John_Havok

Leafs/Canadiens a pretty entertaining game so far. leafs have some jump.

By the Flying Spaghetti Monster, I almost wish he does trade for Price just to see how badly AA gets bent over by Friedman.

At least he got "their" right the second time.

Nah. All AA and the brass ever said was that payroll was going to increase for 2014, and that's 100 percent accurate, since the cost of the same roster from last year was going to cost more money without any moves, namely about 17 million more. The only increase in spending on different players so far has been Navarro over what JPA would have cost.

Want? No. Expect? Yes. Never underestimate the effect of small sample size MLB success for Jays talent evaluators, even when that player has almost no minor league track record of success.

Just watched Durant beat Golden State by himself... That was crazy to watch.

Minnesota 56 points in the paint, TO 30. Won the game, but they're getting killed inside. Can't live by the 3 point shot.

For all the talk of advanced stats and the work of fangraphs, sabermetric believers are still the vast minority of baseball fans.

From Lott: http://sports.nationalpost.com/2014/01/17/blue-jays-triple-a-skipper-gary-allenson-offers-scouting-reports-on-three-prospects/ "Marcus Stroman, RHP, 9-5, 3.30 ERA, 129 strikeouts and 27 walks in 111 2.3 innings at New Hampshire last year: “Marcus Stroman’s got a very good arm. [The ball] comes out of his hands nice and easy, and it’s quick. He’s got very good composure, he’s got a nice slider. [in his fourth start] he was fooling some guys. I asked him what it was a couple times. He said ‘changeup.’ I said, ‘Where’s that been?’ So this guy’s got really good stuff. Obviously, his drawback is that he’s not very tall [officially 5-foot-9]. But it’s just like a guy that doesn’t necessarily throw very hard but [knows how] to make an adjustment. This guy’s got four pretty good pitches.” Sean Nolin, LHP, 9-4, 2.77 ERA, 116 strikeouts and 35 walks in 110 1/3 innings, mostly at New Hampshire; finished season in Buffalo: “Doesn’t throw as hard [as Stroman]. Needs to be more of a pitcher. He has four pitches – fastball, curveball, slider, changeup. He needs to pitch it where he’s not predictable, not be afraid to throw offspeed in fastball counts, and get back in the count. He’s a guy that’s probably a perfectionist. He needs to be a little bit easier on himself when things aren’t going well.” A.J. Jimenez, C, batted .287 with a .332 on-base percentage and .406 slugging mark in 67 games, 50 at Double-A; finished season in Buffalo: “I didn’t seem him before he had Tommy John [surgery in 2012]. That was somewhat of an issue last year. It was playable. He’s got big-league talent – very good behind the plate, receives well, blocks the ball very well, he’s quick. He kind of reminds me of Tony Pena a little bit. I was a coach in Boston in the early ‘90s when Pena was there … If [Jimenez] gets that arm back, he’s special. I had [Matt] Wieters in Triple-A and the Arizona Fall League. He reminds me of him. Kind of a quiet, reserved guy, will learn how to take charge. More of a gap-to-gap, hit-for-an-average type guy than Wieters.”

My open letter to the Commish about the Hall of Fame is up. check it out: http://www.breakingblue.ca/2014/01/17/open-letter-to-bud-selig-re-baseball-hall-of-fame/

I love that the teams will be able to have guys upstairs contact the manager about whether or not to throw a challenge. I wonder which team will be the first to use that for other purposes and get slapped on the wrist.

Fantastic ejection of Allenson a few years ago:

This deserves it's own thread. That's way more than I ever thought they would do in this one expansion

Using ErA as the basis of your argument is outdated. There's plenty of other metrics out there to use show Shark as being better than that. That's not to say he's worth what the Cubs are asking, but he would be a solid addition at the right cost

There no such thing as a bad 1 year deal.

A great way to kill some time in the most boring offseason in history. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/2014-fan-projections/ Sign in and make your own projections on your favorite team. It's not an exact science hit a fun exercise. If enough people do it we could post our results The rosters aren't perfectly up to date, but what can ya do.

I can't speak for the second half,as I was out of the house, but the first half, the refs just couldn't let them play. Raps were in the penalty 4.5 minutes into the 1st quarter on some very light contact, there was no flow at all.

Dodgers would have to eat a chunk of that to get anything meaningful in return. He's very hittable now

Sickels is an Iowa guy, gave a quick and dirty once over of Dermody in the comments: "Dermody was a 28th round pick last June from the University of Iowa. I have been tracking him since high school since he is a Des Moines-area kid and I saw him pitch a few times in college. He always struck me as a guy who could be successful in pro ball despite a lack of outstanding NCAA numbers. Not that he was bad in college, but it just never quite seemed to come together. At his best, Dermody has a low-90s fastball with a solid curveball and changeup. He’s always thrown strikes, has a low-effort delivery and an athletic body. Everything worked properly in the Northwest League and he’s positioned himself as a prospect to watch, someone who could be a back-end starter or a relief option. Grade C with sleeper potential."

Wow, you getting thumbs down like crazy on fangraphs for indicating that Strasburg, Fernandez, Sale and Harvey are all comparable talents to Kershaw. Do I smell a comparison piece coming???

Your xxfip series was also mentioned in the comments of the article from Cameron asking about people's favorite baseball readings this year for the upcoming SABR banquet/awards in March. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/what-was-the-best-baseball-thing-you-read-in-2013/ - everyone at the site here should go bombard the comments with your stuff.

It'll be a decent deal, the opt-out after 5 seasons gives Kershaw a nice option, if he holds even 80% of his current form and the TV bubble hasn't burst, he could opt out and cash in on another 5-7 year guaranteed deal. If not, 2 more years at 31 million is nothing to laugh at either.

Yeah the lawyers always win. Even when they lose, they get paid.

My debut article on breakingblue is up, all about A-Rod. http://www.breakingblue.ca/2014/01/14/alex-rodriguez-suspension-who-wins/