2011-12 Hot Stove Thread

Re: 2011 Hot Stove Thread

Will the Dodgers be the first team ever with the Cy Young and MVP (if Kemp doesn't win, drug test the voters immediately) to NOT win a pennant, or at least a wild card? There can't be many candidates.

 

Re: 2011 Hot Stove Thread

It's never happened, though there is an asterisk.

The 1962 Dodgers had the MVP (Maury Wills) and Cy Young (Don Drysdale, back when there was only one awards for both leagues), and tied for first in the NL with the Giants. They lost a three-game playoff for the NL pennant.

 

Re: 2011 Hot Stove Thread

Here's the complete list of teams who had both the MVP and Cy Young in the same season, for those interested:

2006 Twins — MVP: Justin Morneau; Cy Young: Johan Santana (lost in ALDS)
2005 Cardinals — MVP: Albert Pujols; Cy Young: Chris Carpenter (lost in NLCS)
1993 White Sox — MVP: Frank Thomas; Cy Young: Jack McDowell (lost in ALCS)
1992 Athletics — MVP & Cy Young: Dennis Eckersley (lost in ALCS)
1991 Braves — MVP: Terry Pendleton; Cy Young: Tom Glavine (lost in World Series)
1990 Athletics — MVP: Rickey Henderson; Cy Young: Bob Welch (lost in World Series)
1988 Dodgers — MVP: Kirk Gibson; Cy Young: Orel Hershiser (won World Series)
1986 Red Sox — MVP & Cy Young: Roger Clemens (lost in World Series)
1984 Cubs — MVP: Ryne Sandberg; Cy Young: Rick Sutcliffe (lost in NLCS)
1981 Brewers — MVP & Cy Young: Rollie Fingers (lost in ALDS)
1980 Phillies — MVP: Mike Schmidt; Cy Young: Steve Carlton (won World Series)
1974 Dodgers — MVP: Steve Garvey; Cy Young: Mike Marshall (lost in World Series)
1968 Cardinals — MVP & Cy Young: Bob Gibson (lost in World Series)
1968 Tigers — MVP & Cy Young: Denny McLain (won World Series)
1963 Dodgers — MVP & Cy Young: Sandy Koufax (won World Series)
1962 Dodgers — MVP: Maury Wills; Cy Young: Don Drysdale (lost in NL playoff)
1960 Pirates — MVP: Dick Groat; Cy Young: Vern Law (won World Series)
1957 Braves — MVP: Hank Aaron; Cy Young: Warren Spahn (won World Series)
1956 Dodgers — MVP & Cy Young: Don Newcombe (lost in World Series)

 

Re: 2011 Hot Stove Thread

Please, please, please let this happen. It may be the only way we can get rid of him in Detroit.

 

Re: 2011 Hot Stove Thread

Red Sox are interested in Bobby Valentine:

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2011/11/red_sox_interes_2.html?p1=News_links

 

Re: 2011 Hot Stove Thread

Would be a good move, in my opinion. Valentine's a horse's ass, but a helluva manager.

 

Re: 2011 Hot Stove Thread

Cubs hire Dale Sveum. Too bad Harry's not still alive to try and pronounce that one (forwards or backwards).

Great lede on the Sun Times story, by the way:

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/8902711-573/cubs-name-dale-sveum-manager.html

 

Re: 2011 Hot Stove Thread

Alright, I worked on this last night. It's extremely long, so feel free to skip over it if you like.

As bad a taste as interleague play has left in my mouth, for the hell of it I've come up with a schedule for a 15 NL/15 AL team setup in which interleague play takes place throughout the season. Please note that I do not advocate such an arrangement; this is just an exercise to see how this scenario would work. First, here's what the leagues would look like:

NL East: Atlanta, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Washington
NL Central: Chicago, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, St. Louis
NL West: Colorado, Houston, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco
AL East: Baltimore, Boston, New York, Tampa Bay, Toronto
AL Central: Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City, Minnesota
AL West: Arizona, Los Angeles, Oakland, Seattle, Texas

Note that instead of transferring Houston to the AL West -- a solution often proposed -- I've moved Houston to the NL West and bumped Arizona over to the AL West. The Astros' owner has made his opposition to switching leagues clear, and IIUC, there's a legal clause somewhere which would allow MLB to move Arizona to the AL if needed. Now for the schedule:

Intraleague, same division: 16 games x 4 teams = 64 games
Intraleague, other divisions: 8 games x 10 teams = 80 games
Interleague, same division: 3 games x 5 teams = 15 games
Interleague, designated rival: 3 games x 1 team = 3 games

64 + 80 + 15 + 3 = 162 total games

Designated Interleague Rivals:
Atlanta-Boston*
Miami-Tampa Bay
New York-New York
Philadelphia-Toronto*
Washington-Baltimore
Chicago-Chicago
Cincinnati-Cleveland
Milwaukee-Minnesota
Pittsburgh-Detroit*
St. Louis-Kansas City
Colorado-Arizona
Houston-Texas
Los Angeles-Los Angeles
San Diego-Seattle*
San Francisco-Oakland

I'll be the first to admit that the 4 matchups with asterisks are not especially compelling rivalries from either a geographic or historic perspective, but those 8 teams don't exactly have obvious interleague rivals.

The basic framework for the schedule is as follows:

Set 1 -- done twice
E vs. E (4 x 4) + I (3 x 1) = 19
C vs. W (4 x 5) = 20
W vs. C (4 x 5) = 20

Set 2 -- done twice
E vs. W (4 x 5) = 20
C vs. C (4 x 4) + I (3 x 1) = 19
W vs. E (4 x 5) = 20

Set 3 -- done twice
E vs. C (4 x 5) = 20
C vs. E (4 x 5) = 20
W vs. W (4 x 4) + I (3 x 1) = 19

Set 4 -- done twice
E vs. E (4 x 4) + I (3 x 1) = 19
C vs. C (4 x 4) + I (3 x 1) = 19
W vs. W (4 x 4) + I (3 x 1) = 19

Set 5 (leftover interleague opponent) -- done once
E vs. I (3 x 1) = 3
C vs. I (3 x 1) = 3
W vs. I (3 x 1) = 3

Set 6 (interleague rivals) -- done once
E vs. I (3 x 1) = 3
C vs. I (3 x 1) = 3
W vs. I (3 x 1) = 3

(19 x 2) + (20 x 2) + (20 x 2) + (19 x 2) + 3 + 3 = 38 + 40 + 40 + 38 + 6 = 162

Each intraleague series consist of 4 games, while each interleague series consists of 3 games. There is at least one interleague series being played at all times. Below is a more detailed schedule. I didn't specify exactly which teams in a division are which, as this may vary from year to year, but instead used a code:

NE1 = Team 1 (whichever that may be) in the NL East
NE2 = Team 2 in the NL East
etc.

Let me know what you think of all this.

Set 1, Round 1 (19 E, 20 C, 20 W)

East vs. East + Interleague: NE1-NE2, NE3-NE4, AE1-AE2, AE3-AE4, NE5-AE5
NL Central vs. NL West: NC1-NW1, NC2-NW2, NC3-NW3, NC4-NW4, NC5-NW5
AL Central vs. AL West: AC1-AW1, AC2-AW2, AC3-AW3, AC4-AW4, AC5-AW5

East vs. East + Interleague: NE1-NE3, NE2-NE5, AE1-AE3, AE2-AE5, NE4-AE4
NL Central vs. NL West: NC1-NW2, NC2-NW3, NC3-NW4, NC4-NW5, NC5-NW1
AL Central vs. AL West: AC1-AW2, AC2-AW3, AC3-AW4, AC4-AW5, AC5-AW1

East vs. East + Interleague: NE1-NE5, NE2-NE4, AE1-AE5, AE2-AE4, NE3-AE3
NL Central vs. NL West: NC1-NW3, NC2-NW4, NC3-NW5, NC4-NW1, NC5-NW2
AL Central vs. AL West: AC1-AW3, AC2-AW4, AC3-AW5, AC4-AW1, AC5-AW2

East vs. East + Interleague: NE1-NE4, NE3-NE5, AE1-AE4, AE3-AE5, NE2-AE2
NL Central vs. NL West: NC1-NW4, NC2-NW5, NC3-NW1, NC4-NW2, NC5-NW3
AL Central vs. AL West: AC1-AW4, AC2-AW5, AC3-AW1, AC4-AW2, AC5-AW3

East vs. East + Interleague: NE2-NE3, NE4-NE5, AE2-AE3, AE4-AE5, NE1-AE1
NL Central vs. NL West: NC1-NW5, NC2-NW1, NC3-NW2, NC4-NW3, NC5-NW4
AL Central vs. AL West: AC1-AW5, AC2-AW1, AC3-AW2, AC4-AW3, AC5-AW4

Set 2, Round 1 (20 E, 19 C, 20 W)

NL East vs. NL West: NE1-NW1, NE2-NW2, NE3-NW3, NE4-NW4, NE5-NW5
Central vs. Central + Interleague: NC1-NC2, NC3-NC4, AC1-AC2, AC3-AC4, NC5-AC5
AL East vs. AL West: AE1-AW1, AE2-AW2, AE3-AW3, AE4-AW4, AE5-AW5

NL East vs. NL West: NE1-NW2, NE2-NW3, NE3-NW4, NE4-NW5, NE5-NW1
Central vs. Central + Interleague: NC1-NC3, NC2-NC5, AC1-AC3, AC2-AC5, NC4-AC4
AL East vs. AL West: AE1-AW2, AE2-AW3, AE3-AW4, AE4-AW5, AE5-AW1

NL East vs. NL West: NE1-NW3, NE2-NW4, NE3-NW5, NE4-NW1, NE5-NW2
Central vs. Central + Interleague: NC1-NC5, NC2-NC4, AC1-AC5, AC2-AC4, NC3-AC3
AL East vs. AL West: AE1-AW3, AE2-AW4, AE3-AW5, AE4-AW1, AE5-AW2

NL East vs. NL West: NE1-NW4, NE2-NW5, NE3-NW1, NE4-NW2, NE5-NW3
Central vs. Central + Interleague: NC1-NC4, NC3-NC5, AC1-AC4, AC3-AC5, NC2-AC2
AL East vs. AL West: AE1-AW4, AE2-AW5, AE3-AW1, AE4-AW2, AE5-AW3

NL East vs. NL West: NE1-NW5, NE2-NW1, NE3-NW2, NE4-NW3, NE5-NW4
Central vs. Central + Interleague: NC2-NC3, NC4-NC5, AC2-AC3, AC4-AC5, NC1-AC1
AL East vs. AL West: AE1-AW5, AE2-AW1, AE3-AW2, AE4-AW3, AE5-AW4

Set 3, Round 1 (20 E, 20 C, 19 W)

NL East vs. NL Central: NE1-NC1, NE2-NC2, NE3-NC3, NE4-NC4, NE5-NC5
AL East vs. AL Central: AE1-AC1, AE2-AC2, AE3-AC3, AE4-AC4, AE5-AC5
West vs. West + Interleague: NW1-NW2, NW3-NW4, AW1-AW2, AW3-AW4, NW5-AW5

NL East vs. NL Central: NE1-NC2, NE2-NC3, NE3-NC4, NE4-NC5, NE5-NC1
AL East vs. AL Central: AE1-AC2, AE2-AC3, AE3-AC4, AE4-AC5, AE5-AC1
West vs. West + Interleague: NW1-NW3, NW2-NW5, AW1-AW3, AW2-AW5, NW4-AW4

NL East vs. NL Central: NE1-NC3, NE2-NC4, NE3-NC5, NE4-NC1, NE5-NC2
AL East vs. AL Central: AE1-AC3, AE2-AC4, AE3-AC5, AE4-AC1, AE5-AC2
West vs. West + Interleague: NW1-NW5, NW2-NW4, AW1-AW5, AW2-AW4, NW3-AW3

NL East vs. NL Central: NE1-NC4, NE2-NC5, NE3-NC1, NE4-NC2, NE5-NC3
AL East vs. AL Central: AE1-AC4, AE2-AC5, AE3-AC1, AE4-AC2, AE5-AC3
West vs. West + Interleague: NW1-NW4, NW3-NW5, AW1-AW4, AW3-AW5, NW2-AW2

NL East vs. NL Central: NE1-NC5, NE2-NC1, NE3-NC2, NE4-NC3, NE5-NC4
AL East vs. AL Central: AE1-AC5, AE2-AC1, AE3-AC2, AE4-AC3, AE5-AC4
West vs. West + Interleague: NW2-NW3, NW4-NW5, AW2-AW3, AW4-AW5, NW1-AW1

Set 4, Round 1 (19 E, 19 C, 19 W)

East vs. East + Interleague: NE1-NE2, NE3-NE4, AE2-AE3, AE4-AE5, NE5-AE1
Central vs. Central + Interleague: NC1-NC2, NC3-NC4, AC2-AC3, AC4-AC5, NC5-AC1
West vs. West + Interleague: NW1-NW2, NW3-NW4, AW2-AW3, AW4-AW5, NW5-AW1

East vs. East + Interleague: NE1-NE3, NE2-NE5, AE1-AE2, AE3-AE4, NE4-AE5
Central vs. Central + Interleague: NC1-NC3, NC2-NC5, AC1-AC2, AC3-AC4, NC4-AC5
West vs. West + Interleague: NW1-NW3, NW2-NW5, AW1-AW2, AW3-AW4, NW4-AW5

East vs. East + Interleague: NE1-NE5, NE2-NE4, AE1-AE3, AE2-AE5, NE3-AE4
Central vs. Central + Interleague: NC1-NC5, NC2-NC4, AC1-AC3, AC2-AC5, NC3-AC4
West vs. West + Interleague: NW1-NW5, NW2-NW4, AW1-AW3, AW2-AW5, NW3-AW4

East vs. East + Interleague: NE1-NE4, NE3-NE5, AE1-AE5, AE2-AE4, NE2-AE3
Central vs. Central + Interleague: NC1-NC4, NC3-NC5, AC1-AC5, AC2-AC4, NC2-AC3
West vs. West + Interleague: NW1-NW4, NW3-NW5, AW1-AW5, AW2-AW4, NW2-AW3

East vs. East + Interleague: NE2-NE3, NE4-NE5, AE1-AE4, AE3-AE5, NE1-AE2
Central vs. Central + Interleague: NC2-NC3, NC4-NC5, AC1-AC4, AC3-AC5, NC1-AC2
West vs. West + Interleague: NW2-NW3, NW4-NW5, AW1-AW4, AW3-AW5, NW1-AW2

Set 5 (E 3, C 3, W 3)

East vs. East: NE1-AE3, NE2-AE4, NE3-AE5, NE4-AE1, NE5-AE2
Central vs. Central: NC1-AC3, NC2-AC4, NC3-AC5, NC4-AC1, NC5-AC2
West vs. West: NW1-AW3, NW2-AW4, NW3-AW5, NW4-AW1, NW5-AW2

(All-Star Break)

Set 6 (E 3, C 3, W 3)

East Rivals: NER1-AER1, NER2-AER2, NER3-AER3, NER4-AER4, NER5-AER5
Central Rivals: NCR1-ACR1, NCR2-ACR2, NCR3-ACR3, NCR4-ACR4, NCR5-ACR5
West Rivals: NWR1-AWR1, NWR2-AWR2, NWR3-AWR3, NWR4-AWR4, NWR5-AWR5

Set 1, Round 2 (E 19, C 20, W 20)

East vs. East + Interleague: NE1-NE2, NE3-NE4, AE1-AE2, AE4-AE5, NE5-AE3
NL Central vs. NL West: NC1-NW1, NC2-NW2, NC3-NW3, NC4-NW4, NC5-NW5
AL Central vs. AL West: AC1-AW1, AC2-AW2, AC3-AW3, AC4-AW4, AC5-AW5

East vs. East + Interleague: NE1-NE3, NE2-NE5, AE1-AE4, AE3-AE5, NE4-AE2
NL Central vs. NL West: NC1-NW2, NC2-NW3, NC3-NW4, NC4-NW5, NC5-NW1
AL Central vs. AL West: AC1-AW2, AC2-AW3, AC3-AW4, AC4-AW5, AC5-AW1

East vs. East + Interleague: NE1-NE5, NE2-NE4, AE2-AE5, AE3-AE4, NE3-AE1
NL Central vs. NL West: NC1-NW3, NC2-NW4, NC3-NW5, NC4-NW1, NC5-NW2
AL Central vs. AL West: AC1-AW3, AC2-AW4, AC3-AW5, AC4-AW1, AC5-AW2

East vs. East + Interleague: NE1-NE4, NE3-NE5, AE1-AE3, AE2-AE4, NE2-AE5
NL Central vs. NL West: NC1-NW4, NC2-NW5, NC3-NW1, NC4-NW2, NC5-NW3
AL Central vs. AL West: AC1-AW4, AC2-AW5, AC3-AW1, AC4-AW2, AC5-AW3

East vs. East + Interleague: NE2-NE3, NE4-NE5, AE1-AE5, AE2-AE3, NE1-AE4
NL Central vs. NL West: NC1-NW5, NC2-NW1, NC3-NW2, NC4-NW3, NC5-NW4
AL Central vs. AL West: AC1-AW5, AC2-AW1, AC3-AW2, AC4-AW3, AC5-AW4

Set 2, Round 2 (E 20, C 19, W 20)

NL East vs. NL West: NE1-NW1, NE2-NW2, NE3-NW3, NE4-NW4, NE5-NW5
Central vs. Central + Interleague: NC1-NC2, NC3-NC4, AC1-AC2, AC4-AC5, NC5-AC3
AL East vs. AL West: AE1-AW1, AE2-AW2, AE3-AW3, AE4-AW4, AE5-AW5

NL East vs. NL West: NE1-NW2, NE2-NW3, NE3-NW4, NE4-NW5, NE5-NW1
Central vs. Central + Interleague: NC1-NC3, NC2-NC5, AC1-AC4, AC3-AC5, NC4-AC2
AL East vs. AL West: AE1-AW2, AE2-AW3, AE3-AW4, AE4-AW5, AE5-AW1

NL East vs. NL West: NE1-NW3, NE2-NW4, NE3-NW5, NE4-NW1, NE5-NW2
Central vs. Central + Interleague: NC1-NC5, NC2-NC4, AC2-AC5, AC3-AC4, NC3-AC1
AL East vs. AL West: AE1-AW3, AE2-AW4, AE3-AW5, AE4-AW1, AE5-AW2

NL East vs. NL West: NE1-NW4, NE2-NW5, NE3-NW1, NE4-NW2, NE5-NW3
Central vs. Central + Interleague: NC1-NC4, NC3-NC5, AC1-AC3, AC2-AC4, NC2-AC5
AL East vs. AL West: AE1-AW4, AE2-AW5, AE3-AW1, AE4-AW2, AE5-AW3

NL East vs. NL West: NE1-NW5, NE2-NW1, NE3-NW2, NE4-NW3, NE5-NW4
Central vs. Central + Interleague: NC2-NC3, NC4-NC5, AC1-AC5, AC2-AC3, NC1-AC4
AL East vs. AL West: AE1-AW5, AE2-AW1, AE3-AW2, AE4-AW3, AE5-AW4

Set 3, Round 2 (E 20, C 20, W 19)

NL East vs. NL Central: NE1-NC1, NE2-NC2, NE3-NC3, NE4-NC4, NE5-NC5
AL East vs. AL Central: AE1-AC1, AE2-AC2, AE3-AC3, AE4-AC4, AE5-AC5
West vs. West + Interleague: NW1-NW2, NW3-NW4, AW1-AW2, AW4-AW5, NW5-AW3

NL East vs. NL Central: NE1-NC2, NE2-NC3, NE3-NC4, NE4-NC5, NE5-NC1
AL East vs. AL Central: AE1-AC2, AE2-AC3, AE3-AC4, AE4-AC5, AE5-AC1
West vs. West + Interleague: NW1-NW3, NW2-NW5, AW1-AW4, AW3-AW5, NW4-AW2

NL East vs. NL Central: NE1-NC3, NE2-NC4, NE3-NC5, NE4-NC1, NE5-NC2
AL East vs. AL Central: AE1-AC3, AE2-AC4, AE3-AC5, AE4-AC1, AE5-AC2
West vs. West + Interleague: NW1-NW5, NW2-NW4, AW2-AW5, AW3-AW4, NW3-AW1

NL East vs. NL Central: NE1-NC4, NE2-NC5, NE3-NC1, NE4-NC2, NE5-NC3
AL East vs. AL Central: AE1-AC4, AE2-AC5, AE3-AC1, AE4-AC2, AE5-AC3
West vs. West + Interleague: NW1-NW4, NW3-NW5, AW1-AW3, AW2-AW4, NW2-AW5

NL East vs. NL Central: NE1-NC5, NE2-NC1, NE3-NC2, NE4-NC3, NE5-NC4
AL East vs. AL Central: AE1-AC5, AE2-AC1, AE3-AC2, AE4-AC3, AE5-AC4
West vs. West + Interleague: NW2-NW3, NW4-NW5, AW1-AW5, AW2-AW3, NW1-AW4

Set 4, Round 2 (E 19, C 19, W 19)

East vs. East + Interleague: NE1-NE2, NE3-NE4, AE1-AE2, AE3-AE5, NE5-AE4
Central vs. Central + Interleague: NC1-NC2, NC3-NC4, AC1-AC2, AC3-AC5, NC5-AC4
West vs. West + Interleague: NW1-NW2, NW3-NW4, AW1-AW2, AW3-AW5, NW5-AW4

East vs. East + Interleague: NE1-NE3, NE2-NE5, AE1-AE4, AE2-AE5, NE4-AE3
Central vs. Central + Interleague: NC1-NC3, NC2-NC5, AC1-AC4, AC2-AC5, NC4-AC3
West vs. West + Interleague: NW1-NW3, NW2-NW5, AW1-AW4, AW2-AW5, NW4-AW3

East vs. East + Interleague: NE1-NE5, NE2-NE4, AE1-AE5, AE3-AE4, NE3-AE2
Central vs. Central + Interleague: NC1-NC5, NC2-NC4, AC1-AC5, AC3-AC4, NC3-AC2
West vs. West + Interleague: NW1-NW5, NW2-NW4, AW1-AW5, AW3-AW4, NW3-AW2

East vs. East + Interleague: NE1-NE4, NE3-NE5, AE2-AE3, AE4-AE5, NE2-AE1
Central vs. Central + Interleague: NC1-NC4, NC3-NC5, AC2-AC3, AC4-AC5, NC2-AC1
West vs. West + Interleague: NW1-NW4, NW3-NW5, AW2-AW3, AW4-AW5, NW2-AW1

East vs. East + Interleague: NE2-NE3, NE4-NE5, AE1-AE3, AE2-AE4, NE1-AE5
Central vs. Central + Interleague: NC2-NC3, NC4-NC5, AC1-AC3, AC2-AC4, NC1-AC5
West vs. West + Interleague: NW2-NW3, NW4-NW5, AW1-AW3, AW2-AW4, NW1-AW5

 

Re: 2011 Hot Stove Thread

HAHA! Thanks. Yes, it is my hobby. I've heard that saying many times though.

 

Re: 2011 Hot Stove Thread

Okaaaaay.

 

Re: 2011 Hot Stove Thread

I want Gehrig doing my agate page.

I also want Arizona in the AL, where it should have been all along.

And at this point in baseball history, pretty much the only level on which pitchers actually have to hit is the NL. I hate the DH, but it's time to just make it universal.