Yankees trade for Soriano

[User Name]

And they were significantly inferior to both teams. And don't even get me started on the 2006 cards.....

[yankees228]

A team that scored 19 more runs then they allowed all season.

[yankees228]

2002 Angels also a team (one of many) that helps dispel the myth that pitching is everything in the postseason. Kevin Appier was their number two.

[User Name]

Wasn't Ramon Ortiz their number three? Ewwww

[yankees228]

Pretty remarkable. And they didn't pitch well against the Yankees, as expected. Just didn't matter. Pettitte, Mussina, and Wells all blew up in a big way. Yanks were up 6-1 in game three. Can't let that slip away.

[yankees228]

Yanks scored 200 more runs than they allowed that year. Damn.

[User Name]

Hey hey let's not get carried away calling the Yankees good. As a Red Sox fan i am contractually obligated to proclaim that the Yankees always suck. No exceptions.

[Emmz]

I don't disagree with you on that, I just think it's lazy to explain it as the crapshoot theory. It's not odds, the best team usually wins, and sometimes a team surprises everyone. Just like every other sport, really.

[yankees228]

Fair enough. I respect that sort of commitment.

 

EDIT: to UN

[yankees228]

You think the NBA postseason is as flukey as the MLB postseason?

[Emmz]

2002: Angels win WS against the behemoth of a team assembled by SF, against all odds.

2003: Marlins are the worst team to make the playoffs, win WS over the much superior and heavily favored Yankees.

2006: Cardinals are the worst team to make the playoffs, make it crawling, beat arguably the best team in the NL (Mets) and a vastly superior Tigers squad en route to winning the WS.

2010: The Giants, who have a good team but are obviously inferior to the heavily favored Rangers, win the WS.

2011: The Cardinals, arguably the weakest team to make the playoffs in the NL, rolls to the playoffs en route to beat the absolutely best team in the playoffs, the Texas Rangers, to win the WS.

2012: The Giants, a good but flawed team proceed to beat the much much better and possibly best team in the playoffs, the Detroit Tigers, to win the WS.

 

The playoffs are a crapshoot. The way baseball works, anyone can win a short series. The only thing the better teams have in their is slightly better odds.

 

There's a great explanation for every single one of those games, though.

 

The Angels had one of the best records in baseball that year, and better than the Giants, for starters.

 

The 2003 Marlins were definitely a great story, but look at who was on their team. Derek Lee, Luis Castillo, Pudge, Mike Lowell, Miguel Cabrera, Juan Pierre, Brad Penny, Carl Pavano, Josh Beckett, Dontrelle Willis, Mark Redman, Braden Looper and Ugy Urbina. That just looks like a WS team to me.

 

2006 is really the only one that's a true "Cinderella" IMO. They got really hot at the right time and ended up winning it all, and a lot of it had to do with the Tigers blowing it more than anything.

 

2010 I figured the Giants would win, even though the Rangers were one of my favorite teams. Their pitching was just too much for a team that was so reliant on overpowering offense at the time. Two legitimate aces really, plus Barry Zito was decent and Bumgarner and Sanchez on top of that. They, like the Angels, had the better record of the two WS teams.

 

2011 the Cardinals were probably the best team for the playoffs. Insane offense to go along with a solid top 3 in their rotation. I thought the Rangers would win too, but the Cardinals were for sure no fluke though.

 

2012 the Giants really backhanded the Tigers, so I don't think you can really say that the Tigers were the better team, especially considering the Giants had the better record, and shut them out twice.

 

I don't think anyone was shocked by any of these winners aside from the Marlins in 2003 and the Cardinals in 2006, and that Cardinals team was honestly the only one of the bunch that had no business winning the WS.

[User Name]

There's a great explanation for every single one of those games, though.

 

The Angels had one of the best records in baseball that year, and better than the Giants, for starters.

 

The 2003 Marlins were definitely a great story, but look at who was on their team. Derek Lee, Luis Castillo, Pudge, Mike Lowell, Miguel Cabrera, Juan Pierre, Brad Penny, Carl Pavano, Josh Beckett, Dontrelle Willis, Mark Redman, Braden Looper and Ugy Urbina. That just looks like a WS team to me.

 

2006 is really the only one that's a true "Cinderella" IMO. They got really hot at the right time and ended up winning it all, and a lot of it had to do with the Tigers blowing it more than anything.

 

2010 I figured the Giants would win, even though the Rangers were one of my favorite teams. Their pitching was just too much for a team that was so reliant on overpowering offense at the time. Two legitimate aces really, plus Barry Zito was decent and Bumgarner and Sanchez on top of that. They, like the Angels, had the better record of the two WS teams.

 

2011 the Cardinals were probably the best team for the playoffs. Insane offense to go along with a solid top 3 in their rotation. I thought the Rangers would win too, but the Cardinals were for sure no fluke though.

 

2012 the Giants really backhanded the Tigers, so I don't think you can really say that the Tigers were the better team, especially considering the Giants had the better record, and shut them out twice.

 

I don't think anyone was shocked by any of these winners aside from the Marlins in 2003 and the Cardinals in 2006, and that Cardinals team was honestly the only one of the bunch that had no business winning the WS.

 

2002 Angels were a WC team that beat the 103 win Yankees, and a Giants team that was decidedly better prepared for the postseason regardless of its record. They were the underdogs against the Yankees and the Giants. To this day i still remember the look of utter disbelief in the face of some Yankee fans who couldn't believe their team had been beat by a team whose number 3 was Ramon Ortiz. The 2011 Cardinals beat two teams that were head and shoulders better than they were en route to the WS.

 

To the rest of the argument, it's not shock value. It's the fact that a lot of the times in the MLB playoffs, the inferior team beats the superior team. The worst team in a single playoff winning twice in the same decade with several other teams that should not have beat the best team in their league should be indicator enough of the crapshoot and flukey nature of the MLB playoffs. Skill plays a big part, but the fact that luck does as well is beyond disputing.

[Emmz]

You think the NBA postseason is as flukey as the MLB postseason?

 

I don't think the MLB postseason is flukey. Isn't that the point?

 

The NBA postseason is less flukey I guess, because there is more consistency in a game like basketball usually, and it's a more direct competition.

[Emmz]

2002 Angels were a WC team that beat the 103 win Yankees, and a Giants team that was decidedly better prepared for the postseason regardless of its record. They were the underdogs against the Yankees and the Giants. To this day i still remember the look of utter disbelief in the face of some Yankee fans who couldn't believe their team had been beat by a team whose number 3 was Ramon Ortiz. The 2011 Cardinals beat two teams that were head and shoulders better than they were en route to the WS.

 

To the rest of the argument, it's not shock value. It's the fact that a lot of the times in the MLB playoffs, the inferior team beats the superior team. The worst team in a single playoff winning twice in the same decade with several other teams that should not have beat the best team in their league should be indicator enough of the crapshoot and flukey nature of the MLB playoffs. Skill plays a big part, but the fact that luck does as well is beyond disputing.

 

So the luck just decides to show up for the playoffs? How convenient. I guess Lady Luck is a big fan of the underdog just like everyone else.

[Divinity]

So the luck just decides to show up for the playoffs? How convenient. I guess Lady Luck is a big fan of the underdog just like everyone else.

 

Luck plays a significant role in MLB playoffs, there's no denying that. This paragraph I have quoted below show's you just how much.

 

"According to Keri and the “team of experts” who wrote “Baseball Between The Numbers”, it is rare for any team to have better than a 25% – 30% chance to win the World Series. That’s not much of a chance. It means that a team can be the best in baseball for eight years, and (if luck holds) maybe win the World Series two of those years. This roughly parallels the Yankees’ record in the 2000s: the Yanks made the playoffs in 9 of those 10 years, they had the best record (or tied for best) in 4 of those 10 years, and they took home two World Series championships. The Red Sox were luckier in the 2000s: their record was 6 playoff appearances, tied for the best record in baseball in 1 of those years, and two World Series championships won."

[User Name]

So the luck just decides to show up for the playoffs? How convenient. I guess Lady Luck is a big fan of the underdog just like everyone else.

 

It would seem so, since over the past 10 years, the team with the worst or second worst record in either league has won the world series three times (2003, 2006, 2011) while the team with the best or second best record in all of baseball has won only twice (2007 Red Sox, 2009 Yankees).

[Emmz]

Luck plays a significant role in MLB playoffs, there's no denying that. This paragraph I have quoted below show's you just how much.

 

"According to Keri and the “team of experts” who wrote “Baseball Between The Numbers”, it is rare for any team to have better than a 25% – 30% chance to win the World Series. That’s not much of a chance. It means that a team can be the best in baseball for eight years, and (if luck holds) maybe win the World Series two of those years. This roughly parallels the Yankees’ record in the 2000s: the Yanks made the playoffs in 9 of those 10 years, they had the best record (or tied for best) in 4 of those 10 years, and they took home two World Series championships. The Red Sox were luckier in the 2000s: their record was 6 playoff appearances, tied for the best record in baseball in 1 of those years, and two World Series championships won."

 

Oh, so you're saying that the WS is harder to attain than having the best record in baseball, which is harder than making the playoffs? Well f*** me sideways, I thought it was the other way around!

[italstallianion]

Oh, so you're saying that the WS is harder to attain than having the best record in baseball, which is harder than making the playoffs? Well f*** me sideways, I thought it was the other way around!

 

Giggity.

[Emmz]

In all seriousness, luck is a factor all the time when you're swinging a stick to hit a baseball that's traveling at 90+ mph, and even to some extent the opposite for pitchers. That's how baseball is all year long, and it just gets amplified when the top teams are facing each other.

 

The s***** teams though, they usually get pimpslapped, just like the regular season.

[Standing Room]

Cashman didn't want to acquire Soriano, was overruled by inept Yankees ownership. Where have I heard this before?

 

“I would say we are in a desperate time. Ownership wants to go for it. I didn’t want to give up a young arm [Corey Black]. But I understand the desperate need we have for offense. And Soriano will help us. The bottom line is this guy makes us better. Did ownership want him? Absolutely, yes. Does he make us better? Absolutely, yes. This is what Hal wants, and this is why we are doing it.”

[Standing Room]

From the same article:

 

For example, he recommended the Yankees not re-sign Alex Rodriguez when the third baseman opted out of his contract following the 2007 campaign. He was quite public after the 2010 season in his belief the Yankees should not sign Rafael Soriano.

 

Last offseason, he advised ownership to re-sign Russell Martin and ink free agent Nate Schierholtz, and was against the re-signing of Ichiro Suzuki. Multiple sources have told me Martin was willing to return to the Yankees on a one-year contract. The sources said Martin shopped himself to other big-market clubs such as the Cubs for one year because he was hesitant to go to the Pirates, who offered him two years.

 

Martin signed a two-year, $15 million pact with the Pirates and has been an instrumental piece in what looks like their best team in two decades.

 

According to multiple executives, Schierholtz’s agents were seriously weighing signing with the Yankees, but wanted playing-time assurances and guarantees the Yankees would not sign fellow lefty swingers Josh Hamilton or Suzuki. But Yankees ownership was enamored with Ichiro’s game and name, and badly wanted him back in The Bronx.

 

Steinbrenners can't be happy about Cashman telling the press all of this.

[jacksonianmarch]

This sounds like a Theo-esque power struggle. Something I think Cashman will win when you look at the garbage on the field.

[Youk Of The Nation]

How the hell does this living relic from the Paleozoic Era have 32 home runs? I hate the f***ing Yankees sometimes. Wait, no, all the time.