Spring Training Game Thread: A look at the phenom
By
Aside from the general joy of watching baseball, there’s usually not much to get excited about when watching Spring Training games. Great pitching matchups last all of two innings, and by time a hot shot prospect enters the game, all the regulars are gone. But every so often something will come along that’s worth getting excited for, and tonight is one of those nights. Hitting third for the Braves tonight is the best prospect in baseball, rightfield Jason Heyward.
The 20-year-old is hitting .429-.619-.786 in seven spring games so far, and he did this just two days ago. He’s a lefthanded version of Jesus Montero at the plate, except with a better eye. Old buddy Melky Cabrera didn’t make the trip over, which is a shame. Either way, should be fun to watch Heyward’s handful of plate appearances.
Here’s the lineup…
Winn, DH
Swisher, RF
Teixeira, 1B
A-Rod, 3B
Posada, C
Thames, LF
Hoffmann, CF
Pena, SS
Corona, 2B
Scheduled Pitchers: A.J. Burnett, and some other guys
Derek Jeter was in the original lineup, but he came down with the flu. First pitch has already been push back to 7:30pm ET because of the weather, but yo can watch on either YES or MLB Network once it gets underway. Until then, got ahead and open thread this sucker.
Update (7:48pm): The game has been canceled.
Photo Credit: Rob Carr, AP
172 Comments»
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I hate that MLB.com doesnt carry any of the YES programming.
It would be sweet if you could watch their stuff during a rain delay like today.
Came across this gem earlier;
The idea,” Cashman said, “is that in five years everyone will know who he is for the next 20.”
He was speaking of Jesus 4 years ago when he was signed.
I’m almost more excited to see Heyward than I am to watch the Yankees.
Also, lololol:
http://bleacherreport.com/arti.....nd-wang-go
The comments are really awesome, too.
Bonus points: he pines for Chan Ho Park. Ick.
The author must have a macro for “gritty and knows how to win” set up as a macro or something.
“Damon and Matsui are gritty players with an old-school mentality. These guys know how to execute. They don’t force things. And they come through in the clutch. You need guys like that on championship teams.”
Macro Mike? Or do they just blog in the clutch better than you?
They got rid of Soriano within two years of winning it all in 2000? News to me
I love the “Scotty Bro” fans. They just can’t let the 90′s be in the past.
Oh God, this only gets better every time I read it.
Now in 2009, we seemed to be reliving the nightmares of 2000-2001 all over again.
OH MY GOD WE ONLY GOT TO THE WORLD SERIES TWICE AND WON ONCE AND WERE TWO OUTS AWAY FROM WINNING THE OTHER ONE WHY AM I A FAN OF THIS CURSED FRANCHISE?????
I LOL’d.
I agree 100%. I hate letting go of the Wang. I’d hang onto the thing all day if I could get away with it.
http://www.spike.com/video/king-missile/2789667
Probably nsfw?
Nah, any song that popular must be OK.
“despite signing young, big-name free agents Jason Giambi, Mike Mussina, Gary Sheffield, Randy Johnson, Alex Rodriguez, Kevin Brown, Jose Contreras, Javier Vazquez, Bobby Abreu, Hideki Matsui, Robin Ventura, Raul Mondesi, Esteban Loaiza, Jeff Weaver, Kei Igawa, Carl Pavano, Jaret Wright, Jon Lieber, Sterling Hitchcock, Tony Womack, Ruben Sierra, John Olerud, Johnny Damon, Pudge Rodriguez, Kyle Farnsworth, Xavier Nady, LaTroy Hawkins, and Kenny Lofton”
I feel like half of these guys were acquired by trade, and a lot of them weren’t young either
Just eyeballing it, I think Weaver, Matsui, Igawa, Pavano, and Nady were the only ones still in their 20′s when the Yanks got them.
Vazquez (the first time) was too
and A-rod
Another criteria the people on that smaller list don’t meet is that Nady and Weaver came via trades rather than the purported free agency. I just noticed Bobby Abreu on the main list who also was traded for (probably others but it’s too early to think this much).
I’ve not seen this many unresearched clichés in a while.
“Instead of rewarding who played their asses off for the organization, they got rid of long-time contributors Tino Martinez, Paul O’Neill (retirement). Chuck Knoblauch, David Cone, Scott Brosius, Luis Sojo, Orlando Hernandez, David Justice, Glenallen Hill, Alfonso Soriano, Shane Spencer, Enrique Wilson, Denny Neagle, Jeff Nelson, Jose Canseco, Mike Stanton, and Dwight Gooden all in a span of two years.”
Jose Canseco
JOSE CANSECO
JOSE CANSECO
Also we were so cursed by Joe Torre being insulted by his contract offer, we had to wait a whole year until we won a World Series. NOooooooo
Petitte was lowballed by the Yankees and angrily left to play for his hometown team, the Houston Astros, with his buddy Clemens.
a. if you’re gonna be so outraged on the dude’s behalf, spell his name right.
b. It’s a real shame he turned out to hate us so much that he swore off having anything to ever do with the Yankees again.
Mystique and Aura guys, you juuuust might get an e-mail if I feel like it…
Their bullpen, except for Mariano Rivera, are full of minor league free agents, failed starters, and retreads.
Mariano Rivera = a failed starter!!!
“Why sign Winn and Johnson when Jermaine Dye, Gary Sheffield, Felipe Lopez (dude can play pretty much everywhere.), Garrett Anderson, Brian Giles, and Russell Branyan can all be had for cheap?”
Brian Giles, eh?
This article is begging to be FJMed
I’m going to have to do it. Unless the Mystique & Aura boys beat me to it.
I just sent them an e-mail.
but yours will probably be 30 times better, honestly…
I just tried to do it. I got through the first paragraph, and my head hurt. There are just so many things wrong with it.
How can you complain about the team being classless and about them letting Jose Canseco walk in the same sentence.
Also, how can he say the Yanks have a lack of power in the outfield? Swisher hit 29 homers and Granderson hit 30 last year. Do you know how many teams had two outfielders with at least 29 homers last year? Try zero.
ughhhh I’m working on it now for M&A but it’s sooooooo long and unwieldy (TWSS!!!!)
I wasn’t quick to the draw. All yours, Mike.
Please do that
(I don’t work for them, but I would enjoy seeing someone FJM that article)
Everyone works for them. We are all just pawns in the Mystique and Aura operation.
Mystique and Aura guys, you juuuust might get an e-mail if I feel like it…
::patiently clicks “get mail” every 10 seconds::
yeah, check it now.
LaTroy Hawkins?
LoL that has to be satire. That looks remarkably like Mike’s interview with an anonymous scout.
Nah, Bleacher Report is horrendous. I don’t mind the occasional pointed, attention-grabber piece but it seems like there’s one there every day, and they aren’t even well thought out. If you want to be unconventional, you better back it up with solid arguments and/or have your facts straight, or prepare to get obliterated in the comments. But some of their pieces are so flat-out dumb I wouldn’t even know where to start. It’s not even worth it.
@Ken_Rosenthal:
Is #RedSox’s Ellsbury developing pull power? Scout says his 2 HRs Wed were “Johnny Damon specials.” Pitches down, in; he dropped his hands.
Uh, based on 2 ST HRs? Yea, I remember Gardner developed some power last ST too
I saw that too. It’s ridiculous. The next thing we’ll hear is that Ellsbury should be MVP.
Why are you saying that’s ridiculous? I already wrote the article about it. Did you know if you look at the stats, he’s actually very comparable to Albert Pujols?
Sincerely,
Gordon Edes
Does anyone know the other pitchers and position players scheduled to play?
Is every player “special” to John Hart? Could he please come up with another adjective?
http://freethesaurus.net/s.php.....tnM=Search
I’d go with “peciliar” or maybe “queer”.
Let me try it out:
“Boy, that Jason Heyward is a special talent. He has such a peculiar swing and a queer arm in the outfield.”
i lol’d
Frankly, I didn’t think it worked. I’m going to try again with “sui generis” and “taxonomic”
Here goes:
“Boy, that Jason Heyward is a special talent. He has such a sui generis swing and a taxonomic arm in the outfield.”
Mike, in the last thread you said Hechevarria is working out in The Dominican. I feel like 6 months ago everyone just decided to drop the Republic part from the name of the country as I had never heard the country referred to it like that before. Am I making this up or have people always referred to it as The Dominican?
Also, my GF who is Dominican says it drives her crazy because it is like saying The United.
(this is an open thread right?)
No, I’m just culturally insensitive.
I was obviously not inferring you were saying anything offensive or insensitive. I was honestly curious if this was just a recent thing or if people grew up or whatever referring to it as The Dominican.
I know, I was just being a jerk. I’ve heard people refer to it as just the Dominican for as long as I can remember,
Ha thanks. Hard to gauge to the tone of some of the posts around here during Operation Shutdown.
O:S is different than tone/meme changes. Operation: Shutdown is to ignore perpetually dumb recurring commenters. There’s no official name for us lessening our meme-age and inside jokes.
We should think of one so as to avoid confusion going forward.
Any ideas, kids?
Wouldn’t it be more like “The America”?
Yeah that does make more sense and could very well be what she said. A lot of things annoy my GF. Hard to keep track of them all.
closes computer as my GF walks into the room
The word “Dominican” usually isn’t used when referring to the country.
-The Dominican Republic
-D.R.
- The D.R.
Dominican isn’t correct although I have heard it sometimes, it’s like calling Yankee Stadium “Yankee”. Haha but yea you get the point.
My dad is Dominican
I love these prospect profiles on YES of our catching prospects.
+1.
I must admit, Higashioka looks a lot different then I pictured him..
Alright, I need to pick my jersey number tomorrow for my baseball team. I’m in a slump, and ideas?
56.
Alright, call me dumb. Why?
No reason, I just picked a random number.
Duh. 28
You beat me to it.
What position do you play? Is 28 too obvious?
Catcher
35. Jesus’ number last year.
If I were you I’d take 7, 8, 20 or 28.
Then go with 15.
69
69, and find yourself a slumpbuster.
I’m sure JMK can help with that.
GMTA
True. I’m not sure if VO is in college or HS, but he would automatically be my 2nd favorite player, behind Melvin of course, if he has the balls to wear it.
That’s what Manny would do.
Anyone else having trouble with MLB.tv?
So my draft is Sunday, 10 team, H2H, where should Reyes be drafted now?
Tough one due to all the unknowns. But I would say in rounds 6-8 maybe. I wouldn’t have a problem with people staying away completely though due to all the issues.
What website do you guys play fantasy baseball on?
8:00 start?
Ugh… 8 now?
I can’t believe they are even going to play a game today. I’m not sure how much rain Tampa got but we, in Daytona Beach, were pissed on by the Gods today.
Wow Bill Conlin is one classy guy.
http://nomaas.org/2010/03/phil.....otch-grab/
Bo was right for like once. NY sportswriters aren’t that bad when you find even more disrespectful idiots.
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while.
Muck the Fankees says:
Go Conlin! im glad he responded the way he did because the article isnt jus about 2010 jackass. its about the as a whole body of work, a body tht A-ROID helped to build with the use of PEDs. and if Howard had been usin steroids and tht comes out, fine but tht will only pull wat is a LANDSLIDE in favor of the PHILLIES infields closer, or MAYBE evn. Rollins is a better fielder and is the same offensivly as Jeter, so I’ll take Jroll. Utley is GOD. Howard has an MVP, wheres Texiera’s??? and Polanco defintly does Juice so i’ll take the clean player whose body won’t fall apart in 10 yrs.
A LANDSLIDE in favor of the Phillies?
Also, Jimmy Rollins **CAREER HIGH** wRC+: 128 (career average 105)
Derek Jeter CAREER wRC+: 131
And keep in mind, a player’s speed/ability on the basepaths is a big part of wRC.
What a pompous fuck. You know those educated readers who respond are just so threatening you can’t find a better response that STEROIDS!
nate says
Cano vs Utley? Get real. Utley is already a sure thing first ballot HOFer. Where was Cano in the world series? He barely showed up that postseason. If you want to be the man you need to show up when it counts. Utley only hit .167 in the WS last year but who can forget his first AB home run? Phils never looked back after that.
Utley is truly a once in a century player.
He barely showed up that postseason.
Robinson Cano, ALCS: .261/.414/.478/.892, 1 2B, 2 3B, 4 RBI
ZOMG he didn’t show up at all, ever, kill him.
Utley hit like 5000000 HRs for the Phillies in the 2009 World Series. Yet, hmmm, they didn’t win.
That’s not to say I think Cano is better than Utley. He’s not. No one is in Utley’s league. AND NO YANKEE FANS ARE SAYING OTHERWISE. Or well, some probably are, but they are tremendously dumb.
though:
Utley is already a sure thing first ballot HOFer.
No. No he is not. He’s only played seven seasons, and five full seasons!! Don’t get me wrong, if he keeps up the production he’s had since 2005, he will be. But right now, he doesn’t even have the service time requirement. GAH.
JobaW, don’t let people like this bother you. Leave them to wallow in their misery, don’t let them pull you down with them.
I love how Philly fans jump on A-Rod for using steroids, but they conveniently forget that JC Romero was busted for using them during the 2008 run. Laughable.
Call me crazy, but I think “lefty middle reliever” is a bit less important than “third baseman and cleanup hitter”
but teh 2 wins in the World Series!
Fair enough, I’ll give you that. But he still got the win in the World Series-clinching game in ’08.
If you live in a glass house you shouldn’t throw stones. That’s the point I was trying to make.
So does anyone know about the changes on MLB TV format as it looks different in the demo than it did last year?
Did it have the ability to chose Home or Away broadcast last year? I think that may be new.
No that is not new you could do that last year if you had Premium.
My bad. I couldn’t really find anything detailing new feature.
Me neither, I think they are just trying to make more smooth and they have a box score that adjust to what part of the game that you are at.
Game cancelled =(
But I wanted to see Heyward!!!
Nah, it’s probably better this way. Don’t want anyone to get hurt, especially considering that everyone is apparently already sick (it’s okay, Derek, I’ll make you feel better. Ahem.).
Hey Mike, love the new look over at MLBTR. Nice job to whoever did it.
http://www.baseball-reference......br02.shtml
Damn, not many guys would retire coming off a year like that. In Petco, no less.
Whoops, misread it. I was looking at his career line. Better player than most people realize.
I was gonna say, people retire with a batting line like his last year all the time.
..especially at 39 years old this season.
http://www.thestar.com/sports/.....-with-rays
Cuban defector signs with the Rays. Michael Lewis wrote glowingly of him in a 2008 Vanity Fair article on Cuban baseball, which you should all read, if you haven’t already.
OK, now doesn’t say “Rain Delay” it says “Rain Out” in the corner of the screen.
http://nomaas.org/2010/03/two-.....same-coin/
This one gets extra points for being clever.
Which is odd, because I usually HATE clever.
Swisher had so many weird Swisher-related phenomena last year. I love it.
I’ve got a good one for the RF preview on Monday. Well, actually it’s possible bad news for Swish.
The game was rained out.
most deflating thread update ever
/sad trombone’d
I have a LOST question/comment/theory. Has everyone who watches the show already seen this week’s episode (i.e. no need for spoiler alerts, I should go ahead and ask the question)? Who here are LOSTies other than me, Andy, and Mondesi?
this “guy”
Hey I’m around, and yeah, I’ve seen this week’s episode… Whatcha got for us?
(PS: See the comment re the fantasy leagues, below. I checked with Mike and he said we could go ahead and gauge interest in the relegation idea.)
Okay, here you go:
Ilana said to Sun that “There are only 6 candidates left”. Who are those 6?
The Oceanic Six was:
Jack Shepard
Kate Austen
Sun Kwon
Hugo Reyes
Sayid Jarrah
The 6 numbers are: 4 8 15 16 23 42.
In Jacob’s cave, the following numbers are shown:
4 Locke (crossed out by the Man in Black/Flocke)
8 Reyes
15 Ford (Sawyer)
16 Jarrah
23 Shepard
42 Kwon
In Jacob’s lighthouse, the following numbers are shown:
8 Reyes
15 Ford
16 Jarrah
23 Shepard
42 Kwon
51 Austen
Show creator Carlton Cuse has said that “51 Austen” was supposed to be shown on the wall of the cave, crossed out, but it was mistakenly not included in the show’s final edit.
Thus, only 5 of the 6 survivors who are also one of the numbers are still alive AND not crossed off either list (Jack, Hugo, Sawyer, Sayid, and either Jin or Sun), 4 of those 5 (everyone except Sawyer, who was on the chopper but jumped off at the last minute) were part of the Oceanic Six (IF the Kwon refers to Sun, which it might not), and one of those four (Sayid) has now died and been resurrected and crossed to the darkside, apparently.
And one more survivor (Kate) isn’t one of the 6 numbers BUT was one of the Oceanic Six AND either is or isn’t already crossed off, depending on whether you use the cave list or the lighthouse list.
Also, keep in mind that Ilana already knew when she said what she said to Sun that
A.) Locke is dead and
B.) Sayid has died and returned and is evil (Ben told her)
C.) She hasn’t been to the cave or the lighthouse to confirm who’s been crossed off or who hasn’t.
Thoughts? Who are the 6 remaining candidates?
Go.
Whoops, I left out “Aaron Littleton” as one of the Oceanic Six. FWIW, #313 Littleton was seen in the cave, crossed out. Not sure if that’s Aaron or Claire, though, or if it matters (I doubt either one of them is one of the remaining candidates, but… whatevs.)
I actually thought Aaron may play a big role in the future episodes. Maybe he’s the young child showing up telling Fake-Locke not to break the rules and what not(the one that Sawyer saw too).
Possible…
My theory is that kid who told Flocke not to break the rules is actually Jacob reincarnated. When he died, he instantly was reborn as a child. So, he’s dead but he’s not dead, he’s back.
Also, are both Jacob and MIB trying to get candidates to take their respective places? The list has both potential “good” and “evil” candidates, no? If so, Sayid would seem to be in the lead for MIB’s job, and I guess Jack for Jacob’s?
Sidenote: How awesome is Ben? He went from a manipulative little prick to a likable do-gooder, and believably so.
I’ll second that sentiment about Ben. Michael Emerson was excellent in that last episode.
Flocke/Smokey seems to be recruiting Sawyer just as hard as he’s recruiting Sayid, FWIW.
Yeah, b/c Sawyer has that con-man side to him. But I have a feeling he’ll con Flocke in the end, and he’s really a good guy like Ben.
Some random thoughts…
I believe 108 was also shown in the lighthouse, and the name was “Wallace.”
Kwon might also mean Ji Yeon (though not likely I guess).
I know a lot of people are questioning whether the cave and the lighthouse both belong to Jacob… I think that if one does and one doesn’t, it’s more likely that the lighthouse is Jacob’s and the cave is Smokey’s. (I just think the lighthouse seems more like Jacob’s hangout… More ordered, and Jacob seems technically proficient per his use of the loom in the statue’s foot and his fishing, etc…. I don’t know, it just looks more like Jacob thing than the cave does. The cave is very disorganized, with random names all over the walls in no particular order. That just felt more like Smokey’s hangout to me.)
So… I think the 6 Ilana was referring to would be more likely to correspond to the names in the lighthouse, leaving us with Reyes, Ford, Jarrah, Sheppard, Kwon and Austen (and the aforementioned Wallace, whoever that might be – maybe Jacob himself? Maybe Walt has a new last name? Do we know Ilana’s name? Who knows.).
Ilana also told Bram last season that Lapidus might be a candidate… I would assume she was just saying that because he clearly had a connection to the island, but that he seems to have been eliminated since his name hasn’t been included in either the cave or the lighthouse this season… But still, it should be noted.
So… I have absolutely no freaking idea what any of this means.
I’m hoping the flash-sideways dimension isn’t applicable, also, so we don’t have to question whether Jack’s kid might be the “Sheppard” listed in the cave and the lighthouse, etc.
Wasn’t “108 Wallace” actually crossed out at both the lighthouse and the cave, though?
Lostpedia says it is:
http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Candidates
Well there you go, I guess we don’t have to consider Wallace as being someone in play anymore. It’s still an important number in LOST and I wonder if there’s any significance to this Wallace person, but I guess he/she’s not one of the 6.
Okay. Followup questions: If we assume that the six candidates Ilana knows about are
8 Reyes
15 Ford
16 Jarrah
23 Shepard
42 Kwon
51 Austen
… and we assume that the Cave list that Flocke/Smokey showed Sawyer is his personal cave and his personal list and not Jacob’s list, then
A) What do we make of the fact that 51 Austen is crossed off of Flocke/Smokey’s list but not Jacob’s? Why would Flocke/Smokey cross her out as an ex-candidate if she still is one? Is he trying to feign Sawyer into something, and if so, what?
B) Ilana has to know that Sayid is now allied with Smokey/Flocke, since Ben told her that he killed Dogen and Lennon and refused to come with the survivors. If she knows this about Sayid, is he still a candidate and one of her six? Does she know that the reason that he’s joined Flocke/Smokey is because he died and was reborn evil?
I suppose he could just be playing with Sawyer, for sure. If the cave is Smokey’s, that doesn’t mean the list in that cave is for real, it could all be for show (part of Smokey’s long con). Perhaps Smokey thinks that if Sawyer thinks Kate isn’t a Jacob-candidate he’ll convince her to join Smokey and the Bandits.
I wouldn’t be sure that Ilana believes what Ben said about Sayid, so perhaps she’s just not sure about him yet. Assuming she does believe Ben, though… I don’t know, maybe Sayid actually didn’t do anything yet that would eliminate him as a candidate. We don’t know anything about what eliminates a candidate (other than, presumably, death, and even that is questionable)… And I’m of the school of thought that thinks that Sayid played his role in the Temple, whether he knew it or not. I think Dogen knew exactly what Sayid would do when he sent him out to stab Smokey, and I think he definitely knew Sayid was going to kill Dogen when he returned. I’m not so sure those things didn’t go according to Jacob’s plan.
Austen is basically the only difference, right? B/c Flocke has 5 names and Jacob has those plus Austen? Mondesi, maybe it’s the other way around though, if she’s not a candidate for Flocke, then Sawyer would join him, I guess b/c he was burned by the whole Juliet thing and wants nothing to do w/ Kate. Or something.
Oh, I just thought of something. If Austen isn’t a candidate anymore, perhaps Sun AND Jin are both candidates? I know Ilana says she doesn’t know which to protect, meaning that she would think it’s only one of them. But maybe she doesn’t know Kate is not eligible anymore.
Oh it could totally be the other way around… If it wasn’t clear from my comments, after the last 5+ seasons of this show, I’ve kind of given up on thinking I actually know anything at all (lol). It’s fun to theorize and discuss this stuff, but I know anything and everything I say is just guesswork and is probably totally wrong.
The Kate thing… Maybe. I tend to think the more convoluted our ideas get the less likely they are to be accurate, but that’s certainly possible.
I agree w/ the different hangouts. I doubt that MIB’s choice to take over the island would be the same as Jacob’s, whom he apparently hates.
Do you guys look around the interwebs for theories and the like? I sure do. Granted, there’s a million of em, but some are pretty rational. I can’t get too creative w/ mine b/c I just dont remember all the details from previous seasons.
I don’t read too much of that stuff… There’s just so much out there and very little of it is enlightening. I read Jeff Jensen’s weekly columns at e!, and I check out docarzt.com once in a while, that’s basically it.
Yeah I know what you mean. Most of it is useless. I feel like a drug addict though, I need my fix for answers!
I’m a LOSTie, though I don’t comment all that much. What’s up?
Hi Bill,
Just read the NoMaas email exchange with you and a reader (http://nomaas.org/2010/03/phil.....otch-grab/) and felt I should email you to let you know you are a pathetic piece of shit.
Best,
Tyler
There’s a level of respect that doesn’t exist with most baseball writers and it’s disgusting.
Here’s Bill’s email if anyone wants it: bill1chair@aol.com
And the NoMaas link
ANYONE INVOLVED IN AN RAB-RELATED FANTASY LEAGUE, PLEASE READ:
Earlier today in the thread about the fifth fantasy league, there was a conversation, mostly between myself and TSJC with a few other commenters expressing interest, about connecting all of the various RAB-related fantasy leagues in an English soccer style relegation system. What this would mean is that there would still be the 4 or 5 various fantasy leagues, but they would be arranged in a tiered system and that at the end of each season the top couple or few teams in each league would move up a tier, and the bottom couple or few teams in each league would move down a tier. So, for example, the top couple or few teams in Tier 4 would graduate up to Tier 3 for the following season, and the bottom couple or few teams in Tier 3 would replace those teams down in Tier 4. We would also design some sort of way to deal with transferring keepers between the different tiers for the teams that change tiers.
Please see the discussion here:
http://riveraveblues.com/2010/.....ent-800183
(Mike wasn’t in love with the idea at first but has since indicated that he’s cool with it if there’s interest, just FYI.)
So my question is… Would everyone be interested in trying this? I know this sounds like an ambitious system just because of the size of it, but it really wouldn’t be so hard to do in reality. The fun part of it is that since there is such a large readership connected to RAB and there are so many people involved in RAB-related fantasy leagues, we’re able to try a big scheme like this and see if we can make something really cool and unique out of it.
So, fantasy-playing RAB denizens… What say you? Please respond if your read this, I don’t think anyone is going to try to institute a system like this if we don’t have some feedback and some sort of showing of interest from the participants.
Eric ‘Otter’ Stratton: You guys up for a toga party?
John ‘Bluto’ Blutarsky: TOGA! TOGA!
Eric ‘Otter’ Stratton: Ah, I think they like the idea, Hoov…
Hey I was thinking… I think the tiers should really be luck of the draw as opposed to saying that the first league created is the top tier and so on and so forth. I actually want to be in the lowest tier, but I think some people might not like randomly being assigned to tiers that seem to connote a level of ability/performance but are really just arbitrary. If we make it random (pick a number out of a hat or something) I think we’d solve that problem as best we can.
(thinks)
No.
but I think some people might not like randomly being assigned to tiers that seem to connote a level of ability/performance but are really just arbitrary.
Picking the initial tier level by chronological creation order is basically just as arbitrary as drawing out of a hat.
The initial tier level doesn’t connote ability or performance, just random luck (which, again, is going to be random luck no matter how you slice it). It’ll only be talent-reflective a few years from now after people have had chances to rise and fall based on skill/strategy.
It is what it is. Roll with it.
LONG LIVE THE RAB 100!!!!
I’m fine with that. Like I said, I’d prefer to be in the lowest tier anyway. If people take issue with it, though, whether they’re right to take issue with it or not, I say we pick numbers out of a hat.
I’m glad to proceed by assigning the tier numbers by chronological creation order unless there are objections from other people.
Haven’t done fantasy (I already spend far too much of my time dicking around), but it sounds like a really nifty idea.
Not sure how the logistics would work.
Not sure how the logistics would work.
From our discussion earlier (which Mondesi conveniently linked to), slightly edited (by me) to incorporate where Mondesi and I are currently mentally at now:
I like that. I guess I’ll start my fantasy career (at least in baseball) tonight in RAB Conference American League.
Fuck getting work done. It’ll be my ‘gap’ year.
Yeah I think I’ll join that league, too. Even if the relegation thing doesn’t happen, whatever… I’ll check the team once in a while and keep it relatively current. I don’t want to miss out on this relegation thing though, if it happens.
I haven’t joined one of the fantasy leagues yet, but I want to and would really like the idea(although I will be in the last tier forever). But I think it’s a great idea.
Dude, the lowest tier is the place to be. People who start in the highest tier can’t move up through all the tiers, they’re just randomly up top for no reason.
I also really wouldn’t worry about the tiers much. It’d take years for the tiers to shake down enough that there’s some sort of order to them such that the better owners are in the top tiers and the worse owners are in the bottom tiers. For the first few/many years, the tiers don’t really mean much. it’s just a fun way to add a wrinkle to the end of the season.
Yeah, pretty much. Wherever you are, you get to enjoy attempting to either:
1) working your way up from the bottom (or the middle)
2) staying at the top
Go for it
Are you in one of the leagues or planning on joining the 5th league?
I’m in te fouth
Ok cool, thanks. Just want to know if the feedback we’re getting is from people who are involved and you didn’t mention that either way, sorry for the weird question.
Sounds like a plan.
I said it earlier today, if I can get in the 5th league tonight, then I am a huge fan of this idea.
BTW, Mondesi, you and I and Mike and the various commissioners of the 5 leagues should really get an email chain started so we can keep in communication with each other to facilitate the management of The RAB 100™.
I’ll email Mike, I’d rather not post contact info here. I seem to have quite the effect on some people around here and I’d prefer certain people didn’t have my email address. lol
Oh, most definitely. Mike has both our emails already, naturally.
I’m in for that. Sounds like it could be fun.
Late to the party, hopefully you’ll see this.
This sounds excellent. I’m always up for anything fantasy that involves more long-term strategy and planning.
Let me know if you guys need help with anything. I’ve been around the fantasy block a few times and I LM a few leagues myself.
So the office was a bummer tonight..
the only Office boards I read are primarily Jim/Pam boards and I swear to God, you have never seen middle-aged women more outraged about anything than these people are over the fact that Andy and Erin are now dating. I think it’s a dumb subplot, but DON’T THE WRITERS KNOW ONLY JIM AND PAM ARE SUPPOSED TO DATE AND HAVE WONDERFUL MOMENTS?!?!?!?!?
Heh.. Erin is cute but her character is just so awkward.
She’ll always be the Blowjob Girl to me.
You and me both brother.
For my fantasy focus: How did the “phenom” Jason Heyward look today?
Update (7:48pm): The game has been canceled.
How did Jason Heyward look today?
Wet.
A scout said he looked even wetter than Jesus Montero. Must be some anti-Yankee bias.
Someone alert mryankee to this miscarriage of justice.
these last two comments were pretty damn awesome.
We give because we love.
/TSJC’d
In the rain out? Pretty good.
so i dont get it, you look up and down rosters in college basketball and especially in the big east their loaded with NY players, but St. Johns cant keep any of them in NY. With the Garden as a recruiting too how can you not recruit good?
The best players go to the best organizations. The Garden isn’t the draw it once was. The last time the Knicks had a winning season college frosh were 9 or 10 years old.