Can we just talk about baseball? You and me, please?

Can we do that?

Ben, as a marginal fan, who's on your ballot this year?

I don't get it. What are you, and by extension Stewie, saying "What?" to?

If I had a vote, I'd vote for these guys for the Hall of Fame in baseball this year:

Jeff Bagwell
Craig Biggio
Barry Bonds
Roger Clemens
Mark McGwire
Edgar Martinez
Mike Piazza
Tim Raines

I honestly don't care one way or the other if Bonds, Clemens, Sosa, McGwire and whoever else do or do not get in. Who gives a shit. I actually think it would be great to let them wait 15 years. (Though Sosa's case is pretty borderline.)

And God, I believe in a small hall of fame. I really do. That's why the 40 Detroit Tigers that seem to come up each year are not on my list. That's why Schilling isn't there, and Larry Walker. But by not putting fucking guys like Edgar and Bagwell in, these shitty real voters make the fans look like we are just waving player after player in.

None of this is my fault. None of it ever is.

Yeah, I think we need a new thread here. There is much to discuss. I'll say this, though - D'Arnaud and Syndergaard were the two Jays prospects I was looking forward to watching. This trade HURT.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/eye-o ... -finalized

FUCK BASEBALL.

Selected scenes from Moneyball 2.

http://mlb.sbnation.com/2012/10/4/34529 ... -moneyball

Agreed on all points. For some reason my appreciation for baseball has increased over the years, whereas with football the constant goddamn ads and fact that you can't cheer ANYTHING (because of the inevitable replay) has sucked out a lot of what I liked about that game.

While I think Trout is the MVP, I have a real hard time giving so much value to defensive metrics, when the study of defense is soooooooo young. Did you see who was second in WAR for much of the season next to Trout, according to one way of determining it? It was Brett Lawrie of the Fighting Jays: on some left-handed batters, he was being moved from third to the other side of the field. He would get "out of zone" credit for each play he made over there. This completely blew up defensive metrics.

(I guess if he really could start at third and run clear across the diamond while the ball was in play then it would have measured him correctly.)

Trout stealing bases at 92% is incredible, though. I just can't take anything seriously that is saying that Trout is at an overall 10.7 WAR and Cabrera at 6.9. I mean, Alex Gordon is tenth in WAR on baseball-reference because of his fielding *and he can't hit left-handed pitching*. That's a little screwed up.

Cabrera is going to win the MVP because he won the Triple Crown. He should not. I'm not saying that's not a great achievement. I'm saying that RBI's are meaningless, and his fielding is not the best.

I also love hearing sports writers jerk off about how He's "Such a great guy" and "Loves the Game". I'm a great guy too, and i love baseball too... Where the fuck is my MVP?

Guy on NPR going off about how Cabrera has had to overcome being a non-native English speaker, and how that makes it so much more meaningful that he has done so well. I don't care. The guy who runs the bodega near my house had to learn English too... give it a rest.

This is turning into more of a rant then I wanted, and I'm probably just pissed this morning because I haven't had coffee yet, and the coffee in the office is shit.

But seriously, If I hear one more fucking person talk about how "American Kids are not as interested in Baseball, and thats why there are less American born players. American kids want to play Football."; I'm going to start firebombing ESPN. Its just not true. The reason there are less American born players is because there is about 300x the competition there was in the 40's since we can use international players now. Less guys are making it though, and there are more players on the market that are just as good, and want less money. Its like people think there is come special Latino baseball superpower, kind of like why black people are better sprinters right?

Anyway....

Trout for MVP!

Christ, this season:

Joey Bats out rest of year with rest surgery
Some guy killed another guy in a dispute about the pitching staff
Marcus Stroman is banned for 50 games for taking a "PED"

Hahahaha =)

Yeah, that sort of sucked. I am gonna try to reply to a bunch of posts tonight, but yeah, if he's in the game and not wearing a glove something went terribly wrong.

I was being sad about the Mets....

.....Then I watched a 45 year old man try and steal a base.

Dickey probably deserves the CY Young, but I'm pretty sure that anyone who votes for a knuckleballer has their vote taken away. Its a shame, but Cueto might edge him out in the NL. Far Less strike outs, but also allowed fewer runs. I could see people voting for Strasburg over Dickey for that reason too. The storyline dose give Dickey a push, never can tell with writers votes.

King Felix might get a push for AL Cy Young with that perfect game. Nicely done there. I didn't see any of that game, just some highlights That ball was moving. Who do you think in the AL... Verlander?

Rookies this year for the Mets.... (The whole team?)

Mike Baxter: Not really a rookie, but I'm glad to see this guy back. I have a soft spot for him and Murphy.

Matt Harvey:
I got to see Harvey's first start at Citi Field last week. He looks good. Fastball looks great sitting at 94-95. Motion is smooth. He took a loss, but I'm super excited. Will make a good #2 or #3 starter next season.

Basically the exact opposite feeling I got when I saw Santana opening day. Santana's fastball was WAY down, and he couldn't locate anything. Looked... Off... way to off to be starting games. He's not right after shoulder surgery, but they are going to keep tossing him out there anyway. No-hitter aside (I know, I shouldn't complain), he's not the same pitcher. Which is my major gripe about the Mets, they do not do right by injured players... pretty much ever. (I was 100% behind Beltran not using team doctors last year.)

Wheeler:
Zach Wheeler seems promising. Got hit up a bit in his first start for Buffalo. I haven't seem him pitch in person yet, but its pretty easy to get excited about a 22 year old with the kind of fastball the scouts say he has. Maybe I'll get up to see a Bisons game next season.

Nimmo:
Brandon Nimmo is playing SS for the Cyclones now. Who knows if we will ever see him in the Majors as a Met. But in 3 years if this guy is a SS, I will not complain. Mets need anyone they can get in that middle infield right now. The Valdespin/Murphy/Cedeno infield platton that is being thrown out in various combinations was fun for a bit, but is getting old. I like Murphy, but I should never go to a game and hear "Starting at 1st base.. Daniel Muurrrpyyy!!" on the PA.

Most of the farm system is in the "too early to really tell" phase. Guys are all 19-20 right now, so we will not know what they do for a while. I have a generally good feeling about it though. I was one of the few people who supported letting Reyes/Beltran/Pagan go, because we needed to open up some playing time and salary. If only we could get Boston to take back Bay.

Steak Sandwiches..: http://www.foodrepublic.com/2012/08/08/ ... a-steak-sa
These should be the 2nd half MVP for the Mets.

Jays should have a pretty good crop of Highschool guys if I'm not mistaken. Anybody your excited about?

(Also, this guy: http://www.baseball-reference.com/play ... u01.shtml but for some reason his name kept getting replaced by Phillepe J. Suckmonger?)

Welcome to the BBS!! I hope you stick around.

All the arguments I had for the Jays looked a lot better three weeks ago before they started this enormous collapse. God, it's been one ass-kicking after another lately. Rasmus, Lawrie and Bautista all being out makes the lineup look like the Las Vegas 51ers. I am FOR baseball in Las Vegas, but it should stay there until such content can accurately crush curveballs. :(

Who do the Mets have comin' up from the minors that you're looking forward to seeing?? Also, with Halladay out of contention I am pulling for R.A. Dickey to win the NL Cy Young award! I think of Cy was with us today, HE would be in Dickey's corner.

Humm... above is a long winded version of:

If Teams pursue players in the off-season and they don't end up signing, there is not a lot anyone can do. By the time the season starts, there are not that many quality people available that can really help. Could probably cut salary and trade away farm system guys (See the LA Dodgers management for that one) But there is only so much you want to spend those assets. Sure, you can always throw money at guys, but you have to get value for what you spend. I realize there are no guarantees, but you can make reasonable bets on players. Offering more money doesn't always mean you'll get the player either, I'm sure players move for a ton of reasons other then cash.

Does TOR ownership need to spend more money on salary eventually?: yes
If I was a TOR fan, would I want them to spend that money in the best way possible?: also yes
Did they do that?: who the hell knows. I'm not sitting in an MLB office right now.

This is Happiness Engine's Baseball loving coworker. He's basically bullied meinto responding to all this. Re-reading it, its a bit long, but here goes.

No need to apologize. I usually lump people who post on 'sports blogs' in with the people who call into sports radio during rain delays. Clearly, this is not that kind of place.

I don't pay close attention to the Blue Jays, so I'm sure I'm missing some key pieces of this, that you get because your a fan. Feel free to rip this apart too. We can argue about baseball on the internet for the next 5 years, and I'll see you in TOR for the 2017 Blue Jays/Mets World Series. (If the Wilpons stop getting scammed out of all their money.)

Maybe its the Met's money problems, or the fact that every time I go to a game I want to throw something a Jason Bay; but I'm super-conservative when it comes to spending money on players. Agreed, TOR has a bunch of cash, and they should spend it. Just need to be careful on who you spend it on. There are a bunch of Jason Bays and Barry Zitos out there. I'm sure you haven't forgotten about Burnett's insane contract, and neither has TOR ownership.

Not sure who else you were looking at in the off-season. I remember hearing some rumors the Jays were going all-in on Prince Fielder? Might have been a couple of other players that that just didn't pan out because they wanted too much money to play in Canada. (Which you mentioned, but what can you do?)

The players you listed as helping I'm not sure would have done everything you needed. I know I wouldn't have bet on Kuroda, and I thought the Yankees offered him too much. Pitchers don't seem to move from the NL to the AL well. (I'm looking at you Ryan Dempseter.) Not sure what Kuroda wanted to go to Canada, but I did not bet on him having the kind of year he's having.

I feel for you on the injurys. Every time I look over at the AL, the Jays have a new player on the DL. Must be playing under that dome. (sarcasm)

The Met's have a terrible track record for caring for players, and keeping guys healthy. If thats TOR's problem, you can blame the org. Otherwise its just rotten luck.

As far as the trade deadline stuff, it might have been too little, too late for this season anyway. I mean, you could spend a ton to pick up some guys, and get maybe 3-4 more wins on the season, but it would cost a lot, and in that Division might not even get you a wildcard spot. (1 game playoff maybe? I'm not sure I'd think it was worth it.) Depending on how much you have to spend, might limit your ability to keep/get whatever free agents you want. (D-backs seem like they hate BJ Upton for some reason, He's up in 2013. Should be some pitching available then too.) Your going to have to offer Kelly Johnson a bit to stick around, he's probably worth it. I have no idea what the contract situation looks like Blue Jays.

You could hire back that mystery man in the stands who was stealing signs too. (more sarcasm)

Your pretty much right, TOR should spend some money if they want to win. I just think a team should focus either all on building for 3 seasons from now, or put everything they have in to winning the next 2 seasons. I'm not sure that many teams have the resources to do both in the same year.

Admit it, the Yankees are going to the WS this year anyway. (even more sarcasm)

The draft pick lottery is something else. TOR isn't one of the 10 lowest revenue or 10 smallest markets. True, they have a pretty low payroll, but that wasn't one of the conditions of being eligible. (Unless MLBs version of market size is greatly overblows what the TOR market actually is.) I think MLB got that one right, not their fault if TOR ownership wants sit on top of a pile of money. Maybe they are saving it for some really cool bobble-head days. The one good thing about the Met's being awful is I have a lot of free hats and tote bags.

Can I offer you a Mike Piazza BobbleHead?

(That's kind of a middle finger to other Jays fans, but FUCK THEM.)

(Except Bugs, from this place.)

Tell that guy I apologize! I really didn't mean to come off like that. I am sitting here with my head in my hands because a fellow baseball fan that knows his shit thinks I am a cunt.

Just tell him this part, maybe? "ICJ from the Internet apologizes: he thought you were a fellow Jays fan."

From your view, it IS some random a-hole on the Internet. No apology needed!

I did get a, "Well, if I knew you were going to post it I'd have spent more time on it." but fuck a guy who yammers about some guy and that other guy for 25 minutes to someone who's interest in baseball begins and ends with, "yes, that is an interesting game. I like the part where they try to hit the ball."