There may be a rumor that Braves’ farm director Dayton Moore is being considered for a job with the Red Sox. I don’t know if that’s GM or (more likely) a deputy job.
I say “may be” a rumor, because I’m just going by people coming to this site via a search for some combination of “Dayton Moore” and “Red Sox”.
Here is the answer to our problems if Furcal leaves.
Trade Danny Kolb back to the Brewers for Bill Hall.
Hall is splendidly average at all facets of the game and cheap. Kolb, apparently knows how to pitch in the upper midwest. I doubt they’d take it, but Bill Hall is the poor man’s Chone Figgins, more pop, less speed.
Kolb is a free angent
Well, if aint broke, dont fix it.
Ok, new trade, Horacio for Bill Hall.
Kolb would be in his arbitration years, actually. It’s just that the Braves aren’t going to offer him arbitration because nobody’s that dumb.
The Klobb’s not a free agent. He’s arbitration-eligible, and if JS has any brains at all he’ll non-tender him.
Hey, you folks have to check out the 6-year free agents? The list is available at the minor league baseball site.
Did anyone realize that Andy Ashby actually played a little (very little) in the minors last season?
Other ex-Braves’ farmhands include: Aaron Herr (he actually hit 21 HRs in the Texas League in 2005), LHP Ray Aguilar, OF Cory Aldridge, LHP Micah Bowie, SS Ramon Castro (AA OBP machine and steroid abuser), RHP Brad Clontz, RHP and flash-in-the-pan Will Cunnane, OF and Chuck Lamar uber-tools demigod George Lombard, C Pascual “I still swing at everything” Matos, C Dax Norris, SS-3B and Lamar uber-tools project Robert Smith (a D-Ray great), RHP Billy “Pitch it in here! No, here!” Sylvester, and my personal favorite 1B-3B-OF Mike Hessmann.
I say bring back the Hessmonster! Than Mac can have another Herr Hessmann thread and everyone can accuse him of being cruel.
I think we need to show a bit more patience and see how the Furcal thing plays out. Word is that the Braves are trying very hard to get him to stay and that Bobby is involved. Let’s keep in mind that they have a somewhat father-son relationship. In addition, the day the Braves clinched the division and the champagne was waiting for them in the locker room, the entire team went into a room next door where Raffy was because he can’t be in any proximity that has liquor, based on the deal he struck with the authorities. Who knows what effect that may have on his thinking? Finally, how do we know if other Braves players like Andruw haven’t called him trying to convince him to stay?
I forgot about Cunnaneee. God, im so thankful Mike HEssman isnt around. I saw him rip a ball down the left field line foul. My buddy says, “he killed that one.” I reply, “he only has warning track power, a AAA super-hero”. Next pitch was grooved, he crushed it, the stadium rose to their feet, warning track. good riddance.
George Lombard was a double-whammy. Never panned out for the Braves and never played for the Dawgs because of signing that contract. It seems to me that Moore would be a pretty big loss although I thought the same thing when Chuck Lamar left – boy what a stinky job he did in Tampa Bay.
When are we going to sign Julio?
hopefully after we trade LaDouche and buy chipper some private lessons with the Crime Dawg.
On the plus side, at least Lombard didn’t turn into a superstar and give my Lovett friends something to crow about. I hear enough from Pace kids about Michael Barrett.
50lb, hilarious list. Billy Sylvester. Gotta hand it to the guy for hanging around as long as he has.
He may love Bobby like a father, but where are the Braves going to come up with the $40 million over 4 years that the Cubs are going to offer Furcal? The Cubs have lots of freed-up money without the contracts of Nomar, Burnitz, Remlinger, Hawkins, and the Cubs’ contribution to Sosa’s salary. Furcal fills two glaring needs for the Cubs–shortstop and lead-off hitter. I’m afraid we have no chance.
Didn’t Leo think of Bobby like a father?
Guys I dont like it either, but I dont see LaRoche going anywhere. If anything we might see a platoon of LaRoche/Marte because Chipper probably wont move. LaRoche is too cheap to move at this point. Question is do the Braves hold onto Franco just to be a pinch hitter?
Hell, i sometimes think of bobby as a father. but for $8-10 million I’d break his old knees. thats a lot of money to leave on the table. Furcal will be 32 when his next deal is likely signed, I think he knows this is his money year. I wont blame him for taking the extra dough.
Unlike Union-boy Tom, he wont turn his back on his team, the fans, and his children and run off to suck in NY for an extra few million. But if Raffy can get an extra 10 million to suck in NY, then I have no qualms.
I think the Braves will offer Raffy 9mil for 4 years and the Cubbies will probably offer Raffy 10mil for 4 years…for a stinky 1mil..and the comfort level raffy feels in being in Atlanta plus having BC to manager again…I sya he will stay.
George Lombard had a pretty good year playing for the Pawtucket Red Sox…but the Sox never called him up in September.
Dayton Moore will be a big lost to the Braves organization if he goes to the Red Sox. I heard Towers of San Diego has the inside track of being the new GM of the Red Sox..Plus Theo Epstein I heard may wind up with the Dodgers.
CSG, I’ve said this before, but a Marte/LaRoche platoon would be stupid because you’d have the better hitter with more upside getting 1/3 of the PA and the bad player getting 2/3.
Do you know what they can do with Dan Kolb…eat his contract or push him off the large building..the guy really screwed the Braves big time….Send him back to Milwaukee…I think the Brewers will take him back.
I just had the cool experience of watching The Actual Curt Schilling post on a message board. He came to Sons of Sam Horn in 2003 before his trade and has posted there infrequently since. His comments? “This F’ing sucks to all F’ing hell,” and intimating that he had a lot of conversations with Epstein over the past week (“10 in 7 days”) and that all the speculation about Lucchino and leaking and the rest of that crap is true. Granted, he only has one side, but he has a lot more info than anyone else who’s guessing(and BOY is he pissed off about all this, it’s pretty incredible). And Theo is not going to the Dodgers.
Losing Dayton Moore would really suck, I hope he doesn’t go to Boston. Our farm system has been a huge part of our success and losing someone who’s been such a big factor in it would be horrible.
Furcal? When they asked him about “hometown discount” in that interview and he laughed, it kind of made me think he won’t go for that. I like him and I wish he’d stay, but if the guy is dumb and selfish enough to get tanked up and try to drive TWICE, I don’t have a real high opinion of his thought processes. Maybe people do like him, but does he really care? I think he’s gone, probably to the Cubs. Possibly the Mets, but they’re high on Reyes and wasting Furcal’s arm at 2B is a crime. He would kill the first baseman.
What about Marte as the starting 1B with LaRoche as a backup? I don’t think that Chipper moves.
Sam, the Braves won’t offer Furcal 36 million dollars.
doubledawg are you just trying to start the Tom Glavine thing up again? pass. But you are right about Furcal. Love Bobby like a father, loves his teammates, loves Atlanta and apparently the night life there. But money is money and this is going to probably be his biggest contract, so thanks Raffy enjoy your next team. Loyalty is only as many pictures of dead presidents you get.
I swear to God, I’m thisclose to adding “Glavine” to the automatically banned list.
Umm, is there any way I can see this “automatically banned list”?
I didnt realize that was a hot button issue. Or perhaps just overly discussed. I do cheer for Tom when he’s back, but part of that is because I know its a guaranteed W. I’ll not mention it again.
Who do you think will top BA’s list of prospects for the Braves orginazation? Will it be Marte or a new face like Salty or James?
I think Chipper will move
It will be Marte or Salty, I’m pretty sure.
The automatically banned list is about 4000 entries long, though most are URLs and URL fragments. There are, I think, only four proper nouns that are banned, all doing with gambling or sex.
The only one I know is p0ker.
Mac, sorry man, should have let it pass without comment.
Smitty, having read a couple of interviews with Chipper, He aint VOLUNTEERING to move.
I’ve posited before that one way to get him over to first would be to re structure his contract.
IMHO the Braves have to find a way to get Marte some meaningful playing time. Y’all don’t think that they’ll trade him?
whoever posted about SoSH…which thread was that in please?
What Joey said, plus a variant version of the game played originally in Texas but now on ESPN. The other ordinary words are mostly prescription medications — about twenty of those, you can guess most of them. There are are couple of porn words. There is one main domain (dot-info, I can spell it out) which I banned because I’ve never seen any use of that except by spammers.
Braves add Schaeffer, Francisco, Shields to front office
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2214019
My parents changed my name to JoeyVioxxViagraTexasHoldEmPokerDotInfo T. You’ve made it pretty clear how welcome I am.
How the heck did you post that?
Mac and others, I’m probably stepping on toes here, but Marte has shown that he is better than LaRoche/Franco at this point. While I do think Marte will be better than LaRoche, he needs to earn the position. That’s why I dont think that Platoon will be that bad. Just because a righty might be pitching doesnt mean Marte couldnt play. You still could allow Marte more playing time than LaRoche
“Who do you think will top BA’s list of prospects for the Braves orginazation? Will it be Marte or a new face like Salty or James?”
With wonderboy, mccann, kj, boyer, langerhans, betemit, mcbride and davies all nonrookies now that list is going to look alo different.
speculation:
1. Marte
2. Salty
3. andrus
4/5 james/lerew (im not sure how id order em..keep in mind how many think james is only #4 starter)
6. devine (is he eligible?)
7. eric campbell
8. brandon jones
9 burrus?
10 thorman or prado
then in some order:
esquivel
escobar
max-ram
van pope
jake stevens (whose #s and stuff have slipped)
jm owings
parr
luis hernandez
matt harrison
sammons
brayan pena
jurries
and fill the list out with
other assorted Aball arms (beau jones, atilano, vines, morton, startup ect)
toolsy OFs that have sucked recently (duran, blanco, joseph, doetsch)
diory hernandez
kevin barry
tj pena
timmons
McCarthy
and some other fringies i left out
anyone know anything about paul bush (i assume this isnt the exWF closer turned blue jays starter or jairo cuevas btw) or jairo cuevas?
and what is gonzalo lopez up to these days?
throw JC Holt in that 2nd or 3rd teir as well…i was really disappointed that a guy with SEC experience would struggle so bad in lowA but the position change could have been a factor (though it started last fall and he hit wellin Danville then) but he did recover as the year went on
NMS, I think Harrison will be in the top 10. Depending on how long the list is, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Jamie Romak get some consideration. Lyman and Startup from the 2005 draft should get some noise as well.
Sickels will have his review of his Braves’ top twenty out on Sunday.
When and Where are the WInter Meetings?
mac, I looked up the “Hessman looks like a Nazi” thread in the archive. I’m still laughing about that a year-and-a-half later.
I’m saying let Julio walk and bring back Der Grosse Mensch, Herr Hessman.
Dallas, Dec. 5-8.
How did Kolb screw the Braves? He didn’t ask to be traded. Maybe he didn’t want to be traded. It was the Brewers that screwed the Braves.
I ARGEE WITH MRAC ITS THE BRUERS FALT!
Allegedly, the Mets are thinking about signing Julio.
Brandon Jones graded really high (50th) on Bob Reed’s big 60 list at JDM Scoresheet. He also has Salty above Marte.
Link
Allegedly, the Mets are thinking about signing EVERY FREE AGENT ON THE FREAKING PLANET.
Me, Oct. 10:
Julio makes more sense for the Mets going forward than for the Braves; the Mets are stuck with Minky as their first baseman while the Braves have options other than Minky Jr.
I think Furcal would only be back if JS manages to redo Chipper’s contract. Chipper’s contract is really too big for the Braves to stomach.
The Mets are not stuck with Doug M. His insults hurled at the Mets after the season may have been the last straw. They declined his option and he is a FA. Sounds like the plan is for Mike Jacobs to be a 1B with Julio as a backup in case things don’t work out with Jacobs.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/503/5687450.html
Mientkiewicz: “I don’t why they would pick up my option, but if they do, I might quit,” he said. “I’m serious. I don’t want to be back there.” … “I always thought Minnesota was a great place to play. After a year with the Mets, an organization that doesn’t have a clue, I know that for sure.”
Oh, and I concur with TN Brave – the Mets apparently do want every FA on the planet 🙂
Yep, that’s the Mets for you. “Moving Phillips and Piazza to first base worked so well, let’s do it again!”
NMS–enjoyed your list. Devine will probably be on there, even though he has yet to show that he can truly dominate at AA. But, Kelvin Villa, John Venters, Luis Atilano and Chris Vines all merit consideration–if not inclusion into any such list. Dal Canton raves about Villa (though his Myrtle Beach numbers were not impessive–unless age is factored in); Venters made a nice jump from GCL; Atilano got lots of useful innings; finally, Vines played much of the season underweight from some sort of flu. Under the circumstances, he actually pitched quite well. Your list probably has Atilano and Vines in the right place, but they could jump next season.
50 Pound Head is correct: Romak might get consideration–and should. Before injury he was on his way to a great breakout season. I might add that the Braves have always thought he has a great upside. While we are talking about outfielders who played for Danville, lets not forget John Mark Owings–who might advance up such a list.
One other pitcher worthy of inclusion Jung Ji Cho–who was utterly dominant until injury.
With respect to pitchers with high ceilings (BA seems to operate this way) don’t forget Jeff Lyman, and David Williams.
Last, I have also wondered about Gonzalo Lopez. Does anybody out there know the latest on Gonzalo or Ascanio or even Nelson Payano?
The good news is that even without such the players the Braves still appear to have a loaded system.
Comparing to the status of the farm system in the late 90s, the current situation is really enjoyable to watch. I am not sure about how large portion of the credit goes to Dayton Moore, but I sure don’t want to see him going anywhere else because I consider him a strong candidate to take over the Braves’ GM position eventually.
The system certainly looks better and it is not clear to whom the credit should be given. Probably it has to do with orgzantional improvements.
I might add that Dayton Moore has certainly had some fine drafts–especially compared with the relatively unproductive drafts of the mid-1990s.
What I find curious (and not yet addressed by Sickels) is the `draft and follow’ approach which the Braves have really made use of. The 2005 Draft may well be remembered for Devine,Jones,Lyman, Startup and Broadway (I hope), but the interesting thing was the Braves really invested in draft and follow. Compared with other organizations, the Braves signed a good number few players and after pick #13 (Quintin Davis–who also had a great start at Danville)they took only one (David Williams) player that they signed. Clearly, they are following many others.
I would love to see a discussion about this–because it is at least fun to believe that organization knows something that other mlb organziations don’t.
Finally, I forgot to mention that Zack Schrieber, Glenn Tucker (esp. after his AFL performance) belong on prospect lists. The jury is still out on Basner and Bush.
“NMS, I think Harrison will be in the top 10.”
I love Harrison personally i was just scared off by a lowish K rate in the Sally Leauge, though it very well could be an organizational approach as there were several starters with good stuff in Rome that didnt post huge k rates
Who are these Tucker, Williams and Lymans yall speak of? im intrigued
Lyman was one of the Braves two 2nd round picks. He was drafted 77th overall. He had a decent debut in the GCL, but was hardly dominating. Best that can be said is that his K:BB was 4:1.
I wonder if one of the reasons why the Braves took so many JC players as draft-and-follows is the rumored clapboarding of the GCL, AZL, and Appy League.
It sounds like that move is not going to happen in 2006, but I’m wondering if they drafted with that in mind. I’m assuming that if the Appy League goes away, the Braves will pick up a team in either the NY-P, the Pioneer, or NW League. Those leagues tend to be better suited for college or JC players and it could be possible that the Braves wanted to funnel these draft-and-follows directly there.
All I know is that the Braves probably have about 20 guys that they still retain rights to. The most impressive at this point is 22nd round pick Tommy Hanson, a right-handed pitcher getting ready to pitch his second year at Riverside Community College in California.
Having been good out of the pen at Myrtle Beach in 2004, Tucker pitched adequately at Mississippi and impressively in the AFL. He has compared to Brad Clontz (who would have looked ok in Atlanta by comparison with some other relievers)and seems ticketed to middle relief. Jeff Lyman was taken in the 2nd round out of Northern California–not surprisngly, he has a high upside. Finally, Williams was taken in the 37th round and performed brilliantly (0.47 ERA in 19 innings with 25 Ks and 4 BB) in the GCL as a closer, before finishing the year at Rome.
Otherwise, I agree with you–I wonder why the organizatio K rates are somewhat lower than they might be.
50 PoundHead–Thank you for that posting. Your analysis is always informative and interesting. That may well explain the decision to go with a distinctly draft and follow approach. Any news by Harold Coleman (taken a few picks after Hansen) and who the Braves appeared to like?
what are the possibilities of getting brain giles to sign with the braves
Either Ken Rosenthal is just so bored he’s making stuff up, or Kansas City, of all teams, is making a pitch to Furcal.
Sorry to ask a couple dumb questions, but what is draft-and-follow?
Also, how old is Elvis Andrus? What’s the earliest that he could be envisioned as a productive major leaguer (assuming he’s not rushed/actually turns into an everyday starter, unlike Betemit)?
Let Julio walk? Ouch. That hurts my eyes to read and my fingers to type.
To answer the Draft and Follow question, it pertains to junior college players. Let me attempt an answer: if a a major league club drafts a player (who does not go to 4 year college–they lose signing rights the moment the player attends his first class) they retain the signing rights until a week before the next draft. In recent years, the Braves have added Brandon Jones and Steven Doetsch and I believe Spooneybarger was a Draft and Follow player. Most notably, so was Roy Oswalt.
A better explanation and discussion (though dated) can be found at the following link:
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/features/9911dfe.html
BA’s at it again!
They just wouldn’t give up on this idea…the next thing they will suggest moving KJ back to ss to replace Furcal.
Why would you move KJ back to short when you could instead move him, the best defensive left fielder in the league, into center and trade Andruw to the Red Sox?
On a more serious note, I have a feeling we’ll end up with Aubrey Huff. Not exactly sure why, but it’s the same feeling I had in November of 2003 about JD Drew. Of course, it’s also the same feeling I had this time last year about Austin Kearns.
from the rosenthal article:
“The Cubs are talking about re-signing infielder Neifi Perez to a two-year deal”
phew.
If salary arbitration was fair, the Braves would offer Kolb arbitration and the result would be him owning them money.
stu, i hope huff is out of the question. i’d rather have gomes anyway, and the price for him would probably be less too.
Hey Guys,
I want to take my hat for you guys…I thought I was knowledgeable about the Braves (been a Braves fan since they moved out of Boston) but all the farm hands the Braves have and I am amazed that you guys know the draft number the Braves farm hands were drafted and etc. You guys are GREAT..I am glad I am a loyal, dedicated Braves fan.
Sam from Massachusetts
I forgot to mention to you guys…although I was born and raised in Mass…my wife and I are planning to relocate to the west coast of Florida in about 2 or 3 months. Moving to Florida…it will be a short drive to Atlanta and hoping we can see more Braves games at Turner Field.
By the way I got my ChopTalk a few days ago…It is pretty interesting reading. Been getting ChopTalk for 8 years. Any you guys get ChopTalk???
Does anyone else hope the Marlins can’t move Delgado?
“The Cubs are talking about re-signing infielder Neifi Perez to a two-year deal””
In my dreamworld this means they think they no longer need a SS or leadoff hitter and will leave Furky to us
“Also, how old is Elvis Andrus?”
he was supposedly 16 or 17 this year. Also, i think, he is Venezualan instead of Dominican and Venez. birth certs are supposed to be more reliable than the DRs.
About DFEs…wasnt Giles also a DFE or was he just a normal style signing out of JC?
Marcus was a draft-and-follow.
On the other hand, maybe the Cubs want Neifi for a back-up.
I typed a message about Andrus earlier but it didn’t post. He turned 17 in August (and NMS is right, there aren’t any concerns about his age – he’s really 17). Good K/BB rates in the GCL and at Danville, but not much power yet. His realistic ETA is late 2008 or so; if he really starts to hit, it could be sooner, but I wouldn’t count on him sooner than that.
Yuniel Escobar played fairly well at Rome last year, so he’s probably at least a year ahead of Andrus; if he splits time between the Beach and Mississippi next year, he could arrive by early 2007 or so.
EE, the Delgado situtation is pretty similar to Thome’s. Neither will be moved unless their respective teams take up at least half of the remaining contract obligation.
Any thoughts out there about the new changes in the Braves’ organization? I hope that these changes (http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/story/9023383
are not related to the anticipated departure of Dayton Moore.
Stephen, Coleman ended up going to LSU. He was a late signee there. I think the Braves had him pegged to go to a JC, but he will be a Fighting Tiger instead.
Braves lost a few other guys to the 4-year route. RHP Kris Cichoski (#21) to either the University of New Mexico or New Mexico State, OF Matt Miller (#25) to the University of Washington, and RHP Ben Jeffers (#44) to the University of Georgia.
Is there any truth to the rumor that John Rocker was a candidate for the Braves pitching caoch job? Did anyone else hear this?
Hey fellas, I need something big.
I have to think of an issue to write on for my college English course. It has to be an issue I can argue strongly for, and I’m DEFINITELY going with baseball. Does anybody have a good idea that I can use? I really wanna write about how the Braves should spend their free agent dollars, but I need sources, and I can’t seem to find anything good. Please help!
Rob, you could also think about broader issues, like the horrendous fate of the Natspos, who are improbably owned by their competitors in a monopoly business with an antitrust exemption; or the implications of the Time Warner/AOL merger on the long-term fate of the Braves.
Or you could try to figure out a way for the Braves to acquire a killer bullpen arm. What if we tried to get Guillermo Mota and figure out to fix him? I’m guessing he can be had for a song. I don’t want any part of BK Kim, but the Braves have had such a great track record with damaged goods that even if Leo Mazzone’s not here any more, I’m willing to take a Schuerholz flier on a few.
50PoundHead–thank you for the info. Too bad the Braves could’t get Coleman.
Rob,
Do you have to include a rebuttal paragraph in your argumentative essay? If you can think of an issue to which you strongly disagree, then you may have an easier time jump-starting your essay.
Hey Guys, What is the name of Adam LaRoche’s brothers name. I think I read it someplace that he is one of LA Dodgers top farm hands. I believe he hit about 24 HRS and batted close to 300?
Rob, I don’t know what the parameters of the assignment are, but if your instructor isn’t a baseball fan it might not be a good idea to get too esoteric (thinking here about Braves offseason strategy). I like AAR’s first two ideas — while they are baseball-themed, they have larger implications as well, and those might better hold the attention of a college instructor. Gotta know your audience. Good luck.
Sam, Adam’s brother is Andy LaRoche I believe. Brian McCann also has a brother playing in the Marlins farm system.
Rob, writing about the Braves’ offseason plan involves a lot of discussion on dollar figures and players statistics which I don’t think your English professor will enjoy too much.
At the end, you will have to analyze the team’s budget and project the team’s overall accumulated statistics by adding or subtracting certain players as well as projecting players’ performance next season. These are not the kind of work you want to do for an English paper.
Personally, I also really like the two ideas provided by AAR. Those are the two topics which you can actually write a paper on while still within the topic of baseball which you are interested in.
Rob,
Could you clarify your assignment for us? What type of essay do you have to write? The important thing is to state your thesis clearly (with or without an essay map) and to provide strong supporting examples for each of your main points. Similarly, paragraphs should contain topic sentences that are clearly stated; minor supporting details should support your topic sentences, which, in turn, support your thesis.
The assignment is very broad. We can take either side of any topic and argue it. That is a good point that writing about in-depth baseball things wouldn’t strike my English professor’s eye, so I might want to stick to something more broad. Maybe I could write about steroids…
Write about baseball’s cardinal sin and gambling and about Pete Rose and Joe Jackson. Should they be in the hall? IT is broad and you will find tons of information on it.
You could always make an argument either for or against the Designated Hitter. But remember to narrow your thesis by citing specific reasons why you feel the way you do.
Rob,
I will handle your argument paper if you’ll finish my paper on the Cuban embargo and write my 8-page term paper on the causes of the Crimean War (has history EVER had a more boring, pointless war than this, other than possibly the Spanish-American War or the War of 1812?). Oh, and do my presentation on the Great Tokyo/Kanto Earthquake of 1923. Think visual aids…
There are plenty of baseball topics you could do, but I wouldn’t get too specific unless your professor is a fan. My suggestion is salary caps, unless you hate economics; you could go all over the place with that. Ticket revenues, free agency, inflated contracts, marketing, etc.
“Crimean War (has history EVER had a more boring, pointless war than this, other than possibly the Spanish-American War or the War of 1812?). ”
Are you kidding me!? As i recall (and my memory sucks) massive numbers of people died in that one. It was pretty sweet from what i hear..(i joke)
Well, it did give us Tennyson’s “The Charge of the Light Brigade.”
Given that the assignment seems to involve choosing a side in a pro-or-con debate, I think the DH rule would be a good choice. Or how about the question of weekend daytime World Series games. Or fan voting for the All-Star game.
Or the All Star game winner getting home field advantage in the World Series.
Rob;
I’ve written a few English papers about baseball in the last few years and they’ve been well received. Baseball is fun!
If you want resources for your original thought of how to best spend money on free agents, “Moneyball” has loads on it. Any book on how great teams are built will help.
But Smitty, as usual, hit the nail on the head. How could a man walk past a sign for twenty years, both as a player and a manager, that says, “If you do this one thing–if you bet on baseball–you WILL be banned for life.” And then be completely certain that the rule didn’t REALLY apply to him.
Pete Rose is figure of Shakespearean stature. Whether he is comedy or tragedy is for you to decide.
I dont think so!
This goes back a day or two… Jones Lyman Broadway and startup all had mediocre years. Although none of the ending numbers looked that great for all of em, they all showed flashes of brilliance at times. Lyman actually won pitcher of the month his first month in the GCL with like a 1.something ERA. It was that second month where it just seemed like hits were falling. He showed good stuff all year but just struggled ni the end. He was sitting 93-94 in his last starts though… Jones went the other way. He struggled in the beginning with control and command even though he had great stuff, touching 93 with two other pitches. His last 3 starts he was dominant and won pitcher of the year in the GCL. Broadway was off and on all year until he figured something out in instructional league and threw well. Startup was good all year and his funky delivery should be deceptive. During instructional; league Jones was really having some problems with control, walking a significant amount of hitters, Lyman was probably the second most dominant pitcher there behind Jairo Cuevas who was unhittable. Broadway looked good as well, and startup was good too.