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

They also thought New York was going to be leveled by a hurricane a month ago, so I'm not surprised they botched the forecast last night.

 

Agreed all the way. It was difficult to watch, never mind actually be part of it.

 

I don't think he can get too much credit for evaluating Hamilton's talent. i don't know anyone who ever doubted it, but he gets credit for believing Hamilton could stay healthy and clean. looking back i don't think Lee was a positive either. yes he got them to the World Series, but they had him for half a season. if Smoak becomes a 30 hr 100 rbi guy that deal doesn't look so good.

 

As Cal Ripken noted on TBS last night, the final two Tigers at-bats were bullshit. Avila and Rayburn had rain on their faces and in their eyes, and they both struck out and looked as if they didn't give a shit because they couldn't see. Garbage.

 

Hey, if you want to ding Daniels, you can always throw out Adrian Gonzalez for Adam Eaton and Akinori Otsuka. But still, the Reds decided to sell high on Hamilton, and have thus far gotten burned.

I disagree on wisdom of the Lee deal. If you're a perennially downtrodden franchise and you've got a chance to get to a World Series, you go for it no matter what it costs. Smoak has shown flashes in Seattle, but thus far has been a bust.

 

Even more food for thought: What if the Rays decided to keep Hamilton? How much different would baseball be?

Hamilton got picked by the Cubs in the Rule 5, and sold him the same day to the Reds. Imagine how powerful the Rays would have been with an outfield of Crawford, Upton and Hamilton?

Granted, Hamilton hadn't shown much in his comeback and there was the risks he could have fallen off the wagon again (which he ended up doing anyway), so the Rays decided not to put him on the 40-man.

Then you have the what-if about the Cubs deciding to keep Hamilton. Cubs fans should be wincing, especially when they think of Hamilton at bat with the wind blowing out of Wrigley.

Oh, and not to mention, Shannon Stone might still be alive.

 

Really, this is your line of thinking?

 

No reason for Cubs fans to wince anymore than any other team that didn't take Hamilton. He wasn't on many teams' radar, and the Cubs weren't planning on taking anyone with their Rule V pick, so the Reds called in advance and said "There's someone we want, will agree to make your pick for us and sell him to us?"

 

It seems kind of unusual that they'd agree to this though. They're in the same division, right? My spidey sense would be tingling a bit if a division rival asked me to do a favor for them like this.

But yeah, I can't fault teams too much for passing on Hamilton. Incredible talent, but at the time he seemed like a ticking time bomb with the past drug history. There are plenty of guys with that kind of athleticism bouncing around at any given time, but without the "one more failed test and you're out of baseball for year" issue hanging over their head.

 

Had the Cubs kept Hamilton he would probably be out of the league by now. That franchise never would have put a support network in place like the Rangers have and without that Hamilton probably doesn't stay clean.

 

The chances Hamilton stays clean in Tampa probably aren't great either. I think he (or his wife) said in the story Sheinen did that getting him out of his old haunts was important. Trouble can be found anywhere, but he found most of his in Bradenton.

 

Is there anywhere to drink around Wrigley Field?