fathom

Probably not a good pitcher for Ramirez to have to face. Sonnanstine was very good against righty hitters last year, but he's been brutal in limited innings so far this year.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 20, 2008 -> 12:24 AM) I think that a lot of people would disagree with your statement that this team won't be competing within the next few years. The correctness of that statement depends on how quickly some of their young guys develop. Also, I think the D-Rays would have moved him already had they gotten an offer they were happy with, but they're setting the price deservedly high for a guy who gives you Crawford's numbers, and they probably also think that his value isn't going to drop until he has 1 year left on his contract unless he gets hurt. Their young pitchers are still a far way off from being legit MLB starters (see Niemann last night).

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Apr 19, 2008 -> 11:21 PM) OK, so that inning ended very nicely. Young, aggressive team = more pickoffs to come for Buehrle.

QUOTE (santo=dorf @ Apr 19, 2008 -> 11:21 PM) Crawford not making the best out of his pathetic .260ish OBP. You have to wonder why Tampa has held on to him for so long. They're not competing for the AL East title in the next few years, and by the time they can possibly have a shot, they'll lose him to free agency.

Royals/Indians/Tigers all lost today!

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 19, 2008 -> 11:15 PM) All this post does is prove the sabermetric theory that OBP is more important than batting average. Of course it's more important....any person that thinks otherwise should just stop watching baseball. It's like the idiot who called in the pregame show and said he was concerned about how many runners the Sox have left on base this year. Well, maybe that's because they're reaching base a lot!

QUOTE (max power @ Apr 20, 2008 -> 12:10 AM) Am I in the catch all negative thread? No, it's just impressive for a team leading the AL in runs scored to have a lineup with 5 guys below the Mendoza mark.

5 guys in the lineup with a batting average below .200

Shaq played terribly on defense. Great game though, really thought Nash might hit that 70 footer.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 19, 2008 -> 11:22 PM) Swisher, RF Cabrera, SS Thome, DH Konerko, 1b Crede, 3b Quentin, LF Ramirez, CF Uribe, 2b Hall, C That's an ugly bottom third of the order.

Ely facing Wieters. My brother's at the game, so I'll have a full recap later tonight.

I'll let someone else link, but the new gallup poll has Clinton leading Obama.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 19, 2008 -> 08:34 PM) Why? Toronto doesn't owe Frank anything. He's well on his way to getting the number of plate appearances necessary for the option. If he was worried about the Blue Jays cutting his playing time in order to keep the option from activating, maybe just maybe, just like with the contract containing the diminished skills clause he signed with the White Sox, he shouldn't have signed it. He'll get more opportunities, but he was awful in spring training, and awful except for a few games this season, he's going to have to perform to get paid. Would you be up in arms if Thome was in the exact same situation to kick in a $10 million option next year and wasn't doing jack, and the Sox tried something else? Considering how righty dominant the Blue Jays lineup is, it makes sense for Stairs to get more playing time. If Frank was performing, this wouldn't have happened.

Cubs might go 18-0 vs the Pirates this year.

QUOTE (knightni @ Apr 19, 2008 -> 02:35 AM) Pulling a starter in the 7th with a 5 run lead? What was Javy's pitch count? 7 run lead

I put this in the Cubs thread, but Ben Sheets left another game due to injury. He arguably had been the best pitcher in baseball so far.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 19, 2008 -> 02:33 AM) Got to be really hard to get your timing down on that with limited AB's. Dohmann's also known to have a superb slider when he has his command. I'm not too concerned about Anderson.

That a boy Oz!

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 19, 2008 -> 02:30 AM) 1 at bat a week will do that. Yep, all offspeed pitches.

Might want to give Javy a break, and bring someone like Thornton in.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Apr 19, 2008 -> 02:29 AM) Ugh I still can't believe there was a small group wanting BA to start ahead of Q Did anyone actually say that? I thought people wanted Anderson to start over Owens.

And Ben Sheets is hurt. The Brewers have no prayer if he can't stay relatively healthy.

QUOTE (Cowch @ Apr 19, 2008 -> 12:30 AM) hbp. I'll take that free run. 7-0! Post more, I like the energy you bring to the thread.

Time for Niemann to hit the buffet table.

Funny moment there with Swisher being upset he had the take sign.