SB Nation User Blog: deadspy3

Draft compensation 'loophole'

deadspy3 — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:10:30 -0000

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.

LoDuca seeking work

deadspy3 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:48:16 -0000

LoDuca seeking work

Via Baseball Think Factory.

No thanks, Paul!

Nick Evans catching in the bullpen plus a little bit of BP. I think I am a bit generous about his...

deadspy3 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:10:49 -0000

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.

A Modest Proposal (Realignment and Expansion)

deadspy3 — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:44:36 -0000

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 Mets

Philadelphia Phillies

Pittsburgh Pirates

New York Expansion Team

NL SouthEast

NL Central

St Louis Cardinals

Miwaukee Brewers

NL West

LA Dodgers

San Diego Padres

SF Giants

Las Vegas or Sacramento Marlins

AL East

NY Yankees

AL South

KC Royals

AL Central

AL NorthWest

Portland Expansion Team

LA Angels

Oakland Athletics

Seattle Mariners

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?

A few short clips from tonight's game warmups etc

deadspy3 — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 03:47:43 -0000

A few short clips from tonight's game warmups etc

Pat Misch Audition? Really?

deadspy3 — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:23:59 -0000

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?

Youkilis Charges Mound, Reaches Pitcher

deadspy3 — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:26:40 -0000

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.

Murphy: Good, But Not Good Enough For Correct Forename Reporting

deadspy3 — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 16:33:35 -0000

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.

Kazmir on the block?

deadspy3 — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 09:51:29 -0000

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...

Wily Mo and Valentin released?

deadspy3 — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:21:58 -0000

Wily Mo and Valentin released?

Wily Mo Pena and Javier Valentin released, says Bart Hubbuch of NY Post, via mlbtraderumors.com