2009 MLB season discussion*

[fren.]

Near unanimous decision except for the typical Detroit cocksucker(s) that voted for a Tiger.

Magglio, Verlander, and Miggy.


Edit: apparently it was some Japanese guy, lol.

[Cephius]

I'm not for deciding things (even silly things such as the MVP) based on small sample sizes but... You'd think that guy would have noticed how Cabrera disappeared while the Tigers were collapsing, and went 0-11 in the late series against the Twins when one win woulda clinched the division. gg.

[Bregor]

Yeah I think we all knew the MVP races weren't gonna be close, expecting Pujols to win with about the same amount of 1st place votes. Would love to see the criteria that one guy had for MCab being better than Mauer though.

[Bozo]

Stumbled upon this: link removed

Older video but I never saw it before. The ending is pretty funny.

[Melena]

Maybe the writer thought it was voting for most likely to get a DUI the weekend before the biggest series of the year?

[Trichocyst]

Albert Pujols in a unanimous vote. Ryan Howard finished third. ;p

[Cephius]

No real stupid choices this year to pick on, I'm sad Oh well, now nothing to look forward to until the hot stove gets going.. which probably won't be until after the new year

[Ensam]

Happy Hanley got second

LOL at Utley getting 8th, with no second place votes and only 2 3rd place votes. He only appeared on 18 of 32 ballads lol....

Nearly half of the voters don't even think he's a top 10 valuable player |:

[Orph]

Voters are in love with home runs and RBIs

[Cephius]

Voters are in love with home runs and RBIs

Please, make an argument against Pujols. I beg you.

[Trichocyst]

I think he means more Howard getting 3rd and the Utley being better talk, etc.

[Cephius]

I think he means more Howard getting 3rd and the Utley being better talk, etc.

Eh well technically Howard is a better player, but it seems just now people are catching on to the idea that all positions aren't created equal... Utley is better than Howard when you take into account the average level of talent at their position. As far as how much that's taken into account in MVP voting though, who knows?

[Trichocyst]

I suppose that goes back to the whole argument of what makes the most valuable player to their team. A large part of why Ryan Howard can hit so many home runs and drive in so many runs is because of Chase Utley who is the best hitter on the team. Utley gets on base all the time, plays great defense, and is a pretty classy dirtball of a guy. Plus he gets caught saying fuck all the time on live television.

Utley can win an MVP. He needs a season where he stays healthy and avoids slumps. Until that happens (and Pujols probably needs to just go away) he'll have to settle for silver sluggers and HBP championships.

[Bozo]

Happy Hanley got second

LOL at Utley getting 8th, with no second place votes and only 2 3rd place votes. He only appeared on 18 of 32 ballads lol....

Nearly half of the voters don't even think he's a top 10 valuable player |:

Heh, I thought Raul Ibanez would get some votes... I didn't see his name on the MLB.com thing. I mean, he was pretty much on course to be MVP before he got injured wasn't he?

Was pretty interesting to read that Ryan Howard led the MLB in 43 go-ahead RBI's. What don't they have stats for?

Edit: Didn't see those few posts above me. Chase needs more days off and I'm pretty sure he'd be fine. Phillies are apparently working out a deal to replace Bruntlett with Jaun Castro.

Oh and did anyone think Michael Bourn should have atleast gotten mentioned under "Honorable Mention" on the MLB.com article? Guy is a speed demon with over 60 stolen bases and hit .285.

[Trichocyst]

I don't think Michael Bourn would have developed like that in the Phillies system. The Houston hitting coach turned that kid's career around.

[Bozo]

I don't think Michael Bourn would have developed like that in the Phillies system. The Houston hitting coach turned that kid's career around.

He was beyond annoying in pretty much every game against the Astros for the Phillies. I think they hit maybe one ball over his head and not to mention how many times he got picked off and -still- beat the throw on several occasions.

[Trichocyst]

Every ex-Phillie likes to be a huge pain in the ass.

[Orph]

Rod Barajas torches the Phillies

[pohibaba]

From MLBTradeRumours.com:

Yahoo's Tim Brown penned a column today about Tim Lincecum's likely record-setting arbitration case that included this tidbit from an unnamed baseball executive. Lincecum's agents and the MLB Players' Union had discussed the possibility of submitting an arbitration figure of $23MM plus one dollar for the back-to-back Cy Young Award winner. Why the extra dollar? So Lincecum would be making 100 cents more than the highest-paid pitcher in baseball, C.C. Sabathia. The symbolic number would reflect Lincecum's unprecedented success this early in his career.

As Brown notes, Lincecum and his team would almost certainly lose their case by posting such a high number. Since the Giants' bid, however, is almost obligated to be in the eight-figure range, it seems guaranteed that Lincecum's final 2010 salary will exceed the record $10MM arbitration award given to Ryan Howard following his MVP season in 2007.

This could be all moot, of course, if the Giants don't let Lincecum get to arbitration in the first place. It was previously reported that Lincecum was open to a contract extension in San Francisco, for an amount that would likely top Zach Greinke's four-year/$38MM deal with the Royals. Brown speculates that a Lincecum extension could be closer to the three-year/$54 million contract that Howard signed with Philadelphia last February.

One almost hopes that Lincecum and the Giants don't come to terms so we can see, in the words of MLBTR's Mike Axisa, "the most awesome first year arbitration case in history."

[Cephius]

And there you see another example of the extreme amount of power that the player's union holds over all of baseball. It's ridiculous to expect the Giants to pay Lincecum 20+ million a year. He won't get that much, but still, it artificially raises the prices. For anyone who likes blaming the Yankees payroll for being unfair, it's only unfair because the player's union makes it that way.