MLB 2013

[WayAbvPar]

1997 Mariners would have been on that list if they had anyone better than a potted plant in left field. Griffey at his peak (and with 56 HRs), and Jay Buhner with 40 dingers. They had Jose Cruz Jr. (who turned out to be a bust), but traded him, then played a bunch of nobodies. Raul Ibanez was on the team but didn't play much, IIRC. Strange since the list of great Mariner left fielders is long and prestigious. See below.

Great Mariner LFs

[ghost]

I think your list is too extensive.   

[Ingmar]

I don't know if I can argue with that Indians placement, honestly, that was an utterly ridiculous year as a group.

On the Braves-Diamondbacks trade:

The Braves got a ridiculously good deal on Upton.

Things to keep in mind:

- Upton is under team control for I think 3 years, Prado was under team control for only 1.
- Chris Johnson is going to get some time at 3B and be decent, and 3B was a big problem for the Braves post-Chipper.
- Randall Delgado is like a 4th starter tops, and the Braves are still deep in the rotation.
- The prospects they gave up are not exciting. Ahmed is not really an outstanding prospect - good glove no bat SS dudes are not exactly rare. The pitcher, Spruill, is nothing special, maybe a back end rotation middle bullpen guy if he meets his max potential. Drury is organzational filler.

Yeah, Prado is a good (and fairly predictable) player, but when you put everything on the scales the price they paid looks really, really low to me. Of course there's risk, all trades carry risk. Maybe Upton's thumb injury wasn't the real problem and he's going to turn terrible suddenly. I think it is absolutely a worthwhile risk to take though.

(And from a Giants perspective, the Diamondbacks trade strategy this offseason makes me very happy.)

[Paelos]

From the standpoint of Johnson over whatever we were going to have at third it's a steal, I agree there.

We're trading away Prado's better average for better OPS in Upton and longer control (but a lot higher salary). I worry about his oddness in the fielding department. Some years he looks fantasic. Some years he's just fucking around with like 15 errors. That's also concerning with Johnson who's a disaster with the glove at 3rd.

Prado's tough to watch go because he's more consistent but less productive. In a lineup where we had almost zero consistency, that was a good thing, and he was plug-n-play at almost any needed position on the field. He's not as fast though and he's not as powerful.

[Ingmar]

I also wonder if being in an outfield with his brother is going to be a plus, a minus, or a meh thing. For both of them, really.

[ghost]

God, baseball is so clean.   

[Ingmar]

This could actually be very good for the Yankees, if it ends up giving them a way to get out from under that contract even partially.

[Paelos]

This could actually be very good for the Yankees, if it ends up giving them a way to get out from under that contract even partially.

Good angle. I didn't think of that. Man, what a deal for them.

[ghost]

They could possibly get rid of their whole fucking roster this way.  Again, they need to start docking teams wins or this is going to go nowhere. 

[Paelos]

They could possibly get rid of their whole fucking roster this way.  Again, they need to start docking teams wins or this is going to go nowhere. 

I don't get the leap there. I'd ban players, but getting rid of wins?

[ghost]

Until you get the teams and the owners on board with keeping players clean it will never happen.  You'll instead get the same treatment the UCI gave Lance and a nudge-nudge, wink-wink style of dealing with the problem.  So unless you hit the owners with a penalty it's never going to change to any great degree.  I don't particularly believe that losing a player for 50 games is a big enough penalty for the owners.  That is unless you just don't really give a shit about getting rid of doping in baseball. 

[WayAbvPar]

Don't you just love it when people you loathe keep giving you ammo to fuel your hatred? Thanks, Alex and Ray! What a day 

[ghost]

You know what's coming next though.  These assholes always like to try and retire with the team they started with.   

[Paelos]

Until you get the teams and the owners on board with keeping players clean it will never happen.  You'll instead get the same treatment the UCI gave Lance and a nudge-nudge, wink-wink style of dealing with the problem.  So unless you hit the owners with a penalty it's never going to change to any great degree.  I don't particularly believe that losing a player for 50 games is a big enough penalty for the owners.  That is unless you just don't really give a shit about getting rid of doping in baseball. 

Meh, burn em all then. I don't mind.

[ghost]

I know that you hate doping.  I'm pretty ambivalent on it, primarily because I don't think they will ever be able to stop the athletes.  This is, in particular, true when the agencies that are in charge of the athletes stand to make so much money from the performance of said athletes.  It's just like with Lance and the UCI.  He very well could burn them down, as you say, if he comes 100% clean.  There was clearly a bribery occurrence with his Tour of Switzerland doping positive. 

[ghost]

Here's a link to the main article from the Miamuh Times, if anyone cares to read it.  It's pretty amazing. 

[Belasco]

A little late to the party here (sorry I have 8 posts now), but I would be shocked if Thomas (Sox fan here but come on), Maddux, and Glavine aren't in the Hall next year.  Biggio not making it this year was really surprising to me.

Jack Morris is probably a dead horse now.  However, if we're measuring "clutchiness", here are his playoff stats against a fellow eligible hall inductee, Curt Schilling:

Morris:  7-4; 3.80 ERA; 1.24 WHIP, 6.2 K/9; 3.1 BB/9; 66.7% of HOF vote
Schilling:  11-2; 2.23 ERA; 0.97 WHIP; 8.1 K/9; 1.7 BB/9; 38.8% of HOF vote

Basically everything Morris was supposed to be in "clutch" time, Schilling actually was (post-career video game studio success notwithstanding).  The vote shows it's really hard to believe baseball writers do this for a living.

Back on track though, my White Sox signing Keppinger is sadly a massive upgrade over their 3B production the last few years.  It's a great deal if they end up trading for Headley (haha).  Lindstrom is a decent signing, but I'm not convinced that what they have will dethrone Detroit in the AL Central.  Getting Peavy back at the price they got was savvy, but I'm pretty convinced that Sale will have some arm injury which will end up putting the Sox out of that race by June.

[Azaroth]

Whether Toronto is great or totally blows it and disappoints everyone, the value of going to games this year is sky high. I'm actually excited for a baseball season.

[Paelos]

Toronto is a contender in the press for the first time in a while. So, I think that's a win.

[ghost]

So who had the bigger sham career?  A-rod, Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, Clemens, or some other name that isn't mentioned?  Or is it even possible to differentiate any more?

[Paelos]

Bonds, because he unapologetically ruined one of the coolest records in baseball.

[Ingmar]

Before you could make any determination about who was 'worst', you'd have to somehow quantify exactly how much PEDs helped - including the ones used before the late 90s. Good luck with that.

[Paelos]

Before you could make any determination about who was 'worst', you'd have to somehow quantify exactly how much PEDs helped - including the ones used before the late 90s. Good luck with that.

I hate Barry Bonds. I reject your criteria.

[ghost]

Well, you could look at Bonds, McGwire and Sosa and see how their careers changed for the better as time went on.  The problem is that you don't know how much they were juicing and when. 

[HaemishM]

It's kind of obvious with some of those guys when the juicing began just based on head size. 

Also, it's a known fact that McGwire was seen with Winstrol in his locker during that record-breaking season - it wasn't a banned substance then but everyone knew it was a roid.

[ghost]

Hasn't it been pretty much verified that McGwire, Bonds and Sosa were all doping during their big HR seasons?

[Ginaz]

Hasn't it been pretty much verified that McGwire, Bonds and Sosa were all doping during their big HR seasons?

I think McGwire finally fessed up to it awhile ago, which doesn't surprise me since it seems like he is somewhat likable and less of a douche bag compared to the other two.

[Sjofn]

Alright, baseball, I'm ready for you to start again now!

[ghost]

What?  Braun connected with Miamuh PED clinic?  Surely you jest......

MLB might as well give up.  Their testing is shite. 

[Paelos]

He got caught the first time. Fancy lawyer tricks got him off on a technicality, so Braun's not shocking.

[ghost]

He got caught the first time. Fancy lawyer tricks got him off on a technicality, so Braun's not shocking.

 

[Ingmar]

Bourn finally has a job... in Cleveland? Not what I expected. I have no clue at all what they're trying to accomplish there, and I'm not sure they do either.

[Paelos]

I'm pissed at him and his agent. Boras sold him on the fact he could get $15-16M on the open market, so when the Braves tossed a $13M offer at him for a year, he waved it away. I'm fairly certain if he'd come to the Braves with 4 years $48M, the Justin Upton deal doesn't happen, Bourn's in Center, and we still have Martin Prado on the team.

Boras screwed this up, royally. Bourn could be getting that kind of money from a contending team. He chased the Phillies away with his grandiose requests, and basically told the Mets that the only way his client would play for them is if they gave him a hotel suite on every road game. Ridiculous.

[HaemishM]

So film at 11, Scott Boras is a money-grubbing douche?

[Paelos]

I can deal with money grubbing if you GET it.

When you fuck up the entire process because you totally mismanaged the deal, I can't.