MLB Fantasy Discussion aka "Votto is the Only Red Worth Taking"

[fren.]

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/ar...rticleid=12470

Five five-star prospects is all sorts of what the fuck. Even further stackage if they trade Grienke.

[Akiyama]

Too bad it's the Royals.

[Cephius]

Grats to Votto on winning the NL MVP, no brainer

lol @ 27 players getting at least 1 place vote, including Dan Uggla (go braves!) Brian Wilson and Ryan Howard

[Conrad]

Three Phillies in the Top 10 (and good to see Chooch get some well-deserved attention, too) but fucking lol at Ryan Howard being anything resembling an MVP this year, let alone 10th place

[Weeks]

Grats to Votto on winning the NL MVP, no brainer

Well, he was in a statistical dead heat with the 2-time reigning MVP, who happened to win both the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger at the position they both play, so it shouldn't have been a no-brainer, but for once I don't think anyone can really fault the writers for basing the award on the division standings.

[Cephius]

Votto did end up having a slightly hire fWAR than Pujols and I guess Pujols was hurt by the fact he didn't have a typical year "for him" and Votto lead the team that made the playoffs the first time in forever.

[Melena]

Votto only won cause it was deemed to be unfair if Brian Wilson's beard was allowed to be nominated. I am surprised though at how many random people did get a place vote though.

[Cephius]

BUT BBWAA WRITERS ARE SO MUCH BETTER NOW YOU ASSHOLES DONT EVEN KNOW

[Melena]

Well after giving Palmero a gold glove, you really have no way to go but up.

[Viq]

Except the Gold Glove isn't awarded by the BBWAA

[Melena]

Bleh, brain fart there, though could have fooled me on some winners.

[Saga]

BUT BBWAA WRITERS ARE SO MUCH BETTER NOW YOU ASSHOLES DONT EVEN KNOW

Don't be a faggot. The argument in the 2010 season thread was "BBWAA writers aren't smart enough to vote on the Cy Young intelligibly." In addition to last year, they did vote intelligibly this year, and ignored win-loss record AGAIN (Greinke was just 16-9 in 2009). At what point do you start giving them some credit? When does "it's a step in the right direction" become "okay fine, the majority of them know their shit," hm? I'm defending them because I'm a journalist, and I'm beyond sure the majority (that's a term you like to conveniently ignore) of sports journalists know more about the sport than I do, and I'm damn sure they know way more than you do. So put a lit on it and quit acting like a giant piece of shit.

[Weeks]

Don't be a faggot. The argument in the 2010 season thread was "BBWAA writers aren't smart enough to vote on the Cy Young intelligibly." In addition to last year, they did vote intelligibly this year

Yes, their penmanship has clearly improved.

[Cephius]

Don't be a faggot. The argument in the 2010 season thread was "BBWAA writers aren't smart enough to vote on the Cy Young intelligibly." In addition to last year, they did vote intelligibly this year, and ignored win-loss record AGAIN (Greinke was just 16-9 in 2009). At what point do you start giving them some credit? When does "it's a step in the right direction" become "okay fine, the majority of them know their shit," hm? I'm defending them because I'm a journalist, and I'm beyond sure the majority (that's a term you like to conveniently ignore) of sports journalists know more about the sport than I do, and I'm damn sure they know way more than you do. So put a lit on it and quit acting like a giant piece of shit.

So basically you're saying there's no way a fan could possibly know more about a sport than the writers who cover it? And you know this because... you're in some form of journalism? How would you know that? Do you interact with sports writers? I think you fail to understand why sports writers even exist. I follow Yankee beat writers religiously, I converse with them on a daily basis. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I know more about sabermetrics than all of them combined. Some of them wouldn't understand WAR or FIP if I showed them the glossary pages on fangraphs. And you know what? They don't give a shit. Their job is to sell newspapers or get hits on a blog, and the newspaper reading public doesn't give a shit about WAR or FIP or UZR either. If you'd taken a second to think about it logically I figured you would have understood that but you nerdraged over a perceived insult to your profession.

Are there exceptions? Sure. Guys like Keith Law genuinely love the sport and the statistical analysis of it but guys like him are few and far between. Most of the writers I know don't even like baseball, so I'm pretty comfortable saying I care more than they do.

Back to the original point, I go back to what was said in the other thread. I have to see more, a lot more. Why should I give writers credit for partially dismissing win/loss record, something that the sabr community at large has been screaming for the last two decades? Even then, I can give you a dozen columns of people who made fun of Felix winning the Cy and those who still think "knowing how to win" is a quantifiable skill. For every klaw there is a shitbag like Rob Neyer or Wallace Matthews who make a living pumping out shit article after biased opinion, or guys like Jon Heyman who are nothing more than talking heads for the agendas of certain agents. You'll forgive me if I don't take a couple of stupid awards as proof that "the majority of them know their shit"

Or, you know, whatever, ad hominem arguments work too. As Joe Morgan once said, "Anyone who has never stepped on a baseball diamond can't teach me anything about baseball"*

*He said that about Billy Beane, the guy he thought authored Moneyball (he, of course, didn't) clearly not knowing that Beane, in fact, did have a MLB career

[jmc]

Not fully confirmed, but alot of sources claiming Victor Martinez has a 4 year 50m deal with the tigers.

Damn red sox, and refusing to offer anything above 2 years.

[Cephius]

WEEI reported they offered 3/36 or 4/42, I'm surprised they didn't make a bigger effort. He's a 4-5 win player who can catch (albeit with bad defense) or play first base. Assuming the Sox won't resign Beltre, I figured they'd keep V-mart and use Youk at third.

[*Shinzon*]

WEEI reported they offered 3/36 or 4/42, I'm surprised they didn't make a bigger effort. He's a 4-5 win player who can catch (albeit with bad defense) or play first base. Assuming the Sox won't resign Beltre, I figured they'd keep V-mart and use Youk at third.

So did most people. I get the feeling though that he was tired of being jerked around in Boston. Based on the numbers from MLBTR, the offers he were all pretty comparable.

[Stiker]

22 out of 28 first place votes gives Josh Hamilton AL MVP honors!

[pohibaba]

The Giants resigned Aubrey Huff for 2 years/$22m with a third club option year for $10m. Might be a bit of an overpay, but Sabean was reportedly just matching an offer from another club, and I'm glad to get Aubrey back.

[Melena]

woot that's awesome he's back. Bit more then I thought he'd get. I was thinking 2 for 18 with a club for third. But not Rowand level of overpay.