2015 Baseball season/Off Season Discussion

[tim_m]

And another one bites the dust. Chase Whitley very likely done with TJ surgery with a torn UCL.

Yeah..saw the injury last nght, and knew right away.

Question is..why 15 day dl with sprain, and not 60 day dl, to open up roster spot on 25 man....

I don't get that either maybe waiting for a second opinion.

[pilferk]

And another one bites the dust. Chase Whitley very likely done with TJ surgery with a torn UCL.

Yeah..saw the injury last nght, and knew right away.

Question is..why 15 day dl with sprain, and not 60 day dl, to open up roster spot on 25 man....

I don't get that either maybe waiting for a second opinion.

Maybe. But a completely torn ucl is a completely torn ucl. This idnt a partial tear like tanaka.

And, even if it were..90 days plus for that treatment.

The only reason it matters is if you think the mri machine is busted....

[TheBaconman]

Houston really looks good.   Killing the Jays this series

The jays really need to pick up a starting pitcher.  Sooner than later!

[tim_m]

And another one bites the dust. Chase Whitley very likely done with TJ surgery with a torn UCL.

Yeah..saw the injury last nght, and knew right away.

Question is..why 15 day dl with sprain, and not 60 day dl, to open up roster spot on 25 man....

I don't get that either maybe waiting for a second opinion.

Maybe. But a completely torn ucl is a completely torn ucl. This idnt a partial tear like tanaka.

And, even if it were..90 days plus for that treatment.

The only reason it matters is if you think the mri machine is busted....

On the subject of Tanaka he could be back soon. If his next bullpen goes well he will begin his rehab assignment.

[pilferk]

And another one bites the dust. Chase Whitley very likely done with TJ surgery with a torn UCL.

Yeah..saw the injury last nght, and knew right away.

Question is..why 15 day dl with sprain, and not 60 day dl, to open up roster spot on 25 man....

I don't get that either maybe waiting for a second opinion.

Maybe. But a completely torn ucl is a completely torn ucl. This idnt a partial tear like tanaka.

And, even if it were..90 days plus for that treatment.

The only reason it matters is if you think the mri machine is busted....

On the subject of Tanaka he could be back soon. If his next bullpen goes well he will begin his rehab assignment.

Yeah, at LEAST 2 rehab starts, though, given his BP pitch counts.  So you figure another 2 to 3 weeks.

[faldor]

I see Ellsbury got hurt again. It's not considered serious as far as I can tell, but you always have to beware with him. He and Gardner have been so instrumental to the a Yankees offense. This could be a tough stretch without him. And overall, the AL East remains a complete mystery. At this point, I'd say the Blue Jays are the team least likely to come out on top because their pitching is SO bad. The Rays probably have the best pitching, but their offense is probably the worst as well. The Orioles and Red Sox are underachieving to this point. The Sox would seem to have the most room for improvement. Their pitching has stabilized a bit recently, but their offense has been putrid. It was a perceived strength going into the season and on paper they look like they should be formidable. But they have yet to get it going. I keep waiting for it, but there are no signs at it yet. Rusney Castillo may get called up soon to see if he can make a difference. He certainly can't hurt.

[pilferk]

The AL East is just terrible.

The Yanks went 1-10...and, after 2 wins over KC, are in first place in the division, again.  WTF?

Everyone in the division just looks terrible...bad defense, bad offense....some bright spots in the starting pitching (esp for the Rays), but even that is largely mediocre across the division. 

Hard. To. Watch....

[faldor]

Can anyone figure the AL out this year? The AL East has been and will continue to be a crapshoot. The Yankees were on a downward spiral until the team with best record in the league came to town. The Rays were playing well, then they lose 4 straight. The Jays lose 4, win 3. The Sox win 2, lose 2, then lose some more. But it doesn't end there. The other 2 divisions aren't much easier to figure out. The Tigers got off to a great start, but they've slowed down. The Royals have been pretty steady. The Twins have been surprisingly good. Lots was expected for the White Sox and the Indians but they got off to awful starts. They've played better of late though.

How about the West? Are the Astros for real? The A's look like the only sure thing in the league, they're not very good. The Mariners had high expectations going into the season but they've been disappointing. The Rangers looked terrible early on but are one of the hottest teams in the majors now. I still think the Angels could be the best team in the West, but they haven't shown it to this point.

It's a wild guess as to how things will shake out, even after nearly 2 months of baseball. Here's my best guess, which will probably change in a few days.

I'm sticking to my guns in the East, for no other reason than no team has established itself above the others.
Baltimore
New York
Boston
Tampa Bay
Toronto

Central
Kansas City
Detroit
Cleveland
Minnesota
Chicago

West
Anaheim
Seattle
Houston
Texas
Oakland

I'll give the wild cards to Detroit and Seattle. I know everyone has been calling for Detroit's demise the last few seasons, and this could very well be the year. But I'm sticking with them.

[faldor]

I might have to move the Red Sox down a few pegs, already. They're a mess right now, AGAIN! They can't seem to get anything going. When they pitch well, they don't hit. And when they hit well, they don't pitch. The lineup is massively underperforming. Pedroia and Bogaerts are the only 2 regulars who are playing at their expected levels. Sandoval isn't too far off, though he can't hit lefties anymore. He's actually ditched switch hitting the last 3 times against a lefty and has 3 hits, so maybe that's a sign of things to come. Ramirez hasn't hit since he injured his shoulder, and he's a disaster in LF. Napoli was on fire last week, they need him to continue to produce. Mookie Betts hasn't been gettin on base enough for a lead off hitter, so he's been dropped to 2. He still seems to hit the ball hard though, he's just not finding holes. Ortiz has been pretty bad all year. I don't know if it's the end of the line for him, but it's beginning to look that way. Their RF production has been the worst in the majors this year. Rusney Castillo could help there, but he's already banged up and missed the game today. Their catchers haven't hit either. That wasn't really expected, especially now that they're onto their 3rd and 4th catchers on the season, but they're not helping.

And that's not even bringing up their less than mediocre pitching. Right now, I can safely say that they're the 2nd worst team in the league, only ahead of the A's. That can change, but they haven't really given me much reason to believe it will. I didn't expect them to be all that great this year, but I also didn't expect them to be THIS bad.

[TheBaconman]

As a jays fan I am so lucky that the al east is so week

The jays have been playing first baseman in the out field for a month and we are still only a few games back. 

What happens when we get healthy.   

Oh ya!

First place baby!!!!!!

[faldor]

As a jays fan I am so lucky that the al east is so week

The jays have been playing first baseman in the out field for a month and we are still only a few games back. 

What happens when we get healthy.   

Oh ya!

First place baby!!!!!!

I just think their pitching is bad enough to hold them back. But in the AL East, anything can happen.

[JAEBALL]

The Blue Jay staff is probably the worst in the major leagues.

If not, then top 3 or 4 worst. They don't have one guy who I would even consider a solid number 3 in their rotation and the bullpen is just as bad.

But 84 wins might take the AL East down.. so any of the 5 could win it.

The whole American league.... I can't remember it ever being this weak in my 20 years of really following it.

[TheBaconman]

The Blue Jay staff is probably the worst in the major leagues.

If not, then top 3 or 4 worst. They don't have one guy who I would even consider a solid number 3 in their rotation and the bullpen is just as bad.

But 84 wins might take the AL East down.. so any of the 5 could win it.

The whole American league.... I can't remember it ever being this weak in my 20 years of really following it.

Our starting pitching staff needs 1 more guy

Our bull pen needs a hard throwing right hander

After that.  The jays need nothing.   

Another great win tonight

[Falcon]

Way too much Jr. Circuit talk around here damnit.

Giants surging in the NL West.

The Nats and Bryce Harper doing their thing in the East, Harper is must see TV - every AB.

And last but not least, the Cards 6 up in the Central and the best record in baseball.

[TheBaconman]

Way too much Jr. Circuit talk around here damnit.

Giants surging in the NL West.

The Nats and Bryce Harper doing their thing in the East, Harper is must see TV - every AB.

And last but not least, the Cards 6 up in the Central and the best record in baseball.

The national league is grandpas ball

[Falcon]

Way too much Jr. Circuit talk around here damnit.

Giants surging in the NL West.

The Nats and Bryce Harper doing their thing in the East, Harper is must see TV - every AB.

And last but not least, the Cards 6 up in the Central and the best record in baseball.

The national league is grandpas ball

It's the "Sr Circuit", not the "AARP Circuit".

[TheBaconman]

I will like to see how the jays do playing in the national league on Tuesday against one of baseballs best teams.  She good in fact that they named the league after them

Batista is supposed to be back in right field for the game as well.  I give him 2 weeks then he will be out hurt again

[faldor]

Way too much Jr. Circuit talk around here damnit.

Giants surging in the NL West.

The Nats and Bryce Harper doing their thing in the East, Harper is must see TV - every AB.

And last but not least, the Cards 6 up in the Central and the best record in baseball.

The Cardinals keep chugging along, despite key injuries. I wonder if they'll make a play for a 1B to fill in for Adams. They seem to be able to find guys to plug in time and again. You'd think it would catch up to them eventually. The Giants are another team. They had a quiet off season, lost Sandoval. Yet they still remain a factor on the strength of their pitching. Although their offense has been much better this year as well, so that helps. The Nats have proven that they are who we thought they were. I don't think they look back from here on their way to the NL East crown.

[Falcon]

Way too much Jr. Circuit talk around here damnit.

Giants surging in the NL West.

The Nats and Bryce Harper doing their thing in the East, Harper is must see TV - every AB.

And last but not least, the Cards 6 up in the Central and the best record in baseball.

The Cardinals keep chugging along, despite key injuries. I wonder if they'll make a play for a 1B to fill in for Adams. They seem to be able to find guys to plug in time and again. You'd think it would catch up to them eventually. 

They're going to give Mark Reynolds the everyday 1B gig for now.  Carpenter and Molina will get some spot start along the way.  If they go outside the organization it could be for a 3B and move Carpenter to first, he's played there quite a bit so it gives them flexibility in the trade market if necessary.

Losing Waino's 200+ innings is the thing that'll catch up to them, they've managed so far but that's a tough one to overcome long haul.

[pilferk]

Some interesting factiods:

The Blue Jays have the 3rd best run differential in the AL...and the 3rd worst record in the AL.

The Yankees have the WORST run differential, of all division leaders, in MLB...but the 2nd most run's scored in all of MLB (and the most runs scored of all the division leaders).

The Houston Astros, who were the second worst team in the AL last year (only better than the Rangers), have the best record, and run differential, in the AL (though, admittedly, they've cooled off over the last 10 games).

The Minnesota Twins, who were ALSO the 2nd worst team in the AL (yes, tied with Houston), have the second best record in the AL, and the 3rd best run differential.

It is a weird, weird, weird 2015 season.....