Transmogrified Tiger

How did Arroyo take a paycut? This was his first year of arbitration. I know he signed an extension, but he didn't lose any of his free agent years.

All the players in the WBC are subject to Olympic(read: very very strict) testing policies, IIRC. I wonder if some of the dropouts from the classic are due to players using substances(not necessarily a negative connotation) permitted by the MLB, but would be found illegal by the much more rigid standards.

There are intangibles, and you're over-emphasizing them to a startling degree. I'll ask it again. Who performed better this year, Davis or Brunner? Not how well they elevated their teams, or how well they lead their teams, but who had the better season as a player? It's not an All-Winner team.

Teixeira is the other 1B, so in all likelihood Lee will stay the full 9.

Team results have zero implication on who the best players were. It's that simple. Did you think Lee should've won the MVP last year? Baseball and basketball are completely different sports. Trying to compare them is useless. Baseball isn't a team sport, basketball is. Numbers don't tell you the story in basketball nearly as well as they do in baseball. You can have a bunch of "me" guys who don't play defense or make other guys better, but put up great numbers. Teams don't win in the Big Ten with those players. MSU underachieved miserably. They went 8-8 and lost two home games. Yeah I know those guys put up some big numbers, but where did they take their team? They had the most talented threesome in the league. If those guys had such great years (while Nietzel also had a solid year) and were deserving of first-team All Big Ten, why did MSU finish 6th? I appreciate statistics. I read Big Ten Wonk, kenpom.com and The Mid-Majority report. But I also watch a decent amount of basketball and watched a ton of Big Ten basketball this year and saw 8 Big Ten teams (all but NW and Purdue) live at Carver. Numbers do not tell the whole story. Daniel Horton was one of the best players in the league this year and was better than Jamar Butler. He meant far more to his team. Brunner carried his team. He was the only guy in the league putting up a double for most of the year and led the league in rebounding. Without his toughness, production and leadership there's no way Iowa finishes 11-5. Paul Davis carried the most talented team in the league to an 8-8 finish. If he had Brunner's attitude and toughness he would be All-American. Instead he leaves MSU with a history full of underachieving in the conference and being voted the most overrated player and biggest crybaby in the league by his peers. So you're saying the difference between Brunner and Davis caused the differential in the standings? Who performed better this season? This stuff about toughness and attitude is nonsense. I could just as easily say that Davis has a better attitude, more fire or more toughness or whatever, and point to specific examples of him proving such. It's a pointless, meaningless, arbitrary value. Also, if you read Big Ten Wonk, you should know that MSU's brutal schedule(worst possible schedule you could draw up) basically cost them a win relative to the conference standings. What would the difference between Iowa and MSU be if Iowa had to go to Michigan and Ohio State while MSU hosted Minnesota and went to Penn State? Baseball and Basketball are different sports, but the point remains. You don't evaluate players based on how well their teams did, you have to isolate the player's performances. And it's pretty clear that Davis was the superior player.

They should take down Winn and put Chipper in his spot now. Wells to LF, Chipper to 3B.

Team results have zero implication on who the best players were. It's that simple. Did you think Lee should've won the MVP last year?

1-0

adios pelota

Myth.

Sutcliffe thinks it's such national pride for Lopez to start an inning with 42 pitches, but taking Peavy out with 23 is a good call. And now there's "a lot of Fernando Valenzuela in him".

No one has the guts to do it, but they'd probably be better off with A-Rod at short and Chipper at 3rd.

Peavy's still throwing in the bullpen? Dumb, dumb, dumb Martinez.

Gutsy pitch at 2-0.

Yay Jeter. I'm going to brush my teeth with drano now.

Shut your mouth Sutcliffe. Throwing Peavy out there with 23 freaking pitches when he's completely dominating is not risking anything more than having him pitch at all.

They're talking about taking Peavy down, which would be stupid. He's gone 3 innings on 23 pitches, with 3 K's.

Double plays are great.

Durazo started for the dugout when the ball was halfway there.

Sutcliffe: "there is no one better than charging that swinging bunt than Vinny Castilla"

Bad call, looked like Lee had the bag and the ball for a moment before he pulled.

The article goes on to indicate Hidalgo wasn't happy with being a bench player and wants to be a starter in Japan. If this is the case, I guess he wouldn't have made a good bench option. That's funny. Like he's shown he deserves to start. I didn't take that as he thinks he deserves to start. He was frustrated that he couldn't start, then went to be with his wife. The wording makes it sound like since he knew he wasn't going to get a starting job in Baltimore he wanted to try in Japan.

Why would you want Dopirak on the major league bench? The guy struggled in the FSL last season. He's still young and inexperienced, plus, he only plays first. You don't waste roster spots on bench players who can only play first. Sing is a much better candidate for that role. I agree....replace Dope with Sing. The only problem with Sing is that he's not on the 40 Man, correct? Right.

Alfonzo es muy despacio

Cabrera is a ballplayer