Martin Frk Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Hamels gets a 6year 144 million dollar extension Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johngould21 Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 I guess ChiSoxin12 is not loving life right now, that team has really been slumping. I wouldn't want to be anywhere near Hawk Harrelson right about now either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretzky's Mullet Posted July 25, 2012 Author Share Posted July 25, 2012 I think Hawk's complaining about officiating was getting to the point where it was hurting the MLB brand. Once that happens, Bud has to get involved. I'm no Selig fan, but I actually sort of agree with him on this, that Hawk was undermining trust in the umpires. While I agree with you that some instant replay is necessary, they cannot, will not and should not ever consider it for balls and strikes, as there is simply no way that the game is going to be able to work like that, and that's where Hawk complains the most. And quite frankly, every time I've looked into it (as mentioned previously in this thread), Hawk is actually dead wrong: in fact, both times I've listened to his call then looked at Brooks Baseball the next day, the White Sox were actually getting better calls at home plate than their opponents. I think there should be some freedom for the announcers to express themselves, but in the end, they are still spokesmen for the MLB and the league needs to make sure they don't get out of hand. Certainly, the misplaced bellyaching is not restricted to Hawk: I was watching the Red Sox/Rangers the other day and on one strike out pitch (I think it was to Middlebrooks, but I might be mistaken), the announcer says "oh and (whoever) wasn't happy about that call, and I can see why, that was way outside". Then they bring up the Fox tracker, and it shows the pitch to be quite decidedly in the strike zone, and this guy nonchalantly says "well the Fox tracker thought it was a strike". Hey bonehead, how about owning up to the fact that you were wrong and admitting it like a man for once. I think the imbalance in baseball has been an issue for a while now, however, I don't see it as being the major problem with the Mariners. The team has a payroll in the mid-$80 million range, meaning close to the median for the league, and has been over $100 million in the past, It's some $30 million more than the A's who are 10.5 games ahead in the standings. The second and third highest spending clubs in the league sit last and second last in their divisions respectively. Granted, both the Phillies and Red Sox have dealt with significant injuries this year, but that's also something that comes with having a team full of old, expensive veterans. Most certainly, there is an imbalance in spending and having more money does generally correlate with winning. But spending your money wisely, and being well-managed, is just as critical. Look no farther than the Marlins trading erstwhile franchise icon Hanley Ramirez to shed some of their bloated payroll as they languish 12.5 games behind the Nationals, who have a much smaller payroll, in the tough NL East. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johngould21 Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 I think Hawk's complaining about officiating was getting to the point where it was hurting the MLB brand. Once that happens, Bud has to get involved. I'm no Selig fan, but I actually sort of agree with him on this, that Hawk was undermining trust in the umpires. While I agree with you that some instant replay is necessary, they cannot, will not and should not ever consider it for balls and strikes, as there is simply no way that the game is going to be able to work like that, and that's where Hawk complains the most. And quite frankly, every time I've looked into it (as mentioned previously in this thread), Hawk is actually dead wrong: in fact, both times I've listened to his call then looked at Brooks Baseball the next day, the White Sox were actually getting better calls at home plate than their opponents. I think there should be some freedom for the announcers to express themselves, but in the end, they are still spokesmen for the MLB and the league needs to make sure they don't get out of hand. Certainly, the misplaced bellyaching is not restricted to Hawk: I was watching the Red Sox/Rangers the other day and on one strike out pitch (I think it was to Middlebrooks, but I might be mistaken), the announcer says "oh and (whoever) wasn't happy about that call, and I can see why, that was way outside". Then they bring up the Fox tracker, and it shows the pitch to be quite decidedly in the strike zone, and this guy nonchalantly says "well the Fox tracker thought it was a strike". Hey bonehead, how about owning up to the fact that you were wrong and admitting it like a man for once. I think the imbalance in baseball has been an issue for a while now, however, I don't see it as being the major problem with the Mariners. The team has a payroll in the mid-$80 million range, meaning close to the median for the league, and has been over $100 million in the past, It's some $30 million more than the A's who are 10.5 games ahead in the standings. The second and third highest spending clubs in the league sit last and second last in their divisions respectively. Granted, both the Phillies and Red Sox have dealt with significant injuries this year, but that's also something that comes with having a team full of old, expensive veterans. Most certainly, there is an imbalance in spending and having more money does generally correlate with winning. But spending your money wisely, and being well-managed, is just as critical. Look no farther than the Marlins trading erstwhile franchise icon Hanley Ramirez to shed some of their bloated payroll as they languish 12.5 games behind the Nationals, who have a much smaller payroll, in the tough NL East. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdcanucks02 Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Why does everyone keep saying Ichiro was a cap dump?? In order for it to be a cap dump, doesnt there need to be a salary cap. And this was possibly the worst trade I have ever seen. Ichiro is worth so much to the yankees, maybe not in a full time position but come playoff time man on second 2 down and you need a hit to win the game, pinch hitting ichiro sounds pretty freaking awesome to me. Seattle got absolutley hosed in this deal and I hope their fan base lets them know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johngould21 Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Jake's getting some run support again today, the boys are alive! LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raoul Duke Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 HanRam to the Dodgers?? Very nice!! Now as long as Kershaw doesn't ever pitch the way he did last night ever again, they should take the NL West. Here's hoping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raoul Duke Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 I agree with you on the balls and strikes issue. No need for replay on that, however, missed tags on the bases, balls bouncing into gloves in the outfield, homeruns outside the foul line, things that shouldn't take that long to review, but aren't. The Mariners, can't seem to get their puzzle put together. Trade for Cliff Lee, then dump him in late July, don't know about you, but if I'm a Mariners fan, I'd be choked. Ichiro couldn't save this team on his own, so in that sense I'm happy for him to get a chance at a WS shot. They, in my opinion, have been very poorly managed. The Yankmee brand, well that says it all. They are the third most valuable sports franchise in sports, behind ManU, the Cowboys and Real Madrid (tied). Might have the last two mixed up but I believe they are tied for second, maybe its the Yankees tied with Madrid. Hate them, but without them MLB, is really in trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretzky's Mullet Posted July 26, 2012 Author Share Posted July 26, 2012 Stupid Dodgers should still finish behind the Giants. SF is better in almost every facet of the game, just need to get Timmy going. My hope is for a repeat of the '89 series this year (minus another Loma Prieta of course). And Ichiro, for all of his history in Seattle, is a player who is seriously in decline and an impending UFA. As I've said, the Mariners might have gotten more for him, but they weren't going to get anyone in trade that would offset his intangible value to Seattle (which he obviously doesn't have with any other team). Perhaps this really was their way of thanking him for all of his service, by honouring his request to be traded by sending him to the league's most vaunted team. Stings for M's fans, but considering where things were going this year and how little time Ichiro probably has left, he's probably on a cloud right now. I feel like the Mariners might be wise to do themselves a favour and bring the fences in a little at Safeco (as the Mets did at Citi). While they've been pushing this philosophy of "defence and pitching", perhaps it's time to acknowledge that they also need to hit, and have some guys who should be able to do it too. Not to mention that the team probably has the reputation of being where sluggers' careers go to die. Eg: it's no accident that Beltre's slugging percentage was 100 points lower as a Mariner than in his last season with the Dodgers or in the ones since he left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Romo Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 My trip to Baltimore got cancelled sadly...but i am still happy,I got to see a my 1st ever baseball game this trip! The jays always to this. Just when you think we're on a roll and going to make a serious push,we go on a losing streak. 16-0(hey pats fans) Are you serious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUPERTKBD Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 My trip to Baltimore got cancelled sadly...but i am still happy,I got to see a my 1st ever baseball game this trip! The jays always to this. Just when you think we're on a roll and going to make a serious push,we go on a losing streak. 16-0(hey pats fans) Are you serious Does anyone know what is wrong with Ricky Romero? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretzky's Mullet Posted July 26, 2012 Author Share Posted July 26, 2012 Well if there's any silver lining for the Blue Jays, it's that hopefully AA no longer has delusions about contending this year and won't blow up one of the best farm systems in baseball to push for a one game play-in that half the American League has their eyes on. As much as Jose hates to lose, when you have that many key players on the DL (and most of your other players not named Encarnacion underachieving) it's not realistic to think you can make the playoffs in the AL East. Blue Jays fans are sick of hearing "this will be the year", but being impatient and doing something stupid would most likely backfire. I think AA's trades have generally come out pretty good so far, and he's built a good foundation of a team. Having said that, there is a lot of underachieving happening right now that's hard to understand. Drabek, before getting hurt, hasn't developed as projected, and Thames, Snider, Cooper etc have all had a hard time establishing any sort of consistency at the major league level, despite their obvious ability. How Ricky Romero has managed to regress as far as he has this season though is anyone's guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johngould21 Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 Hey Gretz's Mullet, I'm really impressed with $ball so far this season. Can't say I would have seen them contend like they are. I never followed the Vancouver Canadians that much, but how many of those kids are in the A's line-up? It seems so long ago that they were the A's single A team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretzky's Mullet Posted July 28, 2012 Author Share Posted July 28, 2012 Hey Gretz's Mullet, I'm really impressed with $ball so far this season. Can't say I would have seen them contend like they are. I never followed the Vancouver Canadians that much, but how many of those kids are in the A's line-up? It seems so long ago that they were the A's single A team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretzky's Mullet Posted July 28, 2012 Author Share Posted July 28, 2012 So who else here thinks that Mike Trout might win AL MVP? I think ROY is a foregone conclusion, and if he doesn't win it unanimously then people need to start getting their votes revoked. But the guy leads the AL in batting average (3rd in OBP), and only Ortiz, who has a harder case being that he doesn't play the field, leads him in OPS. Trout also leads the league in stolen bases, and for you advanced metric fans, he's the league's Wins Above Replacement leader at 6.2 (leading David Wright's 5.5, highest pitcher is Verlander at 5.1), despite only having played in 78 of the Angels 100 games. For all the hype around Harper, it's Trout who has really made the difference this season between the two. Also, unless the Rangers can land a big time pitcher before the deadline, I don't think they'll be able to hold off the Angels in their division, and I maintain what I posted recently that I think the Angels will win the World Series this year. On a related note, I'm sick of seeing ESPN's panelists fellating Miguel Cabrera every time they show a highlight of him. "He's the best hitter in the majors for sure, everyone else is fighting for second" etc. Yes, he is good. But they talk like that's an established and indisputable fact. Really? He's better than Votto, whose OPS is 100 points higher and who's getting on base at an otherworldly .465? You can honestly say Cabrera is hands down better? What about McCutchen, whose slash line is better in all three spots despite not having one of the league's premiere home run hitters right behind him? Or Trout, who's certainly young but with better numbers and some speed on the basepaths to turn singles into doubles and doubles to triples? It's so stupid to hear these guys spout their opinions like they're fact, when there'd be a good set of real fans (not just sycophantic studio guys) who would put up a good dissenting argument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUPERTKBD Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 So who else here thinks that Mike Trout might win AL MVP? I think ROY is a foregone conclusion, and if he doesn't win it unanimously then people need to start getting their votes revoked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretzky's Mullet Posted July 28, 2012 Author Share Posted July 28, 2012 Tough to vote against him GM, at least to this point of the season. Refresh my memory, didn't Freddie Lynn win ROY and MVP in the same season? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baercheese Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 I think Mark Trumbo is even more legit than Trout Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretzky's Mullet Posted July 29, 2012 Author Share Posted July 29, 2012 Trumbo has been excellent, but Trout is definitely the bigger story and more significant contributor, and this is reflected in their player value stats: Trumbo is a solid 3.3, but Trout is a league leading 6.2. This is partly because Trout plays a more challenging position and far better (Trumbo definitely a below average fielder). But Trout also has better slash numbers, and is also a complete pain in the neck on the basepaths. Trumbo has slightly higher power numbers, but is also hitting in an RBI slot, while Trout has to lead off. Add to that the fact that Trout is a rookie and isn't even 22 yet, while Trumbo is a 26 year old power bat who spent 6 years in the minor league system, and I think it's clear that Trout is the more remarkable story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Upshall18 Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Travis Snider pulled during the game against Seattle tonight. Wonder who he was traded for Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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