2014 MLB Season Discussion

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Considering Freeman's average salary with the new deal is about the same as BJ Upton's now, I'd call that a hell of a bargain.

The Braves announced their new military appreciation alternate jerseys today. I think they look pretty good. I actually wish they'd wear these all season in place of the usual red alternate.

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Phillies sign Burnett for 1 year $16 mil.

I like Burnett, but this still doesn't make us contenders.  It's a moot signing on a shit team with no hitting.

 
DestroVega said:
Jeter has announced this season is the final hurrah. Not all that surprising.
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I think last year put a lot of things in perspective for him. He basically never even thought about retirement until it was right there staring him in the face. Mo and Pettitte retiring and then all those injuries. It's like he just woke up and realized that he was old. And at least he gets to enjoy a final season without the A-Rod circus.

The Steinbrothers better be prepared to keep spending daddy's money because the farm system really did a horrible job preparing for this changing of the guard. Attendance and ratings were already down last year. Once Jeter is gone, they could drop off a cliff if the team isn't contending.

 
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That's why they signed so many star names the offseason. Selling tickets and YES ratings were way more important than getting under the 189
 
DestroVega said:
That's why they signed so many star names the offseason. Selling tickets and YES ratings were way more important than getting under the 189
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Yeah, I totally agree. The tough part is they need one of those guys to be very fan friendly and likable (my money is on McCann since they're already calling him "Munson-like"). Losing Mo, Pettitte, and Jeter (and not to mention Cano) in the span of 2 years is going to be hard to replace. They've got their PR work cut out for them. It also doesn't help that Hughes and Chamberlain didn't pan out. Could have made for a much smoother transition. Kind of hard to say who will be "the face of the franchise" once Jeter is gone.

 
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Totally agree with that, the complete lack of a homegrown star is a huge problem.

Not to mention as soon as Jeter exits, ARod reappears (yay!).
 
Haha, some of those are great...but some of them are unoriginal and dated.

Teixeira joking about Jeter being retired is hilarious since he's been basically a worse contract than the guy that preceded him (Jason Giambi)

And making fun of CC's diet is tired. He lost a bunch of weight this winter. He looks better than he's looked in years.

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I do like the Nunez one though. It's just so ridiculous it makes me laugh. Even moreso if you picture him saying it, haha.

 
I wouldn't call Tex's contract worse than Giambi. He's been hurt once and is a superior defensive first baseman. And will still mash once healthy.
 
DestroVega said:
I wouldn't call Tex's contract worse than Giambi. He's been hurt once and is a superior defensive first baseman. And will still mash once healthy.
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Just for fun, let's compare their first 5 years with the team

Giambi (7 year, $120 million deal - $17.15M/year)

Year - Age - GP - BA - HR - RBI - BB - SO

2002 - 31 - 155 - .314 - 41 - 122 - 109 - 112

2003 - 32 - 156 - ,250 - 41 - 107 - 129 - 140

2004 - 33 - 80 - .208 - 12 - 40 - 47 - 62

2005 - 34 - 139 - .271 - 32 - 87 - 108 - 109

2006 - 35 - 139 - .253 - 37 - 113 - 110 - 106

Teixeira (8 year, $180 million deal - $18M/year)

Year - Age - GP - BA - HR - RBI - BB - SO

2009 - 29 - 156 - .292 - 39 - 122 - 81 - 114

2010 - 30 - 158 - .256 - 33 - 108 - 93 - 122

2011 - 31 - 156 - .248 - 39 - 111 - 76 - 110

2012 - 32 - 123 - .251 - 24 - 84 - 54 - 83

2013 - 33 - 15 - .151 - 3 - 12 - 8 - 19

Hurt once? He played 123 games in 2012 and 15 last year. In 2010 and 2011, he hit .256 and .248, respectively. I have a very difficult time looking at Tex's numbers and seeing a better player. Maybe you could argue that simply replacing Giambi's production was good enough. But the problem I have is Tex started 2 years younger...and by the time Giambi got to the 5th year of his deal, people were calling for his head.

But I do agree, Teixeira definitely was a superior defensive first baseman...but after that wrist injury...I'm not so sure anymore. To me, he's got a lot to prove this season. Because personally, for the amount of praise he gets, he should be more than Giambi 2.0. It's also worth noting that Teixeira's BB/SO ratio is getting bigger and bigger.

 
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DestroVega said:
Giambi also a steroid user, for what it's worth.
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True...but these days, who knows who's on what. Maybe Teixeira was on something to earn that big contract. Losing 50 points off your BA is pretty alarming. Giambi was mostly vilified, while Teixeira seems to catch much less heat. And those strikeouts...obviously last year was an extremely small sample size, but he's on the verge of striking out twice as much as he walks. That has rally killer written all over it.

I seriously hope he can turn it around because he's not exactly "old" by a first baseman's standards. But it feels like it's been forever since we've seen a productive Mark Teixeira. Personally, I have almost as many question marks with him as I do Jeter.

 
pitfallharry219 said:
Considering Freeman's average salary with the new deal is about the same as BJ Upton's now, I'd call that a hell of a bargain.

The Braves announced their new military appreciation alternate jerseys today. I think they look pretty good. I actually wish they'd wear these all season in place of the usual red alternate.

Atlanta-Braves-New-Uniform-2014.jpg
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I really like the new Military jerseys. They are dropping the regular red jerseys though. These will only be worn 5 times though.

 
Braves locked up Teheran for 6 years $32.4 million, and Kimbrel for 4 years (with option for 5th) for $42 million.

Very happy that they've got most of the young core locked down now with the long deal for Freeman a few weeks ago, and a two-year deal for Heyward.

 
Not sure if I like the Orioles signing Jimenez or not. When he's good, he's a Cy Young contender. When he's bad, he's very, very bad. Hopefully we get the pitcher from last year.
 
dmaul1114 said:
http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/10489179/andrelton-simmons-latest-member-atlanta-braves-get-extension

And now the Braves have locked up Simmons for 7 years, $58 million.

Love them getting all the youngsters signed. Guess they're really projecting a big revenue bump from the move to Cobb county in 2017 and having control of all the retail development around the new ballpark.
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I see a lot of people saying that now it's time to lock up Gattis, but he's only had one decent year so far. That, along with uncertainty of how he'll handle catching every day for a whole year, isn't enough for a big extension just yet.

I'm flying down to Atlanta in April for the first two home games. The Mets are in town. I wish I could see Matt Harvey pitch, but I guess that will have to wait another year.

 
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Agree on Gattis. At most sign him through a couple more years like they did Heyward to give him more time to prove himself on a consistent basis before committing long term.

Beachy is a similar case (I don't think he's locked up long term yet)--with his injuries he needs to both get back to the level he was at before, and prove he can stay healthy for a couple years, before throwing a bunch of money at him.

 
Orioles finally signed Nelson Cruz. Fans were hoping for Kendrys Morales but will take Cruz since the DHs last year were horrible. I found Nick Markakis' reaction hilarious.
 
Cruz is going to play the OF in Baltimore. That is the only reason he didn't resign with the Rangers. He wanted to play the OF and not be a full-time DH. It sucks, but the man is an overrated player. The only thing he provides is power and going by power metrics, he isn't even all that great at that. That being said, he'd be better than Mitch Moreland at DH for the Rangers, but I'll gladly take the draft pick.

 
If Moreland doesn't get hurt the power is probably close between him and Cruz. Moreland tore it up last year before the hamstring injury.

That said, he needs to put it all together by the break or he needs to be gone. He keeps teasing that he is a good player, but can't put it all together for a full season.
 
DestroVega said:
The fact that the Mets couldn't grab Cruz at that deal is a huge indictment of the franchise.
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Not really. Even at a one year deal, he's probably not worth playing over Eric Young. Cruz has been below league average offensively away from Arlington in his career, and coming off a PED suspension and turning 34 in July aren't helping his case any. If the Mets were contending they could take the risk, but since they are probably staring down another sub .500 season, might as well play young players and see if any of them take off.

Plus the Mets would have lost a 1st round pick, and since they're probably going to be terrible, it's likely to be a good one.

 
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He's definitely worth playing over Eric Young lol

The rest of your post is valid.
 
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Young compiled a 1.7 WAR in 418 PA for the Mets, Cruz came out with 1.5 WAR in 456 PA for Texas. Young is five years younger, played an excellent LF last season, and is an elite baserunner. Cruz is terrible in the OF and will only get worse, and his baserunning is bad as well. If his bat isn't above average, he's replacement-level.

 
I think you are comparing Cruz to the wrong Young.

Actually, we are both getting confused. I meant they should have signed him at that deal over what they gave Chris Young.

I meant to say Chris Young in my other post and said Eric. I thought Eric Young played well last year, I have no issue with him.
 
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Yes, Buck is very, very awesome.

BTW, if you haven't heard, Ozzie Smith is trying to make Opening Day an actual, legitimate national holiday. Dunno how they would do that considering they have, like, 5 or 6 Opening Days now.
 
DNukem170 said:
Yes, Buck is very, very awesome.

BTW, if you haven't heard, Ozzie Smith is trying to make Opening Day an actual, legitimate national holiday. Dunno how they would do that considering they have, like, 5 or 6 Opening Days now.
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It's such a weird publicity stunt by MLB and Budweiser. I think it would probably be better for them to just do it on a Saturday or Sunday instead of a Monday.

pitfallharry219 said:
I could not stop laughing as Deadspin scrolled through Carlos Martinez's Twitter favorites.
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Oh dear... I'm amazed he was able to do that for so long. Although, before now I didn't realize that they actually tracked your favorites on Twitter so I guess I can see how he could have made that mistake.

 
The Braves signed Ervin Santana to a one year deal. I'm fine with it. Things don't sound too good for Medlen's immediate future with a second Tommy John surgery looking likely.

 
If Santana's contact rate holds from last season, he might see a massive jump in his K/9. Last time his contact range was in that territory was in 2008, and his K/9 was 8.79. And that was in the AL.

 
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