Kalapse

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 6, 2011 -> 01:13 PM) Read back a page or two, I asked the same question and it was answered. Also: Holliday was cleared yesterday to resume baseball activities after having the procedure on Friday, LaRussa says he could be back this weekend.

Dark City is pretty amazing. I really enjoy movies that are a nice change of pace from the norm and Dark City definitely fits the bill.

Fun stat from Kurkjian: Yankees have 11 HRs this season, the Twins have 3 extra base hits.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Apr 3, 2011 -> 01:16 PM) It was bad, because it was in the air, but I didn't think it was terrible. A lot of times that bunt would get down, even with the 1 second of hangtime it had. A bunt that's still in the air nearly halfway down the 1B line is a terrible bunt by definition. Add on top of it that they have a known good athlete at 1B and it only gets worse.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 3, 2011 -> 01:06 PM) The runners were AJ and Carlos. If they'd stopped and the ball had been dropped, they'd have been thrown out. You can't stop on the bunt even if it looks like it could be caught. Especially not with those 2 runners. Maybe that guy Trout could stop and restart, but not Carlos and AJ. That's also not your typical s***-armed 1B either, it's Carlos Santana who's fully capable of gunning down Quentin at 3B from his knees if need be.

QUOTE (jphat007 @ Apr 3, 2011 -> 01:06 PM) Ozzie will ALWAYS bunt in that situation against a guy that owns us, even early in the game. So our guys better get f***ing used to it and learn to put down an easy f***ing bunt. Not everyone is capable of getting down a bunt, it's the manager's job to know his personnel's strengths and weaknesses. Bunting will always be a weakness for Alexei.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 3, 2011 -> 01:04 PM) Well, also AJ was standing on 2b, so even if Carlos had been running back, he'd have had to push AJ off of the base. That's not much of an excuse, I'm sure AJ could take a step off the bag when he sees Quentin busting it back, he could also ask him nicely if need be.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 3, 2011 -> 01:01 PM) I understand AJP getting doubled off, but unless Cox was asleep at 3rd base, Quentin should have been able to get back. Cabrera was just standing around at 1B for a good 3 seconds before he realized he had Quentin at second. I assume Quentin just gave up on the play?

QUOTE (jphat007 @ Apr 3, 2011 -> 12:58 PM) Alexei is so worthless in the beginning of the season. Alexei is a horrible bunter regardless of the time of the year. Ozzie is the most stubborn bastard imaginable, it's infuriating.

QUOTE (buhbuhburrrrlz @ Mar 31, 2011 -> 09:42 PM) santos, sale, and thornton having a snowball fight at progressive field http://www.csnchicago.com/03/31/11/Sox-Dra...&feedID=665 I really hope they get off to a good start this year. Those are the last 3 guys on the team I'd want hurling snowballs at me. I imagine a 96 MPH ball of packed snow and ice leaves a rather painful welt.

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 30, 2011 -> 08:13 PM) If you're on the 40-man, and you start the season on the DL, you're pretty much considered a big leaguer until you come off the DL. Viciedo will be optioned to AAA when he comes off the DL. Yeah, tell that to Anibal Sanchez. It's pretty much all about service time.

QUOTE (joeynach @ Mar 30, 2011 -> 02:16 AM) After looking through a lot of information for fantasy drafts I actually think John Danks is very similar to Ricky Romero when trying to compare top left handed pitchers. I understand Danks has a few more seasons under his bealt, but the perphrials are strikingly similar. Romero is 27-18 with a 3.99 ERA, 7.3K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 over the course of 2 seasons. Those are very similar to Danks and Romero has recieved a 5 year 30M deal. I think Romero is a better comparison than Billingsley becuase of factors liked Kalapse mentioned. Romero pitches in the AL (and AL East at that) and pitches in a hitter friendly park as well. Well, that's only if you can truly ignore Danks' prolonged success compared to Romero and of course service time, which you unfortunately can not. If only it were March of 2009 it'd be so much easier. The sucky thing is that the only good comparable to Danks pitching right now that I can think of would be Lester and he's just flat out better and signed a long term deal 2 seasons back. The unfortunate thing is that only 4 lefties have thrown at least 500 innings in the AL the last 3 seasons with ERA's under 4 and they're Lester, Sabathia, Danks and Buehrle. Makes it hard to find strict comparables.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Mar 30, 2011 -> 01:45 AM) That, and the fact that he's better. Chad Billingsley has pitched his home games at Chavez Ravine for the duration of his career, which has played as a pitcher's park for pretty much the entirety of Billingsley's career. He's also pitched in the NL, which has been a weaker and generally more diluted talent wise throughout his career as well. Meanwhile, Danks has pitched his home games at USCF, which has been incredibly hitter friendly largely due to the short fences. He's also pitched in the AL, which has generally had far more talent than the NL and is tougher to pitch in simply due to the DH (for quick comparison's sake, DH's put up a .758 OPS last year; pitchers put up a .353 OPS). I would say that John Danks is, at the very least, in the conversation as one of the 10 best left handed starters in the game and he's probably one step below being an overall "Ace," like a Roy Halladay, Jon Lester, Cliff Lee, Felix Hernandez, whatever. And I think you can probably argue that Danks is a top 5 lefty in the game based on the "proven" factor and durability, which rule out guys like Liriano, Price, Santana, Wilson. John Danks is really good, and if the Sox don't pay him as if he's really good, then he's going to sign with someone else. ERA+ -- while flawed -- at least attempts to equalize data skewed by the home ballpark and has John Danks at 126 over the past 3 seasons and Chad Billingsely at 112. For as much as people have gotten on Danks for his lack of IP he has 20 more than Billingsley over that span and 213 last season. Of course FIP and xFIP are not as kind, Danks' lack of K's tend to hurt him here. Though looking at the data just now it's interesting to learn that his peripherals are nearly identical to Pettitte's over the past 3 seasons.

QUOTE (joeynach @ Mar 30, 2011 -> 12:59 AM) So why does danks get $16M over 4 years while Billingsley gets around $11M for 3 years with a $3M buyout. And Billingsley has a lower career ERA, higher K/9, and better W-L figure. Handedness. It means an awful lot.

QUOTE (Benchwarmerjim @ Mar 29, 2011 -> 11:19 PM) I think the Twins will be ok...but it will be a battle in the AL Central as always. I mean, it wouldnt shock me if the Twins Sox or Tigers win it. I think the lineup will be fine. The one player I look forward to is Nishioka. He has had a good spring, and adds speed to the lineup. Maybe the combo of Span and Nishi will finally be the combo that breaks through and gets on base constantly for Mauer and Morneau. Rotating DH of Thome/Kubel/Mauer/Morneau seems to be in the works The starting pitchers dont worry me. The Twins seem to have some depth there, with Slowey in the bullpen and Kyle Gibson in AAA Rochester. The bullpen is a huge worry. Nathan bouncing back from injury means that he wont pitch back to back days right away. A lot of the pen has been overhauled, with no Guerrier and Crain...its going to be weird for a while. But, the Twins have done this before and its worked out. Bottom line: I am more confident in this team than in years past. But, with the additions the Sox have made (mainly, Adam freaking Dunn who is going to kill Twins pitching), I cant fully say the Twins will win the division. Thank you, sir. That's exactly what I was looking for.

QUOTE (Benchwarmerjim @ Mar 29, 2011 -> 10:39 PM) Nathan said the other day that his slider isnt quite back yet, so I think tonight he was trying to tune that up How are you feeling about your team this year? Just curios to get your take. Lots of question marks, like most every team I suppose.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Mar 29, 2011 -> 04:05 PM) Because he sucks and there are plenty of players to fill out Charlotte's roster. Well then you're going to be disappointing by this: Shocking

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Mar 27, 2011 -> 11:15 PM) I read his more as pure entertainment for me, but with damn good/strong points (same as fathom). Those are the guys you respect the hell out of and what makes this site that much better IMO. J4L is a flaming turd and a now appears to be a hardcore pessimist but at least he offers original baseball opinions on this baseball message board rather than wasting post after post s***ting on others and using smilies to agitate those whom he feels a false sense of superiority over. I'd say that's respectable.

Looks like it'll be 11 pitchers and both Lillibridge and Milledge making the team. Oh yeah, and Jeff Marquez may be going away for good so that's a plus. http://twitter.com/#!/MDGonzales/statu...069562719539200

I absolutely love this: http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2011/3/26/2073...ways-been-a-pox

A note on the Wainwright option(s): it's not just $9M for 2012, it's actually $10M for 2012 and $12M for 2013. Both of these option years have already vested becoming guaranteed but the Cardinals do have an out clause related to arm injuries that will allow them to void both years at the end of the 2011 season if they choose (they must void both, can't just void one). All signs point to them not voiding these 2 years but the decision does becomes a bit more difficult when they have to decide between 2 years, $22M rather than the 1 year, $9M that Joe mentioned. In the end they'll either leave the 2 years intact or renegotiate a new deal, he's not going anywhere.

Looks like the Yankees backup catcher won't be Montero or even Romine but . . .

QUOTE (Paint it Black @ Mar 24, 2011 -> 05:35 PM) Question: Who is the best player to come out of Cuba? Is it Orlando Hernandez? Jose Contreras? Possibly Champman already? Bah? His name is Tony Perez and he's a hall of famer (fun fact: his son was involved in another one of my mediocre predictions). Oliva and Minoso were pretty awesome too. If you want native Cubans who went to school in the US and were drafted you can go Palmeiro and Canseco but they don't really play into this.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Mar 24, 2011 -> 10:29 AM) Finished season 3 of The Wire the other night...sad to see my favorite character bite it...not sure how I will feel about the rest of the show now... We're at the exact same place in the series and yeah, that was a pretty tough pill to swallow.

I'll just pick one of the half dozen or so things you got wrong in this post and debunk it because I feel like looking at some numbers. It's next to impossible for Dunn to show up anywhere on the leader board for double plays. 1.) he's typically near the bottom of the league in GB% (over the last 3 years: 33.3%, 136th out of 138 qualified players), 2.) most teams are going to employ the Williams shift against him, putting the 2B in a terrible position to turn a DP and 3.) he's not that slow. By the end of the season he'll likely be in the bottom third of the league in total DPs (101st out of 138 qualified players over the past 3 years, bottom 27 percentile), this really should be the least of everyone's worries concerning Dunn. You seem fairly misinformed.