Muck Bartinez

I hate it when catchers clog up the bases! Me and Tabby love seeing catchers try to put runs on the board.

Too much time playing at Joba's house on the trampoline

NO CAUSE SSS AND NEW TURF BUT LAST YEARS SSS HOLDS UP BECAUSE!!! cap

When we can't shield both of Goins + Kawasaki from LHP, it's going to be trouble. Goins needs to be shielded from anyone who isn't me, and Kawasaki had a 27 wRC+ against lefties last year.

That's why if we had a Gentry/Ruggiano/Baker kind of guy, we could get some value from the 4th OF spot. Slide Bautista to 3B, Lawrie to 2B, and platoon short with Diaz/Kawasaki. Defense suffers, but not nearly as bad as the offense does with 2 of these plugs in there.

3 scenarios I can see: 1. Two of Diaz/Kawasaki/Goins at 2B/SS. Offense is terrible, defense very good. Obviously what the Jays will do. Other options: 2. One of Diaz/Kawasaki/Goins at SS, Lawrie at 2B, Jose at 3B, Sierra in RF. Defense ok, offense ok. 3. One of Diaz/Kawasaki/Goins at SS, Lawrie at 2B, Edwin at 3B, Lind at 1B. Offense good, especially vs RHP. Defense 2013-Tigers bad. Don't really know if either of these 2 options are better than #1, but if we had a passable 4th OF, I'd be inclined to try option 2.

Yikes. Good thing we have lots of MIF depth in Reyes..... I mean Goi... I mean Kawa.... I mean Dia....... f***.

"Hutchinson" in title is bannable offence.

The signing team would still forfeit a pick until the draft, and would not be able to extend Drew a QO at the end of the season.

Colby rasmus steals a base this season. Steve delabar strikes out 95 batters. Chris getz accumulates the most WAR at 2b. Brandon morrow pitches 160 innings. Ricky Romero walks 50 in 100 AAA innings, is released, and is never seen again. Kawasaki does something funny during a Reyes dl stint. Moises Sierra passes someone on the bases and doesn't understand why he's out.

Alvarez, Hutchison... and about 40 M to spend hahahahahahaha... [tears of sadness] /scene.

I love that the tag for the video says that Joyce scored on an error by Bautista.

In JP's case, they pretty much are haha. I think you need to actually walk for your OBP to be substantially different than your average.

But what about balls in the air? Moving parts? Dialogue? Value? DESSSSSPAAAAAAIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRR

Who cares if it means Kate Upton will come to a game and pack those sweater kittens into a tight Jays jersey? *boing*

Obviously this is a topic that has been discussed to death on here, but I'm still left wondering what the team could have looked like without these two trades. No matter who you think was at fault for the trades, they definitely came as a result of Rogers being willing to increase payroll. Whether they always were willing to, or they all of a sudden decided to last year, we might never know. Here's the idea I've been playing with: Rogers decides to keep the status quo payroll for 2013, and delays the payroll bump for one year. So this off-season, Alex gets the go ahead to jack up the payroll to 136M (Wendy Thurm's estimated opening day 2014 number). My best guess for end of 2013 roster with 2014 contract numbers from Cot's. This is assuming that all other moves still happen (Melky, Happ, Esmil Rogers, etc.) C - D'Arnaud 500k 1B - Encarnacion 9M 2B - Hechavarria 500K? (contract up, pre-arb eligible) 3B - Lawrie 500k SS - Escobar 5M LF - Cabrera 8M CF - Rasmus 7M RF - Bautista 14M DH - Lind 7M Bench OF - Gose 500K 2B/3B - Izturis 3M C - Mathis 1.5M SS/2B - Kawasaki 1M SP - Morrow 8M SP - Alvarez 500K SP - Happ 5.4M SP - Rogers 1.85M SP - Redmond 500K BP - Janssen 4M BP - Santos 3.75M BP - McGowan 1.5M BP - Cecil 1.5M BP - Perez 500K BP - Delabar 500K BP - Loup 500K BP - Jeffress 500K This gives us 86.5M + Romero 7.5M = 94M meaning 42M (!) to improve the team. Obviously the rotation is putrid for the hypothetical 2014 season, 2B is still a glaring hole, Lind needs a platoon partner, etc. What would you do to improve the team for 2014 and beyond? TL;DR They blew it.

Dialogue! Buy Low! Weighted Balls! Value!

Very hard question to answer because there's so many factors. In a vaccuum, I'd say A-Rod simply because it's the most money in terms of dollars and in terms of what the $/WAR was at the time of the signing. That being said, he got suspended which saves the Yankees from paying him for a year, plus that is one team that can absorb a bad contract and not suffer totally. I think the Cano one might be the worst because it might represent the biggest portion of a team's spending ability out of all of these. If the Pujols contract prevents the Angels from keeping Trout long-term, then that contract might be the worst. The Fielder one could be the worst because he seems like he could decline in a hurry and was never truly elite. Long term contracts seem like the worst for pitchers because they can always be one pitch away from being sunk.

Hot tub time machine.

Cruz doesn't interest me at all. Hammy problems while on the juice, so I can't imagine his self-healing systems are going to be improved. Surprisingly old too, even though it doesn't seem like he's been around very long. However, there will be a 2 week span where he'll hit probably 9 or 10 bombs and win a couple games for them.

Well we should be able to get 10 wins from 3B, SS, and 1B. Problem is when you add 2B that number doesn't go up.

I would say that he definitely hasn't aged the way a typical pitcher would, simply because he hasn't thrown the pitches that an uninjured player would. That being said, it's almost certain he has lost some velocity on his pitches since all pitchers do by the time they hit 28. It doesn't mean he doesn't have upside, but there's no way he has the same upside as he did 7 years ago.

FWIW his fastball velocity was the same this season as it was in 2007 (94.7). Obviously that could be because of relieving instead of starting, but it does show he can still throw as hard as he could before. It's also interesting to note that his slider was 50% better per 100 pitches than it was before. SSS and relieving and glass girl and everything else, but IMO to say he has no upside is false, unless you believed he never had any in the first place.

Perfect weighted ball candidate with that McGowan shoulder he's got. Seemed like a stud when the Braves first brought him up.

Looks like you might need to go to a school for kids who can't read good so you can zip through these threads a little faster next time.