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

This line made me laugh.

 

Having a real pitching coach really helps.

 

Phillies and Yankees are out. There is a god.

 

Sure I'm a Braves fanboi, but I'm sickened by Ryan's injury. Just seems like a waste on so many levels.

 

And let's not forget Howard's contract extension doesn't even kick in until next year.

 

It's a serious injury, but we don't yet know how serious or how much down time is involved. Is it better for a team to have a long contract with a player assuring it will get several seasons of declining production at a minimum or is it better to be where the Brewers and Cardinals are, facing the possibility of losing their sluggers for good and all starting in 2012? I'm not being snarky. That's a difficult question to answer

 

It is, but if you're the Phillies and you have the money to land pretty much anyone you want, I would think you'd rather take your chances picking between Fielder, Howard and Pujols. Particularly with big spenders like the Yankees and Red Sox theoretically out of the first base market, you'd be bidding against the Cubs, Angels and Rangers among others and probably have a good chance to land whichever one you want.

 

I'm not sure Fielder is preferable to Howard, and at the time the Phils gave him the extension, I'll bet they thought that of course St. Louis would sign Pujols no matter what. I still think that now.

 

Howard does not belong in the same sentence as Pujols and Fielder.

 

It's called having great ownership that is committed to a winning franchise (as opposed to merely maximizing profits), knows how to make it a winning franchise and is willing to pay for a management team and talent that can accomplish that.

The Cardinals have that. The Cubs, since the 1940s, have not.

 

Lucking into a skinny 14th round pick turning into the best hitter of the last half-century didn't hurt.

 

Delmon Young not on the ALCS roster. Infielder Danny Worth takes his place.

Ryan Raburn likely outfield replacement, which isn't necessarily bad since Rangers have three lefty starters.