MLB Off-Topic

[redsox4evur]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Omar wasn't. The rest were though.

Hmmm you learn something new everyday.

[LowerWolf]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Lofton wasn't either. He came up with the Astros.

[AC]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

- "Generation K" the trio of Mets pitchers that were supposed to be the backbone of the rotation for a decade (Bill Pulsipher, Jason Insringhausen and Paul Wilson)
- Another trio from the late '90s for the Blue Jays with Roy Halladay, Chris Carpenter and Kelvim Escobar throw in Shawn Green and Carlos Delgado into that mix. They never lived up to their full potential as a team.

This is why you don't build around young pitching. That's why the Astros took position players. They learned their mistake from Appel-Bryant.

Young pitching rarely works out the way it's supposed to.

[Chip Douglass]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Correa over Buxton might actually have been a very good pick, depending on Buxton's medical situation at the time. As well, Correa allowed them to grab McCullers.

Appel over Bryant was egregious and indefensible, though.

It's a good pick if Buxton keeps getting hurt and doesn't reach his ceiling. If the opposite happens, then the Astros gave up McCutchen 2.0 for a solid, but not great SS and a back-end-of-the-rotation guy.

Because of the risk/reward and floor/ceiling factor, it's definitely not as egregious as Appel over Bryant, but it still shows that for a rebuilding franchise that had the top pick 3 years in a row, the Astros don't have a whole lot of high-upside pieces.

[Chip Douglass]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Joc/Kershaw/Seager/Urias

That core + $$$$$ + Friedman means the Dodgers will probably lead MLB in most games won over the next 10 years or so.

I sure hope that translates into a championship, but given the unpredictability of the postseason, who knows? The 90s/early 2000s Braves are Exhibit A for this.

[SPTO]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Lofton wasn't either. He came up with the Astros.

I actually have a broadcast of a game with Lofton in an Astros uniform

[Sportsforever]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

That core + $$$$$ + Friedman means the Dodgers will probably lead MLB in most games won over the next 10 years or so.

I sure hope that translates into a championship, but given the unpredictability of the postseason, who knows? The 90s/early 2000s Braves are Exhibit A for this.

Hey - we have a championship to show for it !

[redsox4evur]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

I actually have a broadcast of a game with Lofton in an Astros uniform

Yea he played between 20-30 and games for them in 1988.

[Speedy]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

That core + $$$$$ + Friedman means the Dodgers will probably lead MLB in most games won over the next 10 years or so.

I sure hope that translates into a championship, but given the unpredictability of the postseason, who knows? The 90s/early 2000s Braves are Exhibit A for this.

ATL did spend but not like LAD this year...4th in MLB payroll @ 1995.

http://www.baseballchronology.com/Baseball/Years/1995/Payroll.asp

Our arguably best year was 2003 and we were 4th that year also.

This year, LAD is nearly $50MM and 25% above 2nd (NYY); their spending is truly historic. NYY certainly has been outspending everyone the past decade but not like LAD's extravagant clip.

...

Side Note: I find it a travesty Alex Guerrero is not getting any regular playing time. Why couldn't we have gotten him instead of Uribe?

[AC]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

It's a good pick if Buxton keeps getting hurt and doesn't reach his ceiling. If the opposite happens, then the Astros gave up McCutchen 2.0 for a solid, but not great SS and a back-end-of-the-rotation guy.

Because of the risk/reward and floor/ceiling factor, it's definitely not as egregious as Appel over Bryant, but it still shows that for a rebuilding franchise that had the top pick 3 years in a row, the Astros don't have a whole lot of high-upside pieces.

I think it might be a little early to say that Correa isn't a great shortstop and McCullers is a back end guy.

Altuve, Springer, Tucker, Bregman, Cameron, McCullers, Keuchel, McHugh, Gattis, Carter, Correa, Marisnick, other Tucker, and Singleton if he ever gets good at baseball is a very, very formidable core.

[Chip Douglass]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

ATL did spend but not like LAD this year...4th in MLB payroll @ 1995.

http://www.baseballchronology.com/Baseball/Years/1995/Payroll.asp

Our arguably best year was 2003 and we were 4th that year also.

This year, LAD is nearly $50MM and 25% above 2nd (NYY); their spending is truly historic. NYY certainly has been outspending everyone the past decade but not like LAD's extravagant clip.

...

Side Note: I find it a travesty Alex Guerrero is not getting any regular playing time. Why couldn't we have gotten him instead of Uribe?

Wasn't trying to imply that the Braves were extravagant spenders; just that winning a bunch of regular season games won't guarantee October performance (thus the Braves analogy), even though the odds favor Pederson/Kershaw/Seager/Urias winning a championship before the other young cores that TripleCrown listed (Harper and the Nationals might be an exception).

Guerrero doesn't have a ton of trade value since he has a kink in his contract that allows him to opt out at the end of the year if he's traded. Plus the guy's a one-dimensional player in every sense of the word. His entire game is predicated on hitting the ball hard since he doesn't walk, field, or run the bases well.

[Jr.]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

I think it might be a little early to say that Correa isn't a great shortstop and McCullers is a back end guy.

Altuve, Springer, Tucker, Bregman, Cameron, McCullers, Keuchel, McHugh, Gattis, Carter, Correa, Marisnick, other Tucker, and Singleton if he ever gets good at baseball is a very, very formidable core.

I hesitate to add guys that haven't even had a professional AB into the "core".

They certainly have some talent without those guys even part of it yet.

[TripleCrown9]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

I hesitate to add guys that haven't even had a professional AB into the "core".

They certainly have some talent without those guys even part of it yet.

I think the Tucker you bolded is Preston Tucker. His little brother got drafted by the Astros, and AC does mention the "other Tucker".

[AC]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Neither of them is specifically "other Tucker" lol both appear to be very good.

[Jr.]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

I think the Tucker you bolded is Preston Tucker. His little brother got drafted by the Astros, and AC does mention the "other Tucker".

Right. I was highlighting the one with the other kids drafted, just for continuity. I wouldn't consider the just-drafted Tucker to be part of a "core" yet. Give him at least a solid sample size worth of ABs (12, right AC?).