Running 2011 Baseball Thread, Vol. I: Dedicated to spnited

Getting Denny Neagle would've been like watching the Three Stooges and getting a Shemp. Do love his inhuman impersonation of a train whistle, though.

Saw Byrd when I was skimming over the rosters and totally forgot him. He could easily hang out with that group. Nice, long career, a couple of good seasons with the Indians and bounced around to a few teams.
I agree on Millwood. He definitely moved up a spot or two when Smoltz was hurt and certainly had the best overall career of the bunch after leaving Atlanta. But Neagle also fits the first half of that description. He won 20 games with the Braves in 1997.

The really amazing thing, to me, is just how many teams those guys have played for. It's not like they left the Braves and flamed out within a year or two. Again, here's the list:

Bruce Chen - 10 teams (and counting)
Kent Mercker - 9 teams
Jason Schmidt - 4 teams
Denny Neagle - 6 teams
Kevin Millwood - 5 teams
Odalis Perez - 4 teams (could've sworn it was more)
Andy Ashby -5 teams (but 2 separate stints with the Padres)
Jason Marquis -5 teams
Paul Byrd - 7 teams

Add it up, and throw in Paul Byrd, and that's 54 times these guys changed uniforms. They single-handedly provided agate clerks across the country with filler material for more than a decade. And they all have that common link back to the Braves. It's spooky.

 

One year they ran Shane Reynolds out there every fifth day. Later, Mark Redman and Buddy Carlyle.

We were at one of the rare regular season sellouts at Turner when the Red Sox were in town, and we got Carlyle. The results were as expected.

 

Isn't this like the 8th sign of the Apocalypse? It's the one you never hear about.

 

Never mention that name again...well, OK, sure, I guess it's OK to mention him as a starter. I guess it's not really his fault that Bobby once picked up the phone, called the bullpen, and asked for Charlie.

A fateful decision, for sure.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=3251263

 

Keith Law brought up the point today that Varitek illegally obstructed the plate -- another rule that's never called.

 

A few years back when that guy awoke after years and years in a coma, somebody put together a list of all the shit he'd missed. The same will have to be done for all that's gone down since the Pirates went to the postseason.

 

Speaking of the JuggerNats, they'd be about 3.5 games out of first place, on average, in every division other than the NL East. Just when I thought I couldn't possibly hate the Phillies and Braves more....

 

Sustained idiot management will do that. Their player-acquisition judgment is beyond horrifying.

 

Fanboi Idiot Owner combined with a GM who hamstrung himself with too many long-term bad contracts that are coming home to roost at a time when said Fanboi Idiot Owner doesn't have the cash to spend them out of their mistakes.

Oh, and what Ben said. Fucking idiots when it comes to player evaluation.

Their advance scouts should be shot too.