I'm addicted to the MLB Network. It's not a problem yet, but, damn, they do a great job.
Because I've been doing this fantasybaseballer thing since '01, I think about MLB quite a bit. What follows are some of my so-called thoughts on what's gone down so far.
As much as I get annoyed by the St. Louis Cardinals, it's hard to deny that they're playing great right now. Beltran and Furcal, if they stay healthy, have been strong acquisitions. The pitching is going well, and I'm wondering how Matheny would have done with managing past teams [Baiting Foz and his LaRussa-hatred here].
I've never seen a season where so many closers are losing their jobs and there's so much shifting in the closer position. The cliche is that the hardest outs in baseball are the last three, but c'mon this is getting ridiculous.
Although he blew a save in a spectacular fashion on Wednesday and in general I don't like the Yankees, I'm pulling for Robertson, a Crimson Tide alumnus, to do a good job. Roll Tide, sir.
I'm happy to see the Orioles doing well. I like that the franchise originally started as the St. Louis Browns. And Camden Yards is a great ball park. Although I like Sveum, I wish it would have worked out that the Cubs would have hired Buck Showalter.
To make me feel even older, I discovered that Scott Van Slyke, the son of Andy Van Slyke, had his major league debut on Wednesday.
Although there the Cubs have no shot at winning their division, I like the character of this team so far. There is some grit there. The LaHair gamble is paying off right now. He has strong plate discipline and seems to just have needed a chance in the majors. Once Rizzo gets called up, I suspect he'll get moved to the outfield, but he has saved many a throw at first base. While I understand the acquisition of starteresque arms, I sure wish we had Marshall and Cashner in the Cubs bullplen. My hope is that Soriano and Soto get hot as hell this season, so the organization can trade them for decent prospects. Marmol is the hard sell.
I listen to 670 The Score from time to time, and many of the pundits are rhetorically ravaging the White Sox about the Chris Sale situation. So, the dude has a tender elbow, and their answer is to make him the closer where he would pitch back-to-back days in high stress situations? I don't know what they're doing, but I find it strange that Ventura isn't talking much.
Chipper Jones will retire after this season. At present, his career OBP is .402. That is sick.
2 comments:
Managers are vastly overrated in the scheme of baseball. Larussa sure got a lot smarter once Pujols arrived on the scene in 2001.
The fact that his number is about to be retired, ignoring the team's own edict to only retire HOF numbers, is embarrassing. Herzog, who made 3 WS in ten years had to wait 20 years to have his number retire, but Larussa with 3 WS in 16 years, gets his number retired immediately.
I'm happy to be out of town this weekend to get away from the Larussa slobberfest at the game and on TV.
Good point on the retiring of numbers, Foz.
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