Let's Talk About Baseball!!!

Non-Phish General
#1

I know that there are more than a few baseball fans around here!

Rather than starting a “MLB 2017” thread, I thought it would be better to just have all baseball talk from here on out going on in here. This way when someone (Me) makes a bold (stupid) prediction it will be really easy to find that prediction and throw it back in their (my) face.

Prediction: Aaron Judge will be the biggest star in the league by the start of the 2018 season, and he will be bigger than Mike Trout by the end of this season. ESPN will talk incessantly about how Ruth-esque Judge is during the off season. Opening day will prominently feature Aaron Judge. I firmly believe that Mike Trout has been the best player in all of baseball for the past 5 years, and I believe he will continue to be the best player in baseball for many more, but since he is languishing in Anaheim and doesn’t go out of his way to make himself visible, and Aaron Judge is wearing pinstripes so he doesn’t have to go out of his way to make himself visible, Mike Trout will fade into the middle of the pack, while quietly being the best baseball player on Earth.

Prediction: The Cubs will pick up a Top / Middle of the rotation guy before the deadline, and will win the NL Central. 2017’s NL Central is not the same as 2015’s NL Central. We will see a Cubs / Dodger rematch in the playoffs, but this time it will go the other way.

I have heard that The Cubs are looking at Verlander, Cueto, Sonny Grey, and Chris Archer. It is a little difficult to get excited about Verlander, who has a 4.96 ERA and 2 years at $20 million a year contract. Kate Upton makes that prospect a bit more attractive. Sonny Gray is not exactly the model of consistency, but he is not a free agent until 2020 and he is cheap… real cheap. Cueto would be under contract for a long time, but The Cubs would have to trade some serious assets, and assume a $100m contract for an arm with a ton of miles on it. Chris Archer is the best bang for your buck here. He is pretty consistently a 3.50 - 4.00 ERA guy, and he would be under contract through the 2019 season. Unfortunately the Rays might think they have a shot at the Wild Card spot because it is still completely up for grabs.

#2

Sadly, when your team is awful it’s harder to get into the dog days of summer. Been a lot of bad hitting, pitching, defense and base-running with the Tigs…so they’re bad at basically everything. It’s just about waiting to see which guys they dump off. I’ve been assuming it’s be Michael Fulmer since he’s about the only good starter and he makes nothing but his contract is really, really nice and he’s not a free agent until like 2022 or something so it may be almost too good to trade.

I have heard that The Cubs are looking at Verlander, Cueto, Sonny Grey, and Chris Archer. It is a little difficult to get excited about Verlander, who has a 4.96 ERA and 2 years at $20 million a year contract.

I’ve been legitimately surprised to hear the JV rumors and I’m not sure I buy them. We’ve been assuming for a while that his contract made him mostly untradeable. I mean he’s had about 1 and a 1/2 good years in the last 4/5 years though some of that has been due to injury but the fact that he followed up last year’s “comeback” with another mediocre season is a bummer. Not sure why folks want him unless they think they can “fix” him in some way. Of course, knowing our luck, we’d trade JV and he’d just kill it on the Cubs.

#3

ESPN’s golden boy wins the HR derby, should be interesting to see how the rest of the year fairs for him.

My Buccos are 7 games out, but it’s a little misleading. I’ve watched almost every game this year and couldn’t tell you how many times our bullpen blew a lead. We have one of the best relievers but the rest are shit, and the skipper took forever to finally make Rivero our closer. We got Marte coming back soon and Cutch has been killing it. Man I hope they don’t trade him. With as weak as the central has been, if we could get a couple more hot bats there might be a chance in hell.

#4

Aaron Judge is doing things that no rookie has ever done and it is damn impressive, but we are only talking about a 100 game sample size. I do have some Judge fatigue.

The Pirates are kind of a tough read this year. Going into the season, I saw them as “sellers” by the break, and they would deal Cole for a king’s ransom. This was based on the idea that The Cubs would run away with the NL Central, but they suck and the rest of the division is pretty bad too. I don’t know if the Brewers are the real deal, but The Pirates could make a run for the division once they get Marte back.

Also, good for McCutchen! I’ve always liked this guy. He is one of the best players in that franchise’s history, and he is reminding them what his worth is. (Or he is driving up his trade value.)

#5

ESPN’s golden boy wins the HR derby, should be interesting to see how the rest of the year fairs for him.

That was pretty impressive, really. After Justin Bour went off for 22 HRs I was thinking it’d be funny how both of ESPN’s overhyped dudes were going to be both out in the first round. And then he went up and just crushed 22 of his own with like 25 seconds to spare. Then won the next two rounds easily. Dude’s living up to the hype. I’ll admit the guy reminds me a little too much of Texeira but we’ll see how it goes.

Also, I never thought I’d say this but I wanted Berman back last night. I’m not sure if it was loud where the announcers were but they were yelling for the entire broadcast, which is especially bad when a female is one of those yelling. So much of it was them just trying to yell over each other.

#6

Ok, so when I posted my thing about the possible trades for top of the rotation pitching, I intentionally omitted Quintana, because Sox management has stated within the past couple of years that they would not make a deal with The Cubs. I figured they wouldn’t even take Jed’s call. Then… BANG! Blockbuster trade. Quintana for Eloy Jimenez (who is going to be a stud), a Top RHP prospect, and two other living bodies.

Good deal for both teams.

Quintana is guaranteed through 2018 with team options in 2019 and 2020.

Let’s start this comeback Cubbies!!! :sunglasses:

**AL Central should be on notice. As much as I hate to say it, The White Sox are going to be tough to beat in 2 or 3 years. They have been stockpiling young talent in the exact same vein as The Cubs in 2011-2014. **

#7

Being a longtime Yankee fan, the Judge focus is about all the fans have at the moment since the pitching has been limping along for over a month now. I hope that focus doesn’t continue the put the stress that it must have on this kid. I remember what happened to Strawberry and Gooden from being NY superstars. Would love to see Judge have a Jeter type career, but we’ll see. NY is a tough town to play for.

#8

Then… BANG! Blockbuster trade. Quintana for Eloy Jimenez (who is going to be a stud), a Top RHP prospect, and two other living bodies.

We were hearing rumors of Verlander to the Cubs here which always seemed weird since he’s got like a 5 ERA now and is still owed a bunch of cash. So, yeah, it looks like he’s safe with Q going there instead. Quintana’s been kind of shitty this year but I’d assume the Cubs are thinking he’ll turn it around. Plus Joe Maddon’s a wizard so he’ll just wave his wand and make Quintana all better.

I do find it interesting that the White Sox got basically the same trade package for Quintana that they got for Sale.

**AL Central should be on notice. As much as I hate to say it, The White Sox are going to be tough to beat in 2 or 3 years.

Yes, because this has happened so many other times that the Sox have had a fire sale. Call me crazy for thinking that I’ll take a “wait and see” approach on this. The whole “trade your stud for prospects” thing seems to fail more times than it succeeds.

#9

Pirates are finally playing to their potential. I knew they would get hot at some point, I just hope they can keep it up. I went to two games around the Phish show in the Burgh during the series where they swept the 1st place Brewers in 4 games. Would love to see them really go for it and get another starter before the trade deadline but I doubt they will. The bullpen I complained about earlier in the thread has turned it around. I think they said at one of the games I was at that the bullpen has the best combined ERA in the bigs in July. Hard to believe. Exciting stuff. Gonna be a blast watching the NL Central unfold. Even got the MLB channel yesterday so I can keep up with the whole league better since ESPN is 90% NBA coverage- gross.

#10

HAHAHA

I’m not going to lie - I love basketball. I wore a Kobe jersey to Northerly night 2, and not ironically. I loved (post Shaq) Kobe. I think the current state of basketball is not very compelling with the trend of big markets (and Cleveland) spending big money to build super teams. (If Derrick Rose joins Cleveland, 4 of the 6 active MVPs will be on either the Warriors or the Cavs.) The NBA isn’t like the MLB or NHL where crazy things can happen in the playoffs - like a 8 seed or a wildcard team beating a top seed in the first round. The Warriors lost one game in the playoffs, The Cavs lost one game before the Finals. Also, the backstage drama that exists in all sports, unfolds in front of the cameras in the NBA, making it feel like a soap opera. And don’t get me started on Lavar Ball…

But that isn’t why I came here. Your Pirates, especially if they turn into buyers, have a serious shot at the NL Central. I was stoked during that 4 games sweep of The Brewers. That said, I do still think it is going to be The Cubs, just not comfortably. Lester, Arietta, and Quintana are formidable, and if Hendricks ever gets healthy they will be a force to be reckoned with.

I’m still hearing Cubs trade rumors revolving around Zach Britton, but The Cubs don’t have any more pieces in the farm system to deal. I don’t know if the O’s would be asking for a player from The Cubs major league roster, like a Schwarber, Happ, or Baez, but I doubt Theo/Jed would be willing to move a major league player (except maybe Tommy La Stella).

The Cubs are also badly in need of a second catcher.

#11

Even got the MLB channel yesterday so I can keep up with the whole league better since ESPN is 90% NBA coverage- gross.

After this recent string of firings, it really does feel like ESPN has decided to “specialize” in certain sports. Which is ridiculous for the “worldwide leader” but they gave up trying to be a “sport news” organization long ago. I do love basketball but I don’t think ESPN’s TV coverage is that good. I like their gameday group with Beedle and Jalen and they have some good writers on the website (love Zach Lowe) but most of their coverage is pretty poor or generic.

I think the current state of basketball is not very compelling with the trend of big markets (and Cleveland) spending big money to build super teams. (If Derrick Rose joins Cleveland, 4 of the 6 active MVPs will be on either the Warriors or the Cavs.)

It’s just a phase, though. People rant and rave about Jordan’s titles but they forget how much of a “foregone conclusion” those were too. Lakers/Celtics in the 80’s was just as one-sided as well, especially for the Lakers. Yes, it’s Cavs/Warriors right now but it won’t last forever and I don’t mind these teams trying to put up “super teams” to beat the Warriors…at least they’re trying.

(Though, the Cavs can have Derrick Rose…that dude’s been done for a few years now. He won’t help them one bit. Same with these rumors about them grabbing Wade).

As for Lavar Ball, I kind of find him funny. He just comes off as a “hype man” for Lonzo kind of like Muhammed Ali had…and it’d be more of an issue of Lonzo was like his Dad but he seems to be a down-to-earth normal kid. Lavar’s a pro at keeping himself in the news and he knows what he’s doing with the crazy comments.

The Cubs are also badly in need of a second catcher.

Ya’ll can have Alex Avila. Making nothing and hitting well this year.

#12

NBA isn’t even a sport to me anymore, it’s a soap opera.

Well Pirates got out of Denver without getting swept. Hoped Nova would be able to get the second W yesterday but he’s been slipping a little bit lately. That stadium is such a home field advantage. Also Polanco got hurt which is a major blow. Front office said it should be a matter of weeks not months though. Luckily they’ve got a stretch against some of the worst teams in baseball right now, hoping they can go on another run here, but we’ll see.

#13

NBA isn’t even a sport to me anymore, it’s a soap opera.

I’d say that applies to most sports…the NFL certainly tries to be this every year. For once, they had a quiet offseason since it didn’t involve them trying to suspend Tom Brady.

Verlander pitched last night and the announcers were acting like it was a funeral since they thought it could be his last start due to all the trade rumors. I thought it was a bit premature since I’m not at all convinced they’ll trade him and I don’t get why any contending team would want a guy with a 5 ERA who is owed a ton of money. I guess we’ll see on it.

#14

^ It probably does apply to most sports to an extent, but nearly as much IMO. At least the Brady stuff was about on the field trouble, and not someone just saying me me me. The NBA coverage is about pumping egos and individuals’ brands, one of the main headlines on my ESPN app last night was about Lebron getting a Pizza endorsement or some shit. Did I just defend Tom Brady? :sick: Anyways let’s get back to what the thread title infers.

I don’t really get all the Verlander stuff either, for the same reasons you’ve already stated. Although I could see him going elsewhere and becoming the Verlander of old statistically speaking, but I don’t know if it’s worth the risk for the cash necessary to find out. That said, teams like the Yanks and Cubs probably aren’t too worried about that. I would love to see the Pirates go for it, but at the same time I don’t think this squad is quite good enough to make a real push in the playoffs (if they make it) unless they give up a lot of the talent in the farm system. But at the same time, if they got another solid starter and reliever that might just be all they need. The bats are hot right now. I’ll be watching this Sox/Cubs series closely, and hoping the Pirates can get payback for that Giants sweep before the All Star break.

#15

Just when you thought he was done

#16

The NBA coverage is about pumping egos and individuals’ brands, one of the main headlines on my ESPN app last night was about Lebron getting a Pizza endorsement or some shit.

Yes, I don’t blame the NBA on that…that’s on ESPN or sports media for reporting that garbage as though it’s relevant to basketball. Because of this 24/7 sports media everyone has to jump on any detail on anyone and report it as news. But, at the same time, I find it very easy to ignore that and I do…so maybe it just doesn’t bother me. Avoiding social media in general and avoiding most ESPN likely means I miss a lot of that.

I don’t really get all the Verlander stuff either, for the same reasons you’ve already stated. Although I could see him going elsewhere and becoming the Verlander of old statistically speaking,

Yeah, that seems to be the only reason. Just someone thinking JV will turn it around or maybe some manager thinking he can fix him. But you can do that with most 5 ERA pitchers…

#17

Let’s talk about baseball? Let’s talk about how the Padres are 25 games out of first in the NL West, and the Giants are 29 games out. On second thought, let’s NOT talk about baseball!!!

And yes, ESPN totally over committed on basketball and now they’re paying the price, hence, all the layoffs a few months ago.

Every major sports league is going through some financial difficulties right now and it’s hurting that sport. Hard for me to articulate it concisely, but the bottom line is bigger revenues, not a better product. The Rams couldn’t even get 20K in the seats last year, although California is a huge state in terms of population, so the solution then is to put a very crappy team along side them (the Chargers). Godell wants that SoCal market so bad, but SoCal doesn’t care. Same with hockey. I’m a HUGE hockey fan, but getting a team in Vegas doesn’t make sense. The Coyotes are ALWAYS in the red financially, so a good solution is to put ANOTHER team in the Mojave…

#18

^^ I’m not blaming the sport of basketball. Obviously basketball is still a sport, but the individuals in that league are so full of themselves it’s absolutely disgusting. And the media coverage around the league encourages that behavior. And don’t kid yourself, the NBA loves all the attention they’re getting and I’m sure Stern (if he’s still the commish) has no problem with all the petty drama surrounding his league because it’s getting the leads on all the sports networks. So to an extent I do blame the league, but yeah there’s not much they can do about all their best players being primadonnas. I don’t know how you can watch non-specialized sports networks and avoid what’s going on with the NBA.

^ Hard to feel bad for the Giants when they got 3 titles in 5 years. But yeah the future does not look bright for them. I don’t know how the Pirates got swept by them right before the All Star break, but I’m hoping they can return the favor this week. My Buccos are coming to SD, I think this weekend, you should catch a game Sean…they can be a pretty fun team to watch right now

#19

I’m thinking I might Levi. I like all Pittsburgh teams except the Penguins!

#20

I doubt The Cubs make a move for Verlander, even though they have the money to make the move. Cubs management is looking down the road to when they have to pay Bryant ($400m?), Rizzo($250m?), Baez, and Contreras and maybe Schwarber and Russell. They talk about squirreling some money away right now, but that could all easily be misdirection.

Avila on the other hand - I would like to see The Cubs get that done.

The Cubs have looked decent since the break (barring one disastrous inning), so of course they look like shit playing against the worst team in all of baseball…at home. The Cubs left 12 runners on base, and were 0 - 10 w/RISP!!!