2012 Baseball Season/Off-Season Discussion

[AxlsMainMan]

The Big Puma just can't catch a break this season

[Falcon]

The Big Puma just can't catch a break this season

Unfortunatley not, he'll be a part time player if/when he's able to come back this year.

[AxlsMainMan]

I hope Travis Snider gets his big break with the Pirates. He was a joy to watch with the Blue Jays while going to school in Toronto.

[AxlsMainMan]

Last-place Miami Marlins lament $190 million spending spree

NEW YORK ? Eight months after stunning the baseball world by storming through the winter meetings in Dallas and spending $190 million on big-ticket free agents, the Marlins smolder like twisted wreckage at the bottom of the standings.

?We set ourselves up for it,?? acknowledged Marlins president David Samson of a grand makeover that failed miserably. ?We paraded around Dallas. We signed those guys. We opened a new ballpark. We said we?re ?all in.? ??

Not only have the Marlins been a bust on the field, but attendance at their new ballpark has fallen short of expectations, creating an uncertain future on and off the field.

Questions outnumber answers.

Will the Marlins cut payroll next season? Samson wouldn?t say. Will heads roll, both in the front office and within the coaching staff? Samson said nothing can be ruled out. Will season-ticket holders abandon ship in the second season of new Marlins Park? Samson said, at this point, it?s difficult to know.

But one thing Samson promised was that every mistake ? and there were plenty ? will be examined when team executives convene with owner Jeffrey Loria following the season in October.

?I think it?s going to be an interesting October, a little different than the October we envisioned,?? Samson said of the team?s annual post-mortem. ?Jeffrey?s going to look at everything. I mean, he?s angry, and he should be. It?s hard to think you put a plan together and almost every part of the plan does not work out, either by injury or non-performance.??

The team?s biggest mistake, Samson said: overestimating the team?s talent level and believing it to be a playoff contender that would lead to the Marlins? first postseason appearance in nine years. Instead, the Marlins struggled simply to stay afloat.

The result: a massive sell-off before the July 31 trading deadline in which the Marlins dealt Hanley Ramirez, Anibal Sanchez, Omar Infante, Randy Choate, Gaby Sanchez and Edward Mujica.

Due to trades and a sudden rash of injuries, only two position players from the team?s opening night lineup ? shortstop Jose Reyes and catcher John Buck ? were on the field for the Marlins during a weekend series in Washington.

Just by trading Ramirez, the Marlins lopped off $38 million in salary commitments over the next 21/2 seasons. But Samson said the Ramirez trade wasn?t about the money.

http://www.bradenton.com/2012/08/07/4146732/last-place-miami-marlins-lament.html

[Falcon]

Yanks dumpster dive for Derek Lowe in the wake of CC's elbow issues.

I like the move, no sense waiting around.

[tim_m]

Doesn't seem to be a serious issue thankfully. Just some stiffness. He wanted to pitch through it but we didn't wanna risk it so we put him on the DL for two weeks. There's really no reason to either. We have a good lead in the division. So might as well shut him down for a few weeks get it cleared up. I would be shocked if he missed more then two starts.

[Falcon]

Doesn't seem to be a serious issue thankfully. Just some stiffness. He wanted to pitch through it but we didn't wanna risk it so we put him on the DL for two weeks. There's really no reason to either. We have a good lead in the division. So might as well shut him down for a few weeks get it cleared up. I would be shocked if he missed more then two starts.

It's a smart move, get him healthy and let Lowe eat his innings til he's back in biz.

[tim_m]

Doesn't seem to be a serious issue thankfully. Just some stiffness. He wanted to pitch through it but we didn't wanna risk it so we put him on the DL for two weeks. There's really no reason to either. We have a good lead in the division. So might as well shut him down for a few weeks get it cleared up. I would be shocked if he missed more then two starts.

It's a smart move, get him healthy and let Lowe eat his innings til he's back in biz.

Exactly, no reason to let him pitch through it. If we didn't have a huge lead or if this was the playoffs he'd obviously be pitching but no reason to risk it.

[Falcon]

The Rays are definitely gaining in the rear view mirror, they're healthy and they're pitching lights out.

Not sure if they have enough to catch the Yanks in the division but I sure as hell wouldn't want to face them in the post season.

[faldor]

The Rays are definitely gaining in the rear view mirror, they're healthy and they're pitching lights out.

Not sure if they have enough to catch the Yanks in the division but I sure as hell wouldn't want to face them in the post season.

Longoria is back too, which is a huge boost to that suspect offense.  I still can't believe the Angels are scuffling along, I thought they had finally started to play up to their capabilities.

[tim_m]

The Rays are definitely gaining in the rear view mirror, they're healthy and they're pitching lights out.

Not sure if they have enough to catch the Yanks in the division but I sure as hell wouldn't want to face them in the post season.

Longoria is back too, which is a huge boost to that suspect offense.  I still can't believe the Angels are scuffling along, I thought they had finally started to play up to their capabilities.

The Angels are definitely a mystery, they certainly have the talent to run away and hide from everyone else but they just aren't playing to their capabilities.

[Falcon]

Derek Lowe with a 4 inning save.

He just paid for himself in 1 appearance, nice outing.

[tim_m]

He did great against Texas tonight.

[tim_m]

Johnny Pesky has passed away at 92. RIP.

[Sober_times]

Johnny Pesky has passed away at 92. RIP.

My grandfather told me stories of Johnny Pesky when I was a kid. Some good and one really bad one as he was one who blamed him for the 46 loss.  Hell, I was raised on red sox stories and history. I haven't been to Fenway in many, many years but I remember sitting with my grandfather and him pointing out Pesky, or as my grandfather taught me, "The Needle", and saying something good about him, right after he bitched about the 46' series.  He was a piece that helped connect me to that old red sox history. An important piece. It was great to see him there when they finally won it again in '04. I will miss him. RIP indeed.

[Falcon]

More Bobby V fallout in Boston, this is getting ugly.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/bobby-valentine-red-sox-mutiny-text-dustin-pedroia-larry-lucchino-john-henry-adrian-gonzalez-.html

[tim_m]

More Bobby V fallout in Boston, this is getting ugly.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/bobby-valentine-red-sox-mutiny-text-dustin-pedroia-larry-lucchino-john-henry-adrian-gonzalez-.html

Everyone that saw this coming raise your hand!

[Falcon]

More Bobby V fallout in Boston, this is getting ugly.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/bobby-valentine-red-sox-mutiny-text-dustin-pedroia-larry-lucchino-john-henry-adrian-gonzalez-.html

Everyone that saw this coming raise your hand!

I think it might be time to blow that place up, a total organizational enema.

The place was as toxic as it comes before Bobby V came along and now it's just becoming a cartoon.

Keep a couple core guys like Pedroia, AGon, Ellsbury and Lester and flush the rest, just an outsiders opinion of course.

Would like to hear faldor's take, he could give us some up close perspective.

[tim_m]

Well i was just talking to him on Twitter. He isn't happy with Pedroia for his role in that meeting players had with management.

[Falcon]

Well i was just talking to him on Twitter. He isn't happy with Pedroia for his role in that meeting players had with management.

Mutiny is never a good situation, especially when the leader of the mutiny is the former manager's close friend and current (and I hate this term with a passion) "face of the franchise".