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Official 2007 MLB Thread - The quest for another .500 champion

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Triumph Dolomite 1300cc said:
And really, I am honestly looking forward to the end of the Bobby Cox/John Scheurholz era.
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I wouldn't say that I'm looking forward to it.......yet. The grass is always greener on the other side. While I do think there have been some lousy decisions made over the last 5-6 years [cough]Mike Hampton[/cough], things could be much, much worse.

It just pains me to know how good some of those teams were and they have nothing to show for it. The 97-99 Braves teams were the best I'll probably see in my lifetime.
 
R_GILL said:
I don't know about League, I have been following his rehab assignments in the milb and he has seemed to struggle at AAA and A. Also I remember the Syracuse commentators saying that he was throwing at around 93 consistently. I think League needs to throw around 97-98 to be effective. For our sake though I hope he can come back as good as he was.
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I've been following the numbers as well.. he did well in AA, but still walked as many guys as he struck out. Same deal in AAA, except he has given up some more runs. The control will probably take a little while to come, given that he hasn't pitched for a while. I don't think League has to pitch 97-98 to be effective. I see him as a Wang type pitcher - his pitches have great sink and he gets a lot of ground balls. The 4mph shouldn't make too much of a difference, as long as he's locating.

Edit: also assuming that BJ Ryan won't be back pitching the way he can is a bit weird too.. Tommy John surgery now has a very high success rate. In fact the Jays have two guys in their rotation that had the surgery and are throwing just as hard and well as they did before (Burnett + McGowan)
 
Triumph Dolomite 1300cc said:
That's the thing, though- the best way to have quality pitching for a long time is to draft and develop it your damn self, since most teams that can will lock up good major league pitchers to deals that will cover their peak years. By the time a guy hits free agency, he's likely already peaked and will be massively overpaid for his declining years (see Zito, Barry). Trading for a guy who is about to be a free agent is risky too; he could either turn out to not be quite as good as you thought (see Hudson, Tim) or bolt to another team after he spends a few months with your team (see Colon, Bartolo).

No, we should try and stockpile as many good young pitchers as humanly possible. Worked for the Tigers. I mean, it's not like it's a revolutionary idea or anything, and we pretty much came up with it anyhow which is why our recent failure to cultivate anything better than league average pitchers is so mind boggling and infuriating.
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Paying for pitching just doesn't work that great. Always better to develop it yourself.

Also, people are just know finding out about Ankiel? He's been a hitter for years now, where have you people been?
 
There was some ongoing substory about him in SI a couple years ago. one of their baseball columns always had a little "Rick Ankiel watch" segment.
 
It's awesome seeing Loney and Kemp step up.. hopefully it rubs off on Ethier. As disappointing/up and down as the Dodgers have been the past few weeks, at least there's a small bright side. Losing a series to the Devil Rays hurts.
 
Loney has a chance to be a great 1B. Ethier has leveled off and looks like he'll always be a servicable 20/20 style guy.. not enough pop to be a true power threat, but good overall. I think Kemp could be a Raul Mondesi-type guy in terms of power, but we'll see. No doubt about it that we desperately need a proven slugger though. Anyone with half a brain could figure that one out -- shame Grady clearly has a quarter at best.
 
SI's Joe Heyman says the White Sox have asked the Yankees about Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy as part of a Mark Buehrle trade, but that those are the three guys the Yankees want to keep.

Unless Robinson Cano is put on the table, it's hard to see how the Yankees could get Buehrle without surrendering Chamberlain or Kennedy. There's enough interest out there that the White Sox are sure to command at least one top prospect in return for Buehrle.
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While it's going to be ****ing miserable when Buehrle leaves(all of Chicago loves you Mark =( ) it's at least going to be fun seeing the bidding/asking.
 
Meier said:
Loney has a chance to be a great 1B. Ethier has leveled off and looks like he'll always be a servicable 20/20 style guy.. not enough pop to be a true power threat, but good overall. I think Kemp could be a Raul Mondesi-type guy in terms of power, but we'll see. No doubt about it that we desperately need a proven slugger though. Anyone with half a brain could figure that one out -- shame Grady clearly has a quarter at best.
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=The Hardball Times]
Shawn Green's career trajectory is an appropriate model of what Loney's development might look like over the next few years. Like Loney, Green was a highly-regarded draft pick out of high school with a nice-looking swing and a surprising lack of home runs during the first part of his career. In Green's first three seasons as a major leaguer, he posted strong batting averages (between .280 and .288) but came under criticism from many individuals, including manager Cito Gaston, for his low home run and RBI totals. With the help of hitting coach Gary Matthews, a 25-year-old Green finally started to generate above-average power production in 1998. Green achieved notoriety for becoming a 30-30 player and driving in 100 runs that year, and he maintained a slugging percentage above .500 for three of the four following seasons.
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Eh, I dunno. While this article from November seems to think he has a shot at becoming a better power hitter it seems like a lot of scouts are wondering why he hasn't shown more power by now. He seems to have good discipline and hit for an ok average, but he doesn't have the power to be a first baseman.
 
Mets After Jose Contreras
The Mets have kicked the tires on Mark Buehrle, but Jose Contreras may be a more likely acquisition according to the Newark Star-Ledger. The Mets would prefer not to trade younger players for a rental, and may turn to Contreras because he's signed through 2009.

...

According to an official with one of the teams involved, the Mets also have asked the White Sox about former Yankees right-hander Jose Contreras, who is signed through 2009. The official, who asked not to be identified because the deals he was talking about are not done, said the Mets would be more likely to give up top minor-league talent for Contreras than they would for Buehrle.
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That's fine, just give us some relievers.
 
bluemax said:
Eh, I dunno. While this article from November seems to think he has a shot at becoming a better power hitter it seems like a lot of scouts are wondering why he hasn't shown more power by now. He seems to have good discipline and hit for an ok average, but he doesn't have the power to be a first baseman.
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It's hard to say -- he's definitely not a power hitter by any stretch of the imagination, but I can see him being a 20+ HR type of guy who gets a decent number of doubles and a triple here and there (kind of like a Mike Sweeney).

You certainly don't expect to see a 1B with as many triples (6) as HRs, but he's only 23 and has plenty of years to add a few pounds of muscle to his frame to turn those triples into HRs. He's a solid defender and I think given a full year, he'd finish over .300 and put up solid power numbers, but certainly nothing spectacular.
 
bluemax said:
Anywho, did I not call this:

http://www.firejoemorgan.com/2007/06/someday-you-too-could-be-drastically.html

Reggie Willits is the new ****ing Eckstein.
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:lol omg
Willits is aggressive on the basepaths, where he has 18 steals and has been caught twice. There are no statistics to measure how often he has pressured an outfielder into making a throwing error or how often he has prolonged an offensive flurry with patience at the plate and sheer grit.
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This is why I'd never pay real American dollars to read the LA Times.
 
ahahaha, if Contreras became a Met, LOS METS CONFIRMED. :lol

As for not trading Joba the Hutt and friends for Buehrle, I support that. As much as I'd like to acquire him, mortgaging the future with real good prospects is not the way to get him.



DL JOHNNY DAMON
FREE CHRIS BRITTON
 
I'm kind of curious what kind of deal the White Sox are thinking about. Obviously one of Chamberlain or Kennedy would likely have to go(as there is no way the Yanks are going to give up Hughes), but I wonder who else they have in mind.

edit: Also, when Buehrle is traded, we sure as **** better bring up Gavin Floyd from AAA to replace him in the rotation. If we rush future ace Gio Gonzalez up from AA I am going to kill someone.
 
Meier said:
It's hard to say -- he's definitely not a power hitter by any stretch of the imagination, but I can see him being a 20+ HR type of guy who gets a decent number of doubles and a triple here and there (kind of like a Mike Sweeney).

You certainly don't expect to see a 1B with as many triples (6) as HRs, but he's only 23 and has plenty of years to add a few pounds of muscle to his frame to turn those triples into HRs. He's a solid defender and I think given a full year, he'd finish over .300 and put up solid power numbers, but certainly nothing spectacular.
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Unless he's putting up John Olerud levels of batting average being a 20 home run hitter at first base just isn't very good. For a center fielder it would be awesome, a corner outfielder average but not for a first baseman. According to the article I sourced he doesn't pull the ball much at all. He hits a good number in the air, but they aren't going over the wall.

Karakand said:
:lol omg

This is why I'd never pay real American dollars to read the LA Times.
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Seriously. Although like the FJM commentary points out Willits is actually pretty good and the Eckstein comparisons are insulting to him. Silly LA media.

Eminem said:
I'm kind of curious what kind of deal the White Sox are thinking about. Obviously one of Chamberlain or Kennedy would likely have to go(as there is no way the Yanks are going to give up Hughes), but I wonder who else they have in mind.

edit: Also, when Buehrle is traded, we sure as **** better bring up Gavin Floyd from AAA to replace him in the rotation. If we rush future ace Gio Gonzalez up from AA I am going to kill someone.
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Seems like pretty much every contending team wants Buehrle but almost everyone is in agreement that he's not worth mortgaging the farm for (even with an extension) and that his no hitter is going to unreasonably drive his cost up.

I say he gets traded but either one team is gonna get desperate or the White Sox will hold him until the last possible minute and settle for less than they wanted.

The White Sox sure fell off fast, and from a diary entry I saw on one of their blogs they don't have much to look forward to at AAA. Reminds me of the M's a few years ago.
 
Meier said:
It's hard to say -- he's definitely not a power hitter by any stretch of the imagination, but I can see him being a 20+ HR type of guy who gets a decent number of doubles and a triple here and there (kind of like a Mike Sweeney).

You certainly don't expect to see a 1B with as many triples (6) as HRs, but he's only 23 and has plenty of years to add a few pounds of muscle to his frame to turn those triples into HRs. He's a solid defender and I think given a full year, he'd finish over .300 and put up solid power numbers, but certainly nothing spectacular.
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We'll Loney already has twice as many HR's in his short stay than Nomar does all season long so far. :lol Dodgers need to DFA Betemit because the guy just can't hack it as an everyday 3rd basemen. Dodgers need power and an extra arm for the bullpen, Taking Bills out is causing problems already. Hopefully the Dodgers can stay afloat until Tsao can come back. Hopefully he still as nasty as he was before the sore shoulder.
 
bluemax said:
Seems like pretty much every contending team wants Buehrle but almost everyone is in agreement that he's not worth mortgaging the farm for (even with an extension) and that his no hitter is going to unreasonably drive his cost up.

I say he gets traded but either one team is gonna get desperate or the White Sox will hold him until the last possible minute and settle for less than they wanted.

The White Sox sure fell off fast, and from a diary entry I saw on one of their blogs they don't have much to look forward to at AAA. Reminds me of the M's a few years ago.
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I'm confident we'll get at least one top prospect for him. Most likely, a top prospect and maybe a lesser MLB level player, and a scrap minor leaguer. With 10 teams having serious intrerest, it's hard to believe we won't get a good return on him.

And as far as the minors go, we have a fair amount of decent pitching depth. Gio Gonzalez is a ****ing stud. We also have Garland, Danks, Javy, and Contreras(assuming he also doesn't get traded) locked into our rotation for a few years, so we're not in desperate need of starters any time soon. Most of our best pitching prospects will probably be moved to fit into the pen when they make it up.

The area lacking in our system is position players. Josh Fields, who was our best position player prospect, is playing and hitting pretty damn well already in Crede's absence. But most of our top outfielders(Sweeney, Anderson, Owens) have been decent in their call-ups, but all have a weak spot in their swing that they'll need to fix before they're everyday players.
 
bluemax said:
Seriously. Although like the FJM commentary points out Willits is actually pretty good and the Eckstein comparisons are insulting to him. Silly LA media.
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It's what happens when 65-70% of your fanbase didn't give a shit about the team until they won a World Series with a roster so full of shitty grit players that we will never likely see something similar again in our lifetimes.
 
I predict that Burhle will go to an NL team. I don't see any AL teams in contention that need starting pitching for the second half of this year. Even the Yankees are kind of set, assuming Hughes comes back in decent condition.

So, maybe Toronto could make a play for him? Possible, I guess.
I don't even know who their starting 5 is .. so maybe that's a sign they need help.
 
ToxicAdam said:
I predict that Burhle will go to an NL team. I don't see any AL teams in contention that need starting pitching for the second half of this year. Even the Yankees are kind of set, assuming Hughes comes back in decent condition.

So, maybe Toronto could make a play for him? Possible, I guess.
I don't even know who their starting 5 is .. so maybe that's a sign they need help.
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Halladay
Burnett
Marcum
McGowan
LOL Towers

Buerhle would be nice but all our good prospects are in the lower minor leagues and I bet Ricciardi would rather try to sign someone in the off season.
 
ToxicAdam said:
I predict that Burhle will go to an NL team. I don't see any AL teams in contention that need starting pitching for the second half of this year. Even the Yankees are kind of set, assuming Hughes comes back in decent condition.

So, maybe Toronto could make a play for him? Possible, I guess.
I don't even know who their starting 5 is .. so maybe that's a sign they need help.
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What? The Yankees could use him, its silly to think he wouldn't be one of the better pitchers in their rotation.

Boston doesn't really need him, nor does Anaheim. Cleveland could probably use him, Detroit not as much. Oakland is probably all right without him and Seattle could most definitely use him.
 
The rumors I've heard are that the Red Sox and Braves are the top suitors for Buerhle.........with the Cards being the only team he would be willing to talk extension with.

I don't really care who the Braves give up as long as its not Salty. Virtually everyone else in the minors is expendable IMO.
 
Mets rotation is Glavine/Maine/Perez/Hernandez/Sosa.

They could use Contreras, but they probably don't desperately need him. Indeed, they've gotta have a bat in the OF.
 
siamesedreamer said:
The rumors I've heard are that the Red Sox and Braves are the top suitors for Buerhle.........with the Cards being the only team he would be willing to talk extension with.

I don't really care who the Braves give up as long as its not Salty. Virtually everyone else in the minors is expendable IMO.
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I've heard pretty much the same, but I'm wondering if a three team deal doesn't work here. I hear the White Sox are looking for a CF, and the Sox have a crazy good one in the minors (Jacoby Ellsbury). The Braves are looking for a pitcher. The red sox need someone to replace Varitek. So Ellsbury, Saltalamacchia, and Buerhle all trade teams and everyone is happy, with extra cruft thrown in around the edges.
 
Freest Rolexes said:
I've heard pretty much the same, but I'm wondering if a three team deal doesn't work here. I hear the White Sox are looking for a CF, and the Sox have a crazy good one in the minors (Jacoby Ellsbury). The Braves are looking for a pitcher. The red sox need someone to replace Varitek. So Ellsbury, Saltalamacchia, and Buerhle all trade teams and everyone is happy, with extra cruft thrown in around the edges.
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I can pretty much almost guarantee you that Salty won't get traded for a rental.
 
Freest Rolexes said:
I've heard pretty much the same, but I'm wondering if a three team deal doesn't work here. I hear the White Sox are looking for a CF, and the Sox have a crazy good one in the minors (Jacoby Ellsbury). The Braves are looking for a pitcher. The red sox need someone to replace Varitek. So Ellsbury, Saltalamacchia, and Buerhle all trade teams and everyone is happy, with extra cruft thrown in around the edges.
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The Red Sox better not give up Ellsbury in any deal. Or Lester. Or Buchholz.
 
DSC02492__edit.jpg



"Catcher Paul Lo Duca of the New York Mets has been suspended for two games and fined an undisclosed amount for his inappropriate actions during the bottom of the sixth inning of his Club's game against the Oakland Athletics on Saturday, June 23rd at Shea Stadium. Bob Watson, Vice President of On-Field Operations for Major League Baseball, made the announcement.

Unless appealed, Lo Duca's suspension is scheduled to begin during tonight's game versus the St. Louis Cardinals. If appealed, Lo Duca's suspension will be held in abeyance until the process is complete."

Give'em hell LoDuca
:)
 
CC pitches another gem (CG). 11-2 now ... This season will probably move him into elite company as the best Indians pitcher since some guy named Feller.

I would love to see the Indians resign him and sacrifice Hafner. CC is a once in a generation pitcher for our team.
 
ToxicAdam said:
CC pitches another gem (CG). 11-2 now ... This season will probably move him into elite company as the best Indians pitcher since some guy named Feller.

I would love to see the Indians resign him and sacrifice Hafner. CC is a once in a generation pitcher for our team.
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Why do I always feel like slapping that stupid cap off his head every time I see him on television. =(


=X

J. Kent caught stealing
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Hey look, The Dodgers have 1st and 2nd no outs. What's that, A double play! Furcal needs to go on the damn D.L. or go die somewhere in a corner.
 
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