2011/2012 MLB Off-season Thread

[Papi34]

Originally Posted by CofR

I suppose this means Kalish will be starting in RF... Or at least when he gets healthy.

id say it is a plateau between him and Sweeney, pending any additional moves.

[d_phaneuf]

Originally Posted by CofR

I suppose this means Kalish will be starting in RF... Or at least when he gets healthy.

they need to hope so because in the AL East Sweeney is a 5th OF

no power, no speed, low extra base hits, not a great obp

[CofR]

Originally Posted by diane_phaneuf

they need to hope so because in the AL East Sweeney is a 5th OF

no power, no speed, low extra base hits, not a great obp

Ya, even if Ellsbury has another MVP calibre season, the outfield looks pretty weak unless Crawford rebounds in a big way offensively.

[CofR]

Can anyone say what to expect from Sweeney defensively?

[Gozer]

Originally Posted by CofR

Can anyone say what to expect from Sweeney defensively?

Don't watch the player enough to opine, but my interpretation of fangraphs would conclude his defense to be below average last season, but with strong seasons recently.

http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx...ition=OF#value

More surprising (to me) is that he is below-replacement-level offensively with a weak OPS and ISO while being aided by a strong BABIP.
Ball-park factors might change those numbers, but a glance at the stats suggest he is not an option as a starter/regular for the BoSox.

[Flickered Flame]

Originally Posted by CofR

Can anyone say what to expect from Sweeney defensively?

Very average. At times he looks like a gold glove outfielder but at others he takes bad routes to balls. His best attribute is that he can actually play all 3 OF positions, just none of them really well.

[Flickered Flame]

Cubs send Zambrano to the Marlins for Volstad.

[Flickered Flame]

The Rays have signed Fernando Rodney.

[bluejays]

Good signing by the Rays. As for the Marlins taking on Zambrano, holy hell. You think a player who blows up against his teammates twice a year for the past 3 years, means stay away at all costs. Yet they chase the guy and give up a roster player (albeit a crappy one). Zambrano is a loose canon and the one guy in the league every team should avoid, so I'm pretty shocked the Marlins took him on.

[Otsy]

Originally Posted by Flickered Flame

Cubs send Zambrano to the Marlins for Volstad.

and the Cubs are picking up 15 million of Zambrano's salary just to get rid of him.

[Hells Bells]

Originally Posted by troutman

Latos is a stud. As a Giant fan, I'm happy to see him out of the division. Him and Kershaw are killers.

Not taking anything away from Latos, but my uncle in a wheelchair could post decent numbers pitching in the AL West.

Arizona has a decent offence, the rest are garbage.

[Otsy]

Originally Posted by Hells Bells

Not taking anything away from Latos, but my uncle in a wheelchair could post decent numbers pitching in the AL West.

Arizona has a decent offence, the rest are garbage.

Zona scored 731 Runs last year
Colorado 735

Only teams to score more in the NL were Cinci and St Louis at 735 and 762. Dodgers (644) were 9th (some dude named Kemp helped), only SF sucked real bad, but still wasn't a cake walk lineup when all were healthy.

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by Otsy

and the Cubs are picking up 15 million of Zambrano's salary just to get rid of him.

That's crazy, I realize the guy is a loose cannon, but for 3 million? I'd have taken the risk on Zambrano. Guy has major talent.

[bluejays]

I think sometimes talent is hugely overshadowed by his outbursts on teammates. How many times has he got into serious physical dustups during games? He's nuts!

[Otsy]

Originally Posted by CaramonLS

That's crazy, I realize the guy is a loose cannon, but for 3 million? I'd have taken the risk on Zambrano. Guy has major talent.

and the dude loves to hit. Don't have the auto out everytime he's up to bat

[Hockey]

Im looking to go down to a Mariners game with a group of people and was just wondering if anyone has done something like that and what is the best possible way to do this?

Is there any sites that offer hotel+ticket packages? Is it best to buy tickets down there?

Any help would be appreciated. You can pm me details if anyone has answers.

Thanks!!

[Montana Moe]

Congratulations to Barry Larkin being elected to the Hall of Fame today. Those late 80's/early 90's Reds teams had some characters, but he was the rock. Well deserved.

[fundmark19]

Originally Posted by Hockey

Im looking to go down to a Mariners game with a group of people and was just wondering if anyone has done something like that and what is the best possible way to do this?

Is there any sites that offer hotel+ticket packages? Is it best to buy tickets down there?

Any help would be appreciated. You can pm me details if anyone has answers.

Thanks!!

What I normally do is get a hotel on Priceline/hotwire in the downtown pike place area. Then I have an email for a ticket scalper and let him know I am coming down and I meet up with him before the game and he gets me good seats for a good price. I am pretty sure he is the guy who runs the whole scalping ticket network down their and is a pretty nice guy even though we pissed him off a little bit trying to get better tickets then he was able to find for us.

The walk from any hotel in pike place district is about 15-20 mins to stadium and allows you time to have a couple beverages either as you walk on the street or if you want to stop in at small pubs and sports bars on the way.

Also if you know your weekend keep an eye out of stub hub as season ticket holders sometimes unload good seats at great prices but you have to be patient

[GirlySports]

Yankees trade for Michael Pineda and sign Hiroki Kuroda

Give them the AL East again.

[bluejays]

I don't know why Seattle would do that deal as pitchers like that are hard to come by, but damn, NY saved themselves. Hard to disagree that they'll win the AL East, but injuries always happen.