2009 MLB Thread

[hugman]

I have one qualm with that Nike map, there is no way that Texas Rangers territory is that huge.

yup. you could lop off that entire area over where it says rangers and assign it to the cards and royals.

[nec13]

Probably a ton of Yankees and Red Sox fans there, as well.

[hugman]

Holy Moly, Cards pitching has allowed 2 runs in 5 games.  Unbelievable.  Bats starting to heat up a little in last two games as well.

[nec13]

The Cards will definitely make a run in the NL Central. There really aren't enough superlatives for Dave Duncan. Looks like Rasmus is starting to pick it up. He's gonna be a great one.

The Mets have some huge problems with half their roster on the DL. And I have never seen a worse defensive team. Starting pitching after Santana is dicey, as well.

Oh well, maybe they'll get the bad baseball out of the way in May and June and make a run in September.

[hugman]

The Cards will definitely make a run in the NL Central. There really aren't enough superlatives for Dave Duncan. Looks like Rasmus is starting to pick it up. He's gonna be a great one.

The Mets have some huge problems with half their roster on the DL. And I have never seen a worse defensive team. Starting pitching after Santana is dicey, as well.

Oh well, maybe they'll get the bad baseball out of the way in May and June and make a run in September.

I'm hoping for something akin to the 2006 regular season, minus the end of the season collapse.  I'm sure you can relate.

The way the NL central looks so far, 85 wins could actually be enough.

[nec13]

As there appear to be no "great teams" this year, I would say that any team (with a few exceptions) has a shot at getting to the playoffs and winning the World Series. The field is wide open.

[jbissell]

Holy Moly, Cards pitching has allowed 2 runs in 5 games.  Unbelievable.  Bats starting to heat up a little in last two games as well.

Well, the Cubs aren't exactly hitting these days.

[hugman]

Holy Moly, Cards pitching has allowed 2 runs in 5 games.  Unbelievable.  Bats starting to heat up a little in last two games as well.

Well, the Cubs aren't exactly hitting these days.

Neither are the Royals. Not the past two days, at least.

[nec13]

jbissell, do you think that the Cubs still have a good shot at trading for Jake Peavy? I think that's where he wants to go.

[jbissell]

jbissell, do you think that the Cubs still have a good shot at trading for Jake Peavy? I think that's where he wants to go.

The whole ownership thing is still in limbo right now and I just don't see them adding his big contract.  Honestly, as much as I wouldn't mind adding Peavy to the rotation, that's pretty much the least of their worries right now.  The bullpen is mostly a disaster and with Ramirez out, the offense is really struggling.  I thought it was a big mistake when they traded DeRosa and I certainly haven't been proven wrong.  Fontenot is a nice guy coming off the bench but I think it's pretty clear that he's not an everyday starter.  Aaron Miles is garbage.  Soto is either still playing hurt, going through a sophomore slump, or was a serious aberration last year (god I hope not).  Lee is a shade of his former self but he's not going anywhere.  Bradley has been a huge disappointment.  A trade for a quality pen arm, preferably a lefty, is probably the most logical move for them to make right now since they're pretty much locked in on offense and just have to hope everyone gets their shit together.

[hugman]

jbissell, do you think that the Cubs still have a good shot at trading for Jake Peavy? I think that's where he wants to go.

The whole ownership thing is still in limbo right now and I just don't see them adding his big contract.  Honestly, as much as I wouldn't mind adding Peavy to the rotation, that's pretty much the least of their worries right now.  The bullpen is mostly a disaster and with Ramirez out, the offense is really struggling.  I thought it was a big mistake when they traded DeRosa and I certainly haven't been proven wrong.  Fontenot is a nice guy coming off the bench but I think it's pretty clear that he's not an everyday starter.  Aaron Miles is garbage.  Soto is either still playing hurt, going through a sophomore slump, or was a serious aberration last year (god I hope not).  Lee is a shade of his former self but he's not going anywhere.  Bradley has been a huge disappointment.  A trade for a quality pen arm, preferably a lefty, is probably the most logical move for them to make right now since they're pretty much locked in on offense and just have to hope everyone gets their shit together.

Have you read that supposed conversation that some dude had at a bar with a very troubled Aaron Miles?

[nec13]

I read that. If that story is true, it just goes to show that while baseball players may make millions of dollars to play a child's game, they're human beings that have to deal with problems. Like the rest of us.

Also, Omir Santos is money.

[yesno]

What is the FOT opinion on:

* Unbalanced schedule

* Interleague play

I have no strong opinion on the unbalanced schedule.  It achieves a kind of parity through its very unfairness.   It's the wrong kind of parity, though: you want more teams to be good, not bad teams making the playoffs.  Anyway.  But it seems like if you're going to have divisions an unbalanced schedule is not the end of the world.  Why not just have the teams with the four best records in the league make the playoffs and get rid of divisions entirely?  It's a structural unfairness but maybe a necessary one.

Unlike interleague play, where a lot of the "unfairness" that's complained about is just dumb scheduling. If there were a way to fix the scheduling to avoid unfairness, I don't see how there's room to complain. I don't see how you could do that, though, short of making every team in a division play all the same opponents, which is probably impossible.  I really don't like the "boring matchups" argument against interleague.  The matchups aren't boring to the fans of those teams, for one. It's inherently interesting for me to see a matchup between my team and a team they rarely play, even if that team is not that great.  (Neither is mine, but still.)  It only seems to be the baseball press that disdains "boring" matchups; fans of the respective teams don't seem to mind them.  And the "World Series should be the only interleague game" argument has a weird purity to it, but baseball is entertainment.  We'll never get to see some matchups that way.  There's no reason to forbid for eternity certain games in devotion to some abstract principle.

[nec13]

Interleague play was cool for a while. But I would rather scrap interleague play and see more intra-league, non intra-divisional games. However, at the same time, I can see the value in interleague play. I do like some of those rivalries. I would prefer MLB got rid of it, but if they want to keep it, it wouldn't bother me.

I definitely don't like the unbalanced schedule because it's killed lots of once-great rivalries, particularly in the National League. For example, Phillies-Pirates, Mets-Cardinals, Mets-Pirates, Dodgers-Cardinals, etc.

[jbissell]

jbissell, do you think that the Cubs still have a good shot at trading for Jake Peavy? I think that's where he wants to go.

The whole ownership thing is still in limbo right now and I just don't see them adding his big contract.  Honestly, as much as I wouldn't mind adding Peavy to the rotation, that's pretty much the least of their worries right now.  The bullpen is mostly a disaster and with Ramirez out, the offense is really struggling.  I thought it was a big mistake when they traded DeRosa and I certainly haven't been proven wrong.  Fontenot is a nice guy coming off the bench but I think it's pretty clear that he's not an everyday starter.  Aaron Miles is garbage.  Soto is either still playing hurt, going through a sophomore slump, or was a serious aberration last year (god I hope not).  Lee is a shade of his former self but he's not going anywhere.  Bradley has been a huge disappointment.  A trade for a quality pen arm, preferably a lefty, is probably the most logical move for them to make right now since they're pretty much locked in on offense and just have to hope everyone gets their shit together.

Have you read that supposed conversation that some dude had at a bar with a very troubled Aaron Miles?

Hadn't heard about it but I just read it.