Around the MLB 2018

[The_Hater]

$200 million for a 7.06 ERA. And people are complaining about Dickey!

[zilby]

Sure glad the Orioles gave up on Jake Arrieta right now, huh.

[Raps in 4]

Orioles are winning the WS this year. Calling it now.

[Santoki]

http://www.tsn.ca/mlb-statistically-speaking-patience-pays-off-for-rasmus-1.477914

[The_Hater]

Orioles are winning the WS this year. Calling it now.

I'll take that bet and predict that the Orioles will miss the playoffs. Great offense but they might have the worst pitching staff in all of baseball.

[The_Hater]

David Price average fastball velocity:

2012: 95.5
2014: 93.3
2016: 91.7

I think we might have dodged a $200 million bullet. I suspected his contract would look bad for 3-4 years but perhaps all 7?

[Raps in 4]

http://www.tsn.ca/mlb-statistically-speaking-patience-pays-off-for-rasmus-1.477914

Randle vindicated

[Skin Blues]

David Price average fastball velocity:

2012: 95.5
2014: 93.3
2016: 91.7

I think we might have dodged a $200 million bullet. I suspected his contract would look bad for 3-4 years but perhaps all 7?

This is misleading because you're comparing just April to all 6 months of the previous seasons. David Price average fastball velocity during first 4 starts of the season:

2013: 92.4
2014: 92.4
2015: 92.7
2016: 91.7

Yes, it's a bit slower (overall it's barely lower than what he was at 2 or 3 years ago). And that includes his 89.9 MPH opening day in Cleveland which was first postponed and then played the following day in 1°C with a wind chill below freezing. Price has been excellent this year skills-wise, and the only problem has been poor luck on balls in play. Not saying he was worth $200M+ but he's certainly still looking every bit as good as he did last year.

[The_Hater]

Joe Girardi wants to ban defensive shifts. How dare teams read hitting charts and move their players accordingly he says! What's his plan to fix this? Create little boxes for every defensive player to play inside? And if a player cheats outside his box early what happens then, you start handing out ground rule doubles?

This idea is about as well thought out as that presidential candidate talking about building a wall.

[Skin Blues]

What's his plan to fix this? Create little boxes for every defensive player to play inside? And if a player cheats outside his box early what happens then, you start handing out ground rule doubles?

It's not difficult, just say two infielders must be on either side of second base. There are already rules for what happens when a defensive player is not in a legal position (catcher not directly behind home plate, fielder with a foot in foul territory), and it is a balk. Not that I think banning shifts will do much to help the game, but the implementation is about as simple as it gets.

[Fairview4Life]

John Farrell just intentionally walked Jeff Francoeur tonight.

[LBJSeizedMyID]

Dee Gordon now suspended 80 games for taking two banned substances.

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/mlb/miami-marlins/article74611177.html

[Santoki]

Dee Gordon now suspended 80 games for taking two banned substances.

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/mlb/miami-marlins/article74611177.html

Colabello now has someone to join him in the support group. I wonder if Gordon will have an exclusive where he shows his ability to turn on the waterworks.

[Mr Swagtastic]

Saw a rumor on a Seattle Mariners telecast saying that Toronto and Cincinnati are discussing a Joey Votto for Drew Hutchison, Justin Smoak, D.J. Davis and Sean Reid-Foley. I guess Toronto wants to power itself to a league championship series. My thing is we need pitching first and foremost

[Fairview4Life]

Saw a rumor on a Seattle Mariners telecast saying that Toronto and Cincinnati are discussing a Joey Votto for Drew Hutchison, Justin Smoak, D.J. Davis and Sean Reid-Foley. I guess Toronto wants to power itself to a league championship series. My thing is we need pitching first and foremost

With Votto, Donaldson, Bautista, EE...we don't really need pitching. At least, the guys we have are fine.

[Mr Swagtastic]

Saw a rumor on a Seattle Mariners telecast saying that Toronto and Cincinnati are discussing a Joey Votto for Drew Hutchison, Justin Smoak, D.J. Davis and Sean Reid-Foley. I guess Toronto wants to power itself to a league championship series. My thing is we need pitching first and foremost

With Votto, Donaldson, Bautista, EE...we don't really need pitching. At least, the guys we have are fine.

My only problem is will the brass pay to keep EE and Jose Bautista? That deal is a homerun easily considering your getting Votto locked up until 2024. I think The Jays need to go after a legit 4th or 5th starter and Sanchez back to the pen

[CrookedJ]

Some classy sportsmanship from the biggest **** of MLB, Buck Showalter... at least he did it to the Yankees.

Had the grounds crew tarp the field after the O's BP so the Yankees wouldn't get any!

Orioles manager Buck Showalter has the reputation of being an expert at gamesmanship and somebody who searches for the slightest ways to gain a competitive advantage.

So when the Camden Yards grounds crew rolled out the tarp after the O’s were done taking batting practice before Tuesday night’s Yankees-Orioles game, it meant the Yankees weren’t going to take BP on the field that was dry.

A scheduled early batting practice session Tuesday had been scrapped and the Yankees were coming off a day of rest Monday.

Clearly, the Yankees weren’t pleased with what many believed was Showalter’s latest ploy to get an edge. That doubled when not a drop of rain fell the rest of the night.

“They hit and they’re covering the field,’’ manager Joe Girardi said in the middle of a session with the media in the third-base dugout prior to the game.

http://nypost.com/2016/05/04/girardi-sounds-angry-after-buck-showalters-bp-tarp-stunt/?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=NYPTwitter&utm_medium=SocialFlow

[TheDoctor]

I'm really busy between work and Raptors playoffs and only catching bits of the Jays here and there, but just looked at the standings and thought, wow...

2015 AL playoff teams:
14-13 Royals
13-15 Jays
9-18 Astros
8-16 Yankees

That's pretty wacky.

[The_Hater]

Saw a rumor on a Seattle Mariners telecast saying that Toronto and Cincinnati are discussing a Joey Votto for Drew Hutchison, Justin Smoak, D.J. Davis and Sean Reid-Foley. I guess Toronto wants to power itself to a league championship series. My thing is we need pitching first and foremost

Improving the team via pitching or hitting has the same net result. The team could definitely use more LH hitting and the lineup hasn't been overly productive so this would address two issues.

It's very unlikely that both EE and Bats will both be back regardless so a trade like this would in part help support the loss of one or both.

[-MetA4-]

That deal is a homerun easily considering your getting Votto locked up until 2024.

How is that a "homerun"? Votto will turn 33 this year and is going to be paid $25 mill per year until he's 40. 4-0. He's also been complete trash this season. The fact that he's "locked up until 2024" is a BAD thing, not a good thing. You think he's still going to be an elite hitter at age 37, 38, 39, 40? He may not even be elite anymore at 35, let alone those back end years.

That deal would be the most anti-Shapiro move of all time.