Lovemyteam Message Board

Best Trade of the Decade

RyanCampbell — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:49:26 GMT

With 2009 winding to a close, what do you think the best trade of the decade has been? I am not talking about the type of trade where one team made out like bandits (think Nathan, Liriano and Bonser for Pierzynski), but a trade that benefited both teams.

I am going to have to with the deal that sent Beckett, Lowell and Mota to Boston in exchange for Hanley Ramirez, Anibal Sanchez and Jesus Delgado.

I am sure the Red Sox would have liked to hold on to Hanley but they can't complain about a trade that helped them win a World Series. Beckett and Lowell were mainstays on the team for years. Florida also wanted Lester, but Boston talked them in to Sanchez and Delgado. Sanchez is not half the pitcher Lester is and Delgado hasn't had an ERA under 4.00 since Hi-A ball in 2006. Big victory for the Red Sox there.

Florida is happy because they dumped a boatload of payroll and got one of the best players in the game for three guys they wern't going to keep anyways. It is unlikely that they would have received a player of Ramirez's calibre from anyone else. Oh ya, and Sanchez threw a no-no.

All that being said, I don't think either team would take this trade back because they both benefited tremendously.

Little game for the offseason

mastag10 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:59:24 GMT

The game is simple, I write two players names, and the next poster has to choose between those two players, who they think is the better all around player, and give a brief explanation of why he/she chose that player, and then that person has to write two more players, and so it goes on, lets open it up to anyone, current players, retired players, dead players, anyone! But remember, you have to defend your pick!

I'm going to start off with.....

Robinson Cano

Matt Kemp

Zimbalist article on the Yankees World Series

RyanCampbell — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:45:58 GMT

Obviously Johanna posted this earlier today, but I think it is worth a chat in the message board.

I dislike (hate is too strong of a word, I can't hate anything to do with baseball) the Yankees as much as the next guy, but Zimbalist is 100% correct in this article.

The Yankees did not and do not buy the World Series. I have also crunched these numbers in the past, and payroll is at best weakly correlated to wins, playoff appearances, and championships. Until I see a convincing argument (with numbers), anyone who argues otherwise has a serious case of the sour grapes.

Free Agents

RyanCampbell — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:50:23 GMT

Johanna has posted who she thinks the top free agents are, so where do you guys think they will end up signing? My picks:

Holliday: Yankees
Bay: Red Sox or Cubs (if they can get rid of Bradley)
Lackey: Angels or Red Sox

Now that the economy is beginning to show signs of recovery I will be interested to see what the market will look like this year considering that most teams decreased their payroll last year. Will there be more money to spend this year?

congrats Yankees

bromer — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:00:46 GMT

Wanted to say Congrats to all the Yankee fans out there,,,, over the course of the long series, the better team won....Phillies had no answers for the DH, couldn't shut down Yanks and didn't get anything from ours... Add Rollins, victorino, and Howards batting average together it probably doesn't equal Jeters...Now both teams have personal decisions to make Damon or Matusi,,,,do the Phillies pick up club option on Pedro feliz??? Bye Bye Brett Myers.....Is Jamie Moyer really our 5th starter next season...ughh

Again, congrats to the Yanks.....just happy it wasn't the Mets!!!! haha

Yankees win...

RyanCampbell — Thur, 05 Nov 2009 07:49:36 GMT

Any thoughts or opinions out there?

I am a little dissapointed, not that the Yankees won per say but I was really looking forward to a game seven. When Utley struck out with two men on it was really the end.

Also, I am sure the real party was in the Bronx but I must say I was thoroughly dissapointed with the celebration in Manhattan. There was almost as many cops as fans, and even when a guy in a Ryan Howard jersey showed up the most the Yankees fans could muster was a "Phillies Suck" chant. Nothing compared to the debauchery that occured in Philly last year.

Game 2

bromer — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:16:33 GMT

AJ stepped up, big time, not sure which AJ was going to show up, a must win for the Yanks and they delivered.... Phillies didn't put enought balls in play, too many K's....Thought we had Mo Rivera on the ropes for a second, would of loved to see the Howard/Rivera matchup with 1st and 3rd but not to be....I guess that call evens out the Damon blow call earlier in the game..
INSTANT REPLAY SELIG??? Phillies, need similar performance from Cole Hammels like the Yanks got from AJ
We officially have a series...

Umpiring

jwagner — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:00:17 GMT

I like the home run call review- it makes sense because a bad call their changes the score on one play.

I am against expanding the replay thing though.... I just don't want 6 hour games and as I said today, I like the human element, even from the umpires. Am I alone?

Game one

bromer — Thur, 29 Oct 2009 15:05:22 GMT

Well, if that wasn't a puch in the mouth the Phillies gave out last night I don't know what one is,,,, CC, who everyone in NY thought was unbeatable again took a loss to the Phillies and was outpitched by his Ex-teammate. Now I know its only game one, but the Yanks can't lose games that CC pitches,,, Tons of pressure on AJ tonight....
AROID and TEX didn't get a ball out of the infield while Howard and Utley hit the ball around and out of the ballpark....
I think this answers any questions about how a week off would effect the Champs.....
Can't wait for tonight

McGwire

RyanCampbell — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:34:15 GMT

Johanna covered this is a post yesterday, and I agree that this is hopefully a bookend to the end of the steroid era.

I also think that it is a sign that it was the media and feds that cared more about PED's, not the fans. Would the Cards risk the fan backlash of hiring McGwire if they thought people would be angry? I personally did not have a problem with the steroid era. I would rather have either a majority of players doing it or none at all, so the playing field is at least somewhat balanced. It is when 10-15% of players are doing something illegal and gaining advantage that I have a problem.

However, the weirdest thing about the whole McGwire situation is the fact that it is Mark McGwire the hitter (not the steroid king) being hired as a hitting coach. As Johanna already pointed out, he had lacklustre walk totals other than the years when he was hitting 60+ home runs. He also had a mediocre batting average and was essentially a pure power hitter. How is he supposed to teach the young players to be patient at the plate, or teach guys how to hit who do not have natural home run power? If you look at a list of all the hitting coaches in baseball, Don Mattingly is the only one that really sticks out as a household name, and I think that is just a stepping stone for him to get a job as a manager. Most hitting coaches were career minor leaguers or average major leaguers at best, because they know what it takes for average players to stay in the league (that was them once upon a time).

As the old adage goes, the best players make the worst coaches.

What do you think?

Yanks/Angles

bromer — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:27:41 GMT

Lots of talk on sports radio down here in Phillies town about "who you want to Phillies to meet in WS?" To me, I really don't care, who ever wins the ALCS deserves it, both teams are loaded,,, most of the fans around town want the Yankees, some feel the Phillies were short changed of credit last yr because it was against TB,,(I don't buy that a bit) and facing/beating the Yanks for give them more credibility... Either way, I like to see the AL series get strected out some, use up some of those bullpen arms....

Cliff Lee and Co. are waiting!!!

Go Phillies!

Who do Mets fans root for?

jwagner — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:02:52 GMT

If it were to turn out to be Yankees/Phillies in the World Series- who do you root for if you are a Mets fan?

ARod

jwagner — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:01:18 GMT

He is making the case that he is the greatest player ever with his performance this post season. In Rodriguezs first seven games of the postseason, he is batting .407 with 5 homers and 11 runs batted in. What does he have to do now to earn the distinction?

Can the Angels come back?

RyanCampbell — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 06:01:02 GMT

That is a pretty demoralizing loss for the Angels, and they now find themselves in a 2-0 hole. I think you can pretty much stick a fork in them. It seems like the Yankees are catching all of the breaks late in games this year.

As an aside, it is crazy living in New York when the Yankees are playing these extra inning games. Even from in my apartment I could hear the yelling coming from around the neighbourhood when Hairston scored (or against the Twins when Teixeira hit the home run). Never experienced anything like that before.

Updated Playoff Predictions

RyanCampbell — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:35:44 GMT

Well, the Cards, Rockies, Red Sox and Twins are gone.

Who do you think is going to be moving on to the World Series?

My pick in the AL, as much as I hate to say it, is the Yankees. That line-up just has too much power for the Angels to hold in check.

In the NL, I am going with the Dodgers. They have an impressive .786 OPS against left-handed pitching this year, something that will work in their favour against Lee and Hamels.

What do you think?