Clem Fandango

This is pretty funny:

Corking the bat doesn't really help a batter out much (if at all). There are tons of studies on it if you feel like researching it. No, I know it doesn't. But does that really matter? Most people probably don't know that, they just know it's illegal and considered cheating. That stigma will stick with a player. Even is Sammy Sosa never actually did steroids, he will always be suspected, but if he's proven to have never done them, naysayers will look back and point to his corked bat incident probably. P.S. I love this thread. Thanks for all the great stuff, OMC

He was sent to AAA, not released.

you're like 0-3 on this page alone. take a deep breath and think about some things. People seem to think I was saying that Cedeno, Murton, and Hofpauir are enough to land Harden. Thats not what I was saying. I was simply saing that they have a bad offense, and with some quality prospects, they would be inclined to moe Harden, so how about you calm down and understand that I never said that 3 bench players/future jouneymen are going to land us a top of the line starter. He was probably referring to the fact that you were saying Oakland is a bad team, when in fact they have the 4th best run differential in the AL (6th best in the majors), and are in 2nd place in their division behind by a still reachable 6 games.

Albert Belle won't get in because of his off the field attitude. The reason he won't get in IMO is because he got busted for the corked bats. And not just one corked bat like Sammy supposedly did. All his bats were corked. From a Page 2 article a while back about "The biggest cheaters in baseball"... If there's one glaring reason why they won't let him in, there it is. Even if he hit all those home runs after the incident occurred, that will tarnish his skills to get him in, IMO. That's a good article by the way, very entertaining, and also quite a good read for this thread... http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/cheaters/ballplayers.html

I think he's definitely overhyped, but I don't know about overrated. He still giving the team pretty much exactly what we hoped for. He's on pace to hit near the .300 line, maybe 15 home runs, above average defense, and a high OBP. It's what we wanted out of him, he's just not mashing the ball like he did to start the season so I think the expectations people had for him after his start were a bit too lofty, and what we're seeing now is what he really is. Which is fine by me

Yeah, but what is your GUT telling you? Well, MY gut is saying that Kosuke still draws a ton of walks, and people who draw a ton of walks are prone to striking out. But that's not really my gut, more just common knowledge. Homeboy is on pace for 100+ walks and a super high OBP and he's finally hitting near the top of the lineup, I can live with his K's He's just clogging the bases. Damn, you're right. I retract my statement. I don't know what I was thinking. [punch]Logan[/punch]

This does not bode well for my choices in the NSBB Predictions contest.

Yeah, but what is your GUT telling you? Well, MY gut is saying that Kosuke still draws a ton of walks, and people who draw a ton of walks are prone to striking out. But that's not really my gut, more just common knowledge. Homeboy is on pace for 100+ walks and a super high OBP and he's finally hitting near the top of the lineup, I can live with his K's

Don't know if it was posted in here, but StumbledUpon this link just a moment ago: http://www.thebaseballpage.com/blog.php/108stitches/article/unbreakabl/ The most unbreakable baseball records

Griffey has been getting All-Star nods he doesn't deserve for years for one simple reason: He's Ken Griffey, Jr. If he plays next year as a platoon player and doesn't get hurt, he'll go to the all-star game as one of the leading OF vote getters. Book it.

didn't see it posted anywhere. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3466661

Ahhhhh, phonetic mix up. I was wondering how you could mix up a 38 old african american journeyman with a 28 year old caucasian former top prospect

Sorry, was thinking of Quinton McCracken. Carry on. How the hell do you get those two mixed up?

don't know who karenmac has but I do know that since June 21st, my team has only hit 3 home runs... so yeah. Someone might be catching up to me soon

With a name like that, he should be a stockbroker. This has been my useless observation input for the rest of the thread.

Well, if you believe my brother it's because the Cubs are the worst road team in the majors and Carlos Marmol sucks

Brian Dopirak. I remember after his monster year they compared it to the ML sluggers who were in the same league at some point (Pujols, Dunn) and he destroyed both their totals. Then next year he realized "Hey, I'm not this good" and has sucked ever since. That was unfortunate.

Yeah, we should definitely go after a pitcher who hasn't shown any signs of life as a #1 or even a #2 (or a #3, #4, or #5), who also happens to make $18 million a year. Who also has a full no-trade clause. Where can I sign?

Getting some recognition on ESPN.com now: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=3462388 Man they're a bunch of babies

My only guess is it's to fill in for Soriano while he's out, but why bother with that, Soriano's only gonna be gone for another 3-4 weeks or so (hopefully) and Lewis is performing well enough that he might cost us someone of at least a little value. What do we do with him after? Pinch hitter off the bench vs. righties?

If he stays healthy up until the deadline and Beane can get true value for him, he absolutely will be traded. Why would Beane hang on to him? Like somebody else said, he's one more injury away from getting nothing for Harden at all when he walks. I'm sure Billy knows that team is overachieving and not really contenders, and he knows Harden won't be part of their long term future. I see no reason why he wouldn't trade him. Is Harden even a FA this season or next season? He has a $7 mil Club Option next year it seems...

Because you have no decent backup 3B, that's a tough decision. I think Hamilton's s production is going to continue, but at the same time while David Wright hasn't been producing like he has been expected to, he is just as capable of going on an absolute tear than anyone else. So that's a really tough decision. Do you have any excess pitching you could potentially trade for a an adequate replacement at 3B? Edit: Just notice Huff isn't actually that bad. Problem with Huff is that he hasn't been that consistent for a while, so you can't really gauge if his production this year is real or a fluke. His production this year so far though is pretty good, so I'd lean toward a yes on the deal, but at the same time Huff might be a fluke, so it's a cautious "yes" Edit Again: Looks like Hamilton was taken out with another injury tonight. Steer clear for now, I'd say:

I agree. The completely wild Hill that we had at the start of the season still wasn't that bad. You can point to his walks all you want, but his control was not causing a huge damper on his ERA. It wasn't helping it, but it wasn't giving him a huge 5.00+ ERA. Look at Fausto Carmona's walks per start this year up to his injury: Apr 2nd: 4 BB Apr 7th: 5 BB Apr 12th: 8 BB Apr 17th: 1 BB Apr 24th: 4 BB Apr 29th: 4 BB May 6th: 5 BB May 12th: 4 BB May 17th: 0 BB May 23rd: 3 BB 38 walks in 10 starts and 58 IP. Yet he still had a 3.10 ERA and had a 4-2 record, but also a 1.58 WHIP. The guy's control was comparable, if not worse, than Hill's was/is, but instead of sending down their young promising starter to the minors to work out the kinks, they kept him up to let him work through it, and you know what, he never really did... and they still won because he had stuff good enough to keep his team in the ballgame. Hill has/had that stuff. Now, granted, back in the minors Rich Hill has been just as bad with his control now as he was then, so it's kind of a moot point. But regardless of all that, I'd still would've taken a wild Rich Hill who will walk 3-5 and only give up 2-4 runs a game (which is exactly what he was doing), with smatterings of greatness, over Jason Marquis who is a good bet for a range between mediocre and crap each and every game. Unfortunately, Rich Hill has gotten worse, and that makes me a sad panda.

I DRIVE A DODGE STRATUS!!!