Open Thread: RAB Fantasy Football League Update
ByI’ve been intentionally been delaying my first fantasy football update this season, because frankly it’s been pretty bad for me. After a nice 2-1 start, I’ve since lost five of six, and I have just one of the 44 highest scoring players in the league. The main reason for my struggles are the hurt and/or underperforming Anquan Boldin and Terrell Owens, who I figured were good for double digit points on a weekly basis. Free agent pickup Nate Burleson has been my second best offensive player, and Ahmad Bradshaw has emerged as my second RB behind MJD.
Chad Pennington got hurt and Mark Sanchez wasn’t cutting it, so I swapped Knowshown Moreno for David Garrard. If that’s not enough, I have to face the teams currently ranked first and second in the league over the next two weeks, and I’ll face three of the top four teams in the next five weeks. Yippee. 2009 has not been kind of my fantasy teams, but if that’s the price I have to pay for the Yankees winning the World Series, then so be it.
Anyway, here’s your open thread for the night. None of the local teams are in action, so you’re stuck finding your own entertainment. Talk about whatever you want, just be cool. You can see the full fantasy football league standings are after the jump.
- Dirty Mark Sanchez, 8-1-0, 887.96 points
- JSBrendog (rocks), 7-2-0, 948.92
- Right Field Porches, 6-3-0, 967.92
- Greg Fertel, 5-4-0, 1006.52
- Tommie’s Champions, 5-4-0, 898.10
- Tommie’s Challenger, 5-4-0, 860.44
- baseballbackyet?, 5-4-0, 827.58
- The Highlanders, 5-4-0, 796.28
- Jamal G., 4-5-0, 920.20
- Vick Works at Petco, 4-5-0, 836.82
- grgoyldef2, 4-5-0, 817.42
- COLE†rain™, 3-6-0, 824.74
- Manimal, 3-6-0, 781.82
- Mike A., 3-6-0, 734.50
- Ken Phelps, 3-6-0, 657.30
- Kendra’s Basketts, 2-7-0, 696.88
So did I succeed in my head explosion endeavour?
There is now a crater where my head was formerly located, Rebecca.
Fine job.
My work here is done.
You. (safe)
Have I ever denied it?
Like I always say, catch a man a fish, and he eats for a day. Teach a man how to fish, and you can have sex with his wife while he’s out fishing.
That reminds me of something my grandfather used to tell me. He would lean over, put his hand on my shoulder and say “Sonny, I’m gonna go upstairs and fuck your Grandma.”
http://www.hiyoooo.com/
He was an honest guy, I’ll grant him that.
The visual, I could have lived without.
I don’t blame him. Your grandma was quite the tasty dish back in the day.
My Grandma used to say, “James, when in doubt, pull it out.” I doubt she realized the meaning extended beyond baking.
Funny enough, I’m using one of her eggplant lasagna recipes right now! Miss you, Grandma!
You’re challenging TSJC for best hype-
manperson around these parts.Did I miss something?
Is Tommie’s Champions who I think it is…?
NONE OTHA MOTHA FUCKA
Honestly, I was thinking Tom Brady but if it’s you…
Kendra’s Basketts: Last in our league, but first in our hearts.
http://a323.yahoofs.com/coreid.....LB48KEFDU6 (probably NSFW)
According to this thing http://whatsmytwitteraccountworth.com/ the RAB twitter page is worth $819.
Wow and Fake Mikey Kay is 850.
I’m $330, and that’s probably more than what my blog is worth.
Damn, Abe is 1977
tsjc68: $278.
I’m slackin on my mackin. Simpin on my pimpin.
Ken Phelps Ken Phelps. Haha awesome name.
but terrible team
Amid speculation about the pursuit John Lackey, the viability Chien-Ming Wang and the desire to bring back Andy Pettitte, there remains one ever-present question about the Yankees starting rotation. What will be done with the starters-turned-relievers? For the most part, general manager Brian Cashman has left all of next year’s questions unanswered until the organizaton’s internal meetings take place, but this afternoon he gave his opinion on Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain.
“I look at them as starters that can relieve,” he said. “But I look at them as starters.”
[Per LoHud. WTF does he mean by starters that can relieve? Gaudin type people?]
Interesting news also per LoHud:
Cashman on speculation that the Yankees are going after John Lackey: “Anybody who says we’re on any player right now would be false because we have not met. We have not met about anybody.”
Doesn’t surprise me.
JON HEYMAN, YOU LIED TO ME!!!!
Anyone who listens to Heyman gets what they deserve.
Heyman carries the water for these agents in November and December and gets some scoops in January and February. That’s how his business works.
I thought the most interesting bit was the line about too many middle infielders and Nick Swisher.
So di Teix and Jeter deserve the gold gloves?
Maybe, and no.
Teix actually had a defensive down year for him….
Anyway, all debate over this award is summed: Rafael Palmeiro
Fangraphs doesn’t go back to 1999, so I’m just going to assume a UZR of 1271.6 in those 28 games
FACT: Rafael Palmeiro did not commit a single error at DH the year he won the Gold Glove. FACT.
Palmeiro is a versatile player, he can play 1st and DH.
/ESPN’d
Who deserved SS?
Either Andrus or Izturis. Far better defensive shortstops than Jeter was.
All right. Just wondering.
The Gold Gloves are now, and pretty much have been for decades, and offensive award.
Gold Glove Decision Tree:
A.) Take all the guys who hit well.
B.) See which one fields fairly well also.
C.) Make sure he’s not disqualified for being a jerk to reporters. If he’s not, proceed.
D.) Give the award to him.
It’s dumb.
“The best part of the whole thing is that the Gold Glove winners are chosen by baseball personnel. Every June, as the balloting for the All-Star teams heads down the stretch, there is a gnashing of teeth in the press over the idiocy and ignorance of the fans, who have a distressing tendency to vote for players they’ve heard of, even if those players are batting .200 or stuck on the disabled list. But the Gold Gloves are voted on by major-league coaches and managers, people who are expected to know who’s actually playing, and at what position. That most of these people failed to notice Palmeiro’s absence from the field is sort of alarming.”
here is a question: how would the following team do, with a league average pitching staff?
C – Y. Molina
1B – Tex/Youk/Overbay
2B – utley/zobrist
SS – Andrus
3B – Beltre?
LF – Crawford
CF – Gutierez
RF – Ichiro?
It’d be hella fun to watch, certainly
actually put figgins at 3B, not beltre
No, put Beltre there. On the whole, he’s probably the better defensive third baseman.
Plus he doesn’t wear a cup.
is Yadier Molina that good defensively?
They’d probably be good, but not just because of the defense. Their offense would be above average as well.
Ichiro
Crawford
Utley
Tex
Beltre
Molina
Guiterez
Andrus
Avg pitching. Best defense. Slightly above avg offense.
That should be a good team
Here’s an interesting question:
Now I know it’s only been a one year and all of our shiny new toys(Swishy, Tex, CC, A.J.) have more time on their contracts except Pettite (who’s not so shiny and new), but was last year’s offseason the best in Yankee history?
Consider that we got:
. An legitimate young Ace with strikeout stuff and a terrific resume
. One of the best young 1b in baseball, both offensively and defensively
. A young, switch hitting, 20+HR, 370+OBP LF’er who we got for Wilson Betemit, cash, and other player(s) who matter so little to the Yanks I don’t even remember who they are
. One of the best number three starters in the league (remember Wang) who turned into a very serviceable number two when Wang went down, and who (knock on wood) has stayed healthy.
. A veteran pitcher who had a terrific second half and made every start we required him to make, not to mention won all three clinching games in the playoffs
Now I know it’s early to judge but can anybody think of a better Yankee offseason than this one?
November, 1997:
Yankees trade Kenny Rogers to Oakland Athletics for Scott Brosius.
GREATEST.
OFFSEASON.
EVER.
(keeps reading)
OH SHIT WE SIGNED CHILI DAVIS AND LUIS SOJO THAT SAME OFFSEASON TOO THIS SHIT KEEPS GETTING BETTER
Luis Sojo seals the deal. That is the greatest offseason.
One of the best ones in recent years, though the ones in the mid-late 90s weren’t too shabby, either.
Russ Davis and Sterling Hitchcock for Jim Mecir, Jeff Nelson, and Tino Martinez
Good, but still only relief pitchers and an elite first baseman. This year we got a young Ace starter, a young elite 1b, a durable veteran who had a terrific second half, and a pitcher who had a very solid year stepping up to replace our injured number 2 starter.
And Swishy. Can’t forget Swishy.
it would be funny to be able to see an alternate universe where the Yankees trade 2 of their best prospects for a 28 year old 1Bman with a career line of .265/.334/.466
i’m going to go out on a limb and guess that the Yankee blogosphere would be calling for the immediate firing of the GM.
On paper, the 2003-2004 offseason was pretty damn impressive (including trades):
Alex Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield, Kenny Lofton…
Javier Vazquez, Kevin Brown, Tom Gordon
That’s a whole lot of talent right there. Of course they all played to mixed results.
Also, the ‘92-’93 offseason had:
Wade Boggs, Jimmy Key, Paul O’Neill, and Jim Abbott.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c.....index.html
Every post season game was started by a pitcher that was signed last winter and we won the World Series. It’s pretty hard to do any better than that.
If Boras seriously thinks he can get 3 years for Damon, then God bless both of them. I never begrudge a player making every dime he can while he’s able.
But from the Yanks perspective, you start looking deeper into Plan B. What do you guys think Carl Crawford would cost in terms of talent? At 10mil per , it would seem to me he doesn’t have much residual value left over.
http://www.fangraphs.com/stats.....n=OF#value
But Fangraphs disagrees, I forgot what a good season he had this year, one of his best overall. It would seem he would command a decent package of talent. What are the Ray’s needs? Would they be OK trading a popular player within the division? What’s one year of Carl Crawford worth in prospects?
BTW-I think were a better team with Crawford than we are with Damon. He’s a far better fielder, better baserunner, and if he hits like he did last year, then his bat is a good replacement.
Of course we’re a better team with CC, he’s a better player than Damon.
As for what he’s worth in terms of prospects, I don’t think the Rays will trade him to us for anything less than a fleecing of our young talent. I doubt he’ll be a Yankee next year.
Damon’s better offensively, Crawford is better in the field (by far). But I’m pretty sure [Damon + whatever you'd have to trade for Crawford] is more valuable than [Crawford - whatever you'd have to trade for Crawford]. I don’t think it’d be too close, either.
Why do you think JD is better than CC offensively? Slugging?
Don’t forget that you basically turn 50+ of those singles and walks into doubles.
It’s more like 40 than 50+, since you’re not taking his CS into account.
It’s not a landslide in offense, I just think Damon’s better with the stick. You’re right, though, Crawford’s speed certainly makes him more valuable than his numbers look at first glance. Even if it’s even on offense, I stick by the conclusion above. [Damon + whatever you'd have to trade for Crawford] is more valuable than [Crawford - whatever you'd have to trade for Crawford].
Oh yeah I definitely agree with that. Also on the Yankees you’d have to figure CC would be far more picky on the basepaths. He probably wouldn’t steal as much with Teixy and Al behind him.
Hopefully in 2011 he’s in pinstripes.
But I’m pretty sure [Damon + whatever you'd have to trade for Crawford] is more valuable than [Crawford - whatever you'd have to trade for Crawford]. I don’t think it’d be too close, either.
That. A thousand times, that.
Maybe, but we do have some depth at some positions in the farm system. Guys who are unlikely to ever get a crack at the roster, so they’re expendable to fill a need.
For example:
Austin Jackson, Ivan Nova and Anthony Claggett sounds like a decent package for 1 year of Carl Crawford earning 10mil. If A-Jax alone pans out, they make back the 14 mil difference between his salary and value every year they control him. If 2 of the 3 are on the 25 man roster at all over the next few years, they’d still come out ahead.
Yeah, but you could just sign Crawford (or someone else) after the 2010 season and not give up the talent. In your hypothetical, you’re giving up prospects not for the total value of Crawford, but just for the incremental gain from Damon/Cameron/[unknown option] to Crawford.
I also, to be totally honest, think we have absolutely no idea what it would take to get Crawford in a trade, so I kinda think it’s a pointless exercise (the assigning names to the trade part of it).
OK, but you’re saying ‘the price is too high’ and I’m not so sure. We have to throw names out there to know what either of us means by that.
I’m not saying you can’t go for it, it’s just not my thing. Maybe the Rays think A-Jax is awful. Maybe they’ll want more to trade him within the division, maybe they don’t care about that. There’s just so many variables in play that, in my mind, it’s not s worthwhile exercise.
On a more basic level, I would assume they’ll want the kind of prospects it’s not easy to let go of, and I don’t think one year of Crawford is worth that much when there are other options out there and Crawford can be had for just money if you want him next offseason.
I also assume they picked up that option with the intention of trading him. I don’t think they want to pay him that money. He made 5.4 mil last year, their budget can’t absorb players having their salary double.
So if they’re committed to dealing him (as I suspect) then it simply comes down to getting the best package available. My offer may be it, or it may not. We’ll see.
He made $8.25 million in 2009, not $5.4 million.
Here’s the thing, though: Whomever trades for Crawford can sign him to an extension. It doesn’t mean they’ll actually BE ABLE TO sign him to an extension.
CC was traded from Cleveland to Milwaukee, but he refused to sign an extension and demanded to go to free agency. Ditto, Matt Holliday (twice).
Crawford could do the same thing.
Be patient. Wait. No need to spend prospects for a guy we can get for nothing but money a year from now. Particularly when there’s perfectly acceptable stopgaps at hand.
HCM, Fangraphs had him at 5.4, Cots has him at 8.25 with a 2.5 mil buyout. I’ll assume Fangraphs subtracts the buyout money, since it was previously guaranteed.
You’re reading the wrong line. You’re reading his 2008 salary on Fangraphs.
They don’t have his 2009 salary listed on his page.
Then you have to subtract the buyout from his 2010 salary, too. Either way, his 2010 salary isn’t as big an increase over his 2009 salary as you said it is.
No, I misread it. TSJC is right.
THIS. It’s not that I dislike Crawford, but I think he’s been built up to be better than he really is. Giving away something of good value and expecting a player like Crawford, whose game is built almost entirely on speed and defense, to retain that value years later and at a high price, is not close to a sure thing.
But from the Yanks perspective, you start looking deeper into Plan B.
I agree. I’m interested to hear what you have in mind for Plan B.
What do you guys think Carl Crawford would cost in terms of talent?
OH SHIT I’M NO LONGER INTERESTED TO HEAR WHAT YOU HAVE IN MIND FOR PLAN B
I know what you’re thinking, but he had a great year this year.
http://www.fangraphs.com/stats.....osition=OF
Dude put up a +17.6 UZR, 5.5 WAR. BABIP was just a nudge higher than career average, so it wasn’t just luck. It might be buying high, but at 28 he could just be coming into his prime years as well.
No, you don’t quite know what I’m thinking. Wrong objection
I’m very interested in acquiring Carl Crawford.
In 2010. Under no circumstances am I TRADING FOR Carl Crawford. Not at all. I dislike giving up prospects for players under contract in general, but I hate it when those prospects are going to a division rival for a superfluous player. Trading for Crawford helps our competitor more than it helps us. Adding Cameron and waiting a year is by FAR the smarter option if you want to have a non-Johnny Damon 2010 leftfielder.
Sorry:
In
20102011.Sign him to an extension.
We didn’t need to trade for Johan Santana either, since we could have had him the nex. . . oh, that’s right. If we could get him for a package like I detailed above, I do it. If not, then give me a better alternative.
Lets assume (as I did) Damon wants 3 years. He’s out. Matsui’s out, since he cant play LF. You don’t want Carl Crawford.
Is Melky our LF? Sign Bay/Holliday to bazillion $ long term deals?
Sign him to an extension.
Fuck that. JUST BE PATIENT FOR A DAMN YEAR.
Cameron is a perfectly acceptable one year stopgap.
unless you think the Rays will trade him midseason, and depending on how they are doing, they just might
I agree. It’s not that there’s something out there that’s better than Crawford in 2010, it’s that there’s something out there that’s better than trading for one year of Crawford. Just sign someone else, even if it’s Cameron, then sign Crawford after the 2010 season.
You’re ignoring a possible signing of Cameron.
the Rays don’t trade with the Yankees and they certainly aren’t going to trade the guy who owns every offensive record in franchise history to the Yankees. they just won’t.
i can’t prove that beyond “b/c i said so”, but it’s still true.
The gold-glove convo got me thinking about defensive metrics. Here’s my question for those who know more than I do: Which defensive metric takes into account where the defender is positioned before the ball is hit into play? All other things being equal, I think that metric would be superior to those that don’t.
Think about it: the number of balls a player gets to in a zone is not exclusively dependent on his own range. Where the player is positioned before the ball is hit into play plays a large role too. Consequently, I think we would get a more correct picture of a player’s true range if we knew how far he had to travel to get to a particular ball in his “zone.” And we would know how far we had to travel if: 1). We knew where he was positioned before the ball was hit into play 2). Where the ball passed through his zone.
I thought about this because some speculate Jeter’s improved positioning was the main reason his UZR got so much better. But this has nothing to do with Jeter’s actual range. Rather, its a testament to good coaching. The Yankees positioned Jeter in a manner that would emphasize his strengths (going right) and minimize the impact of his weakness (going left).
In any event, it seems to me that if we want to figure out a player’s range, we should give greatest credence to metrics that take the variable of defensive positioning out of the equation.
but the best defenders position themselves properly. In fact, in a game decided by inches, where the difference between elite and average can be nothing but positioning, i’d say it is either the most important or one of the most important factors as far as defense goes. not as much in terms of measuring talent, sure, but in terms of defensive value, i’ll take the guy who knows where to be on every pitch.
but, to answer your question, right now there really isn’t one. when we get hit/fx technology, we should be better equipped at measuring defensive ability/talent, since we should be able to determine the most “impressive” range plays. But a cumulative metric will always count the plays that the players weren’t positioned properly for, as it should.
But we know that coaches play a large role in positioning. They actively move players at key moments during games. And to the extent players adjust their positining during games without direct orders from a coach, I would presume that they do so based on scouting reports/strategy discussed before the game. This is exceedingly more likely when you consider the vast improvements that have been made in advance scouting. Do you think teams compile all that knowledge on hitter tendencies only to leave defensive positioning entirely in the hands of their players? It’s possible, but I doubt it.
Obviously players are not without some control over their positiong. Do I believe that veterans like Jeter might occassionally use their wealth of knowledge re: their own pitcher/the count/the hitter to move a step or two to the right or the left? Of course.
But I think for the most part and for most players, defensive positioning is a matter of team strategy and knowledge, not individual intuition.
actually, coaches don’t play a very large role in positioning. they only position players when they are noticeably far from where they should be, or the manager wants to realign them according to something his charts tell him. I’m talking about pitch-to-pitch realignment – take a few steps in on an 0-2 count, etc.
the problem with gold glove stuff is that people look at the “spectacular”-looking plays, yet ignore plays like this: http://seattle.mariners.mlb.co.....id=6691695, that in all likelihood are not made by any other outfielder in baseball.
No, they’re not even that smart.
I’m convinced that voters just look at who hits well at a position and pick the guy who fields well from amongst that list.
Derek Jeter didn’t make more spectacular looking plays than Elvis Andrus did, but he won the award for the best defensive shortstop in the AL. And, he won that primarily because he fielded fairly well for a good hitting shortstop.
Defense is the secondary part of the equation. Which is retarded.
It also helps that Jeter didn’t make 22 errors this year like Andrus. I’m sure some of those errors came on balls that Jeter would’ve never gotten to, but knowing when not to throw the ball is part of the game.
this is true – while perhaps they shouldn’t, guys who vote on gold gloves look a lot at errors. mostly because they’re too stupid and old-school to comprehend something like UZR
along those lines, didn’t Dayton Moore say at one point that Yuni Betancourt was a good defensive shortstop?
and I agree with the comment right above this
I remember during the games against Seattle, I wouldn’t even get excited about any fly balls hit in the gaps because I knew Gutierrez was going to track them down. Dude’s range is incredible.
Ready to meet the owner of Dirty Mark Sanchez?
Ready?
Ready?
You’re looking right at him.
any photoshop gurus want to help me?
i need someone to make this emblem say twenty seven
thanks in advance
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_h6YN.....ankees.jpg
Let’s just assume for purposes discussion that this package gets a Crawford deal done, since the main objection seems to be the price is too high.
Austin Jackson, Ivan Nova and Anthony Claggett sounds like a decent package for 1 year of Carl Crawford earning 10mil.
Do you guys still object? I make that deal, even if I have a crystal ball that’s telling me A-Jax pans out.
I’d pull the trigger but that won’t get the job done imo.
If a crystal ball tells me AJax pans out, not under any circumstances.
Right now? IDk, maybe.
If he pans out, he still not Carl Crawford.
How do you know that?
Carl’s faster and makes better contact. Power’s a wash. Biggest knock on Carl was his lack of plate discipline, and he improved that dramatically last year. Carl’s just a better player.
Yup.
He’s a free agent next year. He knows we’re interested in him.
Wait.
But Jackson can play CF. Crawford either can’t, or won’t.
Do you guys still object?
Yes.
Really? I’m not an A-Jax fan (nice 3rd OF?), Ivan Nova is a #3, and Claggett is interchangeable with any other reliever.
And, a year from now, I can have all of them PLUS Crawford.
Patience is a virtue.
Next year Carl Crawford will be the better player. Having the better player (esp. when he’s young) is always preferable to having prospects (esp. when they’re unproven and medium probability). He’s probably going to be better than Damon, Holliday, and Cameron next year.
Having the better player (esp. when he’s young) is always preferable to having prospects (esp. when they’re unproven and medium probability).
No. Not if there’s a way you can get BOTH, there’s not.
Crawford: Good player
AJax, Nova, and Claggett: Good prospects
Having one or the other: a fine thing to have
Having both: a far better thing to have
Isn’t Claggett on the Pirates now? (DFA’ed when Guzman was added to the 40-man roster?)
Yes indeed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Claggett
With all of the discussion of Crawford, what do others think about this analysis, which puts a possible contract at 4/72-4/80 based upon fangraphs’ calculation that teams payed roughly $4.5 million per win on the free-agent market (and Crawford being worth around 4 WAR during the potential contract period)?
Crawford, over the last six years, plays out at slightly above $16 million (per fangraphs), so it seems like you would get comparable value (if $18 per) over the life of the contract.
Given the current market, does this seem likely? Do the Yankees, because they’re the Yankees, have to go to 4/80 or higher?
i don’t even think that gets it done.
that’s one good prospect for Crawford. someone else would probably beat that offer.
Claggett is a Pirate. plus he sucks.
Nova is filler who was rule V’ed last year.
Saw this mentioned in the post about free agent outfielders and heard it mentioned a few times by the MSM. Why are people speculating that Matsui wants to go play with Ichiro in Seattle?
If its only because they happen to be Japanese then that is a pretty ridiculous notion. Everything I have read and heard in the past suggests that the two actually don’t like each other at all. Has there been any real evidence that Matsui wants to play alongside Ichiro or is this just a ploy by his agent to drive up the price for the Yankees?
I’m going to use this open thread to ask qquestions I’ve wanted to ask for a long time but keep forgetting to:
1. How do you bold words?
2. How do you increase font size?
3. How do you itaalicize words?
4. How do you put a dash through words?
That’s all I could think of off the top of my head. ?Anybody w/answers, please respond. Thanks.
1) ()
2) Dunno
3) ()
4) ()
Obviously u have to remove the parenthesis.
ah shit
What?!?!?
lol I’ll try again.
This is bold:
… Type what you want bolded here. then you close the bold command with one of these …
Remove the periods.
Italicize is the same way but rather than “strong” you type “i” and Strike through is “strike”
So-
…bold… should be bold.
nah it’s friggin impossible to show you lol. The command things disappear. Sorry man.
http://www.htmlgoodies.com/pri.....hp/3478151
Scroll down to tag format and that’s how you enclose the strong, i, or strike commands.
Or not…
Bear with me people, I’m thickheaded.
/
(strong) to start bolding, (/strong) to stop
(i) and (/i) for italics
(strike) and (/strike) for strikethrough
just replace the parentheses with
with what you get if you hit shift comma and shift period (greater than and less than signs)
1 Type whatever
3 Same as one, but use ‘i’
4 Same as one, but use ’s’
Remove the *’s.
This is very hard to explain, since the symbols don’t show up when typed. I’ll try this:
First type this (not the way I did, but all together in that order)
in front of the part you want in bold. Where you want it to finish being in bold, type it again with a backslash / in front of the b. Substitute i for italics, etc.
Fuck, this is impossible.
They’re HTML tags. You put what you want to bold, italicize, or strikethrough inside a pair of opening and closing tags.
Bold is (b)(/b)
Italics is (i)(/i)
Strikethrough is (s)(/s)
But, the tags use the symbols instead of the ( and ) symbols.
You can’t make things bigger or smaller. Only Mike, Ben, and Joe can do that.
Oh, one more: The little indented quotes thing is (blockquote)(/blockquote). That one is handy too.
Experiment.
Heh. We’re all having the same problems.
angle brackets, diamond brackets, cone brackets, wickets, chevrons: or ? ?
That’s what you’re supposed to use.
Damnit, Tommie always beats me to shit.
Okay, I’lll experiment here. These next few posts will look nonsensical, but anyway:
bbold/b
[bbold/b]
“b”bold”b”
go to that html goodies link i posted above. Look at the examples under tag format.
bold
THAT’S RIGHT MOTHA FUCKAS I CAN PLAY THIS SHIT TOO HELLS YEAH
YOU KNOW YOU’RE SCARED MOTHA FUCKA JUST ADMIT IT
Why don’t you sit the next few plays out, RRR.
That’s good. You have taken your first step into a larger world.
Sincerely,
ObiWan Kenobi
The key to doing things like that are using the “” keys. Put a “b” between them for bold, “i” for italics, or “strike” between the arrows. To close it, put a “/” before the “b” or “i” or “strike”.
Gonna try it out.
Did I do it?
(b)hmmmmmmm(/b)
Hey Mike, or anyone really, do we think Jorge Vasquezt starts in Scranton or in Trenton?
AA. He barely played there last year, and Juan Miranda might still be blocking him.
Just out of curiosity: Why kind of value could the Yankees get for Melky in a trade?
A Justin Smoak type of bat.
/Gammons’d
Eh, probably not too much, unless someone’s real desperate for an outfielder. They were ready to swap him for Cameron in the OF so, think along those lines.
A Dan Cortes-type?
http://3putt.files.wordpress.c.....d-jock.jpg
I saw the Pinstripes Plus top 50 Yankee Prospects list for next year.
SCHWINNGGG!!!
Let me guess. My boy Manny Banny is in the top 5
The Top 10 has no surprises, it’s just the overwhelming depth of the system that makes my pants tight.
TMI
Do you mean TMI? It really isn’t that
harddifficult to do.TOO MUCH INFORMATION
/Just showing off
Now, use blockquote and strike.
DO IT
Pedro Martinez Curt Schilling is the classiest Red Sock player in the history of baseball ever. Fact.
THAT’S RIGHT MOTHA FUCKA BLOCKQUOTE’S GOIN’ DOWN NEXT
heh strike fail
Oh… fail.
You can’t use (s). You have to use (strike).
WTF! It worked at the bottom of the screen.
Pedro Martinez Curt Schilling is the classiest Red Sock player in the history of baseball ever. Fact.
Double
strikeFail!!!Pedro MartinezCurt Schilling is the classiestRed Sockplayer in the history of baseball ever. Fact.THAT’S RIGHT I MIGHT BE A LITTLE LATE BUT I’M STILL COMING FOR YOU BLOCKQUOTE
AND YOU FELT SO SAFE
This really doesn’t look like it’lldo anything, BTW. What exactly is blockquote again?
There you go!
Ah I see. It’s centering what I write. Like:
-The Artist
THAT’S RIGHT YOU PUNK BITCHES I’M HERE TO STAY
You have done well, young padawan. Trust the force. It will be a powerful ally.
Fuck you you punk bitch you’re going down nextThank you kindly for your help, which I very much appreciate TSJC.YOU’LL RUE THE DAY YOU CROSSED ME, TREBEK.
4 catchers in the top 10.
I assume the “SCHWINNGGG!!!” is for Melvin. Confirm or deny?
No. No. The Legend of Melvin is still, regrettably, an RAB thang.
Re the GG: they need to give the award out to the individual OF spots and not just let everyone qualify.
Modern Warfare 2 is too good for words.
i got it back on the 5th…….lol
Let’s try this:
Bold: <b></b>
Italic: <i></i>
Strikethrough: <strike></strike>
Quote/Cite: <blockquote></blockquote>
BOOOOOOOOOOOM.
heh, no dice
This is awesome
http://bit.ly/1ELJD9
+A bunch
Wow.
FUCKING AWESOME
/Still showing
onoffPsh do the block quote now. It’s still waiting for you.
BOOOOM goes the dynamite
JMK: Here, read these.
http://www.tizag.com/htmlT/htmlbold.php
http://www.tizag.com/htmlT/htmlitalic.php
http://www.w3schools.com/tags/tag_strike.asp
http://www.w3schools.com/TAGS/tag_blockquote.asp
It’s the carat keys. The little arrows above the comma and period keys.
I know! I didn’t expect the html to fail my example so greatly. I should have figured…Sidenote: I hate
carrots.http://www.sabernomics.com/sab.....mpetition/
Must read with all the talk about non-tenders this year. It doesn’t drive down FA price tags, since they all have to come from somewhere. It’s a wash. If FA salaries go down this year, it will be because it’s a weak class in a weak economy, not some supply/demand issue.
Yup.
This is an interesting analysis. I have been thinking, in a similar context, about the narratives about the free-agent market and the supposed pressures of a weak economic climate.
I think that what free-agents have to contend with today and what accounts for, in some cases, a “weaker” free-agent market (strictly speaking, for players seeking contracts in terms of dollars per year) are two interrelated components:
1) a changing set of value-metrics, which provide a more effective way of evaluating the cost-per-wins difference between two players (that is, determining the real value difference between a higher-priced veteran and a low- to mid-priced younger player)
and
2) a globalized talent pool, which goes beyond any particular free-agent class. The spending which is now moving towards the draft and towards the Latin American and Caribbean markets reflect the changing metrics and points to the drive by owners to drive down contract values.
In other words, I think that the economic climate, while a nice narrative, doesn’t fully account for the emerging changes in how the free-agent market operates. Although this will probably be an unpopular argument, if there is a trend towards less available money in the free-agent market, I would expect (and hope) that in the next set of labor negotiations, the MLBPA looks for securing either shorter years before free-agency, or larger contracts for younger players. I’d also like to see or hear about more union involvement in the Latin American market.
More relevant than the national economy is Baseball’s own economy, since some businesses can do well and sometimes ever better during a recession. But Bud has stated (and the figures show) that Baseball is down around 10% this year. With unemployment high, and prospects poor for a job recovery anytime soon, it stands to reason that teams will tighten their belts this off season as they did last year. Maybe even more so, since they were still flush with cash from the prior yer before the economy tanked.
It’s not a ‘narrative’, it’s the cold hard facts on the earnings reports. Sales are down, spending on FAs will follow.
My point in using “narrative” is not to deny economic reality, but to raise questions about whether the simple correlation between “weak (national) economy” and “weak (contract) market” is valid.
This is the narrative which is most often heard, but by itself I don’t think that it explains why a number of free-agent salaries were significantly lower than expected before the market began.
Leaving aside the issue of possible collusion among owners, I think that it was also the result of a shift in the determination of value along with the increased investment in the development of a global talent pool.
Of course, the economic realities of the baseball business matter, and I don’t deny that revenues might be lower, but almost all the teams in the league claim to have significant operating losses (and have done so for decades). So, going by what Selig claims about baseball revenues does not provide the whole picture. There are many ways in which teams maintain revenue streams which do not appear or are actually counted against the claimed team revenues.
http://www.sabernomics.com/sab.....rs-myopic/
Another goodie, about GM’s being smarter than you think.
So you mean Cashman isn’t some idiot who just gives blank checks?
Okay I’m late on this, but for the potential Cameron-added lineup:
Assuming Damon, Matsui, and Cameron are all there:
1. Jeter, SS
2. Damon, LF
3. Tex, 1B
4. A-Rod, 3-B
5. Matsui, DH
6. Posada, C
7. Cameron, CF
8. Cano, 2B
9. Swisher, RF
Assuming Cameron/Matsui:
1. Jeter, SS
2. Swisher, RF
3. Tex, 1B
4. A-Rod, 3B
5. Matsui, DH
6. Posada, C
7. Cano, 2B
8. Cameron, CF
9. Cabrera, LF
Assuming Cameron/Damon:
1. Jeter, SS
2. Damon, DH
3. Tex, 1B
4. A-Rod, 3B
5. Posada, C
6. Cameron, CF
7. Cano, 2B
8. Swisher, RF
9. Cabrera, LF
The first lineup makes me sad…
Haha, I’m sorry Drew. Honestly, Melky’s a perfect 4th OF: he can play all three positions more than competently, he has a strong arm, and he can hit at or around league average. It kinda fucks BG over, but whatever.
Fuck Brett Gardner. He’s not a starting OFer.
You can’t say fuck Brett Gardner. That dude’s got heart AND grit.
He keeps our grit-meter where it needs to be.
It’s irrational, but I hate Brett Gardner more than Kei Igawa. Can’t stand “Grit” Gardner. Really.
Really? Gardner is at least useful.
He’s useful as a PR or extra outfielder. I don’t think he can ever get on base enough to make for a useful starter. I see a guy with a terrible approach at the plate with nil power. Pitchers will adjust to him. His defense is about range. He doesn’t read the ball off the bat well and he takes poor routes.
I acknowledge that he has some use. I don’t know why, but I really cannot stand him. I just can’t.
I agree with you. He’s got a little use, though not much.
Type that again and I will call my people and they will HUNT YOU DOWN
Come on, type it. I dare you.
Nobody says fuck Brett Gardner. Nobody.
Nobody says fuck Brett Gardner. Nobody.
Unless you’re a girl and the words ‘I want’ are in front.
Or you’re a homosexual man.
Just…not in an insulting way.
“Type that again and I will call my people and they will HUNT YOU DOWN”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzxR8OH-fDQ (safe… ish)
It’s a shame you picked up on basic html.
Also, FUCK BRETT GARDNER.
Heh. You do have some irrational hate towards him. Did you fall victim to the good ST he had and thought he would be a good CF’er?
Sadly I did…
That’s it. My people are coming for you.
You now have 47 hours, 54 minutes to live. spend it wisely.
I think Gardner is already a good CF on defense. It’s at the plate that he suffers. The .345 OBP this season was very nice, as was the aforementioned defense. Basically, Gardner’s gonna be a low-contact, good fielding version of 2009 Luis Castillo: really fast, a decent OBP output, and no power.
You now have 47 hours, 54 minutes to live. spend it wisely.
And I will spend it telling you that you epic failed in HTML.
I’VE FIGURED IT OUT NOW THOUGH NOW HAVEN’T I
FEAR MY WRATH MOTHA FUCKAS
(I have, however, failed in by writing a surplus of nows. My bad.)
(And writing an incorrectly placed in)
Okay, you’ve had your fun.
You can’t expect to take JobaWockeeZ sass lying down.
Yeah, that’s right. I wrote sass. What of it?
Nobody says fuck Brett Gardner. Nobody.
MOSS
And did they steal the contracts…?
ROMA
Fuck you care…?
LEVENE
“I want to tell you something, Harriet…”
MOSS
…the fuck is that supposed to mean…?
LEVENE
Will you shut up, I’m telling you this…
Aaronow sticks his head out.
AARONOW
Can we get some coffee…?
MOSS
How ya doing?
Pause.
AARONOW
Fine.
MOSS
Uh-huh.
AARONOW
If anyone’s going, I could use some coffee.
LEVENE
“You do get the…”
(to Roma)
Huh? Huh?
MOSS
Fuck is that supposed to mean?
LEVENE
“You do get the opportunity…You get them. As I do, as anyone does…”
MOSS
Ricky? That I don’t care they stole the contracts?
Pause.
LEVENE
I got ‘em in the kitchen. I’m eating her crumb cake.
MOSS
What does that mean?
ROMA
It means, Dave, you haven’t closed a good one in a month, none of my business, you want to push me to answer you.
(pause)
And so you haven’t got a contract to get stolen or so forth.
MOSS
You have a mean streak in you, Ricky, you know that?
LEVENE
Rick. Let me tell you. Wait, we’re in the…
MOSS
SHUT THE FUCK UP!
(pause)
Ricky. You have a mean streak in you…
(to Levene)
And what the fuck are you babbling about…?
(to Roma)
Bring that shit up. Of my volume. You were on a bad one and I brought it up to you you’d harbor it. You’d harbor it a long long while. And you’d be right.
ROMA
Who said “Fuck the Machine”?
MOSS
“Fuck the Machine”? “Fuck the Machine”? FUCK THE MACHINE!!! What is this, courtesy class…? You’re fucked, Rick–are you fucking nuts? You’re hot, so you think you’re the ruler of this place…?! You want to…
LEVENE
Dave…
MOSS
SHUT UP!. Decide who should be dealt with how? Is that the thing? I come into the fuckin’ office today, I get humiliated by some jagoff cop. I get accused of…I GET THIS SHIT THROWN IN MY FACE BY YOU, YOU GENIUNE SHIT, BECAUSE YOU’RE TOP NAME ON THE BOARD?!?!
ROMA
Is that what I did, Dave? I humiliated you? My God, I’m sorry…
MOSS
Sittin’ on top of the world, sittin’ on top of the world, everything’s fucking peachfuzz…
ROMA
Oh, and I don’t get a moment to spare for a bust-out humanitarian down on his luck lately. Fuck you, Dave, you know you got a big mouth, and you make a close the whole place stinks with your farts for a week. “How much you just ingested,” what a big man you are, “Hey, let me buy you a pack of gum. I’ll show you how to chew it.” Your pal closes, all that comes out of your mouth is bile. How FUCKED UP YOU ARE!
MOSS
Who’s my pal…? And what are you, Ricky, huh, what are you, Bishop Sheean? Who the fuck are you, Mr. Slick…? What are you, friend to the workingman? Big deal. FUCK YOU! You got the memory a fuckin’ fly!
(pause)
I never liked you.
ROMA
What is this, your farewell speech?
MOSS
I’m going home.
ROMA
Your farewell to the troops?
MOSS
I’m not going home. I’m going to Wisconsin.
ROMA
Have a good trip.
MOSS
AH, FUCK YOU! FUCK THE LOT OF YOU!
FUCK YOU ALL!
Moss exits. Pause.
ROMA
(to Levene)
You were saying?
Glengarry Glen Ross? Holy shit, I haven’t seen a reference like that in a while. You’re becoming more versatile as you age, Tommie.
GlenGarry Glen Ross has been in my Top Ten films of all time from the moment I first watched it as an NYU freshman in 1995.
Al Pacino was born to play Ricky Roma.
Wouldn’t Cano bat above Cameron?
I like Cano behind Cameron–and others for that matter–because despite Cano’s RISP trouble this year, I think he’s best utilized by having a lot of guys who can get on base in front of him. That way, his contact and power skills are utilized to drive guys in.
Assuming Cameron:
1. Jeter, SS
2. Cano, 2B
3. Tex, 1B
4. A-Rod, 3B
5. Posada, DH
6. Cameron, LF
7. Swisher, RF
8. Cabrera, CF
9. Cervelli C
I seriously think Posada will catch about 100 games next year and DH the rest. Cervelli plays twice a week. That’s why I don’t see us signing a DH.
I don’t like that lineup very much. If that’s the path they do take–Posada DHing a lot–I’d like to see them make a run at Gregg Zaun to get the lion’s share of the catching innings. He’s not great, but he’s not an automatic out.
IDK about Gregg Zaun, but I also hate that lineup.
Like I said, he’s not great, but his bat is much better than Cervelli’s. He’s got a career .344 OBP and averages 63 walks per 162. He’s not going to hit for power or anything, but he’s not an auto-out and can play good defense. But, as was said below, I don’t see them not signing a DH.
I don’t love it either, but we can win with it if we get pitching. A 39 year old Greg Zaun defeats the whole purpose, you might as well catch Jorge more if you were to do that. You want Cervelli in there for his defense and to catch AJ, who’s stuff is too nasty for Jorge to handle. Maybe Joba or Hughes click with Frankie as well, and you can match them up together.
How does Zaun defeat the purpose? Getting worse for the sake of getting younger isn’t a good strategy.
You want Cervelli in there for his athleticism and defense. Replacing one 39 year old with another 39 year old is pointless.
Zaun plays decent defense, no? He’s also not an automatic out at the plate and would just be a stop-gap, not a long-term solution.
Cervelli was an automatic out? I don’t expect him to hit for much pop, but he’s an acceptable 2nd string catcher.
no.
No reason they don’t sign a DH. That lineup means you’ll need a third catcher on your 25-man. I just don’t see it.
Neither do I. Girardi can still rest players with a DH. He could do it more often than last year. I don’t like having a black hole every game.
I hate to break it to you guys, but Jorge will be 39 next year. His days of catching everyday are over.
Then rest him more. Girardi did it last year but it wasn’t a lot. He could do it more often.
Rest him more, as in catching him 100 games?
Glad we agree.
Sure. But that doesn’t mean no DH.
OK, Posada’s the DH and Cervelli takes a foul tip off his thumb in the 2nd inning and has to leave the game. Posada catches, which means you’ve vacated the DH and the pitcher has to bat in his place, since you’ve used a roster spot on a DH instead of a 3rd Catcher.
Can’t wait to see Andy check his swing again, like he did his first year in Houston.
Right, but that doesn’t mean you don’t sign a DH. If you rest him, Cervelli starts and you have a DH. Jorge is on the bench as an emergency catcher. No biggie.
But you can’t have Jorge DHing and Frankie catching without an emergency catcher, so I’m not sure that works. I dislike having three catchers. Why do that? It’s a poor roster construction having three catchers on your 25-man, especially when two of them cannot hit.
No, I agree that this team will carry a 3rd catcher, which is another reason you don’t sign a DH.
(pssst-that 3rd catcher could be Montero by mid-season)
Could be Montero but you can’t plan for that. In your plan, Posada would have to play every game or you have a lineup with Melky, Cervelli and who? Hinske? Gardner? Hairston? That’s assuming you don’t have Montero.
Too many variables in that, even with Montero. It’s much safer to have a DH, give Posada full days of rest, have Cervelli suck at the dish, and if need be, bring Montero up slowly.
Otherwise, you may have a NL-looking bottom of the lineup.
You can either have a DH or a 3rd string catcher. If you’re committed to DHing Posada, then you need a 3rd catcher.
If you can find a DH who’s a good 3rd string catcher, then great. Maybe Mike PIazza will come out of retirement.
I’d much rather have a DH and Posada hanging out on the bench, resting and pissing on his hands when Cervelli is starting. No reason to limit options by making him play every day or carrying another crappy catcher. So, we agree that the Yanks should sign a DH then, right? Right?
If Matsui can block a pitch in the dirt and throw a runner out at 2nd, I’m all for it.
You’re doing this to rile people up, aren’t you? You’re very sneaky, oh Artist.
The problem is that this means that for every game you have a hitter like Cervelli/Pena/Gardner/Hairston type in the line up.
Matsui (or another DH-type hitter, say a Thome) is better than having Cervelli/Pena/Gardner/Hairston in the line up everyday.
I seriously think Posada will catch about 100 games next year and DH the rest.
I agree.
Cervelli plays twice a week.
Sounds good.
That’s why I don’t see us signing a DH.
Wrong. Sign a DH anyway. If Jorge catches 100 games and DH’s the rest, that’s only, what, 40-50 games he DH’s? Because he’s not playing every single day, he’s gonna get some full days off (because he’s a catcher, and an old one at that).
That still leaves 110-120 non-Jorge the DH man-days to fill. We need a DH for those 110-120 DH man-days.
A DH like Hazmat, for example, a DH who also does not need to play DH every day.
Matsui also is old and needs rest. BINGO! We have a fit!
I like this plan.
Call Griardi. Call Cashman. Let them in on it.
Oh they probably got it by now.
Why would we need to call them? They’re probably reading this thread as we speak.
Oh, of course. My bad.
All apolgies to Brian and Joe for not giving them enough credit.
Fine, you get this too-
OK, Posada’s the DH and Cervelli takes a foul tip off his thumb in the 2nd inning and has to leave the game. Posada catches, which means you’ve vacated the DH and the pitcher has to bat in his place, since you’ve used a roster spot on a DH instead of a 3rd Catcher.
Can’t wait to see Andy check his swing again, like he did his first year in Houston.
I’m not going to be scared by your unlikely doomsday scenarios.
Should we also sign Adrian Beltre to be our insurance in case ARod’s hip flares up again.
Yeah, Catchers never get hurt. I’m such a Cassandra.
The fact remains, the possibility of Jorge getting hurt does not help your “we shouldn’t sign a DH so that we can play Jorge more at DH” argument. It hurts it.
If Jorge gets hurt, I want Hideki Matsui available to play DH more so we don’t miss his bat as much. If Jorge gets hurt, not having a non-Jorge DH signed under contract does not solve anything.
I love you, dude, but frankly, this has not been your strongest thread. You’re having an off night.
Fine, I’m gonna go upstairs and fuck your Grandma.
No, but you are suggesting that they build their entire roster based on having to play one game NL style. After Jorge, there should be 120 DH games at least. No reason to give all those games to scrubs when you can give them to Matsui caliber bat.
He only started 88 games at catcher this year. I was being generous saying he’ll catch 100. I don’t think he’ll catch more game at age 39, either.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....t=fielding
Mo, you’re forgetting that they want to DH Jeter and Alex some as well. Lets say they DH twice a month each, that’s another 25 games right there.
So if you’re arguing we should sign a full time DH to play 75-80 games, I’m sorry but I just disagree.
so you possibly lose the game and make a roster move after the game. so what?
you are roping Andy Pettitte’s elbow surgery into the argument as a possible consequence? that seems a little….much
When the collective bargining agreement ends do you think there will be a worldwide draft? how is that fair to teams like the yankees who spend alot of money on scouting and acadamies down there?
I don’t doubt for a second that Bud Selig will ask for that, along with other concessions from the MLBPA.
2011 sounds like a way off, but most economists think we are in a ‘new normal’ which includes lack of access to credit for small businesses, high unemployment and non-existent growth when you subtract the stimulus dollars for as long as they can see. That means business conditions will likely still be soft when the CBA expires, and Bud will be looking for givebacks and will probably get some.
This is also why I think the Yanks take their payroll DOWN a few notches this off season and next, in anticipation of rules changes. Those changes can include higher Luxury tax rates, lower thresholds for paying them, international draft, hard slotting system, etc, etc. I doubt he’ll get all of that, but whatever he gets will be bad news for the Yanks. They’ll need to get their payroll down now so they don’t have to do anything drastic later. If I had to put a number to it, I’d guess the Yanks come in at 185-190 for 2010 and 175 for 2011. That’s why some of these spending ideas strike me as misguided. Brian Cashman took control of Baseball ops to have this team operate differently than when George was running things. People still don’t seem to get that.
Hal would have taken payroll down last year, but Cash convinced him there was a unique market opportunity with CC, Tex and AJ. I think the long-rumored downsizing of the Yankee payroll starts this year, in anticipation of rules changes in 2011.
I wrote about something similar higher in the thread, but I have a slightly different reading.
While the “new normal” economy might explain some of the reasoning of the changes you outline, I think that this doesn’t fully account for them, although it will be the narrative we hear about the most. I think that the “new normal” economy provides cover for lowering salary, but that the new value-metrics, which are harder to explain, also play a significant role in rethinking contract values. I think that some of these same issues would have emerged regardless of whether there was a weaker economic market; it may just enable owners to do it more quickly.
The only problem with a worldwide draft is that you can’t really include Japanese players so it wouldn’t solve every problem.
And it only serves to screw the young, talented player. It’s couched in the cushy language of ‘competitive balance’ but all it accomplished is to take money out of the pockets of the players and put it back in the owner’s pockets.
This.
“Caps” in salaries or the draft in the name of “competitive balance” are simply an artificial way of keeping salaries low.
However, I would like to see some kind of structure in place to better monitor what is taking place in Latin America and the Caribbean. Despite the larger bonuses paid to some players, without formalizing the signing of Latin American and Caribbean players, and particularly with little or no union representation available, owners are still able to pay significantly less in salaries to prospects from Latin America and the Caribbean than similar prospects from the US.
How much could the Tigers get from trading Edwin Jackson? Hopefully he’ll be able to bounce back form his bad second half. But I’m going to assume way too much. Though he would be nice to have.