ChiliIrishHammock24

Great. Grand. Spectacular.

Anyone know what the consensus was that Mark Appel would sign after the 2012 draft? He was picked #8 overall by the Pirates, was/is advised by Scott Boras, and Boras got the kid to stay in college another year and it ended up earning him the #1 overall pick in 2013. I wonder if he is going to suggest the same strategy to Rodon. EDIT: Here is what Pirate's GM said after they drafted Appel in 2012..... "We're very optimistic we have a legitimate shot to sign Mark." Sounds kind of like Hahn? Boras made a comment after the deadline passed saying that the Pirates would have needed to offer their ENTIRE draft pool to sign Appel, more than double the assigned value of the 8th pick.

Is Bowden insane? The Rays would never do that deal. None of those 3 are top prospects, and Micah is the only one of the 3 who has looked good this year. If this was 2013's Erik Johnson, then sure it makes for a decent trade, but Erik Johnson has NO value right now. You'd have to add like Carlos Sanchez and Nate Jones to that deal to make it happen.

Swept a DH on Tuesday, both against the same team. We won 17-0 by slaughter in the 1st game, and somehow only won 9-8 in the 2nd game, and we had to come back to score 2 runs in the bottom of the 7th to win that one. Bizarre how closer the game was in Game 2. I guess we were having too much fun f***ing around switching positions and whatnot.

QUOTE (BFirebird @ Jun 19, 2014 -> 09:52 AM) Were people not that high on Matt Harvey out of college? 7th overall pick and not ranked the next year...and he is pretty good now? I don't recall what people thought of Harvey going in to the draft, but as far as rankings go, BA and MLB.com did not even rank him in their top 100 after his draft season. BP ranked him #75 that year. Then the following year he was in everyone's top 50. And obviously he's had a fantastic MLB career so far.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Jun 19, 2014 -> 12:02 PM) I saw this all over my Facebook the past couple days and people complaining about it (live in the St. Louis area). I just now watched it and I don't see a problem with it.. They said Molina was a great catcher but they are just supporting their guy and they think he is better.. I can't stand the Cardinals fan base and the whole "we are the best fans in baseball" stuff they do. The part I didn't like is that they were calling Molina a baby. Why? I'd be pissed if I was a Cards fan too. Douchebag move, Milwaukee.

Can we talk about Joey Gallo for a second? Between A+ and AA, he is hitting .320 with 25 HR with 60 BB in 58 games this season. His OBP is .463. His OPS is 1.198. He just got promoted to AA, has only played 9 games there, and has 4 HR and 10 RBI. I mean, this guy is homering every 8.6 AB. I know everyone is riding Kris Bryant's dick, and Bryant has done his dirty work in AA the entire year, but s*** man, Gallo is nearly 2 full years younger. He is going to be a top 10 prospect in baseball next year.

Also, because I feel this is related, I may as well share it here in the Rodon thread. This is my response to people guessing where Rodon may get ranked on next year's top 100 boards..... here are the top 3 pitchers taken the last few years, and where they ranked on the following year's preseason top 100 (BA).... 2013 - Mark Appel (college, 39), Jon Gray (college, 12), Kohl Stewart (HS, 52) 2012 - Kevin Gausman (college, 26), Kyle Zimmer (college, 24), Max Fried (HS, 46) 2011 - Gerrit Cole (college, 12), Danny Hultzen (college, 21), Trevor Bauer (college, 10) 2010 - Jameson Taillon (HS, 11), Drew Pomeranz (college, 61), Matt Harvey (college, unranked) So I guess Rodon could rank anywhere from 10 to unranked..... wink.gif But I think top 50 is a guarantee. Somewhere in the 20's is probably the best bet.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Jun 18, 2014 -> 08:22 PM) Future grades are supposed to have at least some level of realism. I listen to a decent amount of scouting podcasts and when they're extremely excited about a pitch, one they think could be elite, they'll hang a 70 on it. 80 is basically seen as generational. I haven't heard anyone get close to a 70 on Rodon's fastball, never mind an 80. I want to go back and listen to some of those Fringe Average podcasts now prior to the draft, because I know Jason Parks was ALL over Rodon before the end of the season struggles. I think he threw out grades on his pitches. If I recall correctly, the other guy who did the podcast loved Hoffman for the 1-1 spot. Both thought the Brady Aiken stuff was just Keith Law hype. Going back to listen to those podcasts now.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 18, 2014 -> 09:48 PM) If Rodon signs July 18 and only starts 5 times, he's still Top 20-25. Just for comparison sake, here are the top 3 pitchers taken the last few years, and where they ranked on the following year's preseason top 100 (BA).... 2013 - Mark Appel (college, 39), Jon Gray (college, 12), Kohl Stewart (HS, 52) 2012 - Kevin Gausman (college, 26), Kyle Zimmer (college, 24), Max Fried (HS, 46) 2011 - Gerrit Cole (college, 12), Danny Hultzen (college, 21), Trevor Bauer (college, 10) 2010 - Jameson Taillon (HS, 11), Drew Pomeranz (college, 61), Matt Harvey (college, unranked) So I guess Rodon could rank anywhere from 10 to unranked..... But I think top 50 is a guarantee. Somewhere in the 20's is probably the best bet.

QUOTE (ChiSoxJon @ Jun 18, 2014 -> 10:31 PM) Can't believe we traded Juan Silverio for organizational depth...look at him now, great move KW/Hahn, kid will make it to the show and be successful before we know, while our return is outta baseball You are willing to bet he makes the show just because he had a .774 OPS in AA? Not saying that's bad or anything, but I'm not willing to bet he becomes a guy we really wished we had back just based on that either.

Riding 'em hard, Putnam away wet.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jun 18, 2014 -> 02:13 PM) It's not the worst argument I've ever heard, but that's assuming they have different contractual obligations. If I can sign either David Price or Jeff Samardzija for 3 years, there's no question it's going to be Price. They were discussing it as if you are starting a franchise today, which guy would you choose. If I was a GM looking to acquire one or the other, I may pick Samardzija as well because he SHOULD come cheaper, and resign for cheaper. But David Price is a bonafide ace. Samardzija is a #3 guy pitching like a #2 this season. Oh, forget to mention another "plus" to Samardzija's side was his "football mentality"........

Nice little scissor kick stop by Pablo there.

So every night I listen to Fangraphs Audio podcasts, and Fringe Average when they finally get around to doing one. Well last night I ran out of new ones to listen to, so I dug to the bottom of the barrel and listened to Buster Olney's ESPN Baseball Tonight podcast. He had a conversation with Karl Ravich and some other guy to discuss which pitcher they would rather have, David Price or Jeff Samardzija. After far too long of a debate on what I figured would be an easy answer, they all picked Samardzija..... The only real reason any of them could come up with, was because "Price has more innings on that arm. Samardzija has more bullets left". While Jeff has only thrown 650 ML innings to Price's 1080, if you add in all the extra years Jeff spent in the minor leagues, Jeff comes out to 1135 IP to David's 1230 IP. A difference of less than 100 innings. Which if we really wanted to nitpick, Jeff is 8 months olders. He turns 30 before next season, Price turns 30 at the end of next season. Anyway, I just thought it was a stupid argument to ignore all the great seasons David Price has turned in, and choose the obviously inferior Samardzija simply because of the idea that he has pitched slightly less professional innings.

Also, do you really see him signing and going straight to AA or AAA? That seems aggressive. Not that the idea of him making the Sox bullpen at some point ISN'T aggressive. But I guess I figured they'd start him in High-A Winston Salem for a few weeks, then maybe go to AA Birmingham if he dominates W-S.

Speaking to his mechanics, I've seen people draw similarities to Peavy's type of recoil action and I don't think they're wrong. Obviously that was fine for Peavy for a while, but we all know it eventually resulted in Jake Peavy surgury on the detached lat. Not sure if 1 example is reason enough to concern, but it's probably worth mentioning.

Abreu has quickly changed from Miguel Cabrera at the plate, to Alfonso Soriano up there. Extremely dangerous in the zone, sprays line drives all over the field, but doesn't have a prayer on low breaking balls and is lazy at times.

Thank god.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jun 17, 2014 -> 04:58 PM) No Nieto for a Danks start? No reason to let Nieto catch for Danks, I mean, what has Danks even done the past 4 starts or so?

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jun 16, 2014 -> 08:00 PM) You know something funny, when the Xbox One commercial comes on and the guy says "Xbox On" my Xbox thinks I'm telling it to turn on Hahah, that's pretty funny. They should have protected against that and had the same guy say "Xbox off" somewhere else in the commercial.

New acquisition Chevy Clarke went 1/3, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB Toby Thomas - 2/5, RBI, SB Zach Fisher - 3/5 Palmeiro - 2/4, HR, 3 RBI

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Jun 16, 2014 -> 08:30 PM) Davidson 2-4 with no strikeouts, first hit in the second half of a game all year (possible exaggeration) Davidson's first game with Coach Thome. Thome'll fix 'em.

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Jun 16, 2014 -> 04:16 PM) LOL, it was your argument, Snoopy. Nah, I don't know what the hell good 'ole Marty was getting at. Using the wrong words accidentally, perhaps, but then putting it in bold? Shooooot.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jun 16, 2014 -> 03:26 PM) Holy crap. If you're correct, that is a new low for arguing exclusively for the sake of arguing. Essentially.