SB Nation User Blog: dbroncos31

7/31 Rumour Mill: Griffey----->White Sox, Bay---->RED SOX, Manny---->DODGERS

dbroncos31 — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:30:40 -0000

I figured we should save the front-page post for Mariner trades/non-trades. If not, then ignore this.

Griffey has apparently been picked up by the White Sox. Take it away, Ken.

The Reds have traded Griffey to the White Sox, pending his approval. Griffey will decide Thursday morning whether he will approve the deal, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. It is not known what the Reds would receive in return.

It's a questionable move for the Sox, as I don't really see a fit there and he sucks, but I see no reason why he'd veto the trade.

EDIT: AHAHAHAHAHAHA

The White Sox, leading the American League Central by a game and a half, would use Griffey mostly in the outfield, the source said. ...The Sox are set at the corners with Carlos Quentin in left and Jermaine Dye in right. They could play Nick Swisher at first to open center for Griffey, a move that would reduce the playing time of first baseman Paul Konerko

Well, Detroit and Minnesota, here's your opportunity. Seriously how dumb can a first-place team be? Griffey in CF???

The [FALL DOWN STAIRS] of a trade involving Manny, Bay, and the Marlins has not been agreed upon yet. Miami Herald:

But a person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press early Thursday there was no tentative agreement. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because talks were ongoing, with the trade deadline looming Thursday afternoon.

Hopefully the Marlins are coming to their senses. If not, the Sox are getting quite a steal.

The Rays are targeting Adam Dunn if Bay is dealt to someone else. Stark:

The Reds and Rays talked Wednesday night about a deal that would send Adam Dunn to Tampa Bay. According to a source with knowledge of the discussions, those talks haven't yet moved beyond the conversation stage. But that conversation is expected to resume Thursday morning.

This would be interesting. A good hitter who would be a huge improvement at DH and will likely net the Rays 2 picks at years end.

UPDATE (UPDATE): Rays have traded have not traded for Jason Bay. MLB.com was wrong

With the three-way deal between the Pirates, Red Sox, and Marlins falling through, an MLB.com source says that the Rays are going to acquire right-handed hitting outfielder Jason Bay for Minor League prospects including shortstop Reid Brignac and right-hander Jeff Niemann. The Rays have not confirmed the deal.

Rosenthal:

The Rays' pursuit of Pirates outfielder Jason Bay is off "unless a miracle happens," according to a source close to the negotiations.

FINAL UPDATE: Manny has been traded to the Dodger in a 3-way trade. ESPN

A baseball source has confirmed Ramirez has been traded to the Dodgers, ESPN.com has learned.

Jason Bay is going to Boston as part of the deal, SI.com reported. And the Pirates get four minor leaguers as part of the three-way deal.

Yes I know it's early but I live on the East Coast and we all know about the trade deadline.

Extra (FREE!) Ticket to Mets/M's on Monday (Felix-Johan)

dbroncos31 — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 19:08:38 -0000

I have a single ticket available for Monday night's (7:10 pm EST) game against the Mets. As of now this would be Felix against Johan. The ticket is located in Outer Field Box 142 Row H, which is like LF. Outer Field Box is the lowest section so if my math is correct you should be 8 rows back from the field. My friends and I will be a few sections over (there were supposed to be 5 of us and one would sneak over but one kid can only go Tuesday). From what it sounds it's a good seat to see two of the best SPs in the game.

I need to pick it up at Will Call before the game so whoever wants it needs to meet me outside the stadium before the game. I plan on getting there around 5:30 so whenever you want to get there is fine.

My apologies if this is breaking any rules

I got the ticket for 50 but I don't feel like scalping it so you can have it for free.

I guess I'll give it to whoever emails me first. william.e.bartow@villanova.edu

Joe Morgan is an Asshat

dbroncos31 — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:28:38 -0000

I was reading through Fire Joe Morgan and stumbled across this gem from a JoeChat. In response to a question re: Willie Randolph, Joe tries to make an argument that managers get more shit than they should; GMs should get blame too. Now while this makes sense in regards to the Mets, Joe decides that there is another good example.

The Mariners are way under .500, for instance, but no one is criticizing the GM, they're looking at the manager.

Unbelieveable. I guess we can give him a pass because Bill was fired on Monday and this chat was on Tuesday...Oh wait.

Just crazy that at the time of the chat the GM had been fired and the manager was still managing. Yay for ESPN "experts."

http://www.firejoemorgan.com/2008/06/doo-doo-doo-doo-do-dooooooooooo.html

Yuni: The King of the Three True Outcomes

dbroncos31 — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:21:32 -0000

Most of us have heard of the Three True Outcomes at some point in our baseball watching. Basically the 3 outcomes are HR, BB, and K (Or pop-up to 2B, soft grounder to 1B and weak fly to right for pre-FuckingTheMan Lopez). Well there are some players who don't really like the Three True Outcomes and do eveything they can to avoid them. Craig Brown over at THT looked at 4 guys who cannot homer, walk or strike-out. He looks at Bengie Molina, Juan Pierre, Christian Guzman, and our favorite Cunab, Yuni. It's pretty interesting to see how these guys literally cannot walk, K, or go yard. But the Yuni writeup was pretty depressing.

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/three-two-one-contact/

Yuniesky Betancourt: 3 HR, 4 BB, 16 SO in 236 plate appearances
True Outcome percentage: 9.7%

Four walks? Four?

That translates to a current walk rate of 1.7 percent. If Betancourt keeps that up, he’ll finish with the lowest walk rate since Shawon Dunston's 1.6 percent rate in 1997 playing for the Cubs and Pirates.

Since breaking into the majors in 2005 and taking a free pass in 5 percent of his plate appearances, his walk rates have declined every year.

2005: 5.0%
2006: 3.0%
2007: 2.7%
2008: 1.7%

I knew Yuni wasn't walking much, but 1.7%?? Good God. I'm pretty sure that ~90% of LL-ers could walk in 1% of their PAs (and K the rest of the time). Someone needs to sit with Yuni and let him know that walks aren't bad and actually can help.

Currently, Betancourt is hitting .284/.294/.415 and he stands the best chance of the four at finishing below 10 percent. That is, if he can keep his job for the entire season.

I'm going to assume that is pure guesswork, but do we even have another SS capable of playing in the majors?

Jonathan Papelbon is hilarious

dbroncos31 — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:08:19 -0000

Even though most [all] of us hate the Red Sox, I think that everoyne appreciates how good Papsmear is. Or not. But either way he's a great pitcher and apparently he has a good sense of humor. Don't try this at Safeco.

How to get an autograph from Paps:

1. Take naked pictures of wife.

2. Bring them to Fenway to show your friends.

3. Throw said pictures into the bullpen.

4. Autographs!!!

http://www.roto-world.com/2007/10/greatest-papelbon-story-ever-told.html

...during the next half-inning break, Papelbon emerges. The section goes nuts again and this time Papelbon signals to the "Hammer" to get ready to catch a pitch, and he throws a baseball to the "Hammer". It was signed by the entire Red Sox bullpen, and they wrote "Thanks for the bullpen pics".

Caple: Sign Bonds, Mariners

dbroncos31 — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 04:51:35 -0000

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=caple/080407

Preaching to the choir.

Get it done. F Vidro.

P.S. I'm only at like 21 words, so today's Wikipedia fun fact: As a freshman, Bonds spent the baseball season on the JV team. The next three years—1980 to 1982—he starred on the varsity. He batted .467 his senior year, and was honored as a prep All-American. He graduated from Arizona State in 1986 with a degree in criminology.

There might be hope for our favorite guy

dbroncos31 — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 04:26:23 -0000

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/turcolumns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&page=rumblings

Stark looks at why Bonds hasn't been signed and talked to 3 unidentified officials. It's the same stuff that we've heard all spring but one official said he thinks Bonds will be signed, saying

"I think he is going to get signed," said Official C. "I do believe that. I think at some point, you'll see a team that loses a DH to an injury will turn to him. … I'll give you an example. Say David Ortiz goes down in Boston. I wouldn't be surprised if they signed Barry Bonds. Say Gary Sheffield goes down in Detroit. I wouldn't be surprised if they signed Barry Bonds. If Seattle stays in the race, I wouldn't be surprised if they signed Barry Bonds.

"It would have to be a team that has a shot to win, a team that gets to June or July and wants to upgrade at DH, or a team that has a major injury. But I really think it will happen. I really do."

Bill James' Projections-M's Lineup=Awesome

dbroncos31 — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 20:43:45 -0000

I was looking at the projections on Fangraphs to help with my fantasy team when I noticed that Bill James' projections were much higher for us than ZiPS or PECOTA. The numbers weren't that far off of the projections I had made in my Calc class, and I figured that mine would be a sick team if they happened.

So long story short, I went to Baseball Musings Lineup Analysis to see how the lineup with BJ's projections would do.
http://www.baseballmusings.com/cgi-bin/LineupAnalysis.py

I had a lineup of Ichiro, Vidro, Raul, Richie, Kenji, Beltre, Wilk, Yuni, and Lopez.

According to James' projections, our starting lineup will score 5.202 runs per game. Over a 162 game season that is about 842 runs.

I was wondering how his projections tend to do, because if our offense puts up >850 runs, we will be a playoff team easily.

So, the question for us (until the season starts and we actually find out) is which group of projections is the most accurate, the ones that have us as the 4th best team in the AL West or the one that has us as the 4th best team in the AL?

Sickest College BBall Game Ever

dbroncos31 — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 06:55:09 -0000

Villanova 68, LSU 67.

Nova trailed 54-33 with 8:49 left.

Dante Cunningham hit a layup with 5.9 secs left to give us our first lead.

I'll admit, I gave up. I said to my roommate, "Fuck, we're unranked now." I thought we had no chance. What followed was one of the greatest comebacks in college bball history. Malcolm Grant scored 13 points in the final 3 minutes. The change in the crowd was unreal. I don't really know what happened; I just know that when the game was over I was leaping into the air and tackling my friends.

I still don't really beleive what I just saw....

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=273400222

Oh Baby Jesus (Trade rumor stuff)

dbroncos31 — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 15:14:37 -0000

SO my friend tells me that there's a rumor that the Twins might trade Johan to the Angels for Weaver, Willits and Matthews Jr. First off that would be one of the most one-sided trades I have ever seen. Secondly, I was looking for confirmation of this and stumbled across this quote from Fox.

"Right-hander Matt Garza remains the young pitcher the Twins are most likely to move, and the team also could deal right-hander Boof Bonser. A Garza-for-Adam Jones exchange with the Mariners could make sense, but the M's would be more likely to dangle Jones along with right-hander Brandon Morrow in a package for Santana."
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7498162

Sweet Jesus. Obviously this is a rumor and since it is Fox, it almost certainly won't happen, but just seeing Garza for Jones makes me unhappy. I don't want to "dangle" Jones to anybody. NOw the real question is whether our FO is dumb enough to make a trade like this.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=mlb&id=2690703
Yikes.