MLB seeks to suspend A-Rod, Braun

[User Name]

It's not just Lackey. The Red Sox lead the league in most important offensive categories. And just like we couldn't have predicted Lackey's return to prominence, we couldn't have predicted the BP being in shambles by June. It goes both ways.

[Standing Room]

They're still playing well, although I doubt they win this division. That being said, only the homerest homers of homers could have predicted Lackey's return to dominance.

 

Of course you don't think the Red Sox will win the division.

 

I think a little more is going right for the Red Sox than John Lackey. Don't you remember claiming the Red Sox offense was overperforming?

[User Name]

Of course you don't think the Red Sox will win the division.

 

I think a little more is going right for the Red Sox than John Lackey. Don't you remember claiming the Red Sox offense was overperforming?

 

He spent the first two months of the season making the same claim "Papi can't keep it up, Carp is over-performing, Napoli this" yada yada yada. At the time, it was the Tigers leading the league in offense, and the Sox have only improved their league-leading offense with Ellsbury finding his stroke, and Papi, Pedey et al raking all season long.

 

Jacko has not made a single correct prediction this season.

[Standing Room]

Jacko has not made a single correct prediction this season.

 

This.

 

And even more, he has built in rationalizations for all of his terrible predictions. It's always "that was when the Yankees had backbone" or "but no one could have predicted John Lackey". He sees the world through a truly fascinating lense.

[jacksonianmarch]

Of course you don't think the Red Sox will win the division.

 

I think a little more is going right for the Red Sox than John Lackey. Don't you remember claiming the Red Sox offense was overperforming?

 

So we are expecting Iglesias to continue hitting .348? We should have expected Ortiz to have a 1.000+OPS coming off an injury that we weren't even sure he'd recover from? And Mike Carp was going to be a near 1.000OPS player as well? Everyone expected Ellsbury to come back to hitting over .300 after his disasterous shoulder injury looked to leave a lasting impression on his swing? And lets not forget everyone's favorite DFA candidate in Nava who just happens to be hitting to an .800OPS and a .370+OBP. Not just that, but Napoli is hitting about what you should expect as has Victorino. And everyone predicted Salty having a career high OPS come August 1, right? I know you guys suffered some pen injuries, but to have Uehara and Tazawa pitching to a ridiculous level has made that a little easier to handle. And yes, Buchholz has been out for 2 months, but did anyone think he'd have a 4+ WAR in his first 12 starts? And we all though Lackey was going to pitch to a sub 3ERA, right? And those who think Lester is pitching like s***, he is pitching as most expected him to. Right about where he was last yr. Doubront took a step forward, Dempster has been as expected. I think that aside from injuries, which happen to everyone in varying degrees, the only real disappointment is Middlebrooks, and nobody should have expected a ton from him since he was coming off a good 3 month stint in the bigs. It seems awfully revisionist to fail to see how much has actually gone your way and how unlikely it is (although not unprecedented) for you to hit to this degree even in the face of injury throughout the whole yr?

[jacksonianmarch]

False. I predicted Clarkin would sign near slot. I was right

[User Name]

So we are expecting Iglesias to continue hitting .348? We should have expected Ortiz to have a 1.000+OPS coming off an injury that we weren't even sure he'd recover from? And Mike Carp was going to be a near 1.000OPS player as well? Everyone expected Ellsbury to come back to hitting over .300 after his disasterous shoulder injury looked to leave a lasting impression on his swing? And lets not forget everyone's favorite DFA candidate in Nava who just happens to be hitting to an .800OPS and a .370+OBP. Not just that, but Napoli is hitting about what you should expect as has Victorino. And everyone predicted Salty having a career high OPS come August 1, right? I know you guys suffered some pen injuries, but to have Uehara and Tazawa pitching to a ridiculous level has made that a little easier to handle. And yes, Buchholz has been out for 2 months, but did anyone think he'd have a 4+ WAR in his first 12 starts? And we all though Lackey was going to pitch to a sub 3ERA, right? And those who think Lester is pitching like s***, he is pitching as most expected him to. Right about where he was last yr. Doubront took a step forward, Dempster has been as expected. I think that aside from injuries, which happen to everyone in varying degrees, the only real disappointment is Middlebrooks, and nobody should have expected a ton from him since he was coming off a good 3 month stint in the bigs. It seems awfully revisionist to fail to see how much has actually gone your way and how unlikely it is (although not unprecedented) for you to hit to this degree even in the face of injury throughout the whole yr?

 

TL;DR.

 

But in general, for every Sox over-performance, there has been someone under-performing or losing time due to injury. Almost everyone expected Papi to come and hit like he did last year, as long as he was healthy.

[Standing Room]

So we are expecting Iglesias to continue hitting .348? We should have expected Ortiz to have a 1.000+OPS coming off an injury that we weren't even sure he'd recover from? And Mike Carp was going to be a near 1.000OPS player as well? Everyone expected Ellsbury to come back to hitting over .300 after his disasterous shoulder injury looked to leave a lasting impression on his swing? And lets not forget everyone's favorite DFA candidate in Nava who just happens to be hitting to an .800OPS and a .370+OBP. Not just that, but Napoli is hitting about what you should expect as has Victorino. And everyone predicted Salty having a career high OPS come August 1, right? I know you guys suffered some pen injuries, but to have Uehara and Tazawa pitching to a ridiculous level has made that a little easier to handle. And yes, Buchholz has been out for 2 months, but did anyone think he'd have a 4+ WAR in his first 12 starts? And we all though Lackey was going to pitch to a sub 3ERA, right? And those who think Lester is pitching like s***, he is pitching as most expected him to. Right about where he was last yr. Doubront took a step forward, Dempster has been as expected. I think that aside from injuries, which happen to everyone in varying degrees, the only real disappointment is Middlebrooks, and nobody should have expected a ton from him since he was coming off a good 3 month stint in the bigs. It seems awfully revisionist to fail to see how much has actually gone your way and how unlikely it is (although not unprecedented) for you to hit to this degree even in the face of injury throughout the whole yr?

 

Thank you. You just made my night.

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

So we are expecting Iglesias to continue hitting .348? We should have expected Ortiz to have a 1.000+OPS coming off an injury that we weren't even sure he'd recover from? And Mike Carp was going to be a near 1.000OPS player as well? Everyone expected Ellsbury to come back to hitting over .300 after his disasterous shoulder injury looked to leave a lasting impression on his swing? And lets not forget everyone's favorite DFA candidate in Nava who just happens to be hitting to an .800OPS and a .370+OBP. Not just that, but Napoli is hitting about what you should expect as has Victorino. And everyone predicted Salty having a career high OPS come August 1, right? I know you guys suffered some pen injuries, but to have Uehara and Tazawa pitching to a ridiculous level has made that a little easier to handle. And yes, Buchholz has been out for 2 months, but did anyone think he'd have a 4+ WAR in his first 12 starts? And we all though Lackey was going to pitch to a sub 3ERA, right? And those who think Lester is pitching like s***, he is pitching as most expected him to. Right about where he was last yr. Doubront took a step forward, Dempster has been as expected. I think that aside from injuries, which happen to everyone in varying degrees, the only real disappointment is Middlebrooks, and nobody should have expected a ton from him since he was coming off a good 3 month stint in the bigs. It seems awfully revisionist to fail to see how much has actually gone your way and how unlikely it is (although not unprecedented) for you to hit to this degree even in the face of injury throughout the whole yr?

 

Reading this post makes me want to go through the Yankees gamethread, so you can see all the s*** you have said about the Yankees. It'll make this post look like s***.

[jacksonianmarch]

TL;DR.

 

But in general, for every Sox over-performance, there has been someone under-performing or losing time due to injury. Almost everyone expected Papi to come and hit like he did last year, as long as he was healthy.

 

I think his performance has overshadowed the trepidation in Boston over the hell/Achilles injury he had coming into the yr

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

Thank you. You just made my night.

 

He spends more time worrying about the Sox, than his own team LOL!

[jacksonianmarch]

Reading this post makes me want to go through the Yankees gamethread, so you can see all the s*** you have said about the Yankees. It'll make this post look like s***.

 

Go for it. I admit I was wrong. In my defense, I was expecting to need 1 month replacements for 1b and LF. We had a 3b to replace ARod in Youkilis. We had Cervelli behind the plate, which was dicey, but he's better than Stewart. Coming into the yr, we thought Jeter was going to start at SS. Then we thought he'd be back come July 1. The fact is, we were getting by until the replacements returned. Well, they returned, then left again. Once Tex went back down with his wrist injury, my tune changed. Then we heard Jeter was delayed, then hurt. ARod is hurt again. Youk lost for the yr. ARod to be suspended, etc. I haven't seen a team this snakebit in a long, long time. In 2008, we lost Wang, Matsui and Posada, but that looks like a walk in the park compared to what we're short of now

[jacksonianmarch]

He spends more time worrying about the Sox, than his own team LOL!

 

My team sucks right now and will for the forseeable future. The only chance we have of competing next yr is if they suspend ARod for life. Freeing up that $27 mil would give us the leeway to sign some big names and actually compete

[Standing Room]

Go for it. I admit I was wrong. In my defense, I was expecting to need 1 month replacements for 1b and LF. We had a 3b to replace ARod in Youkilis. We had Cervelli behind the plate, which was dicey, but he's better than Stewart. Coming into the yr, we thought Jeter was going to start at SS. Then we thought he'd be back come July 1. The fact is, we were getting by until the replacements returned. Well, they returned, then left again. Once Tex went back down with his wrist injury, my tune changed. Then we heard Jeter was delayed, then hurt. ARod is hurt again. Youk lost for the yr. ARod to be suspended, etc. I haven't seen a team this snakebit in a long, long time. In 2008, we lost Wang, Matsui and Posada, but that looks like a walk in the park compared to what we're short of now

 

Please, do tell us more. This is fascinating.

[Standing Room]

My team sucks right now and will for the forseeable future. The only chance we have of competing next yr is if they suspend ARod for life. Freeing up that $27 mil would give us the leeway to sign some big names and actually compete

 

I would love to hear more about what free agents will cost less than $27 million and make the Yankees competitive. Could you expand on that part?

[User Name]

I think what he means is 27 mill plus what they'll free up with Youkilis, Kuroda et al coming off the books. However, a lot of that will be allocated for the massive cost of re-signing Cano, who you can be certain the Yanks won't let walk.

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

Please, do tell us more. This is fascinating.

 

This.

[Standing Room]

I think what he means is 27 mill plus what they'll free up with Youkilis, Kuroda et al coming off the books. However, a lot of that will be allocated for the massive cost of re-signing Cano, who you can be certain the Yanks won't let walk.

 

I also find it fascinating that he now believes the Yankees could reasonably be able to plan their offseason around A-Rod being suspended for life, considering he has said multiple times that this appeals process will drag on in to next year and it's no guarantee anyone will be suspended. I guess that narrative isn't convenient this second.

[Palodios]

Even if the Yankees save money, they are very low on young controllable talent on this point. Cano, Granderson and Hughes hit free agency this year. Robertson and Gardner follow the year after.

 

Filling Kuroda's shoes seems nearly impossible, even if you can find a top tier guy to write a 200 million dollar check (Fun fact: They won't).

Filling Rivera's shoes is impossible.

3 open SP slots, 3B, LF, 2B, C, plus relief, and probably SS soon as well. They can't buy their way out of that hole.

[Standing Room]

Even if the Yankees save money, they are very low on young controllable talent on this point. Cano, Granderson and Hughes hit free agency this year. Robertson and Gardner follow the year after.

 

Filling Kuroda's shoes seems nearly impossible, even if you can find a top tier guy to write a 200 million dollar check (Fun fact: They won't).

Filling Rivera's shoes is impossible.

3 open SP slots, 3B, LF, 2B, C, plus relief, and probably SS soon as well. They can't buy their way out of that hole.

 

Yeah, the Yankees situation for next year isn't pretty. They currently have five players under contract for an $80+ million hit to their luxury tax salary, and most of them aren't productive any more (A-Rod, Vernon Wells, Mark Teixeira, Ichiro). The one that is, Sabathia, is in decline and has been below league average this year.

 

They have 9 players headed to arbitration but most of them are replacement level players (Nix, Lillibridge, Nunez, Cervelli, Stewart). They don't have a particularly strong class of upper level prospects and it isn't a very good free agent class outside of players they'll be losing and have to re-sign just to continue being the roughly .500 team they currently are.

[Standing Room]

New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez has no intention of negotiating a settlement with Major League Baseball, two people close to Rodriguez told USA TODAY Sports, and currently plans to appeal any potential suspension.

 

The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, while Rodriguez continues to seek counsel from his legal team.

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2013/07/23/alex-rodriguez-biogenesis-mlb-negotiations-suspension/2579977/?sf15305150=1

 

See, I knew you could count on A-Rod to be greedy and unapologetic. I wouldn't be adding up those saving just yet Yankees fans.

[Bellhorn04]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2013/07/23/alex-rodriguez-biogenesis-mlb-negotiations-suspension/2579977/?sf15305150=1

 

See, I knew you could count on A-Rod to be greedy and unapologetic. I wouldn't be adding up those saving just yet Yankees fans.

 

Attaboy, A-Hole! Fight the good fight.

[jacksonianmarch]

Wells is free for next yr, so he doesn't count. The Angels are paying his entire 2014 salary

[Standing Room]

Wells is free for next yr, so he doesn't count. The Angels are paying his entire 2014 salary

 

Wrong on both counts. Wells is under contract through next year and the Angels are paying $18.6 million of his $24.6 million salary, which I subtracted from their luxury tax calculation.

[jacksonianmarch]

You're wrong. The Halos owed Wells $42 mil. The Yankees picked up $13.9 mil. $11.5 mil was paid by the Yankees this yr. meaning that we're paying a little over $2 mil next yr of his $21 mil salary. But, since lux tax is based on AAV and Wells was signed to a 7 yr deal with an AAV of $18+ mil, he'll be a wash for 2014

[Standing Room]

You're wrong. The Halos owed Wells $42 mil. The Yankees picked up $13.9 mil. $11.5 mil was paid by the Yankees this yr. meaning that we're paying a little over $2 mil next yr of his $21 mil salary. But, since lux tax is based on AAV and Wells was signed to a 7 yr deal with an AAV of $18+ mil, he'll be a wash for 2014

 

You're forgetting his $25.5 million signing bonus.

[Standing Room]

Buster Olney just said on TV that only players who violated the PED policy for the first time are allowed to play through the appeals process. I wonder what they means for players that MLB is trying to argue has violated the PED process multiple times.

[Northern Star]

Kudos to the Brewers fan that changed 2 letters on the back of her Braun jersey so it read FRAUD. Too bad security made her turn it inside out.

[Standing Room]

Kudos to the Brewers fan that changed 2 letters on the back of her Braun jersey so it read FRAUD. Too bad security made her turn it inside out.

 

Security made her turn it inside out? What is this, communist Russia?

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

LOL good one