MLB Discussion Thread

[Phadunk]

Perez is fucking shit. I called every pitch and swing the entire at bat. Fucking trash.


What a boring game 7. Sure the pitching was so nice to watch...but I wanted some suspense and thrills in the end. All I got was a single that errored into a triple with 2 outs... then the obvious happened.


Fuck the Bum for ruining what would have been an enjoyable game. Closing shit out..what a dick

 

[Mr.E]

You, too, can nickname your sports franchise the Giants and win championships despite mediocrity. :(

See also: New York Football recently.

 

[Inspirited]

Perez is fucking shit. I called every pitch and swing the entire at bat. Fucking trash.


What a boring game 7. Sure the pitching was so nice to watch...but I wanted some suspense and thrills in the end. All I got was a single that errored into a triple with 2 outs... then the obvious happened.


Fuck the Bum for ruining what would have been an enjoyable game. Closing shit out..what a dick

You call the sac bunt and the last out triple no suspense oO. Besides that, I personally found the fantastic pitching exciting, probably because i used to play the sport in High School but w/e.

Edit: btw, someone gif Pablo Sandoval's last out catch, that reaction was money :]

 

[ButteredToast]

First time in a long time that I am extremely excited for the off season. Can't wait to see what things get going and to see rosters take shape for next season. Wondering how much money Detroit is going to pour into David Robertson, Andrew Miller, and other pen arms to end their suck fest. Seeing if Theo and the Cubs are going to be the off season big spenders when they shocked the world and signed Reyes and Buehrle. What the Red Sox have up their sleeve after their dynamic trade deadline moves. Big impact names out there including some really nice looking Japanese, Korean, and Cuban players...

I'm ready. Let the games begin. Anyone else feeling it?

 

[Del Rio]

King Felix got robbed.

 

[Atticus]

King Felix got robbed.

not even remotely. I actually feared felix would get it based on reputation but the advanced metrics clearly favored kluber. honestly though, if felix didn't crap the bed against my jays in september i think he woulda had it

 

[Del Rio]

Sorry, but give me objective stats such as ERA, WHIP, et. al instead of subjective metrics when it comes to determining Cy Young.

Felix was better in every peripheral stat except strikeouts and wins (and Kluber clearly had the better offense supporting him, but admittedly the M's were a better group defensively behind Felix). In fact, ERA, WHIP, and BAA aren't even close.

Are we really penalizing Felix for his dud against the Jays? Poor starts are poor starts whether they happen in September or April, and Kluber had a couple bad outings early in the season if you remember. Hell, Felix had the better September regardless (1.66 ERA and .185 BAA vs 2.09 ERA and .236 BAA)

We didn't even mention Felix broke a record with 16 consecutive starts going at least 7 IP with 2 or fewer runs allowed.

Yeah, Kluber was great and it was a shame he didn't get into the ASG; his breakout season should be recognized in some way, but not at the expense of King Felix. It was his CY to lose.

 

[Atticus]

Sorry, but give me objective stats such as ERA, WHIP, et. al instead of subjective metrics when it comes to determining Cy Young.

Felix was better in every peripheral stat except strikeouts and wins (and Kluber clearly had the better offense supporting him, but admittedly the M's were a better group defensively behind Felix). In fact, ERA, WHIP, and BAA aren't even close.

Are we really penalizing Felix for his dud against the Jays? Poor starts are poor starts whether they happen in September or April, and Kluber had a couple bad outings early in the season if you remember. Hell, Felix had the better September regardless (1.66 ERA and .185 BAA vs 2.09 ERA and .236 BAA)

We didn't even mention Felix broke a record with 16 consecutive starts going at least 7 IP with 2 or fewer runs allowed.

Yeah, Kluber was great and it was a shame he didn't get into the ASG; his breakout season should be recognized in some way, but not at the expense of King Felix. It was his CY to lose.

WAR, K/9 and the fact his defense was a lot worse than the mariners'. the two actually had extremely similar stats, to say one of them got robbed is ridiculous

 

[Imanalt]

Also the pirates traded justin wilson (lefty mediocre middle reliever) for cervelli, which other than confirming that we aren't a serious player to sign russ martin makes me very happy. This is a guy who has been a 3.7 war player across 250 career games, and that ignores his most valuable skill. He's been 33.4 runs above average pitch framing over that time period, which if you add into his war makes him a... 4.6 win player per 162 games? If he can stay healthy cervelli is worst case a roughly league average catcher, with all star level (although doing it in unappreciated ways means he never would make an all star team) potential.

 

[moi]

I think it is a bit silly to take the framing runs straight from that source (its BIS right?) considering that to my knowledge no correlation validating those numbers being that high exists (this has been talked about in length at a variety of different sources) so it seems like you're reaching a bit.

Outside of that just wanted to chime in in agreement with Atticus. No wrong choice for the AL CY, really surprised Kluber won out vs. Felix considering name though

 

[Imanalt]

I think it is a bit silly to take the framing runs straight from that source (its BIS right?) considering that to my knowledge no correlation validating those numbers being that high exists (this has been talked about in length at a variety of different sources) so it seems like you're reaching a bit.

Outside of that just wanted to chime in in agreement with Atticus. No wrong choice for the AL CY, really surprised Kluber won out vs. Felix considering name though

I used the baseball prospectus framing numbers (method detailed http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=22934 ). This is pretty straightforward, the only question really being on the definition of a strikezone being used. However given it correlates quite well with scouting reports (~.6 r^2), so even if theres some range of error due to strikezone on it, it is at least a reasonably good approximation. It also has very high year to year consistency, which again argues it is a legitimate skill.

 

[moi]

I'm not arguing that it isn't a legitimate skill - I'm saying that it's been a topic of conversation among the community as a whole as to the extreme within which BP values them in conversation to runs, and that correlation to overall performance (not to scouting). What I meant by my earlier comment wasn't to discredit it as a whole, but to rather perhaps exert some caution in using it directly. (Again, this isn't to discredit the move or the idea of framing as a skill). Sometimes as a whole we're too quick to move with things as an exact science and simply ignore the error margins and the possibility for impression in our models. just something to think about imo

 

[Imanalt]

Fair enough i suppose.

Also god damn trout has a year which is massively worse than any of his previous years and unanimously wins mvp... Imagine what this kid could do if he remembers he doesn't have to swing for a home run every time up...

 

[Stallion]

Fair enough i suppose.

Also god damn trout has a year which is massively worse than any of his previous years and unanimously wins mvp... Imagine what this kid could do if he remembers he doesn't have to swing for a home run every time up...

Or if he started running the bases again. He almost sunk my fantasy team even though he was still excellent...

 

[biggie]

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/writer...-deal-is-in-place-325m-13-years-early-opt-out

holy shit, 13 years $325 million with early opt-out after 5 years and a no-trade clause

 

[greenlean]

Russel Martin to Blue Jays, Jason Heyward + Jordon Walden for Shelby Miller/ Tyrell Jenkins

 

[greenlean]

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/writer...-deal-is-in-place-325m-13-years-early-opt-out

holy shit, 13 years $325 million with early opt-out after 5 years and a no-trade clause

Should be interesting to say the least.

 

[ButteredToast]

Getting reports from all over that the Red Sox agreed to signed both Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez.

I'm not sure if one of those guys developed the Gyroball over the winter, but I figure they would have to. Having Sandoval, Hanley, Middlebrooks, Xander, and Brock Holt to play 3B in addition to Cespedes, Castillo, Victorino, Craig, Nava, Bradley Jr, Mookie, and Brock in the outfield kind of means that someone is gonna have to pitch...

Either the Red Sox are being weird, or my connections are telling me lies.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

Blue Jays taking ALL the all stars

 

[Del Rio]

I mean... when your slugging 3B keeper gets traded from spacious O.co to the bandbox Rogers Centre surrounded by a far better lineup, you're not complaining.

 

[Imanalt]

surrounded by a far better lineup

I'll agree with the park difference but there's no way he'll be on a massively better lineup...

 

[Del Rio]

Donaldson was a major contributor to Oakland's offense and taking him away certainly makes it an inferior lineup to the Jays'. A's offense with Donaldson was good, Jays' offense with Donaldson will be even better than Oakland's.

Plus those big bats (and Reyes) have never been healthy for a full season together in Toronto, so if that happens... but probably asking for too much there.

 

[LzrGunPewPew]

Someone earlier was questioning the Red Sox's signing of both Panda and Hanley, but if you think about it anywhere Hanley plays gives the Sox a trade piece. Slotting him in at short means they can deal Boegarts (Possibly to the Phillies in a package for Cole Hamels), and putting him in Left Field like they're reportedly going to do means they have a ridiculous amount of outfield talent.

As for the Jays and A's trade, Donaldson will mash in the AL East and the myriad of hitter's parks. If he stays healthy (Not playing 81 games on the RC turf will be really helpful for that), Lawrie will be pretty good for the A's (4 WAR projected), though he probably won't fill in the offensive hole left by Donaldson in his first season. Graveman and Nolin look good on the A's, Graveman being a flyball pitcher in a big ballpark and Nolin being.. something. Both the Jays and Red Sox have more holes to fill and the money/pieces to fill them, so there will definitely be many more big moves in the AL East throughout the offseason. The A's have some pieces to trade as well, given their surplus of first basemen and outfielders. Hard to say now, but this deal looks good for both sides.

I'll agree with the park difference but there's no way he'll be on a massively better lineup...

Depending on what else they add before the season is done, it could get better (or worse). Bautista/Encarnacion/Donaldson/Martin is a pretty potent (though RH heavy) core.

EDIT: https://twitter.com/dantoman/status/538703662001184768

 

[Imanalt]

The problem is panda is just... not a very good player... over the last three years fangraphs has him 17th in the majors among third basemen in war, and most of the players behind him have been unable to hold down a starting job for that entire period. Headley is a much better player who i doubt will be signed for any more than they got panda for. Although I do have some doubts about the wisdom of signing hanley and a 3b (because im dubious about hanley's defense at short going forward if trading bogaerts), that's not the biggest problem, the biggest problem is panda being ridiculously overpaid.


Also in terms of filling donaldson's spot I've seen some suggestions the a's have been trying to sign headley and use lawrie to patch their gaping hole at second base, although who knows how much these rumors stem from "it makes sense" versus actually coming from anything real.

 

[Del Rio]

Nelly Cruz to the M's.

Dunno what to make of that one. It fills a slugging right-hander hole desperately needing to be filled in Seattle, but Cruz managed to coax four years (he's 34) out of M's management with his injury history.