2015 MLB Season Thread with Postseason Discussion

[TheOldRoman]

It seems very hypocritical that the Yankees are taking the stance they are with A-Rod, including trying to weasel out of paying him his bonuses for passing guys on the HR list because he admitted taking steroids, and a week later they're announcing that they're retiring another PED user's number. If they wanted to retire Pettitte's number, they should have at least waited until A-Rod was gone.

Then again, they shouldn't be retiring the number of a guy with a 3.94 ERA at all, HGH or not.

This is how I feel. Don't get me wrong, he had a pretty solid career with the Yankees. But in what universe is Andy Pettitte good enough to have his number retired along with all of those other famous New York Yankees? I mean, apparently this one, but it doesn't make much sense.

Retiring of numbers is more than just about performance. It's about the impact the player had on the franchise. Those numbers are really good (not HOF good, although he was a Yankee so he might get in off of them), and he was well liked in leading the team to four championships. I realize the Yankees have 27 titles, but four championships is still a huge deal and probably worthy of such an honor.

[FiddySicks]

Not really. Jeremy Affeldt has three championships with the Giants, but if he snags another one with them before he retires I guarantee you he won't get his number retired by them. Like I said, Pettitte was a good pitcher, but not THAT good.

Deadspin basically sums this whole thing up perfectly

http://deadspin.com/the-yankees-will-sell-their-past-until-theres-nothing-l-1686145975?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_facebook&utm_source=deadspin_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

[TheOldRoman]

There's being a #1 or #2 started on four championship teams spanning 15 years and there's being lucky enough to be a member of good teams. Jeremy Affeldt is the latter. Like I said, the biggest portion of it is what Pettite meant to the franchise aside from his performance on the field.

[2001mark]

Pettitte let me down years ago... he looks like a guy who grew up in the Bronx... he sounds like a guy who grew up on a ranch. What a letdown.

[Dexter Morgan]

It seems very hypocritical that the Yankees are taking the stance they are with A-Rod, including trying to weasel out of paying him his bonuses for passing guys on the HR list because he admitted taking steroids, and a week later they're announcing that they're retiring another PED user's number. If they wanted to retire Pettitte's number, they should have at least waited until A-Rod was gone.

Then again, they shouldn't be retiring the number of a guy with a 3.94 ERA at all, HGH or not.

This is how I feel. Don't get me wrong, he had a pretty solid career with the Yankees. But in what universe is Andy Pettitte good enough to have his number retired along with all of those other famous New York Yankees? I mean, apparently this one, but it doesn't make much sense.

Retiring of numbers is more than just about performance. It's about the impact the player had on the franchise. Those numbers are really good (not HOF good, although he was a Yankee so he might get in off of them), and he was well liked in leading the team to four championships. I realize the Yankees have 27 titles, but four championships is still a huge deal and probably worthy of such an honor.

5 championships, not 4.

[TheOldRoman]

Right you are. I remembered that he was on the team in 2009, but I forgot about the 1996 title. But even more so, five world championships for any franchise would time them with the Pirates and Reds for sixth all-time, and Pettite was a large part of teams that accomplished that in the span of 14 years. He has more titles than 22 franchises. I know it's good to hate the Yankees, but what they did was no small accomplishment.

[buckeye]

My predictions:

AL EAST

1.Baltimore (94-68)

2.Boston (89-73)

3.New York (85-77)

4.Toronto (81-81)

5.Tampa Bay (69-93)

AL CENTRAL

1.Detroit (95-67)

2.Cleveland (93-69)*

3. Kansas City (90-72)

4.Chicago White Sox (84-78)

5.Minnesota (65-97)

AL WEST

1.LA Angels (98-64)

2.Seattle (93-69)*

3.Oakland (83-79)

4.Houston (75-87)

5.Texas (70-92)

NL EAST

1.Washington (98-64)

2.Miami (91-71)*

3.Atlanta (82-80)

4.New York Mets (74-88)

5.Philadelphia (66-96)

NL CENTRAL

1.Chicago Cubs (96-66)

2.St. Louis (93-69)*

3.Cincinnati (83-69)

4.Pittsburgh (78-84)

5.Milluakke (74-89)

NL WEST

1.LA Dodgers (97-65)

2.San Francisco (89-73)

3.San Diego (84-78)

4.Arizona (75-87)

5.Colardo (73-89)

*-denotes wild card

NL Wild Card: Marlins 3-2 St. Louis F/10

AL Wild Card:Seattle 7-4 Cleveland

NLDS:

Washington 3

Marlins 1

Chicago 3

LA Dodgers 2

ALDS:

Seattle 3

LA Angels 2

Detroit 3

Baltimore 0

ALCS:

Seattle 4

Detroit 2

NLCS:

Chicago 4

Washington 2

World Series:

Chicago 4

Seattle 2

"Put some money on the Cubbies."-Doc Brown,Back to the Future Part II

I'd take the prediction seriously if it weren't for these 3 mistakes...

[cmm]

So you know it's not just the ramblings from a douche bag Mets fan (which I know I am), the Daily News ran this on the double standard of attacking A-Rod and honoring Pettitte. When it comes to the grievance hearing over A-Rod's bonus money if he hits 6 more homers, the Yankees are going to have a hard time claiming his numbers are tainted and the milestones meaningless when Rodriguez' attorneys can point to the 46 plaque in Monument Park.

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/baseballinsider/yankees-a-rod-andy-pettitte-drug-disconnect-blog-entry-1.2118182

"Hey, look. Teams can act and feel however they want. Pro-PED, anti-PED, agnostic on the issue, whatever. But shouldn’t the Yankees at least have a consistent stance? It’s weird to honor one admitted drug user while fighting another.

Obviously, the contexts are different. A-Rod battled the Yanks. His supporters took to the streets of Manhattan with signs declaring that team president Randy Levine was the devil. He doubled down on his lies (the GM of the team publicly told Rodriguez to “shut the f--k up,” so the disrespect has characterized both sides).

But don’t even start with the “Andy admitted it, only did it twice, just wanted to get back to his teammates,” arguments. Okay. Sure.

These are two very productive Yankees whose careers, to one immeasurable degree or another, were boosted by banned drugs. And the team could not be treating them more differently, on a high horse with A-Rod, and putting Pettitte on a pedestal."

[Dexter Morgan]

So you know it's not just the ramblings from a douche bag Mets fan (which I know I am), the Daily News ran this on the double standard of attacking A-Rod and honoring Pettitte. When it comes to the grievance hearing over A-Rod's bonus money if he hits 6 more homers, the Yankees are going to have a hard time claiming his numbers are tainted and the milestones meaningless when Rodriguez' attorneys can point to the 46 plaque in Monument Park.

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/baseballinsider/yankees-a-rod-andy-pettitte-drug-disconnect-blog-entry-1.2118182

"Hey, look. Teams can act and feel however they want. Pro-PED, anti-PED, agnostic on the issue, whatever. But shouldn’t the Yankees at least have a consistent stance? It’s weird to honor one admitted drug user while fighting another.

Obviously, the contexts are different. A-Rod battled the Yanks. His supporters took to the streets of Manhattan with signs declaring that team president Randy Levine was the devil. He doubled down on his lies (the GM of the team publicly told Rodriguez to “shut the f--k up,” so the disrespect has characterized both sides).

But don’t even start with the “Andy admitted it, only did it twice, just wanted to get back to his teammates,” arguments. Okay. Sure.

These are two very productive Yankees whose careers, to one immeasurable degree or another, were boosted by banned drugs. And the team could not be treating them more differently, on a high horse with A-Rod, and putting Pettitte on a pedestal."

[dbadefense1990]

Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen out 2-3 months after undergoing surgery to remove an irregular growth of something on his left foot.

http://m.espn.go.com/general/story?storyId=12340701&city=losangeles&src=desktop&rand=ref~%7B%22ref%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F%22%7D

Let the awful torture which is Dodgers baseball commence already...

[FGM13]

With Kenley Jansen out, I expect the Dodgers to look at Rafael Soriano or Francisco Rodriguez to close out games.

[Brass]

My predictions:

AL EAST

1.Baltimore (94-68)

2.Boston (89-73)

3.New York (85-77)

4.Toronto (81-81)

5.Tampa Bay (69-93)

AL CENTRAL

1.Detroit (95-67)

2.Cleveland (93-69)*

3. Kansas City (90-72)

4.Chicago White Sox (84-78)

5.Minnesota (65-97)

AL WEST

1.LA Angels (98-64)

2.Seattle (93-69)*

3.Oakland (83-79)

4.Houston (75-87)

5.Texas (70-92)

NL EAST

1.Washington (98-64)

2.Miami (91-71)*

3.Atlanta (82-80)

4.New York Mets (74-88)

5.Philadelphia (66-96)

NL CENTRAL

1.Chicago Cubs (96-66)

2.St. Louis (93-69)*

3.Cincinnati (83-69)

4.Pittsburgh (78-84)

5.Milluakke (74-89)

NL WEST

1.LA Dodgers (97-65)

2.San Francisco (89-73)

3.San Diego (84-78)

4.Arizona (75-87)

5.Colardo (73-89)

*-denotes wild card

NL Wild Card: Marlins 3-2 St. Louis F/10

AL Wild Card:Seattle 7-4 Cleveland

NLDS:

Washington 3

Marlins 1

Chicago 3

LA Dodgers 2

ALDS:

Seattle 3

LA Angels 2

Detroit 3

Baltimore 0

ALCS:

Seattle 4

Detroit 2

NLCS:

Chicago 4

Washington 2

World Series:

Chicago 4

Seattle 2

"Put some money on the Cubbies."-Doc Brown,Back to the Future Part II

I'd take the prediction seriously if it weren't for these 3 mistakes...

4 mistakes. Doc Brown never said that.

[cmm]

So you know it's not just the ramblings from a douche bag Mets fan (which I know I am), the Daily News ran this on the double standard of attacking A-Rod and honoring Pettitte. When it comes to the grievance hearing over A-Rod's bonus money if he hits 6 more homers, the Yankees are going to have a hard time claiming his numbers are tainted and the milestones meaningless when Rodriguez' attorneys can point to the 46 plaque in Monument Park.

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/baseballinsider/yankees-a-rod-andy-pettitte-drug-disconnect-blog-entry-1.2118182

"Hey, look. Teams can act and feel however they want. Pro-PED, anti-PED, agnostic on the issue, whatever. But shouldn’t the Yankees at least have a consistent stance? It’s weird to honor one admitted drug user while fighting another.

Obviously, the contexts are different. A-Rod battled the Yanks. His supporters took to the streets of Manhattan with signs declaring that team president Randy Levine was the devil. He doubled down on his lies (the GM of the team publicly told Rodriguez to “shut the f--k up,” so the disrespect has characterized both sides).

But don’t even start with the “Andy admitted it, only did it twice, just wanted to get back to his teammates,” arguments. Okay. Sure.

These are two very productive Yankees whose careers, to one immeasurable degree or another, were boosted by banned drugs. And the team could not be treating them more differently, on a high horse with A-Rod, and putting Pettitte on a pedestal."

Thanks for clearing that up, you have convinced me with the embiggened text! Long live St. Andy!

[AnPheitseog]

Weiters looks like he will be in the opening day lineup, and I can only hope he will do so catching.

[ConcreteCharlie]

this time between football and baseball season is just excruciating

[FiddySicks]

this time between football and baseball season is just excruciating

Worst time of the year.

[Tigers6884]

this time between football and baseball season is just excruciating

Worst time of the year.

What's even worse are the d-bag hockey fans that go and comment It's hockey season or Hockey > Baseball on MLB-related Facebook pages' posts counting down the days until the season starts. I swear, hockey fans are some of the most pretentious and obnoxious people in the world.

[FGM13]

this time between football and baseball season is just excruciating

Worst time of the year.

What's even worse are the d-bag hockey fans that go and comment It's hockey season or Hockey > Baseball on MLB-related Facebook pages' posts counting down the days until the season starts. I swear, hockey fans are some of the most pretentious and obnoxious people in the world.

Hey now. Bad hockey fans are the worst. The good ones, however, are pretty nice and stay out of your way.

[monkeypower]

There are a lot of d-bag internet hockey fans who go into stupid posting sprees. "Hockey players are so much tougher than other sports players" and "classy this" and "classy that". "Lulz, LeBron left a game with cramps and that pitcher is out with a blister. Peverly like died on the bench, came back to life and wanted to play. So tough. Much Class."

Anywhoo, I think baseball season is the season I anticipate the most. I'm pumped right now with Spring Training starting.

[JayMac]

I love football but "FOOTBALL!!24/7/365!" fans are the worst. They are the reason we have non-stop coverage as well as thousands of mock drafts and ANY coverage of the pointless scouting combine. I have no problem watching sports in February and March. There is hockey, lacrosse, and the Premier League. With all of this being said, bring on baseball!