MLB Thread

[Emperor Smeat]

Baring some small possible tweaks and vote changes, schedules for next season are already done.

Red Sox's opener is away like this year with the twist being they start next season the same way they end this season (away at Celevland). Interleague is NL West + Braves for next year.

[Bad News Gertner]

Jays bats should destroy Boston this series.

[screech]

Feel like almost anyone's bats could destroy Boston rn

[poopfromweiner dude]

Clay buttholez

[Evil Vito]

The final All Star ballot update for both leagues came out today and the player ballot has been distributed, so I did some last-second tweaking for my predictions for the rosters that will be revealed in the next week. I’m doing this keeping in mind the convoluted voting process: starting position are voted by fans, players vote in a backup at each spot along with 5 SP and 3 RP, manager fills out the rest of the team making sure every team has a rep and there have to be a minimum of 13 pitchers. 33 players named plus 5 final vote candidates, and then of course injury subs and all that shit comes afterwards.

American League

Elected Starters

C: Salvador Perez, Royals
1B: Miguel Cabrera, Tigers
2B: Jose Altuve, Astros
SS: Alcides Escobar, Royals
3B: Josh Donaldson, Blue Jays
OF: Mike Trout, Angels
OF: Lorenzo Cain, Royals
OF: Alex Gordon, Royals
DH: Nelson Cruz, Mariners

Today’s ballot showed Donaldson and Cruz pulling ahead of Moustakas and Morales, and I expect it to stay that way as fans attempt to overrun the Royals. Infante still leads at 2B right now but only by like 300k votes. I can only assume people are voting for Infante as a joke at this point but I feel like he’s bound to get surpassed, or MLB will cleverly manage to veto some of his votes to avoid the embarrassment. I’d argue that there are better starting options on the bench than Perez, Altuve, Escobar, and Gordon – but I don’t object to any of them being on the team so whatever. Way better than the 8-Royal lineup of a month ago.

Player Ballot

C: Stephen Vogt, Athletics
1B: Albert Pujols, Angels
2B: Jason Kipnis, Indians
SS: Jose Iglesias, Tigers
3B: Manny Machado, Orioles
OF: Jose Bautista, Blue Jays
OF: Yoenis Cespedes, Tigers
OF: Adam Jones, Orioles
DH: Edwin Encarnacion, Blue Jays
SP: Chris Archer, Rays
SP: Sonny Gray, Athletics
SP: Felix Hernandez, Mariners
SP: Dallas Keuchel, Astros
SP: David Price, Tigers
RP: Zach Britton, Orioles
RP: Wade Davis, Royals
RP: Glen Perkins, Twins

As of last week I had Iglesias getting snubbed off the team due to his low RBI totals which aren’t his fault, but the more I’ve read the more it sounds like his amazing glove and high BA aren’t lost on the players, so I’m glad to fit him in. Vogt and Kipnis get some much-deserved love as the best hitting players at their respective positions. Machado feels like the clear-cut choice to back up Donaldson. Pujols, Cespedes, and Jones all have good numbers as well as a reputation. Bautista is another reputation pick, guys will likely overlook his low BA in favor of the really good power numbers. Backup DH is weird. Fielder would be the easy pick if he weren’t listed as a 1B on the ballot. A-Rod would absolutely warrant the pick based on numbers but I imagine him being a giant cunt will cause him to lose votes. Morales is probably the best all-around DH left but I wonder if all of this Royals voting controversy has created a bias amongst the players…so I just went with another big low BA power bat in Encarnacion.

Archer, Gray, Keuchel, and Price all feel like total locks based on their numbers alone. Felix hasn’t been quite his normal self but is still having a strong year in a pretty weak league for pitching in the AL, plus he has the reputation to get player support. Perkins and Britton are in as the current AL saves leaders. Set-up men have been elected by players in recent years and Davis’ ERA is so comically low it jumps off the page, so I think he’ll be voted in by his peers.

Managerial Selections

C: Russell Martin, Blue Jays
1B/DH: Prince Fielder, Rangers
UTIL: Brock Holt, Red Sox
SP: Chris Sale, White Sox
SP: Edinson Volquez, Royals
RP: Dellin Betances, Yankees
RP: Huston Street, Angels

Fielder is the easy choice to represent the Rangers. I figured Bogaerts would be Boston’s rep and I wouldn’t object to that, but looking at the numbers Holt plays most days, is a very good role player, and his ability to play anywhere makes him a more attractive option for the bench. Martin is tabbed as the third catcher over McCann for his defensive acumen.

Sale is the slam-dunk option for the White Sox rep. Weird to realize there’s not a Yankee rep by this point either, and Betances would have been a criminal snub anyway. Feel like Yost will want to carry one extra “official” closer so Street gets the nod. The remaining starting pitchers on the board are kinda “samey” so Yost uses his token homer pick on Volquez.

Final Vote
SP: Carlos Carrasco, Indians
SP: Michael Pineda, Yankees
RP: Brad Boxberger, Rays
RP: Will Harris, Astros
RP: Darren O’Day, Orioles

Yost probably still has a beef with Kazmir from the Royals/Athletics incidents earlier, so he is left off. Odorizzi and Andrew Miller would have been considered but are currently on the DL and might not be available for the game anyway, so Boxberger and Pineda get the chance to give their teams a second rep instead. Yost seems old school enough to still think the wins stat actually matters for pitchers, and he already has Pineda on there despite the 4+ ERA, let’s thrown on Carrasco as well with his 9 wins. Yost loves his specialists, so Harris and O’Day seem like sensible candidates to round off the field.


National League

Elected Starters

C: Buster Posey, Giants
1B: Paul Goldschmidt, Diamondbacks
2B: Dee Gordon, Marlins
SS: Jhonny Peralta, Cardinals
3B: Todd Frazier, Reds
OF: Bryce Harper, Nationals
OF: Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins*
OF: Matt Holliday, Cardinals*

The only change I have from the fan ballot released today is Frazier going in over Matt Carpenter. Frazier gained huge ground in the last week and I think he’ll end up getting the nod and rightly so. He’s having an amazing year and I feel like it’s a real shame when the host team doesn’t get a starter in the game. Holliday has actually pulled away from Aoki a bit so I figure he’ll hang on to his elected spot but it really doesn’t matter as he and Stanton are hurt and will need to be replaced in the lineup anyway.

Player Ballot

C: Yadier Molina, Cardinals
1B: Joey Votto, Reds
2B: Kolten Wong, Cardinals
SS: Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies
3B: Nolan Arenado, Rockies
OF: Andrew McCutchen, Pirates
OF: Joc Pederson, Dodgers
OF: Justin Upton, Padres
SP: Madison Bumgarner, Giants
SP: Gerrit Cole, Pirates
SP: Zack Greinke, Dodgers
SP: Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers
SP: Max Scherzer, Nationals
RP: Aroldis Chapman, Reds
RP: Mark Melancon, Pirates
RP: Trevor Rosenthal, Cardinals

Same rules apply as with the player voting in the AL really, it’s about more than just numbers – a well-known guy with a reputation having a good season usually has a better chance than a less-known guy having a slightly better year. Molina, Votto, Tulo, McCutchen, and Upton all qualify as guys that would be getting the reputation vote, but I certainly wouldn’t object to any of them making it. McCutchen probably winds up starting at CF with 2 outfielders out. Arenado is ridiculously underrated but I think the players will recognize the brilliance of his numbers. Pederson’s power numbers would make him an alluring choice for the players. And I guess Wong gets the 2B slot over Panik in a very close call.

Ignore Kershaw W-L record and what the media is trying to tell you about him coming back to Earth this year, he’s still leading the league in K’s and even if he didn’t, do you really think the players aren’t going to vote the reigning MVP in? Similarly, Bumgarner is deserving to make the team anyway but last year’s heroics get him voted in outright. Scherzer, Cole, and Greinke are locks. Melancon is leading the league in saves. Rosenthal’s overall numbers are the best of any closer in the league. Chapman has a boatload of K’s in the pen and a reputation of a guy nobody really wants to face.

Managerial Selections
C: Derek Norris, Padres
1B: Anthony Rizzo, Cubs
SS: Brandon Crawford, Giants
3B: Kris Bryant, Cubs
OF: Nori Aoki, Giants
OF: AJ Pollock, Diamondbacks
SP: AJ Burnett, Pirates
SP: Jacob deGrom, Mets
SP: Shelby Miller, Braves
RP: Jonathan Papelbon, Phillies
RP: Francisco Rodriguez, Brewers

Normally Bochy would make 9 selections here, but since Stanton and Holliday are going to be out I’m sure he already has an idea of who he’d take with the extra 2. Rizzo is a must-have, and since this gives the NL 3 1B I figure you can allow Votto to play his normal position for his home crowd in relief of Goldschmidt later in the game, freeing up Rizzo to be in the starting lineup as the DH. Pollock is having an incredible under-the-radar season. Norris is in for his power. Nothing against Matt Carpenter, but the Cubs really feel like a team that should have a second rep, and Kris Bryant is a guy people will want to see and is therefore "best for business". Bochy is left with 2 spots and has 3 of his own guys I could justify making it: Crawford, Aoki, and Panik. In the end, he goes with Aoki and Crawford. I could easily see him starting Aoki in left with Holliday not playing.

4 teams left without reps at this point. Miller and deGrom are really easy picks for the Braves and Mets. If I may go on a homer rant of my own, it fucking sucks that I have Jeurys Familia not making the team. He’s clearly a top 3 closer in the NL this year. But alas, the “every team needs a rep” rule rears its ugly head as K-Rod and Papelbon are basically the default Brewers and Phillies reps. Burnett rounds off the field as he’d seem to be having way too good of a year to ignore – if he were to get squeezed out of the roster somehow it’d probably be for a guy like Michael Wacha.

Final Vote
1B: Freddie Freeman, Braves
1B: Adrian Gonzalez, Dodgers
2B: Joe Panik, Giants
3B: Matt Carpenter, Cardinals
OF: Starling Marte, Pirates

With the 13 pitcher requirement met I assume he’d just load up the ballot with position players of different types and let their respective fan bases settle it. I can’t really argue against any of these guys being considered for what amounts to the 34th spot on the roster. If Bochy does leave the door open for a 14th pitcher to be added, the aforementioned Familia should be on the poll. Drew Storen or another Bochy guy, Santiago Casilla could also warrant consideration. If he wants to go outside the box he could even nominate a utility guy (Justin Turner) or a set-up guy (Tony Watson or Kevin Siegrist).

[Evil Vito]

NL was way harder to pare down than the AL. NL has a ton of guys that could be viewed as snubs simply because the league seems pretty deep with talent. There are always a bunch of guys who have to back out with injuries, and the NL seems pretty well prepared to replace guys if needed.

In the AL, the biggest snubs are probably Hosmer and Moustakas, which is kinda funny given everything that happened with the voting this year. Hosmer is just in a deep position with no fewer than 3 guys who feel like locks ahead of him. Moose's best chance is probably if Bogaerts is elected over Iglesias, then Holt's spot could potentially go to Moose over Iglesias (which is how I had it going down as of last week). Could also make a case for Josh Reddick. Oh and Brett Gardner. Really weird to imagine the Yanks possibly only having one rep...must've been decades since that happened.

[ClockShot]

CC Sabathia is 3-8 on the season. Who would have thought it got this bad?

Now starting to see the Yankees maybe grabbing a starter at the trade deadline. But don't want Cashman to purge the farm for what could be a rental.

[Emperor Smeat]

Angels expected to fire their GM soon with the main reason due to the constant heated arguments between him and manager Mike Scioscia regarding how the team should play and player moves.

Last straw was a recent meeting that soured quickly with the coaches and then followed that by sending an ultimatum to the owner which backfired badly.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/13...eneral-manager

[Evil Vito]

Mets were shut out last night for the 8th time this season. It was also their 4th 1-0 loss of the year.

Cannot even imagine the level of pressure this young (plus Colon) rotation puts on itself knowing that giving up 1 run at any point might mean a bump in the L column.

[screech]

Speaking of the Mets, happy payday to Bobby Bonilla!

[poopfromweiner dude]

@big Vito pls rank the bomb ass mets arms

-Harvey
-Syndegaard
-deGrom
-Wheeler
-Matz
-Montero

???

[road doggy dogg]

COLON #1

[road doggy dogg]

awwww sheeit son

Matt Moore and Jose Fernandez both starting tomorrow. 'ell yeah

So many D&D moves to make

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Brockstar is an All-Star! Probably taking Pedrioa's rightful spot.

[Evil Vito]

Originally Posted by poopfromweiner dude @big Vito pls rank the bomb ass mets arms -Harvey -Syndegaard -deGrom -Wheeler -Matz -Montero ???

If we're talking what they've done in their career to this point...I'd actually put deGrom at #1. He actually has had better overall numbers than Harvey through the same number of starts. Pretty scary to think about.

Long-term though, I still have to view Harvey as #1. I've seen enough of deGrom to slot him in at #2. Syndergaard at #3 with ace potential. Matz a dynamic lefty at #4. Wheeler is mainly #5 because I worry about how he will do in his TJS recovery and I wonder if he'll revert back to the beginning of his career when he struggled mightily with command. And Montero is easily #6. He picked up a shoulder injury and seems to have vanished into the Springfield Mystery Spot.

Worst part about Montero's injury is that if he were healthy he could be a legit trade chip. As it is right now, nobody has any reason to not demand one of the Mets' current "big 4" in exchange for a big bat because everybody knows they're desperate for offense.

[Evil Vito]

Originally Posted by screech Speaking of the Mets, happy payday to Bobby Bonilla!

What often gets overlooked is that the money saved by not buying out Bonilla outright they freed up money to justify trading for Mike Hampton, who was brilliant in helping the Mets reach the 2000 World Series. Then the compensatory draft pick the Mets got from Hampton signing with the Rockies wound up being David Wright.

So without the Bonilla buyout, they may have never wound up with the best hitter in franchise history.

[road doggy dogg]

really excited for Fernandez vs Cain tomorrow

If I wasn't already planning on skipping out of work early Friday I'd take an extended lunch tomorrow too

[ClockShot]

Angels canning DiPoto was a bit a dumb move. Not even 2 days on the job he does the impossible and brings in Albert Pujols off of free agency.

So I guess this means Scioscia is safe for a little while longer since there's been whispers over the past few seasons his time there was drawing to a close.

[Evil Vito]

I've never heard Keith Hernandez get this annoyed watching a game. Straight up groaning at every fly ball hit by both sides as both teams continue to be inept at scoring any runs. Then capped it off with an "oh, great..." under his breath as the Mets grounded out with 2 outs in the 9th.

0-0 in extras. my god.

[Damian Rey]

DiPoto didn't sign Pujols, CJ Wilson and Josh Hamilton. That was Moreno getting far too involved in player acquisitions. The farm was crippled and had zero depth, and DiPoto did his damndest to fix that. Re acquired Tyler Skaggs, got Hector Santiago and Andrew Heaney.

Supposedly Scioscia and his coaching staff are impossible when it comes to taking statistical data and passing it along to the players. Apparently the out of touch Scioscia wins again.

Bad press for the angels. No would be gm is going to take that job when old school stubborn dinosaur of a manager rules the roost.

[Evil Vito]

Thor, deGrom, and Matz are legitimately the best hitters on the bench for the Mets. But Collins never ever considers using a pitcher to PH. Instead he just throws out Eric Campbell, Darrell Ceciliani, and Johnny Monell who all look completely hopeless at the plate.

At this point I can only assume Sandy has told Collins he can't PH his pitchers. All because of that fluky Wainwright injury.

[Droford]

Orioles still in first place. Yeah

[Evil Vito]

Mets July schedule after this series is over:

3 @ Dodgers
3 @ Giants
3 vs. D-Backs
3 @ Cards
3 @ Nats
4 vs. Dodgers
3 vs. Padres

Fucked.

Bombing out this month might be the best thing that could happen. Would pretty much guarantee Collins gets fired, and might actually make Sandy (who only acquired 2 of the "big 5" pitchers both on no-brainer deals and has whiffed on every single free agent he's signed) realize that you need more than just pitching to get to the playoffs.

[road doggy dogg]

Carrasco gets one out away from a no-hitter

Have him on two of my fantasy teams. So close

[Frank Drebin]

deGrom/Arrieta tomorrow after 1-0 and 2-0 (11 innings) games.

[Frank Drebin]

Originally Posted by Vito Cruz Mets were shut out last night for the 8th time this season. It was also their 4th 1-0 loss of the year. Cannot even imagine the level of pressure this young (plus Colon) rotation puts on itself knowing that giving up 1 run at any point might mean a bump in the L column.

1 run in 29 innings this series vs Cubs. Cubs sweep all 7 games vs Mets. Sorry, Vito.

[Evil Vito]

And the Mets face Kershaw and Greinke in the next 2 games. I will be shocked at any run that scores against those 2.

[ClockShot]

Cardinals ax their Scouting Director for his involvement in the Astros hacking scandal.

This goes deep, apparently.

[Bad News Gertner]

Lol Matt Boyd's starting pitching line for Jays tonight:

0 innings, 6 hits 7 runs 1 walk.

That is incredible.

[road doggy dogg]

That might be the worst line I've seen since Porcello got lit up by the Angels a couple years ago. Think he managed to get an out though lol

[road doggy dogg]

@Gertner going to Jays/Tigers game tonight. My buddy from Hamilton is a huge Jays fan and he got tix so we're headed down for the game. I fear that y'all gonna whoop us

[Evil Vito]

lollllllll god I hope they do more of these. The possibilities are endless.

[Bad News Gertner]

Lol Tigers were up 8-0 with a no hitter going and the Jays have just put up 6 runs

[Evil Vito]

Thor gives up a solo shot to Gonzalez in the 2nd inning. Dodgers have a 1-0 lead with Kershaw pitching.

Game over.

[Bad News Gertner]

Brad Ausmus is a terrible manager

[Evil Vito]

Jeurys Familia

[Emperor Smeat]

Miguel Cabrera out 6 weeks because of a calf injury.

[Bad News Gertner]

The Rays have a -4 run differential. The Jays have a +90. They have the same record at 42-40.

Fuck my life.

I hope ISIS takes out R.A Dickey.

[Droford]

The Orioles haven't scored a run in like 24 innings and now they're being no hit through 5..

[Evil Vito]

Oh shit, didn't realize Greinke could opt out of his deal after the season.

Feel like he'll wind up staying with the Dodgers anyway, but at an even higher price. They'll probably just sign Price too, making the early 2000s Yankees' spending habits look like the minor leagues.