G-Snarls

1. Advantage lefty 2. Maddux allowed fewer baserunners

http://www.billjamesonline.com/stats4/ From what I recall he had middle-infielder type reflexes and was very good defensively. It was talked about a lot because of all the awards he won. His pitching abilities were definitely superior to Buerhle's.

Remember when many of us complained about the dog comments and his possible trade unhappiness? Bygones and we over reacted. Sorry Mark.

You have to love low maintenance, professional players who just do their job dependably and never get hurt. We don't have enough of those. Nobody "stabilizes" a rotation the way this guys does. Agree he's been a slightly under appreciated cornerstone of the team for two years.

If he can hit that much better than Thole... I'm all for Navarro spending less time catching and being used as DH when Lind can't or shouldn't. Would also be very useful off the bench as a PH in games where he doesn't start. A 3/5 catcher rather than 4/5 if Navarro has to stay

If he was going to under-shoot for talent at catcher (which he did) he should have gone harder at 2B. Or the OF - we had no idea if Melky was going to be any good or not.

Let it all end

The bench to start the season was what? Thole, Sierra and Izturis? What the Hell was Gibby supposed to do with that??? No speed, no good defenders. One bat with power who strikes out all the time. An 8 man pen and a useless bench. Terrible roster management by the GM. Second half of season bench was much improved, but again, too late

1. Brett Lawrie - he misses so much time. And when he's out for extended periods it weakens TWO infield spots and the bench because your best utility guy ends up playing all the time and you have to call up a AAA scrub for the bench. 2. Bullpen - the starting rotation was as good or better than expected. The bullpen was not. There were times Gibby only had like one guy he could trust. Sanchez and Morrow stabilized it at the end but it was too late. 3. Colby Rasmus- I didn't expect another 4.8 WAR season but he honestly just mailed it in this year. Pathetic season start to finish. At no time did he even flash the ability for stretches like he usually does Also worth mentioning: Brandon Morrow - If not for Stroman being so good we would have been fuming at AA for expecting anything resembling full season from this broken down mess. Iffy fundamentals - better than last year but still too many basic mistakes. Especially Navarro and Reyes - too many missed plays. Although they DO make up for some of it with their bats, those two positions are too important to accept subpar defense.

In oder to increase his value for when he requests a trade to the Rangers or Mariners in December??

Sportsnet 8 - The Ocho

He's been amazing at the plate all year. Complete hitter now more than he used to be. But many will just see fewer home runs than previous and think he's not as good.

That's how I feel about our defense and the bottom of our lineup

Agreed All 3 are having killer seasons.

FTR, I am choosing to watch provincial election coverage tonight instead of this game

Lol at these GDT's lately Love it

Well, he looked good until back to back walks LOL

Hutch looks good Fooling them with the off speed stuff

No way V Mart comes anywhere near that again, is there?? What a season! McCarthy seems like a worthwhile gamble for someone, but I can't see AA going in

MLBTR: The Most Improved Free Agents By Brad Johnson [september 20, 2014 at 10:41pm CDT] Behind the scenes at MLBTR, we’re busy discussing and polishing our Top 50 Free Agents list for the 2015 offseason. While we’ll wait until the appropriate time to officially release the list, it’s not too soon to talk about a few of the players who have done the best to improve their free agent stock. In general, I’m looking at players who weren’t even on the radar when Steve Adams kicked off our 2015 Free Agent Power Rankings series on April 15. Today, we’ll take a look at a pure hitter, a starting pitcher, and an elite reliever. 1. Victor Martinez. I’m sure Martinez’s appearance on this list is of no surprise. When we compiled our initial power rankings post, 25 players were named. Martinez was not one of them. The 35-year-old designated hitter is limited in defensive versatility, but his bat is clearly elite. He is enjoying a fantastic offensive season with a .335/.404/.566 line and 31 home runs. All are career bests. He’s even stolen three bases (also a career best). The exceptional performance comes with a 10.5% walk rate and 6.6% strikeout rate, making him one of just two players with more walks than strikeouts (Jose Bautista is the other). Martinez, who earned $12MM this season, will receive a qualifying offer, according to Buster Olney of ESPN. It’s difficult to handicap how the slugger will perform on the free agent market. The only recent comparable player is David Ortiz, although the short contracts he signed with the Red Sox do not appear to be directly applicable to Martinez’s situation. The Tigers will have some leverage in retaining Martinez, where he can continue to hit with Miguel Cabrera. The White Sox are also said to be interested, per Bruce Levine of 670TheScore.com. Chicago appears to be an ideal fit with its extremely hitter friendly stadium (Detroit’s Comerica Park is a neutral stadium), and he would make a good tandem with Jose Abreu. We seem to have the basic ingredients for a bidding war, and other teams will likely enter the fray. 2. Brandon McCarthy. What a fascinating season it’s been for McCarthy. His fastball gained two mph over previous seasons, and he’s posted the highest ground ball rate of his career at 52.7%. While his 3.93 ERA is merely decent, advanced ERA estimators like xFIP (2.90) and SIERA (3.03) expect better things to come. He’s also buffed his strikeout rate to 7.72 K/9 while maintaining an elite walk rate of 1.53 BB/9. McCarthy was easy to overlook entering the season. His command and control profile made him a steady but uninspired rotation option. His first 18 starts came with the Diamondbacks, where he flashed excellent peripherals with an unseemly 5.01 ERA. He was dealt to the Yankees prior to the July trade deadline. In 13 starts, he’s pitched to a 2.54 ERA that is supported by his peripherals. Many pundits (including this one) worried about the influence of Yankee Stadium on the homer prone starter, but his HR/FB ratio has regressed to league average in New York. Prior to this season, he never managed more than 170 and two-thirds major league innings in a single season. That came in 2011. He’s frequently dealt with injuries including recurring “stress reactions” in his pitching shoulder. His most recent shoulder injury occurred in 2012. This season, he’s managed a career high 194 and two-thirds innings with a chance to eclipse the 200 inning threshold. A sabermetrically inclined front office – especially one with a large ballpark – could justifiably view McCarthy as the fourth best free agent starter, after the triumvirate of Max Scherzer, Jon Lester, and James Shields. McCarthy’s history of shoulder problems will likely temper enthusiasm for a large contract offer. That might serve to increase demand by making him an affordable, second-tier option. McCarthy, who is entering his age 31 season, could top the four-year, $49 million contract signed by Ricky Nolasco last offseason. However, a smart club would include language to mitigate risk from future shoulder flare-ups. 3. Andrew Miller. If Miller was on anybody’s radar entering the season, it was as a moderately interesting LOOGY. By halving his walk rate and proving he’s no platoon pitcher, Miller will enter the offseason as an untested but possibly elite closing option. Due to his inexperience recording saves, clubs may still look at him as a setup reliever. Split between the Red Sox and Orioles, the 30-year-old southpaw has posted a 1.93 ERA in 60 and two-thirds innings. His 14.84 K/9 is impressive, especially in light of his 2.37 BB/9. He’s allowed just 32 hits on the season and is one of three relievers to cross the 100 strikeout threshold – four others appear poised to do so by the end of the season. No recent left-handed reliever has entered free agency coming off of such a strong season, which puts Miller in uncharted waters. Jeremy Affeldt, who signed a three-year, $18MM contract with the Giants following the 2012 season is a distant comparable. Joaquin Benoit is probably the best example among recent right-handed pitchers. He signed a two-year, $15.5MM contract with an option after emerging as the Tigers closer. However, he was also entering his age 36 season, so he was considerably older than Miller. Per the MLBTR Transaction Tracker, no non-closing reliever has signed a contract with over a $20MM guarantee. Miller has a chance to be the first. Prior to the 2007 season, Justin Speier signed a four-year, $18MM contract that could serve as a barometer of sorts once inflation is included.

The IF was really good in April/early May Lawrie was/is a stud at 3B Goins was looking great defensively at 2B (hitting .100 though so he wasn't going to last) Reyes hadn't started screwing up much yet Edwin and Lind are no good at 1B but we already knew that So yeah it looked pretty good at the time. But wasn't to last.

I like this I'm with you PLAY for some goddamn pride at least guys...

LOL. Sorry man.

No politics in the GDT's please

Jays won? Huh. Cool I guess.