MLB 2015

[biggie]

Why not just have dedicated batters and fielders for all positions? Fuck the DH.

The only reason why the DH in both leagues has any real traction is because the pitchers have become so horrendous at batting. In years past, they were not really all that much worse than position players but because they now spend all of their time working on their pitches, they simply neglect the offense aspect of the game. When the star offensive player of a position is batting .160 with 6 HRS and 31 RBIs over 350+ plate appearances, something has to be done. A free out every 9 at bats is ridiculous.

 

[UncleSam]

So maybe if teams made pitchers practice hitting once in a while and actually took a pitchers hitting into account when evaluating them it wouldn't be such a problem

I'm with mre if you want a guys' glove/pitching you should have to suffer trough his hitting, and vice-versa

 

[biggie]

So maybe if teams made pitchers practice hitting once in a while and actually took a pitchers hitting into account when evaluating them it wouldn't be such a problem

Teams won't do that because of the high dollars and the growing injury concern in regards to pitchers.

 

[Del Rio]

Pineda helping out the ol K/BB ratio today

 

[Grizzly Adams]

Ryan Braun hit a homerun out of Coors Field...ridiculous

 

[Stallion]

It's Joey Gallo time!! Best power prospect in baseball, he still strikes out too much but I'm excited to see what he can do for the next few weeks.

 

[Del Rio]

I'll be able to catch his debut on FSSW, pretty cool

Maybe it's better the Rangers have Beltre to let Gallo marinade in the minors. He reminds me a lot of former Ranger, now Oriole, Chris Davis. Legendary power, Ks a shit ton (seriously, he's striking out more than once a game in AA ball). It took Davis a long time to figure things out in the bigs, to the point where the Rangers gave up on him eventually.

 

[Stallion]

That's my boy. And he's got a way to go, but the big difference between him and Chris Davis is that Gallo is a lot better at making adjustments. I have faith he'll figure out how to cut down on the K's better than Crush ever did.

 

[Byrne]

^ Sick cut, what a beast. Had Adrian Beltre on my fantasy team and snagged this guy immediately and damn did that turn out well in his first game haha

 

[ButteredToast]

Anyone on the entire Red Sox team could have done a hands down better job than David Ortiz. Now I got to listen to this crap every time I watch the Red Sox.

Like seriously, was Pedroia not available? x__x

 

[Captain Skywalker]

The Reds need to get rid of Aroldis Chapman. Granted, yesterday's loss to the fucking Cubs wasn't his fault but I swear the Reds would've won like their past 10 games if Chapman would stop blowing big leads in he 8th/9th inning. We need Mesoracco back and Homer Bailey. *le sigh* I guess I should just be patient for the next good year for the Reds...
Dusty was better than Price

 

[ButteredToast]

Alright, so I have decided that if 6 or more Royals start the All Star game, I'm boycotting it. This is just lunacy that Kansas City Fans, I am guessing, have hacked the system or voted almost stupidly en mass for every single one of their players.

Fan voting has always been stupid as shit, and I'm against it. However, I have never been as frustrated at the system as I am this year.

I have placed my 35 votes in for the highest non-royal vote getter in every category for the AL.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

Where can you see the current vote totals?

Also blue jays are Fucking beastly, down 8-1 and come back to win 13-10

 

[Captain Skywalker]

How the fuck are the Blue Jays so good? They're usually a pretty bad team

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

How the fuck are the Blue Jays so good? They're usually a pretty bad team

We traded for an MVP candidate in Donaldson and signed an all star in Martin to go along with Bautista/Encarnacion/Reyes. Also traded for a 2B prospect who's ROY candidate.

We can't pitch for shit but we can hit the damn cover off the ball.

Also we're never "pretty bad" we're usually just mediocre, 79-84 wins consistently. The years we push to 87+ are the years the Yanks/Sox/Rays are also good

 

[ButteredToast]

Where can you see the current vote totals?

The MLB does updates every so often and has it on the All Star Game page, as well as the news page on the front.

Here is the last update on the AL voting and the NL voting.

Right now, how it stands for the American League is (with clearly better options in parenthesis):

C S. Perez (Vogt)
1B E. Hosmer (Miggy, Prince)
2B J. Altuve (Infante on the Royals is second, and Kipnis and Pedroia are better than Altuve right now)
SS A. Escobar (Xander, Iglasias, Semian)
3B M. Moustakas (JOSH DONALDSON)
OF L. Cain (Who has more votes than Trout, but besides that has a case to start so he's cool)
OF M. Trout
OF A. Gordon (Adam Jones, Reddick, Cespedes, Brantley)
DH K. Morales (N. Cruz, even possibly A Rod has better numbers...)

I'm not saying a lot of these guys shouldn't be in the All Star Game. It's just an asshole thing to do to make them all START the All Star Game. Keep in mind they have the manager in, and probably will have Holland/Davis in as well. And people like Escobar and Gordon having places are fucking with people who are having good seasons and won't be All Stars. Even on their own team like Wade Davis.

---

That win yesterday had nothing to do with how good the Blue Jays are (they're good, don't get me wrong) but it had more to do with how Boston reached new rock bottom lows I didn't think even existed for us right now.

If the Red Sox don't win the division, I would like Toronto to win. I think they are the best team in the division, and if they can make a swing for some kind of starting pitcher they should make it pretty far, as I dont see to many teams that can beat them. I was dead set for the Red Sox getting Cueto, but that's not going to happen with the Red Sox sucking ass at the moment and looking like sellers yet again. I don't know if Toronto has the prospects to make that happen, but that and one more pitcher could make a difference.

 

[Del Rio]

I never vote for the ASG of any league really, but I thought some justice was due in the AL so I gave it a go with three ballots:

AL

C Martin, Perez, Vogt
1B Miggy, Fielder, Pujols
2B Dozier, Pedroia, Kipnis
3B Donaldson, Machado, Seager
SS Semien, Bogaerts, Reyes (black hole)
OF Trout, Adam Jones, Cain
Bautista, Cespedes, Gordon
Brantley, Springer, Reddick
DH Cruz, A-Rod, Encarnacion

Starter: Chris Archer

- no Hanley because he's a terrible defensive OF in case you were wondering
- you can make a case for Iglesias over Reyes for his Gold Glove defense and Reyes' time on the DL

NL

C Posey, Yadi, Grandal (Posey over Yadi, I'm not a total homer)
1B Goldy, Votto, Freeman
2B Wong, Gordon, Panik
3B Arenado, Frazier, Carpenter
SS Peralta, Tulo, Crawford
OF Harper, Stanton, Upton
Braun, Marte, Pollock,
Pederson, Cutch, Harper (fuck man, he deserves it)

Starter: Max Scherzer

- I like Freeman over Rizzo because Freeman has no protection, but it's a shame somebody will have to miss out at 1B in the NL

 

[Mercy]

We traded for an MVP candidate in Donaldson and signed an all star in Martin to go along with Bautista/Encarnacion/Reyes. Also traded for a 2B prospect who's ROY candidate.

We can't pitch for shit but we can hit the damn cover off the ball.

Also we're never "pretty bad" we're usually just mediocre, 79-84 wins consistently. The years we push to 87+ are the years the Yanks/Sox/Rays are also good

Just imagine if they had a good GM and manager!

 

[moi]

Just imagine if they had a good GM and manager!

lol.

The worst part about these types of comments are that it's such common vitriole from Toronto sports fans that I'm not sure if this is a troll or just someone who doesn't see how above average Gibbons/AA

 

[Captain Skywalker]

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/sport-rich-cheating-cardinals-may-have-broken-new-ground-n376561
So the Cardinals supposedly breached the Astros' computer and stole some inside information. As a Reds fan, anything I say will get accused of bias but I'm interested in how they'd get punished if this is confirmed by the FBI

 

[ButteredToast]

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/sport-rich-cheating-cardinals-may-have-broken-new-ground-n376561
So the Cardinals supposedly breached the Astros' computer and stole some inside information. As a Reds fan, anything I say will get accused of bias but I'm interested in how they'd get punished if this is confirmed by the FBI

I'm really confused with this and no online source I have found has answered my questions. Is this current investigation tied in with who leaked the Astro's secrets to the internet last year? Or is it a completely different thing? Cause either way, Houston needs to start checking visiting unsafe websites and using better passwords than LanceBerkmanRocks...

Honestly, I really don't see hot this is all that big of a story. I mean yeah, the Cardinals cheated and stole business secrets. And yeah, I'm sure people are going to go to jail. And everyone was just waiting for the Cardinals to slip up so that the hate for them can be unleashed. But I mean... honestly they were spying on the Astros. Like... the Astros. Of all teams. If this was recently, they were spying on a team in the AL that were up until this point massive losers and who operate on the point of sabermetric analysis that almost defy logic. If this was spying a few years back when they were interdivision rivals, it's a little bit worse... but like unless it was in 2006 or something that's still spying on the wrong team.

All they probably could have got from the espionage is scouting reports, draft boards, maybe some game notes, and trade info. Which... I mean, still. You have your own scouts, the draft boards aren't really a big deal because the Cards dont really draft around the Astros and you're going to have detailed reports on anyone anyways, game notes on like strategies can help but that still doesn't really help you all too much in game, and trade info is pretty weak considering that they have just been sellers to this point.

Besides just the moral wrongness of it all... I really don't see what good the Cards could have got from it. It's not like Spy Gate in Football...

 

[Byrne]

The rage for the AL voting is well founded but don't forget some of the disgusting stuff going on in the NL too. Sorry but the biggest snub of the year would be Todd Frazier by a mile if he doesn't get in, ESPECIALLY after the last two games where he's hit 4 home runs including a game-winning grand slam. Dude's in like the top 5 or 10 players in the game right now

 

[Captain Skywalker]

The rage for the AL voting is well founded but don't forget some of the disgusting stuff going on in the NL too. Sorry but the biggest snub of the year would be Todd Frazier by a mile if he doesn't get in, ESPECIALLY after the last two games where he's hit 4 home runs including a game-winning grand slam. Dude's in like the top 5 or 10 players in the game right now

I think if the Todd father misses the ASG or doesn't start in the ASG, it's probably because of how the Reds' awful closing defense is giving them a lot more losses than they would have on paper so it deflates Frazier's W-L ratio. That being said though, he obviously deserves to be there. He's been by far the most productive Red and one of the best hitters in the NL(with Bryce Harper) so him missing would be a HUGE fail by the voters. Also, Billy Hamilton leads the MLB in stolen bases yet he's not in the discussion to be in the ASG

 

[ButteredToast]

I think if the Todd father misses the ASG or doesn't start in the ASG, it's probably because of how the Reds' awful closing defense is giving them a lot more losses than they would have on paper so it deflates Frazier's W-L ratio. That being said though, he obviously deserves to be there. He's been by far the most productive Red and one of the best hitters in the NL(with Bryce Harper) so him missing would be a HUGE fail by the voters. Also, Billy Hamilton leads the MLB in stolen bases yet he's not in the discussion to be in the ASG

Do you watch baseball?

What does wins and losses for position players have to do with their All Star status? I'm totally with you that Todd should start but that's not even close to a reason for why he isn't playing.

And Billy Hamilton doesn't have a lot going for him because he has a .221 AVG/3 HR/18 RBI/31 R to go with his 31 stolen bases and above average defense. He also hits 9th behind the pitcher because he is just that bad. Should he make the All Star Team? Possibly, if you're taking into consideration that the game is supposed to be about winning home field advantage and there is no better base stealer. But should he start? Absolutely no way in the frozen waters of hell.

---

In regards to Byrne , I'm not totally disagreeing with you. Every year there are a ridiculous amount of terrible picks to start in the ASG and everyone gets left off the team. Yeah, there are some shit things like Aoiki > Stanton, Carpenter > Frazier and Arenado, Matt Adams somehow being a top 5 vote... but these screw ups are normal when idiot fans vote. I mean... we are talking about the same fans who voted Mike Schmidt into the All Star Game in 1989 AFTER HE RETIRED A MONTH INTO THE SEASON...

I'm just more pissed off because everyone on the American League is a Royal, which honestly defeats the purpose of me watching the game. If I want to see the Royals play, I will just watch the Royals. This is supposed to be a game that honors the players with the best seasons of the game and to attract casual fans to see the best players from the entire league all in one spot. It's supposed to be fun and different. And not only are they giving it to players who don't deserve it... but they're twisting the game into being something it's never meant to be. ESPECIALLY in the era of parody in the sport...

 

[Captain Skywalker]

Do you watch baseball?

What does wins and losses for position players have to do with their All Star status? I'm totally with you that Todd should start but that's not even close to a reason for why he isn't playing.

And Billy Hamilton doesn't have a lot going for him because he has a .221 AVG/3 HR/18 RBI/31 R to go with his 31 stolen bases and above average defense. He also hits 9th behind the pitcher because he is just that bad. Should he make the All Star Team? Possibly, if you're taking into consideration that the game is supposed to be about winning home field advantage and there is no better base stealer. But should he start? Absolutely no way in the frozen waters of hell.

---

In regards to Byrne , I'm not totally disagreeing with you. Every year there are a ridiculous amount of terrible picks to start in the ASG and everyone gets left off the team. Yeah, there are some shit things like Aoiki > Stanton, Carpenter > Frazier and Arenado, Matt Adams somehow being a top 5 vote... but these screw ups are normal when idiot fans vote. I mean... we are talking about the same fans who voted Mike Schmidt into the All Star Game in 1989 AFTER HE RETIRED A MONTH INTO THE SEASON...

I'm just more pissed off because everyone on the American League is a Royal, which honestly defeats the purpose of me watching the game. If I want to see the Royals play, I will just watch the Royals. This is supposed to be a game that honors the players with the best seasons of the game and to attract casual fans to see the best players from the entire league all in one spot. It's supposed to be fun and different. And not only are they giving it to players who don't deserve it... but they're twisting the game into being something it's never meant to be. ESPECIALLY in the era of parody in the sport...

I'm not a huge baseball fan as I am basketball/football but I do know a bit about the sport and my team but I don't have a lot of in depth knowledge about stuff like determining what reasons certain players have to get into the ASG but Todd Frazier should AT LEAST make the team let alone start.
Also, I'm not a fan of any of the AL teams but I will say that if most of the AL "all-stars" are on Kansas City, it does defeat the purpose of watching it, I'll agree on that. I think the All-Star Game voting should only be done by certain experts or the players themselves so we don't get that bullshit.