MLB

[InnerHarbour]

Giants should have won it.

[Dubbel]

'that game was over, series played'

Ranking pain (2015)
This subject is still a little raw. Apologies if it catches you at the wrong time, but, well, it's not my fault. The Angels are coming to town, you see. If you will recall, the Angels have won five of their last six games against the Giants, with the only win coming when Matt Cain threw 112 metaphors against Jerome Williams in 2012. More than that, the Angels have won seven out of the last eight games against the Giants if you include the postseason.

You know. If you include that postseason.

Since then, though, do know what's happened? The Angels have had a postseason ruined by A.J. Pierzynski-related bullshit, and the Giants have won three World Series. The Giants have won three World Series since the Angels won their last postseason game, even. No team has won a postseason game more recently than the Giants. No team has won a postseason series more recently than the Giants. No team has won two postseason series, or six postseason series, or nine postseason ... well, you get the point. The last few years has brought unfettered happiness. The Angels' happiness has been fettered, mostly. You aren't still worrying about that silly old Game 6, are you?

Are you?

We'll open it to the floor. Here's the one-to-10 scale of bitterness. See where you rate.

1 - Don't caaaaaare
Excuse me, is you sayin' something? I remember Cody Ross's hopping like it was yesterday, so you'd better believe the last one is fresh in my mind. No reason to dwell on 12 seasons ago.

2 - Don't caaaare ... much
Yeah, it would have been cool to win that one -- four in 13, suckers! -- but the last five years have more than made up for it.

3 - I think about it when the Giants play the Angels, sure
But only then, really. I enjoy Mike Trout for being Mike Trout, not for not being Troy Glaus.

4 - When I see an Angels box score, I think about it every other time
That's it, though. Just every other time. Maybe three out of every five times, which makes me feel better by definition.

5 - Still bugs me, but I'm mostly over it
I mean, when they were up 5-0, I was so sure ... welp, at least we have the last five years. Most teams don't have that.

6 - Okay, I'll admit it, I still think about it often
Game 6 was the most painful loss in San Francisco Giants history after Game 7 in 1962. How can it not still sting? If the past doesn't mean anything, then how can the last three championships mean anything?

7 - I'm distraught about it for Barry, more than anything
So I'm still really upset, yeah. This series will be annoying.

8 - Game 6 was the worst baseball experience of my life
It's made better because of recent history, of course, but the scars of that game have interfered with my enjoyment of baseball for more than a decade. I keep fearing that the Giants will blow it, and any optimism is akin to giving Russ the game ball, so I engage in nothing but pessimism.

9 - THROW ANOTHER PITCH, FELIX
WHY DO YOU HAVE ONLY A FASTBALL? HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE? COULDN'T YOU HAVE TURNED ONE OF THE FASTBALLS INTO A TWO-SEAMER OR SOMETHING?

THAT SERIES WAS THE WORST AND SO ARE THE ANGELS. PLEASE CLOSE THE DOOR BEHIND YOU.

10 - Shawon Dunston should be fired as a coach
Only because I can't look at him and start sobbing.

I'll start. I'm at a four. Every so often, I'm wistful. It usually has to do with Barry Bonds, but it's usually prompted by some mention of the Angels or 2002. It doesn't come unbidden out of the blue, like the memories of the neighborhood kids sitting around a box of my baseball cards and pretending to help sort them but actually stealing all of 1984 Don Mattinglys they were supposed to be looking for, which wake me up only once a month now.

Really, I think I was at a four after 2010. I honestly never thought the Giants were going to win one in my lifetime. I knew the simple odds were against that, but I just figured that if they missed out with Mays and Marichal and Clark(s) and Bonds(es) in the San Francisco Era, they weren't going to get one. So after Nelson Cruz struck out, several of those demons were stuffed in a toaster oven and never came back out.

A series like this, though, might push me toward a six. Though I'm still distraught for Barry. And Game 6 really was the worst baseball experience of my life. Felix Rodriguez sure could have learned a forkball or shuuto or something in the offseason. And, yeah, I kind of think about Game 6 every time I see Shawon Dunston. So maybe I'm not healed.

The Angels aren't all bad associations, though. Every so often, they get this stuck in my head.

https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2015/ ... rld-series

[InnerHarbour]

Ik snap het wel hoor D. maar kom op man een team wat al jaren zichzelf LA wil noemen terwijl ze in een buitenwijk zitten.... Giants is SF, Dodger is LA, jullie zijn een buitenwijk maar hebben een hekel aan een team uit LA terwijk jullie zo graag de naam LA dragen....

[Dubbel]

Zo te lezen is Dodgers baseball een vluchtheuvelclub geworden voor teleurgestelde fans uit het oosten.

[InnerHarbour]

Red Sox-Dodgers, niet onze favoriete WS Dubbel.

[Dubbel]

Red Sox-Dodgers, niet onze favoriete WS Dubbel.

Nee niet direct. Maar ze zijn wel goed hoor. Allebei die teams. Is aan gewerkt. En dan komen wij zonder ace, met een Pujols van duizend miljoen en uiteindelijk zelfs bull pen days en denken ons daar wel even tussen te spelen? Wat een bagger.

[InnerHarbour]

Zeker zijn ze goed maar 317 miljoen investeren in een pitcher en Martinez, dat kunnen niet veel teams. Laat Henry liever nog wat in LIverpool investeren.

[Dubbel]

Laat hem meteen wat geld in het Angels farming system stoppen zoals Ajax nu ook bij Sparta doet.

[InnerHarbour]

Sox win it. Henry blij de winter kan beginnen.

O's nog altijd zonder een GM en M.

[Dubbel]

Alle Red Sox fans hier van harte gefeliciteerd.

Mooie series. Had het achteraf trouwens niet erg gevonden als de Dodgers bovenop waren geeindigd. Met hun fans heb ik weleens moeite maar het is grotendeels een leuk team met een sympatieke coach. Ben benieuwd of ze het nog een jaar bij elkaar weten te houden.

[zeux]

Alle Red Sox fans hier van harte gefeliciteerd.

Mooie series. Had het achteraf trouwens niet erg gevonden als de Dodgers bovenop waren geeindigd. Met hun fans heb ik weleens moeite maar het is grotendeels een leuk team met een sympatieke coach. Ben benieuwd of ze het nog een jaar bij elkaar weten te houden.

Jammer alleen dat Kershaw zo'n choker is in de World Series. En Kenley had ook niet zijn sterkste jaar...

[InnerHarbour]

Alle Red Sox fans hier van harte gefeliciteerd.

Mooie series. Had het achteraf trouwens niet erg gevonden als de Dodgers bovenop waren geeindigd. Met hun fans heb ik weleens moeite maar het is grotendeels een leuk team met een sympatieke coach. Ben benieuwd of ze het nog een jaar bij elkaar weten te houden.

Wat gaat Machado doen? Hij is net 26 geworden en FA, die gaat op zoek naar een groot contract.

[Dubbel]

Yankees zullen Manny wel oppikken denk ik. Hebben het geld en de interesse.

Zat eens naar Ohtani te kijken en of hij de start van 2019 evt mee kan maken maar die gaat wel een flink stuk seizoen missen. Gunstig scenario zou hem rond de ASB weer zien als DH.

[InnerHarbour]

Top 50 FA

Ik hoef er niet naar te kijken want een team in rebuilding zoals de O's zichzelf nu noemen gaat daar niemand van aantrekken.

[InnerHarbour]

Ik zie jullie ook geen big splash maken Dubbel, jullie zitten voor 6 spelers en je arbitrage spelers al aan de 146 miljoen.

Cot's

[Dubbel]

Er zal toch echt SP moeten komen hoor. Laten we Pujols afkopen en dan kijken wie naar ons wil komen.

Mets zijn in de Machado sweepstakes. Dat zou wel een boost geven.

[InnerHarbour]

Wat moet die nou bij de tweede club van NYC?

[zeux]

Mets zijn in de Machado sweepstakes. Dat zou wel een boost geven.

With the Wilpons? Nahhhhhhhhh. Lijkt me niet. Maar snap dat Brodie effe een punt wil maken als nieuwe GM. The reality will hit him soon enough...

[Dubbel]

Manny gaat toch zeker naar de Bronx. Zou me verbazen als hij elders tekent.

[zeux]

Lijkt mij ook.

[InnerHarbour]

Nou dit moet hem dan worden Mike Elias.

Elias, 35, checks off a lot of boxes for the Orioles, who sought a hire with a strong background in scouting and player development and could lead the organization deeper into the analytic age and make it a true player in the international market.

Het is niet een geijkte Orioles GM maar dat zal wel komen omdat de ouwe Angelos de zaak aan zijn twee zoons heeft overgedaan. We gaan het zien, slechter kan het niet worden.

[InnerHarbour]

Wij zijn echt een hele cultuuromslag aan het maken, van een old school organisatie naar een zeer moderne. Ik word zowaar voorzichtig optimistisch dat het over een jaar of vier echt wat wordt.

“Sig Mejdal is one of the most experienced and accomplished analysts working in baseball today,” said Elias in a press release announcing the hire. “To have him join our Orioles organization is a major moment for this franchise, and I look forward to him charting the course for all of our forthcoming efforts in the analytics space.”

He’s credited with playing an integral role in Houston’s ascent from the worst team in baseball to champions in 2017, with the club drafting more major league players than anyone else during his tenure.

Wat hij blijkbaar in SL ook deed

Mejdal started out as a quantitative analyst for the Cardinals in 2005 and spent seven years in the organization, finishing up as the team’s director of amateur draft analysis. He worked as their senior quantitative analyst in 2008.
The Cardinals would select more players in the draft who reached the majors than any other team, an honor that carried over to the Astros upon his arrival.

[InnerHarbour]

Voormalig Oriole en Nederlander Jonaton Schoop is door de Brewers non-tenderd. Hij zou in arbitrage rond de 10 miljoen moeten pakken. Ik ben benieuiwd wie heb een contract geeft nu hij free-agent is en voor hoeveel mionder.

[zeux]

En er is een deal:


Mets acquire Robinson Canó and Edwin Díaz
mets.com
Mets Insider
December 3, 2018

The New York Mets announced today that the club has acquired eight-time All-Star infielder Robinson Canó, 2018 Mariano Rivera American League Reliever of the Year RHP Edwin Díaz and cash from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for outfielder Jay Bruce, RHP Anthony Swarzak, RHP Gerson Bautista, minor league RHP Justin Dunn and minor league outfielder Jarred Kelenic.

Canó, 36, is a two-time Gold Glove Award winner (2010, 2012) and a five-time Silver Slugger recipient (2006, 2010-2013). He ranks second in major league history in home runs among second basemen with 296. Jeff Kent is first with 351. Canó is one of three second basemen (career primary position) in MLB history to record 1,100 runs, 2,000 hits, 500 doubles, 300 homers and 1,200 RBI joining Rogers Hornsby and Kent.

Canó batted .303 (94-310) with 22 doubles, 10 homers, 50 RBI, 44 runs scored and a .374 OBP in 80 games for the Mariners last year. The 6-0, 212-pounder hit .333 (36-108) vs. lefties, ranking third in the majors among lefthanded batters (min. 100 PA). He played in 150 or more games 11 straight years from 2007-2017. He has twice led the American League in fielding percentage by a second baseman (.996 in 2010 and .996 in 2016).

Canó has collected 769 extra-base hits since 2007, the second-most in the majors behind Miguel Cabrera (781). The San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic native is tied for 40th place with Lou Gehrig on MLB’s all-time doubles list with 534. He ranks in the top five among active players in hits (fourth), doubles (third), RBI (third) and runs (fifth).

He has hit .304 (2,470-8,112) with 534 doubles, 33 triples, 311 homers, 1,233 RBI, 1,188 runs scored, a .355 OBP and a .493 slugging percentage in 2,078 games with the Yankees (2005-2013) and Mariners (2014-2018).

Canó, who has five years remaining on his contract, established the RC22 Foundation in 2011 to provide hope to sick and underprivileged children in New York City and the Dominican Republic and in 2015, he opened the RC22 DREAM School and early childhood education center in San Pedro de Macoris.

Díaz, 24, led the majors with 57 saves last season, which was tied for the second-highest total in major league history with Bobby Thigpen (1990 White Sox), trailing only Francisco Rodriguez (62 saves with 2008 Angels). He was named to his first All-Star team and had a 1.96 ERA (16 earned runs/73.1 innings) in 2018.

Díaz ranked second among all relievers with 124 strikeouts, led AL relievers in WHIP (0.79), second in opponents’ OBP (.229), third in strikeouts per 9.0 innings (15.22), third in ERA, fourth in opponents’ slugging percentage (.241) and fifth in opponents’ batting average (.160) last season.

The Humacao, Puerto Rico native became only the second reliever in MLB history with 50 or more saves and 100 or more strikeouts in a season, joining Eric Gagne (2002-2003) and posted the seventh-best FanGraphs WAR (3.5) for a single-season among all relievers since 2000.

Díaz, who is under team control through 2022, established a single-season major league record with 27 saves when entering with a one-run lead and the Mariners were 66-0 in 2018 when he entered a game with a lead. The 6-3, 165-pounder has 301 strikeouts and 64 walks over 191.0 career innings, 109 saves and a 2.64 ERA spanning his first three major league seasons.


Hmmm. Die 80 games vorig jaar van Cano kwamen niet omdat hij geblesseerd was...

Er zijn her en der ook vraagtekens of Cano wel gemotiveerd genoeg is om de Mets te helpen. Maar goed, als hij zijn niveau haalt en Cespedes weer is opgelapt (if...), dan zijn er natuurlijk wel sluggers van formaat aan boord.

Die Diaz heb ik niet gevolgd bij de Mariners. You, Dubbel?

[InnerHarbour]

De agent die nu de Mets GM is zadelt ze met een dooper/cheater en zijn albatros contract op tot zijn 40st. Zelf in de gaten hebben dat de boel achteruit holt en dan naar de spuit grijpen, goedemorgen mijn naam is Cano.

Well done Mets, jullie hebben al een historie van oplichters, phoony's en klootzakken, er kan er nog wel één bij.