deadspy3
Nov 05, 2008 Dec 23, 2009 11 915
a fan of
New York Mets
Manchester United
Lancashire County Cricket Club
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Draft compensation 'loophole'
This has probably been discussed before with reference to different free agents, but it seems a daft loophole in the compensation system.
23 days ago
deadspy3
1 comment
0 recs
LoDuca seeking work
Via Baseball Think Factory.
No thanks, Paul!
about 1 month ago
deadspy3
17 comments
0 recs
Nick Evans catching in the bullpen plus a little bit of BP. I think I am a bit generous about his catching abilities!
Something weird happened with this video as it has 125 views after only 6 minutes. Odd.
about 1 month ago
deadspy3
8 comments
0 recs
A Modest Proposal (Realignment and Expansion)
by deadspy3 on Oct 9, 2009 12:57 PM EDT
66 comments
OK, it's an old and well-worn idea, but I'm dragging it back up. As a British sports fan, one of the hardest things for me to comprehend is that sporting competition in MLB is so unbalanced. I get the rational reasons why - market saturation, travel time; and I've heard the less rational ones - history (not unimportant, but not critical), rivalry (rivalries come and go, see current Mets v Phillies aggro) etc.
I'm referring here both to unequally sized divisions/leagues and to the fact that teams have to play certain others a huge amount and certain others strange numbers of times home vs road etc. My proposal is to completely fix the former - make baseball into two sixteen-team leagues of four divisions each - and to further mitigate the latter, by having teams play their own 3 division mates sixteen times each, eight at home and eight on the road, and their other twelve league mates eight times each, four at home and four on the road.
Practical results of this:
1) No wildcard - best record plays fourth, second plays third (1st and 2nd home advantage)
2) Less interleague play, no guaranteed 'natural rival' games
3) Marlins move to Las Vegas or Sacramento
4) New AL team in Portland
5) New NL team in New York (though NJ or Hartford are also possibilites)
6) Tampa moves to NL, Arizona and Colorado to AL
7) An end to 3 game series - sad, but this allows overall equal treatment of playing each time for either one or two series at home and away each
8) Travel is much more sensible, hopefully meaning game quality is higher!
9) Off days have to be staggered pretty evenly, but with two fewer games overall, the season could stay the same length.
10) Postseason is effectively the same except everyone in it has won a Division of the same number of opponents
My Post-Expansion/Realignment Line-up:
NL NorthEast
New York Expansion Team
NL SouthEast
NL Central
St Louis Cardinals
Miwaukee Brewers
NL West
LA Dodgers
SF Giants
Las Vegas or Sacramento Marlins
AL East
NY Yankees
AL South
KC Royals
AL Central
AL NorthWest
Portland Expansion Team
LA Angels
So I realise the Mets and Yankees would fight tooth and nail to stop a new NY team, but there is PLENTY of market room and a strong commissioner could theoretically push this through - Manhatten perhaps.
What do you think?
66 comments | 2 recs
A few short clips from tonight's game warmups etc
2 months ago
deadspy3
17 comments
2 recs
Pat Misch Audition? Really?
Initially I was laughing at the idea that Misch was one half of a "very promising" battery, but the 'article' goes on to set up this outing by Misch as something of an audition for the 2010 rotation. Based on one start. Now I realise the Mets are somewhat screwed, but is Pat Misch really even close to being an SP option next year?
3 months ago
deadspy3
20 comments
0 recs
Youkilis Charges Mound, Reaches Pitcher
As the commentators say in this clip, it seems pretty unusual for the hit batter to get as far as the pitcher and for them both to end up scrapping on the floor. FWIW I also think this was semi-accidental.
Anyway, while this was happening, the patented Worst Line Up Ever! was providing some *real* entertainment. Ho-hum.
4 months ago
deadspy3
19 comments
0 recs
Murphy: Good, But Not Good Enough For Correct Forename Reporting
Don't know if this has been commented on already, but another one for the growing list of David Murphy appearances: the main article seems to be correct but the summary on the menu page linked here has Daniel as the other biblical D-Man.
4 months ago
deadspy3
3 comments
0 recs
Kazmir on the block?
I realise there's probably a bit of sentimentality here, and a sense of wanting past wrongs righted, but would it be beyond the realms of possibility to trade F!, Brad Holt and Ike Davis to the Indians, Victor Martinez to the Rays, and Kazmir/Crawford to the Mets? Mets seem to be the only ones who could conceivably make the payroll room for those two, and it's not just a deal for this year. Just wondering...
4 months ago
deadspy3
9 comments
0 recs
Wily Mo and Valentin released?
Wily Mo Pena and Javier Valentin released, says Bart Hubbuch of NY Post, via mlbtraderumors.com
6 months ago
deadspy3
28 comments
0 recs
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