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[Lambtron]

Rosenthal: Red Sox first test; Mauer is on waivers
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/...t-to-pass-on-minnesota-twins-joe-mauer-082812

Rosenthal speculates if the Red Sox might take on that contract. Have him be a catcher/1b

Hahahahahahahahaha. Must be a slow day, huh, Ken?

 

[Ninja Scooter]

Hahahahahahahahaha. Must be a slow day, huh, Ken?

LMAO it would be hilarious if the Red Sox got out from under the Gonzo contract only to replace it with Mauer.

 

[Puddles]

The Dodgers are a sad, sad team.

Fucking Capuano, that cock. 6 runs in 6 innings, really? And Lord forbid we actually hammer the shit Rockies pitchers.

I fucking hope Kemp is okay.

 

[Lambtron]

LMAO it would be hilarious if the Red Sox got out from under the Gonzo contract only to replace it with Mauer.

I'd rather have Mauer's contract than Gonzo's. That being said, in the tiny chance this happens, I'd probably give up watching this shit organization for several years.

 

[Sanjuro]

I'd rather have Mauer's contract than Gonzo's. That being said, in the tiny chance this happens, I'd probably give up watching this shit organization for several years.

Love them beautiful white guys.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

The Dodgers are a sad, sad team.

Fucking Capuano, that cock. 6 runs in 6 innings, really? And Lord forbid we actually hammer the shit Rockies pitchers.

I fucking hope Kemp is okay.

Even Barry Zito can throw a complete game shutout in Colorado.

 

[JHall]

Kris Medlen reminds me so much of Greg Maddux.

 

[Corran Horn]

Hey, don't be mad 'cause our HoFer didn't abuse steroids.

we still have time...

 

[ReturnOfTheRAT]

Medlen owning fools.

 

[Jubs]

Kris Medlen for mayor

 

[The Outsider]

Medlen dealing. I say we pitch him every night.

 

[Tedesco!]

It's been a while since I've seen one, so I'll just leave this here....

 

[vas_a_morir]

hey cool.

The Reds have the best record in the majors.

 

[RBH]

The "Moneyball" book had its place in the advance of baseball analytics, the movie treatment had its place in the Academy Award nominations, and the mystique of the movement still stands as the identity we often associate with the Billy Beane-era Oakland A's.

Something special, though, is taking place in this 2012 season. It's something that, if seen to its full fruition, would make for a better story than "Moneyball" ever was.

The present-day A's are a contender, no matter how much we might have assumed otherwise mere months ago. They are steaming toward September, having won nine of their past 11, including two of three over fellow Wild Card contender Tampa Bay over the weekend. And Oakland entered Tuesday with a record identical to that of the equally surprising Orioles, with both clubs holding a Wild Card spot in the American League.

For the A's to be in this position, with a roster scant on established veterans and loaded with retreads, qualifies as a surprise.

For the A's to hold onto this position down the stretch, despite the loss of Bartolo Colon to suspension and a grueling schedule that will pit them against contending teams in 23 of their final 29 games, will require a further test of their fortitude.

Don't think they've got it in them? Well, did you imagine they'd get this far?

"The fact that we've gotten contributions from not just the 25 guys here right now but many more than that with our Triple-A team, too, would suggest we can move on from just about anything at this point," manager Bob Melvin said. "We are a 25-man team here, and really -- probably -- a pool of 32."

Hold the roster of these current A's up next to that of their "Moneyball" predecessors from a decade ago, and the latter looks like an All-Star squad by comparison. It's laughable how much the movie, in particular, overlooked the contributions of certain top talents to instead give us a story centered on Scott Hatteberg.

"You had an MVP at shortstop [Miguel Tejada], you had three absolute Cy Young contenders [Mark Mulder, Tim Hudson and Barry Zito] in the rotation, and there were guys like Jermaine Dye," said Brandon McCarthy, the current de facto ace. "Yeah, there were a lot of fill-ins that made the story good, but there were still a lot of guys who were hugely respected in the game.

"Here, we're all kind of guys clawing and trying to fight and make a name for ourselves."

And remember, these 2012 A's are a team that, unlike even the O's, was supposed to take a step backward this season. A strong rotation was gutted by trades that sent Gio Gonzalez to the Nationals and Trevor Cahill to the D-backs, and closer Andrew Bailey was sent to Boston.

The focus was not as much on immediate contention as it was on a future move to San Jose -- a move that is still stalled.

But a funny thing happened on the road to irrelevance. The Cahill, Gonzalez and Bailey trades all reaped immediate returns, primarily in the form of rookie rotation stalwarts Jarrod Parker (8-7, 3.52 ERA), Tommy Milone (10-9, 3.87 ERA), All-Star reliever Ryan Cook (2.45 ERA) and productive right fielder Josh Reddick (26 homers, .813 on-base plus slugging percentage). A four-year, $36 million flier on Cuban import (and YouTube hit) Yoenis Cespedes brought added thump.

The lineup began to jell when Coco Crisp, who nearly departed in free agency last year before signing a two-year, $14 million deal to stay in Oakland, shook off an early-season slump and took over the leadoff duties on June 14. In the time since, Crisp has hit .304 with a .360 on-base percentage, while the A's have gone 42-22.

And even when Colon got suspended for 50 games, the timing worked out in the A's favor, as Brett Anderson was due to return from Tommy John surgery.

Anderson has now tossed seven brilliant innings in each of his first two starts. He blanked the Indians on Monday night, thanks in part to the help of a breaking ball that looked to be in midseason form. It was enough to make you forget the hit Oakland took with Colon's suspension.

"Colon was very well-liked here and did a nice job for us," Melvin said, "but I think the timing of Brett Anderson coming back and the depth of the starting rotation would suggest that we can move on from this fairly quickly."

It is a credit to pitching coach Curt Young, who returned to the Oakland organization after an eventful one-year run in Boston, that the A's always tend to get the most out of that staff, regardless of age or rank. Oakland starters have the second-best ERA (3.77) in the league, behind that of the Rays (3.50).

"I think our front office trusts us, and we trust them," Young said. "We've always had great depth in the starting pitching department. It's always been quality that's come to us through a trade. Gio is an example, Brett Anderson is an example. Jarrod Parker and Tom Milone. In all the trades that have happened, quality has come our way."

Like the Rays, this staff also benefits from the comforts of a home park that plays in favor of pitchers.

"I think guys gain confidence from that stadium they pitch in, and that carries over to the road," Young said. "We've got a bunch of confident guys, and their teammates know what they're going to get from them each time they take the mound. I think that's the most important thing when establishing a team."

And we might as well toss out one more Rays comparison, while we're at it. You don't outplay your payroll at this high a percentage without a certain amount of clubhouse chemistry or, at least, an environment in which the pressure to perform does not outweigh the pleasure in performing.

"Tampa's been the mold of that the last few years," McCarthy said. "You just don't see any uptightness or any panic from them. And that's the mold that we've been following."

If this season follows its current path, and if the A's don't tighten up or get besieged by injury, you just might see them wind up where three of the past four Rays clubs did: October.

It might not get the book or movie treatment. But man, what a story that would be.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp...37472060&vkey=perspectives&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Kris Medlen reminds me so much of Greg Maddux.

So you're saying he'll sign with another team and become one of the best pitchers of all time?

Well, it would be amusing seeing him in a Cubs uniform.

 

[Mr. Enigma]

Here comes Kimbrel for his first save chance since August 3.

 

[vas_a_morir]

Here comes Kimbrel for his first save chance since August 3.

Seriously?

 

[Malo]

Here comes Kimbrel for his first save chance since August 3.

Should have never traded Soriano for him in my fantasy league.

 

[CygnusXS]

Venable and Headley just got clowned.

 

[Mr. Enigma]

Seriously?

Yeah. All of the Braves wins have been more than 3 runs.

 

[SerArthurDayne]

Kimbrel is a bad man.

Medlen, too.

 

[Jubs]

Three Kimbrel poses to end the inning and notch the save.

 

[Mr. Enigma]

Braves now 17-0 in Medlen's last 17 starts. Didn't allow a baserunner past first all night in 8 innings. 2 pickoffs. 28.1 scoreless innings now.

Gatdamn.

Braves have now gained 3 games on the Nats in the last 6 days.

 

[Talon]

Holy shit. A game gained. What world is this?

 

[JHall]

So you're saying he'll sign with another team and become one of the best pitchers of all time?

Well, it would be amusing seeing him in a Cubs uniform.

Lol, no. I want the Braves to keep him as long as possible.

I just love the way he pitches. He doesn't have over-powering stuff. But he makes up for it by: changing speeds constantly, working both sides of the plate very effectively (not afraid to throw inside), keeping hitters off-balance, working quick, and being smart with his pitch selection. Just like Maddux used to pitch.

There is obviously a lot more to add to this list but I don't feel like typing it out.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

This is what killed the Astros' rally with 2 on and 1 out in the bottom of the 8th with them just taking a 2-1 lead off of a Matt Cain wild pitch:

And how the Giants tied the game in the top of the 9th. That was where Belt was when the LF threw it in:

 

[Mr. Enigma]

Welcome back, Aceves.

 

[Sanjuro]

Bye Aceves.

 

[endresults]

Never change, Aceves. Never change.

 

[Mr. Enigma]

STANDINGS UPDATE FOR AUGUST 28

American League

-- Yankees lead over the Orioles in the AL East remained at 3.5 games
-- Yankees lead over the Rays in the AL East increased to 5.0 games

-- White Sox lead over the Tigers in the AL Central remained at 2.0 games

-- Rangers lead over the Athletics in the AL West remained at 5.5 games
-- Rangers lead over the Angels in the AL West remained at 10.0 games

-- Athletics and Orioles remain tied for AL Wild Card #1 and #2
-- Athletics/Orioles lead over Rays in AL Wild Card #2 increased to 1.5 games
-- Athletics/Orioles lead over Tigers in AL Wild Card #2 increased to 2.0 games
-- Athletics/Orioles lead over Angels in AL Wild Card #2 remained at 4.5 games

REMAINING GAMES:
Yankees - 33 (17 away, 16 home, 3 off-days / 16 vs. +.500)
White Sox - 34 (17 away, 17 home, 2 off-days / 16 vs. +.500)
Rangers - 33 (19 away, 14 home, 3 off-days / 17 vs. +.500)
Athletics - 34 (20 away, 14 home, 2 off-days / 23 vs. +.500)
Orioles - 34 (18 away, 16 home, 3 off-days / 18 vs. +.500)
Rays - 33 (17 away, 16 home, 3 off-days / 20 vs. +.500)
Tigers - 34 (18 away, 16 home, 2 off-days / 14 vs. +.500)
Angels - 33 (15 away, 18 home, 3 off-days / 20 vs. +.500)

National League

-- Nationals lead over Braves in the NL East decreased to 4.0 games

-- Reds lead over the Cardinals in the NL Central increased to 7.0 games
-- Reds lead over the Pirates in the NL Central remained at 9.0 games

-- Giants lead over the Dodgers in the NL West increased to 3.5 games

-- Braves lead over the Cardinals in NL Wild Card #1 increased to 2.5 games
-- Cardinals lead over Pirates in NL Wild Card #2 decreased to 2.0 games
-- Cardinals lead over Dodgers in NL Wild Card #2 remained at 2.5 games

REMAINING GAMES:
Reds - 31 (17 away, 14 home, 5 off-days / 12 vs. +.500)
Nationals - 34 (13 away, 21 home, 2 off-days / 13 vs. +.500)
Giants - 33 (17 away, 16 home, 3 off-days / 6 vs. +.500)
Braves - 32 (16 away, 16 home, 4 off-days / 6 vs. +.500)
Cardinals - 33 (18 away, 15 home, 3 off-days / 15 vs. +.500)
Pirates - 33 (17 away, 16 home, 3 off-days / 10 vs. +.500)
Dodgers - 32 (15 away, 17 home, 4 off-days / 16 vs. +.500)

IF THE SEASON ENDED TODAY:

AL Wild Card Game: Orioles @ Athletics

NL Wild Card Game: Cardinals @ Braves

NLDS Game 1: Reds @ Braves -OR- Cardinals
NLDS Game 1: Giants @ Nationals

ALDS Game 1: Rangers @ Athletics -OR- Orioles
ALDS Game 1: White Sox @ Yankees

 

[acheron_xl]

Carlos Lee had a SB today? Was there a buffet spread waiting at 2nd base for him, or was it fielder indifference?

 

[harSon]

-- Cardinals lead over Pirates in NL Wild Card #2 decreased to 2.5 games

You mean 2 games?

 

[Mr. Enigma]

You mean 2 games?

Yep, you're right. Good catch.

 

[endresults]

Carlos Lee had a SB today? Was there a buffet spread waiting at 2nd base for him, or was it fielder indifference?

They never held him on at first and the shortstop was late getting to second because, ya know, Carlos Lee. Ball was in the dirt anyway IIRC.

Times have changed, and you have to be more creative with fat ballplayer jokes nowadays. After Bartolo Colon got busted for steroids, user Dmncnby2k9 used the material he had in front of him - a tubby baseball player was caught doing steroids - and turned it into comedy gold with this simple, succinct line:

"Colon must have been trying a new edible form of steroids."

You used the same technique - tubby baseball player not known for his speed steals a base - but you reached too far. A buffet at second base? Come on, this is Gaf.

 

[sf2fanatic]

Here comes Kimbrel for his first save chance since August 3.

Tears of Joy......


He should get CY!!!! All them saves with rare oppotunites...lol

 

[Mr. Enigma]

Interesting stats on Strasburg's diastrous start against the Marlins on Tuesday. He threw 30 fastballs and only got swings-and-misses on two of them. Also, the velocity of his fastball dipped down to just 94. The Marlins only swung at 5 of the 25 offspeed pitches he threw, clearly sitting on his fastball. In the first half, opponents swung at half of Strasburg's offspeed stuff. It seems now the book is out on him to sit on his fastball, as opponents have only swung at 1/3 of offspeed pitches since the All-Star break.

There are some people wondering if Strasburg will be shut down if he gets blasted again in his next start and shows diminished velocity. His next start is scheduled for Sunday against the Cardinals.

 

[Oxx]

Medlen for comeback player of the year.

 

[Sharp]

Interesting stats on Strasburg's diastrous start against the Marlins on Tuesday. He threw 30 fastballs and only got swings-and-misses on two of them. Also, the velocity of his fastball dipped down to just 94. The Marlins only swung at 5 of the 25 offspeed pitches he threw, clearly sitting on his fastball. In the first half, opponents swung at half of Strasburg's offspeed stuff. It seems now the book is out on him to sit on his fastball, as opponents have only swung at 1/3 of offspeed pitches since the All-Star break.

There are some people wondering if Strasburg will be shut down if he gets blasted again in his next start and shows diminished velocity. His next start is scheduled for Sunday against the Cardinals.

Yeah, I would say most of this post is kind of a load of crap. He was throwing 97-98 in the first couple of innings and he got plenty of swings and misses in the start before this, where he averaged 96+. The reason the Marlins only swung at five of his offspeed pitches was because he wasn't able to locate them anywhere close to the strikezone tonight because they had absurd movement, and the ump was calling a really tight zone (for both pitchers, not that the Nats took advantage of that) so they had no reason to swing at borderline pitches. Basically, I didn't see much of an indication that "the book is out" on him--he just had an uncharacteristically hittable night. Keep hoping, though, I know you'd love to see the Nats start trotting out Lannan every five days!

 

[eznark]

Todd Frasier

RotY run right now.

He's so good you can't even spell his name!

 

[vas_a_morir]

He's so good you can't even spell his name!

He's that under-the-radar, Ez.

 

[eznark]

It's a pretty shitty year for NL rookies, I think he has a better than average shot of winning it.

 

[ErasureAcer]

So the Twins put Joe Mauer on the some waiver list last night? Good way to kill your entire franchise. Apparently CBSSports isn't reporting this or not that I saw at least. Haven't checked elsewhere. Heard it on my local news this morning.

 

[eznark]

So the Twins put Joe Mauer on the some waiver list last night? Good way to kill your entire franchise. Apparently CBSSports isn't reporting this or not that I saw at least. Haven't checked elsewhere. Heard it on my local news this morning.

It is completely and utterly meaningless unless an actual trade is made.

 

[Lambtron]

It is completely and utterly meaningless unless an actual trade is made.

Yep. He's on revocable waivers. There's basically no way in hell he gets traded. Blow it up, trade some pieces, sure. But they need to build around Mauer, they're not going to get fair value for him in a trade.

 

[acheron_xl]

Yep. He's on revocable waivers. There's basically no way in hell he gets traded. Blow it up, trade some pieces, sure. But they need to build around Mauer, they're not going to get fair value for him in a trade.

Isn't Mauer a bit old to build around?

 

[eznark]

Isn't Mauer a bit old to build around?

Building around Mauer is like building a straw house in a wind tunnel.

 

[jman2050]

The Twins already tried building around Mauer and Morneau. It didn't work. Not that they should trade him or anything like that, but as Lambtron said they do need to blow it up and start from scratch and hope Mauer continues to contribute positively throughout the process.

 

[darkside31337]

Building around ANYBODY in baseball and 20+ replacement level players isn't going to work. They are an awful organization.

Joe Mauer is having a very nice season. The Twins shouldn't be dumping him. For his sake though I hope they do. It'd be nice to see him play on a winning team again.

 

[vas_a_morir]

This is what killed the Astros' rally with 2 on and 1 out in the bottom of the 8th with them just taking a 2-1 lead off of a Matt Cain wild pitch:

]

That's a balk come next year. As it should be, honestly.

 

[Duane Cunningham]

Just now saw this Jeff Passan article from Friday. Ugh.

25 things you didn't know about baseball

25. The worst player in baseball is …

We always save the worst for last because sabermetrics isn't always about celebrating achievements and accomplishments. Numbers give us something tangible with which we can judge a player against his peers, against his predecessors, against Babe Ruth if we truly want. The preferred tool today is Wins Above Replacement. FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference both have proprietary versions; each is marred by its inclusion of defensive metrics but good enough to give a decent idea of what's what.
And they agree: The worst player in baseball this year is Kansas City outfielder Jeff Francoeur.

FanGraphs says he has been worth -1.7 WAR, which means by using a replacement-level player – some bum from Triple-A – the Royals actually would have won two more games. B-R is even harsher: The site has Francoeur at -3.0 WAR, which ranks as the 11th-worst season for an offensive player since 1901.

With a dreadful August and September, Francoeur could threaten the season both sites agree is the worst ever: Jerry Royster's 1977 with Atlanta, a -3.7 FanGraphs and -4.1 B-R debacle. The utilityman hit .216/.278/.288 and, the metrics say, played brutal defense. Francoeur isn't that bad, at .240/.287/.372, with a major league-leading 14 outfield assists, but as Wil Myers sits at Triple-A with a .311/.389/.603 line, 35 home runs and the title of best hitting prospect in the minors, it cannot be anything short of maddening for Royals fans to swallow where part of the cost of their ticket will go.

Kansas City owes Francoeur $6.75 million in 2013.

In other news, it's the fun part of the Royals season where we stave off elimination for as long as possible. Fun.