The Braves have so much pitching it disgusts me. Literally. Well, not literally. I'm literally disgusted by how much people misuse the word "literally." I'm literally shocked and awed by how much pitching the Braves have, and I'm curious, and maybe even apprehensive, about how they will proceed given their surplus. Let's take a look, shall we?
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
The Braves Are Better Than You Think
The Braves have so much pitching it disgusts me. Literally. Well, not literally. I'm literally disgusted by how much people misuse the word "literally." I'm literally shocked and awed by how much pitching the Braves have, and I'm curious, and maybe even apprehensive, about how they will proceed given their surplus. Let's take a look, shall we?
Friday, May 6, 2011
Bryce Harper: Baseball's Third Best Prospect
I have a theory that baseball fans everywhere are missing out on one of the great stories of our time. It's one developing in sleepy Hagerstown, Maryland. I don't really know whether Hagerstown is sleepy or not, but I'm guessing it is.
Instead of putting up silly, unchallenged numbers as a high school junior, Harper, at 17, played Junior College ball in a wood bat league, and hit .443/.526/.987 with 31 homers and 98 rbi in 66 games. Just take a moment. Those numbers are stupid. We're not talking about Jim Brown playing Pee Wee football, we're talking about a 17 year old trying to hit a sphere being pitched at varying speeds with varying movement with a rounded piece of lumber.
.270 my arse.
Harper got selected 1(1) by the Nationals last June. Around this time the vultures started circling. Baseball aficionados/amateur psychologists wrote that Harper had an attitude problem. Plus, he puts too much eye black on his face. He's greedy in hiring Scott Boras as his agent, and will hold out for the most money he can get his greedy, non-high school finishing little hands on in order to break a signing bonus record, which he didn't, and possibly even exercise his leverage as a JuCo player and opt out of a future with the lowly Nats in order to be picked 1(1) again the following year by a team more to his liking, which he didn't. The vultures wrote like that too. No periods anywhere.
Harper did sign minutes before the deadline, which is now the norm for top draft picks, and didn't play professionally until the glitzy Arizona Fall League. Yes, that's a 17 year old just turning 18 (he was born last Thursday), playing his first games as a pro in a league reserved for top prospects who've usually made it to double-A. The Nats tried to ease the transition for Harper by doing something rather strange. They placed him on the AFL taxi-squad, which meant he could only play twice a week. There's nothing better for an everyday player's rythym than playing twice a week. It reminds me of when Willie Randolph would bench guys on hot streaks just to mix things up.
So baseball's Lebron had just turned 18. He's competing against top double-A prospects, and he's playing twice a week. He struggled, right? This is baseball, after all. We're not talking about basketball or football where the most gifted athlete will reign supreme just on the strength of his being the most gifted athlete. This is baseball. The sport that's more mental than physical. The sport where when guys get in their heads and start struggling they don't have a bad half a game or a bad game, like in basketball, they have a bad season. Harper hit .343/.410/.629 in the AFL.
But the industry just wasn't sure. It was a very small sample size.
Jonathan Mayo, who doesn't so much have an opinion himself as report on the general consensus of scouts he talks to, which by the way is quite the niche Mayo has carved out for himself, put Harper #3 on his annual prospect list. Yikes.
Harper, with flashbulbs popping during his spring abs like it was the kickoff of the Super Bowl, struck out in his first two plate appearances. He was overmatched. We're talking about an 18 year old with the weight of the world on his shoulders going up against, in some cases, seasoned professionals.
Yeah, not so much.
So even though Harper was probably one of the 8 best position players the Nats had they sent him to low-A Hagerstown. They wanted to build up Harper's confidence, and saw no reason to get that arbitration clock ticking any faster than it had to. Surely, we'd all see a letdown when the grind of bus trips and meals at Denny's and life as a minor leaguer took its toll on, to this point, the relatively sheltered Harper.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Florida Teams Flexible, Ready for Key Personnel Losses
Mike Stanton looks like he is going to bare-hand change ups Geena Davis style, and shove it down your f!#king throat, Tom Berenger style. LOOOOOOVE HIMMMM!!!
Gaby Sanchez seems to battle every time I tune in like a right-handed Paul O'Neill or something. If there's one Marlin that's not going to be caught off balance by Johan Santana's increasingly pedestrian fastball/change repertoire, it's Gaby Sanchez. If there's one Marlin that is, it's Cameron Maybin. He's tuuurrrribbuuulllll!!!
Logan Morrison is tearing up Triple-A, and is clearly their three hitter of the future - a good thing because the Fish are very right handed, another reason they'll say goodbye to Mr. Uggla, and possibly Mr. Ross who's set to make about 9 million next year.
After Morrison gets the call, I want to see them put Sanchez in left. He might not make a putout all season.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Nudes and Goats
Monday, April 5, 2010
Ian Desmond Finishes 5th in MVP Voting
If you're like me, it drives you a little crazy when baseball analysts state the obvious. I love the MLB Network more than most things in life, but it gets a little tiresome when the prognosticators, the guys paid to give you information that you don't already have, just regurgitate either the extremely obvious or Baseball America.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Even Omar Would Fire Omar
When it was announced, my friend Greg and I argued the merits of the Jason Bay signing, and came to the following conclusion: the move made sense as long as it didn't prohibit our favorite baseball team from addressing their other needs; namely a first baseman, a short term fix at catcher, and, I'd argue, two starting pitchers.
Ambiorix Burgos Sentenced
Former Mets reliever Ambiorix Burgos has been sent to jail — though it may not be for what you think.
Although the former flamethrower inadvertently (or intentionally) ran over and killed two human beings with his Hummer in the Dominican Republic last fall, he is actually being sentenced for beating his girlfriend in a Queens hotel a few weeks earlier.
His current wife — who is not the aforementioned girlfriend — wrote a letter to the judge claiming that Burgos is “a good husband”. Burgos and his wife have been married for about a month.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Tell Aaron Schatz, Revis Can Cover Big Receivers
As a nerdy baseball fan (I drafted Bryce Harper in my 26 keeper fantasy league last year when he was still a high school sophomore), I love Aaron Schatz's take on the NFL, especially since everything he's been spouting lately has been pro Jets. I've got two corrections for him, though, from his last Bill Simmons podcast:
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
The Mets, the NL MVP, and Me
The Mets have new uniforms. Insert joke here. Also, I predicted the order of the impossible to figure, calculate, understand MVP voting in the senior circuit. See my post from September reproduced below.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
nudes and goats
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
A Little Klezmer Music
Friday, October 9, 2009
Pedro in Game 3?
DENVER -- Pedro Martinez is getting the ball and the call in another big game.
Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel chose the aging right-hander over J.A. Happ and Joe Blanton, who made cameo appearances out of the bullpen Thursday, to face the Colorado Rockies in Game 3 of their NL playoff series Saturday night.
The best-of-five series is tied at one game each.Martinez is 6-2 with a 3.40 ERA in the postseason, and Manuel said he likes his history in cold weather, too.
The forecast for Game 3 calls for temperatures dipping into the 20s with snow flurries.
The 37-year-old Martinez sat out most of the year before signing with the Phillies as a free agent last in the season. He went 5-1 with a 3.63 ERA in nine starts.
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press
Not sure I go with the older, physically brittle option in 30 degree weather. Is Manuel actually referencing Pedro pitching on October Boston nights circa 2000? That's a completely different player. Seems to me that couldn't be less relevant. Favre used to play well in cold weather, too. Then he got old. Also, Joe Blanton looks like the love child of a rhinoceros and an SUV. I'm guessing he'd be ready for the elements.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Tulo for MVP?
Alright, so Albert Pujols is the MVP. And Hanley Ramirez and Ryan Howard will likely be filled out second and third on most ballots. And those guys are very deserving. However, I wonder if people are really seeing what Troy Tulowitzki has done over the last 4 months. He's a shortstop who's slugged over .600 for 4 straight months. How many times in the history of the sport has that been done?
Remember the MVP races that were all about who had a huge September and carried their team into the playoffs? I think Vlad won one like that. Well, Pujols being the MVP has been a foregone conclusion seemingly forever, and all three division races have been anticlimactic, so I can't help but wonder how writers would feel if races were a little closer, and late season production was more heavily weighted.
On June 6th, Tulo was hitting .216/.306/.377, and the Rockies were 9 games under .500 and in last place. Since then, he's hit .337/.418/.633, and the Rockies are 32 games over .500 and have, as of today, punched their ticket to the postseason.
Not convinced? Tulo's numbers are better than Ryan Howard's. After today's Rockies game, and before today's Phillies game (which is when I'm writing this), Tulo sits at .299/.380/.553, and Howard's line is .276/.357/.564. Yes, Howard has driven in a ridiculous number of runs, but he has three great players batting in front of him, he has 70 more abs than Tulo and Tulo has as many runs scored, and my people in the National League West tell me that Tulo doesn't play good or great defense at the game's most demanding defensive position, he plays spectacular defense at the game's most demanding defensive position.
Hanley has had a better offensive season than Tulo, but his defense is nowhere near as good, and Hanley has had his worst month when his team needed him the most.
If Hanley's Marlins wind up 6 or 7 games back, or even 8 or 9 games back, does he get credit for being the best player on a contender? What is a contender? Meaningful games in September? Meaningful games the second half of September? I'm assuming that Prince Fielder won't get much love from the writers, but maybe he will. If Hanley's Marlins were basically done 5 days ago, and Derrek Lee's Cubs were done two or three weeks ago, and Prince's Brew Crew were done a really long time ago, where do you draw the line? They're not on bad teams.
My guess is that Tulo comes in 5th. That Hanley is perceived as having played for a contender, and that he and Howard finish 2nd and 3rd in the voting. Prince edges Tulo for 4th.
I forgot about Pablo Sandoval. How do you quantify his value? He's the only guy in that lineup that's good. That lineup is ridiculous. Molina hits big homers, but he's hitting .265. Plus, the Giants didn't make the playoffs. This MVP thing is very subjective, that's all I'm saying.
Friday, September 18, 2009
A Little Night Music
Audrey is on board, my friends!
Below is a post from "The Nooner Blog," a blog featured on SNY.TV.
"Little-known fact: When Mark Sanchez farts, butterflies come out.
And that’s actually the most unsavory thing about the Jets’ young quarterback.
Normally, here at the Editorial Whee!, we’re the most self-flaggelating of Jets fans. We firmly believe that, if left to their own devices, the Jets will go 8-8 in every season, just bad enough to miss the playoffs but just good enough to miss out on a decent draft pick.
Last year, they were one Dick Mauron gaffe away from that record.
This year, something funny is happening to us, and we don’t quite understand it yet. It’s kind of like puberty, except this time the funny feeling in our pants is hope for Gang Green. Oh, and it also probably has to do with our giant mancrush on Mark Sanchez.
Look at him, for chrissakes! He’s f@#$ing beautiful. Look at his eyes. That’s what a quarterback looks like."
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Jeter or A-Rod?
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Saturday, May 23, 2009
A Little Night Music
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Bitch Tits
This list looks at ball players that are clearly taking better supplements; not necessarily banned substances, just better. I'm not suspicious of everyone. I think Adam Jones and Rickie Weeks are kids who have turned the page, and learned how to hit Major League pitching. The goal is to uncover the Brady Andersons of the world. The guys whose production basically makes no sense.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Send in the Clowns
Things that make me mad:
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio?
I take back everything bad I've ever said about Carlos Beltran. Not really.
nudes and goats
Remember how well Jordan Schafer started the season for the Braves? I'll remind you. Schafer homered twice in his first 3 Major League games, and posted a line of .421/.500/.842 through his first 5 games. Schafer must have had whatever Emilio Bonifacio was having because since that point, Schafer has hit .172/.327/.230, and has already struck out 389 times.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
A Little Night Music
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Around the NL East
Fernando Martinez is 13 for his last 27, and is now batting .300/.349/.550.
Friday, May 8, 2009
The Scott Kazmir Trade and its Repercussions Part 6: Attack of the Clones
The Scott Kazmir Trade and its Repercussions Part 5: The Lightning Round
Thursday, May 7, 2009
A Little Night Music
If you don't know David Benioff's writing, get to know it. He's married to Amanda Peet, and she may be the lucky one.
The Scott Kazmir Trade and its Repercussions Part 4: Kazmiritis
That brings us to a trade of an all-world player, an electrifying talent, for less than a bag of shells. I believe this deal hasn't gotten the attention it deserves because the star player didn't stay with his new team for very long, however, this is a doozy, and it must take its rightful place in the pantheon of bad trades.
Eyebrows in the baseball world were collectively raised when the lowly Nationals traded for Alfonso Soriano a year before he was set to make a huge payday. Soriano responded with a 40/40 campaign, in a terrible hitter's park, playing a new position, that would have been even more impressive if he hadn't faded down the stretch. The Tigers were believed to have a case of Kazmiritis when they were unwilling to part with elite prospect Cameron Maybin in a deal for Soriano (even though they would have been able to afford signing him to a long-term deal), so the Texas Rangers decided to pull the trigger on...
Brad Wilkerson, Termel Sledge, and Armando Galarraga.
Whoops. Wilkerson, the crown jewel in the Rangers haul, is now retired. Termel Sledge is Termel Sledge. And Galarraga, who was not all that well thought of, the Rangers would deal before blossoming.
The Scott Kazmir Trade and its Repercussions Part 3: Don't Call Me Danny
nudes and goats
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
nudes and goats
Contrary to published reports, there were well over 12 fans in attendance at last night's Yankees/Red Sox game.