Clem Fandango

Since this thread is about ridiculously good pitchers, I thought I'd toss Francisco Liriano's name into the ring. Some people on here in my fantasy league are probably rolling their eyes cause I've been talking him up for the last week, but what he's accomplishing is pretty incredible. He currently leads all major league pitchers with a 5.5 WAR (Josh Johnson is 5.3, Roy Halladay is 5.2). He's got a 21 inning scoreless streak at the moment, it's the 2nd time this year he's had a scoreless streak of 20 innings or more. His overall numbers are 3.18 ERA and 1.19 WHIP and he has 150K's in 136IP, good for a 9.93 K/9 ratio, 2nd best in the majors behind Brandon Morrow's 9.96. His overall numbers are great, but when you take into account some of the other factors you start to realize just how amazing he's been this year. He has a BABIP against of .343. 5th worst in the majors. His FIP is 2.07, best in the majors, and by a WIDE margin (Josh Johnson is in 2nd with a 2.32 FIP). Liriano's xFIP is a major league best 2.83 (Halladay in 2nd with 2.95). He has been dealt a really crappy hand with his batted ball luck, and despite all that he remains the most valuable pitcher in the majors. I'm not sure if it can be done, I'm still relatively new to the whole FIP era of stats, but is there a way to calculate what his averages would be if his BABIP were in line with league averages? I can't even begin top imagine how insane his numbers would look if his BABIP were down to around .290-.300. He's been an under the radar Cy Young candidate who is getting overshadowed by Johnson, Halladay, Price, and Jimenez, when the reality is he's currently the most valuable pitcher in the majors. Also, shockingly, he's allowed only 2 home runs all year long, good for a ridiculous (and probably unsustainable) 0.13 HR/9 rate. He's been otherworldly... and not very many people around baseball are noticing. P.S. I have a baseball mancrush on Francisco Liriano, he's my favorite player in all of baseball and has been since before he was a rookie

Every time I see Diamond's last name mentioned on here I keep thinking it's Dustin Diamond

Black Labs receives TBCS' 5th round pick

Many holdup men wear masks. Some have bowling nights. And some ruin the season finale of Dexter.....

Why won't this thread die?

I have no idea how the Pirates got those two prospects for Octavio Dotel. Hendry always says that he wants both teams to win the trade. I doubt he pushed like a guy who held all of the cards. Did he feel remorse for the Aramis and DLee trades or something?

Neifi's only full season with us was significantly better than Ryan Theriot's 2010 has been. Think about it. http://www.magazine.ucla.edu/depts/quicktakes/evolutionary-disgust.jpg

Failed prospect Russian Roulette fever. Red Sox has it

The only thing I read on Sanchez was that the Nats were asking for him or Bumgarner in a possible Adam Dunn trade

Lambo already has two drug-related suspensions under his belt. One more and he's out. I did not realize drugs of abuse had the same penalty structure as PEDs. Nevermind. I didn't realize Lambo had those offenses on his baseball record either. I suppose its a gamble then

Are you laughing because the Dodgers got swindled or because you think the Pirates got a bad player? I kinda like Lambo, despite his struggles.

We already have too many outfielders. And I like Hermida. DFA Nady. Problem solved

Why not? See if Rudy can fix him. I know that sounds cliché but what harm could it do?

George Steinbrenner's Life Insurance policy is probably pretty awesome, not that they needed it

You were close... Melancon is a decent pitcher, but is a reliever. Perhaps they think he can be their closer of the future. Paredes looks to be a nice Juan Pierre replica, but with a bit more XB pop. He has little to no plate patience... 42BB in 1,000+ minor league AB's. So yeah, they pretty much got Lance Berkman for some guys they would probably never get any mileage out of.

After reading the reports on Wallach, I'm a little more pleased. It's not a bad pickup in general. We still should've gotten more for Lilly though, especially with us picking up half of what's owed to him. He's an above average pitcher who will probably net the Dodgers a couple of draft picks. We should've gotten and above average return. I guess I'm not so much disappointed with the players we got back as much as I am with the overall quality of the return for Lilly.

P.S. They are both uninspiring. Yeah, I'm not pleased with the return

Apparently neither of those players exist. Because it's Brett Wallach and Kyle Smit

Who the [expletive] are they? Scouting reports please?

If we're picking up most of Lilly's salary we BETTER be getting a top prospect

Done deal according to Joel Sherman

:beg: jerrysandsjerrysandsjerrysandsjerrysandsjerrysandsjerrysands :beg:

5 player trade between Arizona and Pittsburgh For Jake: When I worked with the Mobile Bay Bears last season Pedro Ciriaco was the shortstop. He is an amazing defender with great speed, was routinely making highlight reel plays at shortstop and 2B... but he has no plate patience and is essentially Juan Pierre at the plate with a finite amount of pop. Think Ryan Theriot's 2009, but with better speed and waaaaay better defense. He's probably not a long term solution, but I could see him being a defensive replacement kind of a guy.

He was really good in 07 and 08 and didn't play for the Diamondbacks. Which is why I'd much rather have him than Theriot, by a long shot. He's proven himself in the past, but currently he's abysmal away from Arizone. But we're not winning anything this year, so why not take the risk if all it costs us are some expendable players?