2014 MLB Season thread

Moyank24 said:

in exchange for Kelly Johnson....

He can't be any worse. Can he?

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I actually think he'll be a great fit at Skankee Stadium - he's going to enjoy that short porch in right. He was just starting to come around with the bat after missing spring training and the start of the season.

Question is, where does he play?

MacNut said:

So was last year a fluke? They team has a worse record this year then they did under Valentine.

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You have literally posted, asked, and posited this question at least 12 times in this thread. It wasn't a fluke, just stop.

This year has seen some drastic underachieving (Doubront, Gomes, Nava, Pierzynski), injuries (Victorino, Buchholz, Middlebrooks, Napoli), growing pains associated with youth (Bradley, Bogaerts, Workman) and what I think is the post-championship lull. It's not really rocket science. It happens. It's better to make the appropriate moves since the Sox are going nowhere, than to wait around and do nothing.

This will be a quick reload, the minors are loaded and the Red Sox will have a surplus to trade. My only gripe with the Red Sox (which is small, and debatable) is their staunch unwillingness to go long term on contracts. I understand it as a general mantra, but they need to make sure they hit on their young pitching or it will be a serious problem. I am also sentimental about Jon Lester, so I am biased. He's been an incredible guy to have on the team and I will really miss him.

Trade off is they don't get stuck with Carl Crawford, CC Sabathia type contracts anymore. 2013 was about smart signings and supplementing a talented core that came from the farm. Blueprint for success again and again.

MacNut said:

Last years team was the same team they had 2 years ago. So what changed? All of the blame was put on the manager.

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See above.

Queen of Spades said:

I actually think he'll be a great fit at Skankee Stadium - he's going to enjoy that short porch in right. He was just starting to come around with the bat after missing spring training and the start of the season.

Question is, where does he play?

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Skankee Stadium?

He'll be a 5th infielder. With Headley here we don't need a platoon at 3rd base anymore. He'll probably just play shortstop when they rest Jeter. They had Kelly Johnson playing first (BRUTAL) as well, so I'm sure he'll bounce around a bit, but won't be an everyday guy. More like a once or twice a week guy.

Moyank24 said:

Skankee Stadium?

He'll be a 5th infielder. With Headley here we don't need a platoon at 3rd base anymore. He'll probably just play shortstop when they rest Jeter. They had Kelly Johnson playing first (BRUTAL) as well, so I'm sure he'll bounce around a bit, but won't be an everyday guy. More like a once or twice a week guy.

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Autocorrect! Just teasing.

Queen of Spades said:

Autocorrect! Just teasing.

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Actually, looks like the Yanks are going to DFA Brian Roberts, so Drew will be everyday 2B...

/instant analysis fail

Moyank24 said:

Actually, looks like the Yanks are going to DFA Brian Roberts, so Drew will be everyday 2B...

/instant analysis fail

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It's so nuts that they're using one of the better defensive SS in the league at 2nd base, and letting Derek "the statue" Jeter continue to man SS at this point in his career. I mean, I know they aren't going to win it this year, but that's quite a not-helping-the-team move from the Yankees.

I guess once they made A-Rod move to 3rd, they threw the concept of playing the best player at the position concept out the window.

Queen of Spades said:

It's so nuts that they're using one of the better defensive SS in the league at 2nd base, and letting Derek "the statue" Jeter continue to man SS at this point in his career. I mean, I know they aren't going to win it this year, but that's quite a not-helping-the-team move from the Yankees.

I guess once they made A-Rod move to 3rd, they threw the concept of playing the best player at the position concept out the window.

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Yes they did. Unless he wanted to do so, it was never going to happen. Especially to move A-Rod over to SS.

And this season, there really isn't a point. You're right, we're not going to win anything and I don't want to spend the next few months watching DJ learn a new position. These games have been brutal enough to watch.

The White Sox are so stinking annoying. They have the unquestioned rookie of the year hitting the pants off the ball, but they refuse to trade assets not named Abreu for any reason. Yuck.

Moyank24 said:

Yes they did. Unless he wanted to do so, it was never going to happen. Especially to move A-Rod over to SS.

And this season, there really isn't a point. You're right, we're not going to win anything and I don't want to spend the next few months watching DJ learn a new position. These games have been brutal enough to watch.

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LOL. Yes, and you're preaching to the choir. Brutal is a nice word for the Red Sox this season. And with Jeter, I do understand it to a point. He's an icon, etc etc. His hands have always been good though, you'd think he would have adapted to 3rd rather nicely if he'd been up for it.

Is there a worse ownership group in baseball than Henry, Lucchino, and their puppet Cherington?

Trade our best pitcher and essentially franchise player for a guy hitting .256? Great, he won the home run derby, but who gives a ****?

This is going to come back to bite them in the ass big time. Too ****ing cheap to pay their best player. Hope they enjoy seeing Lester in pinstripes next year.

And people wonder why I barely follow this team anymore.. the ownership doesn't give a **** about the product on the field, only their bank accounts so they can buy more European soccer teams.

zioxide said:

Is there a worse ownership group in baseball than Henry, Lucchino, and their puppet Cherington?

Trade our best pitcher and essentially franchise player for a guy hitting .256? Great, he won the home run derby, but who gives a ****?

This is going to come back to bite them in the ass big time. Too ****ing cheap to pay their best player. Hope they enjoy seeing Lester in pinstripes next year.

And people wonder why I barely follow this team anymore.. the ownership doesn't give a **** about the product on the field, only their bank accounts so they can buy more European soccer teams.

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Uh, yes, plenty.

Seriously? Take a step back, man. They won it all last year...are you forgetting that? 3 titles in 10 years, I'm not sure if an ownership group in any other city would be as questioned as some entitled Red Sox fans do with that record.

The "cheap" label is just inaccurate.

2012 MLB payrolls



2013 MLB payrolls



2014 MLB payrolls



They always have and will continue to spend money.

Cherington made some prudent trades today, let's wait and see what happens in the off-season before declaring the franchise dead. Will they work out? Who knows, honestly. But the inescapable truth is the 2014 team was not going to make the playoffs. The player performance on the field dictated that. So let's see how their plan turns out before acting like they're the owners of the Astros.

Great points regarding the Red Sox.

With our luck out west when acquiring a big east coast star, Lester will tank and things won't turn out well. But usually when we send a big star from one of our western teams, big things happen and we get disheartened. Losing Billy Martin and Reggie Jackson to the east coast, where they continued their winning ways, was a hard thing to see. Maybe your east coast guy will return some of the love. A's get so close so often but we need a bit of a push out here to seal the deal.

But if Lester can stay healthy and A's can continue as they have for a few years, there's a world series in the picture.

Can someone explain the logic in the Lackey trade? They traded him for a pitcher (and hitter) who has a worse ERA, and record then Lester and will cost the Sox more $$.

While I hated to see Lester go, I'm really bummed about Lackey as I really liked him

maflynn said:

Can someone explain the logic in the Lackey trade? They traded him for a pitcher (and hitter) who has a worse ERA, and record then Lester and will cost the Sox more $$.

While I hated to see Lester go, I'm really bummed about Lackey as I really liked him

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It's weird in seeing two of your pitchers, each with two WS titles each, end up going away. The Boston heads had to have seen something and it's hard to argue with your 3 titles.

I have seen so many things happen to Giants who looked unstoppable (and in best post-NY form) in years with Bonds, Johnson, and boss Dusty Baker, and personnel changes made most of us pissed off but then two titles followed (with untested players) so go figure. The most unlikely things happened as we put the ball in the Freak's hands, acquired some mediocre infielders and outfielders, lost a legendary catcher who was the team's mentor and replaced him with rookie too inexperienced to know any better, and kept on with a totally diminished Barry Zito but it all paid off.

63dot said:

I have seen so many things happen to Giants who looked unstoppable (and in best post-NY form) in years with Bonds, Johnson, and boss Dusty Baker, and personnel changes made most of us pissed off but then two titles followed (with untested players) so go figure. The most unlikely things happened as we put the ball in the Freak's hands, acquired some mediocre infielders and outfielders, and kept on with a totally diminished Barry Zito but it all paid off.

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And the Rockies train is on a non-stop trip to crapville. Meanwhile, the owner has this to say about our GM:

Dick Monfort said:

"I think he's a tremendous asset," Monfort said of O’Dowd. "I can't think of a general manager in baseball that's as good as him. Granted, I don't know all of them ... but I just think he's heads and shoulders above everybody else."

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http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...fans-all-is-well-dan-odowd-for-gm-of-the-year

O'Dowd has been the GM since 1999 and in that time we have won 0 division titles, have only 4 winning seasons, and are on track to finish last in the NL West for the 3rd straight year.

And in spite of this fans/idiots keep showing up to the games. The last home game was against the Pirates and the attendance was 40,382 which is 80.1% of capacity. I can't believe that so many people will go and watch a team that is 20 games below .500, 17.5 games out of 1st place, and has a better winning percentage than only 2 other teams in baseball.

I have only been to 2 games in the past 2 seasons. Last year I went because my kids got me tickets for Father's Day, and this year I went on July 3rd because of the fireworks show after the game. I don't watch them on TV and I rarely listen to the games on the radio.

Queen of Spades said:

Uh, yes, plenty.

Seriously? Take a step back, man. They won it all last year...are you forgetting that? 3 titles in 10 years, I'm not sure if an ownership group in any other city would be as questioned as some entitled Red Sox fans do with that record.

The "cheap" label is just inaccurate.

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When I'm talking about cheap, I'm saying specifically in regards to Lester. I know they spend at the upper tier of most teams in baseball. But part of that is because we give $10+ million a year contracts to scrubs like Stephen Drew.

I'm pissed that they lowballed the **** out of Lester. He's one of the best pitchers in the entire game, one of (if not the only) active lefty with 2 rings and a no-hitter under his belt. There's no salary cap in this game... they should have been opening up their checkbook and getting an extension done before this season even started. Instead they come back with, what, 70 million over 4 years? That's an insult after all he's done for this organization. They should have offered 5/110 minimum. As we can see by their payroll, they aren't hurting for cash.

I fully support the "rebuild" and cutting bait with Lackey, Peavy, etc. But Lester is a core guy. He's one of the guys you should have been rebuilding around.. not trading for a guy who's a free agent after next year.

maflynn said:

Can someone explain the logic in the Lackey trade? They traded him for a pitcher (and hitter) who has a worse ERA, and record then Lester and will cost the Sox more $$.

While I hated to see Lester go, I'm really bummed about Lackey as I really liked him

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There must have been something behind the trade such as Lackey requesting to be traded.

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zioxide said:

When I'm talking about cheap, I'm saying specifically in regards to Lester. I know they spend at the upper tier of most teams in baseball. But part of that is because we give $10+ million a year contracts to scrubs like Stephen Drew.

I'm pissed that they lowballed the **** out of Lester. He's one of the best pitchers in the entire game, one of (if not the only) active lefty with 2 rings and a no-hitter under his belt. There's no salary cap in this game... they should have been opening up their checkbook and getting an extension done before this season even started. Instead they come back with, what, 70 million over 4 years? That's an insult after all he's done for this organization. They should have offered 5/110 minimum. As we can see by their payroll, they aren't hurting for cash.

I fully support the "rebuild" and cutting bait with Lackey, Peavy, etc. But Lester is a core guy. He's one of the guys you should have been rebuilding around.. not trading for a guy who's a free agent after next year.

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It's easy to say when it's not your money . I think that the logic behind it is that the Red Sox don't believe they will be competitive for a few years so why spend the big money when it doesn't matter. Lester now gets a good chance for another WS ring and the Red Sox can still sign him after this year if they want to spend the money.

I also expect the Red Sox to offer a contract extension for the guy they got in the trade in order to keep him for at least 5 years.

Our national pastime nightmare is over, hopefully.

The new commissioner of Major League Baseball is, Rob Manfred.

wow

10 in a row!

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2014_08_21_arimlb_wasmlb_1&mode=recap_home&c_id=was

UPDATE: And their long streak comes to an end, thanks to my Giants who pulverized them. But today Washington comes right back and wins. This is so baseball and thus nerve wracking.

To beat Dodgers for division who are only 2 up in NL West, the Giants have to play them six times in the remaining month as well as survive a three game series with the hot Detroit Tigers.

This isn't going to be easy and we have to probably beat LA face to face four times out of six, or better, in order to take the division. Not only could they put us out of contention for division, they could potentially put us out of wildcard contention which would be terrible even after we had 7 game winning streak.

We no longer have LA killers Lincecum and Cain and they are out of rotation and somehow we are going to have to rely on new pitchers to get past them and somehow calm their lineup. Our closer is iffy and they have two reliable closers so I don't see any easy way out. I thought their star Puig was hurt but he's probably going to be full steam when we see him later this month. In last few years just as we may be upon a Giants mini-dynasty with two WS, two Cys, and three no-hitters highlighting recent times, there's the Dodgers with their two Cys (and probably a third for 2014 Kershaw), two no hitters, NLCS appearance last year, and certain playoff entry this year. We have the better seven year result but most think the Dodgers are the better team in 2014 which I have to reluctantly agree with.

Stanton was hit in the face by a pitch last night. Tough break for the Marlins.

ESPN.com said:

Miami Marlins star outfielder Giancarlo Stanton suffered facial lacerations requiring stitches, multiple facial fractures and dental damage after being struck under his left eye by a pitch from Mike Fiers in a 4-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.

Stanton was driven off the field in an ambulance after being hit in the face by a pitch in the fifth inning.

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http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/1...-miami-marlins-hit-face-pitch-exits-stretcher

Great points here. Derek Jeter is not worthy of the parade this year.

AustinIllini said:

YouTube: video

Great points here. Derek Jeter is not worthy of the parade this year.

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Is there anyone who actually thinks that Derek Jeter is the "greatest player ever"?

I know fans of other teams are annoyed by the DJ Circle Jerk that has been going on this year, but lets be realistic...

With all of the crap that has been going on in sports this year (both pro and college), what's wrong with celebrating one of the stars of the last 2 decades?

Only in New York would this kind of long goodbye actually fly. First Mariano, now Jeter. They are both legends and first ballot Hall of Famers, but they would have never received the kind of season-long genuflecting farewell parade if they played their entire careers in, say, Kansas City. The media tail wagging the dog, again.

Stick a fork in the Giants. Angel Pagan is done for the season, finally going under the knife to fix that bulging disk in his back.

I assume they'll still make the wildcard play-in game against the Pirates. I'd almost rather they not get past that hurdle, only get flattened by the Nationals.