Transmogrified Tiger

Strike 2 and 3 were both easily outside, with the latter being the worse of the two. Can't blame Soto for taking that, it was a half a foot outside.

Sonny decided to bypass the early entry to the majors, and he is now playing for Vanderbilt University. He will be a stud in a year or two, expect first round implications out of this kid. So because he didn't sign last year, he is not eligible to be drafted this year? Yes. As a HS Senior, you have to sign or wait 3 years(in some cases 2). What are the cases for only two years? I knew about waiting three but hadn't heard about two. I'm not sure, but I know there are draft eligible sophomores.

Sonny decided to bypass the early entry to the majors, and he is now playing for Vanderbilt University. He will be a stud in a year or two, expect first round implications out of this kid. So because he didn't sign last year, he is not eligible to be drafted this year? Yes. As a HS Senior, you have to sign or wait 3 years(in some cases 2).

That should be interference, and it's a dangerous and bush league play by Martin. You don't go wide and past the base to leg sweep someone when you were out two steps ago.

Fox can't play 3rd base.

I can't wait for Mexico to get the seed that we deserve and get another cake draw to the elimination stage, ensuring that they continue to get seeds that we deserve.

Why? .255/.316/.319 career minor league mark. I'm not saying I wanted him as the SS of the future, but he's been a guy who got to AAA/MLB at a very young age, and considering he plays good defense, I liked that they picked him up as he might figure something out at the plate.

Here's an analysis of just how bad Fox would have to be defensively at 3rd to be worth his projected bat. The conclusion? He'd have to be the worst defensive 3B in the league to be worth it, and it's not too likely he's even that good. Link

Waddell for his career seems to give up harder hit balls to left handed hitters for a slightly higher BAA, but with more K's, fewer walks, and far fewer HR. It's a weird combination. I've always kinda liked Blanco. For as long as he's been around he's only 25(nearly 2 years younger than Fox, for example), maybe he can make something happen while he's up here and keep Freel away from right handed pitching.

I'm pretty sure that was after practice. The Magic are a tough matchup for the Cavs. They're a very good team that has more size than Cleveland in the middle and at the guard spots, and they're one of the few teams that defends better than the Cavs. Cleveland doesn't have much to be ashamed of so far in this series though. 3 of the 4 games have come right down to the wire, and they've been on the short end of 2 of 3. Hopefully they can bounce back and win convincingly in Cleveland, and maybe get that equalizer close game in Orlando. Another way of saying this is that outside of a miracle shot by Lewis, this series is 2-2, going exactly as projected, and the Cavs are still in control.

I think the Affliction T-Shirt might be worse.

Cales is not adjusting very well to AA.

His BABIP (Batting Average on Balls hit In Play) is horrifically awful (as are most of the BABIPs for our offensive regulars), so he's hitting into some terrible luck (balls are going right at players far more often than they should). He does need to start hitting the ball a little harder, but even the hard hit balls are right at people right now. I'd think he's likely to break out of this funk. He has a LD rate of 14.1% and a BABIP of .221. While that's a little low on the BABIP, it's not completely out of line. His expected BABIP is either 20 or 30 points higher, that qualifies as out of line, especially when he's done much better the entirety of his career at both hitting line drives and on balls in play.

Reasons to like Kouzmanoff as a trade target: Slow start this year means he comes relatively cheaply Age is such that it wouldn't be unusual if he broke out Strong Minor League pedigree First year arb-eligible means he's cheap in terms of money(important considering the financial constraints of the offseason) Good defender at 3rd Good road numbers the last few years Not such a big name or contract that he couldn't be benched upon Ramirez's return Not much of a platoon split so he's not useless coming off the bench Good defender at 3B means he could potentially fill in at 2B if his bat demanded it

As much as I hate his presence on the team, Miles has been the unluckiest hitter in a team full of unlucky hitters so far. He has a 23% LD% and a .241 BABIP, that's amazing.

Y'all are lucky as hell that Bittle is hurt. As far as offense goes, Ole Miss softballs people to death with singles like Team Japan or something. Don't worry about any power (7 HR is the most by any player) but this team can hit like crazy. Our starting nine have a BA of .332 and an OBP of .420. The overall team avg is .315 with team obp at .404 What kind of game does Mizzou play? Offensively, Mizzou plays for the big hit, they won't do a ton of small ball stuff. Their 2-4 hitters, Lollis, Folgia, and Senne, are the best in the lineup(Coleman would be another, but he broke his hand), although they aren't terrible as you go through Mach, Gray, and Ampleman. Folgia's the best hitter on the team, a switch hitter, and the biggest power threat(12 HR, next is the injured Coleman with 6), so Mizzou needs to string together hits most times to get runs. Pitching is the most unique part of Mizzou's team this year. You probably know about (Cubs fan!) Kyle Gibson, he'll be a Top 10 pick this year, he's the one true starting pitcher on the roster. After that, Ian Berger is a mediocre senior right hander, and Nick Tepesch has great stuff(BA had him as a potential 2010 first rounder) but very mixed results. If there's a 4th starter, it's super soft tossing lefty Scooter Hicks, who barely touches 80, and has only started a few games and never gone past the 4th or 5th. In almost 1/4 of their games this year, Mizzou has employed a Johnny Wholestaff approach, throwing at least 6 pitchers intentionally, sometimes not letting anyone go more than an inning. They didn't try it this week at the Big 12 tournament, so it may not come up in regional play, but it means that everyone in the Mizzou pen has a good deal of experience, and that they're not afraid to run a ton of pitchers out there if they think they can create a LaRussa-esque matchup advantage. I'm interested to see who Jamieson throws in Game 1. He could use Gibson to try and wipe out WKU, save the pen, and have Gibson available in relief for a championship game. Or he could use Berger or (more likely) Tepesch, and hope that's enough to use Gibson on the best team in the bracket, then hope the rest of the staff is enough to win one of two. Last year he chose the former, and Crow got the win against Ole Miss, but 2008 Gibson blew a lead in relief against Miami and the next day against Ole Miss.

I like Kouzmanoff as a target quite a bit.

NCAA Tournament field was set today. Mizzou heads to Oxford as the 2 seed in the Ole Miss region, with Western Kentucky and Monmouth as the 3 and 4 seeds. I like it.

I'm not sure that's the case. Uggla's already nearly 30, plays awful defense, and isn't hitting right now. Lee plays very good defense, is hitting right now, and has a much better track record to fall back on. There is the age gap, and the fact that Uggla makes his attempt at defense at 2B, but if a team thinks Lee has his stroke back, I can see them potentially valuing him as highly as Uggla.

Please not another college reliever in the first.

I'm afraid that's not the case.

His OPS is now .993, with a 1.159 mark for the month of May.

Yeah, but the Phillies only lost 6 in a row, maybe we just threw away the season by losing today. In all seriousness though, these things happen. There's nothing drastic that can or should be done right now.

Jackson's last 5 starts: 32 IP, 24 H, 4 ER, 35/11 K/BB; 1.12 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 9.84 K/9, 3.18 K/BB

That sounds about right. Dustin has two titles(was he up in '04?) and an undeserved MVP. And a glove, don't forget he has a glove.