2006 MLB Season - Page 2

Well, he's already had the TJ done.

The Red Sox sent Bronson Arroyo and cash to Cincy for Wily Mo Pena. I love this move...a lot. WMP is only 24, and has a tremendous upside. He's a potential 40+ homer guy, as long as we can get him some at-bats and as long as he learns a little more plate discipline.

I'm sad to see another of "The 25" leave town, but Bronson had hit his peak. He kicked some ass while he was a Sock, and I'm sure he'll be fine in Cincy. Besides, his first year in the NL should give him some good numbers.

I really like the direction the Sox are going. Getting younger, and building around a few stud veterans. It's been tough watching so many regulars leave town, but we've replaced them all with much needed youth and much smaller contracts. We've also been able to keep our pitching depth.

For the first time in my lifetime, the Sox start the season as just another team. The honeymoon's finally over, and with so many new faces, it's going to be a very exciting year.

Yeah, there's certainly a lot to like about the move but part of me feels for Arroyo. He took a lesser deal just so he could stay with the Sox, and now he's been traded. It's business, I know, but with so many of those guys wanting out, it was nice to see a guy go above and beyond the call to stay.

It's definitely tough, but think of it this way - he got a 3 year deal, and is now playing for a team where he's going to be a starter (#2? #3? #1?). He wasn't going to be starting for the Sox this year, and probably not in the future. I loved his versatility (going from starting to the 'pen, etc.), but Wake and Papelbon can help there.

I'm not sure if the Sox ever said they wouldn't deal him, or if he could have gotten a bigger deal elsewhere. He was definitely a team player and I'll miss him. He was huge for us in '04.

What worries me is that the pitching depth is cited as a key factor in letting Arroyo go, but it's a very tenuous thing. Included among the roster are older guys like Wakefield, Schilling, Wells and Timlin, plus guys like Foulke and Clement whose durability you might have to worry about. Not to mention the young guys who lack big league experience. Arroyo is a young but experienced arm who has proved to be dependable and versatile. I'm just afraid of how shallow this "depth" will prove to be if even two of the better pitchers go down.

No doubt. But it's something we can't worry about until it happens. Any team losing 2 (or more) pitchers would kill them, I just think the Sox are in decent shape if they do.

Looking forward to the game tonight. I'd like to see Japan win, hopefully in a good game.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5429850

Wow. I knew Soriano was adamant about not playing left field, but sheesh. Couldn't the Nationals have seen this coming? Is Frank Robinson sharpening his shiv?

Of course, I can see why Soriano wouldn't want to give way to Vidro, an All-star calibre second baseman. Soriano is only tied for the worst fielding percentage among all qualifying second baseman of the last fifty years.

I have no patience for Soriano. I think that Nats should ask permission to put him on the disqualified list immediately.

This preseason does not bode well for the coming summer, but I'll still be there for Nats v Os at the end of the month!

By the way, DC-area fans, Baysox Stadium does a great beer 'n buffet series, where they roll out a variety of boutique beers and serve up a great meal in their restaurant. The first one of the season is 7 Apr. PM me and I'll be happy to send you the e-mail of their contact guy.

[QUOTE=Poulsonator]The Red Sox sent Bronson Arroyo and cash to Cincy for Wily Mo Pena. I love this move...a lot. WMP is only 24, and has a tremendous upside. He's a potential 40+ homer guy, as long as we can get him some at-bats and as long as he learns a little more plate discipline.QUOTE]

I'ts a good move for the long term, but I have a feeling the Sox will miss Arroyo if they make it to the playoffs. He's an innings-eater, and thrives under postseason pressure.

Arroyo was a good pitcher - and a sucker.

I believe that the Ten Commandmants of Being a Sports Agent contains the following provision:

Thou Shalt Not Allow Your Client to Give a Home Town Discount if the Contract Does Not Have a "No-Trade" Clause.

soriano finally agreed to play in the outfield today. about time. he's been a real bitch about it.

Looks like Burnett is missing two starts, for starters.

Adam Dunn needs to be traded to the AL. Every time I see him play he makes a very bad play in Left. Opening Day he made three. Watch the ESPN highlights of it, funny stuff when he falls down.

The Reds should have kept Pena and sent Dunn to the A's for some pitching.

The Braves and Dodgers seem to have decided to experiment by having no pitchers play today.

I wish I'd copywrited the phrase "the new-look Mets" about five years ago. ESPN would be paying for my kids' education.

OutSTANDING game by the Red Sox tonight. Out-hit by Texas all night, the Sox hung in and stole one from the Rangers. Josh Beckett, though hit hard at times, pitched a 7 inning, 109 pitch, 1 run game. He got stronger as the game progressed, pitching a 1-2-3 7th. More than I'd ever hoped for, this being his first Red Sox start AND it being in Texas. Tough, tough place to pitch.

Trot smacked a Kameron Loe (who also pitched a great game) fastball just barely over the fence in right in the 7th for a 2-1 lead. Mike Timlin pitched a scary 8th, getting out of a 2nd and 3rd, 2-out jam. But the capper for the night was Jonathan Papelbon closing out the 9th. 1-2-3, thowing heat (mostly 95mph). I'm so not used to that...the Sox taking a 2-1 lead into the 9th and having the game closed out, Gagne-style.

I hope this gives Paps the confidence he needs for the closing role in Boston. I don't think it's his future, but it's a damn fine place to cut your chops...if you can handle the pressure.

I'm so excited about this Red Sox team. No pressure at all, and a more exciting start to a season I cannot remember. I hope they can keep this up.

Red Sox get Clemens, it's on like Donkey Kong in the AL East (if that happens, I think three of the best eight teams in baseball will be in the AL East).

If not, their atrocious pen and somewhat shaky starting pitching will do them in. I don't see them even beating out Toronto, Cleveland, or the A's for the wild-card spot, let alone knocking off the Yanks.

I'm still not sold on Toronto. Yea, they're much improved, but they're as injury-prone as anyone in the league. The Yanks still suffer from the same thing that's ailed them for years...pitching. They're gonna hit, but like the second game of the season, their pitching will let them down.

The Sox have their own problems, but they usually don't win games like last night. At least not in that fashion. Defense and timely pitches really won the game for them last night (of course, Trot smoking a fastball over the fence helped a lot). Coco had a triple and that dude is FAST. He scored from first TWICE on opening day (Damon NEVER would have been able to do that). We haven't had a player like Crisp in oh...never?

Regardless of how the standings hold up, this is going to be a great year.

I just finished listening to Moneyball. It sounds impressive and airtight, and I'm wondering what the consensus is around here. Thoughts?

Airtight until you get to the playoffs.

It's a good book, and there's no doubt it's a good system, but the A's have managed to lose in the first round of the playoffs in the craziest ways since Beane took over. A good read on ESPN about it:

Linky

At this point, I think most baseball execs must be sick to death of hearing about Moneyball. Beane has accomplished a lot, but a great deal of it is due to luck as much as shrewdness (wasn't Hudson a 17th round pick?)

My personal opinion is that Moneyball offers some good insights, but isn't the be-all/end-all for baseball analysis. I actually think it's more useful for evaluating pitchers than for hitters. The K to W ratio and home-runs allowed are probably the two most important ways we evaluate pitchers now, and I don't know if that was the case ten to twenty years ago.

OBP is now over-rated, where as before it was under-rated. Hits are better than walks, because hits have an opportunity to advance runners more than one base, and you always have the chance of a catastrophic defensive blunder. I've also never understood why Beane never figured out that perhaps the prime benefit of base-running is not the swiping of the extra bag, but the effect it has on the pitcher's delivery and pitch selection.

Moneyball is an interesting read, but we're still waiting for any of the guys mentioned in the book to really pan out (Swisher isn't there yet).

I remember reading that section of the book, and thinking that they should limit their analysis to guys that consistently steal 25+ bags. If the pitcher isn't fearful that the guy will run wild, it's not going to make any difference.

While living in the Bay Area, I watched a lot of A's games. It must have driven their fans (and probably their manager) crazy that guys on first basically never store on a double or advance to third on a ball hit to the right fielder. I mean, maybe stolen bases are overrated, but having a team full of slugs clogs up the basepaths eventually.

Paplebon = awesome.

Another 2-1 Sox victory, won exactly like the 2-1 game against Texas. Pitching and defense. Schilling threw 7 strong, Timlin the 8th, then Paps making the O's look silly. Wow.

I read a few interviews with Beane, and his assessment wasn't so much that the way he built the current A's team was the ONLY way to do things, it was of having a fluid and consistent method of evaluating talent.

I'm probably mangling this, but Beane's philosophy isn't so much that OBP adn K/W are the best/only ways to measure hitters and Ps, just that when he took over as GM, players who excelled in those areas were HIGHLY undervalued and could be had cheaply, important for a small-market team. Now that the rest of MLB has seen the value of players who do well in these areas, they are no longer the values they were previously in the FA market - so Beane has to look for new undervalued measures to pick up cheap but productive players.

Did that make sense?

And in other news....

How about them Brewers?!?!

They beat the Pirates and DBacks at home. Don't go printing those playoffs tickets yet.

I guess you would be the expert on head-up-yer-ass, overly-optimistic hyperbole.

All I know is that the Brewers have better depth and seem to have a killer instinct that was lacking last year. Not to mention with the way the team is built, they have plenty of good young prospects locked in for a few years. I didn't start any crazy "march to the Series" threads because that's a year, maybe two away. But a playoff berth is doable and the season should be a fun one.

Now go back to yer crappy Cubs thread.

Same with the Tigers. The Royals and Rangers?

Although, being a Ranger fan and having watched all of the series, I'd say Detroit has some good looking talent.


But yeah, a Detroit/Milwaukee World Series would be insane.

you mean the thread where the Cubs beat the Cards twice this year? You know a real team unlike the AAA Pirates.

And I never got this pumped unless the Cubs won the division or Nomar. Be happy with the start but know they came against a AAA team and a Arizona team that will probably play .460 ball all year. Nothing to get too excited about.

3 years running with a prediction that the sCrubs will be in the WS and you get yer knickers twisted over one post.

If it weren't so pathetic it would be sad.

Sorry to bring reality to your super sized boner over 5 wins over below average teams.

Way to take a thread title out of context. Is that all you got? You know I'm right so you make another issue prominent because you lost this one. If it weren't so pathetic it would be sad.

Whatever. I was happy my team was 5-0 (disappointed with how they lost today - smacks of some of the stuff they've been dealing with the past couple years, not closing out a sweep vs beatable opposition, making a journeyman look like the 2nd coming of Koufax, etc) and made a comment about it. In a thread discussing the '06 MLB season, yet. You're correct in that it's early, but all a team can do is beat the team in the other dugout, which the Brewers have ably done so far, no matter the caliber of opposition.

Nice line, think it up yourself?

Is this the statue, or Stan himself? You decide.

Timlin + Foulke + Paps is not an atrocious pen, and Schilling + Beckett + decent 3,4,5 is a good starting rotation. The Yankees are much like last year, except for slightly better offense and slightly worse bullpen. I like Toronto's offseason moves, but I don't think they are better than the Sox yet, especially with the Burnett's elbow issues. It's going to be Yanks-Sox battling it out down to the wire.

As for Clemens, he's a 4.00 ERA pitcher in the AL, which would be a good #3 for the Sox, not the second coming.

How fitting that Milwaukee and Detroit, the two best teams of the past week, get beaten by the two best teams of last year. Their decline is probably just beginning.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/wcStory...&storyNumber=1


Bwahahahhahaha

Milwaukee is at the beginning of a tough road trip (St. Louis, New York Mets, Houston) but I think that from what I've seen so far, this is definitely a team on the rise. I went to a ton of games last year, but this year, there's a different feeling in the ballpark and it is a feeling of expecting the team to win. The biggest question about this team was how would the infield defense be and I think Weeks and Fielder have definitely improved defensively while J.J. Hardy is Robin Yount 2.
More than anything, I think you need to keep in mind that these is a team on the rise and that we started 5-0 without our ace, Ben Sheets. Granted, the same could be said about the Cubs, but that's been the case for the past few seasons. I think the Cardinals bullpen will ultimately be what kills them, whereas I think the Cubs have definitely improved their bullpen in the sense that there isn't one pitcher that's going to completely implode for them (Farnsworth, Hawkins, the '98 season when Rod Beck gave fans heartattacks)

The thing about the Cubs however is that injuries always get the team, plus Jacque Jones is just a slightly better Corey Patterson. Todd Walker is lazy on defense, but he can be great with a bat. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the NL Central is going to be incredibly close and I strongly feel that the Brewers can steal it.

Great article by Chuck Klosterman at ESPN page 2. Sums up a lot about Bonds and even the current state of the US.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...sterman/060411

clemens in the past 2 years has had a 2.98 and 1.87 era. in interleague play he pitched 20 innings and allowed 1 run. so yes, in other words you're totally correct by saying "roger clemens is a 4.00 era pitcher in the al. he wouldn't be able to hold a candle to mr. blister josh beckett and the 5.69 american league era champ curt schilling".

Clemens 20 innings of interleague numbers are far too small a sample to be useful indicators any future performance in the AL. Why even bring them up?

Clemens ERA in his five most recent years in the AL were 4.60, 3.70, 3.50, 4.35, 3.91. Those are good but not great numbers. I could see a fired up Clemens pitching a half year of 3.50 ball, but that's a best case scenario.

Of course last year the injured Schilling had a bad season, and Beckett is untested in the AL. However, If both stay healthy, I see them as better pitchers than Clemens, whose spectacular NL numbers seem to have erased the memory of his not-spectacular AL numbers of recent vintage.

So, I hear this David Wright kid is good.

Wow, dude...that guy is phenomenal. What a year he's having and he's only 23. Must suck.

Thought I'd take a moment to note that the Twins stand undefeated at home*. Since they play the Yankees this weekend, I thought this might be my last chance to take the boast.

(*3 games in)

I missed the Doc and Straw coming up (one of the joys of picking up baseball the year after the last championship won by your hometown team), so for me to actually see a Met prospect come up through the minors, have his break out year, get called up and continue to improve year after year...

I mean, I've dealt with the likes of Gregg Jefferies, Paul Wilson, Jason Ishringhausen, Bill Pulsipher and Alex Ochoa.

I'm still in a state of shock after over a decades worth of pessimism.

I still can't get over the fact that Doc and Straw completely pissed everything away. I was never a fan of them, but I respected them and watching them in the mid-late 80's was insane. Insane talent.

And now? Doc's going to jail and who knows what Straw's up to. They're in their 40's and STILL can't escape their past demons. I mean, I have a few regrets in life, but damn. I don't know if I could deal with what those two idiots have done. I'm not sure if I wouldn't just put a gun in my mouth. I know there are many more important things than baseball, but the fact that those two guys were heading for baseball immortality and they both pissed it away so fast. Amazing.

Regardless, enjoy DW while you can. I hope he's a stud for a long time because like you said, there's NOTHING like home-grown talent in MLB (c'mon Papelbon, Hansen, Declarman and Lester!).

That's cold comfort, GFC.