***Official 2012-13 MLB HOTSTOVE OFF-SEASON THREAD***

Selig is in "I'm about to retire, I ain't changing a thing, go eff yourselves" mode.

 

****, I hate that mode.

 

He has no problem playing mad scientist with the playoff formatting when he feels like it but sits idly by while the Marlins are castrated by their owner. I hope he does retire soon.

 

Apparently I'm not the only one that makes (bad) Dodger jokes, I guess. But isn't it fun to do? High five and well played guys.

I agree with you if you're Stanton you take the money now.

 

**** what you say. My joke was hilarious.

 

Mine made me chuckle, too.

 

Personally I enjoyed both of them. Especially considering they were back to back posts. Made it even funnier.

 

Ok, you guys, another Dodger joke for this morning:

Obama traded the US debt to the Dodgers for a Dodger Dog and prospects.

Pretty good, huh? Or should I have included someone like Mitt Romney in the deal with the debt too?

 

Eh last year you had 2 playoff teams from there, AND if the season went on another week or 2 TB (who was the hottest team in baseball) would have got that last wildcard as well....the Yanks are the Yanks, old, and nothing special but they win, the Red Sox were mind blogging I admit.....

Then you had Toronto who was the worst team in that Division, and now they just overalled their line-up got an ace, a good number 2, KEPT Batts, Lind, and Encarnarcion.....team looks good now I will say, real good.....

so yeah the AL East is alot tougher today than this time yesterday....

I am just pissed they gave Johnson away from nothing, and the Yanks as usual were asleep at the wheel....

 

The AL East absolutely got tougher but I think right now the Blue Jays are maybe the 3rd best time in the division behind the Yankees and Rays. Let's no overrate or give the Jays a playoff spot just yet though.

As for the Yankees falling asleep at the wheel, the only way Johnson would be traded, in my opinion, was because Reyes and/or Buerhele was involved in the deal. Kind of like the Beckett & Lowell deal back in 2005. The Yankees with the new luxury tax and with wanting to keep payroll down because of it likely couldn't afford to bring on Buerhele's contract and I don't see how there's any way they would have traded for Reyes with Captain Jetes limping around still.

 

That line-up is outright scary....

 

refrain yourself....REFRAIN!!!!

 

I'll always like Torii, but I'm not sure how much better that makes Detroit

 

Cabrera and Fielder are scary. The rest of that lineup isn't very scary.

 

Garcia could turn out to be a stud though.

 

Austin Jackson is steadily becoming one of the best lead off guys in the game....you are also forgetting about V-Mart.....

Their line-up just got lengthened, Tori Hunter over Delmon Young too....

 

I like Jackson and I did forget about VMart, but I'm not convinced they'll be elite offensively.

 

I think it's normal to overrate teams a couple of hours/days after a big move. But it's best to just take a step back and wait for all the dust to settle in.

But I agree signing Hunter is an upgrade but just adding him isn't going to make the Tigers line up elite or that much better. I think the bigger gain from signing Torii is his defense in the OF.

 

Congrats to R.A. Dickey on becoming the NL Cy Young Award winner. The first met to win 20 since Frank Viola (lol, yeah thats pitiful), joins Seaver and Doc as the only Mets pitchers to win the Cy Young. Genuinely happy for one of the humble players in any sport.

 

If you look at it as losing Young to gain Hunter i would call that an upgrade. Hunters defense alone makes that a great addition and gives them more roster flexibilty. With Fielder at 1b and a good catcher in Avila Vmart will be mostly DH but he can be the back up catcher and play 1b np in a pinch.

I'm a big fan of roster flexibilty which is one of the reasons i hate the Yankees roster atm.

 

Melky Cabrera is back in the AL East. Only this time with the Jays on a 2 year 16 million dollar deal. Well FinYank, you get to save $25 bucks....

 

how stupid is that move??

what was the bet again?? ohh the Sox hahahahahahah right right....

 

It's not a terrible short term deal. Perhaps the dollar figure per year might be high but if he has a repeat of last year (the high BABIP and he's moving into a hitters park) it's certainly worth it. I am surprised he got a 2 year deal though, I figured he'd get a 1 year 4 or 5 million dollar deal.

The bet was if he was signed by the Sox you'd buy me a Melky t-shirt jersey and I'd wear it and make it my avatar or something like that.

 

Its a small risk move for a team that sees the Yankees and Red Sox as being down. Toronto is going to go all win to win now as this might be the only chance they get for quite awhile.

 

I hear Jason Bay is a free agent....

I bet you could get Francoeur for Niese.

 

Latest rumors have the Doders in the drivers seat for Greinke. This would give them about 25 starting pitchers, so I assume if they sign him, that hey will package one of their others in a trade somewhere. Billingsley is now avoiding surgery with some newer methods. If they work, a rotation with Kershaw, Greinke and Billinsgley would be fine by me.

Another GM was quoted as saying that Ned has been given an open check book (which we all already knew). I doubt they go after one of the bigger free agent bats, but then again, it wouldn't surprise me if they went and bought themselves another trophy piece either.

 

I meant stupid as in dollar figure, don't mind the 2 years. 8 million is ALOT for him....I bet he signed immediately without thinking about it lol....

 

if they fork over 20 plus for him, they have reached new levels of absurd.

 

Why Greinke is damn good.

 

Money is no object this point. I do know that L.A. doesn't like to hand out more than three year contracts to pitchers typically though. So even if they do, chances are it won't be for an extended amount of time.

 

I don't blame Melky for signing that. I agree I think 8 million is probably too much per year for him. But it looks like the Jays have money to burn this year and are clearly going all in.

 

I think when teams have reached the point of handing Greinke over 20M plus w/o hesitation, then the price point for starting pitchers has got out of control.....

He is 15-18 CJ Wilson good not more than that.....

 

Greinke is a much much better pitcher than CJ Wilson, that's not a fair comparison. Greinke is a very good pitcher, maybe a top 10 in baseball. And if he's not in the top 10 he's probably 11th or 12th. He's a true ace of a pitching staff.

 

As starters, their numbers arent much different.....at all.....

And Wilson is a lefty pitching in a rougher Division on pitching....how is Greinke worth that much more?? IDK difference of opinion I guess....

Not to mention Greinke is a lob head....

 

I wouldn't give Greinke more the CJ money. If he had James Shields head ZG might be the best pitcher in baseball. But he doesn't.

 

The guy had aniexty issues at age 22 which was 6 years ago. He has had any since or if he has it hasn't affected his performance. I think you're both servely underrating his stuff just because he had an off the field issue. Greinke has never had any major injuries either.

And yes Greinke is a better pitcher than Wilson. Wilson is more of a smoke/mirrors pitcher especially the last 2 years in Texas where his high walk total didn't catch up to him, Wilson also pitched much worse last year than his stats showed. Greinke has 4 plus pitches, is durable, strikes guys out, doesn't walk many and is younger. Wilson is an overpaid to begin with.

As far as if Greinke had James Shields' head he'd be the best pitcher in baseball, not even sure how to respond. I guess the only way I could is by saying if James Shields had Greinke's arm/stuff he'd be a better pitcher himself.

I just think you guys are really underrated Greinke, based on an issue he had 6 years ago. Not sure its a fair argument really.

 

I think he's mentally weak based on everything through out his career. Not just his break down 6 years ago. I'm not underrating his stuff. That's why I said he could be the best in the game if he had Shields head. Meaning shields toughness. I refuse to pay a man $20 mil a year who I can't trust in big games. I don't care how good he is during the regular season.

 

What else is there from his career besides the 2006 season that says he's mentally weak? I'm asking a serious question, as I only know of that one incident, perhaps I'm missing something.