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OH. MY. GOD. Yankees’ Look At That Back End.

Posted on May 14, 2012 by admin

Mood Music – Back End by MF Doom I like back ends and I cannot lie. You other fans just can’t deny. That when a vet walks in with a really grizzled face and he gets a chump to chase, you get SPRUNG. Yeah he looks real old, but he might be in control. Deep in the count, he’s staring. #46 he’s still wearing. OH, ANDY! you’re such a good pitcher. Can I get your picture? Some people tried to warn me, but that pickoff move makes me-me-me so…I’ll let you decide whether I was going to type horny or happy. I think that’s quite enough of that. Andy is Back, which is also the parody name of my insanity up above. He retired from baseball at the age of 38. Retiring at the age of 38 is definitely a feat I’d love to accomplish, but unless I win the lotto that’s simply not going to happen. If it does somehow happen, I’m most certainly not coming out of retirement when I’m 39. A lot of people are already talking about how Andy did on his first day back in pinstripes and will look to see how well he pitches his next start. In other words, obvious facts are obvious. What I would like to talk about in this IGYARticle is how long I possibly could’ve gone with my Andy is Back parody. What I will be talking about instead is how the back end of the rotation seems to be shaping up. With exercise and proper care, it seems to be firmer, tighter, and not as saggy and soggy as when Freddy Garcia was there. Freddy Garcia now mops in the bullpen, which for the most part he seems to be good at. David Phelps was given a chance to start while the Yankees not only awaited the return of Pettitte but awaited the outcome of our other back end starter, Phil Hughes . While Hughes’ starts were not as bad as Garcia’s, the lack of distance and the runs allowed stoked the fires of pen duty once again. He still might be destined for the pen. I could use a few more pens myself. Hughes has pitched very well his last two starts though, with Saturday easily nominated as his best start of the year. If he can continue this and if Andy can regain his former glory, our pitching staff might finally look like it use to. Well it should with Andy back on the mound. Since Phil Hughes is clearly not as important as Andy Pettitte, I say we start by talking about Andy Pettitte. Andy Pettitte’s return has been hyped up since Andy Pettitte announced that Andy Pettitte was coming out of retirement. A year away from baseball for Andy was like a year, or more, away from NYC Pizza for PSA member jetanumba2 was. Fast forward to now. Jetanumba2 is back in NYC and so is Andy Pettitte. Pettitte looked a bit rusty on the mound on Sunday but overall did what he was suppose to do; pitch a lot better than Freddy Garcia did. Pettitte gave up four earned runs over 6.2 innings. Garcia’s last start yielded six earned runs over 1.2 innings. I trust you can see the difference in performance with those little itty bitty stats I gave you. This is not to say that Andy’s return does not still leave some cause for concern. This is just to point out that for a back end starter, Andy Pettitte did his job better than Garcia did and that is what counts at this point in time. In his last two starts, Phil Hughes has also recently done his job a lot better than Garcia did. I should stop with the Garcia bashing. Just one more quickie. Most back end starters in Major League Baseball did their jobs a lot better than Garcia did. Feel free to insult Garcia more in the comments section if you so desire. Meanwhile, back to Phil Hughes. The questions of what to do with Phil Hughes have been discussed for a couple years now. Do we trade him? Can he be a starter? Is he more valuable in the bullpen? Why won’t he use the changeup more? Should he get a haircut? Hughes came out of Spring Training this year hoping to answer a lot of those questions for the Yankees organization and all the fans. His performance kept those questions alive and well, especially the haircut one. No one is rooting against Phil Hughes. I’ll repeat again for the stupid fans out there. No one is rooting against Phil Hughes. We just don’t know what to do with him. Phil Hughes last two starts have been very promising, with Saturday easily being nominated as his best start of the…I said that already. On May 6th against the Royals , Hughes gave up three earned runs over 6.2 innings. It certainly helped that the Yankees scored ten runs that day, but the important thing is the distance. On Saturday’s game against the Mariners , he only gave up one earned run over 7.2 innings, which was a vast improvement over his April woes. The key word here is improvement. Hughes is showing improvement. In fact the whole back end of the rotation is showing improvement. I really like to see improvement. I’d still like to see some from some slumping hitters on the Yankees who shall remain nameless. You know who they are though. OR DO YOU? To repeat once again, no one is rooting against Phil Hughes. We want him to shine. We want him to succeed. We want him to improve. I cannot even fathom why someone would root against him, but somehow I have a feeling someone will tell me in the comments one day. There are still questions because there will always be questions. It’s called baseball and there’s a rumor mulling around that you cannot predict it. Despite my Garcia bashing earlier, he might very well find his way back in our rotation or another team’s rotation. Unless you have not been paying attention to baseball, MRI visits seem to be piling up. Fan favorites like Brett Gardner , Brett Gardner, and Brett Gardner have left us to wallow while they heal. Pineda’s injury, as well as Garcia and Hughes’ rocky April, made Pettitte’s comeback more important than it originally seemed. Rivera’s injury weakened the bullpen depth in addition to our hearts. I’d really love for those to be the only injuries of the year but somehow I doubt it will be. The good thing is that except for Gardner (/loudly weeps) the injuries have primarily been in the area we have a decent amount of depth at. The Red Sox have no depth in this area and it has shown the past three years. So what I saw last week from the Yankees gave me a bit more hope for the rest of the season. Pettitte was pinstriped once again and pitched as well or better than I expected. Phil Hughes seems to be moving in the right direction. The back end of the rotation looks a lot sexier than it did last month and that sexiness should hopefully give our stellar bullpen some rest. If we want to foolish look to the future after only two improved starts from Phil, which I do, the other great thing about Hughes’ pitching well is that he’s still young. We have young pitching. Manny Banuelos has come back from his injury like gangbusters. There is still hope for Michael Pineda . David Phelps has shown signs of working his way into the starting rotation. The future might be more promising that we originally hoped. But forget about the future and focus on the now. There has been improvement. Right now the back end of the rotation has turned around and stuck it out. Even white boys got to shout. Continue reading →

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2012 Angels Fantasy Picks

Posted on March 2, 2012 by admin

Don Miller stopped by my office this afternoon and I took the opportunity to get some on camera comments and exclusive fantasy advice for Angels fans. He makes some big (but totally conceivable) predictions about two big Angels ( Albert Pujols and Jered Weaver ) and has a sleeper pick for your bullpen. Would you bet the farm on what he says here? Everyone at SBN hopes you are enjoying the Halos Heaven YouTube Channel , part of the SBN YOUTUBE channel , a blatant effort to steal viewers from the television set where you know that they only get brainwashed with Yankees and Red Sox pablum by the poisonous east coast bias of New Jersey cultured doorknobbed-brain sports media. Subscribe to the HALOS HEAVEN channel and for a balanced diet, try the SBN Channel . The George Michael Sports Amchine was the 20th century. Don’t let the New Jersey YanSox of ESPend be you lone 21st century online and telecasted sports reporting. Poll Higher Draft Pick In Your Fantasy League Haren Weaver   12 votes | Results Continue reading →

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MLB Hot Stove: A.J. Becomes a True Pirate™

Posted on March 1, 2012 by admin

As the first day of March nears its end, Opening Day draws closer! Major League Baseball will be playing games by the end of the month, with Oakland and Seattle facing off in Japan at the Tokyo Dome on March 28 and 29. The Yankees will get a taste of baseball tomorrow when they play against the University of South Florida. No word yet on whether USF will confuse Colin Curtis for one of its own players. Here’s what’s going on around the league: A.J. Burnett was struck in the eye by a botched bunt attempt in batting practice for the Pirates , and he will need immediate surgery to fix his fractured right orbital bone. He’ll miss a few weeks and will not be ready for Opening Day. Those poor Pirates fans… what do you think, “Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke”? Pat Lackey ‏ @whygavs Seriously, being a Pirate fan is the worst. More injury news, though this really shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone who follows baseball at this point– Grady Sizemore of the Indians had “minimally invasive” lower back surgery on Thursday, which requires eight to twelve weeks. Sizemore’s injuries have turned him from Sports Illustrated Cover Boy and regular All-Star/MVP candidate to a limping 29-year old who has only played 210 games since 2009. What a shame. SB Nation’s Grant Brisbee wrote about the five-year, $7 million contract extension that the Royals recently gave young catcher Salvador Perez. Its uniqueness is truly unprecedented, as Brisbee notes: I’ve seen it referred to as an Evan Longoria /Matt Moore-type of contract. It isn’t. Those are players who were expected to be stars but signed for regular-player money. This is a player expected to be a regular who signed for bargain prices in exchange for financial security. I don’t remember a contract like it. Mike Axisa of MLB Trade Rumors previewed a possible extension for the Marlins ‘ Giancarlo Stanton (“Mike” wants to go by Giancarlo now). He could certainly command a Zimmerman-esque contract, especially since it has now been established after the team’s zany offseason that they have money to spend. The Cardinals , who granted catcher Yadier Molina a five-year, $75 million contract extension, validated the deal by referring to Molina as a “a signature player, a franchise-type player” and the best catcher in baseball. I’m not sure I agree with that assessment though. Poll Who is the best catcher in baseball? Yadier Molina Brian McCann Matt Wieters Mike Napoli Miguel Montero Joe Mauer other   178 votes | Results Continue reading →

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The Sickness Howls and I Despair of Any Remedy: Potential Pitfalls and Ladders for the $ / WAR Question

Posted on March 1, 2012 by admin

Recently, we’ve had some some excellent posts (courtesy MjwW) and really interesting discourse (courtesy the comments sections) here on the site regarding valuation of projected and produced wins. I’m not going to reiterate the whole discussions but, to sum up (and likely oversimplify), MjwW has been statistically investigating the potential linearity $ / WAR relationship and yours truly has been conceptually analysing it. Now, there are really two separate questions here. The first question is whether $ / projected WAR scales linearly (basically, whether teams are willing to pay more per win for better players). The second question is how to determine whether players have been overpaid in retrospect. It’s easy to get lost in a big dataset, which is why I think it’s important to explicitly state the questions we’re asking before we try to answer them. Now, to address the first question, whether $ / projected WAR scales linearly. Since it is the teams doing the paying, it’s their projection systems — not ours — that we should be using to derive the answer to this question. Of course, since we don’t have access to their projections, we have to use our own. By the central limit theorem, as long as our datasets are large enough, this may not be a problem but it’s still something we need to consider. Another potential pitfall (and possibly a greater one) is the simple fact that it is always in the team’s best interests to pay players as little as possible. Thus, what we should be seeing in $ / projected WAR for players should range from something less than what the teams are willing to pay up to what they are willing to pay. Look, for example, at the Phillies ‘ extension for Roy Halladay and then look at their extension for Ryan Howard . I can think of only four ways to evaluate these contracts from the perspective that the free market is dictating what’s going on: 1. The Phillies thought Howard was better than Halladay. Maybe I’m biased, but I don’t think this argument holds any water. Sure hitters may be less likely to bust and Howard had an MVP under his belt but Halladay had won a Cy Young Award of his own and had placed top-5 in Cy Young voting the previous four seasons. Even more recently, he was coming off, arguably, the two best seasons of his career and may have been the consensus pick for best pitcher in baseball at the time (and likely still would be), coming off a season where he was fourth in pitcher with 7.4 (rWAR: 6.8). Howard was coming off a very good season but he was not even the best player at his own position was 36th in fWAR amongst position players with 4.6 (rWAR: 4.4). 2. The Phillies thought Howard was a better bet to age well than Halladay. When you look at the terms and average annual values of the contracts, I think this is insufficient. Doc was signed to just a 3 year deal through age 35 (with an option for his age 36 season). Howard was extended for five years through age 36. Considering the contracts they gave to Cliff Lee , who seems like a good bet to age similarly to Doc, and Jonathan Papelbon , who is a reliever partially because of worries for his arm and may be a good bet to age worse than Doc, they also don’t seem terribly worried about pitchers aging. 3. The Phillies strategy changed at some point between the Halladay and Howard extensions. Given that Ruben Amaro was the GM at both times and the Phillies had previously signed Ibanez at right around what we might consider “market value” I seriously doubt they changed their valuation much. Again, taking the Cliff Lee and Jonathan Papelbon contracts into account, the Phillies don’t seem to be pinching their pennies. 4. Ryan Howard was in a better bargaining position than Roy Halladay. This argument is also false. If anything, Halladay was actually in a better bargaining position than Howard. Howard was under contract for a few more years at the time, while the Phillies would have been unable to trade for Halladay unless they had already agreed to an extension. So I think the problem here is pretty evident. How do we use the data at hand to establish the proper baseline? Halladay’s extension almost certainly should not be included in an analysis that tries to get at what teams are willing to pay for his $ / projected WAR because we can be almost certain that teams would be willing to pay more than he actually got. However, if we only use the highest average annual $ / projected WAR contract we’ve only got one datapoint, which essentially tells us nothing. Also, what one team is willing to do is not necessarily the same as what another team is willing to do. Perhaps a different way to approach the question of whether projected WAR scales nonlinearly is to look at the highest average annual values for elite players, the highest average annual values for average players, and the highest average annual values for fringe players. Unfortunately, this greatly reduces our sampled population which not only reduces the power of the study but also may cause us to violate the assumption that we’re properly estimating teams’ player projections. Another related (but different) question (and, if memory serves correctly, the one MjwW initially gathered his quite-impressive dataset for) is whether big contracts for free agents result in overpaid players. Now, I think most readers here would probably agree that, even if $ / projected WAR scales linearly, the $ value of already-produced WAR does not scale linearly. In fact, given our understanding of risk management, I’d think it could be argued that, if $ / projected WAR scales linearly, $ / produced WAR must scale nonlinearly. If that’s the case, to determine whether or not free agents were overpaid in retrospect, we first need to figure out the proper scale by which to judge their produced WAR. I think this would be a really good question but it’s also a bit daunting. If anyone is interested, think of this as a crowdsourcing of sorts; let’s try to tackle this question together. I could take a lot of work but the results might be worth it. If you’re interested in this, please read on. Since, as has been pointed out, two 3 WAR players produce 6 WAR together, the question we’re trying to answer here really just looks at playing time: how much better is some combination of players who accumulates 6 WAR in 650 plate appearances (basically one player-season) than a player who accumulates 6 WAR in 1300 plate appearances (basically two player-seasons)? Now, it would not be difficult to answer this question if we know how good the player taking up the remaining 650 plate appearances is: assuming he’s replacement-level, there’s no difference. Assuming he’s average (2.5 fWAR / 650 plate appearances), the first player (or group of players) is about 2.5 fWAR better per season. So the next step should be to figure out how good the actual replacement should be? Now, because different players are available for different salaries and teams operate on different payrolls, I think the quality of that replacement should be contingent on the team. A team that can afford to keep an average player lying around should derive a lot more benefit from making one big upgrade rather than a few little ones. So, when considering already produced WAR and assuming that the quality of the replacement is contingent on team payroll (not a perfect assumption but one that I think makes some sense), the Yankees or Red Sox (who might have a 2 WAR replacement) could derive greater benefits from the same WAR in less playing time than a mid-market team like the Blue Jays (who might have a 1 WAR player replacement) would have. A team like the Marlins or Pirates might be giving that extra playing time to a replacement- (or sub-replacement(!)-) level player, which would mean that they wouldn’t derive any benefit (and could potentially accrue a cost(!)) from having one 6 WAR player rather than two 3 WAR players. Anyway, I think MjwW has already pretty much done a study looking directly into this question, though he may be trying to answer it from a different angle. For now, maybe we should wait and see what he comes up with and maybe we can work together to integrate his findings into this conceptual model. Thanks to MjwW and the rest of y’all for the discussions and to the Mountain Goats’ “Prowl Great Cain” for today’s post title. Continue reading →

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The Rule V Selections: Analyzing Cesar Cabral And Brad Meyers

Posted on March 1, 2012 by admin

Cesar Cabral and Brad Meyers were the New York Yankees two selections in the Rule V draft this off-season. Cabral, a lefty reliever, was selected from the Boston Red Sox , and Meyers, a right handed pitcher, was taken from the Washington Nationals . If the two do not make the 25 man roster out of Spring Training, they will be returned to their respective former teams, if the teams want them back. Let’s take a look at who the Yankees have in these two. Cesar Cabral, 23, was originally signed by the Red Sox as an undrafted free agent in 2005. He was drafted in the Rule V draft by the Tampa Bay Rays in 2010, then claimed by the Toronto Blue Jays , then claimed back by the Rays, then returned to the Red Sox. So he certainly knows the AL East. John Sickels of Minor League Ball had this to say about Cabral: Cabral posted a 1.62 ERA in 17 innings for High-A Salem with a 24/5 K/BB, then a 3.52 ERA with a 46/16 K/BB in 38 innings for Double-A Portland. He has pitched excellently in the Dominican Winter League this year, with a 12/2 K/BB in 10 innings and a 0.87 ERA. He has a 90-95 MPH fastball and a good changeup, but is still refining his breaking ball. He picks up a lot of ground balls. To add to that, Cabral has suffered from high BABIP every season in the minors, with the exception of seventeen games in A ball in 2010. The high BABIP of .369 in 24 games in AA last season led to a .270 BAA. Cabral held hitters to a .159 batting average against in Winter Ball this off-season. Look for Cabral to be the leader in the clubhouse to get the last spot on the roster, as he will compete against Clay Rapada and Michael O’Connor to be the second lefty out of the pen. Follow me after the jump for info on Brad Meyers. Brad Meyers, 26, is a 6,6 righty drafted in 2007 by the Washington Nationals in the 5th round. Meyers worked primarily as a starter in 2011, starting in sixteen games in AAA. Like Cabral, a problem for Meyers was his high BABIP, which was .343. The high BABIP led to a .290 BAA, but Meyers was able to keep his ERA down to 3.48. Here’s what John Sickles had to say about Meyers: Age 26, Meyers posted an amazing 38/0 K/BB in 36 innings for Double-A Harrisburg this year with a 2.48 ERA, followed by a 3.48 ERA with a 74/15 K/BB in 96 innings for Triple-A Syracuse. His fastball is mediocre at 87-90 MPH, but his exquisite control helps play up the quality of his slider, curveball, and changeup. Like Lorin, he could be very useful as a fifth starter or long reliever, but might have an uphill battle to stick in New York. As Sickels said, Meyers’ best chance to stick with the Yankees will be as the long reliever, but that role seems to be filled by either Freddy Garcia or Phil Hughes . The Yankees won’t be so quick to lose either Cabral or Meyers, so look for both of the two to get a lot of pitching time in Spring Training. Continue reading →

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Win Two Opening Day Tickets Via TiqIQ

Posted on March 1, 2012 by admin

TiqIQ and Pinstripe Alley are teaming up once again! The details are above, and you can win a nice prize if you participate! Make sure to follow the rules! Follow Pinstripe Alley and TiqIQ on Facebook. Buy Yankees tickets on TiqIQ here ! Continue reading →

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So The Original Wild Card Was A Stupid Idea? Seems That Way!

Posted on March 1, 2012 by admin

Mood Music – In The Mood by The Glenn Miller Orchestra It’s time for a “When I was younger!” rant from your old, crotchety, but lovable writer. When I was younger, back in 1993, the San Francisco Giants finished with a 103-59 Regular Season, a better record than all teams that year save one, the Atlanta Braves who finished the Regular Season 104-58. Because they were in the same division, the NL West at the time, the Giants would not advance to the playoffs because at the time the playoffs structure did not consist of the Wild Card or the LDS. In both divisions, it was the top team in the East vs. the top team in the West, and then the best would go on to face each other in the World Series. Also in 1993, the Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies also joined baseball. The following year, baseball was restructured into the current three division league structure, East, Central, and West. With this new three division league structure created the need for a Wild Card, because for obvious reasons one team should not have a week’s rest, as it could actually hinder them more than help them. The Wild Card could be any team from any division, as long as they had the best record among the non division winners. Now this was seemingly done so that a team like the Giants, who in 1993 finished with a better record than every other team in the majors except the Braves could still make the post season even though they didn’t win the division. This was seen by many at the time as “fair” to everyone. I always thought it was kind of stupid because if they were keeping the division structuring, something I personally like for reasons I’ll get into later, then it allows a team who didn’t win their division to have a chance. Essentially, it allowed a loser a chance to be a winner. With the recent revelation of Bud “Expanded Interleague Makes Me Want To Vomit” Selig and MLB’s plan to include a second Wild Card in order to make winning the division important again, I can now officially say that 19 years ago (wow it’s been that long) I was right, that it WAS stupid! I walk FIF-TEEN miles to school in my bare feet after the jump… So really, what did they think was going to happen when the Wild Card was created? Maybe it would allow a better team, or at least a team with a better record than another division winning, to get into the playoffs, but it should have been taken into account that certain teams like the 2010 Yankees were going to kind of coast into the playoffs because 1. They wanted to rest players and 2. They probably wanted to face the Twins in a 5-game series than the Rangers in a 5-game series. That was another thing I found stupid about the Wild Card, that they weren’t allowed to play the same divisional rival in the LDS. Why? What’s the difference if they play the divisional rival in the LDS or in the LCS? I mean if the Wild Card has already made it that they do not have to win the division in order to make it to the playoffs then why should it matter if they play the divisional rival first? Like I mentioned in my article/rant yesterday, the major reason why I’ve heard that I should be happy about the additional Wild Card is because it will make winning the division that much more important because now they will be punished with a one-game elimination Wild Card DEATH MATCH! Now correct me if I’m wrong, don’t worry I’m not, but before the Wild Card ever existed there was already plenty of incentive for teams to win their division because, you know, if they didn’t win the division then they didn’t make the playoffs. It was actually amazingly simple, so simple that it was brilliant. It made it so every game was that much more important. Keep in mind, I don’t actually think teams try to settle for the Wild Card and that they are not out there every day trying to win every baseball game. Whereas the Yankees were clearly taking it easy in 2010 because there was no chance they wouldn’t make the playoffs, the teams they put on the field were not trying not to win, which is what “further incentive” suggests was the case. They were just using a strategic advantage they had at the time. Personally, I think this “further incentive” thing is a load of hogwash and gobbledygook. In 1998 the Yankees finished ahead of the Red Sox by 22 games and the Red Sox finished with the second best record in the American League. The Red Sox could’ve had all the incentive in the world and they had zero percent chance of catching the Yankees. Zero. Percent. As much as I like to see the Red Sox suffer, it’s absolutely not fair to punish them because they had no chance to finish first. This is the case with a lot of Wild Card teams. Sometimes they don’t have a chance to finish ahead of the first place team. Not every situation is like the Yankees in 2010, which again seems to be a product of how stupid the original Wild Card was if “further incentive to win the division” is the current problem. Sometimes it is a battle to the finish or at other times, like in 1998 with the Yankees, the Wild Card team has no chance to catch up to the first place team. In both cases, with this extra Wild Card, you are now punishing teams no matter what. That is really what I always thought the stupidity of the Wild Card was in the first place; punishment for teams that win. Getting back to divisions, one reason I’ve always liked the idea of divisions is because I feel it’s good for the sport. With divisions come divisional rivals, teams you really want to see your team beat, much like the Yankees & Red Sox. It’s not always the case though. In fact, some rivalries form with other teams in other divisions as well, so my point isn’t necessarily right. I’ve just always felt that having divisions helps with this. However, with the addition of the Wild Card and now the addition of another Wild Card, I’m really coming around to the idea that divisions are pointless in baseball. If the Wild Card’s intent is to let teams like the 1993 San Francisco Giants in because they finished with a much better record then every other team except the Braves, then what’s the point with divisions in the first place? At that point, just let the 2 best teams in the AL and the 2 best teams in the NL into the playoffs. Or 4 teams if they want to keep the same number of playoff teams. Actually, that’s another problem I had with the Wild Card when it was first announced. I’ve always had a problem with making the playoffs longer than they need to be. Unlike the other three major sports, Baseball’s regular season is much more intense, longer, and more games are played, 162 to be precise. Teams spend the entire regular season proving that they are the best team in the league, and in their division. Since the season is already very long, the playoffs should be short, much like they were before the Wild Card. There is no need for November baseball. The playoffs are a reward for the winners, the teams that won their division. Like I said earlier, when the Wild Card was added, you are now punishing the winners by making them play losers, and in a short 5-game series anyone can win. This practice of punishment is continuing with this additional Wild Card. It has made a mockery of the regular season, and made it where I personally don’t even care that much about the playoffs anymore because it’s such a crapshoot. I’ll always root for the Yankees to win the playoffs because I always root for them to win no matter what. However, last year I was much more excited & proud by how they did in the regular season, not because they didn’t advance past the Tigers but rather cause it’s getting to the point where I don’t care if they do anymore due to the randomness of the playoffs. Another Wild Card will only add further randomness and whoever wins that Wild Card still has the same legitimate chance to win a LDS series. So here we are, with another Wild Card on the way. All this talk about adding “further incentive” is meant to fix the problems that the original Wild Card created. All this talk about making the playoffs more exciting is just MLB punishing the Wild Card because they realized that a second place team has just as much of a chance to beat a first place team, a team that actually won their division due to skill or “incentive” or whatever. Now a team like the 1993 San Francisco Giants, a team that finished one game behind the Braves, a team that finished with a better record than anyone other than the Braves, would now have the potential to lose it all in a one-game elimination match against the 87-75 St. Louis Cardinals which would absolutely defeat the purpose of why the original Wild Card was partially created in the first place. What’s truly sad is that there are a couple of solution to fix the problem. One was my original idea of having two more expansion teams and then creating four divisions, North, South, East, and West, which would eliminate the need for a Wild Card all together. The second would be to eliminate divisions all together and just make it where the four best teams in each league go to the playoffs. Both involve balancing the schedule. Mind you, I think the playoffs are too long as it is so I’d love to go back to just the LCS then the WS, but that’s not going to happen. In fact, none of this is going to happen for the same reason that they created the Wild Card and now the additional Wild Card in the first place; money. Ultimately, that is what this is all about. Money. Cash. Cha-ching. Baseball fully follows the Wu Tang Clan C.R.E.A.M. philosophy, because everything they do is 100% based on it. The only time teams might not have any incentive to win first place is when they are already a lock for the playoffs, so “further incentive” is complete crap because it makes it seem like teams weren’t trying to win all year long. All this does is make the playoffs longer and even more random than it already was thanks to the original Wild Card. All it does is give fans a one-game must watch DEATH MATCH to determine what loser gets to face an actual winner. Again, cha-ching cha-ching cha-ching. This is only going to continue as well, with the Astros soon to join the American League next year resulting in expanded interleague. Interleague generates money, there’s no doubt about it. It also makes the schedule unbalanced and further interleague will most likely create further imbalance and probably much more exploitation. Seriously, I cannot bunting wait. So yeah, the one solace I’ll take from the sport I love’s continued butchery for monetary profits is that I was right all those years ago. All that this second Wild Card addition has shown me is that 19 years ago (again, still cannot believe it was that long ago) 13 year old I’mGivingYouARaise was correct and that the Wild Card was, and still is, a stupid idea and does not offer more competition, but rather hinders teams that do their absolute best during the regular season, which is the only part of the sport I really seem to care about anymore. With expanded interleague and more imbalance, we’ll see how long that lasts as well. Bunting Selig Continue reading →

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The Over The Monster Podcast – Episode 42 – Pools of Jell-O

Posted on March 1, 2012 by admin

Often in life we find ourselves in a hurry. When that happens sometimes we forget things. We’ll go into the kitchen, mid rush, and stand there, dumbfounded, wondering why we’re there. It was for some reason, we’re virtually certain. We were just in the bathroom, and then we took off all our clothes and paraded down the street, then just as we were about to urinate on that boob Johnson’s stoop, the neighborhood dog chased us back home where we ran into the kitchen and… ah ha! Forgot to turn the dishwasher on! And so forth. Sometimes however, the circumstances are less extreme, like maybe tonight when a certain blogger, to protect his anonymity let’s call him “ME,” might have maybe forgot that it was podcasting night. Fortunately things were rectified and podcasting, being the most important activity just short of breathing and eating “cheez” flavored crackers, became the order of the day. As for this particular podcast, it was a half hour burn of a Red Sox podcast. Marc and Matt hit the proverbial ground running, addressing several topics before Marc was carried off by sled dogs: 1. Jason Varitek , and why he might be under-rated. 2. The new (i.e. second) Wild Card and how that might impact the 2012 Red Sox. 3. Bobby Valentine’s new managerial strategy of saying silly things about the Yankees . All that and probably something else, on the 42nd Over The Monster Podcast! You can subscribe to and/or download the podcast at iTunes and/or listen and/or download at our hosting site, Podomatic . Email us with questions, gum stain tips, least favorite sitcoms, stewed goat recipes, media inquiries, and general goat-related ephemera at OTMPodcast@gmail.com . Thanks as always, to Kahoots , the official band of the OTM Podcast, and of course thanks to you for listening. Continue reading →

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New York Yankees News and Notes: Jeter, Joba, and the Loss of a Legend

Posted on March 1, 2012 by admin

Mornin’ folks! What are those crazy Yankees up to these days? RAB took a look at the top of the lineup and proposed a possible switch of Derek Jeter and Curtis Granderson. I’m of the opinion that batting order doesn’t matter all that much, but it might help since Granderson gets on base more often. Per Lohud (and as WWJD linked to last night) here’s what the Yankees were up to on Wednesday. As Chad Jennings notes, “They’re still in the phase of ‘no news is good news,’ and there wasn’t much news today. Joba Chamberlain says that his arm feels fantastic following Tommy John surgery, so both PSA author alumnus Ed Valentine and ESPN NY’s Wallace Matthews tried to offer a rosy outlook for Joba Chamberlain in 2012. What will happen with Joba? Who really knows at this point? At least he’s doing better than Joel Zumaya . The New York Daily News profiled Phil Hughes (rhyme!) and chronicled his puzzling career thus far. It’s one that I’m sure has not been experienced by too many people before. Burt Reynolds is no longer a Yankee. It was an amazing few days, Burt. His Twitter has also vanished. Such an enigma! Bob Klapisch wrote about the Yankees’ reliance on aging stars. Mo will pitch forever. The Yankees’ TV broadcasting team was ranked 22nd among MLB clubs according to a Fangaphs study on which team had the best group. More David Cone! Joe Girardi is taking the Yankees somewhere “secret” on a team outing. My money’s not on a Tampa Bay Lightning game since they don’t need to fuel Phil Hughes’s addiction. Maybe it’s curling. Check back for another IGYArticle at 11 AM! Poll Who should bat leadoff? Brett Gardner Derek Jeter Curtis Granderson Batting order doesn’t matter   345 votes | Results Continue reading →

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Dodgers Not the City of Angels Team

Posted on March 1, 2012 by admin

Don Mattingly might want to start an argument (are the Dodgers the defacto L.A. team over the Angels with a Yankees – Mets style relationship that pits an unassailable brand identified with winning versus an underdog upstart?) , I am happy to carry that argument on and you all can watch this video and finish the debate in the comments if you choose… Welcome to the first regular video by yours truly at the Halos Heaven YouTube Channel , part of the SBN YOUTUBE channel , a blatant effort to steal viewers from the television set where they only get brainwashed with Yankee Red Sox pablum by the poisonous east coast bias of New Jersey cultured doorknobbed-brain sports media. Now you can enjoy quick takes on the subject you love most – the Angels – instead of waiting to hear what Tom Brady ate for breakfast, what non-racist post-meal treat was served to Jeremy Lin instead of one that predicted the future, and sad to tell Dennis Kuhl, little if any Derek Jeter coverage here. So Boo-Hoo ChowdJersey, this is Halos Heaven ! Continue reading →

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