2013 MLB Regular Season running thread

He made a big to-do last year of quitting tobacco. He talked about how it caused a months long slump.

And you think it's out of bounds to ask about it now?

 

I think I couldn't possibly care less whether he dips or not. It's a cheap story.

 

Selena Roberts really hit a wall about five years ago, didn't she? The A-Rod book was the worst thing to happen to both of them.

Regarding Hamilton and dipping ... I wonder how far the tobacco industry's profits would plunge if recovering alcoholics and drug addicts stopped smoking.

 

Or hockey and baseball players quit chewing.

 

Or Mark Prior.

 

Twins give Mariano Rivera a "Chair Of Broken Dreams," built out of the bats he has broken that belonged to Joe Mauer, Kirby Puckett and others.

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130702&content_id=52490792

 

Rivera totaled five saves and a win over the course of four playoff series against the Twins so, yeah, he's broken a lot of dreams up there.

 

Maybe if it were someone besides Selena Roberts asking ... but, yes, Hamilton does have a habit of putting the target on himself.

 

Manny Ramirez signs minor league deal with the Rangers.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/rangers/2013/07/03/manny-ramirez-signs-minor-league-deal-texas/2487841/

 

Bear in mind that a lot of this is wishful thinking -- it's not necessarily a realistic plan (and in cases blatantly unrealistic ). So we handwave the plausibility of the Rays moving, a new Montreal MLB team, etc.

I didn't expand the Texas League, but I did promote Frisco and Corpus Christi to AAA.

I promoted the Northwest League to Level AA, although that's actually the third tier of the minors here, after AAA and AA+. Most of the California minor league clubs are mediocre to terrible draws. That's why the California League (renamed the PCL) stayed at A+.

I didn't get rid of the Flying Squirrels; I just gave them a less stupid name. Ogden doesn't have to worry about a name conflict, since I renamed them too. Naming minor league teams after the parent club is rather lame and uncreative. Where I could, I gave those teams unique names.

I like Oklahoma Outlaws better than Oklahoma City RedHawks. YMMV. And Spiders is an awesome name for Cleveland. Most fans don't even know about the old team.

Keeping the Astros in the AL makes for a better geographic alignment of the teams in the South Divisions. The AL has the Central Time Zone southern teams and the NL has the Eastern Time Zone southern teams.

 

Ruckus didn't say that. He questioned anybody asking, not just Roberts.

 

Carlos Gonzalez is one helluva player. He's several nice plays tonight.