Baseball Chat OPTIONS

[killfactor]

Spring Training Bitches!!!!! Wooooo!

Jair Jurrjens shows up with a strained pitching shoulder? Yikes. Stay away, stay far away.

How does Johnny Damon not have a deal yet? He's gonna be a ChiSox, I betcha.

Speaking of not having a deal, what the fuck is up with Felipe Lopez? He was a top 5 second baseman last year, and he can't get a deal anywhere? WTF?

So I'm wondering, can someone tell me how ESPN's fantasy baseball gurus can go and rate Miguel "I get shitfaced the night before playoff games" Cabrera ahead of Mark Teixeira when Teixeira had the better year last year across the board, plays on a better team, and even their predictions have him doing EVERYTHING better, with the exception of like 3 batting average points. Where is the logic?

[yaphet_kotto]

WOO HOO! Can't wait for the action to start.

How does Johnny Damon not have a deal yet? He's gonna be a ChiSox, I betcha.

STOKED about the possible signing. I hope it goes through.

[Pagan Master]

Heading down to A's camp in Phoenix tonight. Autographs, autographs, autographs!

[Johnny]

i've got the Astros training literally right around the corner from me, and the Braves, Tigers, and Nationals all a 40 minute drive away. it's awesome here this time of year.

[MJOB]

How does Johnny Damon not have a deal yet? He's gonna be a ChiSox, I betcha.

I really don't see why the Sox are interested in Damon. They already have 5 outfielders. Seems like they're more in need of another back-up infielder.

Bigger question is IMO, how does Jermaine Dye not have a deal yet??

[killfactor]

Dye is very limited. Damon can provide pop, hit leadoff, give you a good average and on base skills, and while he may not be a 30 sb threat any longer, he can still run the bases very well. Dye is going to give you nothing much but power these days with a lower average, no speed, and like Damon suspect defense. Plus you can get .250-25-80 out of a lot of younger guys for 1/4th of the price Dyeis going to demand, and they will play better d too.

[Jay]

Eric Gagne is back with the Dodgers.

He spent last year in the Can-Am League. They have a team from that league here in Worcester and I refuse to even acknowledge its existence. It's basically a league full of guys that either played at low level colleges and didn't get drafted or have already completely flamed out of single A or rookie league already, and he didn't even dominate. Every once in a while they'll have a kid get signed into someone's farm but over-all, it's kind of a joke league...

[fox]

Shawn, Cabrera has and should destroy Teixeira in batting average by about 40 points. I'd rather have Teix too but statistical models have trouble understanding human components like "dude is a drunk who took the last week of a pennant race off last year".

I think Damon killed himself not taking a two year, eight figure deal from the Yanks that's not even on the table anymore. Yeah, he's a good offensive player, but he lost his speed and can't play outfield anymore. And chicks dig the long ball and even playing half his games in Yankee bandbox he didn't slug that well. Useful high OBP guy nut guys like that don't get 40 million dollar deals anymore.

[killfactor]

Minor league deal. If he can be an effective mop-up/middle guy it will be worth it. It's not like the Dodgers really need the help, with Troncoso, Belasario, and Sherrill all setting up Brox, and Stults, Wade and a few other guys for the dirty/long work. The Dodgers bullpen is actually one of their stronger points. I think he probably would have had a better chance to even make the team in Colorado. That said, I can understand wanting one last hurrah with the team that you dominated with (the help of steroids).

Fox... I'll give you that. I guess I took the 20+ more RBIs from Tex as a trade off for that, but Cabrera just had a down year, he routinely hits 120 a year himself, closer to 100 is more of an aberration than the norm.

This post has been edited by Sparks-A-Lot: Feb 19 2010, 5:24 AM

[Jay]

Don't you know foo? RBI's are teh uselessness.

[killfactor]

Yeah, but to be fair Cabrera usually is right up there with Tex in RBI totals, BUT which Cabrera are you going to get? Is he better, sober, ready to rock, or are we going to see a Carlos Baerga sudden drop in production when he should be in the prime of his career? I'll give away a draft strategy for free... if I'm the position to take one or the other, I'll take Tex (although I'll take neither because 1B is way to fucking deep to draft 1st/early 2nd round - unless you can get Pooholes)

This post has been edited by Sparks-A-Lot: Feb 19 2010, 5:41 AM

[Jay]

I was being sarcastic.

[killfactor]

Even if I was able to tell that, I still would have posted what I did just so I could bust out the Carlos Bearga reference.

This post has been edited by Sparks-A-Lot: Feb 19 2010, 5:46 AM

[yaphet_kotto]

You've been saving that one for a while haven't ya?

[Hitman]

Muddy did you get my PM... whats the deal with that league?

[fox]

Don't you know foo? RBI's are teh uselessness.

I know you were being sarcastic and I disagree with the new wisdom that RBI is a meaningless stat, but what I will say is that it is a stat that is very hard to predict because it fluctuates a lot year-to-year based on who is hitting in front of/behind you, injuries on your team, shit like that. But it clearly isn't a useless stat. I'd be surprised to see Cabrera end up with that 100 RBI season again, if he's in shape and motivated he should be getting closer to 130

[Jay]

I guess it was just fresh on my mind because Keith Law was on the radio here the other day basically telling people they were idiots if they believed in the RBI and that they need to evolve with new stats that are much more telling. That everyone who thinks he is wrong is just afraid of change.

[fox]

Some of these writers don't even care about the game anymore I think. You don't even have to watch the games to vote on the MVP in Keith Law's world, just vote for whoever has the most Win Shares.

[Jay]

I guess that's why he was so successful with Toronto

[SludgeFactory]

This ought to be interesting...

Chicago White Sox front office to be featured in MLB Network reality series The Club
Original Series from MLB Productions to Follow White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, General Manager Ken Williams & Manager Ozzie Guillen

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20...sp&c_id=mlb

There will be lot's of bleeps on Ozzie.

Seems very weird that they agreed to do this. The whole organization always seemed like a "under the radar" kind of vibe, especially Kenny Williams, but it could make for awesome TV...

[Hitman]

That sounds like its going to kick ass. Once again, MLB Network with the win.

[Jay]

Sounds like that NFL Training camp show. I'll watch. I loved the Bengals season so much I went back and downloaded the Cowboys season from the year before.

[killfactor]

Keith Law can go fuck himself. Stat geeks like him are fucking up the game, well at least the analysis of it. I love reading about baseball, but I cannot fucking STAND it when some douchebag randomly starts using a stat that was invented 2 week prior that only he and 3 other people (one of them being Keith Law) has ever heard of. Why the fuck do I care that this guy thinks Player A is a better player than Player B despite the fact B has a better average, OPS, more homers, rbis, and steals, but A has a 1.67493020#049$95060^83859 BRP/ZVOP+%.

[ozzman]

This ought to be interesting...

Chicago White Sox front office to be featured in MLB Network reality series The Club
Original Series from MLB Productions to Follow White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, General Manager Ken Williams & Manager Ozzie Guillen

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20...sp&c_id=mlb

There will be lot's of bleeps on Ozzie.

Seems very weird that they agreed to do this. The whole organization always seemed like a "under the radar" kind of vibe, especially Kenny Williams, but it could make for awesome TV...

this is quite awesome, now if only dish had the channel

[Jurkov]

Dish Network doesn't have MLBN?? Weeeaaak! How come?

[ozzman]

Dish Network doesn't have MLBN?? Weeeaaak! How come?

Found this on the wikipedia page: Dish Network has been in an ongoing carriage dispute about MLB Extra Innings since the end of the 2006 season.

Blah, so that carried over into the MLB Network carriage.

[MJOB]

White Sox have reprtedly withdrawn their offer to Damon


Reality TV with Ozzie Guillen would be fun.

[SludgeFactory]

Sox just arent gonna play Borass' game. Good for Kenny....

[yaphet_kotto]

They went to $6 mil? Wow. I guess KW and Reinsdorf really weren't fucking around there for a second. I understand why they pulled the offer now. Everyone and their mother knows how strapped for cash the Sox are. If they went to $6 mil and Damon still wasn't biting...fuck him.

This will all be irrelevant anyway if Jones can wake the fuck up from his slumber. Fingers crossed. (Dicks, too).

[Jay]

Dish Network got shut out of MLB Network because of the whole DirecTV thing. It was originally going to be on DTV only, but when congress stepped in, MLB and DirecTV offered to let other carriers in, but Dish Network thought they should be a part owner on the deal too and DTV/MLB said no, so they backed out.

That's like a super simplified version. I'll see if I can find something more specific...

Edit:

New contract and controversy

On March 6, 2007, DirecTV signed a new seven-year carriage contract with the MLB. At first, it was to be an exclusive deal worth $700 million. However, as a result of viewer complaints and antitrust concerns - voiced by, among others, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry - MLB agreed to offer the package for renewal by cable systems and Dish Network. By March 9, negotiations had begun to try to settle the dispute, with a deadline of April 1, the first day of the MLB regular season. [4] MLB demanded that the cable systems bundle the renewal of the Extra Innings package with the MLB Network, a 24-hour network in the vein of NFL Network, NBA TV, and NHL Network that MLB launched on January 1, 2009. Furthermore, these systems were asked to place the channel on an expanded digital tier. At least one major system, Time Warner Cable, balked at the terms. [5]

The offer from the cable consortium to MLB would have matched the financing portion, but cable was only willing to put the MLB Network on a premium tier. Cable systems did guarantee to reach at least as many viewers of MLB Network as DirecTV will reach. MLB was not satisfied with the offer, and publicly claimed that the cable companies failed to meet more of the criteria for the deal than they had actually met.[6] However, while MLB wanted the cable systems to match the same offer as DirecTV, MLB would be providing more generous benefits to DirecTV for the very same offer: DirecTV would be receiving a stake in MLB Network, thereby barring cable systems from receiving the telecasts. Hence, MLB was accused of claiming that cable would not meet the same terms as DirecTV, while not offering the same deal to the cable consortium.[7]

As of the start of the season on April 2, only DirecTV had agreed to those terms and was able to retain Extra Innings. It would not be available on any cable system until after the deadline was extended and agreements were reached.

On April 4, MLB and iN DEMAND finally reached an agreement similar to the one that MLB reached with DirecTV. Cable companies that carry iN DEMAND resumed carrying MLB Extra Innings and also agreed to add the MLB Network upon its launch. iN DEMAND only had the authority to negotiate directly for and agree to add the MLB Network on their owners' cable systems which are made up by Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and Advance/Newhouse (Bright House Networks); in turn, iN DEMAND got an equity stake in the MLB Network about the same as the one DirecTV received. Cablevision which had been asking for their own equity stake as terms for them to agree to add the MLB Network came to terms with iN DEMAND and Major League Baseball on May 4, 2007 which was iN DEMAND and MLB's deadline for cable companies and Dish Network to reach a deal. Dish never came to an agreement, and is no longer on speaking terms with MLB. Cablevision agreed to carry the MLB Network without getting the equity stake in it. Charter Communications also reached an agreement with MLB.[8]

iN DEMAND places MLB Extra Innings on the same channels as its NHL Center Ice service. Some providers, like Comcast and Suddenlink Communications may not offer all 14 MLB game channels. Because of hockey games shown on the same channels (particularly in April), some nights on Comcast and Suddenlink see no more than 2 or 3 games being shown. Some Comcast cable systems do carry all 14 game channels, while some systems have limited number of channels. DirecTV customers do not have this problem, as their 15 channels (mostly RSN remaps) are dedicated solely to baseball. Comcast customers cannot see any of the MLB Extra Innings games in HD.

This post has been edited by Jay: Feb 19 2010, 2:24 PM