September, 2007
Forum
Flubs
It's
that time of year again: time to look back at some of the comments
written on the league forum over the past year and make fun of the
people who wrote them. Fortunately, I began putting this together
before our web server crashed, and we lost eight months worth of posts!
Howie Kendrick's first 266 pa's:
257 ab, 72 hits, 21 doubles, 1 triple, 4 homers, 9 bb, 42 k's.
.280/.305/.416
Ronny Cedeno's first 275 pa's:
263 ab, 77 hits, 10 doubles, 3 triples, 2 homers, 12 bb, 21 k's.
.293/.324/.376
I'm still holding out hope!!!
-- Tom DiStefano,
9/28/06
Kendrick, 2007: 306 AB, .324/.346/.461
Sub-par Ronny, 2007: 60 AB, .154/.188/.283
Keep hope alive, Tom! Keep hope
alive!
Unless someone has quite a
creative offer, we will most likely be holding onto Clemens, but are
willing to trade him during the draft.
A trade like this will have to involve top young talent AND require
drafting guys for us.
Looks like we are looking at a position player or pitcher in return
(starting caliber, but not all star) stud prospect, and making a few
picks for us in the later rounds.
-- Anthony
Peburn, 10/30/06
Less than two months later, Peburn
traded Clemens for...wait for it...DIONER NAVARRO!
I hated to trade Halladay,
but I have no regrets with this trade since it accomplished what I
needed it to, and since I got two young, good players in exchange.
-- John Duel,
11/30/06
Unfortunately for John, one of those
"young, good players" missed this entire season after Tommy John
surgery. And while the other one, Brandon Phillips
(.295/.339/.498) has enjoyed a decent season (while hitting in the best
HR park in baseball) at $1.1 million, is there anyone who would trade
him for a $7 million Roy Halladay (209+ IP, 3.82 ERA, 677/687 splits?)
Regarding Rolen, if he's
healthy, he could be a bargain in 2008. But who knows if he's
healthy? He battled a bad back injury down the stretch, hit just
.227/.292/.398 in September, then was relegated to a bench role in
the World Series. He may never hit 30 homers again. Or he may find
some miracle cure this off-season and reclaim his power. I really
don't know what to do with him on Cutdown Day. I'm leaning toward
signing him to a three-year deal. But if he battles injuries again
all next year, and has another year like he did in '05
(.235/.323/.383 in 196 AB's), I'll be screwed.
-- Me, 11/30/06
...Or, I could just trade him to Greg!
(Sorry, Greg.)
Marlboro trades RP Brian
Fuentes, RP Justin Speier, INF Estaban German, RP Alan Embree, RP
Brian Sweeney and 2B Adam Kennedy to Villanova for RP Mariano
Rivera, OF Jonny Gomes, SP Franklin Morales (Farm), SP Troy Patton
(Farm), OF Jeremy Reed and INF Jorge Piedra.
For me this whole deal comes down to Rivera and how valuable he will
be after the auction is over and someone can get him for a full year
and not worry about salary or contract.
-- Sharky,
12/1/06
Um, you expect Rivera to be
as valuable to someone after the draft as the 4 very useful
relievers and 2 capable infielders you dealt away?
Sorry, I don't get it.
-- Badger,
12/1/06
If a team already has a good
pen but needs that closer, yes I do.
They were quality players but trading them individually, even
packaging two of them is not going to get me the same value as what
Rivera may get me by himself after the draft. Have to wait to see.
Don't forget, also got Gomes (who I like) and a couple of good
upside starters for my farm as well.
-- Sharky,
12/1/06
That team with an already
good pen won't trade you that entire pen just for the closer. And
throw in 2 useful infielders to boot!
...I think you are greatly overestimating the value of Rivera after
the draft.
-- Badger,
12/1/06
I find this whole exchange absolutely
fascinating, given that less than a month later, Badger traded for
Rivera, and dumped Daniel Cabrera's horrendous contract on Sharky in the
process. Can you say: "GM of the Year?"
...Don't forget, also got
Gomes (who I like) and a couple of good upside starters for my farm
as well...
-- Sharky,
12/1/06
Marlboro acquires catching
prospect Jeff Clement and one-time highly regarded Edwin Jackson
from Los Altos for RF Jonny Gomes, outfield prospect Chris Marrero
and pitching prospect Daniel Bard.
"Gomes has been on the market for a few weeks..."
-- Sharky,
12/19/06
Yep, 18 days after he claimed that
Gomes was a guy he "liked," Sharky traded him away as a throw-in. Man, what would this league do for
entertainment if it weren't for Sharky? (And Doyle, of course.)
Should be another fun year,
watching [the Boston Red Sox] bolt out of the gate, then fade down
the stretch.
-- Me, 12/5/07
Yeah, I called it. But no, it
wasn't all that difficult to foresee.
I am anxiously waiting to see
what the Hammerheads do in the auction and draft. When you have a
hole at every position, I can't imagine the auction being your
friend. You are going to pay top dollar for players and I don't see
how Shark can do that. I guess there are a few bargains in the
auction and Ken will have to hunt for them. He could spend lots of
dollars to acquire some of the top talent in the auction, and try to
trade them...but I don't think there are enough atbats/innings in
500k and 100k rounds to fill out a team. The Hammerheads might end
up being the worst team in BDBL history. I'm looking foward to
seeing how Ken works his magic this January.
-- Jeff
Paulson, 12/7/06
As of this writing, the
Hammerheads own a record of 47-85. Their winning percentage of
.356 is second-worst only to New Milford (.311.) They're on pace
to go 57-103 this season, which would be far from the worst record in BDBL history. In fact, the Blazers themselves have won fewer than
55 games in a season THREE TIMES!
Clemens and his $20MM salary
is untradeable after the draft with all of the rules we have in
place.
-- John Gill,
12/22/06
How many times have we seen this
before? A player deemed to be "untradeable" is traded less than
three months later. Mike Hampton, Ken Griffey, Jr., Johan Santana,
Bartolo Colon, Austin Kearns, Roger Clemens, Danny Cabrera, Austin
Kearns again...
Bonds signed for only one
year. That's an overly-safe contract, IMHO. You have to figure that
Bonds will have some good market value in 2008. Even if he's not
worth $10m, he still has value. You could take $2-$3m in cuts and
get a good player in return for him. And I think it's probably 50/50
that he'll be go for $10m in the '08 auction.
-- Me, 12/26/06
Bonds is hitting .279/.483/.570, with
28 homers in 337 ABs. He may not fetch $10 million in the '08
auction due to his age and injury history, but he'd certainly be worth
$10 million for one year.
I'm that high on [Jose Lopez,
signed to a six-year contract.] That's why I reject all offers that
would have had him in it.
At 23, the power and plate discipline will improve, and if it
doesn't, he'll be out of a job soon enough that I can get out the
contract. At four years, I'd lose him at 27, so I went the extra two
years to get him through his prime years.
-- Greg Newgard,
12/28/06
In 480 MLB at-bats, Lopez is hitting
.256/.287/.356. Unfortunately for Greg, his job appears safe.
With our dominant #1 in
place, the Corona Confederates now have their entire pitching staff
in place. With Shawn Green anchoring RF, I have flexibility in
getting either a SS or 2B and an outfielder in the 2-3mil draft
range then flush out the roster with a bunch of other guys.
Now that I have landed the guy I really wanted. I feel confident
that I will make the playoffs this year. And no one will convince me
otherwise until we are mighty near the trade deadline.
-- Ed McGowan,
1/4/07
Ed must have meant the Chapter Two
deadline...
I would be extremely pissed
[if Josh Hamilton pans out] because I held onto him for so long. I
cut him though because I don't think he will do much. He hasn't
played professional ball for FOUR years. He got hurt when he came
back. And I am not sold that he will remain clean. Plus he is 26
years old. If he were a couple years younger and did not miss four
years, it would be different. I view this pick as choosing Rick
Ankiel now.
-- John Gill,
1/7/07
Not only is Hamilton having a
productive year in the big leagues (.292/.368/.554 w/ 19 HR in 298 AB),
but so is Ankiel!
Sheets, Carpenter, Schmidt
and Weaver...I'm sorry, but no one is beating that rotation in a
short series. NO ONE. I don't care what kind of offense you have.
I'm calling this one. Jeff just won this thing, hands-down. You
heard it here first. I may have been wrong about a lot of things
throughout the history of this league, but I've always been good at
calling the BDBL champions, and I'm calling the Undertakers the
champions in 2007. And 2008. And 2009. And maybe even 2010.
-- Me, 1/9/07
I'm sticking with this prediction.
Jeff is winning the trophy this year, next year, and for the next three
years. It's a Jeff Paulson world. We're all just living in
it.
Old man Schilling is going to
get his lunch handed to him next year. The way I see it I just saved
myself a $3M penalty.
-- Scott Romonosky,
1/10/07
Schilling owns a 3.97 ERA, with 753/744
splits, but has thrown only 145 innings due to his old body breaking
down. I'm sure most people would be willing to pay $6 million for
a pitcher like this.
Seeing what is still out
there for starting pitchers, I'd rather take my chances [on Mark
Buehrle] than spend three million for another sucky pitcher who only
has 70 IP...Without the additions of Buehrle and Hendrickson today,
my team would have been absolutely hopeless...as for now, they are
just hopeless.
-- Bobby
Sylvester, 1/16/07
Update: Through 10/3, Buehrle is 3-5
for the Hippos, with a 5.86 ERA in 86 innings. Hendrickson is 5-3
with a 5.62 ERA in 107+ innings. Bobby may have been better off
flushing that $3 million down the toilet!
Losing Braun has the potential
to come back and bite me, but I am not going to sit back and not
pull the trigger on any deal I feel points us to the championship
each and every year...If I thought that I was not going to win the
Butler Division, I would just quit now. I played that way once when
I started and I am never going back there again.
...the rub of course is giving
up a potential future power bat to [fill the holes on my team] -
even one that is years away from possibly being productive for your
BDBL squad. I guess I could have gotten into the season and seen how
it goes, but I don't want to get into the season feeling
short-handed, get in a hole and then find myself wondering how long
it will be before I have to torpedo the season and push on for next
year. I refuse to go into a season like that, even when I have to
make the hard and unpopular decision.
-- Ed McGowan,
1/16/07
Ryan Braun for David Eckstein??
Unbelievable. I have no doubt it was a "quick deal!" The Emperor's
Jedi mind trick powers are more powerful than ever.
-- Me, 1/16/07
I'm also getting Ed's last draft
pick so I'm going to wait before confirming.
-- Tom DiStefano,
1/16/07
Can you imagine what this negotiation
must have been like?
Ed: "Hey, Tom, my team is right on the
verge of contention. All I need is one more player. One
scrappy, diminutive, elfin-like player with gobs of intangibles,
clutchiness, grit and clubhouse presence...do you have anyone like
that?"
Tom: "Does Ronny Cedeno fit the bill?"
Ed: "Well...I was thinking a
little bit
grittier..."
Tom: "Hmm...well, my next draft pick is
coming up real soon, and I see that David Eckstein is still on the
board..."
Ed: "DAVID ECKSTEIN?? He's still
available?? I just assumed he went in Round One! What do you
want for that pick? I'll give you anything! ANYTHING!"
Tom: "Anything, eh?
Um...jeez...uh, well, I did have my heart set on drafting Eckstein
myself...but if you were to give me a farm guy for him, maybe I'd
reconsider."
Ed: "Which farm guy? Name your
price!"
Tom: "Well, okay...um..." (Chuckling as
he types.) "How 'bout Ryan Braun?" (Adds a little winky-smiley
to the end of the sentence, then deletes it.)
Ed: "Done!"
Tom: "Really? Er, I mean...I
don't know if that's enough...I may need you to throw in a draft pick or
something, too."
Ed: "Done! Anything!
Please! My entire 2007 season rides on this!!"
I wonder if Tom has any trouble
sleeping at night.
I THINK THE COMMISH IS JUST
COMPLAINING THAT I DID NOT OBTAIN A CATCHER FROM HIM....
JOHN GILL IS RIGHT.... SALTY HAD A BAD WRIST .... LOEWEN HAS CONTROL
ISSUES. GALLARDO WILL BE VERY GOOD....
THE BOTTOM LINE IS IROD IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE PLAYERS OF ALL TIME
AND NOT ONLY IS HE AN EXCELLENT CATCHER BUT ALSO A GOOD HITTER ....
I THINK IROD CAN PUT ME IN THE PLAYOFFS......
-- Jim Doyle,
1/17/07
The Irish Rebels are 57-75 on the
season, and destined to finish with a losing record for the eighth
season in a row. Gallardo is now one of the brightest young
pitchers in the game. And Saltalamacchia is one of the game's
brightest young hitters. I wonder, did anyone -- besides Jim --
not see this coming?
I didn't say I was going to
the World series next year. I said I was going to be competitive. I
think .500 is realistic now.
For next year, we have:
Pitchers Herrera, Kuo, Wilson, Sharpess, Okijima, Baek, and Campillo,
and maybe Owings at 100K and Eaton at 2 million.
Infielders we have Iwamura, Kouz, navarro, and maybe Patterson at
100K, Casilla, who I have seen play personally, at 500K and Mienty
at 1.1.
In the OF we have Denorfia and Brian anderson at 100K and G Anderson
at 500K
-- Anthony
Peburn, 1/22/07
Update time:
Herrera: Never made it to
the show. Cut by Peburn.
Kuo: 30.1 IP, 7.42 ERA
Wilson: 66 IP, 3.14 ERA
Sharpless: 4.1 IP, 12.46 ERA
Okajima: 67 IP, 2.28 ERA
Baek: 64.1 IP, 5.74 ERA
Campillo: Never made it to the big leagues.
Owings: 146.1 IP, 4.49 ERA
Eaton: 154.1 IP, 6.36 ERA
Iwamura: 449 AB, .285/.357/.408
Kouzmanoff: 431 AB, .269/.321/.455
Navarro: 360 AB, .231/.291/.356
Patterson: 8 AB in MLB
Casilla: 156 AB, .244/.279/.288
Mientkiewicz: 137 AB, .248/.316/.409
Denorfia: 0 AB in MLB
B.Anderson: 17 AB in MLB
G.Anderson: 389 AB, .308/.347/.514
This, my friends, is what
you would call a "slight miscalculation." It's quite possible --
likely, even -- that the 2008 New Milford Blazers will lose more games
than the '07 Blazers. The Blazers have redefined the word "awful."
[Daniel] Cabrera, the 6'7
flamethrower signed thru 2009, has always been a player we have had
an eye on and though he was on the wild side this past season, we
feel that he will turn the corner this year and put up front of the
rotation type numbers over the next few years based on his second
half (4.26 ERA, .238 BAA).
...I
like Cabrera a lot, see if he develops and gets his control. Even if
he can get his walk rate down to 4.0 per 9 innings he is basically
Carlos Zambrano.
...Cabrera could be in line for a
breakout year, read in many places, but time will tell.
...Cabrera 26/7 K/BB ratio after
four starts, two bad ones, still love the upside over the next 3
years.
...First bet of the season, Daniel
Cabrera will have a higher VORP than Eric Retard.
-- Sharky,
1/25/07
Easiest bet in the history of betting.
What on earth were you thinking, Sharky?
WHY THE F IS CHAMRA TAKING ON
$20 MILLION IN COMPLETELY USELESS SALARY?? Just to be one of, what,
11 teams in the EL wild card race?
-- Me, 4/27/07
Wildcard race? I'm gonna win
the division!
You know, you yell at people for tanking and giving up, then you
yell at people for trying to win. Make up your mind!
I had tons of cap room available next year. Even in keeping these
two at $20M, I still have about $11M to spend as of right now.
...Don't make me ask how many trophies you have... we don't want to
go there.
-- Chamra,
4/27/07
How's the pursuit of that second trophy
going, Tony? <insert evil smiley face here>
We were thinking about
holding onto [Jarrod Washburn], however, Lind is a nice bat for real
cheap.
Either way, we will take the 5 million savings in 08 and 3 million
cut penalty in 09 for dumping Washburn plus Lind at 100K both years.
-- Anthony
Peburn, 4/28/07
I like Lind, too, but the way
Washrag's been pitching in MLB this year, I think I'd hold out a
while to see if he's for real.
-- Me, 4/28/07
Washburn: 180.2 IP, 194 H, 21 HR, 64
BB, 105 K, 4.53 ERA
Lind: 247 AB, .227/.272/.385
I can't tell. Did the Blazers
come out ahead or behind in this trade?
I suppose [Casey Janssssen]
could finish the year with something like this:
68 IP, 72 H, 6 HR, 20 BB, 27 K, 3.90 ERC
That's pretty good, but is it really the going rate for J.J. Putz?
-- Me, 5/20/07
Casey Janssssen update: 69.1 IP, 65 H,
4 HR, 19 BB, 38 K, 3.21 ERC. Okay, so I was only off by a little.
I'm not sure why the Infidels
are torching their 2008 season [by trading for an
overpriced/underperforming Bobby Abreu], given that a spot in the
playoffs is a virtual certainty at this point. I guess the "superteam"
strategy lives on.
-- Me, 5/31/07
Since this trade was made, Abreu has
hit .287/.405/.465 in June, .353/.384/.588 in July and .324/.410/.559 in
August. He's now at .287/.367/.456 overall on the season. Oh
-- and he's at 8.2 RC/27 for the Infidels since his acquisition.
Honestly, [John] Lackey isn't
all that. He's been lousy all year.... Lousy since he joined the
Jamboree. I see no reason for outrage over this deal. I don't think
he is that much better than [Jake] Westbrook.
...I don't understand the outrage over a guy with a career 5.15 BDBL
ERA and a 5.27 CERA...I refuse to believe a 5.86 ERA pitcher who has
given up 179 baserunners in 109 innings is an ACE. No way, no how.
-- Matt Clemm,
6/12/07
Since the trade:
Lackey: 7-3, 3.11 ERA, 92.2 IP, 90 H,
10 HR, 18 BB, 88 K
Westbrook: 1-2, 6.00 ERA, 39 IP, 53 H, 9 HR, 12 BB, 19 K (for BCJ)
I know I've posted this comparison
already in a past FTDOTC article, but I just can't seem to get enough of
it!
The main reason I made the
deal [for Curt Schilling] was [Josh] Fields...Aybar was just a
throw-in. Fields has only 26 ABs this year, so let's see how he does
the rest of the way now that he's the starting third baseman after
Crede's injury. Put your torches and pitchforks away until October!
-- Scott
Romonosky, 6/14/07
Through 340 at-bats, Fields is hitting
an unsurprising .238, with an on-base percentage of .292. Granted,
it's still early. Maybe Scott was referring to October of 2012.
Given our recent
track records, I'd be willing to bet that Tom cuts his players
before I cut mine.
-- Me, 6/15/07
Ha, ha, ha, I'd
like to see THAT supported with some facts!!!
-- Tom, 6/15/07
Ah...my favorite forum thread of the
year. Luckily for me, I saved it all before the server crashed.
[Joe Smith] reminds me of ol'
Dan Quisenberry......
-- Jim Doyle,
6/21/07
Let's compare:
Joe Smith: No longer pitching in the
major leagues.
Dan Quisenberry: No longer among the living.
Hmm...now I see the comparison!
[Hong-Chi] Kuo you still give
no credit to. He will be good at the end of the year, and again
100K.
-- Anthony
Peburn, 6/25/07
What the hell. Let's do another
Hong-Kong Kuo update. Just because it's so much fun!
Kuo: 30.1 IP, 35 H, 3 HR, 14 BB, 27 K,
7.42 ERA.
I never get tired of that.
I don't regret trading for Kenny
Rogers. He's 10-7 with five complete games and three shutouts and
averaging 7.1 innings per game. I'm locked into that $10 mil next
year, but he's back pitching and could end up around 110 IP. If he's
decent, he could be worth $5 mil.
-- Mike Stein, 6/25/07
Update: Rogers now has 51 innings in MLB
'07. Which means the Rocks are
on the hook for $10 million in 2008. Of course, Stein will say
that when he wins the 2007 BDBL championship, it will all have been
worth it. But we'll see what he has to say about this trade next
year.
When [James Loney] reaches at least
250 ABs, then maybe -- maybe -- you can start sending me the finger
guy. Until then, [talk to the hand.]
-- Me, 6/27/07
Red alert! James Loney has officially crossed
the 250-AB threshold! (298, to be exact.) Although he's not batting .471 anymore, he
is hitting a respectable .326/.377/.527. So, I guess
you can give me the finger-guy now, Sharky. (But he's STILL not
worth Mariano Rivera.)
[Trading Aaron Cook] was all
about [Shawn] Hill for me. He is on the DL right now, so we will see
what happens the rest of the way. But he is looking very good so
far.
-- Ed McGowan,
6/30/07
Shawn Hill update: 92.2 IP, 78 H, 6 HR,
24 BB, 63 K, 3.01 ERA. Of course, once he leaves the comfy
confines of Washington National Park, all bets are off.
I'm not really sure why
anyone is classifying Cook as an "ace pitcher". Guy's got an .871
OPS vs lefties!
-- Tony Chamra,
6/30/07
In six starts as a Hippo, Cook has
allowed 58 hits and 28 runs (25 earned) in 38+ innings (a 5.82 ERA.)
I guess nobody is an "ace" on the Hippos!
We entered Chapter 4 in the
position of a seller, but after an inspiring 9-3 start to the
chapter including a sweep of the heralded Cowtippers, we now find
ourselves as a .500 club, and now in a buyer’s role. With Ravenswood
(thankfully) only 5 games ahead in the division (8 games remaining
vs. Las Vegas), we feel that this gap can be overcome with a few
additions. We needed to address our lack of hitting against LHP and
to upgrade the back end of the rotation. This deal with New Milford
fits our needs enough that we were willing to part with one of
newest team members, slugger Jack Cust. Cust will provide a
substantial boost to the Blazer offense next season. Although he'll
be missed, we felt he was at his peak in trade value.
-- Johnny Bo, 7/10/07
Jack Cust update: 365 AB,
.260/.409/.504, with 23 homers. Meanwhile, the Flamingos have
fallen six games behind in the Benes Division race.
Unfortunately, gentlemen (and Peburn),
that's where I left off when the server crashed on us, so I have no more
gems to comment upon from the 2007 forum. But I'm sure we'll have
plenty of material for next year's blooper reel. |