2011 MLB Season Thread

[NJTank]

Nyjer Morgan is at it again. He makes a great catch and then flips off the San Francisco crowd. He is a San Francisco native as well. This guy just can't stay out of trouble.

I think he wants to be the next Milton Bradley.

[infrared41]

But the part that really made no sense was the response:

"Not to mention all those idiots who insist on calling the team with the most losses in their history a good team. No they're not!"

umm.. who are you arguing against here? The AL East, or the Phillies? I'm pretty sure that the Phillies have the most losses in MLB history. I'm assuming that this was intended to be a knock on the Red Sox for the 86 year drought, and you assumed that they had the most MLB losses? I'm pretty confused. But regardless of who you were talking about, look at the thread title^. 2011 MLB Season Thread the argument that just because their franchise, in history has lost a lot of games, that the (Phillies/Red Sox/Yankees/whoever you're talking about) good teams this year just doesn't make any sense. It's all about this year, not the past.

You're new here aren't you? That type of statement is what willmorris does around here. You think that one seems a little odd? Wait until you see him at work in the college football thread.

[Fox]

But the part that really made no sense was the response:

"Not to mention all those idiots who insist on calling the team with the most losses in their history a good team. No they're not!"

umm.. who are you arguing against here? The AL East, or the Phillies? I'm pretty sure that the Phillies have the most losses in MLB history. I'm assuming that this was intended to be a knock on the Red Sox for the 86 year drought, and you assumed that they had the most MLB losses? I'm pretty confused. But regardless of who you were talking about, look at the thread title^. 2011 MLB Season Thread the argument that just because their franchise, in history has lost a lot of games, that the (Phillies/Red Sox/Yankees/whoever you're talking about) good teams this year just doesn't make any sense. It's all about this year, not the past.

You're new here aren't you? That type of statement is what willmorris does around here. You think that one seems a little odd? Wait until you see him at work in the college football thread.

Hahah yes, I am new. I actually read his post about 20 times to try and understand it haha

[infrared41]

But the part that really made no sense was the response:

"Not to mention all those idiots who insist on calling the team with the most losses in their history a good team. No they're not!"

umm.. who are you arguing against here? The AL East, or the Phillies? I'm pretty sure that the Phillies have the most losses in MLB history. I'm assuming that this was intended to be a knock on the Red Sox for the 86 year drought, and you assumed that they had the most MLB losses? I'm pretty confused. But regardless of who you were talking about, look at the thread title^. 2011 MLB Season Thread the argument that just because their franchise, in history has lost a lot of games, that the (Phillies/Red Sox/Yankees/whoever you're talking about) good teams this year just doesn't make any sense. It's all about this year, not the past.

You're new here aren't you? That type of statement is what willmorris does around here. You think that one seems a little odd? Wait until you see him at work in the college football thread.

Hahah yes, I am new. I actually read his post about 20 times to try and understand it haha

Don't waste your time. He does this stuff just to see if he can get anyone to react.

[ElwoodCuse]

Well, duh - when the two perennial highest spenders in a cap-free league are in the same division, it's going to be a tough division. But I'm sick and tired of hearing other good teams get put down by the media basically for not being the Yankees or Red Sox. In '07, the Rockies were a "fluke" that was going to fade down the stretch. In '08, it was the Rays. Last year, it was the Giants. Now, it's the Pirates. Every freaking year, good teams get shat on like that.

The Pirates aren't a good team. They play in a crap division and have been lucky as hell according to every statistical metric for predicting performance. Also their front office has no clue what to do about the trade deadline because none of them have ever been in this position before. It's not crapping on them to say that they won't win the division and won't even finish over .500 finally.

[Don]

Nyjer Morgan is at it again. He makes a great catch and then flips off the San Francisco crowd. He is a San Francisco native as well. This guy just can't stay out of trouble.

I think he wants to be the next Milton Bradley.

Hes not nearly as psycho as Milton Bradley, not even close. I like Nyjer, alot, hes a little off kilter, but not an absolute headcase like Bradley is.

[mania]

Per Adam Rubin of ESPN.

Texas has zeroed in on [Carlos] Beltran and Padres closer Heath Bell as its primary targets, according to a source.

I'm not sold on Bell, his peripherals scare me for the price he's going to command, but Beltran?

A lineup of Napoli, Moreland, Kinsler, Andrus, Beltre, Cruz, Hamilton, and Beltran, with Young DHing?

YES PLEASE.

[Seadragon76]

13 straight losses for the M's now...

Looks like it's time to start burying my head in the sand again... *sigh* And to think, this team had a chance to actually do something.

[Dexter Morgan]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/sports/baseball/kei-igawa-the-lost-yankee.html?_r=3&ref=sports&pagewanted=all

A great read, as a Yankee fan, I laughed a few times. That's all you can do when it comes to Kei Igawa.

[Still MIGHTY]

Per Adam Rubin of ESPN.

Texas has zeroed in on [Carlos] Beltran and Padres closer Heath Bell as its primary targets, according to a source.

I'm not sold on Bell, his peripherals scare me for the price he's going to command, but Beltran?

A lineup of Napoli, Moreland, Kinsler, Andrus, Beltre, Cruz, Hamilton, and Beltran, with Young DHing?

YES PLEASE.

No.

And the Angels have had Bell as a target for the past few years. They were close to getting him two years ago at the deadline, but something fell through somewhere. Last year, Bell wasn't going anywhere when the Padres were good. And Bell is back on the Halos list this season again.

The Halos could use another bat as well, but I'd look for them to try and get a thirdbaseman or catcher rather than an outfielder like Beltran. The Angels are set for now and the future in the outfield, and I don't think they'd be willing to part with that future for Beltran, but a thirdbaseman with some pop would be nice, something they've lacked since Troy Glaus, (should have ponied up the money for Beltre, Arte ) and any catcher is better than what the Angels are trotting out (Mathis was definitely better to keep around than Napoli. Another great call, Reagins )

[IronChefShark]

I just hit a 3-run bomb off Chad Qualls

[Dexter Morgan]

Any way CC Sabathia doesn't opt out?

Obviously I don't see him going anywhere. He just built a house in Alpine, NJ.. right across the Hudson, plus, in NY, he's on the fast track to the Hall of Fame. But he'll opt out and renegotiate his contract. Yankees need to stop giving opt out clauses.

EDIT: Yankees actually didn't give A-Rod his opt out clause, the Rangers did.

[mania]

A-Rod opting out saved the Rangers like $20M in money they were still covering. It was awesome.

[infrared41]

The Pirates aren't a good team. They play in a crap division and have been lucky as hell according to every statistical metric for predicting performance. Also their front office has no clue what to do about the trade deadline because none of them have ever been in this position before. It's not crapping on them to say that they won't win the division and won't even finish over .500 finally.

Don't you just hate it when a team doesn't perform like the "on paper" team it's supposed to be? How many of your "statistical metrics" predicted the Giants would win the World Series last year? (That's a serious question. I have no idea if it happened or not.)

This Pirates team can't win the World Series as it sits, and they can't make enough deadline deals to make up the difference. If their front office is smart, they stand pat and let this team play it out. In this case, the smart move is no move. There's nothing to gain by trading away prospects for some "deadline help."

[BJBerthiaume]

The Pirates aren't a good team. They play in a crap division and have been lucky as hell according to every statistical metric for predicting performance. Also their front office has no clue what to do about the trade deadline because none of them have ever been in this position before. It's not crapping on them to say that they won't win the division and won't even finish over .500 finally.

Don't you just hate it when a team doesn't perform like the "on paper" team it's supposed to be? How many of your "statistical metrics" predicted the Giants would win the World Series last year? (That's a serious question. I have no idea if it happened or not.)

This Pirates team can't win the World Series as it sits, and they can't make enough deadline deals to make up the difference. If their front office is smart, they stand pat and let this team play it out. In this case, the smart move is no move. There's nothing to gain by trading away prospects for some "deadline help."

I watched the Pirates-Cardinals game two nights ago, and I could tell that there is no chance they can beat out the Brewers/Reds/Cardinals for the division. They just looked outmatched to me. They're a good little team, but not playoff material. Making any moves would just be stupid.

[The_Admiral]

You can't say any moves. No, they shouldn't sacrifice key prospects for what's honestly a pretty quixotic pennant chase, but there might be small moves they can make. Past the waiver deadline, you can always make a savvy, low-risk addition if you know where to look. You can also sign Alex Rios. But I wouldn't shut the door altogether on the Pirates buying.

[oddball]

The Pirates aren't a good team. They play in a crap division and have been lucky as hell according to every statistical metric for predicting performance. Also their front office has no clue what to do about the trade deadline because none of them have ever been in this position before. It's not crapping on them to say that they won't win the division and won't even finish over .500 finally.

Don't you just hate it when a team doesn't perform like the "on paper" team it's supposed to be? How many of your "statistical metrics" predicted the Giants would win the World Series last year? (That's a serious question. I have no idea if it happened or not.)

This Pirates team can't win the World Series as it sits, and they can't make enough deadline deals to make up the difference. If their front office is smart, they stand pat and let this team play it out. In this case, the smart move is no move. There's nothing to gain by trading away prospects for some "deadline help."

Look the Pirates are 1 game out of first after 98 games. All they have to do is make the playoffs and they have a chance. A team that makes a bunch of changes at the trade deadline isn't going to win anyway, but one or two key moves and you'd be shocked at what that can do. I mean what if they pick up Hideki Kuroda and Rafael Furcal from the Dodgers and let's say Heath Bell or even Ubaldo Jimenez from Colorado, you're not saying that wouldn't make them better? I'm not saying they will make the playoffs, but I've never felt Milwaukee as legitimate as they are like Cincinnati (one bad year, one good year, one bad year). St. Louis is just missing that "thing" that makes me consider them to be the front runner in the Central. The teams that I look at as legitimate contenders in the NL are Philly, SF, and Atlanta and after that it's up for grabs. Yet, Philly is kind of like St. Louis, SF can't hit and Atlanta I don't know if they are there yet. I'll give you the Dean Lombardi philosophy on trading at the deadline, "The team tells you when it's time to make a move. How they are playing at that time, if they are playing well, you need to reward them." If Pittsburgh can get Furcal and Jimenez, I can't see why you don't give up a few suspects for a free agent to be in Furcal and a couple prospects for a 27 year old pitcher who's under contract through 2014? Both those moves make the team better and with Jimenez signed through 2014 there's a future improvement also.

[rams80]

St. Louis is just missing that "thing" that makes me consider them to be the front runner in the Central. .

Yes, but unfortunately you can't trade managers.

[ElwoodCuse]

I watched the Pirates-Cardinals game two nights ago, and I could tell that there is no chance they can beat out the Brewers/Reds/Cardinals for the division. They just looked outmatched to me. They're a good little team, but not playoff material. Making any moves would just be stupid.

Ding ding ding. I don't "hate" anything about stats/results. I'm just saying more likely than not the Pirates are going to be exposed and this feel-good story is going to disappear.

Look at tonight's game. This is the real Kevin Correia, not 11-win All-Star Kevin Correia. They scare absolutely no one, especially not legit contenders.

[The_Admiral]

The '07 Diamondbacks played 11 games above their sub-.500 pythagorean expectation, and they dragged that paper tiger all the way out to the NLCS. Never say never. Baseball is weird.