Frayed Knot

Zvon wrote: Heeeeeeeeres Carson!

Frayed Knot wrote: During Friday's game vs Washington, Kyle Kendrick held the Nats to 2 runs and got the first two outs in the 7th, and Manuel still wound up using 7 pitchers to finish a 4-2 win. My point being that he pulled Worley here in a tie game and with a low pitch count in just the 5th inning so no telling how many he'll use ... and this is already a slow-ass game. Plus we've pretty much known for a while that Young wasn't long for this game.

During Friday's game vs Washington, Kyle Kendrick held the Nats to 2 runs and got the first two outs in the 7th, and Manuel still wound up using 7 pitchers to finish a 4-2 win. My point being that he pulled Worley here in a tie game and with a low pitch count in just the 5th inning so no telling how many he'll use ... and this is already a slow-ass game.

Ceetar wrote: Compare this to how they've struggled since losing A-Rod, even though he wasn't having a good year. They're 16-15 since ARod went out, although the only really good month they've had all year was their 20-7 June. The other months have been at or just above .500 with or without the Centaur wannabe. Plus this may have something to do with them not really missing him ARod for the season (400 PA) - .276/.358/.449 Chavez for season (250 PA) - .295/.353/.511 Chavez since the ARod injury - .352/.410/.592

Edgy DC wrote: Really, if I was a mind to view this trade with covetousness, I'd be jealous of the Sox fans, not those of the Dodgers. Their GM really made a name for himself here, packaging contracts people might want (Gonzalez) with those that are less attractive (Crawford, Lester). On the other hand remember that Gonzalez was a trade rather than a FA signing (actually, it was kind of both) so getting rid of him so quickly not only lost him but there were also the young guys who were sent away to get him who could still haunt the fans' memory. So on a night when Boston fans might be happy by seeing Beckett make his LAD debut by pretty much laying an egg (3 ER on 7 hits + 3 BBs in 5.2 IP) Sox fans also had to contend with seeing Casey Kelly (the main bait in the AG deal) make his ML debut with the Pads by shutting out Atlanta on 3 hits over 6

But we're not trying to have the minimum number of IL games because IL games are, by their very existence, far superior to all other games. Or so I've heard.

Both Brown and Polanco have been out recently but not DL'd. Both are possible for tonight and for the series. The other familiar face missing is catcher Brian Schneider So catching these days is the combo of Kratz (see above) and the just called-up Steven Lerud who actually hasn't seen action yet. 1B thru SS are the rejoined combo of Howard, Utley & Rollins with occasional helpings of Michael Martinez & Ty Wigginton 3B has been mostly Kevin Fransden who is somehow hitting .351/.402/.426 and the OF a mixture of Mayberry, Brown, Pierre and whichever Nix isn't on the Yanx And it should be noted that this crew just swept the Nationals.

So the Phils started dumping players such as Victorino & Pence at the end of July and August promptly becomes their best month of the year (15-10) Go figure. Tues - 7:05 Young vs Worley 96-9; 4.06; 1.49] ... certainly not matching his surprise rookie year effectiveness Wed - 7:05 Harvey vs Hamels [14-6; 2.99; 1.12] ... CY-caliber year Thurs - 1:05 Niese vs Kendrick [7-9; 4.12; 1.35] ... will be his 19th start of the season mixed in with 12 relief appearances

I was thinking about Yanqui fans booing Soriano as he walked off the mound last night, many of them no doubt thinking, 'This wouldn't have happened if Mariano hadn't a gotten hurt!' So I thought a bit of comparison was in order. Soriano, since he took over the closer's role in early May (and including last night's debacle) compared to Mariano 2011 version The innings are off because we're comparing a partial season to a full one so I'm going with rate stats rather than raw numbers IPH/9BB/9K/9ERAWHiPSvs/BlownSoriano40.27.32.09.11.991.0333/3Maiano61.16.91.28.81.910.9044/5 Of course we already know - from the bleacher bums to the fat man doing mid-days - what the counter-argument is going to be; 'Yeah but Mariano won't blow the ones that count like in the post-season and stuff' - to which there's no real reply (not one that'll satisfy them anyway) since it requires proving or disproving future negatives. But what this does show is that removing even 'the best closer of all time' hasn't really affected the team at all, and maybe that says as much about closers in general than about these specific ones or about the expectations of spoiled fans in particular.

Ceetar wrote: I see [bourne as] being a lot like Daniel Murphy. I'll take 'Players I couldn't imagine being more DIS-similar' for $600 Alex

Mex17 wrote: So say that Bourn commands somewhere in the $9-10 million range as a FA after making I think around $7 million this year. Bourn is a 29 y/o speedster and GG-caliber CFer who should be top 5 in MVP voting this winter coming up on probably his one and only chance at being a FA ... and you think he's signing for under $10mil?!?!?

Toronto, 2 runs down and a strike away from losing to the Yanx, gets a 3B HR from Colby Rasmus off of Soriano. He subsequently got booed off the mound for what it his 3rd blown save of the year (like Mariano would have fewer). Jeter countered with a leadoff HR in the bottom of the 9th to tie it, but the Yanx go hitless after that and the Jays win it in the 11th courtesy of an errant Derek Lowe pick-off throw. Rays lose but Orioles win (snapping the long ChiSox winning streak) so it's now Baltimore in 2nd 3.5 back and Tampa at 4.0

Ceetar wrote: that's how I know him. How most folks (at least of a certain age) came to know him (although the 'Pop-up' comments were added years later) JEgCkOfl4jE They were one of the first bands that became known (at least in this country) entirely via the then newly created MTV

Collin's ML debut (and subsequent demotion) inspires his first new blog entry in nearly two months, and it's is a good one http://adayolderadaywiser.blogspot.com/

But you also don't want to just go spending money for the sake of spending it. Three winters ago the Mets set their eyes on FAs Matt Holliday, John Lackey, & Jason Bay and wound up with the wrong one. But 2 out of the 3 turned out to be 'wrong ones' (not good odds) and, although there were plenty of folks saying at the time that they preferred Holliday, those things are only truly knowable in hindsight. The larger point being that they shouldn't go spreading cash all over the place if the main goal is merely to prove that they still can and will, or because some other team is doing it (how'd it work out for Miami this past year?), or to do it as a way to convince the masses to put down their pitchforks and torches. Probably the best lesson from 'Moneyball' is the idea that it's easier to recover from the player you fail to sign than it is to recover from the one you sign at the wrong price.

At this point ESPN has so "segregated" baseball to the point where it's treated like a specialized department within your company that's run by those few oddballs down at one end of the hall who no one really understands or socializes with, that it would be fine with me if the rest of their staff wold decide to just abandon covering the sport entirely. Because, aside from the BB2N crew plus the handful of baseball-only journalists they've got on the payroll (Olney, Kurkjian, Stark), the rest of the enterprise is so geared towards football & basketball that the bulk of the staff essentially falls into (or comes across like they do) one of two camps: the one where they're simply not all that knowledgeable or interested in baseball, or the one where they hold the sport in utter contempt -- and I don't particularly want to hear the uninformed or derisive opinions from either one. So while that whole 'bait-and-switch' tactic might get you on the air with some of the local hosts on the NYC affiliate of ESPN, I can't see it working with any of the national crew and I couldn't imagine why I'd want to talk baseball with any of them anyway even if it did.

John Sickels looks at McHugh's draft and minor league history and quite possibly the over-looking of his progress from some quarters New York Mets pitching prospect Collin McHugh made his major league debut last week, throwing seven shutout innings against the Colorado Rockies, allowing just two hits and a walk, while fanning nine. This comes on the heels of a strong season in Double-A and Triple-A.. Little-known pre-season to anyone but fanatic Mets fans, McHugh was completely left of the Baseball America Top 30 Mets prospect list for example, not even making their honorable mention category. I was more optimistic about McHugh and had him ranked 16th on my pre-season Mets list, but even as an optimist, I didn't expect the season he put together. Let's take a look. Remainder of article -- http://www.minorleagueball.com/2012/8/27/3271722/rookie-review-collin-mchugh-rhp-new-york-mets-scouting-report#storyjump

I'm surprised that Cowherd didn't simply follow this news with his usual 'go-to' move: opining that the Dodgers re-hiring the 84 y/o Scully is simply more proof that the only people that care about baseball are nearly dead senior citizens anyway.

Beato gets the call up from the Sox and pitches in Sunday's game he winds up going 2* innings, giving up 2 runs on 3 hits with a walk + 2 strikeouts ... and gets the win!! * a 1-2-3 6th; a 1 single/CS 1-2-3 7th; but then started the 8th: Single - Single - Walk before being pulled, 2 of which later scored

Hefner 4.8 Davis - 4.4 Duda - 0.15 Shoppach - 0.65

Pirates, stumbling in the midst of a 9-15 August, currently sit 1/2 game behind the Dodgers, 2 games behind StL, and 4-1/2 behind Atlanta for the two WC spots (not to mention 8 full in back of division-leading Cincy) Tonight they start a 3-game series at home vs St Louis. Winning 2 of 3 seems like a minimum requirement. On the other hand, on this date last year the Cardinals were 10 games in back of the Braves

It's also not known at this time whether the way the Dodgers are proceeding constitutes a good plan - in either a business or baseball sense. Most people were stunned by the $2+ billion price tag just to get the team. Now supposedly there's new TV money on the way which, when combined with imported and domestic stars, promises to keep the good times rolling for years to come. But that almost exactly describes what went on a decade or so ago during the previous Texas ownership, one that wound up ending in a sale via bankruptcy court a few years after previously deciding to sell their biggest high-priced star for about 50 cents on the dollar less than 1/3 of the way into his deal. From a baseball standpoint, the biggest winner is this recent blockbuster deal is probably the 2012 & 2013 Dodgers. But, depending on how things break, the biggest loser might be the 2016 & 2017 Dodgers.

Scully agrees to return for at least one more year. It's been several years since he cut out traveling east of Denver to do games, but that still allows him to do all the home games, all NL West road games, the 'Freeway' series games in Anaheim, plus the occasional road games in Seattle or Oakland -- so that's got to be close to 3/4 of them.

Baseball America's synopsis on the minor league players headed to Boston DeJesus is older and less prospect-y than I realized so it appears to be the pitchers, rather than him, who are the centerpieces of this deal. Boston is also getting Troy Loney although he can be a FA at the end of this season. Allen Webster, RHP - Age 22 Ht.: 6-3. Wt.: 185. Selected by Dodgers in 18th round of 2008 draft; signed June 11, 2008. Webster fanned 8.5 batters per nine innings to rank among the Double-A Southern League's leading starters this season. Combine that ability to miss bats with his groundball tendencies�he allowed only one homer and notched a near 2-to-1 groundout-to-airout ratio in his 22 starts�and he profiles as at least a mid-rotation starter or dominant reliever. Converted from shortstop once he turned pro, Webster sits at 92-94 mph with a fastball that sinks and bores in on the hands of righties, while his mid-80s slider features late vertical break. Scouts expect his control and changeup to suffice in a starting role. The Red Sox must add Webster to the 40-man roster in November to shield him from the Rule 5 draft. Rubby De La Rosa, RHP -- Age: 23 Ht.: 5-11. Wt.: 205 -- Bats: R. Throws: R. Signed as international free agent by Dodgers, July 2, 2007. A late-bloomer in every sense of the term, de la Rosa signed out of the Dominican at age 18 and got sent home for disciplinary reasons during his U.S. debut season in 2009. The power-armed righty put things together in 2010, winning Dodgers minor league pitcher of the year honors and making his big league debut the following May. De la Rosa fanned a batter per inning during 13 appearances for Los Angeles as a rookie, but his season ended in early August 2011 when he had Tommy John surgery. He recovered quickly from the procedure and made it back to the Dodgers little more than a year after the surgery. Like Webster, de la Rosa has a high floor based on his raw stuff and control. He sits 92-94 mph, bumps 96, and at his best mixes in a biting slider and sinking changeup. He could develop into the stud closer the Red Sox thought they were trading for when they acquired Andrew Bailey and Mark Melancon last offseason. De la Rosa has three minor league options remaining in case he needs to iron out his control or secondary stuff at the outset of 2013. Jerry Sands, LF/1B -- Age: 24 Ht.: 6-4. Wt.: 225. -- Bats: R. Throws: R. Selected by Dodgers in 25th round of 2008 draft For what he lacks in pure bat speed, Sands compensates for with brute strength. He slugged 35 homers in 2010 to burst on the prospect scene (and tie for third in the minors), then followed that up with seasons of 29 and 24 homers for Triple-A Albuquerque the past two years. The righty-hitting Sands has provided serious pop versus lefthanders (.532 slugging) during a pair of trials with Los Angeles, but big league righties have completely neutralized him at .204/.301/.289 over 165 plate appearances. That split doesn't persist in Triple-A�where Sands has fairly even contact rates, walk rates and isolated slugging averages versus lefties and righties alike�but that could just be the difference in quality between pitchers Triple-A and the big leagues. (The split to monitor for all Albuquerque players is home/road, and on that front Sands batted .248/.319/.473 with 23 homers in 455 PAs away from Isotopes Park during 2011-12.) All of his value must come with the bat because he doesn't shine defensively or on the bases. Fenway Park could be the right venue to maximize Sands' pull-oriented hitting approach because even if he guesses wrong, pop flies to left field often crash off the Green Monster. Ivan De Jesus Jr, 2B/SS -- Age: 25 Ht.: 5-11. Wt.: 200 -- Bats: R. Throws: R. Selected by Dodgers in second round of 2005 draft De Jesus missed the majority of 2009 with a broken leg, and the lost season seemed to also break his momentum to the big leagues. He spent the bulk of the past three seasons in Triple-A�he'll be out of options next spring�batting .301/.354/.416 in 1,266 PAs for Albuquerque and proving capable defense at second base, shortstop and third base. (He batted .264/.315/.348 with five homers and 30 doubles in 649 PAs away from Isotopes Park.) De Jesus throws well enough to play the left side of the infield on a part-time basis, but his quick feet on the double play and average range make him best suited for the keystone. His contact-oriented hitting approach and well-below-average power would not meet the standard of a first-division second baseman, but he's well-equipped to handle a utility role.

THOUGHTS ON THE GAME!!!! 1 - I believe that's the Mets first walk-off win since sometime in the Carter administration, although I'll have to check on that 2 - Ike has been the entire offense in two of the last three NYM wins. That 2R HR v Washington that they won 2-0 and now this one 3 - I had no problem letting Hefner bunt in the 8th and then try to close it out. Didn't work out is all 4 - Obviously even a mediocre throw from Shop-Vac gets Altuve stealing. 5 - But he makes up for it with the block of the plate!!!! Haven't seen one of those for a looooooong time, Met games or otherwise. 6 - Putting someone in for defense for Duda is a thought but his spot was also sked to hit 3rd that inning. You really want Bay there instead? 7 - The accurate throw by Duda makes all the difference there so he gets points for that and points for what's gotta be the first NYM OF assist in like 3 months 8 - Still would like to see it lower just to give the infield the option to cut it off (not that they would have done that here). Time is what matters on those throws, not distance. 9 - Parnell threw 18 pitches there in the 9th inning but I don't think had even one swing-and-miss. Not a great sign 10 - If we didn't score in the 9th with the 3-4-5 hitters up I was going to be in a very sour mood because I thought that was our best chance and maybe our last best chance. Bonus Thought!!!! - That was so much fun I'm giving the entire team the day off tomorrow!!!!