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THIS THREAD WILL BE FOR GENERAL BASEBALL DISCUSSIONS, ARGUEMENTS, ETC.
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I WILL ANSWER QUESTIONS, ETC AFTER 8PM ON WEEKDAYS AND FROM TIME TO TIME ON WEEKENDS


wtf is going on with the mets not giving heilman the 5th rotation spot, it's fucking ridiculous

he is easily their 3rd best starter



[Edited on March 28, 2006 at 10:04 PM. Reason : god dammit i fucked up the title]

3/28/2006 9:42:13 PM

why is there only media coverage on 6 teams?

yes, i understand that everyone loves/hates the bosox, yanks, mets, astros, nats, and astros


but what the hell is the brew crew up to? the o's? the indians? the rockies?

i vote for more balanced coverage of baseball.

3/28/2006 9:44:17 PM

Also,

Do the rangers actually believe the acquisitions of Millwood and Eaton mean anything?

If Clemens decides to pitch for the rangers, he'll have a hard time keeping his ERA under 3.50

3/28/2006 9:45:49 PM

personally, I'm sick of the soap opera between New York and Boston.

3/28/2006 9:46:12 PM

^^^ if you have any questions about any team you can ask me here, i can pretty much tell you what you need off the top of my head

3/28/2006 9:46:47 PM

lets not and pretend the season was less than 100 games

3/28/2006 9:47:35 PM

the brewers have pretty much said fuck it and have started playing the players of their future

the infield of fielder, weeks, hardy and bill hall should produce and their pitching staff will always be strong

they have a great pitching coach in mike maddox

3/28/2006 9:48:16 PM

the orioles are fucked

they have javy lopez playing 1b now

brian roberts is coming off a huge elbow injury and tejada is not happy with the organization

they have good young pitching and with mazzone i believe they can make strides but still will prolly battle the rays for the cellar

[Edited on March 28, 2006 at 9:50 PM. Reason : i can continue if you want]

3/28/2006 9:49:58 PM

This will be a good thread for work. I'm about to head out now but I'll give the 'reasoning' behind Heilman in the pen tomorrow (even though i don't agree with it..)

3/28/2006 9:50:29 PM

ok cool

this will be an after work thread for me

i dont have much time for tww during


but i will answer all questions/give my take every night after 8

[Edited on March 28, 2006 at 9:51 PM. Reason : /]

3/28/2006 9:51:31 PM

Quote :

"yes, i understand that everyone loves/hates the bosox, yanks, mets, astros, nats, and astros "

Funny how my Cardinals are not in that crowd and have had the best record in MLB the past 2 years.

3/28/2006 10:35:43 PM

our Cards will ALWAYS get plenty of publicity


...especially this year with New Busch

3/28/2006 10:41:10 PM

i was kind of surprised the lack of activity by the cards this offseason, but with the great front of the rotation pitching and solid middle of the lineup, they'll probably lead the NL Central until around the all-star break. And then probably fade out of playoff contention.

With the improvements made all around them, I think they will have a tough time in the Central this year

3/28/2006 10:50:49 PM

Quote :

"And then probably fade out of playoff contention. "

You are not kidding are you? The Astros will be worse, wayyy worse if Roger doesn't come back.

The Cubs are never a threat, the Reds didn't really get better, The Pirates are still the same crew.

The Brewers are the club that scares me.

3/28/2006 10:52:44 PM

are you kidding

you cant use crap like "the cubs are never a threat" when they add a legit CF leadoff hitter, and 2 great pieces to their bullpen, and Jacque Jones

3/28/2006 10:55:21 PM

Tell me you don't think the Cubs will win the Central?

With Rolen back, STL will win by 10 games. And that's even if Clemens plays this year.

How do you see the Central unfolding? I would say:

1) Cardinals
2) Astros
3) Brewers
4) Cubs
5) Pirates
6) Reds

3/28/2006 10:58:58 PM

1) healthy Rolen
2) outfield of Taguchi, Edmonds and Juan Encarnacion
3) John Rodriguez ready to have his breakout season
4) Junior Spivey healthy at 2B (and Hector Luna a solid backup)
5) best rotation in the NL


...we'll win the Central by 10 games

[Edited on March 28, 2006 at 11:01 PM. Reason : beat me by a minute]

3/28/2006 11:00:09 PM

Add to the fact that Prior and Wood are always hurt for the Cubs and I don't see them contending for first place. What about my A's? I think they can win the west. They will have a lot of 2nd and 3rd year guys starting to get experience.

3/28/2006 11:03:28 PM

I think the A's might have one of the worst outfields in the Majors, offensively speaking.

Nick Swisher, Mark Kotsay and Milton Bradley

LOL

3/28/2006 11:05:52 PM

Kotsay is a good lead-off guy when healthy. He hit over 300 most of last year I think. Swisher has some pop but doesn't hit for average. Don't know a lot about Bradley.

3/28/2006 11:09:49 PM

i never said that the cubs were going to win it

i said it would be very competitive this year

and also you are being very optimistic about your outfield

how often does edmonds string together consecutive healthy years

3/28/2006 11:10:38 PM

SOMEONE EXPLAIN THE BH TO ME

3/28/2006 11:11:50 PM

I don't really worry about the Outfield Boobs.

If they struggle Walt Jocketty will pull his usual Summer steal trade and get a good OF. Kinda like how he got rid of JD Drew for Marquis, acquired Will tha Thrill Clark, and Larry Walker for basically nothing.

3/28/2006 11:19:57 PM

i miss jd drew so much

i loved that guy

someday, somewhere

he is gonna be an amazing player

3/28/2006 11:32:16 PM

i agree if the nga could play more than half a season

3/29/2006 1:03:03 AM

is duchess fucking brackman because he has the potential to be rich as fuck soon?

3/29/2006 2:53:42 AM

Cards
Cubs
Brewers
Astros
Pirates
Reds

The A's have the AL West in the bag

[Edited on March 29, 2006 at 3:53 AM. Reason : k]

3/29/2006 3:52:42 AM

Alright. Before I go to my meeting here is the deal with Heilman (the long winded version).

Before last year he wasn't using his original (slightly less then 3/4) delivery because a minor league pitching coach didn't like it. Before 2005, with a changed arm angle, he was a very mediocre pitcher who didn't come CLOSE to living up to this lofty draft position. In the offseason before last year he went back to his college arm angle. He still got bombed in Spring Training so he wasn't in the plans as a starter last year... then Benson AND Trachsel got hurt.

So Aaron started 7 games at the beginning of last year until Benson got back. He had a mixed bag of results. He had as close to a no hitter as you can come one game (1 infield hit) and then got bombed. Then pithed seven innings of 3 hit ball and then got bombed. He ended up going 2-3 with a 4.71 ERA in 7 starts before giving way to Benson [and Ishii/Seo]. He really found himself in the pen and had the lowest ERA in all of baseball in the second half relieving (at 0.68).

That brings us to this year. Coming in to Spring Training he was all but assured a starting job. He did nothing to lose it as he has a shade over 1.20 ERA this Spring. Problem is the Mets didn't think Brian Bannister was ready. Well, even though it is just Spring, it appears he is with his 0.90 ERA. Remember also that Heilman has never really proven himself as a starter, but has proven to be a very valuable commodity out of the pen, especially against lefties (and the Mets lack a true lefty stopper outside of Wagner).

The Mets thinking is this: If they can get Heilman like production out of Bannister in the rotation then the team will be better with Heilman in the setup role (as there are questions about Sanchez ability to be a full time setup guy because he struggles so badly with lefties). I understand it and it probably makes sense for the team but I feel kind of bad for Heilman. Especially because he is arbitration eligible after this year, though of course still under Mets control until after 2008.

****Next question****

What are the Braves longterm plans for Catcher? Brian McCann is a good young catcher but now they have Salmatacchia (I spelled that wrong I'm sure), who by all accounts is a Top 20 prospect who many think is less then a year away...

3/29/2006 8:10:39 AM

What exactly is the issue with the Rangers signing Millwood and Eaton? They needed pitchers, they got pitchers...and dont give me shit about their ballpark, the other pitchers have to pitch there too.

3/29/2006 11:43:44 AM

Okay, want an opinion. In my fantasy league, the trade between two other teams was like this:
Team A offering
A. Pettite
R. Howard
C. Barmes

Team B offering
J. Rollins
J. Sosa
D. Dellucci

I think its a terrible trade but surprisingly others in the league didnt agree. What do yall think?

3/29/2006 11:48:50 AM

I think Team B made out like a friggin bandit....that trade is not even close to being fair

3/29/2006 11:51:31 AM

Quote :

"What are the Braves longterm plans for Catcher? Brian McCann is a good young catcher but now they have Salmatacchia (I spelled that wrong I'm sure), who by all accounts is a Top 20 prospect who many think is less then a year away..."

I've read from some blogs on the Atlanta Constitutional Journal that they will likely try to move McCann to 1st base assuming he hits well this year. LaRoche's inability to hit lefties is going t end his career in Atlanta unless he improves this season. Also Saltamacchia (sp?) is supposed to be the better defensive catcher of the two. We'll probably never know until next spring training unless McCann gets hurt and Salt gets called up.

3/29/2006 11:53:24 AM

^^^ Yeah team B is definitely getting a steal IMO. I would have vetoed....

3/29/2006 11:54:34 AM

What do you guys think of Tampa Bay?

They are going to have a GREAT offense with Cantu, Gomes, Lugo (until he is traded so Upton can play), Baldelli, Crawford, and eventually Delmon Young. What I don't get is WHY they have not tried to upgrade their staff.

They could compete in the next 2 years but unlike the Fish they don't seem to want to capitalize on the window of oppurtunity. Pretty soon a lot of their core will price themselves out of TB (I'm pretty sure they'll start a firesale b/t the players 4th and 5th year of service time or sooner..) and they have a surplus of talent in the OF with Gathright, Huff, etc..

They have nice base of talent for the future of the staff in Kazmir (FUCKING POS Duquette.. you should fucking god damn die you piece of no talent having sucky ass shitty GM) and Niemann.. But the current rotation and ESPECIALLY the pen is in shambles. There are plenty of pitchers that could have been had and they a definite surplus in the OF. The Mets would have given up Seo for Baez for example.

Small market teams like TB [and FLA] only have a small window and the Rays are absolutely flushing that window down the shitter...

3/29/2006 12:26:07 PM

Saltalamacchia will get some defensive plate apperances this year just so that Bobby Cox can see how he looks. I think he is a good sound ballplayer, but dont expect to see him there full time next year either, unless McCann screws up.

3/29/2006 12:26:17 PM

^^ Don't forget that they have Orvella who could be a dominant closer if he can somewhat match his minor league numbers.

I think the D-Rays are going to always suck unless they can get some okay starting pitching and mix in some experienced players. Remember a few years back when they went and got Wade Bogss, Jose Canseco, Fred McGriff, Greg Vaughn, etc to build a veteran team? It seems like the management is always changing course.

The fact that they are stuck in the AL East doesn't help either.

3/29/2006 12:54:54 PM

Quote :

"What are the Braves longterm plans for Catcher? Brian McCann is a good young catcher but now they have Salmatacchia (I spelled that wrong I'm sure), who by all accounts is a Top 20 prospect who many think is less then a year away..."

Satalmacchia got cut. McCann is the starting catcher.

Quote :

"LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Jarrod Saltalamacchia knows there will be many more big-league camps in his future. Sean White can only hope the positive impression he left during his first one will be a lasting one. Saltalamacchia and White were among the 10 players sent back to Minor League camp when the Braves made their second round of cuts on Thursday afternoon. They now have 35 players remaining in camp. "

3/29/2006 1:45:38 PM

^ He was asking what the LONGTERM plans were, not what the plans were for this season. Saltalamacchia is not yet ready for the bigs, but could be by next spring training.

3/29/2006 2:23:32 PM

Sunday night the season starts.

I ordered the MLB package on twc, i'm psyched for monday night in Oakland when the yankees open their season against the A's...but its supposed to rain

3/29/2006 2:30:07 PM

Paging BearDawg for general questions!!!




[Edited on March 29, 2006 at 2:37 PM. Reason : The DH?]

3/29/2006 2:36:48 PM

^^^ bingo.

^^ I have MLB.tv since I'm moving mid season.

^ troll elsewhere.

I wonder who will walk first. Reyes or Francoeur.

[Edited on March 29, 2006 at 2:46 PM. Reason : f]

3/29/2006 2:46:15 PM

hahaha. I'm probably going to gamble on Reyes.

Do you think Barry Bonds will die before catching the Babe? Before Aaron?

I'm hoping he'll have a stroke tonight so he won't completely ruin my sport.

[Edited on March 29, 2006 at 2:54 PM. Reason : .]

3/29/2006 2:53:04 PM

without his special juice to keep him going, he won't play enough to come Aaron.

3/29/2006 2:55:36 PM

but undoubtedly, unless he dies, he will pass Babe Ruth... and that makes me really really really sad.

3/29/2006 2:56:22 PM

Im very curious to see how the baseball world is going to respond when he actually breaks Ruth's record, and possibly Aaron's...basically everyone wants him to fail so they wont have to deal with the obvious, but he will at least pass Ruth.

I think this will be the first time a player that we know for a fact has taken steiroids is going break some kind of record. I honestly think that just about ever writer and probably the baseball community as a whole is just going to write all his hr records off as steroid products and consider him to not have broken any records

3/29/2006 3:13:58 PM

O'S NUMBAR ONE BASEBALL CHAMPS!!!!1

3/29/2006 3:38:51 PM

I still hope he goes. I hope his leg has to be amputated or something. He's literally ruining baseball legend.

3/29/2006 3:39:05 PM

Mickey Hall got some playin time for the Red Sox today. Some of you may know Mickey. He's a kid who is from Raleigh, played little league ball at West Raleigh and played his first two or three high school seasons at Athens Drive. He graduated in 2003 from a school down in Georgia. He was a good buddy of mine growin up and as I was watchin the Sox game today (not even thinkin about Mickey bein in their organization) I saw him enter the game as a pinch runner. He played RF the 8th and 9th inning and doubled up a runner to end the 8th. Very cool.

3/29/2006 4:46:08 PM

Ok folks im back

im gonna see if I can chime in on some of these questions, etc

3/29/2006 5:34:39 PM

On the Devil Rays:


I really believe this team will be a winner, but never under the team name which they currently possess. The team has to be sold and moved to Orlando, etc.

Anyways, I believe they have a great lineup. But, the problem is that they have made no effort to assemble a pitching staff other then when they ass-raped the mets for kazmir. They have 6 OF's that could start on most teams (I consider Huff an OF, he is playing third again and is a terrible 3B) Huff, Gathright, Baldelli, Crawford, Young, Gomes. Their IF is the prolblem. Lugo is a decent SS and Cantu is a star in the making, but Huff at 3rd is not the answer and he will make 60 errors if he plays there this whole season. Also, BJ Upton needs to be converted to be an OF. He is a horrible infielder, but has an amazing bat. So you see the problem they have. Lots of underpaid high potential guys. Well if they trade them for pitching, they most likely wont get an even trade, and also any decent 25-28 y/o pitcher in the MLB will be making some nice change for a salary.

That is the reason they cant trade for pitching unless they trade prospects. And in baseball, a 5 star pitching prospect is way more valuable than a 5 star hitter. So you see the trap they fall in.

3/29/2006 5:48:25 PM