MLB '08 Season Discussion

[blister1]

Oh, also... lolYankees. Missing Torre yet? At least they get A-Rod back this week, I believe. They are god awful. Didn't mention the Mets either, but how's the Santana trade working? I still think he gives up a ton of homers. I'm sure he'll win ~18-19 games, but not the 22 that people are predicting. The National League isn't that bad this year.

I hope Griffey Jr. goes back to Seattle to finish his career. Would be nice for them, seeing as nothing else is going right out there.

I'm not sure what relevance Torre has to the Yanks sucking. It's more like missing ARod and Posada? Tex is gonna look awfully sexy patrolling 1B next year, and you can pretty bank (no pun) on the fact the Yanks will make a big run at him. We have about $80 mil coming of the table (Pavano, Giambi, Moose, Abreu* Pettitte*, Farnsworth, Hawkins)

Seriously wtf with the Tigers? I knew their bullpen sucked but what the hell. Everything is sucking right now save Maggs' average. No one is hitting. So much talent on that time I really cannot explain how they are doing this poorly. Verlander's no-hitter last year is about all he has going for him, really.

It wasn't their bullpen that sucked, it was their ENTIRE pitching staff. Zumaya was probably their best, he's done (shoulder injuries ruin careers) Rodney was their second best bet and he's on the shelf. Their starting rotation outside of Verlander was/is garbage and now Verlander is arguably their worst starter. I think he's hurt, because his velocity is way down (this was a guy who sat 94-97, he's barely cracking 95 this year)

Shouldn't be suprised if they don't make it, their pitching staff is horrid.

Hafner sucking ass doesn't help.

Lack of HGH tends to do that.

Lester just pitched a no-hitter. Fuck Boston and this sport.

[Deftscythe]

No hitter in Boston tonight.

[Weeks]

And then a 10 minute manhug-bukkake shown on ESPN.

[Viq]

YYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!

[Akiyama]

Congrats to Lester for his No hitter in Boston! He pitched great. His story has been great, and I'm happy for him. Two no-hitters in two years for Boston though. =[

Also, chances of the Braves keeping Tex are about 10%. He has family and such in GA, but I'm sure Boris will get him on the market and a team like New York will grab him. It'll suck for the Braves to lose him, but I hope for the best. Who knows? Crazier things will happen. Maybe he'll take a semi-discount to play in Atlanta, but I dunno.

Also, I know Missing A-Rod and Posada sucks for a team, but it also sucks to lose a manager like Joe Torre in the way they lost him, being forced out and all. Oh well, it's all my opinion of course.

[blister1]

Congrats to Lester for his No hitter in Boston! He pitched great. His story has been great, and I'm happy for him. Two no-hitters in two years for Boston though. =[

Also, chances of the Braves keeping Tex are about 10%. He has family and such in GA, but I'm sure Boris will get him on the market and a team like New York will grab him. It'll suck for the Braves to lose him, but I hope for the best. Who knows? Crazier things will happen. Maybe he'll take a semi-discount to play in Atlanta, but I dunno.

Also, I know Missing A-Rod and Posada sucks for a team, but it also sucks to lose a manager like Joe Torre in the way they lost him, being forced out and all. Oh well, it's all my opinion of course.

They didn't force him out, they gave him a contract (albiet less than what he was making) and he rejected it. Then burned bridges, it sucks, but the team was heading nowhere. Girardi got tossed into a shitstorm, doesn't help that he's had to coach without the best player in the game missing three weeks along with his All-Star catcher.

Tex is full of shit, he turned down a 8/140 from Texas, he says he wants to play in Baltimore because he has family there, but that's bullshit also. I don't get to watch many Braves games, but how good is he? switch hitting 1B, still in their prime, who hit for power, and play GG defense are pretty fucking rare.

[Cephius]

From a Yankee fan, congrats to Lester. Great story for him to come back and pitch a nono.

But wow, two organizations going in complete opposite directions..

EDIT: And yes, I fully expect Tex to be in pinstripes next year. They won't sign Giambi and Duncan has been a disappointment thusfar. They've needed power righty at 1B ever since Tino left. Tex fits the profile and like said above, the Yankees are freeing up a ton of payroll after this year. Though I do think they'll resign Abreu unless another good RF comes along.

[Akiyama]

Actually, he doesn't hit nearly as well from the right side as he does his left. He's a switch hitter, sure, but he's more power on the left hand side.

As of right now this year, he's actually been semi-disappointing, but he's a notorious slow starter, so it's to be expected. I'm sure he'll heat up and still hit 30+ Homers and drive in over 100 RBI by the end of the year. All these players who say they'd like to play and be near their family are bullshit. Case in point, Tom Glavine. His family is in Atlanta, but he took the bigger contract to New York. He had a mediocre time there, and comes back to Atlanta knowing this is probably his last year. I'm sure Tex will end up in New York to play for the Yankees. Young guy like that wants to win a championship, and I'm sure it'll help the Yankees chances with him around. I'd like to say "I'm sure he'll be back in Atlanta", but that's highly doubtful.

[Soarian]

I'm not really surprised there are teams at the top that don't normally compete, it seems to happen every year. I remember a few years back when Baltimore took a gigantic lead in the division early on but faded out in the second half, and that will probably happen again this year too.

The Marlins have been playing pretty unbelievable ball lately and should hang around the wild card race, but to be frank the Phillies and Mets haven't been playing up to their potential thus far and both should get much better as the year wears on. Their hitting should be great all year but their pitching has been way above what it should be and will even out later. The Phillies starting pitching outside of Hamels has been pretty shitty, and they are having trouble hitting with runners in scoring position and relying on the long ball way too much. Oddly enough their bullpen, which is a perennial nightmare for them, has been outstanding this year and is the biggest reason they are doing as well as they are. The Mets I admittedly don't follow much but I know they can play much better.

All in all I still think Boston is the team to beat this year and they'll probably end up winning it all again.

[Doombard]

Say you had the chance to own a new expansion team. What single player would you build your franchise around? If I had to choose I would say Pujols.

[Reality]

hopefully my sox can take at least 2 of 3 from cleveland and push them back to 2.5 games, would be great to get a sweep though, we are dodging Lee for this series but we face CC tonight, he has typically owned us throughout his career (I think the first game of this year was a fluke, Thome just doesn't hit homeruns off left-handed pitchers, or get any hits for that matter. lol)

detroit is probably not a 5th place team (The royals are a feel-good story, but they have a non-existant offense that can't hit homeruns), but 4th is probably likely, right around with where the twins will end up (they're a tough team that gets a lot of their wins against us >< our pitchers are so slow delivering the ball to homeplate that every single becomes a double via SB)

i'm guessing it'll be the sox & cleveland battling it out in the al central for the division if things holdup as they are right now, but as poorly as detroit has played they're (only) 6-7 games out of first place, unreal

edit: and also, my man-crush on these guys is inflating like a balloon

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/8056/gavinni1.png
http://i31.tinypic.com/o7sf3d.jpg

[Viq]

Say you had the chance to own a new expansion team. What single player would you build your franchise around? If I had to choose I would say Pujols.

Roy Halladay without a doubt. You'll get a fairly consistent 15-18 wins, 3.40-3.70 ERA, and a man who eats innings like Kobayashi eats hot dogs. Last year he led MLB with 7CG. He was one away from doubling up the second place guy in the AL. This year he already had 4 CG consecutively. He was the first person to do that since... himself. There's really no way to overstate how dramatic an effect a pitcher like Halladay can have on a pitching staff as a whole. Bullpen needs a rest? Here's Doc Halladay. Have young pitchers that need a veteran presence? Here's Doc Halladay. He doesn't get the ridiculous strikeout numbers of a Santana or Bedard, he doesn't have the microscopic ERA of a Cliff Lee or a Matsuzaka (in b4 walks). All Halladay does is consistently eat innings and keep his team in games.

[Cephius]

Say you had the chance to own a new expansion team. What single player would you build your franchise around? If I had to choose I would say Pujols.

Roy Halladay without a doubt. You'll get a fairly consistent 15-18 wins, 3.40-3.70 ERA, and a man who eats innings like Kobayashi eats hot dogs. Last year he led MLB with 7CG. He was one away from doubling up the second place guy in the AL. This year he already had 4 CG consecutively. He was the first person to do that since... himself. There's really no way to overstate how dramatic an effect a pitcher like Halladay can have on a pitching staff as a whole. Bullpen needs a rest? Here's Doc Halladay. Have young pitchers that need a veteran presence? Here's Doc Halladay. He doesn't get the ridiculous strikeout numbers of a Santana or Bedard, he doesn't have the microscopic ERA of a Cliff Lee or a Matsuzaka (in b4 walks). All Halladay does is consistently eat innings and keep his team in games.

Agree. Santana is overrated. He gives up way too many bomb home runs, and rarely pitches more than 6 innings. Cliff Lee (sorry Cleveland) is a fluke. Dice-K is having a good year but he crumbles against the Yankees in big spots. Hallady is an absolute beast. The only thing is that he's probably at his peak and will start to decline in a couple years. Also, I don't think he has any post-season experience. But still, I'd rather have Halladay than anyone else at this point.

As for the offensive side, probably Manny at this point. He's a ridiculous clutch player, every time he comes up against the Yankees I just start adding up what the score will be after he hits a 500ft home run. His downside is that he's getting older and probably doesn't have many allstar years left in him. If I was building for the future I'd probably go with A-rod.

As for relief/closer, probably Marino at this point, but I could see going with Papelbon too because he's so much younger.

[Viq]

For an offensive player, I would probably go with either Hanley Ramirez or Carl Crawford. Most likely Ramirez

[Weeks]

Anyone who says anyone other than Pujols, Wright, Justin Upton, or Hanley Ramirez is a moron, and the Hanley Ramirez thing is predicated on him turning into a good CF when his manager gives up on him as a shortstop. Any pitcher is too big an injury risk, period.

[Dense]

With this post, I'm giving everyone in this thread a chance to feel good about their team:

I'm a Tigers fan.

Thanks, and have a nice day (while I Q_Q my dreams away)...

[Akiyama]

With this post, I'm giving everyone in this thread a chance to feel good about their team:

I'm a Tigers fan.

Thanks, and have a nice day (while I Q_Q my dreams away)...

At least you aren't a Rockies/Padres/Giants fan?

[Cephius]

With this post, I'm giving everyone in this thread a chance to feel good about their team:

I'm a Tigers fan.

Thanks, and have a nice day (while I Q_Q my dreams away)...

At least you aren't a Rockies/Padres/Giants fan?

What about the Cubs? I think if they don't win it all this year it makes it an even 100 years since a world title.. ouch.

[Akiyama]

Yeah, there is that, but they are actually really good this year, so who knows what will happen? Maybe the Tigers will go on a 12 game winning streak and put them back at .500 or something.

[Kooldac]

Yeah, there is that, but they are actually really good this year, so who knows what will happen? Maybe the Tigers will go on a 12 game winning streak and put them back at .500 or something.

you know you blow when you need a 10 game streak to reach even figure in the middle of May