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MLB '12-'13 OffSeason OT: Magic is the New Market Inefficiency

T

Talon

Member
563433_10151416312332179_695987307_n.jpg

Uh, what the fuck Majestic?
 
A

Askani

Member
Just saw the Bourn news.

Stupid for us to let him go for that and to a division rival and it be the biggest hole on our team. I hope we finish 5th in the Central.
 
Z

ZeroRay

Member
The NL East forecast from Yahoo.

"Nats World Series or bust, Braves need starters, Phillies aging, Mets rebuilding, Marlins doomed" Yep.
 
A

alstein

Member
ZeroRay said:
The NL East forecast from Yahoo.

"Nats World Series or bust, Braves need starters, Phillies aging, Mets rebuilding, Marlins doomed" Yep.
Click to expand...

Why do the Braves need starters, especially when they're getting Beachy back in August?

Medlen showed ace potential last year, Hudson's declining but still solid, Minor's showing potential to be good, Maholm's decent, and Teheran/Gilmartin should be tolerable as a 5th starter until August. Only problem is if 2 guys go down or suck Jurrjens-style (I hope he gets healthy in Baltimore- he tried but he was hurt) Also C-Mart could spot start if needed.

My main worry for the Braves is 3B. I don't trust Chris Johnson at all, and I"m not sure if Juan can hit lefties.
 
N

Ninja Scooter

Member
WTF Espn got rid of Keith Law's podcast? FUCK YOU ESPN! Nobody wants to listen to Buster Olney's punkass. They better give Law his own regular, scouting focused podcast.
 
Duane Cunningham

Duane Cunningham

Member
Ninja Scooter said:
WTF Espn got rid of Keith Law's podcast? FUCK YOU ESPN! Nobody wants to listen to Buster Olney's punkass. They better give Law his own regular, scouting focused podcast.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I just came in to mention this... Baseball Today is over!! I've been listening to it for years.

Fenix said:
Odds the Royals end up 4th in the Central?

50%?
Click to expand...

I don't see them losing ground this year. They completely revamped the rotation, and while it's not great now, it's no longer the worthless liability it was. Offensively, they won't get worse, I don't think. The guys who were good last year aren't guys who are going to slide back at this point (Alex Gordon, Billy Butler, Alcides Escobar), and the guys who had a slump last year (Hosmer, Moustakas) may bounce back (although I doubt Frenchy will, lol). Plus, LoCain and most importantly Salvador Perez were great last year but missed the first half on injury; this year they'll be around all year. They finished 13 games out of second and 16 out of first... I think their off-season improvements are worth about 10. That and a little luck/help from the Tigers and Sox and they could possibly take the weak division and finally end the longest current playoff drought in pro sports.
 
M

Maxim726X

Member
Since I know people here touch themselves to the thought of high WARs, here's a question:

Is Michael Bourn a top 3 OF in baseball? Because according to WAR, over the last 3 years he has been. Yet he remained unsigned until yesterday, for a little more yearly than Angel Pagan.

Where is the disconnect?
 
A

amishpriest99

Member
All this offseason spending by the Indians is crazy. If the rotation wasn't such a liability I'd say they might even have an outside shot at a winning record. Division's still out of the question, of course.
 
R

RBH

Member
8310662532_46414c29fe.jpg


In the end, the Braves are keeping with tradition - as in the signature 'A' that is the team's logo.

MLB.com posted a photo of the new navy blue batting practice caps with a red and white scripted 'A.' The team will wear those hats at spring training, which starts Tuesday.

The Braves said a decision on the batting caps had not been made yet when a potential design was leaked several weeks ago. That design drew ire for its "screaming Indian" logo.

"I like the selection we made this year," Braves President John Schuerholz said in a statement Monday. "We had a variety of choices that we looked at, some more thoroughly than others. But at the end, we liked this one."

But writer Paul Lukas of ESPN's Uni Watch blog, who broke the news of the cap design in December, wasn't buying the Braves' statement. He suggested the Braves withdrew the design because of the furor it caused.

"In other words, the Braves are claiming that they were never committed to the Indian head cap to begin with," Lukas wrote. "But that doesn't ring true.

"The Indian head cap has been shown for months in the official MLB Style Guide and is still shown there right now," Lukas wrote. "It's also shown in the new New Era catalog. All signs indicate that the Braves fully intended to go with the Indian design until the recent controversy caused them to have second thoughts.

Whew. That was certainly the reaction for some Americans, especially Native American groups that were highly critical of the screaming Indian logo.

Kevin Gover, director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian, said in December that the use of the screaming Indian logo would be going backward.

"What this does is contribute to the casual racism native people are subjected to in our society," said Gover, a member of the Pawnee Nation.

The screaming Indian is an image of an imaginary Indian, Gover said. It and other stereotypical sports mascots, he said, do not portray Native Americans for who they truly are.
The Indian was part of the Braves logo when the team moved to Atlanta from Milwaukee in 1966. It was retired in 1989.

The team also had a mascot, Chief Noc-a-Homa (knock a homer), who wore Native American dress and war paint.

But not everyone agreed with the Braves' decision.

@ADeVoll17 posted this: "So disappointed the @Braves aren't wearing the Screaming Indian hats for spring training. You damn Indians won this time."

@MrBrohannon said: "Sick and tired of this PC culture we live in where everybody is afraid to hurt anybody's feelings. The "Screaming Indian" logo isn't racist..."

Others just wanted a piece of the controversy:

@mattplanet said: "Okay, so we all know some prototypes of that screaming indian Braves BP cap were made...somebody got to get us one..."

Debate over sports mascots is, of course, not new. U.S. professional and collegiate sports teams have used Native American logos and names for years. Baseball's Cleveland Indians, for instance, continue to feature a smiling Indian dubbed Chief Wahoo, criticized as a racist caricature.

Sometimes this happens with the blessing of Native American tribes, and other times -- like with the NFL's Washington Redskins, a term that many feel advances a demeaning stereotype -- they have been denounced as racial slurs.
Click to expand...
http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/11/us/atlanta-braves-logo-hat/
 
E

eznark

Banned
I like the logo too because it is the spitting image of my friends Grandpa, a Menomonee Indian. He has some old ass t-shirt with that logo on that he wears all the time and tells people he posed for it. Guy is such a racist.
 
M

matthewwhatever

Member
Maxim726X said:
Since I know people here touch themselves to the thought of high WARs, here's a question:

Is Michael Bourn a top 3 OF in baseball? Because according to WAR, over the last 3 years he has been. Yet he remained unsigned until yesterday, for a little more yearly than Angel Pagan.

Where is the disconnect?
Click to expand...

Teams not wanting to give up first round picks?
 
T

Talon

Member
Maxim726X said:
Since I know people here touch themselves to the thought of high WARs, here's a question:

Is Michael Bourn a top 3 OF in baseball? Because according to WAR, over the last 3 years he has been. Yet he remained unsigned until yesterday, for a little more yearly than Angel Pagan.

Where is the disconnect?
Click to expand...
His game is predicated on speed, and he's hitting his 30s.
 
J

Joe Shlabotnik

Banned
Maxim726X said:
Since I know people here touch themselves to the thought of high WARs, here's a question:

Is Michael Bourn a top 3 OF in baseball? Because according to WAR, over the last 3 years he has been. Yet he remained unsigned until yesterday, for a little more yearly than Angel Pagan.

Where is the disconnect?
Click to expand...

Nobody touches themselves to WAR, but it's either overstating the value of his defense and speed, or the league is undervaluing it. (The eternal debate.) Regardless his hitting is just OK and no power, so.
 
A

andycapps

Member
Joe Shlabotnik said:
Nobody touches themselves to WAR, but it's either overstating the value of his defense and speed, or the league is undervaluing it. (The eternal debate.) Regardless his hitting is just OK and no power, so.
Click to expand...

I think the Braves made the right call in not resigning him for a 5 year contract at what Boras wanted. He's undoubtedly one of the best center fielders playing now defensively, but his offensive play can be real spotty. When he's on a tear and getting on base often, he can make plays happen. And then he can just disappear for long stretches, like the Uptons have, but the upside with them is that when they're batting they'll get you more power. And that they're younger.

Dave O'Brien just posted that Francisco showed up early to spring training, has lost weight but not a ton.. Said he looks to be in better shape though.
 
M

matthewwhatever

Member
Duane Cunningham said:
I don't see them losing ground this year. They completely revamped the rotation, and while it's not great now, it's no longer the worthless liability it was. Offensively, they won't get worse, I don't think. The guys who were good last year aren't guys who are going to slide back at this point (Alex Gordon, Billy Butler, Alcides Escobar), and the guys who had a slump last year (Hosmer, Moustakas) may bounce back (although I doubt Frenchy will, lol). Plus, LoCain and most importantly Salvador Perez were great last year but missed the first half on injury; this year they'll be around all year. They finished 13 games out of second and 16 out of first... I think their off-season improvements are worth about 10. That and a little luck/help from the Tigers and Sox and they could possibly take the weak division and finally end the longest current playoff drought in pro sports.
Click to expand...

I was going to mock the idea that they're 10 wins better, but it's not totally crazy. They played 2 games worse than their Pythagorean W-L last year, so that's a little there. James Shields will probably give them another 2-3 wins. Jeremy Guthrie won't be as good as he was for them last year, but he should still give them 1-2 more wins. A full year of Perez is probably 1 more. If their young players actually, finally live up to the hype, that could get them up to 85 wins or so, and that could be enough to win the weakest division in baseball.

Of course, Francouer and Ervin Santana might be enough to negate the gains...
 
C

CygnusXS

will gain confidence one day
Today in hilarity: after it turns out that Didi Gregorious has a bad elbow, Kevin Towers admits that the team didn't give Didi a physical exam before trading for him.
 
M

Mr. Enigma

Member
The Reds have avoided arbitration with Mat Latos, agreeing on a 2-year, $11.5 million contract. The Reds still have a pending case with Homer Bailey.
 
M

Mr. Enigma

Member
Heyman: Indians $48 million guarantee to Bourn is largest guarantee in history to a non-pitcher who has never hit at least 10 home runs in a season
 
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