Potencial

Are those harpies not satisfied that they already have Willie Randolph’s blood on their hands? Are they not shamed that the Yankees completely ignored them and moved Joba Chamberlain to the rotation? They are utterly shameless about the fact that they create controversy and conflict solely to sell newspapers. That’s what sells.

A quick overview:

John Harper (NYDN):

Still, let’s be honest, this question of choosing has as much to do with Santana as Pettitte at the moment. Like a lot of people, I thought Santana would dominate the less imposing lineups in the National League, and be practically a lock to win 20 games this season.

Instead he has been good but far from great. Santana is 7-7 with a 3.01 ERA after taking a tough loss Saturday, and he has had his share of those. But he just hasn’t pitched like one of the best pitchers in baseball.

Yes, Andy Pettitte and his 3.98 ERA have been so much better. I am as big an Andy fan as anyone, but get real you moron. Church is injured for the Mets, and they don’t have a quality left fielder. Run scoring is just as much a part of winning as run prevention is. Pettitte was EXTREMELY shaky yesterday, but was able to get out of it by pitching around good hitters to go after Phillips and Tatis. The Yankee lineup [b]drilled[/b] Pedro two days ago, and they’ve been hitting well lately. To hold them to even 3 runs is extremely impressive.

They should probably sign Barry Bonds, not just because he could still put up MVP numbers and significantly help their team, but he would make these same writers shut up about Santana at least.

Read the rest of this entry »

There has been a distressing meme in the New York media lately. Trade the future for Santana. Trade the future for Eric Gagne, last July. Make Joba the next Rivera. Make the kids throw 120 pitches a game, and pitch 200 innings this year.

 I won’t mind if the Yankees miss the playoffs this year. It’ll be a disappointment, and I expect them to make the playoffs, but oh well. What I will mind is if the team makes a panic move ala the bad old days. All of these ignorant talking heads, they take the wrong lesson from the dynasty of the late 90s. It wasn’t about the deadline moves. It was about holding on to Jeter, Andy, and the rest of the gang.

There’s not much reason to worry. The Hank Factor has been greatly overstated. Cashman heads the Triumvirate, and both Hal and Hank seem to be on board. There isn’t going to be any panic move.

Torre was touched by the Angels

There is a team that Dodgers Manager Joe Torre frequently references when talking about what he wants to see from his own: the Angels.

“Very distracting,” Torre called their style.

 I’ve always had a theory about why the Yankees always lose to the Angels. When Joe Torre sees Scioscia and his smallball, he’s paralyzed with wonderment, like a young child. He grew up with that style of play. The “Yankeeball” strategy of taking pitches and waiting for the three-run homer is completely foreign to him. As such, in face of paralysis, he responds with paralysis. Of the Yankee offense, by running his inane Hit and Runs. As a player, he stole 23 bases, while getting caught 29 times.  He also had a .68 IsoD, which is respectable, but not amazing. Bottom line, he’s “old school”. Read the rest of this entry »

With the AFL season ending today, and HWB ending soon, I thought it’d be interesting to talk about some of the best/worst performances.

Unquestionably, the most impressive performance in Arizona by a blue-chip prospect was Travis Snider, putting up an impressive .316/.404/.541 in a decent amount of ABs. Evan Longoria was close behind at .308/.378/.585. Read the rest of this entry »

EU - Red Sox
USA - Yankees
Canada - Blue Jays. Generally above average but always in the USA’s shadow.
Zimbabwe - Orioles. Formerly successful, now too pathetic to laugh at.
China - Devil Rays. Still fundamentally flawed, but holy shit do they scare the shit out of you in the future.

India - Indians. Silently taking over the world while everyone is looking elsewhere.
Iran - Royals. Their future is scary even though they’ll probably fuck it up somehow.
Saudi Arabia - Twins. They do one thing really well, but are headed for a historic fall.
Ireland - Tigers. Finally stopped fucking up and recapturing some success.
Poland - White Sox.

Japan - As. Former geniuses who have lost their magic touch.
France - Angels. General thorn in the USA’s side at every opportunity.
Venezuela - Mariners. Luck and hype aren’t sustainable.
Mexico - Rangers. Gives all of its best talent to the Yanquis.

Russia - Mets - back after their 80s heyday, but still largely a combination of unwarranted hype, illicit substances, and human trafficking
Israel - Marlins. Gets rich off someone else’s hard work. Likes to blow shit up.
Britain - Braves. Always successful to an extent, but their unprecedented reign has ended.
Pakistan - Phillies. Everyone knows the fall is coming, and it’s going to hit hard.
South Korea - Nationals. Scrappy, and going to be on top sooner than anyone thinks.

Iraq - Astros. Once elicited envy, now no one wants anything to do with them.
Palestine - Pirates. self explanatory.
Germany - Cardinals. Generally solid, but has run into a string of bad luck as of late.
Brazil - Brewers. Probably will be good in the future.
North Korea - Reds. All offense, generally aggravating.
Cuba - Cubs. Goes way overboard with the self-serving romanticism of failure.

Scandinavia - Padres. They do what they do well, but fuck if they’re not going to bore the shit out of you while they’re doing it.
Afghanistan - Rockies. As far as anyone else is concerned, a barren wasteland.
Greece - Dodgers. Still clinging to past glory.
Australia - Diamondbacks. No one actually has an opinion about them.
Italy - Giants. Old as shit.

There are three young, cheap catalysts to NY’s success this year. Melky Cabrera, Robinson Cano, and Chien-Ming Wang. I think because of the Ruben Rivera types people were unfair to Yankee prospects for a while. We’re still seeing it to an extent. No one really respects say, a Brett Gardner or Ian Kennedy. Read the rest of this entry »

Remember this Gammons blurb from last week?

“Basically, the deals will have to be done by Tuesday,” says one agent, “because the commissioner’s office is going to stall on the paperwork and insist a physical will have been taken before Wednesday midnight. There are going to be some very big players that go unsigned. Is it legal to rig the system? We shall see.”

It was obviously nonsense. A few points to consider:

1. Wieters and Moose signed right before the deadline for huge overslot deals. Perhaps Boras was bluffing too and blinked, but MLB is the one that ends up with egg on its face. Selig and co would have faced a pitchfork revolt on all fronts if the Orioles and Royals weren’t able to bring in their top talents, and rightly so. Read the rest of this entry »

 Note: most of this entry is based on an error, thanks Wikipedia!

With the non-waiver trade deadline passed, this is as good a time as any to bring this topic up, especially with an interesting piece about the Pirates on THT today. The author mentioned keeping a list of potential Rule V targets, but declined to post it until after the season. First, a primer on eligibility.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_V_Draft

Exemptions to Selection Eligibility Players signed at age 19 or older are exempt from the Rule 5 draft for four years after being drafted (in the amateur draft) or signed by their current organization; players drafted or signed at age 18 or younger are exempt for five years. For example, players drafted in 2004 (or later) at age 19 (or older) will be exempt from the 2007 Rule 5 draft, as will players drafted in 2003 (or later) at age 18 (or younger).The exemption periods were extended by one year in October 2006 as part of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The change took effect immediately, exempting many players from the 2006 Rule 5 draft even though they had been signed in some cases more than four years before the new agreement came into effect. Prior to the rule change, players were exempt for three or four years after the year they were signed (regardless of the year they were drafted), rather than four or five years. Read the rest of this entry »

What if Juan Gonzalez doesn’t turn down an 8-year, $140 million contract from the Tigers in 2000?

Believe it or not, he actually thought he could get more given the era. Instead, he struggled with injuries for one year and then signed a 1-year deal with the Indians, before flirting with the Mets and stealing more money from the Rangers. Read the rest of this entry »

I was just looking at BA for an unrelated thing so I might as well bring this up:

http://www.baseballamerica.com/toda…ures/at100.html has a list of old prospect rankings. A lot of fans think the OMG YANKEE HYPE MACHINE is out of control and overrates lots of mediocre guys. Hence skepticism about guys like Wang and Cano a few years ago, and maybe some lingering hostility towards farmhands today even though it’s evaporating. Read the rest of this entry »