2011 Baseball Thread

Where does Pujuls end up?

He's going to demand 25-30m per year for 7-10 years. He'll be 32 next season (at least, some believe he's older than stated) and the Cardinals have mentioned they may not be able to compete with one player consuming 1/4-to-1/3 of the payroll. He's around the age when historically players statistics begin to decline (at least pre-steroid era).

If he's truly a Cardinal at heart, then does he really need to be the highest paid player in the league?

And without either Boston or NY Yankees in the mix, I wonder if he's going to get the massive 250-300m offer he'll seek. I can see the Angles making a legit push for him, would be interesting if the Giants could find the cash but doubtful, rumors the Marlins would go for him for marketing purposes (not that any South Floridians would give a shit), and then there are the two Chicago clubs.

I'd love to see his stats playing for the Rangers but not at that cost.
 
As a Yankee fan I would stil rather face the Rays as good as they rotation is. We've handled them a lot better than the Red Sox all year.

IMO as badly as the Sox have played lately, still a better team. I don't want to give the Sox any new life. The last thing I want to see is for them somehow get past the ALDS, get some confidence match up against the Yanks in the ALCS and suddenly catch fire.

Still think the Sox get there in the end, last 3 games Rays have to go against the Yankees and Sox take on the Orioles.
 
I don't mind the Yankees getting to the WS this year. It'll be fun to see their overrated line-up get chewed out by a proper pitching staff.

Still, Go Sox anyway.
 
Who's overrated exactly? I think our offense is great, yeah you have couple of guys on down years like A-Rod and Posada but nothing major.

I think our pitching staff is the overrated aspect if anything, CC is great but behind him its a mish mash, Nova is a contact pitcher, Freddy is hit and miss, AJ is a ticking timebomb and Colon hasn't been the same since he hit the DL. The only ones I put true faith in are Robertson & Rivera.
 
Halladay and Lee are just gonna do what Johnson and Schilling did back in the day. Dominate the scrub Yankees. Both are terrible teams, but feck the Yankees, they ruin Baseball and Lee beating them will be hysterical, again.
 
I don't like either of them either, but they just jumped on the bandwagon Steinbrenner created. However out of the three, Yankees also have that awful awful awful fanbase, in New York and worldwide thanks to turning their hats into a brand of its own.
 
MrMarcello said:
So Boston and Philly spending ridiculous amounts aren't ruining baseball, only the Yankees are?
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No I'm all for Boston hating too....People are so used to the Yankees spending stupid money, they've forgotten the massive Payroll Boston has had for years now.

They ain't no Cinderella story, yeah the curse is dead and buried, but don't fool yourself into thinking they didn't buy their success.

I remember the good old days, NE sports being, SHIT.

Pats and Red Sox can't go back to being mediocre quick enough for me.
 
Zen said:
I don't like either of them either, but they just jumped on the bandwagon Steinbrenner created. However out of the three, Yankees also have that awful awful awful fanbase, in New York and worldwide thanks to turning their hats into a brand of its own.
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There's a football club in Manchester that turned into a global brand and in doing so dropped the FC from the brand as well. Just sayin.
 
MrMarcello said:
Where does Pujuls end up?

He's going to demand 25-30m per year for 7-10 years. He'll be 32 next season (at least, some believe he's older than stated) and the Cardinals have mentioned they may not be able to compete with one player consuming 1/4-to-1/3 of the payroll. He's around the age when historically players statistics begin to decline (at least pre-steroid era).

If he's truly a Cardinal at heart, then does he really need to be the highest paid player in the league?

And without either Boston or NY Yankees in the mix, I wonder if he's going to get the massive 250-300m offer he'll seek. I can see the Angles making a legit push for him, would be interesting if the Giants could find the cash but doubtful, rumors the Marlins would go for him for marketing purposes (not that any South Floridians would give a shit), and then there are the two Chicago clubs.

I'd love to see his stats playing for the Rangers but not at that cost.
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I think he's better off staying put in the Stl. They've signed an extension on Berkman, brought in Furcal, and the pitching staff will be much better off next year with the return of Wainwright.

He also needs to think about his legacy. He should want to stay and play for a club and fans that he has 11 years of history and goodwill built up with, where he's lived and raised his family, where he'll get a lot less grief if he starts to decline in form on the back end of whatever outrageous contract he's going to sign, due to the fact that he's given all these years of service. It's also worth noting that fans in St. Louis love their baseball, and even though their not in the same financial catagory with the Yankees or Red Sox, they have a fanbase that is second to none in terms of loyalty and in terms of just showing up. They put a lot of people in the stands on a nightly basis, even when other teams struggle to half fill their stadiums. They also put a lot of effort into letting the players that perform well know they appreciate it. Hell, they probably have more standing ovations for players there than in all the other ballparks combined. I've even witnessed standing ovations for visiting team players.

Pujols has said that it's more about playing for Championships than it is about making money. None of the big money clubs with almost guaranteed post season berths look to have the money or realistic need to sign Albert. That leaves a club like the Cubs, or the Rangers, or possibly Anaheim left who can afford him, and who really don't offer anything more in the way of success than the Cardinals.

Either way I guess we'll see here in the next couple of months.
 
Pujols anywhere other than Stl doesn't seem right but I don't think he really owe's the fans anything after 11 seasons of 30 HR+ baseball.

Your right though the market doesn't really have an opening for first baseman, I think there is little chance Red Sox or Yankee's even put in a tentative bid. I hope he stays where he is.
 
There is also Prince Fielder home run hitting first baseman obviously not as good as Albert, but allot cheaper and Younger.
 
dave2528 said:
Pujols has said that it's more about playing for Championships than it is about making money. None of the big money clubs with almost guaranteed post season berths look to have the money or realistic need to sign Albert. That leaves a club like the Cubs, or the Rangers, or possibly Anaheim left who can afford him, and who really don't offer anything more in the way of success than the Cardinals.

Either way I guess we'll see here in the next couple of months.
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We shall see just how much money factors when he (and/or his agent) come out demanding 30m per season. If money wasn't the prime factor, surely he'd have already agreed to an extension.
 
Rays and Sox level with two games to go. Boston 2-8 the last 10, and about 5-15 the last twenty. Looks like its going down to the wire.
 
I can't believe what I have just watched. Rays down 0-7 middle of the 8th and Sox winning 3-2. Took the dog a walk and came back and the Rays were 6-7. Managed to tie it with one out left.......THEN the Sox give up two runs in the bottom of the 9th to lose a few seconds before the rays win in the 12th. CRAZY UNBELIEVABLE
 
I don't think I've cheered so much after a sweep but bahahahahhh @ the red sox
 
Credit to the Rays, lost eight players, and six were starters, awful start to the season and still made the play offs. Over 90 wins three of the last four years. Pretty incredible for a team that had never been above .500 before that.
 
First team in history to come back from nine games down at the start of September and make the play offs.
 
feel bad for the red sox and their fans but i love seeing papelbon fail. tigers go to ny and the rays come to texas. can the Rangers complete the sweep of all my favorite teams winning their championships this year? remember the Packers won the sb, Bruins won the stanley cup, United won their 19th pl championship, and the Mavs won the nba title. they can win the american title again but i don't think they can beat philadelphia (who i think will win the national league) and their great pitchers. GO RANGERS!!
 
Ugh, the Braves = epic fail. At least the Red Sox epic fail was more epic and since ESPN is contractually obligated to talk about them 60% of their airtime, the Braves collapse won't be pushed in my face every 5 minutes.

Freddi Gonzalez needs to go. I was all about giving him every chance to come good, but this last month has been a comedy of errors and a 'how to' in bad management. I don't think there's a manager in baseball that should keep their job after blowing what was an 8.5 game lead a week into September.
 
Texas has fared well against Tampa this season including recently during the Rays magnificent run, so I think they'll take them out in 4, perhaps 5. Shields is on fire right now and if it goes five games, he's pitching twice for sure, and he's better than any Texas pitcher at the moment.

Can't believe the Braves choked but should have figure it would happen. I was really hoping for two playoff games today/tomorrow/whenever they would be scheduled.

Boston goes 7-20 in September and Tampa goes 17-10. That was the first walk-off HR to earn a playoff berth since Thompson in 1951. Adios Epstein and Francona. Crazy stuff.

Give me...
NYY over Detroit, 3-1 (Verlander could win this series himself)
Texas over Tampa, 3-2 (Rays run into buzzsaw but Shields could be the difference)

Philadelphia over St Louis, 3-1 (I'll give the Cards one win against that staff but Carpenter might only pitch once)
Milwaukee over Arizona, 3-1 (Brewers suck on the road but they'll split the first two)
 
Rooney1987 said:
Didn't expect this Terry Francona not expected to return as RedSox manager.
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He had a good run...7 seasons. There were rumors earlier in the season too, that his time might be up.

Couple of World Series wins, 1000 wins with the Sox - and remembered fondly. Not much more a manager can ask for.
 
Barbara Charles said:
44 years a Red Sox supporter. I'm used to this.
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same - but not the arrogance, gagging , clubhouse being splintered , that's vintage sox. 26 men 26 cabs. francona lost em. theo should be shown the door as well. his formula works and will only work when you sign players with spines.

tampa is working on a shoestring and should be the model of all clubs,
 
MrMarcello said:
Cowherd thinks Boston should go for Bochy or Scioscia.
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they need a kick up it. pitchers drinking in the clubhouse between starts whilst the games going on. francona moaning about inter-league play and the problem it causes because he has 2-3 players that can't play in a position or in another position. crawford is carl everet V2 ffs. beckett's about 15 lbs over weight , players making school boy errors. it's a country club again.
 
God damn I am so tempted to get mlb.tv post season, its like £13 which is nothing really but the late nights/early mornings suck when you gotta be working. I might sacrifice my body for October.
 
MrMarcello said:
Texas has fared well against Tampa this season including recently during the Rays magnificent run, so I think they'll take them out in 4, perhaps 5. Shields is on fire right now and if it goes five games, he's pitching twice for sure, and he's better than any Texas pitcher at the moment.

Texas over Tampa, 3-2 (Rays run into buzzsaw but Shields could be the difference)
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I hope you're right about Shields, a two game lead would be nice. After today's game I wouldn't bet against Moore pitching two games in this series. I really can't see Price having another bad game after the Yankees game the other night.


On to Game 2:

James Shields vs. Texas this season: 2-0, 1 CG, 0.53 ERA, and .140 opponent average.

So the Rays are bound to lose.
 
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