The Official 2013 MLB Thread

[PilotMan]

Remember how beefy the Dodgers starting lineup was planned to be this year?

Tonight we are starting 3 career utility guys and a jouneyman third baseman. The only fear we are causing is in the hearts of the fans. We will be lucky to finish .500 this year.

I feel bad for Kershaw after all this. He is pitching as good as ever.

[PilotMan]

dola

And now Ramirez is going to go back on the DL. They knew he was nursing a hammy pull, and now he has fully tweaked it. Left 10 on base through 7 tonight.

So with Ramirez out, now we are running 3 utility guys and 2 minor leaguers to go with Kemp, Either, and AJ Ellis. Good grief.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

And now Ramirez is going to go back on the DL. They knew he was nursing a hammy pull, and now he has fully tweaked it. Left 10 on base through 7 tonight.

You gotta be kidding me. I just activated him from the fantasy DL this morning, had to released a player to do it.

[Crapshoot]

Clayton kershaw gave up 1 run in 7 innings to the Giants.... and drumroll, INCREASED his career ERA against that team. If he could sign a 10/250 contract with NY or Boston, I would be very thrilled thx.

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

Clayton kershaw gave up 1 run in 7 innings to the Giants.... and drumroll, INCREASED his career ERA against that team. If he could sign a 10/250 contract with NY or Boston, I would be very thrilled thx.

Seriously.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

Clayton kershaw gave up 1 run in 7 innings to the Giants.... and drumroll, INCREASED his career ERA against that team. If he could sign a 10/250 contract with NY or Boston, I would be very thrilled thx.

He took a no hitter into the 6th tonight. Dodgers have now left 12 on in 8 innings. Unreal how pathetic this is.

[MrBug708]

I think read somewhere that the Dodgers were leading the league in a few offensive categories but ranked near the bottom in runs scored.

[MrBug708]

Nothing like seeing the pumpkins win

[PilotMan]

Dude, I am so sick of this shit already. I am typically an optimist, but this is truly a fuckup of monumental proportions.

[MrBug708]

Time for Mattingly to go

[kingfc22]

Giants now with 10 come from behind victories on the season. Love finally seeing a team that can actually manage to score runs late in a game as that has certainly not been the case in the past.

[kingfc22]

Ryan Vogelsong needs to turn shit around.

[RomaGoth]

Go Tigers. 17-2 win today. How bad are the Astros?

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by RomaGoth

Go Tigers. 17-2 win today. How bad are the Astros?

AA bad

[kingfc22]

Another walk-off win against the bums

[AENeuman]

Not sure if the Giants can be a 8 plus run, late inning comeback team all season, but it's been a good antidote to the surprisingly weak starters.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Guillermo Quiroz walkoff? Now they're just trolling the Dodgers.

[SackAttack]

I was going to go to Brewers/Dodgers in a couple of weeks, but between the apocalyptic injuries to the Dodgers giving rise to the possibility I'd be watching their AAA squad by then and the opportunity to take my friend's 5-year-old to a game, I'll be going to Brewers/Pirates instead.

Ryan Braun bobblehead day, even.

As a Dodger fan who believes that Braun weaseled out of punishment on a technicality, I'm not sure how I feel about the giveaway, but I'm looking forward to seeing Miller Park.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Fun to see Guthrie set the franchise record with a complete game shutout in just over two hours. Passed Paul Splittorff for most consecutive starts without a loss. 17 starts and counting.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by RomaGoth

Go Tigers. 17-2 win today. How bad are the Astros?

They're pretty bad. However, c'mon- one bad baseball game does not define a season.

Just grabbed the first Royals 100 loss team in 2002 and ran across this one:
April 17, 2002 Kansas City Royals at Minnesota Twins Play by Play and Box Score - Baseball-Reference.com
How awful are the Twins?!? Oh yeah, they would win 94 games and win the division while the Royals would suffer their first 100 loss season in history.

SI

[lungs]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

I was going to go to Brewers/Dodgers in a couple of weeks, but between the apocalyptic injuries to the Dodgers giving rise to the possibility I'd be watching their AAA squad by then and the opportunity to take my friend's 5-year-old to a game, I'll be going to Brewers/Pirates instead.

Ryan Braun bobblehead day, even.

As a Dodger fan who believes that Braun weaseled out of punishment on a technicality, I'm not sure how I feel about the giveaway, but I'm looking forward to seeing Miller Park.

When I was out in LA last weekend, I got some free tickets from a contractor my brother works with (my brother is a project manager for a construction management firm). When we arrived to meet the guys, first question they asked:

Do you guys drink? (Of course, we're from Wisconsin)

Second

Do you believe Ryan Braun did steroids? To which I answered of course he did. And now Carlos Gomez is using them too.

My answers good enough that I didn't have to buy a beer for the rest of the night. And of course they will be getting some inside information on the next project they bid on.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

They're pretty bad. However, c'mon- one bad baseball game does not define a season.

Just grabbed the first Royals 100 loss team in 2002 and ran across this one:
April 17, 2002 Kansas City Royals at Minnesota Twins Play by Play and Box Score - Baseball-Reference.com
How awful are the Twins?!? Oh yeah, they would win 94 games and win the division while the Royals would suffer their first 100 loss season in history.

SI

They have a .250ish winning percentage right now. They're bad. Real bad. Good news is they have competition with the Marlins being just a notch above them.

I think there's a decent chance the Astros set the post-expansion worst winning percentage record. They're that bad.

[sterlingice]

It's really hard to stay at .250 for a whole season. There's definitely not much talent on that team and they really could go into a death spiral if they traded Norris and/or Altuve.

SI

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by lungs

When I was out in LA last weekend, I got some free tickets from a contractor my brother works with (my brother is a project manager for a construction management firm). When we arrived to meet the guys, first question they asked:

Do you guys drink? (Of course, we're from Wisconsin)

Second

Do you believe Ryan Braun did steroids? To which I answered of course he did. And now Carlos Gomez is using them too.

My answers good enough that I didn't have to buy a beer for the rest of the night. And of course they will be getting some inside information on the next project they bid on.

Solid

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by lungs

When I was out in LA last weekend, I got some free tickets from a contractor my brother works with (my brother is a project manager for a construction management firm). When we arrived to meet the guys, first question they asked:

Do you guys drink? (Of course, we're from Wisconsin)

Second

Do you believe Ryan Braun did steroids? To which I answered of course he did. And now Carlos Gomez is using them too.

My answers good enough that I didn't have to buy a beer for the rest of the night. And of course they will be getting some inside information on the next project they bid on.

Awesome.

[lungs]

I always like to evaluate the "culture" so to speak when I visit different ballparks. One thing that struck me, coming from Wisconsin and mostly going to games at Miller Park, was the lack of lines in the bathrooms at Dodger Stadium. I could get in and out of the bathroom in between half-innings without a problem where at Miller Park going to the bathroom can be an inning-long affair. And it's not because of the lack of bathrooms at MP. Just the shear amount of drinking that's done at MP. And when I went to the bathroom at Dodger Stadium half the people in their were wearing Brewers gear (myself included).

On another note, I wonder if any Brewer fans got cited at Dodger Stadium for trying to crack a beer in the parking lot. Thankfully I was with California people that knew the rules, otherwise I might have done it myself. Hell, usually Miller Park trips the first beer gets cracked in the car on the way to the park.

[DougW]

Originally Posted by RomaGoth

Go Tigers. 17-2 win today. How bad are the Astros?

This about sums up the game, and your question I think.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by DougW

This about sums up the game, and your question I think.

To be fair, even the 2nd base umpire didn't even notice he was going.

That's obviously a trend that they noticed from the bench. Each of the middle infielders likely turned away from the plate after every pitch.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Add another one to the league-leading total of comeback wins. 11 comeback wins on the season. Clutch stuff from Billy and Alex.

[sterlingice]

Fun game to listen to this afternoon

SI

[cartman]

The Rangers get past their shaky performance in the last two games against the Twins, and losing their first series of the season against the White Sox by getting a sweep of the hottest team in baseball, the Red Sox, at home. A Beltre walk-off single drove in Andrus in the bottom of the 9th to complete the sweep.

[Suicane75]

I doubt the Astros will trade Altuve as he's still young, but just about everyone else on the major league roster would likely be fair game. They are going to be epically horrid.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Suicane75

I doubt the Astros will trade Altuve as he's still young, but just about everyone else on the major league roster would likely be fair game. They are going to be epically horrid.

As terrible as they are, who besides Altuve would even have trade value?

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

As terrible as they are, who besides Altuve would even have trade value?

Starting pitchers (Norris, Harrell), and the odd bullpen arm (someone always falls in love with a small sample size).

[Butter]

The Astros were on pace after Saturday to go 40-115 through their first 155 games. It is going to be one hell of a long rebuilding project for them.

I was sad to see them leave the NL Central when it comes right down to it.

[Suicane75]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

As terrible as they are, who besides Altuve would even have trade value?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying would want anyone they have, just that they'd probably be willing to trade anyone on the major league roster for even the most middling of prospects. That's how bad they are.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

Starting pitchers (Norris, Harrell), and the odd bullpen arm (someone always falls in love with a small sample size).

Looking at the entire roster, man, it's bad. I'm trying to look at anything I can to see what might have trade value if you squint hard enough.
* Altuve is young, good, and under cost control for a long time (2018 FA) at a position where there is typically demand. There are few teams who couldn't be helped by having him on the team. I'm sure the price on him is really high.
* I could see Norris, especially, helping a team. Him and Harrell are young, decent, cost controlled arms. Norris is a bit better pitcher.
* Wesley Wright is a pretty good bullpen arm who averages about a K per IP but he's about to start making some more money in year 2 of arbitration. I suspect the Astros would be willing to move him for a prospect or two both to not spend on a setup man and also to cash out at the height of his value. If someone has a need for a 7th-8th-9th inning guy, this is a trade that makes sense for both teams.
* I think they're trying to pump and dump Jose Veras as closer but without any games to save and with pretty bad stats, I don't see any value there.
* And then it gets even uglier. Carlos Pena or Rick Ankiel for someone looking for veteran pop in exchange for an A ball lottery ticket? Maybe Erik Bedard strings together 4 or 5 good starts around the trade deadline and someone gets a little silly?

The rest of the team is just a bunch of guys under 30 who they are just giving playing time to see if they can hack at the major league level. Looking at their B-R page, it's kindof sad: they're not even all that young. There's a lot of 26-29 year old types who won't ever really increase in value but they want to see if any of them can become serviceable pieces.

Then again, why start the arby clock of anyone down in the minors to play with this team? Your biggest asset right now is playing time. Spend the next year or two on the Chris Carters and Justin Maxwells and Philip Humbers of the world. See if you can find a couple of formerly high ceiling guys who were blocked or released too early by another team and see if any of them have anything left. That way when the real prospects arrive, you know a few of your positions can be manned competently by diamonds you found in the rough.

SI

[sterlingice]

Speaking of Wesley Wright, he was involved in one of my most favorite things I've seen at a game I've been at in many years. My wife couldn't understand why I was so giddy about this when I put it in my scorecard:

July 27, 2012 Pittsburgh Pirates at Houston Astros Play by Play and Box Score - Baseball-Reference.com

Top of the 8th, Pirates Batting, Behind 4-5, Astros' Wesley Wright facing 2-3-4
									Wesley Wright replaces Matt Downs (PH) pitching and batting 9th
t8	4-5	0	---	1,(0-0)	O	PIT	A. Presley	W. Wright	-5%	19%	Groundout: 2B-1B
									Wilton Lopez replaces Ben Francisco (RF) pitching and batting 7th Wesley Wright moves from P to RF
t8	4-5	1	---	3,(0-2)		PIT	A. McCutchen	W. Lopez	10%	29%	Double to CF (Line Drive to Deep LF-CF)
									Wesley Wright moves from RF to P Brian Bogusevic replaces Wilton Lopez (P) playing RF batting 7th
t8	4-5	1	-2-	3,(1-1)	O	PIT	G. Jones	W. Wright	-7%	22%	Flyball: CF (Deep CF); McCutchen to 3B
t8	4-5	2	--3	3,(1-1)	O	PIT	N. Walker	W. Wright	-9%	13%	Groundout: 3B-1B (Weak 3B)
									0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Pirates 4, Astros 5.

SI

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Fun game to listen to this afternoon

SI

Was listening to Rany Jazayerli this morning on local radio. Loved his first quote when asked what he thought of Robin Ventura's intentional walk of Chris Getz in the 10th inning.

"It brings me great comfort knowing that he is managing one of the four other teams in the division."

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Fun game to listen to this afternoon

SI

Was listening to Rany Jazayerli this morning on local radio. Loved his first quote when asked what he thought of Robin Ventura's intentional walk of Chris Getz in the 10th inning.

"It brings me great comfort knowing that he is managing one of the four other teams in the division."

[cartman]

ESPN knows how to troll for page views. In their weekly power rankings, the Rangers drop from 1st to 2nd while the Red Sox, who the Rangers just finished sweeping, jump from 3rd to 1st.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Sigh. Otis Nixon arrested with crack & a pipe over the weekend. I sure hope his story about it belonging to his son is true but ... well, this don't look good.

Former Brave faces drug charges | www.ajc.com

[Logan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Sigh. Otis Nixon arrested with crack & a pipe over the weekend. I sure hope his story about it belonging to his son is true but ... well, this don't look good.

Former Brave faces drug charges | www.ajc.com

It's not just the story that "don't look good". Woof.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Logan

It's not just the story that "don't look good". Woof.

Otis has always looked like E.T.'s illegitimate child. As he's gotten older he looks like the offspring of E.T. and Ike Turner.

[Butter]

Yeah, was going to say that Otis looked like a crackhead when he was playing.

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Was listening to Rany Jazayerli this morning on local radio. Loved his first quote when asked what he thought of Robin Ventura's intentional walk of Chris Getz in the 10th inning.

"It brings me great comfort knowing that he is managing one of the four other teams in the division."

Rany is one of the many reasons (along with Rob Neyer) that I root for the Royals, despite their GM. In the AL, my rooting interests are pretty much some combination of Oakland, TB, and KC.

[Suicane75]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Sigh. Otis Nixon arrested with crack & a pipe over the weekend. I sure hope his story about it belonging to his son is true but ... well, this don't look good.

Former Brave faces drug charges | www.ajc.com

Bleh. I don't remember the particular year, but that game where he stole an insane amount of bases in a game in Montreal is one of my favorite baseball memories. I loved watching him play. He is butt ugly though.

[Suicane75]

June 16, 1991 Atlanta Braves at Montreal Expos Box Score and Play by Play - Baseball-Reference.com

I guess it was 91, thought it might have been a year or two later. 6 Steals in one game, I think I only remember that because he was on my first fantasy team.

[MrBug708]

The umps just gave Crawford an error for transferring the ball to his hand and dropping it after catching the ball

[PilotMan]

Shamelessly stolen from Facebook:

That awkward moment when you realize the Dodgers Disabled List is better than some ML starting lineups...