2011 MLB Thread

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

Not a fan of the idea. How about... Expand to 32 teams.

Eww. No sport on earth needs expansion less than MLB, doubtful that any would suffer from the resulting dilution of talent any more.If anything, contraction by two or even six teams would be an improvement.

Would improve the quality of play by restoring the caliber of pitching staffs across the board & might even help improve the umpiring by eliminating positions as well.

[lungs]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

How 'bout...the Brewers? If you're gonna move an NL team to the AL, why not move the team that was in the AL to begin with?

Bud Selig won't let that happen. He gave Kansas City the original shot at moving to the NL back when the Brewers moved knowing they wouldn't accept so that Milwaukee could move. Milwaukee was an NL city with the Braves so that was the rationale behind the Brewers moving.

Astros make the most sense to me as they are out of place in the NL Central being the only southern team. Then again, if divisions are eliminated.....

Either way I don't see the Brewers moving back if Bud is still commish. He pulled strings to get them in the NL so they won't be going back.

[EagleFan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Eww. No sport on earth needs expansion less than MLB, doubtful that any would suffer from the resulting dilution of talent any more.If anything, contraction by two or even six teams would be an improvement.

Would improve the quality of play by restoring the caliber of pitching staffs across the board & might even help improve the umpiring by eliminating positions as well.

I could get behind contraction but I don't see that happening.

The Nationals would be tops on that list if it weren't for the extra home games the Phillies get out of playing there...

[rowech]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

Not a fan of the idea. How about... Expand to 32 teams. Create 4 divisions of 4 teams in each league. Division winners make the playoffs.

No interleague play.

Schedule would be division heavy.

30 games against each team in your division (90 games)
6 games against each other team in your league (72 games)

That keeps the 162 game schedule.

Maybe something like this?

NL 1
Phillies
Mets
Nationals
Braves

NL 2
Marlins
Astros
Diamondbacks
Pirates

NL 3
Cardinals
Cubs
Reds
Brewers

NL 4
Giants
Dodgers
Padres
Rockies

AL 1
Red Sox
Yankees
Orioles
Blue Jays

AL 2
Rays
Rangers
Royals
XP?

AL 3
Indians
Tigers
White Sox
XP?

AL 4
Angels
Mariners
Twins
A's

I would rather they contract two teams and go back to four divisions of seven. If they added two teams, I'd rather they go to two divisions of eight. I want them to get back to 162 games meaning something. Four playoff teams in each league is plenty given how many games get played. I think the same about the NBA and NHL. Just way too many playoff teams for how long the season is. Stop making the regular season worth less and less.

[stevew]

I could support interleague play if it had some sort of rhyme or reason. If they were going to go to a 15/15 format, I would hope that would mean 30 interleague games/team per season. So you'd guarantee to host an opposite league team once every 3 years. Which is a welcome relief from whatever schedule we are on right now. I think the Yankees have played in Pittsburgh once in 15 years.

162 games-
30 interleague
6*10 other teams in your league(60)
18 vs division opponents.(72)

Seems like that would work well.

[molson]

The reason MLB is thinking about changing it up is the amount of inferior wild card teams who have rolled through the playoffs over superior opponents (because in baseball - unlike hockey and basketball, a short series is basically a coin flip.) There's nothing more unsatisfying than a 100+ win team losing a 5 game series against a worse team and being done right away. With a 15 team league, no divisions, everything is simplified and balanced and you're rewarded for your success during the season. You finish in the top 3, you're on to the final four in your league. If you finish down at 4 or 5, you have get through a coin flip short series (best of 3 or best of 1) to join the other three teams. I think its a great idea. It's such a pain in the ass to look across multiple divisions in all sports to get a sense of who stand where. Knowing that your team is in 2nd, 10th, or 14th place tells you such more immediately on a single glance at the standings. Maybe it would work so well the NBA and NHL would follow suit. In the NBA, "2nd place, southeast division, eastern conference" has no meaning - that team could be a 55 win team or it could be a 37 win team. And they seed teams by conference - so why do they insist on this insanity of 600 divisions to make my life difficult? Why can't the Celtics just be in 3rd place, the Knicks in 6th, etc? Especially since in the NBA, they've taken the emphasis off of winning the division in seeding (you're not even guaranteed a top 3 seed if you win your division anymore).

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by stevew

If they were going to go to a 15/15 format, I would hope that would mean 30 interleague games/team per season.

Or better yet, zero of those abominations. It's a pipe dream of mine but hey, doesn't cost me anything to wish.

14 same league opponents = 154 at 11x each

Shorten the regular season by a week maybe we could finish the WS without worrying about games being snowed out.

[larrymcg421]

I'm fine with the proposal aside from the 5th playoff team. Baseball needs less playoff teams, not more.

[Jas_lov]

What they need to do is contract Washington and Florida, eliminate interleague play, and keep the # of playoff teams at 4. Move Pittsburgh to the East to balance out the NL. Also, they need to extend the division series to 7 games. Play some scheduled double headers or shorten the season to get the extra two playoff games in. Interleague play has run its course and MLB doesn't need half the league getting into the playoffs like the NBA.

[lungs]

Prince Fielder is absolutely scorching hot right now.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by lungs

Prince Fielder is absolutely scorching hot right now.

What a nice sweep for the Brewers. They played excellent baseball on all facets.. hitting, pitching, and fielding and are now in first place.

It's a good time for you Brewer fans.

[Crapshoot]

I thought the NL Central was going to be a MIL / CIN contest this year, but the Cards have really surprised. How long can Berkman pull this off for?

Its crazy - I think in the NL, there are 9 teams that are legit playoff contenders this year - Diamondbacks, Rockies, Giants, Cards, Brewers, Reds, Marlins, Phillies, and Braves.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

I thought the NL Central was going to be a MIL / CIN contest this year, but the Cards have really surprised. How long can Berkman pull this off for?

Its crazy - I think in the NL, there are 9 teams that are legit playoff contenders this year - Diamondbacks, Rockies, Giants, Cards, Brewers, Reds, Marlins, Phillies, and Braves.

I'm not sure about the Reds. The starting pitching has been bad and there are giant holes at both LF and SS.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

I'm not sure about the Reds. The starting pitching has been bad and there are giant holes at both LF and SS.

Now that offensive numbers are back to where they should be, they can live with the SS situation. Not ideal but liveable. LF is a train wreck.

[JPhillips]

I think both are a problem. Janish's offense is poor that his glove can't make up for it. An OBP under .260 and a slugging under .550 really kills the bottom of the lineup. The problem is that there's nobody to bring up and I don't think I want to give up enough to get Reyes on a rental.

[lungs]

Well, the Brewers are making it with Yuniesky Betancourt at SS. Betancourt isn't good at much of anything

[lungs]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

What a nice sweep for the Brewers. They played excellent baseball on all facets.. hitting, pitching, and fielding and are now in first place.

It's a good time for you Brewer fans.

Most satisfying was Chris Narveson's pitching Friday night.... since we got him for nothing from the Cardinals

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by lungs

Most satisfying was Chris Narveson's pitching Friday night.... since we got him for nothing from the Cardinals

The Cardinals NEVER hit left handed pitching.

[GrantDawg]

Thank you, Astros, for fixing the Braves offense, and Dan Uggla in particular. Lets hope it keeps up after the team leaves Houston. (It would be nice if they took one of the Stros' speedy outfielders on the way out).

[rowech]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

I think both are a problem. Janish's offense is poor that his glove can't make up for it. An OBP under .260 and a slugging under .550 really kills the bottom of the lineup. The problem is that there's nobody to bring up and I don't think I want to give up enough to get Reyes on a rental.

They can call up Cozart.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by rowech

They can call up Cozart.

No idea what they're waiting on there.

Is Janish dating Dusty's daughter?

[Scoobz0202]

Originally Posted by rowech

They can call up Cozart.

Is Sappelt hurt? (speaking of LF)

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Or better yet, zero of those abominations. It's a pipe dream of mine but hey, doesn't cost me anything to wish.

I'm there with you. Of course, I still lament that the Phillies are in a division with the Braves and Marlins rather than the Cubs, Cards, and Pirates.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by Scoobz0202

Is Sappelt hurt? (speaking of LF)

I'm pretty sure he got hurt which is why Alonso has been playing in LF. I want to say it was a shoulder injury of some sort.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by Atocep

No idea what they're waiting on there.

Is Janish dating Dusty's daughter?

No...Gomes is.

[GrantDawg]

Hoping not to jinx it:

If you haven't seen Jonny Venters pitch yet, you need to. He is in almost every Braves game (most appearances by any reliever), and the only reason he is not the full time closer is how ridiculous Kimbrel can be as well.

Venters throws a sinker like no one in the majors has ever seen. 93-94 and just drops. McCann says players are constantly asking him after the at-bat "what the heck was that?" A mediocre starter in the minors, he has suddenly become (arguably) the best reliever in the bigs. Just nasty stuff, and silly "console game" numbers. He has surrendered just one more run in his past 35 appearances, posting an 0.23 ERA since April 4 while allowing 18 hits and 11 walks with 43 strikeouts in 38-2/3 innings. And he is unbelievably even better on zero days rest.

You'll be seeing at the all-star game this year. One of the few non-closer to ever get an invite.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

Not a fan of the idea. How about... Expand to 32 teams. Create 4 divisions of 4 teams in each league. Division winners make the playoffs.

No interleague play.

Schedule would be division heavy.

30 games against each team in your division (90 games)
6 games against each other team in your league (72 games)

That keeps the 162 game schedule.

Maybe something like this?

NL 1
Phillies
Mets
Nationals
Braves

NL 2
Marlins
Astros
Diamondbacks
Pirates

NL 3
Cardinals
Cubs
Reds
Brewers

NL 4
Giants
Dodgers
Padres
Rockies

AL 1
Red Sox
Yankees
Orioles
Blue Jays

AL 2
Rays
Rangers
Royals
XP?

AL 3
Indians
Tigers
White Sox
XP?

AL 4
Angels
Mariners
Twins
A's

I don't really get why the Twins would be in AL 4 instead of 3, way to many west coast games for a central time zone team. And the White Sox and the Tigers are the closest things Minnesota has to rivals.

[tarcone]

Big deal about the Brewers. The Cards got swpet by the Reds earlier this season. The Cards ripped off a winning streak and moved into 1st, while the Reds have faded. I dont think anything will be different this time either. As soon as Fielder (His Dad was a fave of mine) cools off so will the Brewers.

As for Berkman, he supposedly was a workout maniac this offseason. Changed stuff up and wanted to prove he wasnt done.

The Cards are missing Holliday.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by tarcone

Big deal about the Brewers. The Cards got swpet by the Reds earlier this season. The Cards ripped off a winning streak and moved into 1st, while the Reds have faded. I dont think anything will be different this time either. As soon as Fielder (His Dad was a fave of mine) cools off so will the Brewers.

As for Berkman, he supposedly was a workout maniac this offseason. Changed stuff up and wanted to prove he wasnt done.

The Cards are missing Holliday.

It's nice to see the Brewers doing well, but it does make me a bit sad to see Carlos Gomez on a successful team.

[lungs]

Originally Posted by mckerney

It's nice to see the Brewers doing well, but it does make me a bit sad to see Carlos Gomez on a successful team.

At least he is in his proper role not starting everyday.

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

I could get behind contraction but I don't see that happening.

The Nationals would be tops on that list if it weren't for the extra home games the Phillies get out of playing there...

And why is that?

[Easy Mac]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Hoping not to jinx it:

If you haven't seen Jonny Venters pitch yet, you need to. He is in almost every Braves game (most appearances by any reliever), and the only reason he is not the full time closer is how ridiculous Kimbrel can be as well.

Venters throws a sinker like no one in the majors has ever seen. 93-94 and just drops. McCann says players are constantly asking him after the at-bat "what the heck was that?" A mediocre starter in the minors, he has suddenly become (arguably) the best reliever in the bigs. Just nasty stuff, and silly "console game" numbers. He has surrendered just one more run in his past 35 appearances, posting an 0.23 ERA since April 4 while allowing 18 hits and 11 walks with 43 strikeouts in 38-2/3 innings. And he is unbelievably even better on zero days rest.

You'll be seeing at the all-star game this year. One of the few non-closer to ever get an invite.

I've been trying to find out why Kimbrell was selected as the closer when Venters was lights out last year as well. His slider is disgusting. If we could just get our starters to consistently go 7 so the rest of the pen isn't used, we'd be unbeatable.

[lungs]

Originally Posted by tarcone

Big deal about the Brewers. The Cards got swpet by the Reds earlier this season. The Cards ripped off a winning streak and moved into 1st, while the Reds have faded. I dont think anything will be different this time either. As soon as Fielder (His Dad was a fave of mine) cools off so will the Brewers.

In which case Ryan Braun will heat up.

The difference I see between the Reds and Brewers is the pitching at this point. Greinke has the worst ERA in the rotation right now yet his K/BB ratio is a ridiculous 8.57. Randy Wolf is probably due for some regression but still, 1-5 is pretty solid.

I think it will be a dogfight all year. The division could just as well be a coin flip between the Cards and Brewers. The Reds may find a way back into it too. I could see the Wild Card coming from the Central too.

[Ksyrup]

I could see expansion before contraction, honestly.

Something has to be done about the Oakland situation and TB. The Marlins are getting a stadium, so they aren't moving any time soon. Once you put Oakland in San Jose or Portland, and move TB to Orlando or Charlotte or San Antonio, you can figure out what to do from there.

I haven't really read any of the in-depth articles/analysis of the 15-team leagues, but even though I'm generally against interleague play, I would be fine with it to create a divisionless playoff system. I don't even mind the 5th playoff team, depending on how it would work. I'll have to hunt down some of the articles that detail the proposal when I get a chance.

[Butter]

Reds starting pitching has started to improve the last couple of weeks. Volquez has been better and Leake has been very good since coming back from the minors.

They do need to find an answer at SS and LF. I would love for them to play Heisey in left for a couple of weeks to see where he's at... then if Sappelt comes back from his injury and can keep his form at AAA, you bring him up around the ASB and see what he can do in the 2nd half.

As for SS, there are no good answers that don't involve a trade.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

I've been trying to find out why Kimbrell was selected as the closer when Venters was lights out last year as well. His slider is disgusting. If we could just get our starters to consistently go 7 so the rest of the pen isn't used, we'd be unbeatable.

Best explanation? a) Kimbrel doesn't do well in non-close situations. He is one of those guys that just needs that extra adrenaline. Put him in with too many runs one the board, and he gets sloppy. I'm afraid the same would be said in constantly using him in the 8th. b) Jonny goes 2 innings, probably could go three. In the tied games late (which the Braves have been in constantly) you can put Jonny in and leave him a couple of innings until you get a lead. I wouldn't do that with Kimbrel. c) The Braves doesn't have another truly reliable 8th inning pitcher. O'Flattery could be, but then who is your 7th inning guy?

Fredi said the original idea was to have them both closing games. I think if there was one more guy out in the bullpen he really trusted (namely, if Moylan hadn't hurt his back), then we'd probably would have seen that. (Imagine Moylan in the 7th. O'Flattery in the 8th with Jonny mixed in. Then Kimbrel or Venters depending on rest/situation). Sherrill has been pretty solid (how many teams have four front line lefty's in thier pen?), but he really is a situational pitcher. Proctor and Linebrink are unreliable (they have had streaks of success, but neither inspire confidence). And Christhian is a mop-up guy.

That said, they have used Venters to close in a couple of games this week. You might start seeing him more there, but unless they really think Kimbrel can work the 8th, it will always be spotty.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

If we could just get our starters to consistently go 7 so the rest of the pen isn't used, we'd be unbeatable.

I dunno, O'Flaherty has been fine (1.42 ERA 1.17 WHIP), really hard to complain about the bullpen at this point.

You made me curious though, about how QS separates from going 7 IP.

Hanson 14 Starts - 5x 7IP+ 5-0 4x 6IP+ 4-0 5x <6IP 0-5
Lowe 14 Starts - 2x 7IP+ 1-1 8x 6IP+ 5-3 4x <6IP 3-1
Hanson 13 Starts - 5x 7IP+ 5-0 5x 6IP+ 1-4 3x <6IP 0-3
Jurjjens 11 Starts - 7x 7IP+ 7-0 4x 6IP+ 1-3 0x<6IP 0-0
5th SP 14 Starts - 1x 7IP+ 0-1 7x 6IP+ 5-2 6x<6IP 1-5

SP goes 7+ ... 18-2 (Top 4 18-1)
SP goes 6-7 ... 16-12 (Top 4 11-10)
SP goes <6 ... 4-14 (Top 4 3-9)

Looks like you were right about going 7IP, I honestly figured the 6-7 range would be better than it actually is.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Best explanation? a) Kimbrel doesn't do well in non-close situations. He is one of those guys that just needs that extra adrenaline. Put him in with too many runs one the board, and he gets sloppy. I'm afraid the same would be said in constantly using him in the 8th. b) Jonny goes 2 innings, probably could go three. In the tied games late (which the Braves have been in constantly) you can put Jonny in and leave him a couple of innings until you get a lead. I wouldn't do that with Kimbrel. c) The Braves doesn't have another truly reliable 8th inning pitcher. O'Flattery could be, but then who is your 7th inning guy?

Fredi said the original idea was to have them both closing games. I think if there was one more guy out in the bullpen he really trusted (namely, if Moylan hadn't hurt his back), then we'd probably would have seen that. (Imagine Moylan in the 7th. O'Flattery in the 8th with Jonny mixed in. Then Kimbrel or Venters depending on rest/situation). Sherrill has been pretty solid (how many teams have four front line lefty's in thier pen?), but he really is a situational pitcher. Proctor and Linebrink are unreliable (they have had streaks of success, but neither inspire confidence). And Christhian is a mop-up guy.

That said, they have used Venters to close in a couple of games this week. You might start seeing him more there, but unless they really think Kimbrel can work the 8th, it will always be spotty.

I think it's much easier than that. Kimbrel is right-handed and Venters is left-handed. Makes it easier to deal with LH hitters in the 8th than bringing in a lefty specialist. A LHP that can get righties out like Venters is more valuable in the 8th than in the 9th.

I also believe teams, if they "play by the book" try to avoid left handed closers if possible.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by rowech

I think it's much easier than that. Kimbrel is right-handed and Venters is left-handed. Makes it easier to deal with LH hitters in the 8th than bringing in a lefty specialist. A LHP that can get righties out like Venters is more valuable in the 8th than in the 9th.

I also believe teams, if they "play by the book" try to avoid left handed closers if possible.

I was thinking of adding that, but they don't seem to care about lefty/righty versus Venters. Nor should they. Remember, the closer last year was Wagner, one of the best left-handed closers ever.

[Young Drachma]

I hate 4-team divisions. I dislike interleague play, but can tolerate it. I think two single table leagues with 5 qualifiers (4 v. 5 in a Wild Card eliminator series or best-of-three) would be fine. Name the 4 qualifiers AL or NL Division Champions and call it good. No, it's not given a nomenclature, but who cares.

And even if you didn't give them Division titles, it would just mean that the Division Series titles would mean more than they do now.

If it's just a matter of one team moving leagues, then move the Rockies to the AL. Or do we think Rangers-Astros can become a big rivalry?

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

Reds starting pitching has started to improve the last couple of weeks. Volquez has been better and Leake has been very good since coming back from the minors.

They do need to find an answer at SS and LF. I would love for them to play Heisey in left for a couple of weeks to see where he's at... then if Sappelt comes back from his injury and can keep his form at AAA, you bring him up around the ASB and see what he can do in the 2nd half.

As for SS, there are no good answers that don't involve a trade.

To be fair, Leake and Volquez faced the Giants. Your mom could throw a 3-hitter against that team right now.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

I was thinking of adding that, but they don't seem to care about lefty/righty versus Venters. Nor should they. Remember, the closer last year was Wagner, one of the best left-handed closers ever.

They also had Mike Gonzalez closing games a couple of years ago, too.

[JediKooter]

I kind of like the Wild Card teams. Hate interleague play. Keep it the way it is now except change the Divisional round to best of 7. Play more double headers (sorry poor owners) to prevent the WS from being played on Turkey day.

[spleen1015]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

If it's just a matter of one team moving leagues, then move the Rockies to the AL. Or do we think Rangers-Astros can become a big rivalry?

They want to move the Astros because they are in the 6 team NL Central. They can put them in the 4 team AL West and it all makes sense and they only have to move 1 team. Any other scenario likely involves moving more than 1 team.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by JediKooter

I kind of like the Wild Card teams. Hate interleague play. Keep it the way it is now except change the Divisional round to best of 7. Play more double headers (sorry poor owners) to prevent the WS from being played on Turkey day.

Day-night DHs still have separate admissions. I think the real problem is getting enough people to attend 2 games in the same day to make it a wash in terms of gate receipts compared to playing them separately. And of course, giving the players something for agreeing to such overbearing work conditions.

[Easy Mac]

Originally Posted by rowech

I think it's much easier than that. Kimbrel is right-handed and Venters is left-handed. Makes it easier to deal with LH hitters in the 8th than bringing in a lefty specialist. A LHP that can get righties out like Venters is more valuable in the 8th than in the 9th.

I also believe teams, if they "play by the book" try to avoid left handed closers if possible.

While I understand the LooGY logic, Kimbrel (small sample size) is slightly better against lefties than righties. Venters is slightly better against righties than lefties.

Also, Venters is facing righties at an almost 3 to 1 clip, while Kimbrel's split is practically even. That would mean that if Kimbrel moved to the set up role, he'd be even more useful, since it would create more righty on righty matchups.

[JediKooter]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Day-night DHs still have separate admissions. I think the real problem is getting enough people to attend 2 games in the same day to make it a wash in terms of gate receipts compared to playing them separately. And of course, giving the players something for agreeing to such overbearing work conditions.

I have to admit, it's been years (sometime in the 80s) since I've been to a double header, but, I don't remember paying twice to see both games. Has this changed now? Maybe the difference back then, they were scheduled double headers and not make up games because of weather or some other unforeseen event? Hey, if my 11 year old step daughter can play 4 games in a day, these grown adults can play two.

[Butter]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

To be fair, Leake and Volquez faced the Giants. Your mom could throw a 3-hitter against that team right now.

I was kinda waiting for that argument. This wasn't the first start back from the minors for either. Plus, the Giants went 2-2 in the 4 game series, despite having their ace completely torched, so it was a wash for both teams. The Reds really could've won all 4 games, but should be happy it went 2-2 since the team has been historically bad on the West Coast in recent memory. Meanwhile the Giants probably view it as a wash because if Lincecum pitches decently, they win 3 of 4.

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

I was kinda waiting for that argument. This wasn't the first start back from the minors for either. Plus, the Giants went 2-2 in the 4 game series, despite having their ace completely torched, so it was a wash for both teams. The Reds really could've won all 4 games, but should be happy it went 2-2 since the team has been historically bad on the West Coast in recent memory. Meanwhile the Giants probably view it as a wash because if Lincecum pitches decently, they win 3 of 4.

Yeah, I'm just pointing out how horrifically awful the Giants offense is - and how stunning their pitching is. For reference - in the 10 game homestand, they scored 24 TOTAL runs ... and still went 6-4. The NL West is so-so this year so they could still pull it out, but without Posey and Sanchez (2 of their best hitters), they are just awful.

[DeToxRox]

Awesome Minor League ejection. Skip ahead to 3 minutes: