2010 Baseball Season/Off-Season Discussion

[pilferk]

Twins look scary good.  Maybe the 2nd best (yes, I'm biased) team in the AL....and it looks like their closer situation may work itself out. 

I'm pretty happy the Yanks managed 4 of 6 vs what figure to be our big division rivals.  Now lets see if they can manage to keep the Angels playing bad baseball.

I'm SO excited for tomorrow!  Gonna be a fun day....and it's been a good 8 months since the last Lobell's steak sandwich.  Seems like it MUST be time for another one!

[Bill 213]

Yankees/Giants world series......I'm calling it now!

So Stephan Strasburg pitched his first professional start in central PA last night (altoona) I went over and checked him out.  Pretty consistant 97 mph fastball.  Definitely has to work some control issues out, but if he continues to get better he is gonna be a beast.  What really surprised everyone was his big double he got in the fourth which he would eventually score on.

[pilferk]

Yankees/Giants world series......I'm calling it now!

So Stephan Strasburg pitched his first professional start in central PA last night (altoona) I went over and checked him out.  Pretty consistant 97 mph fastball.  Definitely has to work some control issues out, but if he continues to get better he is gonna be a beast.  What really surprised everyone was his big double he got in the fourth which he would eventually score on.

One earned run and 8 k's, over 5, right?  You can't really fault him for the 3 unearned.  And it sounds like nerves in the first inning (20+ pitches in one, than 60 over the remaining 4 is not too shabby..especially considering the 2 errors that kept him on the mound).

That's a pretty good debut in AA for a true rookie, IMHO.

I heard they want to get him 60 or 70 innings in the minors before he sees the big league club.  If he manages to put up those kinds of numbers in AAA (not AA) for 5 or 6 starts, they're going to have a real hard time not bringing the kid up sooner.

[Falcon]

Quick hitters..

Joe West -  Comments were a little goofy, isolating 2 teams for a league wide problem is just silly.

Twins - Looking great so far.  I expect the Twinks to stay hot and ride the wave of the new stadium emotion for a while.

Giants/Yanks World Series - Would be classic, just not sure if the Giants have the offense to carry them through the entire season.  No worries on their starting pitchers, they're flat out scary.  I still think the road to the NL Pennant goes through Philly - even with the questions they have with the starting pitching (beyond Doc) and bullpen.  I think the Yankees are a mortal lock in the AL, they're just that good.

Strasberg - A few starts in AA, a few more in AAA and we'll see him is DC by mid June.

My Cards - Off to a good start, nice to see them battle back last night against the Brew Crew and not go quietly.  Carp struggling is a bit alarming, velocity was down and location was off.  The bullpen is shaky at best and I wonder about their bench, not alot of veteran presence could be a problem.

Albert continues to Albert, what a pleasure to watch.

[pilferk]

Albert continues to Albert, what a pleasure to watch.

Still the scariest hitter in the league, BY FAR.

[Falcon]

Albert continues to Albert, what a pleasure to watch.

Still the scariest hitter in the league, BY FAR.

And a bit of (more) history today as well for Pujols..

"With 371 home runs in his career, Pujols eclipsed Eddie Mathews for the most home runs in the first 10 years of a career. Pujols, of course, is only seven games into the 10th year of his career, so he?ll have a chance to take the record to new horizons. Mathews debuted in 1952 with the Boston Braves and over the next 10 seasons, mostly spent with the (relocated to) Milwaukee Braves,  he hit 370 home runs. That was the record for most homers in the first 10 years of a career until Pujols? fifth home run of this season."

[Bill 213]

Yankees/Giants world series......I'm calling it now!

So Stephan Strasburg pitched his first professional start in central PA last night (altoona) I went over and checked him out.  Pretty consistant 97 mph fastball.  Definitely has to work some control issues out, but if he continues to get better he is gonna be a beast.  What really surprised everyone was his big double he got in the fourth which he would eventually score on.

One earned run and 8 k's, over 5, right?  You can't really fault him for the 3 unearned.  And it sounds like nerves in the first inning (20+ pitches in one, than 60 over the remaining 4 is not too shabby..especially considering the 2 errors that kept him on the mound).

That's a pretty good debut in AA for a true rookie, IMHO.

I heard they want to get him 60 or 70 innings in the minors before he sees the big league club.  If he manages to put up those kinds of numbers in AAA (not AA) for 5 or 6 starts, they're going to have a real hard time not bringing the kid up sooner.

Yeah it was nerves.....he was excited for that first inning.   And yeah the rest of the team sucked and caused some brutal errors.  He was throwing some major heat though.  I was just impressed at the crowd that gathered to see him.  Usually Altoona games have around 2500 at most for a big attendance and there was 7500 max crowd plus they opened up the grassy area for a few hundred more seats.  Always good to see that for the sport.  I remember when Pedro Martinez pitched in Reading PA last year people were actually scalping minor league tickets haha.

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

Getting ready to go to Dodger Stadium for my first ever Opening Day!

[AxlsMainMan]

I'll be parallel to 1st base at the Jays game tonight. Look for the Jesus-look-alike in the Manny jersey

[cotis]

Bleacher seats for Friday one row behind the Yankee bullpen, $20 total

[pilferk]

And a bit of (more) history today as well for Pujols..

"With 371 home runs in his career, Pujols eclipsed Eddie Mathews for the most home runs in the first 10 years of a career. Pujols, of course, is only seven games into the 10th year of his career, so he?ll have a chance to take the record to new horizons. Mathews debuted in 1952 with the Boston Braves and over the next 10 seasons, mostly spent with the (relocated to) Milwaukee Braves,  he hit 370 home runs. That was the record for most homers in the first 10 years of a career until Pujols? fifth home run of this season."

The only thing that will prevent Albert from being amongst the pantheon, in terms of career numbers, is Albert.  My worry with him is breakdown.  So far, he's been relatively healthy, right?  If he continues that trend....his career numbers are going to be mythic.

[pilferk]

Bleacher seats for Friday one row behind the Yankee bullpen, $20 total

I'll be in row 1, same section (202, I assume?) on Saturday.

Yesterday, FYI, was awesome.  What a great day at the ballpark.  Even though Robertson did his best to spoil it, as usual Mo made sure we all left happy.

[cotis]

Bleacher seats for Friday one row behind the Yankee bullpen, $20 total

I'll be in row 1, same section (202, I assume?) on Saturday.

Yesterday, FYI, was awesome.  What a great day at the ballpark.  Even though Robertson did his best to spoil it, as usual Mo made sure we all left happy.

Section 201! The view is sort of obstructed from seeing left field, but who cares!

[Falcon]

And a bit of (more) history today as well for Pujols..

"With 371 home runs in his career, Pujols eclipsed Eddie Mathews for the most home runs in the first 10 years of a career. Pujols, of course, is only seven games into the 10th year of his career, so he?ll have a chance to take the record to new horizons. Mathews debuted in 1952 with the Boston Braves and over the next 10 seasons, mostly spent with the (relocated to) Milwaukee Braves,  he hit 370 home runs. That was the record for most homers in the first 10 years of a career until Pujols? fifth home run of this season."

The only thing that will prevent Albert from being amongst the pantheon, in terms of career numbers, is Albert.  My worry with him is breakdown.  So far, he's been relatively healthy, right?  If he continues that trend....his career numbers are going to be mythic.

Healthy for the most part, I think 1 (maybe 2) trips to the DL in 9+ years.  This year is the healthiest he's been going into a season in 5 years.  He's played through plantar fasciitis, bone chips in his elbow and assorted other aches/pains throughout his career - he's one tough hombre.

If he does indeed "continue the trend" - he'll go down as the greatest hitter (player?) of all time.  It's going to be fun to watch unfold for sure.

Nice to hear of all the regulars around here getting to their teams games early on thus far, great times for sure.

pilf - I watched Robertson try to give it away last night as well knowing full well Mo would come in and douse the fire all along.  Talk about the "best of all time' Mo's it as closers go, absolutely incredible.

[cotis]

And a bit of (more) history today as well for Pujols..

"With 371 home runs in his career, Pujols eclipsed Eddie Mathews for the most home runs in the first 10 years of a career. Pujols, of course, is only seven games into the 10th year of his career, so he?ll have a chance to take the record to new horizons. Mathews debuted in 1952 with the Boston Braves and over the next 10 seasons, mostly spent with the (relocated to) Milwaukee Braves,  he hit 370 home runs. That was the record for most homers in the first 10 years of a career until Pujols? fifth home run of this season."

The only thing that will prevent Albert from being amongst the pantheon, in terms of career numbers, is Albert.  My worry with him is breakdown.  So far, he's been relatively healthy, right?  If he continues that trend....his career numbers are going to be mythic.

Healthy for the most part, I think 1 (maybe 2) trips to the DL in 9+ years.  This year is the healthiest he's been going into a season in 5 years.  He's played through plantar fasciitis, bone chips in his elbow and assorted other aches/pains throughout his career - he's one tough hombre.

If he does indeed "continue the trend" - he'll go down as the greatest hitter (player?) of all time.  It's going to be fun to watch unfold for sure.

Nice to hear of all the regulars around here getting to their teams games early on thus far, great times for sure.

pilf - I watched Robertson try to give it away last night as well knowing full well Mo would come in and douse the fire all along.  Talk about the "best of all time' Mo's it as closers go, absolutely incredible.

Was a win-win for my fantasy team...

Abreu hit a Grand Slam, Morales hit a HR, and then Mo came in and got the save.

[Jdog0830]

God I am pissed that the Cubs seem to be doing better than the White Sox

Before the season started though I heard the best odds in Vagus for a team winning the World Series this year was the Cubs.

Who knows what this could possibly mean or it could mean nothing at all.





Joe

[Bill 213]

If anyone is due, it is the Cubbies.  I would love to see them finally win a WS.

In Mets news....I'm thinking this 2-6 start could be just what we need to finally stir some things up in the organization.  At what point does it take to say okay...we finally realize we do need another decent starting pitcher or two?  I mean it's only been two games and John Maine has coughed up about 20 runs already.  4 of the 5 dudes are coming back off majory surgeries and two of those four couldn't even produce when they were healthy last year.  Eh who knows.

[COMAMOTIVE]

If anyone is due, it is the Cubbies.  I would love to see them finally win a WS.

In Mets news....I'm thinking this 2-6 start could be just what we need to finally stir some things up in the organization.  At what point does it take to say okay...we finally realize we do need another decent starting pitcher or two?  I mean it's only been two games and John Maine has coughed up about 20 runs already.  4 of the 5 dudes are coming back off majory surgeries and two of those four couldn't even produce when they were healthy last year.  Eh who knows.

Marmol looks so nasty sometimes - hopefully he can continue to find the plate

As for the Mets, they are mess as usual - Omar Minaya should have been let go last year - not because he's not a good baseball mind ( he fleeced the Twins in the Santana deal) but because he must be held accountable for the culture of that team. He's become something of an embarrasment

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

Minaya isn't the problem.

The problem starts at the top.

The Wilpons need to go.

[COMAMOTIVE]

Minaya isn't the problem.

The problem starts at the top.

The Wilpons need to go.

Yeah, but in a world where the owners can't be fired...............it isn't too hard to figure out who's next