Here are the first 10 tracks from y 2014 End Of Year compilation(s.) They have nothing to do with baseball.
1 – “Longer Than You’ve Been Alive” From Most Messed Up (2014) by Old 97s
2 – “I Don’t Wanna Be An Asshole Anymore” From Rented World (2014) by The Menzingers
3 – “Raindance In Traffic” From The Greatest Generation (2013) by The Wonder Years
4 – “Smalls” From Circulation (2014) by JPNSGRLS
5 – “Born To Kill” From Desperate Ground (2013) by The Thermals
6 – “Prom Song” From Pythons (2013) by Surfer Blood
7 – “Two Good Things” From You’re Gonna Miss It All (2014) by Modern Baseball
8 – “Drinking With The Jocks” From Transgender Dysphoria Blues (2014) by Against Me!
9 – “El Dorado” From From Parts Unknown (2014) by Every Time I Die
10 – “Parade Of Idiots” From Jaded & Faded (2014) by Cerebral Ballzy
JC’d:
Drew Silva suggested Carlos Martinez, Grichuk and the Cards competitive balance pick for Heyward, not sure I would say no to that.
I would have to know who Carlos Martinez and Grichuk are to analyze that. Granted, I thought Corey Kluber was a backup middle infielder until he won the AL CYA yesterday.
The front office has declared Craig Kimbrel untouchable. The front office is receptive to the idea of trading Jason Heyward.
That is the definition of madness.
Craig Kimbrel is the single best player in the league at what he does. Jason Heyward is not.
Craig Kimbrel is cost controlled at a reasonable contract rate for multiple years. Jason Heyward is not.
Sidenote: When did the Thermals put out a new record? About time!
Martinez is a 22 year old pitcher who can push it to 100 MPH. Has always been a starter in the minors but the Cards have used him with limited success in the pen in the majors. A little too hittable and some control issues but he’s 22 in the majors and has great stuff.
Grichuk is a 22 year old outfielder who has played all over the OF but mostly RF. Got some pop-minors triple slash .279/.321/.497 would like to see more OBP but he has always been young for his league.
I like the idea of getting a pick as I forgot those were tradeable. It’s a good idea if we are getting rid of either Heyward or Upton as they will get us a pick anyway if we just keep them so the return needs to account for that.
“Craig Kimbrel is the single best player in the league at what he does. Jason Heyward is”… the single best player in the league at what he does. http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=rf&stats=bat&lg=nl&qual=y&type=8&season=2014&month=0&season1=2010&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0
“Craig Kimbrel is” owed at least $34.75 million over the next three years, including $9.25 million this year. “Jason Heyward is” owed $8.3 million this year.
If we’re trying to compete in 2015, how do we say the guy who makes more money to pitch 65 innings is off-limits but the guy who makes less money to bat 550 times and play 1,300 innings in the field is shipping out?
If we’re trying to rebuild, how do we justify paying a relief pitcher $11 million/year? What the hell is he going to be closing?
The Thermals released Desperate Ground in April of 2013. It’s been in my heavy rotation since then. They’ve released some singles related to that album since then, but that’s their most recent long player.
Good Stuff on BJ:
http://www.fangraphs.com/community/extreme-makeover-b-j-upton-edition/
A defense first RF who can’t hit lefties and isn’t cost controlled past 2015. I love Jason Heyward. I believe he will one day (hopefully next year) become the all around player we all think he can be. But cold hard numbers aren’t in his favor. He almost certainly wants 20m+ per year to extend. You don’t pay that for a defense first RF.
No, you don’t, but you ride out the discount deal in 2015 until either a.) it’s clear you’re not competitive and you move him in July or b.)he has a great season for you and moves to greener pastures via free agency
Craig Kimbrel is the best in the league at the least important position in baseball (relief pitcher). Jayson Heyward is worth than him easily, and going forward, I would much rather have Heyward than Kimbrel.
No one has said they’re going to trade Jason Heyward, no matter what, just because. They’ve said he’s not untouchable, because it would be stupid to call a defense first RF who can’t hit lefties, who has only one year remaining before someone pays him some exorbitant sum on the free agent market “untouchable.”
It’s probably wrong to call Kimbrel untouchable too, but he’s a valuable chit that you more or less ask the world for if someone comes looking, because contrary to what you lot may believe, virtually every front office in the actual game believes he is one of the most valuable properties in baseball.
Heyward has more value right now than Kimbrel. A team that can pay him $20 million will give us a solid return on him. The Cards, Red Sox, Yankees, Dodgers, Angels and so forth may give us big league, cost controlled prospects for him.
We would get something for Kimbrel, but not what we would get for Heyward, Justin or Gattis.
I would say, no one is untouchable.
@10 – Blasphemy! – sarcasm
The Braves don’t want to be the Rangers who just seriously overpaid Elvis Andrus and Heyward thinks that he can get a long term 20 million dollar per year contract. That discrepancy between the sides thinking is why the Braves would have to consider offers for Heyward. There might be someone that will trade, for example, a pitcher and a high level prospect for Heyward’s potential. The Braves would have to listen.
“The Braves would have to listen.”
In July. If we’re not competing. And if we’re already not competing we trade everyone but Freeman, Simmons, Teheran, and Wood, because those are the guys who’ll still be here 4-5 years from now. We don’t hold onto Kimbrel for no good reason.
Couple of things-the return would be drastically reduced in July as one of the selling points of Heyward is that if he is just a one year rental, then you still get a draft pick out of him, if he’s traded mid-season he cannot get a qualifying offer (also, the team only gets him for half a season obviously).
One year of Heyward would not bring more than 3 years of Kimbrel I think especially as he’s the best in the game at what he does and has been consistently and with Robertson wanting $15 Mill a year on the open market (plus a pick), Kimbrel would be seen as a bargain to someone.
Here’s my worry about trading Heyward, Justin or both, remember when we traded Teix in a similar position? We got Kotchman and Marek. LAA got a really good year from Teix and the draft pick that became Mike Trout.
I really liked everything The Thermals did before this one, especially “Personal Life.” For some reason, this one never clicked with me. Will give it another listen.
RE: Trading Kimbrel – let no one forget that his elbow/shoulder/entire-right-side-of-body is the tickingest of time bombs. Pitchers don’t last anymore, and small pitchers with crazy velocity and weird mechanics most certainly don’t last. Trading him is the absolute first thing that should happen unless the front office thinks he’s the only reason anyone still comes to games, but even then no one is going to come watch him sit on the bench with his elbow in a cast.
@20
You make a solid point.
We traded Teixeira mid season once we were out of competition. Wren made the mistake of focusing on getting a 1B in return instead of the best overall package. That’s exactly why we should be looking to move Heyward and Upton now, instead of waiting till mid season for a lesser return or just completely losing them via FA next offseason.
Unfortunately we don’t have time to wait around on a draft pick becoming Mike Trout in a few years. We have no help in the minors right now.
#20 – I don’t disagree
Correct. Heyward is more valuable in trade now than in mid season. I don’t want to trade him but if someone makes the killer offer …….
I’d put Kimbrell out there if for nothing else but determine his trade value.
@22
There is a chance those guys may have more value in July, though it is small and a risk. There is also pretty good odds we are in contention in July with those guys.
25: No, I think the odds are bad. Two of the Braves’ four division opponents are getting stronger, there is no plausible fix for the lineup, and they lost two SPs who pitched well all year. Hanging onto Heyward and Justin for the small odds of contention in 2015 is a terrible idea, and could set back the Braves’ necessary rebuild by a season or more.
22-Actually if one of our draft picks becomes Mike Trout in a few years, I’ve got all the time in the world.
And of course you are right on Teix it was mid-season, actually enhances the point I think.
Refusing to acknowledge that it’s time to rebuild is the difference between Boston and Philadelphia.
And right on cue, the Phillies signed Frenchy to a minor league deal.
Thank God he’s off the market.
Our rotation, bench, and farm shows us it’s time to rebuild. Two of our best players are leaving in a year. Trade these guys for players like Martinez who could help. Then go use the freed up salary and sign Tomas and some vets.
@31 – So despite the Giants and Royals success we rebuild over the next 3 to 5 years if we are lucky that it only takes that long?
@28
When did the Red Sox rebuild?
Well hell. From the sound bites on Talking Chop, we are rebuilding.
@ #33
I guess they rebuilt via free agency after the 2012 season?
@32 – The Royals spent twenty years rebuilding for one lucky playoff run, so I don’t think they’re the shining example of competent organization the Braves should be aspiring to.
Whatever the Braves decide to do, I just hope they commit to their course. If they decide to rebuild, they should go all out and fully rebuild. If they want to try and sneak into contention, they should go for it and try to build the strongest major league team they can. The worst scenario I can think of is to trade some major league players for prospects, then go get one year of Jeff Samardzija or something. That’s the formula for winning 78 games a year for the foreseeable future.
@35
Right. They traded away some expensive dudes in the middle of the 2012 season, then used the savings to land some helpful pieces in the off-season. I’m not sure how that’s instructive with the 2015 Atlanta Braves, except to say maybe it’s worth a shot to play these guys and see how they do before we start the jettisoning process.
@33 – when they traded all of their stupid contracts to LA.
@32 – yes. The Giants and Royals got lucky. You don’t project a franchise forward by hoping to sneak into the play-in game with a record only slightly better than the 2014 Braves and then catching lightning in a bottle for three weeks.
39 – Hasn’t that been the mid-market (or mid-payroll) model?
@38
I would love to trade the BJ, Uggla, and Johnson contracts to LA. But I thought we were talking about Heyward/Justin. What does the Sox reload have anything to do with our outfield?
I believe we should go through a rebuild, but I don’t think it will be the traditional tear everything down type that takes years. There is a good core of young players locked in to reasonable contracts. I would think any rebuild will look to see the Braves moderately competitive this year and contending by 2016 or else or course you look to trade Kimbrel.
I think Hart and Cop are looking at reality and saying if they do nothing or make moves thinking about this year over future years, Heyward and Justin walk and all we get are a couple of draft picks that may help by what, 2018? That’s more of a formula for a longer rebuild.
That’s the point, the Royals and Giants got lucky. I think the Braves could get lucky.
I think we should try to contend in 2015. I don’t think we should trade Heyward or JUpton. We should try to trade Gattis for a pitcher and a position prospect, acquire a league avg outfielder for the inevitable May BJ benching and try to obtain a real LOOGY. Yes, its going to be hard. Yes, a LOT of things have to go right for the Braves to contend. I concede that. But it can happen.
If the Braves FO decides to rebuild then they should actively try to trade Heyward and JUPton.
“I think we could get lucky” is not a strategy. It’s a lottery ticket.
I think the biggest issue with the roster construction as it is especially if you follow 43’s plan is that we have exactly 3 position players under contract for 2016 that any of us would like starting every day (Freeman, Simmons and Bethancourt) and two of those are offensive zeroes. Of course there is CJ and BJ and people like LaStella and Peraza may give a little hope for the future, but a strategy like Johnny suggests leaves the offense pretty desolate in 2016.
Gattis can probably give you close to Justin’s production in LF. Why trade a cost controlled Gattis and then watch Justin leave after another season? Then you really have an offensive hole to fill. Trade Justin for pitching and stick Gattis in LF. If it doesn’t work you still have a cost controlled AL DH that teams would love to have.
I guess where we differ is how close we think the Braves are to being a contender. If I thought the odds were lottery ticket, then hell yeah, lets start the rebuild. But I don’t think the odds are that great against the team contending. Again, it won’t be easy but it is within the realm of probability.
@45 – I will concede that if we keep Heyward and JUpton for a 2015 run and they leave we are out of it in 2016 and beyond barring a major influx of payroll. But if we go into rebuild mode we are out of contention for 2016 and beyond without giving ourselves a chance to win in 2015. I just don’t think the guys we get back will be as immediately good as JUpton and Heyward and as we all know ‘cant miss prospect’ is an oxymoron in baseball.
@46 – I think Gattis gets you more in a trade. JUpton is certainly the more accomplished player but his contract status and potential long term cost make him less value to a trade partner than Gattis.
85-88 wins gets you in the playoffs now. Just saying.
No, it potentially gets you to a play in game. Our rotation is currently Teheran, Minor, Wood, Hale and then ???’s. That’s not getting us anywhere and even more reason why we should start looking at 2016. You can build for 2016 and still get “lucky” next year.
You had me at “Cerebral Ballzy.”
@50 – How? If we trade JUpton or Heyward or both, how do we contend? Again, what is your expected return on either or both of them?
I would love to give Justin Upton to the Mariners for a pitcher like Taijuan Walker and then spend some money on some bro’s who can hit from one side of the plate or the other.
I would love to rescue some prospects from the Mariners, who have screwed up so many promising prospects. Taijuan Walker hasn’t lost his luster, but James Paxton is not the golden boy he once was and is old for a prospect, and I’d be interested to kick the tires on him, Brad Miller, Nick Franklin, even Dustin Ackley.
So Sam is all of sudden fully pro-rebuild as I suspected.
(sighs)
If we have to rebuild a little bit, that’s fine, but it had better be with an eye toward competing this year and being one of the better teams in the league in 2016 (not 2017). Multi-year rebuilds almost never work, they’re a giant “Fuck you!” to the fans, and they very often are undertaken for no reason other than to facilitate ownership being cheap. Though their full teardown was unnecessary and misguided, I at least expect that Cubs ownership will open the pocketbook when Epstein thinks the team is ready. But the Pirates owners never opened it, the Royals ownership never opened it, the Marlins owner opened it briefly and then immediately closed it again at the slightest sign of trouble (and the same guy never opened it for the Expos), and I have a sneaking suspicion that Astros ownership won’t open it when it’s time, either (despite everyone salivating over how brilliant they are). If we drop our payroll, we may never get it back from Liberty Media. I’m not sure why everyone assumes we will.
I’m sick and tired of this mid-market team crap, anyway. We are not a mid-market team, and the fact that the fans let the front office and ownership get away with saying that we are is absurd to me. We are a large-market team, as we reside in one of the top 10 markets in the country. The Braves didn’t always operate as a mid-market team. The Falcons don’t operate as a mid-market team, either. We are a large market and, as such, we should not have to undergo 3-5 year rebuilds. Fans need to stop letting the owners get away with the lie that we can’t possibly expect them to spend money. And fans who are actually hoping that the front office will willingly make the team suck for two years aren’t helping, either.
The only thing fans can do to impact team decisions is to stop watching on TV & stop going to the games.
As it relates to US population/media markets & baseball, there are really only 3 large markets (NYC, LA, Chi) with 20, 13 & 9.5 million, respectively; a big middle (where ATL resides with 10 other cities) with 4-7 million; and 11 smaller ones (KC, Cincy, etc.) with 2-4 million.
There’s a significant drop between #3 (Chicago at 9.5 mil) and #4 (Dallas at 6.8).
I think there are some people that would rather watch the Mississippi Braves than the Atlanta Braves.
Some ‘dark horse’ teams are in, apparently. I hope we’re one of them.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/11/yasmani-tomas-deal-appears-imminent.html
There is absolutely no reason to try to win 82 games rather than 72. If the system is as bare as it seems, you have to acknowledge that. If your plan is hoping that Chris Johnson hits again, Andrelton Simmons magically learns what the bat is for, and unicorn poop, your plan sucks.
A real rebuild starts and ends with the draft and international FA signings. That’s the good thing about getting our scouting talent back on board. But it’s going to require patience.
Trout takes AL MVP.
@61 About time.
Kershaw takes NL MVP.
Three and a half weeks until San Diego. I hope we get some can’t-refuse deals before then.
@59
How did you come by this complete 180-degree shift in your philosophy for the offseason over the last three days? As recently as earlier this week, you were saying you thought we should try and compete next season.
I’m as much for defending the team on here as the next guy, but there’s a limit. I do not accept the idea that there should ever be a year where a team doesn’t try to win. Ever. It’s entirely possible to reload while being competitive. To not even try is lazy. And it’s bullshit. As a fan, the team owes me the effort to put a competitive team on the field every year. Sometimes it doesn’t work out, and I understand that, but what I’ll never understand is a team telling me that we’re going to intentionally suck this year and that I should be happy about it. Screw that! If the Braves do that, I will be pissed. It’s patently unnecessary on every level and is lazy thinking from the front office. In many cases, it’s a subconscious (or maybe even conscious) effort to artificially reduce expectations and ensure that no one in their right minds would question the brilliant GM. Not saying that’s the case here, but in any case, if Hart and Coppolella would kindly do their damned jobs and put a competitive team on the field while drafting competently, I would appreciate it.
Hear, hear!
While I’m still not on board with “rebuilding for 2017”, we potentially have the 3 of the most attractive offensive trades candidates in Gattis, JUp, and Heyward in the entire major leagues.
I’ll tell you one train I’m riding ’til it dies: either play Gattis at catcher or trade him. The LF idea is just silly. We’ve seen this movie and it was bad…like Gigli bad.
Know what’d be fun? If the Braves declare a rebuilding year then win the pennant. Talk about a tomahawk shoved right up the FO’s ass.
@myself
Last point: Offensive power and/or defense is at a premium right now and the price of trading for prospects is falling. There could be some significant returns for the 3 above. First stop shop? Let’s go to the northwest where microbrews are abundant and B-corp coffee companies are around every corner!
Think we can trade BJ to the Nationals for Jordan Zimmermann? We can be all like, “nah, he’s like a little cheaper this year, and it’s cost certainty going forward! You don’t want to lose Zimm to free agency, do you?”
I haven’t changed my mind about anything. My theory involves spending on Y. Tomas, which may or may not be a budgetary option. These are facts not in evidence on the internet.
The Braves had a heavy presence at a non-Yasmany Cuban showcase yesterday.
Sam@59
I have a theory on our minor league system. I wonder if some of the development guys have been brought in, not only to improve our talent evaluation, but to improve the guys already in the system.
It seems like a few guys (Simms, Graham, Gilmartin)all leveled off or took steps back over the last few years. I understand the injury aspect, but I have to wonder if the front office shake ups improves our farm system some right out of the gate.
Kevin Seitzer has already stated/been assigned to work over the winter with three players; Jason Heyward, BJ Upton, and Andrelton Simmons. Missing from that list is Chris Johnson. If your “compete in 2015” plan is “maybe we can magically fix BJ and Simba while turning Jason into a real superstar hitter with our new hitting coach” that is…uncompelling.
Rebuilding, huh. “Rebuilding” for the Braves, so as not to present an assault on The Braves Way probably involves trading away Heyward, Chris Johnson, and Justin Upton and calling it a day.
Not that I’m against rebuilding, but I’m skeptical of what that looks like with The Trinity at the helm.
Sam, I don’t think we greatly disagree. Your point is that planning to build an 82-win team is pointless, because that would require an incredibly large number of things to go right in order to compete in the playoffs. (You’re also not a fan of building a team to win a Wild Card; you prefer building for the the division title, and in the era of the Wild Card Game, that makes sense.)
My point would be that while an 82-game target is not sufficient, an 88-game target would be sufficient. An 88-win team plays meaningful games all year, and if they win a few more games than Pythag, they have a very good chance to win a pennant. Even if they don’t, they have a very good chance to with the Wild Card.
Of course, 88 wins is the exact midpoint between the team’s win totals in 2013 and 2014, with almost exactly the same offense both years. So competing in 2015 isn’t necessarily entirely out of the question. (Replacing Aaron Harang and Ervin Santana’s performance is getting easier all the time, because offense across the league is down so far that league-average pitching performance is getting a lot cheaper than it used to be.)
Basically, everything depends on whether the Braves believe that the hitters who took a step backward from 2013 to 2014 will be able to bounce back in 2015. If yes, they should go for it. If no, they should cut their losses. Either way, it makes sense to publicly say they believe in their guys, so as not to undercut their potential trade value.
If you think you are a .500 or slightly better team, you have a chance with the way the game is set up now.
Alex made my point in a much more elegant way.
I think the Braves are thinking Seitzer needs to focus first on the most messed up/difficult to repair hitters during the off-season and then he can devote time to others during Spring training. This is why he will be working on Simmons, BJ and Heyward before Spring training. I expect him to spend some quality time with CJ during Spring Training because maybe they think he might be easier to fix than the other three.
@74 – Well stated Alex. I am glad read your post first. Mine was rambling and disjointed.
One thing that I disagree with some folks on is that I don’t think we can compete and rebuild at the same time. I think its an either or. Maybe if Gattis is the guy traded, but even then I think we have to get something MLB ready in return. The players the Braves receive have to be more than prospects.
I can see the pessimism. Assuming all of our good guys stay good we need Hale to pitch well, Simmons, apparently Bethancourt and Johnson to not totally suck at hitting and a contingency for BJ when he does suck. I agree its a tall order.
Apparently we just traded Kyle Wren to the Brewers for Zach Quintana, a 20 year old A-Ball pitcher with a 6.15 career ERA across nearly 200 innings.
They REALLY don’t like Frank Wren.
@DOBrienAJC: Quintana, 20, is 11-13 w/ 6.15 ERA in 52 g (34 starts) in 3 seas (2 rook, 1 A-ball). Was 4-5 w/ 5.70 ERA in 25 g (15 starts) in ’14 (A ball)
@DOBrienAJC: Wren, 23, former Ga Tech standout who hit .304/.362/.398 in 2 MiLB seasons, w/ 13 triples, 2 HR, 81 steals in 185 games (56 g in Double-A)
Any plan that banks on Chris Johnson being anything better than utterly average with the stick (on a good day) and horrific defensively (every day) is a bad plan.
And for the record, the Marlins are talking to Not-Mike Stanton about a 10-12 year deal in the 300-120 million range.
Jason Heyward will get 20-25m per, as will Justin Upton.
We probably could have gotten a little more for Wren. Not much, but just saying…
@79 through 81
Oh come on, Atlanta!
Petty ass Braves.
It’s perfectly possible that Kyle Wren asked to be traded, and the team obliged his request. But hey, assume you know more than you do kids. It’s becoming and super smart.
To put my “defend the organization” hat back on for a minute, it’s entirely possible that Wren demanded to be traded. It’s just an awkward situation that probably wouldn’t have turned out well if he had stayed. Could we have gotten more for him? I don’t know. Is it better in the long run that he’s gone? Probably. Should we assume this is entirely the Braves being petty and that Wren would’ve been happy to stay? I think that’s a big-time stretch.
EDIT: …or what Sam said.
No way Stanton signs a ten year deal with the Marlins.
Really perturbed by the trade. Braves cut a player very similar to Quintana in Tyler Stovall 2 years ago, yet trade a real prospect for someone else’s mistake. Ugh…
If Stanton turns down 30m+ per year, it’s even worse. You can go ahead and write your thank you notes to Jason Heyward now.
@86: sure, he could have demanded a trade, after they publicly berated his dad.
Meanwhile, Lil Johnny’s got a corner office at The Ted.
The Wren deal certainly makes little since for the Braves by the numbers. Which is a reason I would lean toward “he asked to be moved and they obliged.”
Let’s keep giving away pieces of the organization.
@91
Does he?
@93 exaggerating on the corner office, maybe, but he was hired as a front office exec recently.
I bet Staton reups with the Marlins for $30 million over 5 years, maybe three.
Smitty, do you still have your pitching glove? At these prices, you may need to lace up.
Jonathan Shuerholz (he goes by Jon as well) exited the low minors (he was a terrible middle infielder) and has been managing in those same low minors since. First in the Rookie and Appy leagues, last year in Rome. He was promoted up to a higher title within the minor league instructor/talent eval system this post Wren firing/system re-org. Per this puff piece from the AJC (July, 2014) he “wants to be the next Bobby Cox.”
Kyle was one of my least-favorite college players ever — I always thought it strange that his dad seemed so likable, ahem, while he was not at all — so good riddance!
We’re going to suck even if we keep Justin and Jason and Gattis…once you realize and accept that then the rebuild talk gets a lot more palatable.
Kyle Wren, last week: ““I feel the same,” as before his father’s firing, he said last week. “I don’t feel like I’ve lost standing with the organization. Maybe it would’ve been different if I hadn’t done so well in the last year and a half, but I feel like the numbers I’ve put up speak for themself. So, I feel good.”
So it doesn’t seem he demanded a trade.
Apparently the newly acquired Quintana was a hotshot hitting prospect until he added some MPH to his fastball.
It’s a slow news day when a former employee’s A-ball-playing son traded for a live arm gets this much attention.
Bond 24’s villian has been cast. THAT’S a news story. A year before Skyfall’s release date we had cast, movie title, and plot details. WHAT’S THE HOLD UP EON?!
Wren had a useful OBP for a minor leaguer, but he was a low A project at best. The only reason this is a big deal with some folks is because they think it plays to their “stupid old good ol’ boys Braves network being petty about Frank Wren” narrative.
Last comment got lost in the internet, here goes nothing:
The MVP went to a starting pitcher who appeared in 27 games. Wow
I think “appeared in” is an understatement.
You’re right, he was great in 1/6 of their games
Cueto gave up 22 more ER in 45.1 more innings.
That’s Kershaw’s season plus 9 games with a 4.40 ERA, which is better than handing the ball to Maholm and that bullpen for 9 games
#101 – I think I read where he sits at 91-93. Is he a SP or RP prospect? If he’s a reliever my expectations are very low for him.
#102
Yeah, slow news day indeed.
Skyfall?
Hmmmm, this week that reminds me of something:
@108
Yes, that’s correct. He chose to pitch and that’s what he was drafted for, but maybe he chose wrong.
So the full awards voting results have their own page at baseball-reference: http://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_2014.shtml#ALmvp
Jason Heyward didn’t get a single vote on anyone’s ballot.
So it’s one thing to bump him for the likes of Kershaw, Stanton, Lucroy, McCutchen, Posey, Rendon, Martin, Puig, Wainwright, Cueto (if you’re into pitchers).
But it’s a whole different beast entirely when you look at the other players who received votes: Matt Holliday, Justin Upton, Jayson Werth, Dee Gordon, Lucas Duda, Denard Span, Hunter Pence, Devin Mesoraco, Justin Morneau, Freddie Freeman.
If baseball people are so low on him why are they also so high on him?
So Burnett just signed with Pittsburgh for $8.5 (had turned down an option for $12 something in philly).
And Stanton is finalizing a 13 year-$325 mill deal, so Smitty was right there was no way he would sign a 10-year deal…
re: Burnett
Weird.
Eh, I can see if it’s your last year, wanting to pitch where you want to for less money. He was happy there IIRC and Philly can’t be a fun place to be right now (not to mention a terrible park for pitchers).
@112
A 13 year deal? Wow, who regrets that one first?
I suspect Quintana turns in more useful seasons as a ML reliever than Kyle Wren does as a fifth OF. Could be wrong, but Wren’s numbers are inflated by being older than his league up until last year. True fact; Kyle Wren is only two years younger than Jason Heyward.
“You never in a million years think you’re going to win MVP, let alone a Cy Young Award, let alone be in the big leagues,” Kershaw said. “It’s an amazing night for me.”
Why don’t people understand how this works? You start with the least improbable thing and work your way to the most. Should read like this:
“You never in a million years think you’re going to be in the big leagues, let alone win a Cy Young award, let alone win an MVP.”
If the Marlins really ink Stanton to a 13 year deal, they will be signing for the length of what amounts to Ryan Klesko’s entire career. (discounting the cups of coffee in 1992-93.)
Ridiculous contract. Good for Stanton, dumb move by Florida.
Mike Trout will soon be a very rich man.
It’s probably a mistake from a winning standpoint, but there’s something to be said for locking up a home-grown star. The cycle of free-agent binge and purge WS’s didn’t put a lot of butts in seats.
What I don’t understand about the Stanton deal is that they’re bidding against themselves. They’re paying him as if he’s a free agent and they have to top the Yankees offer. I thought these early contracts that buy out arbitration years were supposed to save the team money on the back end.
New thread.
Remember when Klesko and Phil Nevin were maybe the best 3-4 hitters in the game? That was weird.
Trying to find my favorite 2012 highlights. I remember falling in love…
http://m.mlb.com/video/v22364337/balatl-simmons-makes-a-great-diving-play-at-short