2009 MLB Thread

[Gilly]

Any player who stands to lose 8 million dollars knows exactly what is going into his body. I can see a player who is new to the English language not knowing... maybe. But, with drug testing being headline news, 99.9 percent of the time players know exactly what is in the drugs and that's why they take them and the products that mask them.

[hugman]

I'm so fucking sick of the Cards offensive sluuuuuuuuump. It's fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuudge. Adam Wainwright only allows two hits over eight innings and get an L out of it.
I tivo all the games and whenever Khalil Greene is up I just fast forward.  I don't see how his average is over .200 (barely).
URGH!

[nec13]

You can't rely on two people to carry an entire lineup. Besides Pujols and Ludwick, the remainder of their starting nine is mediocre at best.

[hugman]

You can't rely on two people to carry an entire lineup. Besides Pujols and Ludwick, the remainder of their starting nine is mediocre at best.

That's horseshit.  Duncan's keeping pace with the likes of Utley and Soriano. If you think Duncan is "mediocre at best" you're judging him on his shitty year last year, which he was out for a lot of and was in serious pain when he was in. The jury is still out on Duncan. You could be right. But you could be dead wrong, too.  Your most glaring error of omission is Yadier Molina, who if you think is "mediocre at best" you obviously don't follow the NL central very closely and how far he's come offensively.  And Barden and Thurston platooning at third were two of the best hitting rookies in the league in april.  Skip Schumaker is hitting .310 while learnging a whole new position. I'll remember this when Colby Rasmus is an all-star, too.  The Cardinals led the league in average and runs in April, and they've had at least 4 rookies on their roster getting starts so far this year due to injuries.  Pujols and Ludwick didn't do that all by themselves.  It's actually hard to judge who you're even talking about as the "starting nine" because La Russa switches it around so much.

Regular Joe said it best: You're not as good as you look when you're winning, and you're not as bad as you look when you're losing (I'm sure he got it from somewhere), but it's still frustrating to watch.   

On a completely unrelated note, watching the Pirates in this last series, I gotta say, you've got a fun team to watch in Pittsburgh this year. McClouth can play some defense.

Edited to take out all those nasty things I said about your mother.  I was upset.

[nec13]

First of all, I'm a Mets fan. And I had no intention of riling you up. I really don't do that kind of stuff intentionally.

Secondly, "mediocre" was a poor choice of word on my part. The Cardinals have a lineup that I would consider to be in the middle of the pack in the National League, or above average. Pujols is a Hall of Fame player. Ludwick is a great player. Duncan and Molina are very good players. Although, Duncan has yet to stay healthy for a full season. But I don't think that the rest of their lineup is all that great. Skip Schumaker is an average second baseman. Brian Barden and Joe Thurston are AAAA bench-type players. I mean, there is a reason why he's bounced around between three different clubs before the age of 29. Colby Rasmus should be a great player eventually. But right now, he's just a rookie who is still developing. Khalil Greene is sporting a stout .610 OPS. Ankiel and Glaus are hurt right now and there is no guarantee that they regain their form after they return. I think that some of these guys are playing above their heads and that they will regress as the season continues.

Before the season, in another post, I predicted that the Cardinals would win 86 games. I stand by that prediction. However, because there are no truly great teams in the NL Central, that may be good enough to win the division. It may not be. I honestly don't know. But if I'm wrong, you can call me out on it.

I clearly pissed you off with my comment and I'm sorry for that. I was merely expressing what I believed to be an informed opinion. But if you're angry with the Cardinals, don't take that anger out on me.

[buffcoat]

Baseball sux, football rules.


And hockey.




And especially college basketball.

[nec13]

I like all of those sports. I just happen to like baseball the most.

[hugman]

First of all, I'm a Mets fan. And I had no intention of riling you up. I really don't do that kind of stuff intentionally.

Secondly, "mediocre" was a poor choice of word on my part. The Cardinals have a lineup that I would consider to be in the middle of the pack in the National League, or above average. Pujols is a Hall of Fame player. Ludwick is a great player. Duncan and Molina are very good players. Although, Duncan has yet to stay healthy for a full season. But I don't think that the rest of their lineup is all that great. Skip Schumaker is an average second baseman. Brian Barden and Joe Thurston are AAAA bench-type players. I mean, there is a reason why he's bounced around between three different clubs before the age of 29. Colby Rasmus should be a great player eventually. But right now, he's just a rookie who is still developing. Khalil Greene is sporting a stout .610 OPS. Ankiel and Glaus are hurt right now and there is no guarantee that they regain their form after they return. I think that some of these guys are playing above their heads and that they will regress as the season continues.

Before the season, in another post, I predicted that the Cardinals would win 86 games. I stand by that prediction. However, because there are no truly great teams in the NL Central, that may be good enough to win the division. It may not be. I honestly don't know. But if I'm wrong, you can call me out on it.

I clearly pissed you off with my comment and I'm sorry for that. I was merely expressing what I believed to be an informed opinion. But if you're angry with the Cardinals, don't take that anger out on me.

But I don't have a way to get a hold of the Cardinals.  It's all good. I edited the post to take out the part about you talking out of your ass after going back in the thread and realizing you aren't one to do that.  You have valid points.  Luckily the Cardinals do tend to play above their heads which is why we, the Cards fans, tend to think we can win it all every year.  But when something like 2006 happens, it doesn't really ground us in reality.  I spit on your spit, I piss on your spit, I shit on your piss, I fart on your shit, I laugh at your fart, WE ARE FRIENDS AGAIN.

[nec13]

You didn't have to edit your post. If you want to say that I'm talking out of my ass, do so. It doesn't bother me. We all have differing opinions. That's why we have this forum, so we can express those opinions.

Personally, I have no animus towards the Cards, not even after 2006. I was happy for them. It's a great baseball town and they were a great team. 

The Cards will be fine. They're one of the best organizations in baseball, after all. And they still have Albert Pujols. So it's not all bad. Right?

[Come on, Jason]

Lackey Ejected Two Pitches Into Debut

"Davidson immediately gave Lackey the heave-ho..."

[buffcoat]

I only like the Cardinals because if they won every Workd Series ever going forward, they would cat h the Yankees first.

[nec13]

The Rangers are no joke. The return they got for Mark Teixeira is one of the great heists in baseball history. Elvis Andrus, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and Matt Harrison are all contributing. Neftali Feliz is probably the best pitching prospect in the minors. Then on top of all that, they have Ian Kinsler, Josh Hamilton, and Chris Davis.

It's their division to lose and likely will be for a few years to come. Great job by Jon Daniels and John Hart.

[Gilly]

They still are the only team in baseball who have never won a playoff series, so I won't believe in the Rangers until they do. But, I'm rooting for them.

[dave from knoxville]

As part of daily ritual, one thing I do is rank NL players everyday. (It supports my fantasy baseball habit; hip or not, my league is in season 26, we ain't stopping now).

Here's how the Cardinal's offense rates out as of today (determined by stats to date.)

2) Albert Pujols
24) Ryan Ludwick
64) Yadier Molina
68) Chris Duncan
88) Skip Schumaker
105) Brian Barden
106) Colby Rasmus
117) Rick Ankiel
122) Kahlil Greene
146) Brendan Ryan
172) David Freese


Nobody else is playing enough to register in this evaluation system. This is not really the profile of a highly efficient team.

Here's the pitchers, just for fun

12) Ryan Franklin
35) Chris Carpenter
44) Kyle McLellan
49) Kyle Lohse
52) Adam Wainwright
53) Joel Piniero
55) Chris Perez
63) Jason Motte
65) Dennys Reyes
77) Mitchell Boggs
109) Todd Wellemyer

This is their strength, a sledload of mid-level starters and solid middle relievers that will keep games close and give Pujols or Ludwick a chance to win it with one hit at the end.

[fonpr]

Related topic:  According to Leonard Mlodinow the World Series would have to a be least 269 games to ensure that the best team was crowned world champion.  In a seven games series the less talented team has a 20% chance of taking the four games necessary to capture the title.