caulfield12

QUOTE (Brian @ Sep 30, 2014 -> 09:10 PM) Oakland imploding I think you mean the A's.

Wow. Meltdown again partially caused by a raucous home crowd like last year against CUETO.

And what about his mid August - September record in pennant races? "Big Game" isn't only confined to the post-season. He won two huge games for the Royals against the Yankees and Tigers down the stretch this year, for example. The only bad start he had was against the White Sox, I think.

QUOTE (flavum @ Sep 30, 2014 -> 08:53 PM) Hopefully Angels-Orioles ALCS. Tigers-A's and Giants-Cardinals would suck balls. Better tv ratings, though. Dodgers-Giants would be their dream match-up. Although I'm sure they wouldn't mind the East Coast draw of Harper/Strasburg.

That's a bit misleading since Ventura just gave up two of those runs. Besides, I thought we didn't use ERA anymore...too outdated. What about all his other peripherals like FIP, SIERA, etc.?

2013 Ohtani made his debut in the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters' season-opening match on March 29, 2013, playing as right outfielder. He was voted as an outfielder in the 2013 All-Star Game. 2014 During the 2014 Mazda All-Star Game, he pitched a career-high 162 kph (101 mph) at the bottom of the 1st inning, again setting a new record for the fastest official pitch thrown by a Japanese pitcher, beating the record set by the Yakult Swallows’ Yoshinori Sato in 2010 (161 kph/100 mph).[8] The jersey he wore during the game sold for 1,752,000 yen, making it the top-seller at the All-Star 2014 Charity Auction, and the proceeds were donated to three Tohoku earthquake children's relief funds.[9] Throughout the entire season, Fighters manager Hideki Kurayama made Ohtani do double-duty as pitcher and outfielder to utilize his strong throwing arm, as well as his unusually impressive batting skills. As a hitter, he batted at .283 average (as of September 7), with 26 extra-base hits (including 10 home runs), 31 RBIs and a .869 on-base plus slugging percentage in 191 at-bats. As a pitcher, he is 10-4 with a 2.46 ERA in 21 starts and has struck out 162 in 139 innings. In the September 7 match against the Orix Buffaloes, he homered to straightaway center at Kyocera Dome to become the first Japanese player to reach double digits in both home runs and wins.[10][11] He tossed a 1-0 shutout against Orix on September 13, and became the first pitcher out of high school in franchise history to record a 1-0 shutout victory within his first two years in the NPB since Toshiaki Moriyasu in 1967 (September 23). He also became the first pitcher out of high school to notch two shutout victories within his first two years in the NPB since Yu Darvish.[12] With all that said, no way he doesn't go to the Dodgers, Yankees, Angels, etc. If I was the Mariners (Japanese ownership), he would be the ONE guy I would be targeting to help put them over the top, and you could bring Ichiro back for one more season to mentor him, along with Iwakuma.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Sep 30, 2014 -> 08:36 PM) Ah, unable to watch in China and my friend told me Shields gave up the six runs. Now I see Ned Yost did Ned Yost things. If people think no Robin = Sox make playoffs, no Yost = Royals best team ever Use freegate/dynapass...you don't have MLB AT BAT or MLB.TV for your phone, Ipad or laptop? It's actually not blacked out here in China/internationally, compared to the US. Hopefully this drives up Lester's price tag even higher for the Cubs at least.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Sep 30, 2014 -> 08:30 PM) Well, so much for Big Game James Let's just put it this way, this start (he'd retired 7 in a row before the sixth) isn't going to hurt his free agent value any. I think there are some good parallels with the 2005 White Sox...best record in the game in August, challenged late and ended up going 16-30 down the stretch...finally were able to relax on Sunday when they eliminated the Mariners. While the White Sox were playing decently and the Indians were just white hot, there's a similar "monkey off their back" feeling at play that they went from the best team in baseball to almost being knocked out of the playoff picture entirely. Pressure's off, back at 0-0, etc. I think they will go ahead and take out the Angels and go on to the face the Tigers for the AL Championship now.

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Sep 30, 2014 -> 08:15 PM) EVERY ONE GO ON THEIR COMPUTER & LOOK UP SHOHEI OHTANI http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shohei_Ohtani http://youtu.be/9utx2BPIYlU He wants to come over to the states soon and the Sox need to jump all over him. This was from two years ago... Japanese pitcher Shohei Otani announced that he will play for Japan’s Nippon Ham Fighters rather than sign with a MLB team this winter, according to Yasuko Yanagita of Hochi Shimbun (via Twitter). The 18-year-old hurler seemed likely to come stateside for quite some time but recently started leaning towards remaining in Japan. The Dodgers, Rangers, and Yankees were among the teams known to be in on Otani. The Dodgers reportedly would have been “shocked” if the right-hander signed with an MLB team other than them, but they were skeptical that he would come stateside at all. The Nippon Ham Fighters have come out as the victor after selecting Otani with the first overall pick in the NPB draft. The 6’4″ right-hander was often compared to Yu Darvish by MLB scouts. Otani boasts a strong fastball that has been clocked in the 99-100 mph range and could have been the first top NPB draft pick to make the direct jump from high school in Japan to the U.S.

I also think you HAVE to distinguish between Japanese pitchers and Taiwanese/Korean, their workloads, their respective professional leagues and the military service requirements in Korea, etc. You can't just say Latin pitchers when you have Mexico, DR, PR, Venezuela, Panama, Colombia, etc.

Shields' full count pitch to Donaldson's just a bit closer to the corner and it's a strike em out/throw em out double play. Baseball is a game of inches, as always. Woulda/coulda/shoulda. I do think the A's match up much better with the Angels, especially without Richards. The Royals have Shields, but Ventura, Duffy and Vargas in the post-season doesn't seem to be a recipe for success, especially Vargas with how he's pitched recently. And Duffy's had two starts, one great, one bad since his injury. Yet you wouldn't want to go with Guthrie, either.

That's a killer. If the A's go on to win this game, I think you start over with a new manager...it's going to be hard for them to compete next year without Shields, Aoki and Butler unless Hosmer/Moustakas/Perez really pick it up offensively.

I'm sure he wouldn't have done that had Moss not had two great at-bats earlier in the game against Shields. That said, you have the extra day of rest and have to push Herrera/Davis/Holland to their limits....72-1 when they get the lead late in games, there's just no way to argue with the success of those 3 guys.

QUOTE (LDF @ Sep 30, 2014 -> 06:20 PM) as a player he was great, I am sure as a person he is nice. maybe he should have had more time in the minors to really learned his craft. He was a pretty good hitter until injuries derailed him. Great is pushing it, by a bit.

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 30, 2014 -> 07:59 PM) Yost should get fired for that decision. Can't believe he brought in Ventura instead of Herrera. Hopefully this won't turn him into another Rick Ankiel...hard to put this behind him psychologically.

Guess it's easy to say that Yost panicked there a little bit pulling Shields in the 6th...but hindsight is always 20/20. 2-0 fastballs. Doesn't matter how hard you throw them.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 30, 2014 -> 04:49 PM) This is getting ridiculous ... Some Royals fans pissed that Jayson Nix is not playing cause he has good career stats vs. Lester. I don't think Jayson Nix is the answer over Mike (I cant' hit, either) Moustakas. Colon is the bat I might have inserted over Moose. I'm feeling a 5-1 A's victory. Another prediction. Royals fans, known the most of late for booing Robinson Cano at the All-Star game after booing Bill Self and Matt Cassel the day before in the all-star celebrity softball game, will boo tonight when Yost bunts in the first inning. It's reached legendary status here. Fans outraged when Yost goes for the sac bunt in any situation. KC will lose, Beane will be praised and Yost will be blamed is my prediction. When you have the 2005 White Sox bullpen and an offense without any huge run producers, scoring to take an early 1-0 lead is usually quite smart, especially at home. It's not like the A's are loaded with consistent offensive weapons either, not after they dealt Cespedes and Donaldson/Moss slumped for most of the 2nd half. If I'm a Royals fan, I want an early lead to put pressure on the A's and/or a 1 or 2 run lead going into the 6th or 7th...and I'd feel extremely confident about winning this one. Royals fans, of late, went to an open batting practice in the thousands, sold out against the Tigers for a late September weekend series and also rocked Arrowhead despite it being a Chiefs' game.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 30, 2014 -> 04:41 PM) After what he did this year, that would be like us laughing at an offer of Chris Beck for Adam Dunn after his 2011 or 2012 seasons. I don't think that would be laughable if the team giving that guy up took the salary on. Or Matt Kemp, even after what he did the final two months of the season. The Dodgers still need to find playing time for Pederson, Kemp and Puig don't get along so well, and they'd save a lot of money trading Kemp compared to Ethier/Crawford. That said, they're also not stupid. They'll trade Ethier to any team who wants to take on that contract.

Pretty unusual to come back from ANY type of shoulder surgery and make it not only to the big leagues, but to become the "ace" of a team. There aren't many examples. He's an enigma. His workload since 2008 has been off the charts, so that's the risk inherent in signing him. He's never had TJ surgery, and Bronson Arroyo is someone with a similar career arc who finally succumbed, but that doesn't mean Shields is guaranteed to break down, too.

God knows how bad things would have been without Abreu and Sale...maybe the lowest in the majors. When you start talking about 6 years without the playoffs (but exciting seasons in 2010 and 2012), that kind of puts in perspective what fans of teams like the Mariners, Royals, Pirates, Orioles, Mets, Blue Jays, etc., have suffered through. I think I would be more alarmed as a Cubs' fan. It's going to take a lot more than Soler and Kris Bryant to draw fans. Epstein is really going to have to make some substantial progress this off-season.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/96580088/roy...er-stop-working

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 30, 2014 -> 11:04 AM) One problem the White Sox may have acquiring LH hitters is Boston is in the same boat, and they usually spend a little more cash and have a few more desireable prospects at the higher levels. In other words, there probably won't be a bargain to be had unless they land a breakout guy. If Boston throws a lot of money at Sandoval and/or Hanley Ramirez, that will impact things as well. Mookie Betts is currently their best trade piece, along with their minor league pitching depth (Ranaudo/De La Rosa/Workman, etc.) and Swihart/Vasquez...also depends on whether they go after Lester to rebuild their rotation in one offseason. Their "experienced" trade pieces, guys like Middlebrooks, Bogaerts, Bradley, Jr., are so far down in value right now they might have no choice but to hold onto them. They've got Cespedes, Victorino (if healthy), Pedroia, Napoli and Ortiz as their core for one more run, and I would imagine they're not close to giving up on Bogaerts despite his terrible half-season.

If it's not Molitor, I'm guessing it will be Doug Mientkiewicz, who's already leading Twins' minor league teams to league championships...possibly (although not likely) with AJ Pierzynski as his bench coach. Terry Steinbach (catchers always make the best managers) is another strong candidate.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 30, 2014 -> 07:42 AM) I wondered that initially, but all of their coaches had their contracts expiring anyway. The new manager will be able to pick his own staff. So technically Molitor is gone, but apparently still a candidate to take over. Personally, if they are saying they didn't win enough with the players they gave Gardy, I don't see how an internal hire makes sense. But if I were a manager, the Twins job has to be about attractive as there is. A loaded system and an organization that doesn't like change in that position. You could ride it into retirement. The Twins are like the White Sox, but even more insular. Twins Way, etc. Why would they want to bring in someone like Dave Martinez (Maddon Way), Torey Lovullo (Red Sox Way/Blue Jays, AL East, etc.)...when they have a homegrown favorite son to take over, ala Robin Ventura in Chicago? The only other hire of the hot names out there that I would support if I were the Pohlads is Jeff Bannister...because they've lost a lot of their identity (pitching, strike throwing, lockdown pen, defense, fundamentals, speed, execution, letting their opponents beat themselves) from the 2001-2010 period. Sure, they spent money on Phil Hughes, Nolasco and Suzuki, the two of those guys were excellent. That doesn't mean they're still not 2 starters short (Meyer and Gibson look like keepers)...and Joe Mauer has been a shadow of his former self. When Buxton, Sano, Hicks, Vargas, Arcia, Plouffe, Dozier, etc., start firing on all cylinders, they'll be a TOUGH TOUGH out. In some ways, they're ahead of the White Sox, because they also have two of the top 10 prospects in baseball. With that said, as the Cubs' example has proven, they also have a 1-2 year learning curve ahead of them.

If they trade Ramirez, they better get a major league average or above player for 6 seasons at an important position.