XZero771679666304

It's really too bad. They didn't have to win the division (I was just waiting for the Brewers to take control like they did), but at least salvaging a winning season would have been huge.

His range is so bad that, paradoxically, he has to chase down balls hit right at him. Truly an exceptional player.

This. And at this point in a lost season with the rosters expanded, there is absolutely no reason to have any of our guys pushing their PC. No one here is saying that Garza's arm is going to explode because he threw back to back 120 pitch games, Just that given the circumstances, there simply isn't a reason for it. There is no reason to rack up mileage on a guys arm, other than "rewarding" him with a CG, which would be dangerously close to allowing the inmates to run the asylum. However there are reasons to cut starts shorter, like getting looks at younger players and cutting down the workloads of guys who we'll need to be big in coming seasons. Especially a guy like Garza who has had arm trouble this year already.

You'd be making a far more logical point if you could prove that these two whole starts have actually increased his chance for injury in any significant way. Hell, at least prove it negatively affects him in the long run in some fashion. Last start didn't seem to bother him too much out there today. You couldn't "prove" it, even if his arm did fall off. And Mark Prior didn't show ill effects of throwing long strings of 120+ pitch games while he was in the midst of them, either. It's about being prudent with the long term in mind, and knowing when discretion is the better part of valor. There is zero reason (zero good reasons, anyway) for any of the Cubs pitchers to be racking up high pitch counts at this point.

Given how feeble the Brewers have looked against good teams, that seems very likely.

Doesn't make you a bad guy, it just makes you misguided. Nyjer Morgan is a douchebag. He's one of several douchebags on their team. He also was one of the first people to introduce the lame "Beast Mode" thing (some will credit minor leaguer Eric Farris), which makes even veterans like Mark Kotsay look like a stupid douchebag when he does it after a meaningless single. Props to Craig Counsell for refusing to do it, although some would make the joke that he's never on base to actually perform the act. Bottom line? The Brewers are douchebags. I have nothing against the Brewers and while he might be a tool, he's kind of funny at doing it. I enjoy the act. Besides, would you really rather have the Cardinals win the division over the Brewers? Not a chance. I want the Brewers to win the Central and I think Nyjer Morgan is an unfunny piece of [expletive]. The two things aren't mutually exclusive.

Gomez is a great defender overall, but that is primarily a function of his speed. He takes some godawful routes, like the ones he took last night (which made Soriano's route taking look great in comparison).

This. Brandon Phillips has fun playing baseball. Nyjer Morgan thinks he's a badass and can't even decently execute a terribly contrived alter ego. i guess nyjer morgan doesn't have fun playing baseball? No, because he is a hockey player. Or something like that. NPC was saying Morgan acts like a confrontational badass because he was a hockey player, as if it makes him tougher by default. And that it is funny because Morgan would almost certainly lose any fight he got into. It's really pretty clear where he was going with that. And Morgan is a mouth, and not in an amusing way like Brandon Phillips. He's just a punk, more on the Pierzynski end of the spectrum.

Pretty much. He has been a tool/crazy person for quite a while now, well before this season. I hate the Cards as much as the next guy, and my reaction to watching that highlight last night was something along the lines of "He should have charged the mound so I could see Carpenter beat him to death". He's got quite the attitude for a guy who would have his ass absolutely handed to him by 95% of the players in the league. I have often wished he would charge Big Z for some reason.

Which is more relevant now? TSN or George Michael's Sports Machine? It's still a national publication that considers us to be irrelevant. Which Weber has basically made us. You're such a drama queen

Of course he's going to have latitude on moves. Expect an Assistant GM. I mean latitude to replace or demote Fleita and/or Wilken if he sees fit.

No [expletive] way do we finish ninth. That's just crazy talk.

Yeah, the Fleita extension looks pointless and stupid on its face, but we'll have to see if the contract specifics give the incoming GM any latitude in making changes.

I'm pretty sure they won't leak those.

Yeah, that's a Dusty Baker move right there.

Counsell looks like Marty McFly in Back to the Future 3. And Prince owns that picture. I'm also pretty sure you'll see a few of those Casey McGehees at every Flying J in Nebraska.

Amazing stuff. Your posts teach me so much about baseball. What would we do without this sort of old-timey sage wisdom? Who'd have ever thought that lack of command or secondary pitches could hold a pitcher back?

We still have guys today that could manage that many innings without their arms falling off. Basically in the old days you HAD to be that guy to be a starter or you just didn't start, period. There are many factor that have played into starters throwing fewer innings. The advent of specialist relievers, increased reliance on the bullpen, stiffer offensive competition (more balanced and deep lineups with players who work counts and drive up pitch counts), a better understanding of the stress pitching puts on a body and a correlating desire from owners/management to protect their increasingly heavy investments. Also, there has probably been a shift away from a "gotta be a man and finish what you started" mentality where coming out of a game was seen as a sign of weakness rather than a strategic move. And let's be honest, guys just plain throw harder now. A lot harder. Walter Johnson's fastball, a pitch virtually singular in its day with regard to velocity, "hissed with danger" in the low 90's (by the best measurements of the day). The hardest throwers of the first five or six decades of Major League Baseball's history would almost certainly be considered soft tossers in today's game. As recently as 25 years ago guys who hit triple digits were relative rarities to be marveled at. Now every team has one (or two). Long story short, the game has just evolved. It's apples and oranges at this point.

I really wish today's Sox-Tigers game hadn't been a FOX game. Listening to Hawk call such a backbreaking loss would have been utterly delicious.

Well, that was nostalgic.

Had a brain fart. Found a better word to use. That's good, considering runned isn't a real word. :-)

Three things that are against Baltimore: 1: They're Baltimore. 2: They are runned by Peter Angelos. 3: They're in the AL East. No worries about the Orioles. They are runned?

There is a lot of truth in that, but that offense isn't as bad on paper as it has been reality. Losing Posey really hurt, but while an offense with Sandoval, Huff, Tejada, Ross, etc. (and now Beltran) wasn't going to be good, it shouldn't be this bad. But yeah, Sabean's teams have won in spite of him.

I am completely with you on this one. Pretty shocked that the Nationals are apparently not going after either guy. Baltimore is always a possibility. I could see the Pirates being a crazy crazy deep dark horse. I think the Giants will be in the mix as well. I will go on record now and say Toronto gets Pujols and we get Fielder. I dunno. Even if they have all the money in the world, people would simply prefer not to play in Canada. No indications that either of those guys feel that way but its possible. Toronto is a damned fine city, worlds better than St. Louis.

Every time Ramirez really runs it looks like an injury waiting to happen. I just don't think the guy was blessed with a runner's body. Yeah, maybe Careless is seeing something that we're missing, but to me Ramirez just looks like he usually does when he's running hard. He's just a goofy runner and has always had that weird arms flailing/looking like he's trying not to trip up deal going on. It's also why I prefer he dial it down unless it will really make a difference, like digging for a double. I always breathe a sigh of relief when he runs like that and doesn't pull up lame.