***Official MLB 2013 Season Thread (1 Viewer)

[shadyridr]

You never heard of freddie freeman?

To be fair I haven't watched a baseball game that hasn't involved the Rays in probably 3 years.Edit: especially not the NL. Couldn't care less.

to be fair, i never heard of steve delabar and he plays in the AL East

 

[Limp Ditka]

I wonder what role internet accessibility in Cuba played in Puig not winning this. Imagine if this guy was asained. He'd have 12M votes.

 

[Premier]

You never heard of freddie freeman?

To be fair I haven't watched a baseball game that hasn't involved the Rays in probably 3 years.Edit: especially not the NL. Couldn't care less.

to be fair, i never heard of steve delabar and he plays in the AL East

Uhhh...yea I haven't either actually.

Geez that's an all star?

 

[Northern Voice]

You never heard of freddie freeman?

To be fair I haven't watched a baseball game that hasn't involved the Rays in probably 3 years.Edit: especially not the NL. Couldn't care less.

to be fair, i never heard of steve delabar and he plays in the AL East

Uhhh...yea I haven't either actually.

Good job confirming the stereotype of Americans having no idea what happens outside of its borders

 

[shadyridr]

You never heard of freddie freeman?

To be fair I haven't watched a baseball game that hasn't involved the Rays in probably 3 years.Edit: especially not the NL. Couldn't care less.

to be fair, i never heard of steve delabar and he plays in the AL East

Uhhh...yea I haven't either actually.

Good job confirming the stereotype of Americans having no idea what happens outside of its borders

lol this is not a canada thing numbskull

 

[igbomb]

You never heard of freddie freeman?

To be fair I haven't watched a baseball game that hasn't involved the Rays in probably 3 years.Edit: especially not the NL. Couldn't care less.

to be fair, i never heard of steve delabar and he plays in the AL East

Uhhh...yea I haven't either actually.

Geez that's an all star?

Do we really need 6 relief pitchers on the All-Star team?

And two from the Jays.

 

[Premier]

I love how that anonymous middle reliever from a last place team gets in and Longoria and Beltre with a combined 7 WAR are staying home. So dumb.

 

[collective]

You never heard of freddie freeman?

To be fair I haven't watched a baseball game that hasn't involved the Rays in probably 3 years.Edit: especially not the NL. Couldn't care less.

to be fair, i never heard of steve delabar and he plays in the AL East

Uhhh...yea I haven't either actually.

Geez that's an all star?

Do we really need 6 relief pitchers on the All-Star team?

And two from the Jays.

Two of them are lefties, so I would expect them to be used as a LOOGY.

Also, Cecil and Delabar have some damn good numbers. I have no problem with them being there.

 

[TobiasFunke]

You never heard of freddie freeman?

To be fair I haven't watched a baseball game that hasn't involved the Rays in probably 3 years.Edit: especially not the NL. Couldn't care less.

to be fair, i never heard of steve delabar and he plays in the AL East

Uhhh...yea I haven't either actually.

Geez that's an all star?

Do we really need 6 relief pitchers on the All-Star team?

And two from the Jays.

Two of them are lefties, so I would expect them to be used as a LOOGY.

Also, Cecil and Delabar have some damn good numbers. I have no problem with them being there.

Relievers and DHs being on the all-star team are silly. It's rewarding the best of the mediocre. "Congratulations on being the best of the failed starters/all-around baseball players!" It's like winning a bikini contest at a Weight Watchers meeting.

 

[shadyridr]

You never heard of freddie freeman?

To be fair I haven't watched a baseball game that hasn't involved the Rays in probably 3 years.Edit: especially not the NL. Couldn't care less.

to be fair, i never heard of steve delabar and he plays in the AL East

Uhhh...yea I haven't either actually.Geez that's an all star?

Do we really need 6 relief pitchers on the All-Star team? And two from the Jays.

Two of them are lefties, so I would expect them to be used as a LOOGY.Also, Cecil and Delabar have some damn good numbers. I have no problem with them being there.

i do. Theyre middle relievers. Nobody wants to see them and there are ton more deserving and better players. That al last vote of middle relievers was a ####in joke

 

[igbomb]

You never heard of freddie freeman?

To be fair I haven't watched a baseball game that hasn't involved the Rays in probably 3 years.Edit: especially not the NL. Couldn't care less.

to be fair, i never heard of steve delabar and he plays in the AL East

Uhhh...yea I haven't either actually.

Geez that's an all star?

Do we really need 6 relief pitchers on the All-Star team?

And two from the Jays.

Two of them are lefties, so I would expect them to be used as a LOOGY.

Also, Cecil and Delabar have some damn good numbers. I have no problem with them being there.

The only metric that suggests relievers are anywhere near as valuable as starters is WPA (Win Probability Added). By that measure, a reliever, Joe Nathan, is actually first in the AL among all pitchers. Cecil is a solid 18th, while Delabar is sitting down at 54th.

There shouldn't be more than 2 or 3 relievers on the All-Star roster, if even that many.

 

[collective]

You never heard of freddie freeman?

To be fair I haven't watched a baseball game that hasn't involved the Rays in probably 3 years.Edit: especially not the NL. Couldn't care less.

to be fair, i never heard of steve delabar and he plays in the AL East

Uhhh...yea I haven't either actually.Geez that's an all star?

Do we really need 6 relief pitchers on the All-Star team? And two from the Jays.

Two of them are lefties, so I would expect them to be used as a LOOGY.Also, Cecil and Delabar have some damn good numbers. I have no problem with them being there.

i do. Theyre middle relievers. Nobody wants to see them and there are ton more deserving and better players. That al last vote of middle relievers was a ####in joke

But see, I don't care what you think.

 

[Frostillicus]

I've never heard of half the Twins and I'm a fan.

 

[Limp Ditka]

I've never heard of half the Twins and I'm a fan.

wooderson alias?

 

[shadyridr]

No comments about that aaron hicks throw last night?

 

[Plorfu]

No comments about that aaron hicks throw last night?

Didn't know about it until this post, so thanks. pretty sick.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/eye-on-baseball/22744694/video-aaron-hicks-throws-out-vernon-wells-from-the-warning-track

 

[Plorfu]

Old Hoss Radbourn has informed me that A-Rod skipped his minor league game, without permission, after his meeting with MLB.

 

[Encyclopedia Brown]

I've never heard of half the Twins and I'm a fan.

Kent Hrbek was robbed.

 

[Hoos First]

Alex Rodriguez could be facing up to a 150-game suspension from MLB for his connection with the Biogenesis clinic, according to the New York Daily News.
Rodriguez had a lengthy meeting with MLB officials on Friday and failed to report to his rehab game with Class A Tampa later that night. The suspension, according to the story, would likely be the result of a plea deal on Rodriguez' part. A suspension of that length, which would be a combination of the suspensions levied for first and second offenses for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs, could be a death blow to the 37-year-old's career. A-Rod is currently rehabbing from a hip injury. He's scheduled to return to the Yankees on July 22.

 

[the moops]

Good thing ARod outed himself as a doosh with his time with the Yankees. Otherwise, his fall would have been right up there Lance and Tiger.

 

[Premier]

Some colorful jerseys between the Astros and Rays today.

 

[rascal]

FU Dusty Baker.

 

[Long Ball Larry]

I've never heard of half the Twins and I'm a fan.

Watched the White Sox all 3 games this weekend and the only person I've heard of is Robin Ventura.

 

[Long Ball Larry]

And the Phils and White Sox going into extra innings for the 3rd time in 25 hours. Effin Pap.

 

[Annyong]

Is this some kinda contest to see who watches the least amount of baseball and then brags about it on a baseball message board?

 

[shuke]

God I'm glad I'm not a Cubs fan.

 

[Wrigley]

God I'm glad I'm not a Cubs fan.

We are too

 

[Annyong]

God I'm glad I'm not a Cubs fan.

We are too

Yep, super jealous if those Reds fans.

 

[shuke]

So Freeman gets the vote for the last AS spot and now McCann is replacing him? Why not give it to Puig, who was second in the vote? Stupid.

 

[shuke]

God I'm glad I'm not a Cubs fan.

We are too

Yep, super jealous if those Reds fans.

1908

 

[shuke]

FU Dusty Baker.

 

[Long Ball Larry]

So Freeman gets the vote for the last AS spot and now McCann is replacing him? Why not give it to Puig, who was second in the vote? Stupid.

I was thinking that myself. Is it the manager's decision once the team is set? Or who makes the injury replacement choice?

 

[Long Ball Larry]

Also, I have Chris Davis in the HR Derby pool tonight, for all of you following along.

 

[TobiasFunke]

So Freeman gets the vote for the last AS spot and now McCann is replacing him? Why not give it to Puig, who was second in the vote? Stupid.

I can understand why you'd want more than one representative of a team that's 13 over .500 and in first place by six games at the ASG. Seems fair.

Still, it's pretty funny that people were constantly criticizing Puig as an option because he didn't play enough to be an all-star but I haven't heard that complaint at all about McCann, even though McCann only has 45 more plate appearances than Puig.

 

[pantagrapher]

Is this some kinda contest to see who watches the least amount of baseball and then brags about it on a baseball message board?

Baseball? Never heard of it.

 

[JZilla]

Watching Chris Davis is starting to remind me of watching McGwire in '98. Ah, innocence.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Also, I have Chris Davis in the HR Derby pool tonight, for all of you following along.

Citi field favors left handed hitters according to info I have run across, so your guy has a pretty good chance along with Prince.

 

[shadyridr]

Also, I have Chris Davis in the HR Derby pool tonight, for all of you following along.

Citi field favors left handed hitters according to info I have run across, so your guy has a pretty good chance along with Prince.

arent a ton of his HRs oppo?

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Also, I have Chris Davis in the HR Derby pool tonight, for all of you following along.

Citi field favors left handed hitters according to info I have run across, so your guy has a pretty good chance along with Prince.

arent a ton of his HRs oppo?

I never saw him do batting practice and that's what this compares to imo.

 

[Wrigley]

Watching Chris Davis is starting to remind me of watching McGwire in '98. Ah, innocence.

Brady Anderson comes to mind

 

[JZilla]

Watching Chris Davis is starting to remind me of watching McGwire in '98. Ah, innocence.

Brady Anderson comes to mind

I didn't watch Brady Anderson

But Davis will hit more

 

[Long Ball Larry]

Do the top 2 from each league advance or top 4 overall?

 

[Raider Nation]

According to the New York Post, Valdespin left the Mets in a blaze of glory on Saturday. A source claims that after learning that he had been demoted to Triple-A, Valdespin engaged in a heated confrontation with manager Terry Collins, and ended up calling Collins a "c-cksucker."

Things then proceeded to get sad:

The source said Valdespin, in the course of his heated exchange with Collins, also tried to invent an injury and demanded to be placed on the disabled list.

By the time the clubhouse opened to reporters in the aftermath of the Mets’ 4-2 loss to the Pirates, the 25-year-old Valdespin had regained composure, but had tears in his eyes.

 

[Raider Nation]

Matt Harvey asks folks what they think of Matt Harvey.

 

[JZilla]

You've let us all down, Jordany Valdespeeeeen

 

[Long Ball Larry]

It's July 1, so that means Bobby Bonilla got a check for $1,193,248.20 today, just as he will every July 1 through 2035. That's due to a deferral clause from when the Mets bought out the final year of Bonilla's contract before the 2000 season.

The deal was signed by the Marlins in 1996, but Bonilla was traded to the Dodgers in the 1998 blockbuster that involved Gary Sheffield and Mike Piazza. Bonilla was later flipped to the Mets. He then only played 60 games in 1999, hitting .160/.277/.303, so the Mets saw fit to get rid of him before the 2000 season instead of paying him $5.9 million that year.

And now they'll be paying him a bit more than four times that -- just stretched out over 25 years.

And just because it's awesome, here's our Bobblehead Project rendering of Bonilla getting his dough in 2035:

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/eye-on-baseball/22600996/july-1-is-bobby-bonillas-day-to-get-paid-by-mets

Interesting tidbits by Heyman yesterday: http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/jon-heyman/22771879/what-you-dont-know-about-bonilla----and-saberhagen----mets-deals

Bobby Bonilla's increasingly infamous deferred compensation arrangement with the Mets is actually two separate deals totaling more than $40 million, not only the $30 million that has been previously reported, people familiar with the world's longest sports deal told CBSSports.com. Plus, a third 25-year Mets deferred compensation agreement, this one for former pitcher Bret Saberhagen, is also on the team's books, bringing the grand total to close to $50 million. Deferred, of course.

The one previously known 25-year deferred plan that pays Bonilla $29.8 million in total becomes a semi-hot topic in New York every July (when the payments are due), but a review of documents turned up a second deferred deal for Bonilla, this one for $500,000 a year, also for 25 years, and beginning even earlier (in 2004). That brings Bonilla's grand total to more than $42 million. What's more, Bonilla isn't the only Met with such a deferred compensation deal, as Saberhagen's deal for $250,000 a year for 25 years also began in 2004.

. . .

Apparently, it actually was Saberhagen's deferred deal for $6.35 million total that provided a template for the subsequent Bonilla deals, one of which was done as his first $29 million, five-year Mets free-agent deal was winding down in disappointing fashion.

One piece of positive news for the Mets: The smaller arrangement, which is for $12.5 million ($500,000 a year for 25 years), is said by sources to be paid in part by the Orioles, who picked him up from the Mets and got stuck with him (and the contract). Word is, the Orioles are paying a bit less than half of that smaller payment plan.

. . .

With so much interest in a decade-old deal in mind, here are a few more nuggets ascertained about Bonilla's famous deal:

[SIZE=xx-small]•[/SIZE] The first deal came about late in Bonilla's historic $29 million, five-year contract with the Mets in the early 1990s, not his second go-round in 1999 as has been reported. There was a year remaining at $5.9 million, and the Mets suggested deferring the money to free themselves up to spend it elsewhere. That is when Bonilla, represented by Beverly Hills Sports Council, and the Mets agreed on the 25-year payment plan for $500,000. (Note: Originally, I had that reversed here, but his first payments were for the lower amount, the second one is the higher one, nearly $1.2-million payment.)

[SIZE=xx-small]•[/SIZE] The payments from that arrangement started in 2004, after Bonilla turned 40 -- not 2011 as previously reported incorrectly -- and go through 2028.

[SIZE=xx-small]•[/SIZE] The second deferred deal for Bonilla with the Mets did come about in his second go-round with the team, and that is the even bigger deal. That is the one that's for precisely $1,193,248.20. That one goes from 2011 to 2035.

[SIZE=xx-small]•[/SIZE] The interest rate, unmentioned in all the stories, was precisely 8 percent, according to several people involved in the transaction. They all recalled, not surprisingly, that the 8 percent was arrived at through negotiation, with one recalling that Gilbert/Horwitz/Borris/Beverly Hills started at about 10 percent and the Mets first proposing about 6 percent. All parties recalled that interest rates were much higher back then and that 8 percent didn't seem out of line, though obviously now it seems high.

[SIZE=xx-small]•[/SIZE] The Mets also agreed to a deferred payment schedule with Beverly Hills client Bret Saberhagen, which has gone pretty well unmentioned in recent years. Saberhagen's payment is said to be for $250,000 a year for 25 years, making it $6.25 million total.

[SIZE=xx-small]•[/SIZE] The Beverly Hills partners tried to talk Yankees outfielder Danny Tartabull, who had signed a $25.5 million deal, into a deferred payment program for him with that team. But, "he wouldn't do it," recalled one person involved in those talks. That looks like a mistake now, as Tartabull -- known for very expensive tastes (he favored ultra-expensive wines and it was once suggested he never re-wore any of his designer shirts) -- recently was identified in news reports as one of the biggest deadbeat dads in Los Angeles. He owes $276,000 in payments to his two sons, according to police.

 

[Frostillicus]

Is this some kinda contest to see who watches the least amount of baseball and then brags about it on a baseball message board?

No. I watch a ton of baseball. The Twins just cycle through so many guys from AAA I can't keep up anymore.

 

[the moops]

That Matt Harvey bit is pretty good

 

[Doctor Detroit]

Max Scherzer on MLBN talking about Mariano. As they pointed out, the most impressive thing about Mo is that he's done all this with just one pitch. It has to be the single best pitch from any one pitcher in baseball history (yes better than Tanana's curve ).

 

[Dickie Dunn]

Max Scherzer on MLBN talking about Mariano. As they pointed out, the most impressive thing about Mo is that he's done all this with just one pitch. It has to be the single best pitch from any one pitcher in baseball history (yes better than Tanana's curve ).

Jayson Stark wrote a great piece a few years ago after polling major leaguers about the most devastating pitches in the game. The ones you know are coming, and it still doesn't matter. His description was, "Here it is ... we'll be right back with the postgame show."

I think Mo's cutter ended up tied with Trevor Hoffman's changeup, which just defied all laws of physics. Randy Johnson's "Mr. Snappy" has to be right up there, as well.