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champaignchris

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Everything posted by champaignchris

  1. champaignchris
    There are plenty of arguments to be made that the Hall has already jumped the shark. I don’t think the inclusion of Tim Raines is one of them.
  2. champaignchris
    Both teams have been in Milwaukee at one point. Easy mistake.
  3. champaignchris
    I hope he’s getting paid a crap ton of money. I understand the view that maybe a second chance for a head gig never comes along, but there’s basically no chance the Orioles are going to be competitive in the 3 or 4 years he’s there before inevitably getting fired, no matter how great a manager he might be.
  4. champaignchris
    I never understand this. I overstated my feelings on this. I should have said, I’m not a fan of closers who racked up huge save totals by only pitching 65 innings a season, often in less than high leverage situations. They’re objectively less valuable than your league average #3 starting pitcher. I have no problem with Gossage or Wilhelm in the Hall. I will have no problem when Rivera goes in the Hall, probably on the first ballot next year. I’m less enamored with Finger’s, Sutter’s and Eckersly’s resumes, but understand the other factors in each case that made them appealing to Hall voters. It’s Trevor Hoffman that bothers me. Guy only pitched 1089 innings in an 18 year career. Surpassed 75 innings in a season only 3 times. He pitched for a long time and got a lot of saves, but I don’t see anything particularly special about him that differentiates him from Frank Rodriguez, John Franco, Billy Wagner, or Joe Nathan. If you think all these other guys should be in the Hall, too, that’s fine. Also, based on which relievers ante getting in now, Dan Quisenberry should be in the Hall, too. He was unbelievable from about 80 to 87. Was in the top 5 in Cy balloting 5 times in that stretch.
  5. champaignchris
    I’m not a fan of relievers in the Hall, but if they must be in there, Smith should be one of them. From ‘82 to ‘91, he had a 2.29 ERA while averaging 90 innings pitched, 31 saves, and 92 Ks to 33 BBs. In 1983, he had a 1.65 ERA over 103.1 innings pitched. Lee Smith is part of my favorite series of horrible transactions in Cubs history: In December 1987, 8 months after trading Dennis Eckersly (387 subsequent saves and HoF) for three minor leaguers who never made the Big Leagues, the Cubs traded Smith (298 subsequent saves and HoF) for Calvin Schiraldi and Al Nipper, both of whom were off the team by mid-‘89 and out of baseball by ‘91. After suffering through 1988 with a way, way past his prime Goose Gossage as closer, the Cubs traded Rafael Palmeiro (3,000 hits, 500 HR, steroids, allegedly bangs your secondbaseman’s wife) AND Jamie Moyer (269 wins, old) for Mitch Williams who only lasted 2 seasons with the Cubs. So basically Jim Frey tore down a good chunk of the prospects Dallas Green had built up to chase after a closer despite having two future Hall of Fame closers already on the roster. Edit: Green made the Eck trade. Frey made the Smith and Mitch Williams trades.
  6. champaignchris
    That’s not the most ridiculous proposition in the world. IF he’s healthy enough to pitch 180+ innings and IF he performs just a bit better than his career averages, he’ll be a top 10 Cy Young candidate. It’s not real likely, but it’s better than a lottery ticket.
  7. champaignchris
    Wasn’t Baines a Veterans’ Committee selection? Regardless, the Hall loves its counting stats and among eligible players, only Bonds, Palmeiro, and Vizquel have more hits than Baines. Bonds and Palmeiro are excluded because of steroids. Vizquel got nearly 40% of the vote in his first year of eligibility, and between his 2800 hits and 11 Gold Gloves, one would have to believe he’ll eventually get in, too. Not saying I think Baines should be in. Just saying I see the (flawed) logic behind it.
  8. champaignchris
    Do they expect Yadier Molina to catch into his early 50s?
  9. champaignchris
    Wrigley is an old, dead rich white guy. So is Sheffield. Seems inevitable that there will be a Ricketts street or square or whatever. (Clark was a Revolutionary War general, Addison was a doctor, and Waveland was named that way because it used to flood a lot. Thanks, Google!)
  10. champaignchris
    Pretty good gamble for the Pads. He’s been a good pitcher when healthy. Not quite apples to apples, but you can compare the $15M for 2 years they’re paying Richards to the &17M for 1 year the Dodgers are paying Ryu, and this looks like a bargain.
  11. champaignchris
    Oooof. If only he could throw strikes.. Through his first 650-ish innings as a MLBer, Chatwood threw 4.2 BB/9. Higher than you might want, but something you could live with, with his GB rate. He threw 8.2 BB/9 in his 100 innings as a Cub. Absurd and something a team can’t live with. Is he permantly broke? Is there any reason he can’t go back to what he did over the first 650 innings of his career? I guess the bigger question would be assuming the general health of the five starters and Montgomery, when would Chatwood get a chance to prove any ability to limit walks? The best case scenario would probably be that he looks more like his old self in Spring Training and gets dealt to some team that Needs a back end starter.
  12. champaignchris
    Right. If you’re going to do that, why not just wait another year for 29-year-old Mike Trout.
  13. champaignchris
    And in a pinch, he can probably get you 30 or 40 innings out of the pen.
  14. champaignchris
    Mexico City is way too big and has way too much money in it for it to not eventually happen. Not this next round of expansion (or moves if Oakland and TB can’t get their crap together), but maybe the round of expansion after that. So maybe 20-30 years. Other than Montreal, there isn’t an obvious expansion (or move) target right now, and Portland, San Antonio, and Charlotte all look like an owner would be signing up to be the next Pittsburgh or Kansas City. So eventually the potential reward of Mexico City will outweigh the risk.
  15. champaignchris
    $17M for a 32-year old starting pitcher who hasn’t topped 130 innings in any of the last 6 seasons seems a bit steep.
  16. champaignchris
    I’m just suggesting asset that Astros want (starting pitcher or outfielder) + big contract that somewhat fits into Astros’ roster (starting pitcher or outfielder) in return for something with a smaller contract than what the Cubs traded.
  17. champaignchris
    Astros a decent salary dump trade partner? They just lost McCullers to TJS. Verlander and Cole are their only other returning starting pitchers and they’re both FA’s after 2019. They’ve got a few promising rookies and can move Peacock back from the pen, but that’s not a particularly impressive starting pitching staff for a team with World Series ambitions over the next few years. Package Quintana with a bad contract (or two)? Or maybe just Chatwood or Darvish straight up? ETA - while Heyward is pricey, he’s arguably an upgrade over their outfielders other than Springer.
  18. champaignchris
    I’m pretty sure that’s what Don Mattingly was actually saying.
  19. champaignchris
    The warm, tender embraces of Javy Baez more than make up for anything his teammates may have done.
  20. champaignchris
    Is he going to be the first pitcher since Dave Dravecky whose arm literally falls off his body while pitching?
  21. champaignchris
    If Hamels’ option isn’t picked up, or maybe even if it is, young, buy-low, change of scenery candidate starting pitchers: Stroman, Fulmer, Bundy.
  22. champaignchris
    I had no idea that Gibbons had managed Toronto for 11 (non-consecutive) seasons.
  23. champaignchris
    You’re drastically underrating how creepy Craig Counsel is. I mean, just look at him.
  24. champaignchris
    I’ll just assume it’s all part of their long term scheme to sign Mike Trout.
  25. champaignchris
    I don't hold athletes or coaches to a particularly high standard when it comes to speaking about non-sports related topics. As long as they don't come off as a raging (misogynist/racist/homophobe/other category of jerk), I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt and chalk it up to not being trained in public speaking and/or not having thought about the subject very deeply. I don't expect them to have cogent or nuanced statements at the ready when talking about allegations of a teammate committing domestic battery. I just expect them to not commit domestic battery. As for Theo and Ricketts, there's a CBA and a process they have to abide by. They might want to release him right freaking now, but they really can't until the process plays itself out. So, yeah, you're going to get corporate jargon talk like from Ricketts or that quote from Theo where he really didn't say anything of substance. Their actions over the next few months will tell you one way or the other what they really think.
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