Why kill this thread? We can use it for Free Agent signings.
The Nationals just gave Jayson Werth a 7 year $126 million contract. Ridiculous.
Scot Boras is a genius. He’s on par with Hannibal Lecter.
Jays just traded Shawn Marcum to the Brewers for Prospects. Apparently this is a precursor for a potential dealing of Zach Greinke
[quote]therajraj wrote:
The Nationals just gave Jayson Werth a 7 year $126 million contract. Ridiculous.[/quote]
Pretty insane contract, but it goes to show that the Nationals mean business. They have some good talent now, it will be interesting to see what they can accomplish.
The Giants are the current front runner to win the 2011 World Series according to my book, and my book is good.
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Oh man that is too funny.
I can’t believe the Nationals gave Werth that much money for that long. I know that are trying to make a statement, but they overpaid.
Welcome home Cliff!!
[quote]SmilingPolitely wrote:
Welcome home Cliff!![/quote]
Glad to see that money isn’t everything for some of these players. Lee left $50 million on the table to play in Philly, but I guess the comfort and level of happiness that he’ll have their is priceless.
…and don’t the Yankees feel like idiots now hahahahahaha.
Red Sox look like the team to beat the in AL East now. Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford. Wow how good will they be with Crawford. They won 89 games with an injury riddled team last year, they might dominate in 2011 if everyone stays healthy.
NYY added nothing
TB was absolutely raped… lost Crawford, Soriano, Pena and probably going to trade Garza. Am I missing anyone? What a brutal fan base, can’t even attract fans when they are fielding a championship calibre team.
[quote]WestCoast7 wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
The Nationals just gave Jayson Werth a 7 year $126 million contract. Ridiculous.[/quote]
Pretty insane contract, but it goes to show that the Nationals mean business. They have some good talent now, it will be interesting to see what they can accomplish.
The Giants are the current front runner to win the 2011 World Series according to my book, and my book is good.[/quote]
My book’s pretty good too, and I’m reading the same thing you are. I think it MIGHT be a stretch to say they’re the front-runner, but they are certainly one of the favorites.
People are talking now about the Phillies having the best rotation, but I still give it to the Giants. Why? They already proved that they can outpitch every single one of the Phillies’ starters, and the Phillies’ starters are all a little up in age, except for Hamels and Blanton, but those are their #4 and #5 starters. The Giants starters may not have even peaked yet, ESPECIALLY Bumgarner. On top of that, even if the Phillies’ starters are better as whole, the staff as a whole isn’t as good as the Giants’ staff. The Giants have the best staff from 1 thru 12 in the majors, and could have one of the best staffs of all time when things are said and done.
But, the Phillies are still better offensively, so I have to think that if the two were squared up in the NLCS again, and both teams play to the best of their capabilities, the Phillies might be the better team. But that’s a big if.
Also, there’s no guarantee the Phils keep theit starters intact. It won’t surprise me if they trade one of their starters (specifically Oswalt or Blanton or MAYBE Hamels) for a big right-handed bat now that they’ve lost Werth. I think their team hinges on how well Rollins plays next year, and I think the Giants’ season, from an offensive standpoint, hinges on whether or not Sandoval can return to his '09 form. I don’t expect Tejada to be a major impact for them. Serviceable, yes. But if Sandoval can get his act together, Huff has another good year, Tejada simply stays healthy and Torres doesn’t prove to be a flash in the pan, I like their chances against anybody. That’s a couple more ifs than the Phils, but the upside for the Giants is bigger than any other team in the NL.
Less than two months until pitcher and catchers report to Spring Training! Fuck, I love baseball!
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
[quote]WestCoast7 wrote:
The Giants are the current front runner to win the 2011 World Series according to my book, and my book is good. [/quote]
My book’s pretty good too, and I’m reading the same thing you are. I think it MIGHT be a stretch to say they’re the front-runner, but they are certainly one of the favorites.
People are talking now about the Phillies having the best rotation, but I still give it to the Giants. Why? They already proved that they can outpitch every single one of the Phillies’ starters, and the Phillies’ starters are all a little up in age, except for Hamels and Blanton, but those are their #4 and #5 starters. The Giants starters may not have even peaked yet, ESPECIALLY Bumgarner. On top of that, even if the Phillies’ starters are better as whole, the staff as a whole isn’t as good as the Giants’ staff. The Giants have the best staff from 1 thru 12 in the majors, and could have one of the best staffs of all time when things are said and done.
But, the Phillies are still better offensively, so I have to think that if the two were squared up in the NLCS again, and both teams play to the best of their capabilities, the Phillies might be the better team. But that’s a big if.
Also, there’s no guarantee the Phils keep theit starters intact. It won’t surprise me if they trade one of their starters (specifically Oswalt or Blanton or MAYBE Hamels) for a big right-handed bat now that they’ve lost Werth. I think their team hinges on how well Rollins plays next year, and I think the Giants’ season, from an offensive standpoint, hinges on whether or not Sandoval can return to his '09 form. I don’t expect Tejada to be a major impact for them. Serviceable, yes. But if Sandoval can get his act together, Huff has another good year, Tejada simply stays healthy and Torres doesn’t prove to be a flash in the pan, I like their chances against anybody. That’s a couple more ifs than the Phils, but the upside for the Giants is bigger than any other team in the NL.
Less than two months until pitcher and catchers report to Spring Training! Fuck, I love baseball! [/quote]
I was only half serious about being the front runners, but now you have me convinced!! Great points.
Problem for the Giants is they have to get into the playoffs. They barely got in this year, and basically needed the Padres to utterly collapse to do so.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
Problem for the Giants is they have to get into the playoffs. They barely got in this year, and basically needed the Padres to utterly collapse to do so. [/quote]
The Padres played over their heads for most of the year and now that Gonzalez is gone they don’t have an impact hitter at all in a lineup that was already pretty weak. I think their pitching could be as good as it was last year, but I think it could get worse too. Latos and Richards are studs, and their bullpen is solid, but it doesn’t match up to the Giants now that they should have a healthy Dan Runzler and his 97 mph left-handed fastball for a full year.
The Rockies are still a scary team, but they can’t stay healthy. Tulo hasn’t played a full season since his first full year in the league and as good as Ubaldo Jimenez is, he hasn’t shown he can harness his stuff for a full year yet. It took an absolutely monster September from Tulo for them to even stay relevant. The Dodgers have good pitching too, but probably the third-best staff in the division and they don’t have a good enough offense to overcome that. Ethier is legit, but Matt Kemp looks like another Raul Mondesi in the making and Loney doesn’t impress me that much. The D’Backs have some big bats, but they strike out so much that a staff like the Giants and the Padres, who have tons of pitchers capable of throwing the ball right past anyone, should chew that batting order up and spit it out more often than not.
The Giants will have all the pieces that got them the title (except for Uribe) back and in place for a full year, so their regular season record could very well be significantly better than it was last year. They’ll have Posey and Bumgarner for full seasons, and not only are those two big-time physical talents, they also proved that they have the mental toughness to succeed day in, day out. I expect Lincecum to bounce back from what was a subpar season by his standards, Sanchez has gotten better each year and I expect him to build on last year, Cain might be the best pitcher on the team and could be the next Schilling-esque big game pitcher with the way he threw in the postseason and down the stretch, Bumgarner might end up being better than ALL of them, and Zito is still the biggest piece of shit on the team, but now he’s the clear #5 and I don’t think he’ll regress from last year.
Don’t forget: the Padres collapsed, but the bottom line is that the Giants still won arguably the toughest division in baseball. I would say that with all the Red Sox injuries, it was THE toughest in baseball and could be again this year now that the Rays will probably stink it up again. The Giants are clearly the best team in that division now, and if you are the best team in the best division, I’d say that makes you a very smart choice to win it all, especially when they’ve already proven that they can do it. A lot of things went right for them, but their staff is so good that a lot of things SHOULD go right for them.
LOL @ NL West being the toughest division in baseball. Rays stinking it up? They won 96 games last year and they’re still a good team even with the losses in free agency. If you want to compete in the AL East you HAVE TO win 95 games.
You talk a lot about pitching, but the Giants still have a shitty offence and they have done nothing to address it. I can see them doing damage in the playoffs but only if they make it, which I’m unsure if they will.
I Agree NYY and TB are declining, but they’re still very good teams. Especially if NYY convinces Pettite comes back
Dont forget all the staff changes and position switches Bochy was working on during the season. The Giants team on the field towards the back half of the season was not the same one we were fielding early on. He ironed out alot of kinks and made alot of moves acquiring players etc. Our chances to get to the playoffs this year are not compirable to our chances last year. Because you’re right it was a struggle.
What does everyone think about the Giant’s offense next season? I think the only big move they’ve made so far is getting Tejada who is a “good” hitter but maybe past his batting prime.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
LOL @ NL West being the toughest division in baseball. Rays stinking it up? They won 96 games last year and they’re still a good team even with the losses in free agency. If you want to compete in the AL East you HAVE TO win 95 games.
You talk a lot about pitching, but the Giants still have a shitty offence and they have done nothing to address it. I can see them doing damage in the playoffs but only if they make it, which I’m unsure if they will.
[/quote]
The second-best team in the NL West last year took a major hit and you think the defending WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS, who have literally the entire team returning might not even make the playoffs? I laugh. I would say any division with the best team in baseball is a pretty tough division. And like I said earlier, there’s actually a good reason to think that the staff in general will be even better this year than it was last year. And that shitty offense knocked around Halladay, Hamels, Lee and Oswalt much more than the vaunted Rangers and Phillies offense could do against the Giants staff.
And of course I talk a lot about pitching. It’s what separates the good teams from the great teams and it always has. The great Yankees teams from the 90’s won with pitching, not offense. The Indians teams from back then had great offenses, decent pitching and look where it got them. The Rangers had a great offensive team and the great pitching of the Giants shoved it right up their ass to the tune of a 4-1 series win. Great pitching masks any other weaknesses, as the Giants proved beyond doubt last year. It doesn’t work the other way around, as the 2010 Yankees can fully attest to.
I don’t think the Rays will finish .500 this year. They lost too much and they don’t have enough coming in to replace them. Plus, what kind of mental drag do you think those losses will be, combined with the fact that the fans (who didn’t show up to begin with) are definitely not going to be showing up?
[quote]therajraj wrote:
I Agree NYY and TB are declining, but they’re still very good teams. Especially if NYY convinces Pettite comes back[/quote]
That’s a big if. It’s foolhardy to think that the return of a pitcher who will be 39 next year is going to put the AL East over the top as far as the best division in baseball goes.
[quote]Hallowed wrote:
Dont forget all the staff changes and position switches Bochy was working on during the season. The Giants team on the field towards the back half of the season was not the same one we were fielding early on. He ironed out alot of kinks and made alot of moves acquiring players etc. Our chances to get to the playoffs this year are not compirable to our chances last year. Because you’re right it was a struggle.
What does everyone think about the Giant’s offense next season? I think the only big move they’ve made so far is getting Tejada who is a “good” hitter but maybe past his batting prime. [/quote]
Tejada’s past his prime, but the Giants have a stud coming out of their system in Brandon Belt who’s expected to compete for either the 1st base job or LF. He blew right through every level of the minors, hit well above .300 at all levels and has legit power to all fields. He could be a huge addition if he lives up to the potential he’s displayed at every professional level.
And I haven’t given up on Sandoval either. I don’t think his weight is the problem with his batting. It’s an easy target, but the real problem is with his approach and a mechanical issue. He hacks at everything, which isn’t that bad of a thing. But he strides so far out toward the mound that he’s cutting down the time he has to track the ball. He didn’t do that in '09. Plus, the long stride has left him between speeds. He’s late on the fastball up and he’s in front of the off-speed stuff. These are correctable things, especially during an offseason. I thought he would be able to make that correction in-season, but sometimes it’s hard to fix a major mechanical flaw AND change your approach in the middle of the season, especially when you’re only 23. I think he’ll be fine. If he loses weight, it should help his defense more than his hitting.
There are a couple other potential sources of offense that the Giants didn’t have last year. DeRosa could be a big addition to the bench if he’s healthy. And a healthy Mark DeRosa, Fontenot, Belt and/or Sandoval could leave the Giants with a pretty nice-looking bench. I like Cody Ross, and not just because of his postseason. He’s not a big-time threat, but he’s a ballplayer. And I’ll take eight ballplayers and the best staff in baseball any day of the week.
Plus, the Giants aren’t done yet. They got Huff last year after the winter meetings and they made some wise mid-season moves.
And don’t forget: Posey could be even better this year than he was last year. He tapered off considerably at the end of the year and his power was lacking, except for a couple of hot streaks. Now that he has the valuable experience of playing a full postseason, I expect him to come back stronger next year, even more disciplined at the plate, and I think he’ll button up some deficiencies that showed down the stretch, specifically his tendency to chase off-speed stuff down and away. Posey definitely strikes me as the type to make an adjustment like that over the course of an offseason.
But all this might not even matter, because their staff will be better than it was last year, which could further mask any offensive shortcomings. Dan Runzler will have a big role this year and Bumgarner should make big strides in his development as well. If I had to pick one pitcher off their staff to build around, I’d think long and hard about taking Bumgarner. When you can add a lefty starter and a lefty reliever who throw in the mid-90’s who weren’t on the team last April, that’s huge. So is having Zito finally relegated to the 5th spot where he belongs. In fact, I’ve heard that Runzler might start out in long relief to build his arm strength up to start, which would mean Zito goes to the 'pen. If that happens and Runzler can throw with the same stuff as a starter that he does as a reliever, then the Giants will not only have the best starters in baseball, they’ll have an even better staff for postseason ball. Why? All 5 of their starters would be big-time strikeout pitchers, with the excpetion of Cain. And in the postseason striking batters out means less balls in play which means less opportunities for something to go wrong.
Like I said earlier, there’s a lot of ifs in there, but those ifs have a bigger upside than any other team in the league. It’s scary to think that the strength of the best team in baseball might even get better this year.
If I were a betting man, I’d put it all on the Giants to dominate the NL this year.