Baseball Thread 6 - Steve Garvey's got a lot of mouths to feed

Well, on the plus side, Greinke's own record only falls to 10-6 after tonight, so a massively losing record isn't yet guaranteed.

Then again, with the Royals posting a salty 19-46 record since that 18-11 start, anything's possible.

UPDATE: The Royals just pinch-hit for the DH, Mike Jacobs, for something like the fourth time in two weeks. Guess there's no such creature as a DH on the Royals. Sigh.

UPDATE 2: Ballgame. Double sigh.

 

Freddie: This Tribe fanboi looser moran feels your pain, buddy.

Misery loves company, eh?

Hey, at least you had that 18-11 start.

 

Royals have scored nine runs in Greinke's last seven starts.

 

The Brewers are done.

 

It's going to be tough for them to hang in there without better pitching, for sure.

 

Even if they get one of the starters being bandied about in trade rumors, I don't think it will help. What's lost in some of their pitching woes is that they still aren't a very good situational hitting team. The Brewers are maddening with runners in scoring position.

That's why I don't want them to trade for Halladay. I don't want them mortgaging the future.

Last year was different, they needed to make the playoffs, they needed to legitimize the franchise in the minds of the fans and gain respect nationally. Plus, the primary prospect they gave up (Matt LaPorta) is an AL-style player they would have had trouble finding a place for. It was all worth it.

This year? Even in a weak Central, I think this is the year to hold back. If they can get Cliff Lee at a kinder asking price than what Toronto wants for Halladay, great. Or a Jon Garland-type. But they don't need to be pissing away their prospects to get Halladay for a playoff run that will likely end in tears.

 

Randy Johnson also had that 2004 season when he went 16-14 with a 2.60 ERA. He had 290 strikeouts and 44 walks in 245 innings and, IIRC, a stretch in the summer when the D-Backs scored something like three runs in five starts for him.

 

I believe he wore No. 10.

 

I feel your pain, brother. Looks like the Royals and Indians will be duking it out for the proverbial mall bathroom floater once again.

 

That's absolutely pathetic.

 

If you want context, then don't just look at the Mulder-for-Haren deal in a vacuum. As I said, that deal was great. But then Beane trades Haren just as he's entering his prime for prospects, some of whom he's already traded away. Keeping a Cy Young caliber starter like Haren and paying him would have been too simple, I guess. From there, it's just been a merry-go-round of unproven players with some has-beens sprinkled in, like Giambi, Piazza and Frank Thomas. What he's left with is a mostly nameless, faceless team that's supposedly always on the verge of contending without ever really doing it. He's not out-smarting anybody, he's just spinning his wheels.

 

As I said, outside of the Haren deal, the trades mentioned above have been pretty good. Maybe you question giving up Huston Street, but he had been erratic and injury-prone.

I agree regarding Haren. That one just never made sense. But you can't just dismiss the return as "some of them are gone." Brett Anderson is still there and showing promise and two others went in the Holliday deal.