This is hilarious, if only for the headlining picture.
Month: March 2014
Oh, Miggy Miggy, Can’t You See? Sometimes Your Money Just Hypnotizes Me…
I am still trying to wrap my head around the massive contract that Miguel Cabrera and Tigers have reportedly agreed to.
I mean, seriously.
This thing is massive. Like, biggest-contract-in-all-of-sports big.
BIG.
In case you live under a rock and haven’t heard, Miggy has reportedly signed a contract for about $300 million over the next 10 years, which is including the remaining two years left of his current deal. Add all of those numbers together and Miggy will be pulling in just over $30 mil/year. Assuming he plays 150 games, that averages out to approximately $200,00/game. God damn. I can only hope to make that much money over the next five or so years!
Of all the players in baseball, none is more deserving of a whopping contract, but is it the best thing? Miggy is going to be 31 this year, which means that he will be at least 40 by the time this thing is up. DH is where he will end up soon-ish, so that would mean he is getting paid pretty much only for offense. Personally, I think a 10-year deal is outrageous, no matter the player. I mean, didn’t these teams learn ANYTHING from the whole A-Rod/10-year deal? It craps on your desk about seven years in, something Detroit better be prepared for (and the Mariners with Cano, for that matter). Is there anyone who I would give a ten year contract to? Nope. Maybe Mike Trout, but, wait, erm…eh…nope. Just kidding. Ten year contracts, in my opinion, are irresponsible.
Will this contract hurt the Tigers in their pursuit for an extension for Max Scherzer? My guess is maybe. It’s so hard to say. Dropping this much money on one player is not super crazy, but it shows that they care more about the MVP than the Cy Young winner. You’d figure they would pursue Scherzer harder, since his contract was up first, but whatever. I’m not running the show in Detroit.
We will find out if this contract was worth it, but one thing is for sure: The Tigers wanted to keep Miggy in Detroit for as long as humanly possible, no matter the cost.
What a cost it was.
Moneybags McGee.
$$$$$$$$$$$$
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The Pope, Bill Clinton, and…Derek Jeter. How awesome is this? Derek Jeter was named, by Forbes, as the 11th most influential person in the world. Yep, that’s right. The WORLD. Why? Because he’s Derek ‘effing Jeter, that’s why! This is hilarious and totally legit.
My Picks for the Post-Season!
I am of no authority to make my picks for who will win a division. No matter how many stats you look at or how many injuries you take into account, predicting the outcomes of the standings is far from an exact science. Too many factors are involved over the course of 162 games per team to make any kind of accurate prediction. But for now, I will look into my crystal ball and tell you how I think things might shape up…
National League:
NL EAST: Washington Nationals. Hands down, I think these guys are gonna take it. After the Braves went down with numerous injuries and so many players coming off bad years, I can’t see them winning the division. Washington has the offense, pitching, and leadership to take this team into the post-season.
NL CENTRAL: St. Louis Cardinals. This one is a bit trickier because the Pirates are looking good so far this spring, but I just don’t think the Pirates can win the division. The Cardinals have done everything right during winter break and acquired good pieces to fill holes left vacant. Add a bomb farm system and you have yourself a great team.
NL WEST: Los Angeles Dodgers. I hate to say it, but they are so good. If they can keep their front-line starters healthy and keep Puig from making embarrassing gaffs, this team is a lock for the post-season. Yes, there are a million huge personalities to tame, Don Mattingly’s included, but if they don’t all kill each other first, they will be just fine. Oh, and I just saw that they are now baseball’s highest spenders this year, taking away the Yankees’ 15-year run, so they REALLY better not suck.
WILD CARD(S): Pittsburg Pirates, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, or San Francisco Giants. All of these teams are good, but I doubt they are “win the division” good. Pittsburg has the momentum, the Braves always scrap their way in, the Reds have everything to prove, and the Giants have pitching for days. How these teams will preform if they do get into the post-season is not in their favor, but gosh darn it, they will try. Also, look for the Arizona Diamondbacks as a sleeper team. If the Goldschmidt/Prado/Trumbo sandwich works out, the offense could be insane.
American League:
AL EAST: Tampa Bay Rays. Talk about the hardest division in baseball! Good Lord, this is going to be a knock-out drag-down fight until the end, I can feel it! Honestly, any team could take it, but I would put money on the super awesome Joe Maddon and the Rays.
AL CENTRAL: Detroit Tigers. A perennial contender, the Tigers will be great this year. There have been some question marks with injuries and front office crap, but I think they can pull it out. But this one will be close because the Indians are really good, as are the Royals.
AL WEST: Oakland Athletics. This is the one division I was most unsure about. On paper, the Angels and Rangers look the best, but Oakland has a way to quietly dominate. Add the injuries to the Rangers and the uncertainty about the Angels, Oakland still looks the best. Seattle may have sold their soul to get Robinson Cano, but their offense is still weak and I doubt they will be contenders this year.
WILD CARDS: Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, or Kansas City Royals. There is a reason there are 3 AL East teams. All of them could take over the division with no problem, so don’t be surprised if three or four of them hit the post-season. I view the Yankees as the dark horse team, a team that will be very dangerous offensively and off the mound. Boston still looks great so far and they have to motivation from winning the World Series, but back-to-backs Series wins are rare. The Royals have everything to prove here, so I expect them to work their butts off this year. I was tossing up between Baltimore and Texas, but just because of injuries, I have to go with Baltimore.
So, there you have it. I have the right to change my picks, not that I will because I don’t care. You can just read newer posts. Psh, this post will be on the elusive second page by the time I need to change my picks. Anyway, enjoy the picks I have made and let’s hope they don’t just suck baseballs by the time the season gets going…
Baseball in a Land Down Under
After a successful week in the scenic Sydney, Australia, the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks should be landing in the states very soon. Obviously, the trip was a bit more of a success for those pesky Dodgers, who ended up winning both games. While I greatly enjoyed watching the second game, which was on a much more reasonable time of day, I was able to learn quite a few things about the teams and the series:
1) Australia is awesome. I mean seriously! They really pulled out all the stops for these teams and that was really cool to see. People don’t realize what a great market this country is for baseball, but they more than proved their case in these last few days. The way they transformed the hallowed Sydney Cricket Grounds (think Old Yankee Stadium in terms of hallowed-ness) into a baseball diamond was incredible. Not only that, but each game had over 38,000 fans in attendance! How cool is that?
2) Don Mattingly is super pissed at Yasiel Puig. Listening to Mattingly’s comments post-game about Puig make me chuckle. Even the skipper is none too pleased with the kid. Making some serious base running errors that cost the Dodgers some outs is not a good way to go. Add some kind of injury to that and you have a grumpy Donnie Baseball. I’ve said it before and I will say it again: Puig is just as likely to help the Dodgers lose games and he is to help them win. My sympathies go out to you, Mr. Mattingly…
3) Kershaw and Ryu are dynamos. For much of the spring, the D-Backs have had Kershaw’s number, but alas, when they needed to dial it, they couldn’t even find the phone. Kershaw dominated in the first game and looked like the Cy Young winning he is. And Ryu? He looked just a good.
4) Wade Miley looked great. Sure, the team didn’t win, but it was not because of Wade Miley. He had eight strike outs and looked really solid. On day two, however, Trevor Cahill did not look so good. With Patrick Corbin probably gone for the year, Cahill really needs to step it up, but if this game is any indication, it isn’t looking so good…
5) Goldy/Prado/Trumbo sandwich combo will be fabulous. Goldschmidt kept up a hitting streak that has carried over from last season and the D-Back fans got to see a real live Trumbomb. As long as Martin Prado’s bat stays hot, we will have three very dangerous hitters on our hands. Prado may not have had the offensive start that he wanted, but let’s remember that he was hitting about .500 during spring training.
6) The Dodgers will still be really good this year. So, congrats Dodger fans. You will have a fun season to watch, but don’t be dicks about it, and I mean that. You all were super annoying last year, especially consider the suck-fest that was your team for the first few months of the season.
7) The Diamondbacks will be sorta good this year. Frankly, I think anything above a .500 finish will be considered a success.
8) Baseball is back and it is GLORIOUS. ‘Nuff said.
Let Me Elbow in Here…
Unless you have been living under a rock this spring training, you should have noticed a deeply upsetting trend occurring among young pitchers. This issue is causing serious problems for ball clubs and players, and is disappointing fans everywhere. If you know the names Patrick Corbin (D-Backs), Kris Medlen (Braves), Jarrod Parker (Athletics), or Brandon Beachy (Braves), then you know what I am talking about:
The dreaded elbow injury.
These four guys are all facing the daunting idea of Tommy John surgery, and for Kris Medlen, it would be his second. It is something that no one wants to have to deal with, especially considering the recovery time is about 12 months. There is no denying it: these injuries are increasing and that is a problem.
Just think about some of the names of guys who have had to have this surgery: Steven Strausberg, Matt Harvey, etc. These guys were both in their early twenties. It’s kinda odd, right? That’s why I was so disheartened to hear about Patrick Corbin. He is just 24 and was slated to have another great year. Even if he doesn’t get surgery, he is probably going to be out for six to eight weeks, minimum.
It must be really scary, right? It’s kinda scary for me and I am just a fan! Watching these pitchers going down (these last four in the same week!) is really concerning. We try really hard to prevent these kind of injuries by limiting pitch counts, innings, etc, but it’s not enough. Pitching is unnatural and the arms are trying hard to tell us that.
Losing Medlen and Beachy forced the Braves to pick up free agent Santana. Aside from losing the power-hitting Paul Goldschmidt, losing Corbin is the most devastating thing that could happen to the Diamondbacks. A rotation that was shaky last year relied heavily on their young ace, who delivered and then some. He was an All-Star. He nearly broke the club record for most wins and no losses. For now, the D-Backs are going to have to figure out what to do until he is healthy again. My guess is that they are going to take a chance on Archie Bradley and put Randall Delgado in the bullpen for long relief, but I could be totally wrong. This is a mess, but fortunately, there will be plenty of time to figure it out on the flight to Australia.
All of these players are outstanding guys who do not deserve to deal with this kind stuff. Injury in any sport is inevitable, but it is a bit alarming how many pitchers are coming out of the game due to elbow injuries.
This was a good article by Ken Rosenthal, if you want some more detailed info:
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You might be wondering why these free agents haven’t been picked up yet, much like I am. It’s the rule that you must forfeit your first-round draft pick, but it is seriously hindering getting these guys on teams. These aren’t just some bum players, but guys who could make a difference. Is the forfeiting of a draft pick causing serious issues? This is an interesting article that explores the idea.
More Spring Training Shenanigans!
There is so much to talk about!
For my purposes, I’m only gonna talk about some of the stuff I’ve seen, mostly because I do not feel like writing a novel at this point in time. Short and sweet, right? Let’s do this…
Ryan Braun: With more than everything to prove, Braun has come back swinging. Literally. The dude is batting about .800 in his spring training games so far and that is pretty spectacular. The Brewers really REALLY need him to produce this year so they can have a top-notch offense. If spring training is any indication, they should not be worried. Yeah, he’s been booed copious amounts, but those boos are starting to go away. If he can prove that he is just as good without the juice, he’s golden and can be mostly forgiven. Okay, I have forgiven him, but not everyone might.
Yankees late game issues: Well, the Yankees’ offense is having no troubles early on in the games. In most of the games I have seen, they take the lead early and keep it that way until about the fifth or sixth inning. That’s when it gets sticky. I know, I know, the rookies and minor-leaguers are coming into the games around this time and that’s probably why, but it begs the question. Not sure what the question is, but it needs begging.
Orioles: Now here is a team with the potential to be awesome. Potentially. See, here’s the thing: they look really good on paper and the stats of the individual players are pretty good, but they got stuck in the hardest division in baseball. Because of this, I wouldn’t count on a post-season run, but who knows. Maybe they will hard-core tap into their potential. Potentially.
Detroit: Good news, Tiger fans! Max Scherzer still looks sharp this spring! Woohoo! Honestly, this team will probably make it into the post season again. It’s just their thing right now. And let’s face it: people like this team, if only because you really want to see them win for their city’s sake. If my teams don’t make it into the postseason, I will most definitely be rooting for the tigers, even if Justin Verlander is still dating that silly girl…Who is about my age…Life is so not fair. Wait, where was I?
Once I get a chance to watch more, I will probably write some more. Or not. It will be spring break soon. The beach + a pina colada + a good book = my kind of vacation.
She Steals Second 