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Thread: *** OFFICIAL *** MLB 2019 Thread

  1. #381
    Diamond BCR's Avatar
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    We’re coming gut. Cut the 11.5 down to 6.5. Taking advantage of the weak part of the schedule. Still a long shot, but with 13 to play heads up, we may have a race yet.

  2. #382
    Plutonium Sanlmar's Avatar
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    Who is your favorite Padre Druff?

    Fernando Tatís? With the little thing over the i.

    The arm, the bat.

    The speed. He scores from 3rd on an infield fly. He is always running up the back of other base runners.

    Just electric. He is what you always hoped Seager would be. He’s the same size but more athletic. Machado moves to 3rd cause even that egomaniac knows the truth. Seager, on the other hand, is destined for 3rd - prolly when Turner leaves.

    Tatís gives you that same rush you had with Puig that first year. Anything was possible. Except Tatís has such a high baseball IQ. Father was a career major leaguer. Little things. Quite the opposite of Puig. Smart is fun too

    I mean, except the ring. Sorry for your loss, Druff.
    Last edited by Sanlmar; 07-06-2019 at 08:50 AM.

  3. #383
    Plutonium Sanlmar's Avatar
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    While Druff is daydreaming about Tatís...

    Simp & I were chatting back and forth on his show about fading Sale -265 last week. Stupid Blue Jays changed the starting pitcher twice. Each time my bet was returned.

    It’s like a full time job with these stupid openers.

    Sale lost again. Worst ROI. Still has the brand name. Still got some fade value left, I hope.


    What occurred to me is that Chris Sale is Giants Tim Lincecum. Same small body. Same supernova flame out.

    The Sawks haters will think about Jon Lester. The big strong ox that the Red Sox drove to the airport. Sale replaced him essentially. 5 more years at $140m or so. Ouch.

    So I was thinking about Lincecum. The fact is that Lincecum was actually far superior in his brief reign on earth. 3x World Series. Lights “the fuck” out. Warrior in clutch situations.

    No, Sale isn’t Lincecum. Sale has NEVER been clutch in playoffs. LOTS OF MISSED PLAYOFF STARTS. even a missed start against Dodgers, I think.

    Raise a glass to Tim Lincecum and put that erection away with your Buehler, Ryu, Kershaw All Star nonsense.
    Last edited by Sanlmar; 07-06-2019 at 08:47 AM.

  4. #384
    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    Yes, Tatis is very good and well regarded.

    And yes, the Padres are on the way to having a contending team, but they're not there yet. Both the hitting and pitching are uneven. Maybe they'll have a shot in a few years when Turner, Kershaw, and Ryu are all too old to contribute meaningfully. That's one potential future hole the Dodgers have. At the moment, they don't have any good pitchers coming down the pike in the minors. Maaaaaaaybe Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin, but they don't have the profile that Walker Buehler and Julio Urias did.

    Of course, you never know. In 2015, Cody Bellinger wasn't even in the top 10 of Dodgers prospects, and in 2016, he was #6, behind Jose DeLeon and Grant Holmes (both pitchers, but still).

    Padres admittedly have the best farm system in baseball right now, but the Dodgers offense has a pretty deep future with none of their current starters on the wrong side of 30 except for Turner. This isn't the 2014 Giants we're talking about here.

    Pitching is a different story, so the time really is now for the Dodgers to finally win that World Series. They're far and away the best team in the NL this year (not just by record, but by composition), and anything short of a third consecutive NL pennant will be considered a huge failure, and anything short of a World Series will be a disappointment.

    As much as Sanlmar likes to root for the failure of the Dodgers, it's not going to happen for awhile.

    BTW, San, you'll be happy to know that the small Dodgers Facebook group I'm part of collectively believes that Dave Roberts is a puppet manager, and that almost all of the managing is done remotely by Friedman. I hate to admit it, but they're probably right.

  5. #385
    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    Oh, and here's something the Dodgers front office did very well. Check out the prospects lists from this decade:



    Notice anything?

    Aside from Dee Gordon (whom they should have kept), every top prospect they dumped turned out to be a huge fail, and the ones they kept ended up mostly working out, with some becoming big stars.

    Remember Zach Lee? They dumped him on Seattle for Chris Taylor, and now Lee is out of baseball. There's tons of failplayers on that list whom the Dodgers ultimately shipped out, yet they wouldn't give up Seager, Pederson, Verdugo, Bellinger, Urias, and Buehler.

    Oh, and Nate Eovaldi sucks. Not sure what Boston sees in him. He pitched one good game against the Dodgers in the World Series (which the Sawks lost anyway) and suddenly he's got a big contract. This is a guy with a 4.26/1.352 ERA/WHIP combo, and a K/BB ratio just barely over 2:1.

  6. #386
    Plutonium Sanlmar's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by big dick View Post
    cubs pen has blown at least 12 games.. you do the math



    Sanlmar, I fear that Kimbrel is not what he used to be too but fingers crossed
    Kimbrel looked pretty damn good last night.

    I stand corrected.

    BTW, San, you'll be happy to know that the small Dodgers Facebook group I'm part of collectively believes that Dave Roberts is a puppet manager, and that almost all of the managing is done remotely by Friedman. I hate to admit it, but they're probably right.

    I’ve heard this too. Where there is a will there is a way. Especially with the Dodgers, there is a will. The Red Sox Apple Watch sign stealing conviction proved there is a way.

    Every dugout lovingly caresses iPads. Video of pitchers is the benign reason. Of course, it goes on. The Dodgers front office doing this doesn’t trouble me. They add zero value in game.
    Last edited by Sanlmar; 07-07-2019 at 07:47 AM.

  7. #387
    Plutonium Sanlmar's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sanlmar View Post
    Can’t shake the notion of Atlanta Braves +2200 to win WS as a long shot.

    They have no prayer of beating any of the iron from the AL but the idea won’t go away.

    This isn’t a Keuchel thing. He’s just an arm at this point.
    Accepted: 06/12/2019 11:05:22 AM
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    Tablet - MLB Futures - Pennant Futures - Odds to Win National League - Atlanta Braves +900


    You know who would have been a smart long shot? The Nationals. Great starting pitching. Bullpen is always correctable. They are on a run now and odds are contracting.

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    Lotta value vs Dodgers out there

  8. #388
    Plutonium big dick's Avatar
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    Solid bet.

  9. #389
    All Sorts of Sports gut's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BCR View Post
    We’re coming gut. Cut the 11.5 down to 6.5. Taking advantage of the weak part of the schedule. Still a long shot, but with 13 to play heads up, we may have a race yet.
    Max Kepler had something to say about this.

    I had known for years the old Twins regime was outdated and generally shitty, but wow the breakout of these core homegrown guys is really showing it. Thanks for the assist from Cleveland's FO.

  10. #390
    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    Anyone else watching the Dodgers/Sawks marathon?

    11:40pm EDT, top 11th, 1 out, 4-4.

    Reminds me of that World Series game I attended.

  11. #391
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
    Anyone else watching the Dodgers/Sawks marathon?

    11:40pm EDT, top 11th, 1 out, 4-4.

    Reminds me of that World Series game I attended.
    I caught it in the 8th. I turned it on just in time to see Baez give up the 2 HR's and watched till the end. Real surprised Dodgers pulled it out. Alex Rodriguez is hilarious as a color commentator. You just never know if the joke is on him or you, he plays it so straight.

  12. #392
    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    The NL really is shit this year beyond the Dodgers and Braves.

    The second wildcard at the moment is the Phillies at 48-45. Then there's a tremendous jumble of teams behind them, amazingly including the Pirates, Reds, and Giants (as well as the Cardinals, Brewers, Rockies, Padres, and Diamondbacks), all within 4.5 games of them. The first wildcard right now, the Nationals, are only 1.5 games ahead of the Phillies.

    So what does this mean? Take out the three division leaders and the lowly Mets and Marlins, and every other team in the NL is jumbled within 6 games of one another.

    That's why this 2nd wildcard business sucks so much. It allows for too many mediocre teams to make the postseason and then briefly get hot at the right time. It would be a travesty if any team other than the Braves or Dodgers win the NL, barring some massive improvement by the remaining NL contenders.

    The AL, in the meantime, has six teams with a .560 winning percentage or better -- two in each division. And that doesn't include the Sawks.

  13. #393
    Gold Gookieheimowitz's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
    The NL really is shit this year beyond the Dodgers and Braves.

    The second wildcard at the moment is the Phillies at 48-45. Then there's a tremendous jumble of teams behind them, amazingly including the Pirates, Reds, and Giants (as well as the Cardinals, Brewers, Rockies, Padres, and Diamondbacks), all within 4.5 games of them. The first wildcard right now, the Nationals, are only 1.5 games ahead of the Phillies.

    So what does this mean? Take out the three division leaders and the lowly Mets and Marlins, and every other team in the NL is jumbled within 6 games of one another.

    That's why this 2nd wildcard business sucks so much. It allows for too many mediocre teams to make the postseason and then briefly get hot at the right time. It would be a travesty if any team other than the Braves or Dodgers win the NL, barring some massive improvement by the remaining NL contenders.

    The AL, in the meantime, has six teams with a .560 winning percentage or better -- two in each division. And that doesn't include the Sawks.
    The Phillies are finished . I doubt they make that wild car. The pitching after Nola is horrible and the bullpen is on life support as well as the coach and GM . You don't sign Harper and Realmuto to finish 3rd in the NL East.

    Mcutchen getting hurt was the beginning of the end . Scott Kingery is the only shining star at the moment .

  14. #394
    Plutonium Sanlmar's Avatar
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    There is a camp that bets baseball early (preseason too, lol) when stuff is still getting noodled out and then quits after the All Star break.

    I had at least one foot in that camp.

    The new rule bans revocable waivers transactions in August. So the games until the month’s final days before the July 31 deadline are gonna be anything but load management and cruise control.

    Teams are going to wonder are they “in it” or “out” up until the last days

    Which teams are going to value the wild card and sacrifice flesh for a coin flip? Teams like the Padres who haven’t had a taste for ages and have a big fan base financially? Consider the Red Sox 3 games behind the Rays on July 27th. Oh boy.

    MLB futures are gonna be very very interesting

    Druff’s wild card bogeyman speaks to his very real concern that the Dodgers regard their victories over the SF Giants in April as informative about their tournament team success in October. While other teams are jockeying for finishing touches in the bull pen or starting pitching .... the Dodgers have typically said, “no, we whipped up on the Padres in June so we’re good”

    The Dodgers and their 7 consecutive division titles and their Buffalo Bills outcome ain’t just buzzards luck.

    The players also have to accept some of the responsibility for their performance in the pressure of big games against the best teams too. But having poor relief when Kershaw fell short didn’t help.

    It is going to be a pretty cool couple of weeks.

  15. #395
    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    Anything can happen in a baseball playoff series. That's why I think the second wildcard is bullshit in years like this, where a truly mediocre team can skate into the playoffs and then get briefly hot and make it to the World Series (or win it).

    Like, when you play 162 games, at least make it mean something.

    One wildcard is fine. It's unlikely the best non-division-leader will suck. Two wildcards is a disaster.

    Dodgers need to get the bullpen fixed because of the World Series. They're good enough to crush any NL team, barring that variance I talked about. It's the good AL teams which worry me. Take your pick. When you get used to spanking bad and mediocre NL teams all year, it's going to be a bit of a shock to play a team like the Yankees or Astros.

  16. #396
    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    Also, keep in mind that in previous years, the Dodgers could have improved the team, but would have had to give up players like Seager, Bellinger, and Buehler -- all of whom were frequently demanded by other GMs.

    Clearly that would have been a mistake.

    The one travesty was how the Dodgers could have been the ones to have Verlander without giving up the world, but they just didn't seem interested. And he really, really wanted to come to LA. So he went to Houston instead, and you know what happened that year.

    Then there was the offseason travesty in the Dodgers showing little interest in acquiring Christian Yelich prior to the 2018 season, when again, he wanted to come, and he could have been had for a reasonable price. Imagine a 2-3-4-5-6 consisting of Turner, Yelich, Bellinger, Muncy, and Seager.

  17. #397
    Plutonium Sanlmar's Avatar
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    your baseball variance bogeyman is revisited every year. In a way the consistency is familiar and comforting nostalgia. No baseball thread would be complete without it.

    For as long as I’ve been here you trot this out. It’s never been an issue and remains baseless. It’s purpose is transparent to every reader. It inures your emotions against the inevitable Dodgers failure.

    Inure is the perfect word
    Inure-To habituate to something undesirable, especially by prolonged subjection; accustom: "Though the food became no more palatable, he soon became sufficiently inured to it" (John Barth).

    Cubs and Red Sox fans survived and you will too. Actually, many died never seeing a World Series in their lifetime. Oh well.

    Took a quick look. SF Giants 4 away & Brewers 2 away from 2nd wild card. I can see the fear in your eyes. Both can get hot at any time.

  18. #398
    Plutonium Sanlmar's Avatar
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    Ha ha

    I remember an exercise years ago where we walked you through repeat World Series appearances over maybe the last 15 years in response to your baseball crapshoot crackpot theory.

    Somehow the best teams consistently rise through the tournament.

    I laugh because I did this prior to the Dodgers recent back-to-back appearances in October

    Some people learn better through repetition, I guess

  19. #399
    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sanlmar View Post
    Ha ha

    I remember an exercise years ago where we walked you through repeat World Series appearances over maybe the last 15 years in response to your baseball crapshoot crackpot theory.

    Somehow the best teams consistently rise through the tournament.

    I laugh because I did this prior to the Dodgers recent back-to-back appearances in October

    Some people learn better through repetition, I guess
    As recently as 2014, we had a World Series of two mediocre teams -- the 89-win Royals and 88-win Giants.

    This year has the potential to be even worse on the NL side, if one of those mediocre teams slips through.

    The 2014 Giants had three losing months, including September.

    The regular season has to mean more.

  20. #400
    Plutonium Sanlmar's Avatar
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    Your #4 starter is victorious against an opener for the Mariners in the 4th game of a long series.

    This has absolutely no parallel to tournament play. Maybe your #4 goes to the bullpen as a long reliever.

    If you feel the season is too long a satellite to the big tournament hardly anyone will argue.

    Raw wins are a poor way to compare teams from division to division and league to league. Dodgers still have a cupcake division

    RPI and strength of schedule measurements have disappointed me personally

    The Royals reference is intriguing. That team did nothing short of rewrite the way teams approach pitching. Genius rewarded.

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