Sammy Sofa

I don't. Ricketts was spouting a meatballier version of the "building the right way" rhetoric before Theo and co. were hired.

Well, now I'm confused. How am I accusing "everyone else" of being "unreasonable" if I changed my mind to agree with them? The first report said he "reaches 88-89," which presumably means he's not working there consistently, and I think that's plenty to write off a 21-year-old as a fringe prospect. Subsequent reports had him throwing a bit harder, and CaliforniaRaisin called them to my attention. I conceded that my original post was wrong and that he and others were right. You asked me if that was sarcasm, and I said it wasn't. After that, I can't figure out if this is one of those times I'm supposed to feel bad for being a contrarian who disagrees with everyone and tries to start trouble by arguing with everyone who disagrees, or if this is one of those times I'm supposed to feel bad for being a flip-flopper who changed his mind after another poster convinced me with their argument. http://shutupsitdown.ytmnd.com/

I think it had to be expected. Why? They don't have a history of lowering prices after a crappy season, Except when they did something similar last offseason? http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2011/10/15/2491812/2012-cubs-ticket-prices-announced No, the Cubs don't have a longstanding history of lowering prices after a bad season. What we have is a short term history of the new-ish owners doing it seemingly in anticipation of a bad season, and now doing it again. Huzzah.

I don't think so. I just think it's hard to justify raising prices for a team that finished with 100 losses. This is a very modest cut and I don't think this will effect Epstein & Co. rebuilding plans at all. It's not like their only options were to raise or lower them; I was expecting/hoping they'd leave them at their current level. I don't really see the "very, very bad sign". We knew they weren't trying to win in 2013. I guess if you thought they'd spend a ton this winter this could change your opinion. But they are selling a bad product and customers aren't as willing to spend to consume it, so they lowered the price incrementally. It's probably nothing more than a PR move, so they can't get criticized for raising prices and not trying. I wasn't expecting a spending spree; my point is basically your final sentence. They're not even going to try.

I don't think so. I just think it's hard to justify raising prices for a team that finished with 100 losses. This is a very modest cut and I don't think this will effect Epstein & Co. rebuilding plans at all. It's not like their only options were to raise or lower them; I was expecting/hoping they'd leave them at their current level.

I think it had to be expected. Why? They don't have a history of lowering prices after a crappy season, and if their intention is to actually try and field a team that has a shot of not being terrible you'd think they wouldn't have to worry about luring in people. This smacks of expectations that they're going to suck again.

This is potentially a very, very bad sign.

Cardinals were 20th in defensive efficiency and 19th in bullpen K% this year. Yep. They also brought up Trevor Rosenthal, Shelby Miller, Traded for Mujica and moved Joe Kelly and Lance Lynn to the bullpen. They've committed 2 errors in these playoffs. They have the best obp in the playoffs. 1 of those things (the most important) is reflective of the season, 1 of them is a not unexpected outcome due to roster moves and one you can call a fluke but it's not exactly breaking new baseball ground to have a team have lucky timing with their defensive competency. Never mind, Kyle. You're right. It keeps happening because it's all luck. 9 playoff berths in 13 seasons is just sheer luck. That's sound. 1) Errors for measuring defense. 2) Citing postseason results to prove that postseason results are not a SSS fluke 3) Moving the goalposts between regular-season performance and playoff performance. Nope. You maybe wanted to read somewhere in my post that I claimed all of the Cardinals regular season performances were definitely predictive of their postseason success. But I didn't. In fact I qualified it pretty clearly with the sentence, "Get in, and have those three things happen." I understand though, you want to find an argument where there is none, or as you put it, "move the goal posts." Maybe you're bored, maybe you think your favorite team's lack of success compared to another person's favorite team's success somehow reflects on you so you have to devalue it somehow? Most likely you are that particularly common brand of internet personality that reads an angle into every interaction you have that can allow you to intellectually jerk yourself off to prove your own intelligence to yourself. My point is that every successful MLB team has things go right for them in the postseason and the fallacy that it ONLY happens to the Cardinals is annoying, pathetic and pointless. You shouldn't get so worked up about it. They aren't doing this to piss you off, you know and when you scream "PIXIE DUST" at the top of your lungs to anyone who listen, you only empower the dumb on my side of the fence to laugh and say, "NUH-UH DUMMY, IT'S OUR SUPERIOR CULTURE, NOT LUCK! WE DO IT RIGHT SO GOOD THINGS HAPPEN." which is, of course, equally stupid. I love you, wolfy.

Christ, I can't believe he's been there since 2008. I completely forgot it had been that long.

Apparently tearing down people you know is OK.

Yessssssssssssssss.

You're all default Cardinals fans. Disgusting.

Your mama.

Curse your metal body, Craig.

It seems like the Cardinals have a lot of bearded asshats. Maybe just two. Still two too many.

Are you blind? Please tell me this rant isn't based off of ERA.

Eh; he was already pretty damn good in the previous 2 seasons, and as a whole his 2012 isn't any kind of outlier.

Tony Bennett: still pretty great at 103.

It's a damn shame about the Cardinals being here, because this is a really good game.

That scum. He will pay big.

No witty bon mots about "where's the manager while the pitcher is imploding?"

Stop lurking and start hating.

It's always some nobody bum like Gregor Blanco who gets all of the big hits in the playoffs. That's doing it right, right?

THE SEEDS HAVE BEEN PLANTED.