2014 MLB Season Thread

[The Six]

Besides, with all due respect, "only" 9.5 games sounds hilarious in writing.

Not if you're the Dodgers.

[FiddySicks]

Joey Joey, who can I turn to?

[JayMac]

Joey Joey, who can I turn to?

Coincidence or is Maddon a Tommy Tutone fan?

[FiddySicks]

Well, there are only so many ways you can build a lineup. It could just be a coincidence. Or it could be a case where Mafdon happened to notice the trend and just happened to fill out the final few spots so they matched he song. I never watch Rays baseball so I wouldn't know, but does this lineup look anything like it normally does or is this out of the ordinary?

[dbadefense1990]

The Mets in a nutshell

I wonder, according to Amazon, what other things Cubs fans have bought...

[The_Admiral]

Pre-distressed hats, Search Engine Optimization For Dummies, Rohypnol

[TBGKon]

Well, there are only so many ways you can build a lineup. It could just be a coincidence. Or it could be a case where Mafdon happened to notice the trend and just happened to fill out the final few spots so they matched he song. I never watch Rays baseball so I wouldn't know, but does this lineup look anything like it normally does or is this out of the ordinary?

The lineup isnt that far off from usual, but Maddon is known to have up to 100 lineups in a season.

[Raysfan12]

Well, there are only so many ways you can build a lineup. It could just be a coincidence. Or it could be a case where Maddon happened to notice the trend and just happened to fill out the final few spots so they matched he song. I never watch Rays baseball so I wouldn't know, but does this lineup look anything like it normally does or is this out of the ordinary?

This is actually more common than you think it is considering that Joe Maddon constantly changes his lineup on a daily basis.

[tp49]

Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel were traded to Oakland.

[ninersdd]

The Giants are just sad. The starting pitching has been pretty good, but if they have just one subpar inning(give up a run or 2), then forget it, the game is over since the offense can't do anything, and if they do they just hit into a double play.

[(probably)notabandwagonfan]

The Giants are just sad. The starting pitching has been pretty good, but if they have just one subpar inning(give up a run or 2), then forget it, the game is over since the offense can't do anything, and if they do they just hit into a double play.

The Braves were like that from the end of April to the Angels series recently. It was awful. Julio Teheran could have an incredible game, but if he allowed two runs, game over.

[Lee.]

Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel were traded to Oakland.

Considering Samardzija is posting 1987 Nolan Ryan numbers this year, hopefully this gives him a shot at reaching .500

[NJTank]

The Mets in a nutshell

I wonder, according to Amazon, what other things Cubs fans have bought...

Lots of olde style beer

[Unocal]

Serious question- exactly what kind of team DO you need to be constructed for the playoffs?

All-offense doesn't seem to work (see '99 Indians), but all-pitching doesn't guarantee anything (2012 Rays MISSED the playoffs despite an absurd pitching staff).

Tigers last year had everything but a bullpen. Red Sox were effective just enough in the key spots to get by when they had to.

With Oakland- if they end up with the top record, they'd end up facing the Wild Card Showdown winner, so considering there's a high chance they don't face Detroit in the ALDS- I'd have to like their chances potentially.

But it's baseball and anything can happen. Watch the Mariners end up making it all the way to the World Series.

[monkeypower]

Serious question- exactly what kind of team DO you need to be constructed for the playoffs?

All-offense doesn't seem to work (see '99 Indians), but all-pitching doesn't guarantee anything (2012 Rays MISSED the playoffs despite an absurd pitching staff).

Tigers last year had everything but a bullpen. Red Sox were effective just enough in the key spots to get by when they had to.

With Oakland- if they end up with the top record, they'd end up facing the Wild Card Showdown winner, so considering there's a high chance they don't face Detroit in the ALDS- I'd have to like their chances potentially.

But it's baseball and anything can happen. Watch the Mariners end up making it all the way to the World Series.

The Kings.

[AnythingChicago]

What an awful time to trade nearly half of your rotation away. I attended the Cubs' 7-2 win today at Nationals Park, and the Cubs are undoubtably one of the hottest teams in baseball at the moment. The starters have been great (especially Arrieta and Hammel), the bullpen has been stellar (three innings of shutout ball today), and of late the offense has absolutely exploded. The team is on a four game win streak, and is now only eight games below .500 and 7.5 games back of a wild card spot.

Do I think the Cubs have a realistic shot at making the playoffs? Of course not. But right now the Cubs have a serious gust running through their sails, and they're brimming with confidence. You've gotta ride that gust as far as possible, and this trade has completely taken the wind out of the Cubs' sails. At least wait until the team isn't red hot to sell your two best starters...c'mon, front office.

[McCall]

Hammel's only signed for this year and Samardzija's got one more year but nowhere near an extension, so the chance to move them is limited. The Cubs aren't gonna do anything this year so it's quite logical to try and get a good haul back in return. Seems they could've gotten more, but it just made sense to make a move.

[The_Admiral]

But right now the Cubs have a serious gust running through their sails, and they're brimming with confidence. You've gotta ride that gust as far as possible, and this trade has completely taken the wind out of the Cubs' sails. At least wait until the team isn't red hot to sell your two best starters...c'mon, front office.

This is all part of The Plan. Theo knows what he's doing. Theo is the greatest GM ever. Theo. Theo. Theo.

[FiddySicks]

I'm not sure I get this move for the Cubs. Samardjia and Hammel are both having really solid seasons, and While Russell is a great prospect, he's still got some injury and discipline concerns. The A's aren't really known to bail on a prospect this early unless they have some serious doubts about his long term viability. They're also probably the best team in the bigs when it comes to evaluating young talent.

Addison Russell is a really good ball player, there's no doubt about that. But the biggest head scratcher to me is why the Cubs would ditch two really important pitching pieces for a shortstop when they already have a two time all star anchoring the position AND another top prospect just behind him in Javier Baez. They essentially just killed their pitching to create an even worse logjam at short stop.

The Cubs, man.

[McCall]

I agree with trading the pitchers. Like I said previously, since all they're gonna do this year is maybe play spoiler, it makes more sense to trade Hammel who's a free agent after the season anyway, and since there doesn't likely appear to be a contract extension with Samardjiza, who's only under team control for one more season, why not get something for him while his stock is very high. I get the Cubs side as far as trading them.

Now the return they got, I'm not too sure about. Yeah Russell's a highly touted prospect, but like Bucsfan mentioned, he does have some issues. And now between Castro, Baez, Bryant, Rizzo, Russell and Olt, and those are just the guys at or near big league-ready, you have a rather crowded infield of prospects or young players. There's been talk of moving Bryant to the outfield and Baez or Castro to 2nd since Barney is essentially a defense-only guy, but you'd still have guys sitting too much.