2011 MLB Discussion Thread

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[quote name='bigdaddybruce44']Does anyone remember when EVERY analyst on ESPN picked the Red Sox to win the East?[/QUOTE]

You sound like Phear when he condemned everyone who picked the Phillies to beat the Giants in the postseason last year. On paper, the Red Sox had the better team, you can't deny that.
 
So the Rays just won. 2.0 games behind now, and if they tied the Sox they automatically go into the playoffs, correct?

Man, scary times to be a Sox fan right now. Not even looking forward to the playoffs right now lol
 
Not sure how I feel about the Braves collapsing right now. It sucks in the sense that they may miss the playoffs, but if they manage to make it to the NLCS and possibly play the Phillies...well...part of me is thinking it may be better if the Cards get the wild card, if only because I think they'll have a better chance to beat the Phils.
 
Come on man. Always root for your team!

You seem like one of those cynical types who gets more joy out of watching the teams you hate lose than seeing your team in the playoffs!
 
I would love for the Braves to win the World Series, but I also know it's unrealistic. I know it's terrible of me, but having the Phillies win the World Series makes for a VERY long offseason. Doesn't help I live with a Philly fan either. So having the Phils lose brings me satisfaction too.
 
That's fine, but I'd rather watch the Braves make a run to the NLCS and lose to the Phillies, than collapse and not make the playoffs and then see the Cards upset the Phillies in the divisional round.

Always root for your team to make it as far as possible. Root against teams you hate second.
 
[quote name='bigdaddybruce44']Does anyone remember when EVERY analyst on ESPN picked the Red Sox to win the East?[/QUOTE]

It's hard to deny they had the better team on paper at the beginning of the year. The Sox have been decimated by injuries. This same thing happened last year, but they just didn't have the luxury of a big lead and instead fell out of contention entirely. Now, that might speak to some sort of organizational issue with keeping guys healthy in the long haul, but I don't think this whole thing can be laid at the feet of a talent discrepancy.

[quote name='Monsta Mack']So the Rays just won. 2.0 games behind now, and if they tied the Sox they automatically go into the playoffs, correct?
[/QUOTE]

Unless MLB has somehow changed the rules and I missed it, a tie in the standings will always be resolved by a one-game playoff. Here are MLB's tie-breaking rules.
 
[quote name='bvharris']Unless MLB has somehow changed the rules and I missed it, a tie in the standings will always be resolved by a one-game playoff. Here are MLB's tie-breaking rules.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, and that actually happened back to back years in the AL central recently IIRC. One of them being the lowest scoring tie-breakers in history by a solo home run to end it.
 
[quote name='bvharris']Unless MLB has somehow changed the rules and I missed it, a tie in the standings will always be resolved by a one-game playoff. Here are MLB's tie-breaking rules.[/QUOTE]

The only thing I would hate worse than the Sox missing out on the playoffs, is them having to play 2 elimination games, then take on a well rested Detroit or Texas team. And unless Francona went staff by committee those games, Beckett and Lester wouldn't be able to go game 1.
 
[quote name='craven_fiend']The only thing I would hate worse than the Sox missing out on the playoffs, is them having to play 2 elimination games, then take on a well rested Detroit or Texas team. And unless Francona went staff by committee those games, Beckett and Lester wouldn't be able to go game 1.[/QUOTE]

Even assuming the Red Sox make it without the need for play-in games, there's still a chance that neither of those guys would be available for Game 1, depending on when they clinched.

One thing's for sure: If they do make the playoffs, John Lackey better not be on the roster.
 
[quote name='bvharris']Even assuming the Red Sox make it without the need for play-in games, there's still a chance that neither of those guys would be available for Game 1, depending on when they clinched.

One thing's for sure: If they do make the playoffs, John Lackey better not be on the roster.[/QUOTE]

Some on the MLB Network suggested using Beckett/Lester on 3 days rest two starts in a row to end season/start playoffs. But yeah, Lackey should be at home in the post season. At least Wake has some value.
 
Rangers clinch the west tonight if they win and the Angels lose. Part of me hopes the Angels Win or Rangers lose so the Rangers clinch tomorrow when I will be there.

It would also make me the happiest man in the world for the Rangers to eliminate the Angels from any contention at all at their own park next week.
 
[quote name='craven_fiend']Some on the MLB Network suggested using Beckett/Lester on 3 days rest two starts in a row to end season/start playoffs. But yeah, Lackey should be at home in the post season. At least Wake has some value.[/QUOTE]

I'm not sure Wake has much more value than Lackey at this point. I'd say the ideal 4th starter would be Aceves piggybacking on a shortened Buchholz start, assuming he's ready to go. That also assumes Erik Bedard's arm doesn't fall off between now and then, which is always a possibility.
 
[quote name='bvharris']I'm not sure Wake has much more value than Lackey at this point. I'd say the ideal 4th starter would be Aceves piggybacking on a shortened Buchholz start, assuming he's ready to go. That also assumes Erik Bedard's arm doesn't fall off between now and then, which is always a possibility.[/QUOTE]

Hopefully these two "off" days get the pitchers some needed rest. This lines Lester up terribly, unless they clinch this weekend. Sunday is going to killer. Hopefully the Sox don't start tomorrow with a 1.5 game lead.
 
[quote name='craven_fiend']Hopefully these two "off" days get the pitchers some needed rest. This lines Lester up terribly, unless they clinch this weekend. Sunday is going to killer. Hopefully the Sox don't start tomorrow with a 1.5 game lead.[/QUOTE]

Tampa Bay faltering a bit has taken a huge amount of the pressure off. There's still plenty to go around too. The Yankees lineup tonight before the rainout included all of their regulars, so I don't expect them to do the Sox any favors by resting people. The Red Sox have won every single game in Yankee Stadium this season, I'm sure the Yanks would like to change that in advance of a hypothetical ALCS matchup.
 
Braves beat the Nats.

Magic number is 4, pending the outcome of the Cards-Cubs game. Cards are currently losing 4-1 in the 8th.
 
The Rangers have just now clinched the AL West for the second year in a row! Now to get home field!
 
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[quote name='Beatofficer']Congrats to Arizona fans.[/QUOTE]
Thank you.

[quote name='GhostShark']The Rangers have just now clinched the AL West for the second year in a row! Now to get home field![/QUOTE]
My thoughts exactly.

NL West Champs!

I
 
Anybody else here hoping that Matt Kemp wins the triple crown? He's .003 behind Ryan Braun in average, tied with Pujols with 37 homers, and leads by 6 in the RBI race. I would never really call myself a Dodgers fan, but I'd love to see a triple crown winner at least one in my lifetime.
 
Congrats to the Brewers, Rangers and D-Backs all on the same day *phew*

Rays and Angels lost so the Sox can get some games up on them if they win their double header tomorrow.
 
[quote name='pitfallharry219']Anybody else here hoping that Matt Kemp wins the triple crown? He's .003 behind Ryan Braun in average, tied with Pujols with 37 homers, and leads by 6 in the RBI race. I would never really call myself a Dodgers fan, but I'd love to see a triple crown winner at least one in my lifetime.[/QUOTE]

I think it is outright stupid that Pujols has that many HR, considering HE BROKE HIS WRIST MIDSEASON. And he plays in St. Louis, which is home to one of the very worst RHB HR parks in baseball.
 
[quote name='bvharris']It's hard to deny they had the better team on paper at the beginning of the year. The Sox have been decimated by injuries. This same thing happened last year, but they just didn't have the luxury of a big lead and instead fell out of contention entirely. Now, that might speak to some sort of organizational issue with keeping guys healthy in the long haul, but I don't think this whole thing can be laid at the feet of a talent discrepancy.[/QUOTE]

Come on, man. The "decimated by injuries" line is getting a little old. It's not like the Yankees didn't spend significant time without A-Rod, Jeter, Martin, Posada, Soriano, Marte, Feliciano, Chamberlain (who was off to a great start), Hughes, Colon...am I missing anybody?

But they had guys like Nova, Nunez, Ayala, Eric Chavez and Cory freakin Wade step up and play larger than you could have ever expected them to (hell, you could even put Granderson on that list as NOBODY expected this kind of season out of him). Whether you want to credit that to Cashman or Girardi is up to you. But they certainly did more with less, compared to what Terry and Theo were able to get out of their guys.

Now, that translating to post season success is unlikely considering the strength of the Texas and Detroit teams. But who knows. If the Yanks pitching shows up, anything could happen.
 
[quote name='n8rockerasu']Come on, man. The "decimated by injuries" line is getting a little old. It's not like the Yankees didn't spend significant time without A-Rod, Jeter, Martin, Posada, Soriano, Marte, Feliciano, Chamberlain (who was off to a great start), Hughes, Colon...am I missing anybody?

But they had guys like Nova, Nunez, Ayala, Eric Chavez and Cory freakin Wade step up and play larger than you could have ever expected them to (hell, you could even put Granderson on that list as NOBODY expected this kind of season out of him). Whether you want to credit that to Cashman or Girardi is up to you. But they certainly did more with less, compared to what Terry and Theo were able to get out of their guys.

Now, that translating to post season success is unlikely considering the strength of the Texas and Detroit teams. But who knows. If the Yanks pitching shows up, anything could happen.[/QUOTE]

Your position is not at all inconsistent with what I said. The "decimated by injuries" thing isn't a line, it's a fact. The Red Sox were decimated by injuries and the guys who filled in haven't stepped up. The Yankees' guys have. I never claimed otherwise.

I was just responding to you talking about why everyone picked the Red Sox at the beginning of the year: It wasn't mass hysteria, they legitimately had the better team on paper. Obviously things didn't play out that way, which is why they play the season. I'm sure if you polled all those experts now, every single one would say the Yankees had the better team this season, as would I.
 
[quote name='bvharris']Your position is not at all inconsistent with what I said. The "decimated by injuries" thing isn't a line, it's a fact. The Red Sox were decimated by injuries and the guys who filled in haven't stepped up. The Yankees' guys have. I never claimed otherwise.[/QUOTE]

My point was that it's not much of an excuse when the team that won the division can say the same thing. You were "decimated by injuries". So what?

[quote name='bvharris']I was just responding to you talking about why everyone picked the Red Sox at the beginning of the year: It wasn't mass hysteria, they legitimately had the better team on paper. Obviously things didn't play out that way, which is why they play the season. I'm sure if you polled all those experts now, every single one would say the Yankees had the better team this season, as would I.[/QUOTE]

That wasn't me.

What I did say at the beginning of the year though was that the expectations had flipped (which I still think held true all season). The Sox were the ones who made the big moves this past offseason and therefore had the expectation of dominating the AL East and going to the World Series. Meanwhile, the Yankees pitching was a total question mark and people wondered how A-Rod would recover from surgery, thought Jeter was done, thought Cano was overrated, and didn't think about Granderson at all. For once it was the Red Sox who didn't live up to the hype and crumbled under the pressure. The Yankees have to deal with that almost every year. Now you see what it's like. Sucks don't it? lol
 
[quote name='n8rockerasu']
That wasn't me.
[/QUOTE]

You're right. I admit, you all sound the same to me. I guess I'm Yankeefanist. ;)

[quote name='n8rockerasu']Sucks don't it? lol[/QUOTE]

It definitely sucks, I'm not about to deny that. I still have the feeling the Red Sox are going to diarrhea their way into the playoffs (I can't think of a better term for it), only by virtue of the fact that neither the Angels or Rays seem to want to take it from them. If that should happen, my one solace is that this Sox team has been extraordinarily streaky, so it's not out of the realm of possibility they'll remember how to play suddenly if they back in. Sandwiched between an abysmal April and an abysmal September, this was the winningest team in baseball. Maybe they'll suddenly wake up.
 
The only saving grace in the Red Sox loss today....they will end the weekend in the Wild Card lead, regardless of anything they do. At worst case, they are tied with the Rays with 3 to go. At best, they have a 3 game lead, and all but guarantee they win the Wild Card.
 
I'm glad that the Indians are still playing hard down the stretch to win eight of their last 11 games to need just one more win in the last four games to have .500 locked up. With only two positional players playing more than 115 games this year (Carlos Santana & Asdrubal Cabrera), they could make a bigger splash next season with a consistent lineup that can stay healthy. The rotation only needs either David Huff or Jeanmar Gomez to fill in for the injured Carlos Carassco, though I wouldn't mind seeing Fausto Carmona go so that another inconsistent starter will be stricken from the rotation.
 
[quote name='Monsta Mack']Rays won. Angels are leading 1-0 right now...[/QUOTE]
One and a half games back now; at this point I just want to see Boston choke for the lulz.

Oh and I think Indians claim to fame this season was just staying healthy. Seriously, nothing exciting in the AL central this year. What a joke with no competition.
 
Upton gets drilled in the head by Lincecum, pretty classless move.

Giants get swept, loved the game yesterday where we embarrassed them. I just hope Justin is going to be OK, can't feel good to take a 93 mph ball in the head.
 
Well, heres hoping the Sox show up this week. Their lead is all but gone. The irony of this whole thing has been that they just have to win. If they can't win the series against Baltimore, they deserve to be home in October! If not for their insane June, the Sox wouldn't be sniffing the WC right now.
 
Damn...both wild card races got exciting in literally like a week, lol. Both teams really should have had it in the bag, and have completely fallen apart down the stretch. Knowing how baseball works though, that makes me fully expect a Red Sox - Braves World Series. It always seems like teams that back into the playoffs just magically catch fire and tear through everybody. We'll see.
 
Not sure what's more mystifying - the Sox continual drop out of the playoff race (probably be tied with Rays by day's end) or Brady throwing 4 picks today.
 
[quote name='n8rockerasu']Damn...both wild card races got exciting in literally like a week, lol. Both teams really should have had it in the bag, and have completely fallen apart down the stretch. Knowing how baseball works though, that makes me fully expect a Red Sox - Braves World Series. It always seems like teams that back into the playoffs just magically catch fire and tear through everybody. We'll see.[/QUOTE]

Yep, could happen!

Haven't paid much attention to the Red Sox, but the Brave's problems are solely the offense getting in a huge slump. Pitching has been fine. If the offense heats up again they could make a playoff run--provided they do enough to make the damn playoffs.

Which is tough as they finish with the Phillies while the Cards finish with the Astros....
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Yep, could happen!

Haven't paid much attention to the Red Sox, but the Brave's problems are solely the offense getting in a huge slump. Pitching has been fine. If the offense heats up again they could make a playoff run--provided they do enough to make the damn playoffs.

Which is tough as they finish with the Phillies while the Cards finish with the Astros....[/QUOTE]

Hey, the way the Phils have been sucking, you should be happy that's who you're playing. I'm DREADING the postseason right now while having flashbacks of last year when the Phils' hitting went on an early vacation.
 
[quote name='pitfallharry219']Ellsbury is really making his case for MVP today.[/QUOTE]

If the Sox make it to the post season, I think he wins it. Now I think Tito should have left Morales in to finish it off. Then bring in someone else if he struggles.
 
[quote name='pitfallharry219']Ellsbury is really making his case for MVP today.[/QUOTE]

After game 1 combined with the Pats loss, if nothing else he was the MVP of me not throwing my remote through the TV.

I think Verlander should be the MVP, I can't think of a single player who was more instrumental to their team's success this season. That said, among hitters I definitely think Ellsbury has the best case (though I suspect Granderson will probably win it).
 
[quote name='bvharris']After game 1 combined with the Pats loss, if nothing else he was the MVP of me not throwing my remote through the TV.

I think Verlander should be the MVP, I can't think of a single player who was more instrumental to their team's success this season. That said, among hitters I definitely think Ellsbury has the best case (though I suspect Granderson will probably win it).[/QUOTE]

Verlander SHOULD win it.

Will he? I doubt it, mostly because of the BBWAA being stupid.
 
[quote name='jello44']Verlander SHOULD win it.

Will he? I doubt it, mostly because of the BBWAA being stupid.[/QUOTE]

As I said, I think Verlander would be a great choice, and I'll have no issue with it if he wins it. The only outcome which would bother me would be Granderson winning it over Ellsbury, because unless you only look at HR and RBI totals (which, as we know, BBWAA voters usually do), Ellsbury had the better season overall.
 
Sox lose, Rays win and are tied in the Wild card now.

Braves lose, Cards are tied 4-4 with the Astros in the bottom of the 8th.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Sox lose, Rays win and are tied in the Wild card now.

Braves lose, Cards are tied 4-4 with the Astros in the bottom of the 8th.[/QUOTE]

fucking Berkman...

Astros win anyway! Woot!

Would love for them to play spoiler against the Cards, even if it means the Bravos make the playoffs. :p
 
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I really hate the position the Yankees are in, basically deciding who gets the wild card. Considering that whoever gets it won't play NY in the first round, there's really no incentive to wear them out since it will just make things easier for Texas/Detroit. But then if they just let the Rays walk all over them, Tampa could get hot, run through Texas/Detroit, and then could smash the Yankees again if they make it to the ALCS.

But at the same time, the Yankees shouldn't wear themselves out, and make things easier on their first round opponent. Ughhh...it feels really "Damned if you do. Damned if you don't."-ish.
 
Welp, the Angels are officially out of the Wild Card race, not that anyone was really expecting them to sweep the Rangers with a possibility of a three way tie for the AL Wild Card spot.
 
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