2014 Baseball season/Off Season Discussion

[GeorgeSteele]

NL EAST - Braves
NL CENTRAL - Cards
NL WEST - Dodgers

AL EAST - Rays
AL CENTRAL - Tigers
AL WEST - A's

NL WILD CARDS - Pirates, Mets
AL WILD CARDS - Red Sox, Angels

NL CHAMPS - Braves
AL CHAMPS - A's

WS CHAMPS - Braves

[tim_m]

Breaking news out of Detroit. The Tigers and Miguel Cabrerra have agreed to an extension. Its reportedly 8 years and 248 million.

[Falcon]

SI's baseball preview out today, same WS prediction as mine

Yikes.

NL CHAMPS - Nationals
AL CHAMPS - A's

WORLD SERIES CHAMPS - Nationals

You know you're screwed, now, right?  The SI curse still runs strong.....

No question about that whatsoever, screwed indeed.

[Falcon]

Breaking news out of Detroit. The Tigers and Miguel Cabrerra have agreed to an extension. Its reportedly 8 years and 248 million.

Total deal along with what he's already owed is sounding like 10 years at 292 per the twitter.

Oh to be Mike Trout.

[Falcon]

Holy shit, per Heyman:

"cabrera commitment could reach $352M. there are 2 vesting options, in yrs 11 and 12, at $30M each. #tigers"

[tim_m]

Who holds the key to those options?

[tim_m]

Somewhere Mike Trout is smiling lol.

[Falcon]

Who holds the key to those options?

They're "vesting" options so I assume it's based on AB's/games played/performance etc.

[Falcon]

Forbes release it's franchise valuations for 2014 yesterday, interesting stuff.

http://www.forbes.com/mlb-valuations/

Yanks most valuable, Cards most profitable.

[tim_m]

Who holds the key to those options?

They're "vesting" options so I assume it's based on AB's/games played/performance etc.

Ahh ok, i could definitely see those options happening.

[Falcon]

This is a helluva read (watch the vid too) - an inside look by all involved at the obstruction call that ended Game 3 of last years Word Series

Fascinating stuff.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/10647034/mlb-2013-world-series-obstruction-call
 

[tim_m]

MLB/MLBPA are about to announce major changes to the JDA. A first offense now will be 80 games. Violate it a second time and your gone a season. The third time you're still gone forever. There will also now be a 25 game ban for inadvertent use. Also, players are not paid for difference between 183 day season or 162 game season. They will also now be ineligible for playoff play and will not get their playoff share. A suspended player will now be subject to 6 additional urine tests a year and 3 additional blood tests. Carbon isotope Ratio mass spectrometry will be performed on at least one specimen per player.

[Falcon]

Sounds like Trout's getting 140+ over 6.

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/03/28/report-angels-and-mike-trout-close-to-agreement-on-contract-extension/

I can't even begin to fathom what he'll get when this deal expires - when he's only 28.

[tim_m]

Sounds like Trout's getting 140+ over 6.

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/03/28/report-angels-and-mike-trout-close-to-agreement-on-contract-extension/

I can't even begin to fathom what he'll get when this deal expires - when he's only 28.

No kidding. I wouldn't be surprised if it makes the deal Cabrera just signed look like chunk change.

[pilferk]

Mets and Red Sox both lose. Will go 0-162. They should both shut down and trade away everything. 

Seriously, watching the post games on sny and nesn, you'd actually think the above was true, and not hyperbole.  Hey guys, it's ONE game!

[tim_m]

And boston nearly came back in the 9th!

[faldor]

Mets and Red Sox both lose. Will go 0-162. They should both shut down and trade away everything. 

Seriously, watching the post games on sny and nesn, you'd actually think the above was true, and not hyperbole.  Hey guys, it's ONE game!

Sox just couldn't get the clutch hits when they needed them today.  Baltimore looks like they'll have a solid team again.  Good lineup, but the questions begin and end with their pitching as always.  And I have my doubts it'll be good enough.  Again, they have a bunch of #3 starters on their staff, no true ace.  Their bullpen was pretty good today, but on paper it scares no one.  So we'll see how it plays out.

Red Sox look pretty solid on paper.  They will miss Ellsbury out of the leadoff spot.  Their overall team speed will obviously take a big hit.  If he can stay healthy, big IF, Sizemore can fill in admirably but they're taking it slow with him at the start.  Overall their lineup looks pretty solid again, even without Jacoby.  Bogaerts looks so poised in the box, far more mature than his age.  On the flipside, Will Middlebrooks is frustrating for me to watch.  He's got talent, and legit power.  But his overall approach is lacking, and his defense leaves a lot to be desired. 

The Blue Jays off to another disappointing start with Reyes already landing himself back on the DL.  Bad move, for a guy with chronic hamstring and leg issues going to a team that plays of turf

I think the Rays will outlast the rest of the teams in the AL East this year.  They're always there, and they seem to be well balanced.  Pitching is always good, bullpen should be better, and offense is better than it has been in the past. 

[pilferk]

Mets and Red Sox both lose. Will go 0-162. They should both shut down and trade away everything. 

Seriously, watching the post games on sny and nesn, you'd actually think the above was true, and not hyperbole.  Hey guys, it's ONE game!

Sox just couldn't get the clutch hits when they needed them today.  Baltimore looks like they'll have a solid team again.  Good lineup, but the questions begin and end with their pitching as always.  And I have my doubts it'll be good enough.  Again, they have a bunch of #3 starters on their staff, no true ace.  Their bullpen was pretty good today, but on paper it scares no one.  So we'll see how it plays out.

Red Sox look pretty solid on paper.  They will miss Ellsbury out of the leadoff spot.  Their overall team speed will obviously take a big hit.  If he can stay healthy, big IF, Sizemore can fill in admirably but they're taking it slow with him at the start.  Overall their lineup looks pretty solid again, even without Jacoby.  Bogaerts looks so poised in the box, far more mature than his age.  On the flipside, Will Middlebrooks is frustrating for me to watch.  He's got talent, and legit power.  But his overall approach is lacking, and his defense leaves a lot to be desired. 

The Blue Jays off to another disappointing start with Reyes already landing himself back on the DL.  Bad move, for a guy with chronic hamstring and leg issues going to a team that plays of turf

I think the Rays will outlast the rest of the teams in the AL East this year.  They're always there, and they seem to be well balanced.  Pitching is always good, bullpen should be better, and offense is better than it has been in the past. 

I expect the sox to be very good this year.

I just think it was funny the level of panicked outrage that was going on during the pieces of post game coverage I watched for both teams.

Just like the whole "cubs have lost 10 straight opening day games" thing has gotten mentions. It's one game of 162.  No team is going to lose (or win) them all...

[GeorgeSteele]

Mets and Red Sox both lose. Will go 0-162. They should both shut down and trade away everything. 

Seriously, watching the post games on sny and nesn, you'd actually think the above was true, and not hyperbole.  Hey guys, it's ONE game!

Losing games that you're winning in the 9th inning will always trigger all sorts of existential hysteria.  That aside, I thought the team looked pretty solid, other than the bullpen in the late innings.  And it was nice to see Bryce Harper get kicked in the head when he went in too hard to break up a double play. 

[tim_m]

It's only one inning but not liking what i'm seeing from Sabathia so far. He's still trying to be that power pitcher with fastball topping 89. Hey thick head you can't challenge hitters at this level with an 89 mph fastball they'll pulverize it every time!