the fucking division.

Is it insane? Yes. But I believe. 

Just thought I'd quote this for the lulz...

Also because the Rays are almost totally out of it barring a meltdown of both Texas and Boston.

[Ingmar]

Texas will fade, IMO. The Rays have been super unlucky this year, though, so who knows. 5th best run differential but only 9th best record. They're like the opposite of the Marlins, who should be like 1 game under .500 instead of hanging around the fringes of the wild card race.

The AL is also just really strong this year - witness Baltimore scoring almost 100 more runs than San Diego but having a worse record, because they are just playing against better teams.

[Paelos]

I'm going to say it now. They are winning the fucking division.

Is it insane? Yes. But I believe. 

Just thought I'd quote this for the lulz...

Also because the Rays are almost totally out of it barring a meltdown of both Texas and Boston.

Yeah the Yanks actually found their pitching staff. That division has completely disappointed me this year. OTOH the Rockies are hot as a damn pistol and looking like the team that went to the show a few years back.

[Raging Turtle]

GO CARDS!  DeRosa and Holliday were great trades, Smoltz was dirt cheap and is looking good so far, Pujols is running away with the NL MVP and we've got three great starting pitchers. 

It's made all the sweeter by watching the Cubs implode over the last month.  Lulz at you guys who thought they would take the NL central 

[HaemishM]

Last month hell... Cubs've been riding the edge of implosion since the goddamn season began. That team has only one excuse for being so bad this season - injuries. Key fucking injuries to key players. The rest of them though have no fucking excuses. Milton Bradley can go fuck himself. Fontenot has been terrible, Fukodome has been better but still nothing like advertised. Soriano can't hit shit - how bad do you have to be hitting to be dropped to sixth when you've never hit well anywhere but leadoff? Pretty fucking bad. Gregg is a bust as is most of the bullpen. That team has been a disaster. Looks like trading DeRosa was a really bad fucking idea after all. Good news is there are some talented youngsters getting time, like Hoffpaur, Baker, and Fuld, but holy shit does this team need a new trainer or something.

[Margalis]

The AL is also just really strong this year - witness Baltimore scoring almost 100 more runs than San Diego but having a worse record, because they are just playing against better teams.

Or Smoltz tearing up the NL after sucking balls in the AL.

[caladein]

Well, the Rangers are done.  Unless something truly strange happens in the AL East it should be Angels and Red Sox in first round, again.  Fuck.

A few more years of this and we're in Lakers/Celtics territory .

[Paelos]

The American League has been a yawn factory outside of the central for the last 5 seasons. The only highlight year was the Rays in 2008. Let's see, who's gonna win this year outside the central?

Angels, Yankees, and BoSox as the wild card.
In 2008, Angels, Rays, and BoSox as the wild card.
2007? Angels, BoSox, and Yankees as the wild card
2006? Holy shit OAKLAND, Yankees, and the wild card finally comes out of the Central with Detroit. What a crazy year!
2005? Angels, Yankees, BoSox as the wild card.
2004? Angels, Yankees, BoSox as the wild card.
2003? OMG Oakland, Yankees, and BoSox as the wild card.

Forgive me if I don't care to watch the BoSox, Angels, or the Yankees again.

[Ingmar]

As long as the other teams all fail at talent evaluation things won't change.

[HaemishM]

Any of those teams is welcome to Milton Bradley, probably dirt fucking cheap. 

[Paelos]

The Braves probably won't pull it off, but damn if I'm not impressed with the team's heart here at the end of the season. They have gone 15 out of 17, put together two 7 game winning streaks, and pulled to within 2 of the national league wild card.

I wish we had played remotely like this in June. That killed our chances at ever catching Philly.

[Raging Turtle]

HOLLIDAY FRANKLIN AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH 

[Rasix]

Would have been funnier if it hit him in the balls.  Just missed.

[Hoax]

Fucking Yankees, meanwhile though at least two LA teams are winning.  Sigh.  Stupid baseball.  For real, fuck Boston but does it have to be LA?

[Raging Turtle]

Well those were three horribly depressing games. 

 

[caladein]

Dodgers win a series and the Angels are up 2-0 on the Red Sox, who have forgotten how to hit the ball.  What a strange and wonderful world these playoffs are.

[Paelos]

I would be highly amused by an all-Cali World Series.

[Hoax]

Once the Sox are gone I may have to root for the Yankees, jesus baseball is lame.  All LA series would be awesome only because the games would all be west coast times.

[Teleku]

An all Cali series would be awesome if the two teams weren't from LA  (we have 5 teams total to choose from, did it have to be those 2!?!)

[Trippy]

The last time it was the other two (the 5th team doesn't count) we had a major earthquake.

[Teleku]

Maybe LA will get flattened this time then, Wohoo!

But yeah, maybe another battle of the bay wouldn't be so good, as I live almost right on top of the Hayward fault right now 

[Paelos]

So my choice is going to be the rooting for the Phillies or the Yankees?

No thanks, I'm officially done with this season. Bring on my crappy hockey team.

[Margalis]

The Angels committing consecutive errors on bunts was pretty awesome.

[stu]

Here's an interesting bit I found over at SI.com.

You, too, can be a GM

If you were so inclined, you could take San Diego's impending hiring of Boston assistant general manager Jed Hoyer as a point in the (absurdly) ongoing debate over whether old-fashioned baseball management practices are inferior to snazzy new ones. The more telling point is that 90 percent or more of the sabermetric analysis that an executive such as Hoyer might have available to him is equaled by what's available to anyone with a working Internet connection.

Here's a concrete example. On Boston radio recently, Theo Epstein was defending J.D. Drew against charges of being overpaid. The hosts asked if Drew had actually been worth his contract, which pays him $14 million a year. Epstein's response:

What he’s done the first three years of that contract, just looking at straight free agent dollars -- obviously you can’t compare him to an arbitration market, or a pre-arb player -- what he’s done qualitatively and when you even factor in the amount he’s played over these three years, yeah, he’s come out to a tick more than $14 million per year.

Head over to Fangraphs and you get overall value figures of $6 million, $19 million and $21 million for Drew's three seasons, which averages out to $15 million -- a tick more than $14 million per year. Epstein's information on this is as good as yours.

There aren't many great sabermetric secrets on offer, and people like Hoyer aren't being hired because anyone thinks there are. Clubs have access to some data that outside researchers don't, and they can afford to pay people to chase down blind alleys or study extremely specific subjects. For a team like Boston, this proprietary research doubtless pays some dividends. But on the big-picture issues, such as how good players are, there's no disagreement between internal figures and ones the public has access to. This is the real criticism to be made of obstinately old-school teams such as the Royals -- the problem isn't that they're unwilling to hire some whiz-bang Ivy League grad to run their club, it's that they're unwilling to use information that's literally free for the taking and is just as good as what anyone else has.

Also, Go Phils!

[01101010]

Oh its going to be Sabathia vs Lee in game 1. That should further the conclusion that Cleveland is nothing more than a farm team for champions.

[HaemishM]

Yanks/Phils. YAWN.

[caladein]

The Angels committing consecutive errors on bunts was pretty awesome.

Now to worry about next year.  I have to say, losing in Game 6 of the ALCS being a disappointment is actually kind of neat as an Angels fan.  They were such trash when I was growing up...

[Paelos]

Yanks/Phils. YAWN.

Yep, I won't be watching much of this at all.

[Teleku]

When ever the Yankee's make it to the world series, its always worth watching just so you can root for the opposing team.

[HaemishM]

When that team is the Phillies, yeah, not so much. It's like rooting against the ball cancer because it ate your AIDS.

[Ingmar]

Phillies in 7. I keep expecting Girardi to pay the price for all the shitty moves he keeps making, maybe it will finally happen in the series.

It's worth rooting for the Phils just for Matt Stairs anyway.

[Teleku]

Haha, nice, I didn't even realize he was on the Phillies.  Would be fun to root for him.  I've been rooting for the Phillies all along because of the final 4 teams to make it, they were the only one I didn't personally hate.   No opinion is better than bad opinion

[stu]

Lol at Yanks playing The Imperial March when introducing the Phils and then playing the Rebel theme for themselves. Only the Evil Empire would attempt that kind of spin.

[Teleku]