2011 Preseason "Expert" evaluation thread

[UMFan83]

Baseless Soriano hate on NSBB is definitely a sign baseball season is back. :clapping:

 

It's not baseless, and I don't irrationally hate Soriano. I just don't think he's going to be very good this year, based on a number of factors. I readily admit I could be wrong.

 

I really hope he does great though, even if it means I have to see him do that John Cena thing 40 times this year.

[Guest]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/preview/2011/news/story?page=11expertpicks

 

LOL @ Steve Berthiume picking the Astros to win the Central.

 

Oh my. I guess the term "expert" is applied rather loosely these days. It might not be all that crazy to throw a real shocker out there for affect, but when you pick Houston and then also trump that pick with the Phillies and Giants not making the playoffs, followed by the Dodgers winning the wild card, someone needs to schedule you an appointment with the local shrink.

[SouthSideRyan]

Baseless Soriano hate on NSBB is definitely a sign baseball season is back. :clapping:

 

It's not baseless, and I don't irrationally hate Soriano. I just don't think he's going to be very good this year, based on a number of factors. I readily admit I could be wrong.

 

I really hope he does great though, even if it means I have to see him do that John Cena thing 40 times this year.

 

I love that John Cena thing.

[SouthSideRyan]

If Colvin can come close to matching last year's #s, I think Soriano is going to be protected from tough righties most of the season. In the very least I'd expect his #s to artificially look better thanks to facing a higher % of lefties compared to his total # of PAs.

[davearm2]

Baseless Soriano hate on NSBB is definitely a sign baseball season is back. :clapping:

 

It's not baseless, and I don't irrationally hate Soriano. I just don't think he's going to be very good this year, based on a number of factors. I readily admit I could be wrong.

 

I really hope he does great though, even if it means I have to see him do that John Cena thing 40 times this year.

Most of the suggested lineups I've seen have Soriano hitting 7th, so you're definitely not alone in being bearish on the guy. And if the Cubs had a good 2B, I bet you'd see some folks putting him 8th.

 

He obviously wouldn't be that low if there was optimism that the .900ish OPS of '06-'08 was still reasonably plausible.

[davearm2]

If Colvin can come close to matching last year's #s, I think Soriano is going to be protected from tough righties most of the season. In the very least I'd expect his #s to artificially look better thanks to facing a higher % of lefties compared to his total # of PAs.

In that scenario Byrd starts and Soriano sits? Interesting. Defiinitely could happen, especially with Quade calling the shots.

[Guest]

Is Soriano still swinging one of the heaviest bats in the major leagues? At 35, wouldn't it be a brilliant idea to lighten up the bat a bit to increase bat speed?

[davearm2]

Is Soriano still swinging one of the heaviest bats in the major leagues? At 35, wouldn't it be a brilliant idea to lighten up the bat a bit to increase bat speed?

This is purely my (surely vague) recollection, but I don't remember Soriano being late on swings last year.

 

In fact he seemed to hook screaming liners foul down the LF line pretty regularly.

 

Now it could be that he's starting his swing earlier to compensate, and thus being making himself that much more susceptable to the dirtball sliders that he swung at too much already.

[erik316wttn]

Baseless Soriano hate on NSBB is definitely a sign baseball season is back. :clapping:

 

I don't hate him, necessarily, I hate his contract.

[imb]

the heavy bat thing always seemed like a self-fulfilling prophecy to me, anyway. Every time he struck out on a check swing, someone would say "IT'S CAUSE OF THE HEAVY BAT." But no one ever checks if he's striking out on check swings more than anyone else does.

[Vinestal]

I wonder if he had a really, really dismal season if he'd just retire. I guess he'd have to be pretty bad. *sigh* a man can dream. I just don't envision any scenario in which Soriano is worth what he's being paid, or even close to it for that matter. He's going to cost us so much defensively it'll offset any value he has on the offensive side. He looked worse than ever in left during spring training, he might as well be walking to the ball.

[Sammy Sofa]

Yup, he might as well.

[Vinestal]

it really angers me watching him "chase" down fly balls usually I'm screaming and throwing things while he's casually jogging to where the ball will undoubtedly land and roll past him for extra bases. He doesn't seem in pain he just seems not to care. Anyone remember Andre Dawson? That guy had terrible knees but you could tell the man was going all out on every play. I don't remember him ever taking the approach that Soriano seems to.

[SouthSideRyan]

And what's the deal with the hop??

[imb]

he looks like he'd rather just go back to his mansion and count his zillions

[Rob]

Disturbed that the rules had begun to stress outfield range over more important aspects of fielding, MLB announced today it would form a committee to discuss rule changes intended to award outs based on hustle and fielding the ball cleanly. Proposed changes include ankle weights for faster players and even providing Segway Personal Transports for some of the more severely movement-impaired players. Johnny Gomes had this to say.

 

"Well obviously I think I speak on behalf of all gritty white guys when I say that we were getting pretty tired of all those lazy latin players being better fielders than us just because they get to the ball while jogging faster than I do while running hard. I think the proposed rule changes more accurately reflect what the fans want to see."

 

Gomes then sprinted very slowly after a ball in the gap, cleanly picked it up and fired it to the second baseman... just as the batter, Matt Stairs, pulled up on third base with a standing triple.

 

These changes in the outfield rules were widely accepted as necessary after Ryan Theriot's campaign to staple the scrotums of latin players to the inside of their thighs resulted in him winning a gold glove.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

he looks like he'd rather just go back to his mansion and count his zillions

he's way too lazy to count that by himself

[treebird]

he looks like he'd rather just go back to his mansion and count his zillions

 

YES

[imb]

i upgraded it to zillions because there has to be a distinction between soriano money and harvey money

[treebird]

i upgraded it to zillions because there has to be a distinction between soriano money and harvey money

 

in fairness, harvey has had those many millions in interest-bearing accounts for so long that he probably has zillions by now too

[imb]

if only he had managed to transfer his patience with money into plate patience

[treebird]

if only he had managed to transfer his patience with money into plate patience

 

or his ability to beat the lipper average into ability to beat the league batting average

 

 

(everything i know about money comes from commercials during sporting events)

[imb]

Compare and contrast the lipper average to the mendoza line

[Guest]

Baseless Soriano hate on NSBB is definitely a sign baseball season is back. :clapping:

 

It's not baseless, and I don't irrationally hate Soriano. I just don't think he's going to be very good this year, based on a number of factors. I readily admit I could be wrong.

 

I really hope he does great though, even if it means I have to see him do that John Cena thing 40 times this year.

Nor is it baseless. Pretending he's anything but an aged, once pretty good slugger who's a terrible defensive outfielder is baseless.

[Sammy Sofa]

No, it's the opposite of that.