2012-13 MLB Off-Season Thread

[The_Admiral]

Dangerously horrible movie.

[CDixonDesign]

Rangers announce they'll play two exhibition games in the Alamodome next year.

http://www.ballparkdigest.com/201211145838/major-league-baseball/news/rangers-to-host-exhibition-game-at-alamodome

Hopefully that place will get some love, finally.

[NJTank]

I hope they shape the outfield fence like the Alamo

[pmoehrin]

I mean we were hearing rumors that the Marlins were trying to unload Jose Reyes back in July. And then this team wonders why they can't develop a fanbase. Its pretty difficult to do that when everyone knows any player worth a damn is going to be gone after 4 years and the team is never going to have more then two consecutive seasons where they are over .500

If the Marlins aren't going to spend money now, they never will. They were and always will be for as long as Jeffrey Loria owns the team a cash cow that regularly tanks seasons and hoards draft picks so they can build a team that's just good enough to be competitive without actually paying anybody all while singing the small market blues.

I feel bad for the citizens because this stadium was hammered through without any public input and the city and county never bothered to put in any type of good faith clauses, so there is no legal action they can take against Loria.

For the Blue Jays its the best news this team has had in a long time. The biggest knock on this team last year was the starting pitching. Now they have two front end starters and they no longer need to rely on guys like Ricky Romero and Aaron Laffey to be big game starters. They also got a big time updgrade at short both in the field and in clubhouse. And on top of it they find someone dumb enough to take Yunel Escobar who I'll give another two years tops before himself out of the majors with his mouth.

The only downside is the loss of Jake Marisnick and Henderson Alvarez might come back to bite them, but considering the depth of their farm system and what they are getting back, I don't think they will be missing either of them all that much. This is a team that can win tomorrow, but they also have the pieces in place now to win today.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Dangerously horrible movie.

Hipster Glee with WAY too much Zooey.

And meeting "Autumn" at the end? Eff you.

[The_Admiral]

Any Zooey is too much.

Hey, here's something:

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/marlins-trade-a-baseball-tragedy-bud-selig-deserves-blame.html

The Marlins can claim the money comes from tourism-tax dollars. Truth is, Miami-Dade County moved general-use monies from property taxes to free up the tourist cash. This is the dirtiest secret of Selig's two decades as commissioner: The "golden era" of which he so often brags came off the taxpayer's teat.

Shuffling public money around from fund to fund is what Glendale just got caught doing.

[The_Admiral]

If Jeffrey Loria owned an NHL team, Hurricanes/Lightning/Coyotes/Panthers fans on the internet would just say he needs cost certainty to be a job creator, lol

[ElwoodCuse]

if MLB had any guts at all they would take away teams from Loria, the Wilpons, and Bob Nutting

but they don't so w/e

[The_Admiral]

They took the Dodgers away from McCourt, but McCourt wasn't friends with Reinsdorf and Selig.

[bosrs1]

Rangers announce they'll play two exhibition games in the Alamodome next year.

http://www.ballparkd...me-at-alamodome

Hopefully that place will get some love, finally.

Very cool. I love games in strange venues like when the Mariners used to play exhibitions at old BC Place in Vancouver or the Dodgers game at the LA Coliseum a few years ago.

[bosrs1]

Loria is the worst owner in the history of sports, BTW. The he's pulled in Montreal and Miami is just despicable, and it's clear that shiny new ballpark he got was a taxpayer-subsidized scam. Loria himself is also a pretentious douchenozzle.

Even knowing the Maloofs own my Kings I'm inclined to agree after this firesale. If I were the Miami taxpayers I'd start a petition to demand my money back and kick him and his sorry excuse for a team out of town.

[STL FANATIC]

Dangerously horrible movie.

Really? One of my favorites. Absolutely love it.

[The_Admiral]

I saw She & Him in concert. Zooey Deschanel is pretty terrible (and M. Ward is dreamy -- there's no other word for it). Zooey's terrible because she's a bad dancer, a bad singer, has bad stage presence, and is constantly upstaged by her partner who mostly stays out of the way because he completely outclasses her.

She & Him is pretty good. Zooey Deschanel is pernicious because she traffics so heavily in the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope. For those yet unacquainted:

Let's say you're a soulful, brooding male hero, living a sheltered, emotionless existence. If only someone — someone female — could come along and open your heart to the great, wondrous adventure of life...

It's Manic Pixie Dream Girl to the rescue!

The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is there to give new meaning to the male hero's life. She's stunningly attractive, high on life, full of wacky quirks and idiosyncrasies (generally including childlike playfulness and a tendency towards petty crime), often with a touch of wild hair dye. She's inexplicably obsessed with our stuffed-shirt hero, on whom she will focus her kuh-razy antics until he learns to live freely and love madly. From the girl's perspective, this trope becomes Single Woman Seeks Good Man, though whether the hero qualifies varies.

It's a persona created by bookish geeks--like myself!--who couldn't find these girls in the real world and decided to invent them for their books and films to "inspire" their main male protagonists who stand in for the authors themselves. Girls, in turn, emulate it to fill some void within themselves, and I kinda wish they didn't, because it sets guys up for disappointment when they find out that most girls are just as boring as most guys are. You can try to be this indefatigable engine of artsiness and quirkiness and craziness, but sprinters don't run marathons, and eventually you're both just sitting on the couch watching the Food Network and putting off more interesting things to do, just like anybody else.

In conclusion, Zooey Deschanel should be slapped in the face with a fish.

[logo-maker]

if MLB had any guts at all they would take away teams from Loria, the Wilpons, and Bob Nutting

but they don't so w/e

Don't forget the Monforts.

[NJTank]

The Marlins are a joke and Jeffrey Loria is a con man

[pmoehrin]

Rangers announce they'll play two exhibition games in the Alamodome next year.

http://www.ballparkd...me-at-alamodome

Hopefully that place will get some love, finally.

Very cool. I love games in strange venues like when the Mariners used to play exhibitions at old BC Place in Vancouver or the Dodgers game at the LA Coliseum a few years ago.

I feel bad that the Alamodome has fallen into the too big for a minor league team and too outdated for a major league team category. Had they held off building the place another five yeas or so they would probably have an NFL team by now because I think the lack of a suitable venue is the only thing preventing a team from going there.

I'm a big fan of these games as well and I'm hoping they come back. I think its a nice low risk way to gauge interest in cities that don't have teams but might be able to if a league decides to expand, or if a club is looking to move.

I've never been to San Antonio and don't know much about the city so I can't really say much about whether or not its capable of hosting an MLB team. But I do know the population numbers are there, the economy is there and the market should be able to host at least one more professional team, so it may be able to happen sometime down the road.

[dfwabel]

Rangers announce they'll play two exhibition games in the Alamodome next year.

http://www.ballparkd...me-at-alamodome

Hopefully that place will get some love, finally.

Very cool. I love games in strange venues like when the Mariners used to play exhibitions at old BC Place in Vancouver or the Dodgers game at the LA Coliseum a few years ago.

I feel bad that the Alamodome has fallen into the too big for a minor league team and too outdated for a major league team category. Had they held off building the place another five yeas or so they would probably have an NFL team by now because I think the lack of a suitable venue is the only thing preventing a team from going there.

I've never been to San Antonio and don't know much about the city so I can't really say much about whether or not its capable of hosting an MLB team. But I do know the population numbers are there, the economy is there and the market should be able to host at least one more professional team, so it may be able to happen sometime down the road.

The Alamodome and ATT Center are only nine years apart in age. The city build the dome while the ATT Center was built by Bexar County.

The Alamodome also hosts UTSA football which allowed the dome to actually complete the entire club/suite level since the Spurs left and average 35K for FCS and now low level FBS. In October, the city exercised a contract clause to extend the lease until 2035.

The economy there is military and tourist based. They are not going to get a team as that city is SAS-centric.

[pmoehrin]

Rangers announce they'll play two exhibition games in the Alamodome next year.

http://www.ballparkd...me-at-alamodome

Hopefully that place will get some love, finally.

Very cool. I love games in strange venues like when the Mariners used to play exhibitions at old BC Place in Vancouver or the Dodgers game at the LA Coliseum a few years ago.

I feel bad that the Alamodome has fallen into the too big for a minor league team and too outdated for a major league team category. Had they held off building the place another five yeas or so they would probably have an NFL team by now because I think the lack of a suitable venue is the only thing preventing a team from going there.

I've never been to San Antonio and don't know much about the city so I can't really say much about whether or not its capable of hosting an MLB team. But I do know the population numbers are there, the economy is there and the market should be able to host at least one more professional team, so it may be able to happen sometime down the road.

The Alamodome and ATT Center are only nine years apart in age. The city build the dome while the ATT Center was built by Bexar County.

The Alamodome also hosts UTSA football which allowed the dome to actually complete the entire club/suite level since the Spurs left and average 35K for FCS and now low level FBS.

The economy there is military and tourist based. They are not going to get a team as that city is SAS-centric.

Fascinating.

[BrySmalls]

If Jeffrey Loria owned an NHL team, Hurricanes/Lightning/Coyotes/Panthers fans on the internet would just say he needs cost certainty to be a job creator, lol

If Loria owned an NHL team, then the complaints and grievances would dwarf the "Phoenix Coyotes Drain-Circling Thread" in shear magntitude of hockey fandom vitriol alone.

[Still MIGHTY]

Torii Hunter signs a two-year deal with the Tigers.

Damn shame. Torii was one of my favorite Angels, and not only for his on-field actions. He was one of the best people to put on the Angels uniform. It's too bad we couldn't get him that championship, but best of luck with Detroit.

Gonna miss ya, Torii.

The Alamodome and ATT Center are only nine years apart in age. The city build the dome while the ATT Center was built by Bexar County.

The Alamodome also hosts UTSA football which allowed the dome to actually complete the entire club/suite level since the Spurs left and average 35K for FCS and now low level FBS. In October, the city exercised a contract clause to extend the lease until 2035.

The economy there is military and tourist based. They are not going to get a team as that city is SAS-centric.

Wow, do you ever suck...