Expanded playoffs have arrived
I thought this had already been decided, but the extra wild card has been approved. I'm kind of surprised that MLB would do this so close to the start of the season. Given the glacial pace at which MLB moved, I figured they had just decided that they were going to do it at some point, but whoa, whoa, let's not be all hasty here. As MB and I discussed yesterday, it doesn't really matter that much at this point if you add more teams. At 8 total teams the best team already has a very poor chance of winning everything, 2 more teams isn't going to make that much of a difference. And for the team that loses the wild-card play in game, I don't see how it's any more anticlimactic than say the 2008 Cubs postseason. 2 team playoff or GTFO, in my opinion.
Apparently most players are annoyed with the Braun situation too
A large majority of the players Buster Olney has spoken to are upset about the Braun decision. I agree with Calcaterra's take
Braun walking on this charge is no more of a threat to the drug testing system than a guy getting off on a burglary charge because the cops didn’t get a proper search warrant is a threat to the criminal justice system. You may hate the result, but the remedy is easy: get it right next time or change the rules to make what happened in that instance acceptable. It is not something that puts the entire regime in peril.
Finally, I’ll observe that these complaints all seem a little self-righteous to me. No one who ever wins on a procedural argument themselves ever seems to have a problem with it. And I suspect that the 80-90% of the players Olney spoke with here were under the gun themselves, they would not hesitate to make the same arguments Braun did if they or their legal advisors thought to do so.
Exactly. Be annoyed with the system that allowed this, not with the player('s lawyer) that shows how toothless it is.
Fireworks factory errata
The PBTNL have yet to be decided, but Hoyer said that the Red Sox will get the better PBTNL in the exchange. I don't think either of these guys will end up being worth anything – I fully expect both of the players moved to be organizational filler types.
Tom Ricketts to speak at SABR Analytics conference next month
Mind ——————> Blown
Cubs broadcasters ranked sixth in Fangraphs poll
Number 1 on the list is pretty obvious. As was number 31. It's too bad they didn't put any of the national broadcast teams in the mix (e.g. Buck/McCarver, Brennaman/whoever his stooge is, Miller/Morgan retro choice). I'd probably put all three of those teams just ahead of Hawk and the former Playgirl model.
The Cubs have a team psychologist in camp
Per Muskat. Did the Cubs have one around in the Hendry years? My memory is terrible. For some reason I think having around one might have come in handy over the past few years…
A.J. Burnett injured in his first week with the Pirates
It hasn't been a great offseason for him. He's out indefinitely with a fractured orbital bone after bunting a ball into his own face. This should put a big dent in the Pirates' dreams of passing the Cubs for 4th place in the NL Central this season.
Comments
Grady Sizemore ——->back surgery, out 8-12 weeks
BerseliusQuote Reply
Pretty sure they got a psychologist on board during a recent season we enjoyed. It was a reaction to some Zambrano or Bradley meltdown or other.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
See what bunting gets you? Balls to the face.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
IN honor of Harry’s birthday, everyone has to go get blackout drunk on vodka gimlets at the bar at Gibson’s.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
And sleep with the team’s owner’s wife? That’s old school Harry.
joshQuote Reply
A.J. Burnett’s injury reminds me of my dad. One summer night during college summer vacation, he comes downstairs and we were shotgunning beers. He said he was the king of his fraternity at shotgunning. He took one, shook it up, and popped it. The beer sprayed all over his face and we couldn’t stop laughing. Any beer drinking idiot knows not to shake a beer. I love my dad, btw.
Burnett’s “let me show you how to bunt” sequence very much reminds me of this.
jtsunamiQuote Reply
I think you can be annoyed with both. It does seem that many of the players like MLB’s drug testing program and are sincere in that they want it to work. They see this as a threat and while I don’t agree with that, I can see how someone would. They collectively bargained this and as a result, they’re going to have to do the same thing yet again.
mb21Quote Reply
Yeah, they had one at one point. I remember the article about it at the time.
mb21Quote Reply
@ jtsunami:
Diverting anecdote, bud.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
Suburban kid wrote:
mb21Quote Reply
Still (dying laughing) at your assessment of dictionary.reference.com from the last thread, SK.
GBTSQuote Reply
@ GBTS:
I mean, who are you going to trust?
or
Suburban kidQuote Reply
This could probably be Yellon-meme’d:
MishQuote Reply
Goddammit.
http://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/432236_2950945211692_1203218744_32347881_1781047536_n.jpg
MishQuote Reply
You can rest assured there was supposed to be a picture of 21st century slackers direct from dictionary.com’s About Us page, followed by a portrait of my main homie Noah Webster.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
Here’s the dictionary SK was given as a child
mb21Quote Reply
@ mb21:
I don’t get what the big deal is. I looked up this Ryan Braun fellow on Fangraphs, and he hasn’t pitched in the major leagues since 2007.
joshQuote Reply
@ mb21:
(dying laughing)
Suburban kidQuote Reply
http://weldbham.com/secondfront/2012/02/24/poll-santorum-comes-from-behind-in-alabama-three-way/
Suburban kidQuote Reply
@ Suburban kid:
That’s SEC math for ya.
mb21Quote Reply
You could conduct a poll at Alabama and find that 48% support Romney, 53% for Santorum, 29% for Newty and 17.8% for Paul.
mb21Quote Reply
@ mb21:
With 48% undecided.
mb21Quote Reply
@ mb21:
They are the 137%
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Suburban kid:
If the link shorthand is any indication, the headline was very poorly conceived and could be considered a sexual innuendo.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ mb21:
Ok, read this: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Rick%20Santorum
Then read SK’s headline again.
joshQuote Reply
josh wrote:
SK – 2
GBTS – 1
GBTSQuote Reply
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/prince-fielder-hits-611-foot-home-run-batting-212749120.html;_ylt=AkJG0dyVYn4pkLpysFNXxhbsYcp_;_ylu=X3oDMTFja3NwYTFmBG1pdANCbG9ncyBJbmRleARwb3MDMQRzZWMDTWVkaWFCbG9nSW5kZXhUZW1w;_ylg=X3oDMTFvcGs0cnBnBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANibG9nBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25zBHRlc3QD;_ylv=3
That’s far.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
On the NL adopting the DH:
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/j-burnett-fractured-face-still-ok-nl-used-183054621.html
There are still a number of ways AJ Burnett can get his face broken, but if they had a DH, it wouldn’t be because of a bad bunt attempt (assuming they didn’t run out of position guys in extra innings)
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ GBTS:
Clearly being used as a noun there.
joshQuote Reply
@ mb21:
I didn’t read the article, just the headline.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
Suburban kid wrote:
jtsunamiQuote Reply
@ jtsunami:
(dying laughing)
Actually, I’m a lot like your dad, except for the macho beer guzzling. I often have “feats of skill” (and routine home maintenance tasks) blow up in my face.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
@ Suburban kid:
That’s my go-to move.
MishQuote Reply
@ Mish:
Admittedly did this in like 12 minutes, but:
http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/4069/alwantsyou.jpg
GBTSQuote Reply
@ GBTS:
(dying laughing) x 2 or 288
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ josh:
I know. I just read the article and the math was funny. (dying laughing)
mb21Quote Reply
@ GBTS:
Well done sir!
MishQuote Reply
Berselius wrote:
i call bullshit. i am pissed that MLB left a loophole in there but at some point, you can’t cover every fucking situation. at some point, you have to trust people to stand up and do the right thing (i.e. say “hey you caught me. sorry. i won’t do it again and i accept whatever punishment is in the books.”)
i just had a discussion with a buddy of mine about who was at fault for all of the current societal ills which (in my mind) relates to this. you can sit there and say, “hey, don’t blame (for example) wall street for fucking us. blame the idiots in congress who passed the laws that ALLOWED wall street to fuck us. wall street was just doing their job, making money for shareholders.” fuck that. i’ll blame BOTH parties, but the party that i am gonna blame less is the one that was actually trying to help people, and not the party that looked for some bullshit loophole that allowed them to do whatever the hell they wanted to do. at some point, you cannot cover all your bases and you have to just trust in humanity to do the right thing.
yes, i guess braun deserves to walk on this, but still, fuck him.and fuck his (very smart and presumably rich) attorney. they both knew damn well that they were gaming the system to get off scot free. if i can’t be annoyed with that, then i give up.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
wait berselius only wrote the top part. i don’t really get html.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
@ GBTS:
You can even the score by posting that on bcb and screencapping it.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
@ EnricoPallazzo:
I fixed it.
EnricoPallazzo wrote:
Agreed. I don’t really expect these guys to stand up and admit when they’re wrong. Especially when it’s going to cost them as much money as a 50-game suspension will. I expect MLB to follow the rules too. I don’t have to like either party and I don’t have to think of Braun’s suspension being overturned as anything other than a joke even though I agree it should have been.
mb21Quote Reply
(dying laughing)
Adam Dunn out-slugged Koyie Hill by .001 in 2011. (dying laughing)
GBTSQuote Reply
Yankees —> cutting payroll?
26.2cubfanQuote Reply
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s983TpLdTdU
(dying laughing)
GBTSQuote Reply
@ EnricoPallazzo:
I’m with you on this one.
joshQuote Reply
@ 26.2cubfan:
I wonder if this is a sign overall of baseball losing revenue, or just one of those things.
joshQuote Reply
@ josh:
It’s a luxury tax thing as far as I can tell. They have to get under a certain threshold before the new tax kicks in.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
We’re letting the people decide which beer style will be the next cask beer event at Six Row Brewery in St. Louis. I don’t want to tell you how to vote, but I’m rooting for the Ginger Kolsch and think you should too.
http://svy.mk/SixRowCaskVote2012
Aisle424Quote Reply
@ EnricoPallazzo:
Fuck Ryan Braun too, I’m not trying to exhonorate him here, and players should be pissed at Braun for cheating. I’m just annoyed that there isn’t more ire directed at the shitty testing system.
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
It sounds to me like the system itself is okay, they just forgot to document an ad hoc protocol that wasn’t in the official rules, near as I can tell. The tester guy should have documented the change back in 2005 and verified with the people in charge. Not that it’s totally his responsibility, but to protect his own ass. I’ve dealt with this kind of heavily documented procedure before, and there is a way to make changes like this (if the store is closed, store the sample in your home in proper conditions until first thing Monday), but you have to follow procedure so the lawyers don’t rip it apart.
joshQuote Reply
I bet you from here on out, they’ll tighten the reigns on their procedures, or hire better auditors or something. This is an embarrassment up and down the line for the testing side, to have been tripped up by something that should have been caught and would have taken about 5 seconds to fix.
joshQuote Reply
@ Aisle424:
I don’t know, chocolate stout sounds intriguing. I do love stout.
joshQuote Reply
Bubbles keeps reading that Samardzija is looking real good in camp and has a legit shot at starting.
Does anyone take this serious
bubblesdachimpQuote Reply
Also,
If the Bears are going to draft a WR in the first round might as well just sign mike wallace
bubblesdachimpQuote Reply
@ bubblesdachimp:
Sure, why not? How much worse could he be than Rodrigo Lopez?
joshQuote Reply
@ Aisle424:
You say “We’re”… is this something you are part owner of?
Also, I voted for the IPA.. sorry.
WaLiQuote Reply
@ bubblesdachimp:
Uh, yeah he is looking good in camp. Didn’t you see his headshot?
http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/979042/jeff-sam_medium.jpg
WaLiQuote Reply
@ josh:
I just dont see how he is a better option then Wells, Volstad Wood.
I would really like to see Wood and Volstad start no matter what.
bubblesdachimpQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
I just realized you meant the OTHER Sizemore. It’s a bad year to be named Sizemore.
joshQuote Reply
@ bubblesdachimp:
I forget who all they have, but it seems to me that the #5 spot isn’t locked down for anyone.
joshQuote Reply
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfVsfOSbJY0
Aisle424Quote Reply
WaLi wrote:
I’m helping them out with their social media and marketing. My girlfriend’s brother-in-law is the majority owner.
Aisle424Quote Reply
Partyin Partyin Yea!
bubblesdachimpQuote Reply
new shit: http://obstructedview.net/major-league-baseball/pre-season-nl-power-rankings.html
mb21Quote Reply