The boys of summer! (Baseball Thread)

[woolybug25]

That's stupid. Who in the hell supports this type of thing?

Sheesh.

 

[palinurus]

I watch baseball pretty closely; I don't recall there having been an increase in concussions from home plate collisions. This sounds like pre-emptive activity generated from MLB's Office of the General Counsel.

 

[irishff1014]

No it's be the Tommy Brady of baseball (Buster Posey) go hurt in freak play. It's bull crap it this would have happened to almost any other catcher you wouldn't be hearing anything about this.

 

[Irish Insanity]

Are they going to let the run score if the catcher blocks the plate??? so stupid, like both parties don't know what can happen....

The rule is suppose to state that the runner has to slide when going into home plate

 

[NDFan4Life]

Chicago Cubs unveil Clark, its 1st mascot

CHICAGO (AP) -- The Chicago Cubs are introducing a mascot for the first time in the team's long history.

Drawings released by the Cubs on Monday show a young bear wearing a Cubs jersey and a backward blue baseball cap. The mascot is named Clark; the team plays at Wrigley Field, located at Clark and Addison streets on Chicago's North Side.

Team officials say they held focus groups before deciding on Clark, and fans told them they wanted a more family-friendly atmosphere at Wrigley Field.

Clark will greet fans at the ballpark before and during games, and the mascot will have a Twitter account and Facebook page.

The Cubs had a live bear mascot in 1916, nine years after formally adopting the Cubs moniker.

Y! SPORTS

 

[IrishSteelhead]

Well, it beats the ill fated duo of "Ribbie and Roobarb"

 

[irishff1014]

Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers agree to seven-year deal worth $215 million - ESPN Los Angeles

This is why sports are a F-ing Joke

 

[philipm31]

NO pitcher is worth that kind of money. Greg Maddux never got that kind of money and he was far and away a better pitcher than Kershaw, at this point in his career.

Dodgers just showing how stupid they are. What are they going to do about the REST of their team??

5/11 of the players in the league that are making at least 20M per year are ON the Dodgers.

They better win 3 WS in 4 years to make this deal even CLOSE to worth it, along with Kershaw winning the next three CY's, as well.

 

[#1rish]

Does this mean they're out of the Tanaka race? I don't see them signing both.

 

[wizards8507]

Chicago Cubs unveil Clark, its 1st mascot

CHICAGO (AP) -- The Chicago Cubs are introducing a mascot for the first time in the team's long history.

.....

The Cubs had a live bear mascot in 1916, nine years after formally adopting the Cubs moniker.

Spot-on reporting, there. SMH.

 

[philipm31]

Does this mean they're out of the Tanaka race? I don't see them signing both.

Kershaw at 30M per year
Greinke is getting 24M per year, I think.

I cannot see them in the Tanaka race now, not with 20% or more of their pay roll locked into their two top pitchers.

And how much do you think they will have to pay Puig when he is eligible? They are overspending at a record rate.

Did they NOT notice that the trade that they made with the Red Sox resulted in them winning their 3rd WS in the last ten years, while facing the team that beat them with the most rookie pitching wins in MLB history?

I hope this deal backfires in a huge way. It is nothing against Kershaw, or the Dodgers per se, but I just think that this kind of overspending is tremendously bad for baseball.


#JustSaying

 

[blueNDgold44]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>BREAKING: Tanaka to <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Yankees&src=hash">#Yankees</a>, seven years, $155M, opt-out after fourth year.</p>— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/statuses/426001466562973696">January 22, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Booo

 

[irishff1014]

Hey Atlanta Braves fans out there Good news for the team.

Jason Heyward signed 2 yr deal.

Freddie Freeman signed a 8yr deal worth 135 million. I love this sign he has been the best hitter on the team since coming up.

 

[irishfanjho15]

Hey Atlanta Braves fans out there Good news for the team.

Jason Heyward signed 2 yr deal.

Freddie Freeman signed a 8yr deal worth 135 million. I love this sign he has been the best hitter on the team since coming up.

Two solid moves there. Love Freeman, I think he'll be a very good to great player for years to come. I think the Heyward deal with a plus for Atlanta also.

 

[irishff1014]

Curt Schilling diagnosed with cancer - ESPN

 

[rtrn2glory]

i'd say cancer has never met an opponent more tough than curt.

best of luck to him and his family!

 

[philipm31]

My mother fought it for more than 25 years, so....

Good luck to him but there are plenty of tough people who fight cancer on a daily basis and never let anyone know about it, either.

 

[ACamp1900]

BASEBALL: Angels in the Inlandfield? Move to the Empire!

Not the greatest piece in the world... but it did get me thinking... if Arte would move my boys to say, Rancho Cuc/Fontana, maybe over by the speedway... I. WOULD. NUT.

From an hour plus drive in heavy traffic to maybe twenty minutes of easy driving... they could also go back to what they always should have been once they left Los Angeles... The California Angels.

 

[irishff1014]

All my fellow Brave fans out there. How do you see the Medlen and Beachy injuries effecting this team?

I didn't have much hope for Beachy he was only hitting 88-89 on his fastball this spring not good for someone that was well rested. So i wasn't expecting much from him.

Medlen on the other hand was probably going to be a our 2 starter since Minor isn't expected to begin the season due to off season surgery. But I figured Minor,Medlen,JT would have been a very good top 3 starters.

 

[clashmore_mike]

Alex Wood, Freddy Garcia, and Ervin Santana are going to be relied upon heavily. Wood was decent in his first year in spot duty last year and Santana had a good season with the royals, but that rotation scares me. The defense should help as long as everyone stays healthy, but they are going to need the lineup to do work consistently. Freeman can't do it all, here's going to need more consistent help from a healthy Heyward, Gattis, Justin Upton and Simmons. Absolutely can't afford BJ Upton and Uggla having years like they did last year.

 

[clashmore_mike]

I was just about to get excited for opening day then medlen and beachy go down. At least I haven't renewed my mlb.tv subscription yet.

 

[irishff1014]

Alex Wood, Freddy Garcia, and Ervin Santana are going to be relied upon heavily. Wood was decent in his first year in spot duty last year and Santana had a good season with the royals, but that rotation scares me. The defense should help as long as everyone stays healthy, but they are going to need the lineup to do work consistently. Freeman can't do it all, here's going to need more consistent help from a healthy Heyward, Gattis, Justin Upton and Simmons. Absolutely can't afford BJ Upton and Uggla having years like they did last year.

Wood was surprisingly good last year. If we have to count on Garcia we are going to be in trouble IMO. I think Santana will be ok since he started his sinker last year as well as he doesn't have to worry about a DH. On top of that he is pitching in a pitchers park. They should help him.

We need Heyward to stay healthy if not we could be in trouble. I think we will see little improvement from Uggla nad BJ. I want to see if Chris Johnson can have that kinda season in back to back years. I am not sold on Gattis either. He has McCann's power but that's about it.

 

[ickythump1225]

All my fellow Brave fans out there. How do you see the Medlen and Beachy injuries effecting this team?

I didn't have much hope for Beachy he was only hitting 88-89 on his fastball this spring not good for someone that was well rested. So i wasn't expecting much from him.

Medlen on the other hand was probably going to be a our 2 starter since Minor isn't expected to begin the season due to off season surgery. But I figured Minor,Medlen,JT would have been a very good top 3 starters.

The Beachy injury doesn't hurt as we have adapted for over a year now without Beachy anyway. The Meds injury will hurt us though.

Once Minor comes back though I think we'll be all right. I think JT takes a huge step forward this year. Julio is going to be a monster very soon.

 

[ACamp1900]

I felt for the Medlen injury... that sucks. As a baseball fan I was looking forward to watching him this season, and to watching what could still be a very good Braves team.

 

[ickythump1225]

Wood was surprisingly good last year. If we have to count on Garcia we are going to be in trouble IMO. I think Santana will be ok since he started his sinker last year as well as he doesn't have to worry about a DH. On top of that he is pitching in a pitchers park. They should help him.

We need Heyward to stay healthy if not we could be in trouble. I think we will see little improvement from Uggla nad BJ. I want to see if Chris Johnson can have that kinda season in back to back years. I am not sold on Gattis either. He has McCann's power but that's about it.

I think BJ has a chance to bounce back a bit. He really just had a down year last year so it could just be a misnomer. Uggla though is a lost cause. He hasn't been worth a damn since he came to Atlanta outside of a random 30+ game hit streak.

 

[ACamp1900]

Anyway, the past two season I couldn't even make it to the end of the season with my Halos... seeing them jack the prices on everything up while stinking up the place pissed me off... but I'm over it. I grew up with the Angels only making post season runs every five or six years to begin with... just glad to have baseball back and content to just enjoy Angels baseball regardless.

MLB Network is also the greatest thing ever.

 

[clashmore_mike]

The Beachy injury doesn't hurt as we have adapted for over a year now without Beachy anyway. The Meds injury will hurt us though.

Once Minor comes back though I think we'll be all right. I think JT takes a huge step forward this year. Julio is going to be a monster very soon.

I dunno man, Beachy was looking like a number 1 starter when he first went down a couple years ago. I hope Teheran does develop like everyone thinks he will, he has all kinds of talent. He just needs to gain some more confidence in his other pitches besides fastball. That started coming around late last year.

Alex Wood had another really good start a couple days ago. Maybe he can turn into a reliable #3?

 

[clashmore_mike]

I think BJ has a chance to bounce back a bit. He really just had a down year last year so it could just be a misnomer. Uggla though is a lost cause. He hasn't been worth a damn since he came to Atlanta outside of a random 30+ game hit streak.

Uggla has been hot at the plate over the last week or so I think. He's one of the slowest starters in baseball, so hopefully him getting it going a bit in ST is a positive sign. I still can't believe that hitting streak he had, he was hitting like .170 before it started or something crazy.

 

[ACamp1900]

Wasn't sure if I should put this here, the video game thread, or thead of the awesome...

lol

I'll start here, enjoy:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/McwZCvqWhw0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[irishff1014]

I think BJ has a chance to bounce back a bit. He really just had a down year last year so it could just be a misnomer. Uggla though is a lost cause. He hasn't been worth a damn since he came to Atlanta outside of a random 30+ game hit streak.

I saw an interview with Uggla the other day and he admitted that he sucked. He said his footing was off, he didn't have a solid base and that he was off balance. He went on to say he took some time off but watched more video then ever and is working hard to correct his problems.