2015 MLB thread

[EagleFan]

Can you imagine the replay crap we would have to sit through if the NFL tried this? Were his feet still above the field of play when he made the catch?

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

Just looked it up, not a fan of that one. Should be more like football (if nothing more than to prevent injuries to players or fans). They should make it that the player needs to get his feet back down in the field of play.

So any ball caught in foul territory is just a foul ball?

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by corbes

An honest question as the "NL needs a DH" things flares up. Assume for a moment that NL pitchers shouldn't hit. But why must we therefore have a DH? Why not just bat 8?

I had always been in the no DH crowd, but I've been leaning the other way the last few years. Watching pitchers bat is simply painful. Pitchers have trouble bunting now.

If it ever happens you go to a DH, it has to be 9 IMHO.

I don't think we'll be going DH for a long time, but I think the debate will start getting warmer as the hitting continues to drop. What was it last year, .121? Something like that? Yuk.

[corbes]

But why does it have to be 9? I guess that's my question. Just because it's always been 9? What would it really matter?

[EagleFan]

Originally Posted by Lathum

So any ball caught in foul territory is just a foul ball?

No, if your feet can't get back down on the field it's not a catch. Would prevent diving into the stands. But the will wait until someone ends their season doing that before they think about changing it.

[EagleFan]

Originally Posted by corbes

But why does it have to be 9? I guess that's my question. Just because it's always been 9? What would it really matter?

Try to cut it to eight and watch the union scream.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by corbes

But why does it have to be 9? I guess that's my question. Just because it's always been 9? What would it really matter?

As someone else said, the union would go crazy.

Beyond that, this goes even further than going from 156 to 162. you add another 25 or so PA's for hitters who would play everyday.

In this case, at a minimum, the leadoff hitters would get another 150 to 200 PA's a year (as would most of the top 3 hitters due to the fact offensive output would rise. That could skew the record books in a pretty major way.

But really, this goes back to the union. You try pitching these two ideas to them;

Option 1: Major league teams will keep an extra MR/5th starter on the roaster at the league minimum.

Option 2: You pay a 39 year old 10 million dollars to be the DH.


Hmmmm. . . . lets see here, which one do you think they'll allow? I'm gonna say they'll tell you to take your extra middle reliever and shove it where the sun doesn't shine.

[cartman]

Hamilton to the Rangers is official. Evidently the Angels are going to eat over 90% of the $83 million still on the contract.

[Grover]

Originally Posted by cartman

Hamilton to the Rangers is official. Evidently the Angels are going to eat over 90% of the $83 million still on the contract.

That's impressive.

[BillJasper]

Originally Posted by cartman

Hamilton to the Rangers is official. Evidently the Angels are going to eat over 90% of the $83 million still on the contract.

The Angels owner and front office handled the situation poorly.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by BillJasper

The Angels owner and front office handled the situation poorly.

Really, it was handled everywhere poorly, including by baseball and by Hamilton.

[stevew]

Mark Teixeira is having a nice bounce back season. The Bill James favorite toy gives him a 0% chance at 500 if you strictly count his last 3 years, but a 25% chance if you use his last 3 healthy years. He's at 371 right now, if he doesn't mind playing for 4-5 more years I'd say he's got a reasonable shot at 500.

[cartman]

Originally Posted by cartman

Hamilton to the Rangers is official. Evidently the Angels are going to eat over 90% of the $83 million still on the contract.

I guess the Angels share of the contract won't be quite that high, it'll be about $60 million. The Rangers are only going to have to cover about $7 million, and Hamilton is apparently giving up about $12 million, to cover the tax difference between California and Texas.

Josh Hamilton disagrees with Angels' assertion he lacked accountability - LA Times

Even if Hamilton can only bat .250 with 15 homers each season over the next three, getting that for $7 mil is a bargain.

[SackAttack]

fuckitty fuck fuck

2/5 of the rotation is out of order

[cuervo72]

Nats are looking like a fucking mess right now.

[cartman]

It looks like Indians Trevor Bauer came expecting to fight the Royals today. pic.twitter.com/Ig0BnA1BEz

— Ryan Walton (@RyanWaltonMLB) April 27, 2015

[Suicane75]

So the Phillies suck, granted. But I'm watching this game tonight and this kid his making his major league debut on the mound, and he's probably not ever gonna be very good and he got beat up pretty good (didn't make it out of the 3rd), but there's this...I dunno how to describe it, the way the team huddled around him when he got pulled, the way the younger guys play with piss and vinegar and seem to ignite some of the vets.

I know it's early in the season and once you get 15 games under .500 or whatever some of that energy dissipates, but even though the world knows they just aren't a good team, and I'm sure they realize they aren't a good team and they aren't winning anything this year, they still try their damnedest and really seem to care about putting out the maximum effort, and that's fun to watch.

[TroyF]

Archie Bradley just took a shot off the face in Arizona. Cargo hit one back through box hard and drilled him.

he walked off the field after some time on the deck. Hope the kid is ok. First time I've seen him, he looks like one hell of a pitcher.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Boy, Kendrys Morales has been one hell of a welcome surprise. Excellent clutch hitter thus far and he actually runs the bases better than Billy did for a big guy.

[Grover]

That Red Sox staff is full of belly itchers.

[Easy Mac]

I'm not sure which is worse, giving up 13 runs to the Nats or 12 runs to the Braves.

[ISiddiqui]

Yeah, but that was one heck of a story in that Braves/Nats game. Like the plot of a movie - the winning run was a HR in the 9th inning by Dan Uggla of all people! And he had a triple a few innings earlier scoring 2 runs. After being down 9-1 at one point in the game as well.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Yeah, but that was one heck of a story in that Braves/Nats game. Like the plot of a movie - the winning run was a HR in the 9th inning by Dan Uggla of all people! And he had a triple a few innings earlier scoring 2 runs. After being down 9-1 at one point in the game as well.

Did the catcher go home with the girl at the end of the game?

[ISiddiqui]

A.J. Pierzynski goes home with no one.

Lobaton may have though

[Scoobz0202]

I have MLB.tv premium, but for those not in the know, the empty stadium O's-White Sox game is the Free Game of the Day.

I think you need premium for this, but you can watch it with just park sounds and no announcers. Really weird to watch a pro game with no crowd noise at all. Can hear the players calling out to each other. Game sounds just so much louder since that is all you hear.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by Scoobz0202

I have MLB.tv premium, but for those not in the know, the empty stadium O's-White Sox game is the Free Game of the Day.

I think you need premium for this, but you can watch it with just park sounds and no announcers. Really weird to watch a pro game with no crowd noise at all. Can hear the players calling out to each other. Game sounds just so much louder since that is all you hear.

Thanks, I have the premium package too, but I wanted to see this empty ballpark game.

[Logan]

I almost wish there was an empty stadium game on the schedule somewhere for a reason not anywhere near as serious as what happened in Baltimore (like...no running water in stadium bathrooms due to a broken pipe), because there's some very funny light-hearted stuff coming out of this game but it kind of feels bad to laugh about it until you remember this is grown men playing a game for money.

Like the announcing crews using golf voices to call this Adam Jones double and saying the Green Jacket is within reach...

[PilotMan]

saw that; thought it was hilarious.

[Grover]

Yordano Ventura is on the bump. Just thought I'd report this.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Grover

Yordano Ventura is on the bump. Just thought I'd report this.

And a Royals player just got beaned in the head.

[claphamsa]

Originally Posted by Scoobz0202

I have MLB.tv premium, but for those not in the know, the empty stadium O's-White Sox game is the Free Game of the Day.

I think you need premium for this, but you can watch it with just park sounds and no announcers. Really weird to watch a pro game with no crowd noise at all. Can hear the players calling out to each other. Game sounds just so much louder since that is all you hear.

it was blacked out here...

[stevew]

Originally Posted by claphamsa

it was blacked out here...

was curious, but I just knew it would be that f'n stupid

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Big series this weekend at the K. Four games vs. the Detroit Tigers. Should be a playoff-like atmosphere all weekend long. Just got to keep Cabrera in the yard........

[lighthousekeeper]

Can someone explain what happened with Josh Hamilton in Anaheim? Other than the fact that he is currently recovering from injury and that he self-reported substance abuse this offseason, what else happened to have Anaheim sour on him so much? Jayson Stark wrote "...Amid a bizarre backdrop of embarrassment, frustration and (let’s face it) anger...His team [ate] more than $60 million to make him go away..."

What happened? I feel there must be something else I missed because I didn't follow closely and on the surface it just doesn't seem to add up.

[miami_fan]

I think if he was producing on the field he would still be in LA. Beyond that, from far far away, it seems like the Angels either overestimated the support system they put in place for Hamilton or they underestimated the support he needed to be successful off the field. Hamilton strikes me as a guy who needs to be treated with kid's gloves as a general rule in addition to being treated for his addiction issues.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by lighthousekeeper

Can someone explain what happened with Josh Hamilton in Anaheim? Other than the fact that he is currently recovering from injury and that he self-reported substance abuse this offseason, what else happened to have Anaheim sour on him so much? Jayson Stark wrote "...Amid a bizarre backdrop of embarrassment, frustration and (let’s face it) anger...His team [ate] more than $60 million to make him go away..."

What happened? I feel there must be something else I missed because I didn't follow closely and on the surface it just doesn't seem to add up.

I don't know that we will really know, but I'll piece together some things I have heard on local radio and reading articles by beat writers and just my own gut feelings having followed this team for a bit.

It's better if I set the context here, too.

Arte Moreno is the Angels owner, and you need to know some things about him. He's a self-made man who turned himself into a billionaire selling billboards (essentially). He's Republican and conservative, even though most Mexican-Americans tend toward the left side of the political aisle. In a word, he's "old school." He's big on accountability.

He is also very competitive, which no doubt had a great impact in making him the successful man that he is. But the dark side of being so competitive is that you will make decisions geared solely toward making success happen, impulsive decisions. And when you're successful you generally always think you're right.

He bought the Angels in 2003. They were a World Series champ. They had a core of good, established players. They had one of the most highly regarded managers in the game in Scioscia (and several managers to be in the dugout with him, including Joe Maddon). He felt the only thing the Angels needed to make them consistently successful was an influx of money, first from him and then from the region. So he gave the baseball ops guys the go ahead to pursue bigger free agents than they had before. This got us Vlad Guerrero, Kelvim Escobar, etc. It led to the whole Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim thing. It got the team a huge local region contract with Fox which has pumped up team revenue massively.

But when he took the team over, the organization disposition was small time, middle market. He wanted them to dream big. So as the years went by, and the core group of guys from the Series team left or retired and were replaced by free agent acquisitions, team performance started to suffer and not stay at the same level.

I think the last straw for Merono was when Carl Ceawford signed with the Red Sox a few years ago, and reportedly the Angels' offer was nowhere near the Red Sox offer, virtually compelling Crawford to sign with Boston, even though he wanted to live in and play in SoCal. Moreno came out and basically admitted he should have stepped in and made the Crawford deal happen. Up to then, he had let his baseball people do the work.

So the next offseason, Moreno basically railroaded his own baseball people, signing Pujols to that massive deal over their heads. I think they were more on board/involved with the CJ Wilson deal that was signed at the same time, but Pujols was ALL Moreno.

But Pujols and new ROY Trout weren't enough to get the Angels to the postseason the next year either. So when the 2013 offseason started slowly, Moreno stepped in again, and negotiated this huge deal with Hamilton.

Step over to Hamilton, and cartman can probably give you more perspective here. Hamilton was flat AWESOME in Texas in the first half of 2012. The best player in baseball through those first three months. But he was beyond terrible in the second half, just a massive slump. Then the Rangers played the A's essentially for the division title and Hamilton made a bonehead fielding error that led to the A's winning. He was booed by Rangers fans in his final at bat in the AL Wildcard game.

Hamilton has always been the fragile ego type, apparently a people pleaser. One beat writer said Hamilton was one of the few baseball players who would ask him about his own life and how things were going and have earnest conversations with him, rather than the usual media speak. He is easy to get along with when things are going well.

But Hamilton is also very introspective. He gets in his own head. He's kinda mental. He takes stuff hard. I think a lot of that comes from his addiction problems. Before, he was so good, though, that he could handle the pressure because he succeeded anyway. The end of 2012 and the Rangers' fall (after losing two World Series, too) was too much for him, I think. It led to him believing he needed a change of scenery.

So when Moreno comes along with this huge contract, it's not a hard decision for Hamilton to take the money and to go to a spot which already had Pujols and Trout and Weaver and his former teammate Wilson and all these other guys who could be "the man". Plus, Moreno was offering to bring over all of Hamilton's support crew, too, including his life coach/chaperone.

But remember, Moreno is big on accountability. So when he met with Hamilton, he asked him to his face, "Can you stay clean? Can you promise me you will stay clean and be a productive member of this organization? Can I get your word?"

That's supposedly the conversation that happened, and Hamilton gave his word he would stay clean. That was enough for Moreno, and they signed the contract.

Go on to 2013--Hamilton is still abit gunshy from his poor end of 2012. Still in his head, as always. He always hit his way out of slumps before and this one wasn't going away so fast (because he's older and his bat speed is slower, of course). He never gets quite right, and he never really did anything which would endear himself to fans. The anticipated pressure in Anaheim became stronger than expected because Pujols hurt his foot, missed some time and then came back barely able to run. So the hope was that Hamilton would help carry the team. He never quite got there. He started to hear boos here, too, just like in Texas. And the Angels missed the playoffs for the fourth year in a row. Cue unhappy ultra-competitive owner, management, fans.

Hamilton had a really good training regimen in the 2014 offseason and came to play from Day One. He was good in spring and then started hot. For the first time, he looked like the old Hamilton. But then he mystifyingly dove head first into first base on a ground ball and broke his thumb on the base. Completely dumb move, probably fueled in part because Hamilton still didn't understand he couldn't do the same stuff he used to. So he's out for two months and when he comes back, he never really gets going. He is dinged up the rest of the way and misses most of the September with a leg injury, if I recall right.

He came back just in time to play in the ALDS last October versus the Royals. The Angels lost three straight and the league-best offense was terrible. They lost two very tight extra inning games at home, and Hamilton was this hole of a player hitting 7th every game. He was worthless, playing-wise. He was probably still too hurt and should have been sat. The fans booed him and Hamilton came out and said something along the lines of "I don't play for the fans." True or not, probably not the best thing to say at that point.

So the Angels go from the best record and best offense in baseball to swept out of the playoffs in three games. And Hamilton is very much a scapegoat of this. The fans are mad at him. Management, too. And Moreno.

No telling what happens now, but I am guessing Hamilton either said "Fuck it" or he just had a moment of weakness, and went back to the drugs and alcohol. I would guess he was doing the blow and getting drunk off and on for the next several months. And clearly the home life wasn't helping, considering he is divorcing his wife with whom he has four kids.

Someone--I am guessing with the Angels--got wind of this and it pissed off Moreno with all his accountability BS, and especially after paying Hamilton so much money. (Guessing here, but) the Angels were likely to report to baseball what Hamilton was doing. So his agent advised Hamilton to go the baseball offices himself and confess, to hopefully stop a suspension and keep him from not getting paid. BTW, this was also shortly after Hamilton hurt his shoulder in workouts, which he is still on the DL for.

At this point, I don't think the Angels and Hamilton are anywhere near working with each other on anything. The Angels have given up on him and just want to get out of some of his contract so they can spend that money elsewhere to improve the team (like re-signing Huston Street). So when they hear about Hamilton going to the baseball offices, suddenly it is "leaked" that he went. No real shocker where that likely came from. The Angels wanted this to be a public battle because they thought it would either lead to Hamilton giving some money back or public outcry over his relapse would lead to his suspension. Baseball was on board with this and Moreno and Manfred basically worked together to get Hamilton suspended under the CBA drug suspension bylaws. But Hamilton and the MLBPA fought it and won.

At this point, they're just straight antagonistic toward each other. That's why the Angels came out they way they did when the arbitrator's decision was announced. They were pissed at Hamilton for his relapse and for successfully circumventing (in their eyes) baseball's drug by laws. DiPoto is much more Moreno's guy than the past baseball guys, and so is the prez of baseball ops.

Basically, behind the scenes, I think it became clear Hamilton would never play for the Angels again. But it was a really bad look for the team (and rightfully), especially when CJ Wilson and Trout came out in support of their teammate, and Scioscia was saying the kinds of media-friendly, player-protective things that he advocates. It's interesting to me that Scioscia recently criticized Hamilton for not apologizing to his teammates for his relapse. That's not Scioscia's style at all and that tells me the team players expected a mea culpa from Hamilton and a thank you for their support of him against the organization, which they never got.

So I think you can see why the Angels were willing to pay whatever to get rid of him and also why Hamilton was willing to wave off whatever $12-14 M to be gone.

No real winners here, maybe not even the Rangers if Hamilton doesn't get his act together (although it's a move with little downside for them, really).

[stevew]

The Angles had to move Hamilton so they could afford to keep Draymond Green.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by stevew

The Angles had to move Hamilton so they could afford to keep Draymond Green.

If that jackass became an Angel, I would probably drop the Angels and become a Warriors fan for them letting him go lol.

[Lathum]

Flores keeps killing the Mets in the field.

[claphamsa]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Flores keeps killing the Mets in the field.

youll enjoy Desmond next year...

[lighthousekeeper]

Wow Chief - thanks for that awesome summary! That filled in a ton of information that I was clueless about.

It does seem, based on your summary, that ANA (ownership and fans) were a little hard on Hamilton. I mean, when ANA offered him that contract back in 2012, some things were already known about him: his injury history, the possibility that his previous drug use may have had permanent effects on his body, his extreme streakiness. So it shouldn't have been much of a surprise to ownership that he was going to tail off pretty drastically. A 3.0 WAR over 2013-2014 should have already been expected as a somewhat likely (albeit unfortunate) outcome. Plus, it's hard to fault a guy for getting injured trying to hustle, even if it was a bonehead move. When ownership overpays a player, it's not the player's fault.

(But maybe my bar of expectation is set so low since I compare Hamilton's performance to Ryan Howard, who was signed to a very similar 5yr/$125M contract. Hamilton has posted 3.0 WAR in 2 years, whereas Howard has posted -2.0 WAR in 3+ years of his contract. ... The thing that I found weird is Jayson Stark cited the Hamilton contract as the worst ever. I can think of several that turned out a lot worse.)

[Jas_lov]

A-Rod just hit 660 in Boston. $6 million HR if the Yankees pay him, which it seems they won't.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Jas_lov

A-Rod just hit 660 in Boston. $6 million HR if the Yankees pay him, which it seems they won't.

Which is a fucking joke if they dont

[Scarecrow]

Not going to jinx it...

[Scarecrow]

...and I did

[miked]

12M HR as the Yanks owe luxury tax on it.

[MrBug708]

Imagine if Joc played for the Royals

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Glad to see the Royals already have a split secured halfway through the series with the Tigers.

The battle between Cabrera and Herrera in the 8th inning was epic. So fun to watch.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by miked

12M HR as the Yanks owe luxury tax on it.

It's only 9M but yeah, it's a worthless homer regardless.

[Vince, Pt. II]

I can't help but feel like A-Rod has a golden opportunity to make up some ground in the public eye with this HR/Bonus thing. If he were to go after the Yankees for the money and then donate it to charity or something, that would be fantastic.