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MLB thread

Mye

Someone has to win..
Kinda hard to. While he did break a record, he also abused steroids then lied about it constantly. Like Bartolo Colon being the first pitcher in history to beat a team with 7 different teams, steroids really do diminish it.
 

BCVM22

Well-Known Member
Let's all celebrate A-Rod's amazing accomplishment.

Eh. "Celebrate" is a strong word. Let's note him being a generational talent who admitted to using PEDs, has served his punishment and is back to occasionally reminding us why he was once labeled a generational talent. And then let's all get hearty chuckles out of just how mad he makes all the obnoxiously sanctimonious fans and sportswriters.
 

Vernikova

Champion
Kinda hard to. While he did break a record, he also abused steroids then lied about it constantly. Like Bartolo Colon being the first pitcher in history to beat a team with 7 different teams, steroids really do diminish it.

Just don't think too hard about it. There's no need to react as badly as the media does about it.

Eh. "Celebrate" is a strong word. Let's note him being a generational talent who admitted to using PEDs, has served his punishment and is back to occasionally reminding us why he was once labeled a generational talent. And then let's all get hearty chuckles out of just how mad he makes all the obnoxiously sanctimonious fans and sportswriters.

How mad some people are getting is the best part about it, to be honest. Even the less obnoxious ones sound so heartbroken about it, which makes it all the more sweet for those of us who are kind of ambivalent and are just focusing on the now.
 

BlazingCold

Well-Known Member
My angels are... eh let's just say it's probaaably not their year this year, ok?

They could go out and get somebody in FA but they have that 60m$ salary dump in Hamilton.
 

Pokegirl Fan~

Liko>>>>>Ash
The Cubs pitching really seems to be struggling lately. They imploded today and gave up 12 runs against the Brewers. Though I guess on the bright side Kris Bryant hit his first major league home run today, which was a 3 run shot.
 

ger9119

Well-Known Member
Kinda hard to. While he did break a record, he also abused steroids then lied about it constantly. Like Bartolo Colon being the first pitcher in history to beat a team with 7 different teams, steroids really do diminish it.

There was an issue in every baseball era, the steroids were bad but at the same time they saved baseball a lot of players used when it was legal in baseball and they aren't using now so to discredit Colon or A-Rod for their accomplisments isn't fair. The steroid guys deserve to be in the hall of fame just as the Amphetamines/Other Drug users were able to get in through the 60s-80s
 

Pikachu Fan Number Nine

Don't Mess wit Texas
10 games ago the Yankees were in first. Now they are not even in playoff position. What gives here? I thought Girardi had turned it around. Apparently I was being naive. If the Yankees are going to get back in the playoffs, changes need to be made. Girardi needs to go for one thing.
 

Ilikepiex7

Well-Known Member
10 games ago the Yankees were in first. Now they are not even in playoff position. What gives here? I thought Girardi had turned it around. Apparently I was being naive. If the Yankees are going to get back in the playoffs, changes need to be made. Girardi needs to go for one thing.

they just need a banana dodgers started scoring runs thanks to the magic banana it might work for the Yankees too
 

BCVM22

Well-Known Member
If the Yankees are going to get back in the playoffs, changes need to be made. Girardi needs to go for one thing.

Again, putting the blame for a terrible roster on the manager would be very dumb. Not that a front office won't do it to generate the illusion of "making changes" (see: Milwaukee Brewers, Miami Marlins) but that's all it is: an illusion. It doesn't fix a bad team.
 

bobjr

You ask too many questions
Staff member
Moderator
Whenever a manager is fired it's really the front office feeling pressure and that's usually the "easy" solution, never the best one.
 

Mye

Someone has to win..
Also, the reason the brewers are bad is ENTIRELY because of their gm and their unwant to keep quality players. Prince Fielder is prime example, as the year after he left milwaukee he had the 8th highest batting average in the league and was walked the 5th most times (both career highs).
 

Mye

Someone has to win..
Also, it's about a quarter of the way through the season so I'd may as well do a review:

Biggest Surprise so far...:

The Houston Astros- It's actually kinda amazing what a year and a crappy division can do for you. 45 games into last season, they were 9 games under .500 and an even more astounding 13.5 games back of a playoff spot. Now they're 13 games above .500, have a 6 and a half game lead over what is a pretty crappy division, and have the lowest combined ERA of any astros starting rotation since 2004.

Biggest Disappointment...:

every other team, I mean the San Diego Padres- For a team that spent over 115m in free agency, you think the Padres would have more to show for it. Sadly, in a division featuring two juggernauts they haven't been able to really do much. Their best hitter is hitting 2.90 and their best pitcher (ERA-wise) is 1-7.

Most likely to "comeback" and make the playoffs:

The Mets- I get that the "other" new york team is only 1 game back of a wild card spot and I get that 70% of their remaining games are versus teams currently with a losing record. That being said, I really don't see a way the Mets won't outright win their division. Washington's rotation is goes on weird skids (having amazing games in a row before going to absolute garbage for 2-3 games). New York also has the added benefit of more overall depth than the nats, which should prove to be useful should injuries plague both teams

Most likely to crash and burn:

The Tampa Bay Rays- I actually did a little digging around and found out a pretty fascinating fact about the AL East. Dating back to 2005, all the teams which have led that division by more than 1 game after playing their 50th have either gone on to win the world series or (and this is a pretty interesting one) have missed the playoffs entirely. Tampa is on pace to lead the division through 50, despite lacking any real ace or hitting threat. The competition is also pretty stiff, as you have to think the Yankees will try to salvage this season and Boston/Toronto will try to prove they aren't badly built teams (though they are). Unless Tampa gets extremely lucky, I could see them not only losing hold on the division but falling down to 4th and staying there for the remainder of the season.
 

BCVM22

Well-Known Member
Also, the reason the brewers are bad is ENTIRELY because of their gm and their unwant to keep quality players. Prince Fielder is prime example--

Uh, no. No, it's not unwant. It's that the Brewers are a small market team and can't afford to spend 9 years, $214 million on one player, which is what the Tigers gave Prince Fielder in free agency. It has nothing to do with "want."

as the year after he left milwaukee he had the 8th highest batting average in the league and was walked the 5th most times (both career highs).

And if you're going to quote stats to try and support a point, neither of these is especially relevant.

For a team that spent over 115m in free agency

They didn't spend that much in free agency. Shields was their only purchase - the rest were trades.

Their best hitter is hitting 2.90 and their best pitcher (ERA-wise) is 1-7.

Okay, again, batting average and pitcher wins are really bad stats to quote if you're trying to support a point. Pitcher wins especially could not be any less relevant on their own.

That being said, I really don't see a way the Mets won't outright win their division.

The Mets cannot hit. That's an issue if a team intends to win. The division is Washington's to lose. The Mets have a better overall rotation but Washington has a strong rotation and they can hit, which again is key.

The Tampa Bay Rays- I actually did a little digging around and found out a pretty fascinating fact about the AL East. Dating back to 2005, all the teams which have led that division by more than 1 game after playing their 50th have either gone on to win the world series or (and this is a pretty interesting one) have missed the playoffs entirely.

And so you're taking this to mean... what, exactly?

The competition is also pretty stiff

Not really. That division is awful. Just awful. Suck the LEAST and the divison belongs to you. The competition is anything but stiff. What's the opposite of stiff? Loose? Limp? Weak? Whatever it is, the competition is that.
 
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Mye

Someone has to win..
Ugh, where to start where to start. I'd may as well shoot down all of these in order:

-The brewers let Prince Fielder walk. Whether it was because of salary issues or not, they didn't want him and he statistically had one of the best years of his career after that.

-Ugh, do I really need to argue semantics. Fine, the San Diego Padres "took on" 115m in salary in the off-season. Happy now? Also, both those stats are incredibly relevant as it shows that they're not only unable to hit the ball well but are actually costing their team wins in the process. Pitcher wins are pretty relevant, as when combined with other stats (like that batting average one I displayed prior) it can show the overall consistency of an offense and point out ones that are "streaky".

-Washington has shown time and time again that they can't take advantage of a good scenario. It's happened numerous times in the playoffs over the past few seasons and even in the regular season when they wanted to shut down some of their pitchers (Strasburg) despite being in a weak division at the time. The Mets should be able to capitalize on not only their easier schedule, but the fact that should someone get injured (which in washington, almost certainly will happen) they have prospects in the minor leagues who are easily some of the best in baseball.

-I'm just gonna guess that you're trolling here. I brought up that little AL-East fact entirely because of how bloody fascinating it was. I'm not gonna suggest that they're gonna win the world series if they do make the playoffs, if anything they should miss it by 5-10 games. You also misread my point entirely about the division being stiff. Unlike other divisions which feature one "juggernaut" team that the others have to climb over, this one is arguably harder because of how equal the teams are. Unlike a team like the Mets who only really have to eclipse Washington to make the playoffs, every single team in that division has a realistic shot of winning it making it, as a whole, way tougher to outright win.
 

ger9119

Well-Known Member
As a Mets fan, there's no way we win the division if David Wright isn't in the lineup which is unlikely. We can't hit at all, and we aren't adding any pieces in the near future to fix that, they could've easily picked up Casey Mchee who went DFA by the Giants recently, just to help Met fans believe that they are trying real hard to win this season. They will be in line for second wild card spot, but they need help fast. Another thing is the lack of speed on the roster, they really can't steal bases and that would help alot when guys are slumping.
 

BCVM22

Well-Known Member
The brewers let Prince Fielder walk. Whether it was because of salary issues or not, they didn't want him

No that's missing the point entirely. Is that what you think? That the Brewers "didn't want him?" I'm baffled as to how you could arrive at that conclusion. Of course they WANTED to keep him. He wanted more money than the Brewers could realistically offer. That's how it works. It's willful ignorance to claim they "didn't want to keep him."

Also, both those stats are incredibly relevant as it shows that they're not only unable to hit the ball well

No, batting average is maybe sixth or seventh on the list of five most relevant offensive statistics. I would put, in no particular order, OBP, SLG, WAR (or some similarly quantitative stat), OPS+ and percentage of baserunners driven in (over RBI) above batting average.

Pitcher wins are pretty relevant, as when combined with other stats

No statistic that allows a guy who gives up 5 R in 5 IP to get a win but can hand a loss to a guy who gives up 1 R over 8 IP is relevant on its own. The baseball world has, fortunately, moved way beyond taking pitcher wins to mean anything important on their own. They're a nice (or sometimes not so nice) number on the back of a baseball card these days. Nothing more. And like with your attempt to use batting average to prove a point, there are many, many more relevant pitching statistics used to evaluate a pitcher today. A general manager who even quoted wins/losses, much less used them as an evaluation metric, would be made a laughingstock of, and rightly so.

Washington has shown time and time again that they can't take advantage of a good scenario. It's happened numerous times in the playoffs over the past few seasons and even in the regular season when they wanted to shut down some of their pitchers (Strasburg) despite being in a weak division at the time.

Wait, wait, wait. Wait. You're going to downgrade Washington's grip on the division for "[showing] time and time again that they can't take advantage of a good scenario" but you're going to upgrade the chances of the hilariously inept and offensively challenged Mets on that same basis? No. That does

I'm just gonna guess that you're trolling here

No, pointing out the general irrelevance of a random, cherry picking "fact" is not trolling.
 

Pokegirl Fan~

Liko>>>>>Ash
The Nationals seem like a hot team right now. They really turned their season around after a sort of slow start and now are on fire and have won their past 9 series iirc.
 

Ilikepiex7

Well-Known Member
we had a no hitter today and currently 7 out 9 all star spots have royals leading amazing we might even get the Royals starting nine in the all star game
 
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