Frayed Knot

Edgy MD wrote: This game needs some badass Lino Urdaneta action. Ah yes, one of many in the line who was going to be much better than Armando Benitez (according to some)

bmfc1 wrote: Not that I expect Sandy to do anything but theoretically, what would it take to get Starlin Castro? Young pitching most likely. Theo's going to want some arms to replace the two he just lost and the Chicago system is just the opposite of ours: not many arms, lotsa bats. As Gary mentioned, the Cubs now have three potentially good young SS: their incumbent Castro, the more power hitting (though having a tough year to date) Javier Baez in their own system at AAA Iowa, and now Russell from Oakland.

Edgy MD wrote: Gotta get Laggy in to pinch-run for Abreu here, right? I was thinking that as soon as he got to 1st, but it's a short bench to begin with and Terry already swapped Youngs via the double-switch last inning. Short benches suck. ... and now it doesn't matter!!!!!!!!!!!

That deal's a Wow and a half!! The pre-season polls ranked Russell, a SS, as the 12th (Mayo @ MLB), 3rd (Keith Law), 14th (BA), 7th (BP) & 5th (John Sickels) best prospect in all of baseball IOW, he's considered to be pretty good. Had recently been moved up to AA Midland in the Texas Lg.

Amazing how many plays our infield has almost made over the past week or so.

Four base runners for the Rangers this inning and they've yet to get the ball out of the infield. oe: now five

Ashie62 wrote: Vic Black?....we could use Marlon Byrd about now... So after needing two pitchers to get through the first five innings you want to go eliminating some of the remaining choices (and one with a 1.62 ERA no less)?

bmfc1 wrote: From last night's A's-J's game: the 1B umpire blew a call against Oakland, the call was overturned, but it still cost Oakland a run. In other words, Toronto profited from a call that was overturned and therefore didn't exist. Read on: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/07/04/a-strange-replay-in-oakland-reveals-a-big-hole-in-the-replay-rule/ IOW, there was no fair way to "fix" a play because it turned out that everything after the disputed call was affected by the call itself? Now who could have possibly seen THAT coming?

Edgy MD wrote: Lucas' homer was a case in point of the stupid placement of the railing on the Party City Deck. It forced a replay when the rail knocked the ball back into play, and it robbed the outfielder of a chance at making a pullback play. I would have blown both HR calls tonight ... if, y'know, I was required to umpire through the TV screen from my chair.

Ceetar wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: The real question is how Irish's date is going. Be sure to offer her your sweatshirt if it gets chilly out there (which it probably is). according to Facebook he's doing a lot of roaming. Him, or his hands?

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: themetfairy wrote: Make it Darvish against Torres. After giving up a leadoff homer to Choo, later in the first inning Niese is hurt by a batted ball.... whoa I missed that. Is he ok? Hard to tell. Got smoked in the ribs on his left side by a liner back up the middle. Ball bounced back towards the plate so it was a solid shot. In all, it was a long-assed 1st inning considering 'only' four runs were scored.

Oh that crazy Joe Maddon - the Tampa manager known for his 'theme nights' and road trips costume parties. Well apparently last night was some sort of '80s theme as his lineup went like this: CF - Jennings SS - Zobrist LF - Joyce 3B - Longoria 1B - Loney DH - Belnome RF - Kiermeyer C - Hanigan 2B - Figeroa Now if you look at the first seven spots in the lineup and we take the liberty of assigning the DH the value of zero then the lineup reads: 8675309 I'm surprised they didn't get Tommy Tutone to sing the anthem. Unfortunately for the Rays, Tiger hurler Max Scherzer held the Tommy Tutone lineup to two hits. Final = 8-1 Detroit

Darvish was supposed to pitch last night in Baltimore but the Rangers switched up their rotation at the last minute based on fears about rain interruptions washing out his start so we get him instead. As if our hitters aren't having enough problems.

I guess after averaging 108 losses over the last three years, a season that's on pace for only 95 qualifies as progress ... of a sort. That said, Houston is getting praise in some circles for breaking down their entire team and starting over (although that was a strategy that had more to with the previous owner looking to sell the team than about any baseball-inspired ingenuity) AND they've brought up a couple of good young players recently and look to be a much better team by the time we see them in the final series of the year than they were when the Yanx met them in the season opening series (although a 15-14 May remains their only winning month so far), AND their farm system is considered stacked to produce more talent in the future (three consecutive 1/1 draft picks helps immensely in that regard). Of course there's also a big gap between talking about what could happen and knowing what will happen, so declaring this whole process to be a success already is a bit of a case of premature jocularity.

But they ARE finding and punishing guys. All of them? ... Of course not. What percentage? ... I have no freakin' idea and I don't know if anyone does. But is there a number that need to be caught before you no longer dismiss the system as show and tell or do you reach the conclusion first and then adjust the data accordingly? And if you say they're not really interested in catching anyone what is it you think they're not doing? Not testing when they claim they are? Ignoring positives? Finding positives but not acting? And while you can dismiss all the Aceves types you want, you also need to acknowledge that some of the most recent names include the likes of Braun, Rodriguez, Peralta, Cruz, Ramirez, Colon, etc.

What's more is that it sounds like if they catch and punish guys, either by testing or by outside evidence, then you interpret it as evidence that its nothing but pr rather than them caring, and yet if they fail to catch and punish guys it's Proof that it's all for show and that they don't care. Sounds like you've got yourself an air-tight case right there. The bottom line is, that in barely a decade's time, MLB has gone from no testing and a union that refused to even consider the topic or admit that there was a problem, to no-penalty testing, to light penalty testing, to the toughest testing in any sport and the most players suspended in any sport, to a union which requested yet still harsher penalties (even though it was between CBA negotiations) upon seeing the latest round of guilty players going on to sign contracts after their suspensions were complete.

Ceetar wrote: ahh, I never realized there were caught by the testing process too. Some of those named in the Biogenesis records were, others were not. " Sometimes they play that stuff fairly close to the chest for best interest. (not suspending them until the did they went through the paper trails too)" -- That's not what happened. Those who were caught via testing were suspended then. Those who were caught via leaked paper trails were suspended after the processing of that evidence came out. Those named in Biogenesis who were previously suspended because of testing did not receive a second suspension. "I never understood why they don't suspend a guy immediately upon failed test." -- Because there's an appeal process if the player wants to use it. Normally you don't even hear of a positive test until after the appeal has played out, so a guy getting suspended today may have come up dirty weeks ago. In the Biogenesis situation, because the info came via a public newspaper and not from within MLB, that process was largely flipped around. "Still, A-Rod did not fail a test, and Bosch told him "You won't fail a test". -- Again, no one is claiming the the testing process is perfect. But that's hardly the same as saying it's nothing but a show pony. "Baseball really doesn't care at all about what their players are using, just that they look like they care." -- I don't believe that's even remotely true.

One of the players who helped keep the Yanx afloat, particularly in the absence of ARod, was the surprise early season performance of Yangervis Solarte. He became a bit of a presence on the prospect boards too with YLDBs pestering the editors about why Solarte wasn't landing higher on the various prospect lists. The replies were that he's 26 y/o (27 next week) journeyman with not much positional value who had shown nothing in the minors that showed he was capable of sustaining his initial success. And, indeed, after hitting ~.300/.370/.460 (17 XBH) in April & May, he crashed to around .150/.280/.200 (3 2Bs) in June/July leading to a demotion to the minors as of today.

Ceetar wrote: ... but the bigger 'issue' I'd think is that Biogenesis was completely confident they could beat the testing system, and that they DID beat the testing system. That hadn't occurred to me previously, which probably should've been the bigger issue all along. not that A-Rod and others were taking stuff, that it was clearly very very possible to take stuff and not get caught. Well, some of them DID get caught. When the Biogenisis papers got released and named names, several of those names (including Colon) had already been nabbed by the testing process. Others were caught only via the paperwork. And this whole testing process is always going to be a game of cat and mouse. I don't believe that makes the testing system a joke, just not perfect.

The Padres, as a team, hit [u:14gcknq4].171/.237/.255[/u:14gcknq4] for the entire month of June - apparently the worst such hitting stats for a team/month in 90-some years. And yet they somehow managed to win 10 (10-17) although I suppose winning twice while getting one-hit (see above) was a big part of that.

Yeah, this leak leaked a couple days ago so folks have had a chance to go through a bunch of it. And the early word is that it's pretty embarrassing to the Astros, not just for the fact that it leaked in the first place but that they apparently kept notes on everything which included their wishes for every trade they considered some of which were pretty ridiculous: like do you think we could get Trout for ______, or Buster Posey for _______, etc.

This is starting to take on the stench of 'High School Signing Day' that gets far too many supposed adults slobbering over the potential future athletic exploits of teenagers so that they can walk around with their chests puffed out a bunch of Saturdays next fall. But anyway, the Mets signed a bunch of 16 y/o Venezuelan short stops and pitchers. I don't believe any of them were among the highest rated available prospects--although, as Jerry Seinfeld once said to Lloyd Bridges; 'Who knows how official any of these rankings really are'. So learn the names Yoel Romero, Edgardo Fermin, Jhoander Chourio, Daniel Guzman, because there's a alight chance you might hear of them again in like five years. There are team bonus caps in int'l signing these days which carry 50-100% penalties depending on how far you go over plus reductions in future years. So the Yanquis, knowing their bonus situation but also acknowledging the age of their roster and the state of their farm system, signed about a thousand guys including most of the big budget ones going like 457% over budget. And if you think the draft is a crap shoot, here's a list of the highest bonuses ever paid out to non-professional int'l players. Some good ones in there of course (and maybe more still to come) but successes are hardly the majority. John Sickels' list, my comments Michael Ynoa, 16, RHP, 2008,Athletics, Dominican Republic, $4,250,000 Miguel Sano, 16, SS, 2009, Twins, Dominican Republic, $3,150,000 -- currently one of the top prospects in baseball, although missing this season injured Gary Sanchez, 16, C, 2009, Yankees, Dominican Republic $3,000,000 Rafael Rodriguez, 16, OF, 2008,Giants, Dominican Republic, $2,550,000 Yorman Rodriguez, 16, OF, 2008,Reds, Venezuela, $2,500,000 Wily Mo Pe�a, 17, OF, 1999, Yankees, Dominican Republic, $2,440,000 -- not just a big contract as a teenager ... but a MAJOR LEAGUE CONTRACT that forced them to rush him beyond any logical reason Joel Guzman, 16, SS, 2001, Dodgers, Dominican Republic, $2,255,000 Angel Villalona, 16, 3B, 2006, Giants, Dominican Republic $2,100,00 -- I believe was at one point arrested for manslaughter back in the DR Juan Duran, 16, OF, 2008, Reds, Dominican Republic, $2,000,000 Adys Portillo, 16, RHP, 2008, Padres, Venezuela, $2,000,000 Guillermo Pimental, 16, CF, 2009,Mariners, Dominican Republic., $2,000,000 Jose Vincio, 16, SS, 2009, Red Sox, Dominican Republic, $1,950,000 Miguel Cabrera, 16, IF, 1999,Marlins, Venezuela, $1,800,000 -- turned out pretty well for a fat boy Jesus Montero, 16, C, 2006, Yankees, Venezuela, $1,650,000 -- amazing how bad the trade for him and Pineda worked out for both sides Jackson Melian, 16, OF, 1996, Yankees, Venezuela, $1,600,000 -- I remember Suzyn Waldman crowing about how good this guy was going to be ... because, y'know, the yanqui brass told her so Jurickson Profar, 16, SS, 2009, Rangers, Cura�ao, $1,550,000 Ricardo Aramboles, 16, RHP, 1998, Yankees, Dominican Republic, $1,520,000 Luis Sardinas, 16, SS, 2009, Rangers, Venezuela, 1,500,000 Michael Almanzar, 16, SS, 2007, Red Sox, Dominican Republic $1,500,000 Esmailyn Gonzalez, 16, SS, 2006,Nationals, Dominican Republic., $1,400,000 Fernando Martinez, 16, OF, 2005,Mets, Dominican Republic., $1,400,000 Willy Aybar, 16, IF, 2000, Dodgers, Dominican Repubic $1,400,000 Carlos Triunfel, 16, SS, 2006, Mariners, Dominican Republic, $1,300,000 Luis Domoromo, 16, OF, 2008, Padres, Venezuela,, $1,250,000 Juan Urbina, 16, LHP, 2009, Mets, Venezuela, $1,250,000 -- currently in Brooklyn Chesler Cuthbert, 16, 3B, 2009,Royals, Nicaragua, $1,200,000 Roberto De la Cruz, 16, 3B, 2008, Cardinals, Dominican Republic., $1,100,000 Julio Morban, 16, OF, 2008, Mariners, Dominican Republic, $1,100,000 Kelvin De Leon, 16, OF, 2007, Yankees, Dominican Republic., $1,100,000 Alvaro Aristy, 17, SS, 2008, Padres, Dominican Republic, $1,000,000 Jharmidy De Jesus, 17, SS, 2007, Mariners, Dominican Republic., $1,000,000

Mets Guy in Michigan wrote: So the question is how many of them will get injured doing nothing today. Not sure, but I predict as many clutch hits today as we get most days.

The bigger question is: I wonder when was the last time they were at sub-.500 in the 2nd half of a season? They've had some bad starts before even in some of their dominant years (the year Zimmer had to fill in for Torre comes to mind) but eventually righted the ship before too long meaning that we may have to go back to the early '90s to find them under the midpoint past July 1st The only report I've read so far says that this is the latest in the season they've been under .500 during the Girardi era - but I'm sure it goes back much further than that. And the answer about when the last time the New York Yanquis were below .500 after July 1st turns out to be ... ... when they were 42-43 after losing in extra innings to the Blue Jays on 7/7/07 (not so lucky a day after all, eh?) Funny that I don't remember them struggling so much in the 1st half of that season [9-14 in April, 13-15 in May despite Mussina, Pettitte, Clemens, CM Wang (the good version) a still-good Posada, Jeter, Cano, ARod, Matsui, and the arrival of a savior named Joba] in what would turns out to be Torre's final season. Of course they then went on to go 56-28 over the 2nd half finishing 94 wins and the Wild Card (before a 1st round loss to Cleveland). Prior to that we need to go all the way back to when they were 60-61 on 9/5/95 - before going on to finish 19-5 and win the first ever AL Wild Card

Murphy - 1.3 Tejada - 1.0 d'Arnaud - 1.0 EYoung - 1.0 Campbell - 1.0 Germen - 0.4 Eveland - 0.3