[punk/core]

Methinks Mark Buehrle owes Dewayne Wise a dinner tonight.

[The Jewish Cunthead]

You're right Lucky, there really isn't one thing you could point to and say THIS is where it got fucked up. I will say that giving Castillo 4 years and Perez 3 when they were basically outbidding themselves put them in a position to where they couldn't address other needs. And the fact Wilpon didn't want to go over the luxury tax took them out of the Dunn and to a lesser degree, Abreu sweepstakes. I mean who gets trumped by the Nats or can't even top a 1 year, $5M deal? How is that even possible with a team in NY opening a new stadium and getting revenue hand over fist? Injuries have been a problem to be sure, but the lack of any depth on the roster or even the organization is frightening. When Nelson Figueroa is your only AAA All-Star, there’s a problem. I’m not saying you can easily replace someone like Delgado or Reyes but you have the means to take on a bad contract if you need to fill a position.

What kills me is Omar defending Bernazard by saying they will investigate what happened (the fact that Bernazard is in charge of player development should be grounds alone for his dismissal), but he had no problem lying to Willie last year before firing him in Anaheim.

It’s just beyond frustrating.

[Lucky]

But the thing of it is that there's a basic truth Yankee fans have been hard pressed to learn the last few years. NO ONE has depth for losing stars. It just doesn't happen and doesn't make sense. Your bench sucks. It always will. The best bench are a bunch of roleplayers who will get exposed over extended playing time after one of your high priced studs goes down. Maybe you can make a trade but that assumes (a) the available player, (b) the necessary parts that don't hurt your team, and (c) that the move makes sense once the guy returns. Really, the only time teams get those nice replacements for stars going down is when a prospect comes up and just goes on fire. And yes, the farm system is a clear flaw in Omar's reign with the Mets but given the length of time he's been there and the basic odds on prospects its not super likely anything would have played different. Especially for a Mets team that for all their struggles consistently finish as one of the top teams thus killing their draft position and lessening the odds of getting one of those stud prospects ready to produce.

The off the field stuff... I guess I just don't care. Its not terribly relevant to the on field performance and while it might be a mark against Omar the fact is that if the Mets were 10 Gs up on the Phillies no one would give much of a shit about Bernazard.

And Dunn... hell, I was the one screaming about how everyone in baseball were morons for that ridiculousness this winter. I think I just chose to ignore Dunn's existence because that crap just made so little sense. I mean, yes, Omar was a moron for not topping that pathetic deal on a proven player but so were 28 other GMs and like 90% of media and fans. People here were even arguing that there was good reason Dunn was getting no offers. So I can't even begin to understand the Dunn mess.

[Mikey]

Jul 23, 2009 15:15:54 GMT -5 punk/core said:

Methinks Mark Buehrle owes Dewayne Wise a dinner tonight.

He owes him dinner for the rest of the fucking season after that catch.

[Sportsguy]

Jul 23, 2009 15:43:56 GMT -5 Mikey said:

Jul 23, 2009 15:15:54 GMT -5 punk/core said:

Methinks Mark Buehrle owes Dewayne Wise a dinner tonight.

He owes him dinner for the rest of the fucking season after that catch.

Having just seen this catch on Sportscenter, I totally agree with this.

[Outback Frito Pendejo]

Jul 22, 2009 12:37:50 GMT -5 Mikey said:

Red Sox call up Adam LaRoche from AAA Pittsburgh.

Exalt! (for the post, not the deal, although that was good too)

Hats off to Buehrle!

For what it's worth, Francesa was claiming Bernazard is so tight with the Wilpons Omar can't fire him, which might explain otherwise odd stuff Omar said in his press conference about sitting down with the owners after the investigation.

Reds owe the Sox a player to be named later. I'm betting they'll offer Lugo. He has the same facial expressions as Tiger Chung Lee.

[Pun]

Jul 23, 2009 19:55:14 GMT -5 Outback Frito Pendejo said:

For what it's worth, Francesa was claiming Bernazard is so tight with the Wilpons Omar can't fire him, which might explain otherwise odd stuff Omar said in his press conference about sitting down with the owners after the investigation.

He must be tight if he doesn't get fired after this. Now he's not just throwing down with the minor leaguers.

WASHINGTON — In baseball, the team bus is sort of a misnomer. Players rarely ride it from the hotel before road games, many taking cabs instead, and afterward the seats are only somewhat more full. But several players took the bus last Friday after the Mets were hammered, 11-0, by the Braves in Atlanta. And on that bus, Francisco Rodriguez and Tony Bernazard, the highest-ranking team executive on the trip, engaged in a verbal confrontation that adds to the team’s disarray.

According to people on the bus, Rodriguez made a friendly gesture toward family members of his fellow reliever Pedro Feliciano that Bernazard might have misinterpreted. They argued in Spanish, and the dispute escalated to the point that there seemed to be a danger of a physical altercation, one witness said. But Bernazard backed off, no blows were exchanged and Rodriguez, though upset, walked toward the back of the bus and sat down.

Rodriguez declined to comment after Wednesday’s 3-1 loss to the Nationals, the Mets’ 16th loss in 23 games, and did so again Thursday afternoon in Houston, where the Mets were spending a day off before opening a three-game series Friday.

And you all thought the Cubs would be the team to implode this year.

ETA: And the Mets' AA mascot can't even get it together.

[DevSop]

Shouldn't you be worrying about the Cards picking up Holliday today? I mean, do the Cubs even stand a chance at this point?

[The Jewish Cunthead]

This so reeks of '93. Instead of Saberhagen spraying bleach at reporters and Coleman throwing firecrackers at kids, we have Bernazard acting like the "big whoop, wanna fight about it" guy from Family Guy.

The fanbase is looking for blood - I can't believe Tony B. (to say nothing of anyone else in the front office) is still drawing a paycheck.

[Sparty]

ESPN reporting Matt Holliday traded to St. Louis.

[Pun]

Jul 24, 2009 10:44:02 GMT -5 DevSop said:

Shouldn't you be worrying about the Cards picking up Holliday today? I mean, do the Cubs even stand a chance at this point?

They stand more of a chance than the Mets at this point.

And while Holliday is a good player, he's far from the elite player people make him out to be. It's to the point now where he's had near 100 games under his belt this year, and still not hitting elite levels of offensive production. Most notably away from pitcher friendly McAfee. His OPS prior to the first week back after the break was under .800. He had a fine May and then reverted, shockingly, to a blah June.

He isnt going to matter that much. I think he might be able to net them 2 extra wins, but that's max.

The only players in baseball that are going to bring you more than 2 wins are Pujols, Ultey, and Hanley. Maybe Halladay or Lincecum, but that's it. Only one of those even has a chance to switch hands at the deadline.

[The Jewish Cunthead]

If Holliday gives Pujols better pitches to see, you can bump up those extra wins.

MTA: The A's also gave cash to the Cards? Didn't the Pirates give money to the Sox for the LaRoche trade? Did I miss something or aren't those same clubs crying about big market clubs always making money...

[Lucky]

Jul 24, 2009 11:21:03 GMT -5 Pun said:

And while Holliday is a good player, he's far from the elite player people make him out to be. It's to the point now where he's had near 100 games under his belt this year, and still not hitting elite levels of offensive production. Most notably away from pitcher friendly McAfee. His OPS prior to the first week back after the break was under .800. He had a fine May and then reverted, shockingly, to a blah June.

And a great July, right? That's the completion of the thought. Holliday's hitting below his career numbers, there's no real denying that. Of course he has a proven track record. Part of that track record shows he hits better in the 2nd half. He SHOULD be a terrifying match with Pujols if you're being sane. And for the life of me I can't figure what hitting better in his pitcher friendly park does to prove he's not as good as people think. He's worse than we think because he hits well in one of the biggest pitchers parks in baseball?

He isnt going to matter that much. I think he might be able to net them 2 extra wins, but that's max.

The only players in baseball that are going to bring you more than 2 wins are Pujols, Ultey, and Hanley. Maybe Halladay or Lincecum, but that's it. Only one of those even has a chance to switch hands at the deadline.

You sent me a PM the other day asking for win shares or something (sorry for no response) so I'm curious... do you actually have numbers to support these seemingly arbitrary claims or are they just your own random short list of the best players in baseball?

[Pun]

The win shares thing is just my opinion. You talk about his career numbers and his proven track record. Well, his track record suggests that he doesn't hit that well outside Coors. He's just slightly better than average. He's the epitome of the Mile High Effect. Here are his splits. Look at the huge disparity between home and away when he was at Coors. And even this year, it's nothing spectacular. You yourself have stated before that a player can have a good month. Perhaps July is that month.

Don't get me wrong. I do think he is a very good player...a pretty good player who's amazingly overrated. And the Cards gave up the farm to get him. For their sake they better hope he re-signs.

ETA - I'm seeing Holiday listed as a 2.7 WAR in some places and 1.8 in another. I have no clue how it is actually figured, but I still stand by my statement that it will probably get them one extra win.

[Lucky]

Sure, everyone can have a hot month. But it seems disingenuous to address his monthly stats and leave out the best month. You presented "he had a good May but then a blah June" as if this was an indicator of May being a mere bump and he was back to subpar performance. But that flies in the face of the reality that he's been red hot the last few weeks.

Yes, he has stronger numbers at home for his career than away. Thats not terribly uncommon though, especially in a hitter's park. Hitters just tend to perform better at home a lot of the time and prior to this season he performed well above average away. Did Coors enhance his stats? Perhaps. But they clearly didn't create the illusion of a star. Albert Pujols hits 200+ OPS points lower away from Busch this year and 100+ last year. Chase Utley's a better career hitter in Citizen's Bank than on the road. When you hit in a hitters' ballpark that's just going to naturally happen most of the time.

What I really don't get is why you bring up his numbers in the clearly pitcher friendly McAffee as a knock against him. As best as I can figure that's a really GOOD sign for Holliday as he heads to the hitter's part in St Louis. Generally if I'm trying to prove a hitter is less than his numbers I don't point out that he hits well in ballparks its hard to hit well in. That seems more like an argument about how we can expect a jump in St Louis than an argument about why he's actually meaningless.

You'll have to excuse me but I don't care about stats like WARP or win shares. I think they're largely silly numbers that can't be attributed in any really meaningful way. They're basically just numbers' guys' need for another number to rank based on and a tool to "prove" arguments. It just struck me as a rather outlandish claim to say only 5 players in baseball make a meaningful difference to a team. And a pretty arbitrary list when Utley is one of them but A-Rod isn't or Halladay is there but Johan isn't. Win probability and "value over replacement" stats will never be something I give enough of a shit about to argue because on their face they just don't make much sense. They might be useful for academic purposes but using such stats to make cases as you have strike me as a total misuse of sabermetrics and the part that makes me understand Moose's objection to the whole thing.

Of course YOU used them and not me so I doubt he objects here.

[Mikey]

Jul 24, 2009 14:59:36 GMT -5 Lucky said:

Of course YOU used them and not me so I doubt he objects here.

I love when Lucky gets all pissy.

[Lucky]

I refuse to use smilies but if THAT's pissy then we've really lowered the bar.

[Pun]

It's not just the home and away splits, though, Lucky. Look at his years in Colorado. His numbers at Coors absolutely eclipse his numbers away. Sure, he's hitting slightly better at home now, but it's not even close to the spread he had with the Rockies. Like I said, I look at those numbers, and I see a good hitter. I don't see the elite hitter on the level of Pujols, ARod, etc. that some people make him out to be.

ETA - And I said that the WAR numbers were my personal opinion. I was going off my own view of his numbers even before I started seeing them posted on other sites.

[Mikey]

Jul 24, 2009 15:11:07 GMT -5 Lucky said:

I refuse to use smilies but if THAT's pissy then we've really lowered the bar.

"Pissy" and "pissed off" are two different things. It came off to me a a pissy cheapshot at Moose, for no reason other than you were arguing with Pun about sabrmetrics, giving you an opportunity to get a shot at Sabr-hating Moose, which you took. But maybe I misinterpreted...

Carry on.

[Lucky]

Well, I mean... come on.

Again, Pun, I don't see what your methodology proves or even why you're approaching it from this perspective. YES his numbers clearly improve in Coors. YES, that almost certainly has to do with the ballpark. But you're sitting here making the case for an above average hitter who put up GREAT numbers in a hitter's ballpark and good numbers in a pitcher's ballpark and is now going to a hitter's ballpark. A guy who is going to go from batting next to Jack Cust to Albert Pujols. I don't think he's an A-Rod or Pujols either so if that's the stigma you're fighting I'm with you. But he IS a top flight hitter in baseball and dismissing the addition of someone like that as a mere 1 G difference based on... I don't know what... seems more than a little silly to me.

[The Jewish Cunthead]

Well no one is on a Pujols or A-Rod level, that's why they're legendary players who will go down as two of the best ever.... but if you can add someone like Holliday who at the very least can protect Pujols in that lineup, you have to.

MTA: or what Lucky said. Holy shit, we agree.

[Pun]

And we move one step closer to Terminator territory.

TOKYO (AP) -- Look out Ichiro Suzuki and Daisuke Matsuzaka. A pair of baseball-playing robots that can pitch and hit with incredible results have been developed in Japan.

The pitching robot, with its three-fingered hand, can throw 90 percent of its pitches in the strike zone, won't need any relief from the bullpen and never asks for a pay rise.

The batting robot, which has a sensor to determine if pitches are strikes or balls, hits balls in the strike zone almost 100 percent of the time, doesn't swing at pitches outside the strike zone, and is guaranteed to pass all drug tests.

The two robots were created by University of Tokyo professor Masatoshi Ishikawa.

"The demand level of the robotics technology of each robot is very high," Ishikawa said. "What was difficult was to create a mechanism to satisfy such a high level of demand."

The pitching robot throws a plastic foam ball at 40 kilometers per hour (25 mph), but Ishikawa is hoping to increase the speed to 150 kph (93 mph) and make it able to throw off-speed pitches like curves and sliders.

Ishikawa is also working on getting the batting robot to be able to hit to all parts of the field.

The robots don't resemble humans but instead the type of robots on a car assembly line.

Japan boasts one of the leading robotics industries in the world, and the government is pushing to develop the industry as a road to growth. Automaker Honda has developed the child-sized Asimo, which can walk and talk.

[The Jewish Cunthead]

Jul 24, 2009 15:56:32 GMT -5 Pun said:

The pitching robot throws a plastic foam ball at 40 kilometers per hour (25 mph)

Jamie Moyer = robot?

[The Jewish Cunthead]

Holliday had a shitty 4-5 tonight. What a bum, huh Pun?

[Ultimatejobber]

As a Cards fan there were a couple of things that were encouraging beyond Holliday having a good debut. Rick Ankiel looks like he may have remembered how to hit. If that becomes a trend and not an anomaly, the lineup may be more than Pujols for a change.

Joel Piniero was tough, tough, tough. Now, if we can get Todd Wellemeyer out of the rotation...

And you know your team is doing well when Julio Lugo goes yard.

Go Cards!