MLB 14/15 thread

.MASSHOLE.1. David Ortiz is Mr. Clutch in the playoffs. 2004 anyone? Last year anyone? Not saying Jeter is not good, but he is 40 so you cannot rely on him to do everything.

2. Not consistent. First season he has ever hit double digit home runs.

3. .279 is less than his .295 career hitting. He has 9 HR and 48 RBIs. His OBP is .344. All of those are below career averages.

4. You have no workhorse pitchers. You won't be able to pitch Tanaka like a workhorse.

.frenchy1. You can most definitely rely on Jeter. Just because he's 40 does not mean hes no good.... He's currently batting .280? better than most players on the redsox. Don't be a hypocrite, jeter may be 40 but Ortiz is 38....

2. And don't even say big papi is more clutch than jeter. Pretty sure one of Jeters nicknames is Mr. November, not Ortiz.

3. Did you really just say "He has 9 HR and 48 RBIs. His OBP is .344. with a .279avg" as a bad thing? LOL those are good numbers with still 2 months left of baseball... Ellsbury is doing pretty damn good so far this year, you're probably just mad he left beantown.

.MASSHOLE.1. My point is he does not have the power he once had. Ortiz also has the luxury of sitting on the bench except when he has to hit the ball. Shorter career as well.

2. Well, if you want to nitpick, they are almost identical if you were to average out their hits, runs scored, etc. David Ortiz just had less appearances but put up similar numbers.

3. That is not very good compared to what he normally does. He normally hits closer to .300.

I couldn't care less that he left. No way is someone with his injury track record worth $153 over 7 years. Was he a very good player? Yes, but he is replaceable. He is the new Shane Victorino IMO.

.frenchy1. Jeter was never a power hitter, he's always been a basehit hitter, small bloopers to the outfield, hit up the middle, etc. And that's still what he's doing he had a 3hit game a few days ago that put him alone on the #7 spot on the all time hit list.

2. Jeter is really known for being clutch in the playoffs, his post-season batting average is .308... and a .320+ hitter in the world series. Good luck comparing Jeter/Ortiz.

.MASSHOLE.Ortiz is .295 in playoffs, but a whopping .455 in the WS with a .576 OBP and .795 Slugging percentage and a 1.372 OPS.

Look, you like Jeter I like Ortiz. We can agree to disagree who we would take.

But to think the Yankees can win it all with that team is a little naive. Hell, even if the Red Sox had managed to make the playoffs this year I think every rational Boston fan would admit there was little to no chance of them repeating.

.frenchyOkay, but Jeter has been in 7 world series, Ortiz-3... jeter has a .481 batting average in 14 all star games. That's impressive.


lol okay, plenty of underdogs have won the world series.... You arent a basball fan if you think otherwise..

.MASSHOLE.It is an all-star game. They are jokes.

Of course underdogs have won the WS, look at 2004. But there is a difference. Most underdog teams just under perform, they aren't understaffed.

.MASSHOLE.Gomes? Jesus. Gomes was a WRECK this year in the field and at the plate. Sorry DingoSean, but his defense made me wince at times. His offense is decent as long as he isn't facing left-handed pitchers. If he is, well, just look away.

Yes Lester is good. Yes it stings to lose him, but that sting was nullified by bringing back a power hitter, something Boston desperately needed. I think the Yankees could relate to that right now too.

.frenchyUh.... A joke? The ASG is actually a big deal.... The past 5+ world series have been won by the league that won the allstar game. Hoem field advantage is what you want in the World Series.

HR Derby is a joke. The all star game, no, not really.

DingoSeanHow has Boston used him though? Gomes is a guy who ropes lefties all day. If you used him against both sides of the plate, then no shit he's going to be 'meh' most of the time. Bob Melvin is the master of Platoons, and Gomes will go back to his regularly scheduled Platooning. He will be productive. As for him in the field? Ehh.. Whatever. He'll probably DH and Vogt will play in Left most of the time (Vogt has a solid arm - because Catcher)

As for the rest of what you said, what is this "cap space" you're talking about? Boston has Cap Space? They have a cap? I thought they didn't have a budget cap in boston like Oakland or Tampa...

;)



...everyone knows Boston is a big-budget baseball town. They and the Yankees are perennially the only two teams that are taxed for their insane payrolls.

DingoSeanHow has Boston used him though? Gomes is a guy who ropes lefties all day. If you used him against both sides of the plate, then no shit he's going to be 'meh' most of the time. Bob Melvin is the master of Platoons, and Gomes will go back to his regularly scheduled Platooning. He will be productive. As for him in the field? Ehh.. Whatever. He'll probably DH and Vogt will play in Left most of the time (Vogt has a solid arm - because Catcher)

As for the rest of what you said, what is this "cap space" you're talking about? Boston has Cap Space? They have a cap? I thought they didn't have a budget cap in boston like Oakland or Tampa...

;)



...everyone knows Boston is a big-budget baseball town. They and the Yankees are perennially the only two teams that are taxed for their insane payrolls.

DingoSeanHomefield advantage doesn't really mean that much in baseball. If it did, the A's would have won a lot more Game 5's. Most of the last few world series, the losing team just fucking botched it. Hard. They couldn't win on their own field, much less the opponents.



...and the HR Derby is just for fun. Like the futures game and the celeb softball tourney.

.MASSHOLE.I think if Billy Beane fails to win a WS, all this money-ball managing is for naught. Winning regular season games is great, but no one cares in the long run. People want a title. I hope he gets one, but not this year. It will drive up the price for Lester :p

.frenchyHomefield advantage does mean a lot in the world series obviously...

DingoSeanSee, I think that's bullshit. I don't understand this whole "if it fails to win you a championship, you're obviously doing it wrong. Simply put, once you get to the playoffs, everything tends to be a little bit crapshooty - hence why teams like the 83 win 2006 Cardinals can beat a Tigers team that was absolutely reeling - Same thing happened the other year when the Giants pulled the same crap with a mediocre squad in comparison.

Hands down, what Billy Beane has done the best is adapt to the Market over time. He used to treasure college players in the draft, and when everyone else started following his lead, he started looking more at high schoolers as a less-valued commodity. He's always ahead of everyone else, and that's why he wins, and will continue to win in Oakland.

The Giants virtually copied his style across the bay and fielded a very "Oakland-esque" team in 2010 to a world series - based on pitching and opportune, clutch, matchup based hitting. If moneyball didn't succeed, the Yankees and Red Sox would still win every single year.


Not too obvious to me at all, actually... I think you're dead wrong. It may have an effect based on the field - if it's a funky stadium like Fenway, Houston, or Toronto, but it absolutely isn't the deterring factor at all. What's more important is who's pitching and what the matchups mean.

.MASSHOLE.But what is the importance of winning if you cannot win the ultimate goal? Did he revolutionize the way the MLB looks at players? Yes, but personally, as a fan, if I were in your shoes, I would rather a title any day

DingoSeanTrust me, I want a title... That's obviously the goal.

But as anyone knows, the World Series is extremely difficult to win - especially in Baseball where Parity has suffered ever since Free Agency became a thing and teams like New York, LA, and yes.. even Oakland, could just win by throwing money around.

If Beane fails to bring a championship to Oakland, it would not be without trying very ridiculously hard, and revolutionizing the way teams manage professional sports athletes worldwide (Beane also is a consultant for Tottenham and San Jose Earthquakes. He has his toes dipped in several oceans) If he outright fails in his tenure to bring in a title, I'd blame baseball itself more than anything.

In the meantime, I've been very proud of Oakland for always being consistently in the mix. I'd rather that be the case than being the Pirates or the Mariners every year.

.MASSHOLE.I would blame Beane for sticking too hard to his guns of not breaking the bank for a few players who may be able to get them over the hump. But that is me. As a Patriots fan, BB and that front office used to break the bank and it won them a few titles, then they stopped and they have won naught since. Sometimes, to win, you need to take a contract that works well for a few years then blows up because in the end, the title that contract may win is more important.

DingoSeanYou haven't really followed him, have you... The whole reason why this Lester trade happened is because Beane went very un-Beane and hauled in Cespedes... He worked his team to the point where he had enough space in the budget and dropped 40 mill on a guy who had never played. Then parlayed him when he was in his final year (of 15 million) for Jon Lester - Beane has been extremely gutsy ever since 2012 - he's shown his best stuff ever since the end of the Big 3 era and the subsequent 4 year rebuild.



...and so far, this trade has worked well for both teams. Lester has allowed just a SF through 5, Gomes is 2-3 with 3RBI's, and the A's just had an 8 run inning.

Meanwhile, Cespedes is 1-2 with a run that sparked their own 3 run inning. EVERYONE WINS.

.MASSHOLE.In general, no. But if he fails to win this year, was it worth it?

doyle.that blue jays game today was unreal. such good baseball against the tigers this weekend

DingoSeanThat was downright incredible... Long games in consecutive days.

.MASSHOLE.So what happened to the Yankees possibly winning the WS? Doesn't look like they'll make the playoffs at this rate.

Sorry about the A's. At least it isn't driving up Lester's value ;)

.frenchyThey're 3.5 games back from a playoff spot...... And it's August 18.... Still 50 games to play there big guy..

.MASSHOLE.5-5 in their last 10 games, and Beltran, Drew, and Prado are struggling over the past week.

Beltran-.056/.105/.111, 2B, R, minus-49 wRC+
Drew-.188/.188/.250, 16 AB, 2B, R, 4 K, 12 wRC+
Prado-.190 BA

.frenchyThey're 3.5 games back from a playoff spot...... And it's August 18.... Still 50 games to play there big guy..

.frenchyThey have more than 3 players on their team. And i'm sorry your sox lost 8-1 sat home against Houston.... That was pretty sad lol .

.MASSHOLE.You're still out of the playoffs currently and you have a higher payroll...that must sting a lot. And to not have won a WS in a long time too.

.frenchyUh 2009 isnt that long ago?

.MASSHOLE.So what happened to the Yankees possibly winning the WS? Doesn't look like they'll make the playoffs at this rate.

Sorry about the A's. At least it isn't driving up Lester's value ;)

b-kulare you rooting against lester? i hope the a's can get it together and get him another ring.

The referenced post has been removed.

"They told me, 'We're going to be aggressive. You're going to get blown out of the water by some of these (other) offers,' " Lester recalled. "I'm like, 'I don't need to be blown out of the water.' Why would I need to be blown out of the water? That doesn't make or break your decision, at least for me. I'm not going to the highest bidder. I'm going to the place that makes me and my family happy. If that's Boston, it's Boston."
Lester is not looking to set contract records, even though it wouldn't be surprising to see him earn an offer of least six years and $150 million.

"In the greater scheme of things, we're talking about just a stupid amount of money," he said. "For me, I want to be comfortable. The way I look at it is, if someone gives you $170 million and someone gives you $150 million, is that $20 million really going to change your lifestyle? Same thing if the highest bidder is $100 million and the team you're going to feel most comfortable with offers $80 million. Is that $20 million really going to make the difference in your lifestyle?"

b-kulinteresting, i hope they can make that work.

btw, which post of mine got removed, and why?

_Jeffrey_Both the NL and AL West races are getting crazy. Go Giants. And i wish the best of luck to the A's

DingoSeanFuck the Giants. They're collapsing just like I thought they would.

_Jeffrey_lol.

DingoSeanHey, considering they were once what... 42-21?

What they're currently going through is what I like to call 'regression to the mean'. They can't even keep up with a Dodger squad that, outside of Clayton Kershaw, is entirely ordinary - much less Atlanta or St. Louis...

volvotomso AL: Orioles, Royals, Angels, and As. NL: Nationals, Brewers, Dodgers and Cardinals? Braves? What do you guys think?