MLB Discussion

[whoshotthefrog]

Although Cole Hamels doesn't get as much press as Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee, he continues to dominate and pitch very well start after start. After giving up a 2 run home run to Ike Davis in the first inning Hamels settled down to pitch a gem. 10k, 2 ER and a WHIP of 1.00. I'm glad the Phillies were able to score some runs so he could get the victory.

[whoshotthefrog]

DiPoto has been trying to do this for months haha. Abreu is hitting like .333 this year so far in the few games he's played in so maybe if he keeps hitting a trade market for him will develop. I kinda doubt it though.

Id love to get rid of Abreu, even if it means just flat out releasing him and eating that $8-$9M owed to him this year and put Wells in Abreu's spot of being a bench player who gets the occasional start and just bring up Trout alreadyand start him in LF. It would be great to see him getting experience in the bigs already. He's as much of a "cant miss" prospect as you can get. Plus it would be fun to see him and Bourjos playing together in the OF....they are gonna cover a ridiculous amount of ground in the OF together.

I'm not super into the whole baseball prospecting thing, but I vaguely remember a friend telling me their is a prospect rating that has only been used a couple times by Baseball America. Griffey Jr had it, A-Rod did, and Justin Upton did. This was before Upton was called up (he started the conversation), so maybe 2007?

Would be interested to see if guys like Trout, Harper, Heyward, and Strasburg got it. My guess would be that Strasburg did and the others didn't.

I know a lot of prospects are kept in the minors longer than they should be so teams can extended their arbitration eligibility. It seems that Trout and Bryce Harper are examples of this. Both players are ready for the majors but their teams seem to want to save some money by not having them make the team out of spring training or calling them up early in the beginning of the season.

[thebiglebowski]

I'm not super into the whole baseball prospecting thing, but I vaguely remember a friend telling me their is a prospect rating that has only been used a couple times by Baseball America. Griffey Jr had it, A-Rod did, and Justin Upton did. This was before Upton was called up (he started the conversation), so maybe 2007?

Would be interested to see if guys like Trout, Harper, Heyward, and Strasburg got it. My guess would be that Strasburg did and the others didn't.

I know a lot of prospects are kept in the minors longer than they should be so teams can extended their arbitration eligibility. It seems that Trout and Bryce Harper are examples of this. Both players are ready for the majors but their teams seem to want to save some money by not having them make the team out of spring training or calling them up early in the beginning of the season.

Sure, but this has nothing to do with my point. My point was that every year there are top prospects, but there are only a couple "can't miss" prospects a generation (when the words "can't miss" come out of the words of the scouts and baseball writers. They are thrown out by fans every year).

And I'm skipping the fact checking, but I believe that both Trout and Harper have shown that they aren't ready yet (and by "not ready" I don't mean that they can't tread water at the major league level, but that they aren't ready to be featured players). Trout was bad in his call-up last year, had a bad spring, and Harper has not crushed minor league pitching. I think his minor league average is around .250.

That said, Trout's minor league numbers are stellar and I'm sure he will be up soon.

[selfreliable]

Harper has not done well in the upper levels of minor leagues. He crushes the ball, but is striking out a lot and not hitting for a decent average. Trout is absolutely killing it in the minors last year and what little so far this year, but did do terrible in his call up last year to the majors. That said though, Trout is considered by many scouts to me a cant miss guy and will be up very soon to the majors.

As far as Boston goes, Youk deserves to be called out. He is an asshole to the other players and has a rep for only caring about his stats. Glad to see Bobby V call him out.

[thebiglebowski]

Do you have any examples on the Youkilis thing? I'm not doubting you, I just have never heard a negative thing about the guy personally.

[selfreliable]

It is pretty well known to bigger sox fan that he is a dick. He is the first one to publicly criticize his fellow players and has implied that their injuries werent serious enough to be out of the lineup for. He represents the old guard of the sox from pedro and Manny and them being around and acts like them opposed to being a clubhouse leader and setting a good example. He acts like a star and many of the younger players (Ellsbury for example) cant stand him. Ellsbury has said stuff before about going to others for advice as Youk rubs him wrong.

[travis]

Trout is legit. Dude has raked at every level of the minors and is on an abolsute terror in Triple A right now. He's hitting .435 with an OPS of 1.143 with a HR, a double and 3 triples and 4 steals in just over 40 ABs so far. He's about as fast as Bourjos with a better arm and a lot more power. The only reason he isnt up is cause they are giving their $20M man Vernon Wells a shot at keeping his job but Im guessing within a few months its going to be Trout's job. He didnt play much this Spring cause he was recovering from some viral infection or something like that where he lost about 15-20 lbs.

Trout only came up for a few games last year and he was only like 19 (he's only 20 now) when he came up and he did hit like 5HRs, I believe he hit 2 in one game. He wasnt terrible, he didnt go off like they hoped but he definitely showed a little bit of what he's capable of. Plus most guys his age arent even considered by teams as being ready for the bigs. I think he'll be up this year but within a few years he's expected to be a superstar. Obviously thats not guaranteed but this guy is absolutely legit. They are comparing him to Mantle, which really sucks for Trout. I wish writers wouldnt say shit like that, he could end up being a great player and still not be anywhere near what Mantle was.

[Guest]

[thebiglebowski]

Watched this game. Ump had to pick his kids up from school or something. Ross slammed that helmet into the ground.

[travis]

Thats looks about right for Rodney. That dude has absolutely no fucking clue where the ball is going every time he throws it.

[selfreliable]

How was that pitch framed though? Also, pitch trackers arent all that reliable yet, still a work in progress.

[thebiglebowski]

How was that pitch framed though? Also, pitch trackers arent all that reliable yet, still a work in progress.

I would have called everyone of them a ball. Cody Ross obviously would have too. They were close, but not "could go either way" close.

[thebiglebowski]

Gotta keep the posts coming to catch up to the gay hockey thread.

Mike Trout...NYY Infield...Braun's Pee...Let's go...

[dynamitekid]

Baltimore is in first place in the AL East

[travis]

Gotta keep the posts coming to catch up to the gay hockey thread.

Mike Trout...NYY Infield...Braun's Pee...Let's go...

haha I was getting angry while at the Angels game last nite and kept telling my gf that I hate Vernon Wells for cockblocking Mike Trout. She couldnt have cared less.

They really need to do something with Abreu, even if it means releasing him and move Wells to Abreu's back up spot and bring up Trout to play full time in LF this year. Also get Trumbo's bat in the line up. I dont care if he boots a ball at 3B if he's hitting 450 ft. HRs. Scioscia needs to get him in the line up every day.

One good thing about last nite is I got my Pujols bobblehead so I was pretty stoked on that!

[selfreliable]

Cant believe no one is talking about that absolute bullet Ankiel threw from CF to the catcher and Ramos didnt even move an inch for the ball. Insane!

Angels have so much money tied up in terrible contracts. Arent they still paying Gary Matthews Jr? What is it with them and overpaying OFs? Imagine if Crawford signed there last offseason?

[dynamitekid]

Gary Matthews is off the books I think. Abreu is off after this year. I think Tori Hunter is up soon too? Trumbo is the next Rob Deer or Mark Reynolds. You can't just have him boot balls all over the place because he can hit huge home runs.

[travis]

All those bad contracts by the Angels were done by Reagins. Everyone hated that guy, he was an awful GM. Ive heard that Scioscia was basically the Manager/GM when Reagins was in charge though.

The thing about Trumbo is that its not like they have someone else great to play 3B....its Maicer Izturis and Alberto Collaspo. Its not like we have a Longoria or something over there. I think Ive come to the conclusion that Scioscia is whats wrong with this team. I believe this is about the 9th different starting line up this season. Again Trumbo on the bench for the 3rd stright game. Bourjos on the bench. Abreu leading off? What the fuck is going on here? A team needs some sort of stability. Trumbo will hit 40 HRs if he gets regular playing time, get that man some fucking ABs! He literally just started playing 3B for the first time in his life this year. He's not some big slow guy that cant move and he's got decent hands. He got better defensively at 1B last year throughout the year. Give him some time at 3B and he'll figure it out and in the mean time he can hit bombs all fucking day long.

Also Angels locked up Aybar for, I think, 4 years and about $35M. Not a bad deal.

Oh and that Ankiel throw from CF was fucking ridiculous. Holy shit.

[Guest]

Oh and that Ankiel throw from CF was fucking ridiculous. Holy shit.

[selfreliable]

Oh wow, I thought I was the only person who hated Scosicia. The media seems to love him to death and talk about how great he is, and he is always in the running for MOTY and I dont understand it at all.

I still think Trumbo is a bad idea at third. Send him to the minors to work on it if thats what you want to do, but dont have him learn on the fly in games that matter. Send him down to get better defensively, call up Trout, put Callespo at third for now. Give Trout a month or two to really get the hang of it, he sure wont get any better at it riding the pine in LA. Might as well have him in the minors if you arent going to start him.

I hate the phillies being on the west coast this week, game times are all at 10, way too late for me to watch the whole thing.

Speaking of San Fran... What the fuck is up with Lincecum? Dude ever going to give up 2 or less runs this year?

[Guest]

red sox take 2-0 lead, give it up in the 3rd, and seemingly decide theyve already lost the game.

i just dont see any heart on this team right now- no will to prevail and overcome something as small as a 1-run lead.

[Guest]

and here i am hoping that just maaaaaybe me saying that while theres a man on second with 1 out will be enough to turn things around.

nope.

6-2, rangers.

[travis]

I think Scioscia has been slipping big time the last 3 years or so. Before that I think he was great. I dont know who they could go get now who would be better though.

Id give Trumbo a little longer at 3B to get it together. Maybe even start him each nite and get him a few ABs and then put Collaspo in later in games as a defensive replacement. They absolutely need his bat in the line up though. Shit, put him in LF if you want.

I hate when the Angels are on the east coast, all the games are on while Im at work. If Im lucky I catch the last couple innings once in a while.

[thebiglebowski]

If Cabrera can play a decent third base at his size (which so far, so good), so can Trumbo.

[travis]

Exactly my thoughts. Except Cabrera has played third for years already. Trumbo has literally never played third before. He should be able to figure it out though.