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2012 MLB Thread


devilsrule33

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  • 2 weeks later...

Huge trade going down. Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, and Carl Crawford going to the Dodgers for Rubby De La Rosa, James Loney, Jerry Sands, Ivan De Jesus, and Allen Webster. Some of those guys are just spare parts but De La Rosa (when healthy) has a big arm and Allen Webster is a pretty good pitching prospect. The Dodgers are supposedly picking up almost the entire tab too, paying $260M+ of the ~$271.5M that is owed. That's nuts. Gonzalez is a good fit -- the James Loney Era lasted 5 years too long -- but also taking on Beckett and Crawford to make it work? That's awful.

On the flipside, great job by Ben Cherington to execute this massive salary dump and still get some solid players back.

Edited by nmigliore
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I think the trade helps both sides. Boston wanted a mulligan from the Epstein era, and they finally have it. They're now on the hook next year for about $46MM between all their players, and I'm thinking like $9 MM of that is to Lackey. Mesnwhile, as you said, the Dodgers needed a 1B for the absolute longest time. I think Beckett will do MUCH better in a pitcher's ballpark that Chavez Ravine is, but I'm on the fence on Crawford, who I think is injured (safe bet). Maybe he'll turn it around too.

Also, Boston now has massive spending power. Their only horrid contract right now is Lackey, and that's assuming he doesn't come back well from Tommy John.

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Sure the Dodgers got their first baseman, but they took on way too much to make it happen. They basically assumed 95% of the Gonzalez, Beckett, and Crawford contracts AND gave up a couple of good prospects (Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus in particular loves Webster). Gonzalez is a great player and fills a big need but that's pretty crazy.

The Dodgers are on the hook for a little north $180M next year in committed dollars and that doesn't even account for arbitration contracts and filling other roster holes via free agency.

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Miggy- How bout my O's still sticking around!?!?

A) you were right about Machado...he's gonna be a beast

B) what do you think of the Saunders trade?

C) do you think Chris Davis is gonna be a consistent 25-30 HR guy? Or is this a flash in the pan season?

They may even call up Bundy, apparently. That could be really fun. I just don't see them sticking around though; I think Detroit wins that 2nd wild card spot and the Angels, despite being 4 GB, have the talent to make a late run. Oakland is a better team too. I'm definitely cheering for something funky though; I hope the O's or Oakland sneak in.

Joe Saunders is average at best but the O's are at a point where even the slightest of upgrades could make a big difference, so he was a solid addition. Getting Jason Hammel back as soon as possible could be big.

Davis' power isn't a flash in the pan, no. If given the at bats, I've never doubted his ability to hit for that kind of power; that's always been his best attribute, after all. The problem with Davis is that he's useless in just about every other facet of the game. He doesn't walk. He strikes out a ton. Since he's primarily a DH -- the most offense-demanding position in baseball -- he doesn't play the field, and when he does, he's a below average glove wherever you put him. What you see right now is pretty much what you're going to get; that may seem acceptable if you just look at HR totals and ignore OBP and positional values, but trust me, it's not. He's not too far from being a replacement level player.

Wei-Yin Chen was a nice find.

Whatever happens, just enjoy the ride and be happy your team is even still playing in meaningful games.

Edited by nmigliore
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They may even call up Bundy, apparently. That could be really fun. I just don't see them sticking around though; I think Detroit wins that 2nd wild card spot and the Angels, despite being 4 GB, have the talent to make a late run. Oakland is a better team too. I'm definitely cheering for something funky though; I hope the O's or Oakland sneak in.

Joe Saunders is average at best but the O's are at a point where even the slightest of upgrades could make a big difference, so he was a solid addition. Getting Jason Hammel back as soon as possible could be big.

Davis' power isn't a flash in the pan, no. If given the at bats, I've never doubted his ability to hit for that kind of power; that's always been his best attribute, after all. The problem with Davis is that he's useless in just about every other facet of the game. He doesn't walk. He strikes out a ton. Since he's primarily a DH -- the most offense-demanding position in baseball -- he doesn't play the field, and when he does, he's a below average glove wherever you put him. What you see right now is pretty much what you're going to get; that may seem acceptable if you just look at HR totals and ignore OBP and positional values, but trust me, it's not. He's not too far from being a replacement level player.

Wei-Yin Chen was a nice find.

Whatever happens, just enjoy the ride and be happy your team is even still playing in meaningful games.

Yeah, Chen has been amazing so far. I'm not crazy about losing Lindstrom, since our bullpen has been solid. I have no idea how Arrieta is gonna do in the bullpen

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  • 4 weeks later...

Dylan Bundy is coming up!

The Baltimore Orioles initially had said that they would not promote their top pitching prospect, right-hander Dylan Bundy.

A pennant race and an 18-inning game have a way of changing a team’s best-laid plans.

Bundy, 19, is heading to the majors.

The Orioles' game against the Mariners ended shortly before 4 a.m. ET. Bundy learned of his promotion in Florida via a phone call shortly after that, a source said.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/baltimore-orioles-promoting-top-pitching-prospect-dylan-bundy-091912

I don't know how limited his role will be, but every slight improvement matters at this point. Although Baltimore's playoff odds are already good (77-78%), winning the division is huge in the new playoff format. Bringing Bundy aboard could make a difference.

Edited by nmigliore
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Dylan Bundy is coming up!

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/baltimore-orioles-promoting-top-pitching-prospect-dylan-bundy-091912

I don't know how limited his role will be, but every slight improvement matters at this point. Although Baltimore's playoff odds are already good (77-78%), winning the division is huge in the new playoff format. Bringing Bundy aboard could make a difference.

Awesome news. The future is here! I hope he has the same impact Machado has had. Do you think he'll work out of the bullpen?

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Kris Medlen of the Braves has put up some superb numbers this year in a swingman type of role, but check out his splits since moving into the Braves' rotation permanently in late July. After 8 shutout innings last night in Miami, his ERA (since moving into the rotation) is 0.76, his K/BB is 8.0, and opposing batters are hitting just .195/.223/.251 off of him. He hasn't gone less than 6 innings since August 5th. What an incredible run.

It's kind of funny that among all of Atlanta's highly touted arms over the last few years -- Hanson, Delgado, Teheran, Vizcaino, Minor -- it's been the much less-heralded 5'10" (if that) pitcher with a fastball that tops out in the low-90's, Kris Medlen, that is emerging as the guy who may have the best future.

Edited by nmigliore
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No playoff births on the line this year but Game 162 has plenty of meaning for teams today...

Yanks need a win or Baltimore loss to clinch the AL East; if they lose and Baltimore wins, however, they'll play a 1-game playoff to decide the division winner. Again, it's worth pointing out that winning the division is HUGE under the new playoff format.

Red Sox (Matsuzaka) @ Yankees (Kuroda), 7pm ET, YES

Orioles (Tillman) @ Rays (Hellickson), 7pm ET

Oakland and Texas just so happen to face off in Game 162 to decide the AL West winner. I would have never expected Oakland to be in the wild card race, let alone have a chance to top Texas and win the division. This should be fun.

Rangers (Dempster) @ Athletics (Griffin), 3:35pm ET, MLB Network

Could you imagine Texas and New York ending up in the Wild Card playoff game? It's not likely at this point, but hey, ya never know.

Nothing really interesting in the NL. Every division leader clinched their division, as have the two wild card spots. The Nats, Reds, and Giants are going to the Divisional Series while St. Louis will go to Atlanta for the Wild Card playoff game on Friday. I guess if you want something, the best record in baseball/#1 seed in the NL is up for grabs between the Nats and Reds, with the Nats just needing a win or Reds loss to clinch it.

Phillies (Lee) @ Nationals (Jackson), 1pm ET

Reds (Bailey) @ Cardinals (Miller), 8pm ET

I'll fire up the Postseason thread tomorrow, but let's enjoy Game 162 first!

Edited by nmigliore
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The new playoff system has definitely made September more exciting but one thing that bothers me is that a team like the Tigers is going to get rewarded for winning a weak division while teams with much better records, Yankees, Orioles, Rangers, Athletics risk having to play the 1 game play in. Hell, the 3rd place teams in the East (Rays) and West (Angels) will have better records than the Tigers. How do the Tigers deserve an automatic bye into the ALDS???

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Eh...that's always been an issue where weak divisions have separation in time for the winner to set pitching while strong divisions don't.

What I think will be more of a problem this year is the DS playoff format, where the lesser seed's two home games come first, and then they go back to the higher seed's home for 3 games. I find it stunning that anyone agreed to this format.

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Eh...that's always been an issue where weak divisions have separation in time for the winner to set pitching while strong divisions don't.

What I think will be more of a problem this year is the DS playoff format, where the lesser seed's two home games come first, and then they go back to the higher seed's home for 3 games. I find it stunning that anyone agreed to this format.

It's always been an issue but now that there is a 1 game play in makes it 100000x more frustrating and unreasonable. I also hate the new DS format. If anything I would've kept it the same (travel format) and made it a best of 7. Nothing worse than losing a season in a short playoff series.

Edited by thefiestygoat
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Yeah, Cabrera is having another dominant season but Trout by far deserves the AL MVP. In the NL, Buster Posey wasn't really on the MVP scene halfway through the year... then he decided to go ape sh!t: .388/.459/.651 in the 2nd half. Pretty incredible.

Regarding the format, I really don't understand or like the home/away setup of the Divisional Series. I also hate the 1-game playoff between the two wildcards. Think it should be best-of-3 or best-of-5 like the Divisional Series. The extra onus to win your division is kind of the only positive about it.

Edited by nmigliore
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