2012 MLB Regular Season Running Thread

I don't know, but I do know this: If one of my coaches thought that teams were supposed to simply sit on five-run leads in the middle innings in big-boy baseball, he would be an ex-coach in short order.

 

Quirk is a La Russa protege.
That explains part of the asshole in him.
Although I seem to remember reading the two had a fallout.
As Whitey Herzog used to say, I'll stop stealing bases when you tell your power hitters to take three pecker-high strikes.

 

I think perception is a lot. Cabrera is about on par with Vlad Guerrero at the same age, but 'seems' better because there is less hitting competition around now, and he is possibly the best hitter in baseball. If his prime was 15 years ago, he would be just another slugger.

What makes him stand out is his consistence..much like Pujols, he started young, and consistently hits for both power and average, with no 'off' years. Would it be fair to call him a 'poor man's Pujols'?

 

Guerrero through the season he turned 29: .325/.390/.589, 1,421 hits, 273 homers, 828 RBI, 765 runs, 138 steals, 38.1 WAR in 1,160 games

Cabrera thus far: .318/.395/.559, 1,770 hits, 312 homers, 1,100 RBI, 941 runs, 33 steals, 43.3 WAR in 1,486

Guerrero was the better player in most ways, starting with defense and baserunning. Cabrera had one advantage: an earlier start date.

That said, I think Cabrera will make the Hall of Fame. But there's no chance he approaches the home run record. He's way off pace. Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds each had eight 40-homer seasons, Babe Ruth had 11 and Cabrera, in the final season his 20s, has none.

It will be interesting to see if Cabrera can stay in shape. Fat players age poorly.

 

Didn't realize his stats compared that favorably to Guerrero. He likely will make the Hall of Fame. Never really thought about him as one until now.

 

Recovering after bad contracts and sunk costs.
They will get a nice haul for Garza this offseason.
Someone will overpay.

 

Rizzo, Jackson, Vitters, Samardzija. Also some minor leaguers like Almora (first-round pick this year) and Soler (Cuban signee). They're a couple drafts away still. They're essentially starting over. They've jettisoned, via trade or free agency, Dempster, Carlos Pena, Soto, Aramis Ramirez, etc., etc. It's a total rebuilding project/Hendry era purge.

 

I'd be pretty surprised if either Jackson or Vitters turns into a major league starter. Especially Jackson. You can't strike out as much as he does and still be a productive hitter without having 30-40 HR potential, which he doesn't have.

Basically, Epstein was stressed out from his time in Boston and the Cubs' owner convinced him to jump ship with the idea that he'd have virtually no expectation to try at the MLB level for several years and could just focus on the farm system.

 

I agree. His strikeouts at Iowa were unbelievable. Mark Reynolds/Adam Dunn-level.

 

The other franchise that's fallen off the face of the Earth to me is the Astros. I know I'm late to the game with this assessment, but what happened with them and do they have anything coming up through the system to give them reason for hope anytime soon?

 

Reynolds and Dunn struck out less in AAA than Jackson has, as crazy as that sounds. I don't think Jackson's 43% at the MLB level is a small-sample fluke. I think that's his real ability. He literally can't hit anything that isn't right down the middle. But he also won't swing at anything that isn't a strike, and he crushes anything hanging. It's a very interesting skill set, but one that is ultimately doomed to fail, imo.