Non-Pirates Baseball Thread

[Troy Loney]

I can see the Royals having a post world series hangover. The Tigers might be a bit of a house of cards in that they are getting old, and the Twins are still a year or two away. The Indians could be good. It's a deep division and the White Sox would need other teams to fall, I don't think they've added enough, especially on offense, they have little after Abreu.

[Mr. Colby]

Agreed. I think the royals got a lot worse. Indians will be good if Brantley and kluber are the same

[CBear3]

The Royals were barely Wild Cards last year, and I think that's what we'll look like this year as well. Although Hosmer and Moustakas didn't produce to their expected levels in the regular season, and we saw what they're capable of in the post season. I really think the Royals will pretty much follow their performance. The bullpen won't be as great, and we still have to replace Shields. I'd put that at about a 5 game drop, making us last years Indians. If they stay healthy (something we basically did last year), they'll be in the wild card race at the start of September. If their bats stay as alive as they were in the postseason, they could make it in again (and then all bets are off).
The Tigers will win the division, even if their window is closing. The Indians can only improve as a young lineup continues to develop. The White Sox have added more pitching depth around Chris Sale, but they didn't plate significantly more runs than the Royals did.

On August 31st, 2014 the division looked like this:
Detroit..............0
Kansas City.......0
Cleveland.........-2.5
Chicago...........-12.5
Minnesota.........-15

My bet, is on August 31st, 2015 that looks more like:
Detroit..............0
Cleveland.........-2.5
Kansas City.......-2.5
Chicago...........-8.5
Minnesota.........-13

[columbia]

The A's operate weirdly.

[ulf]

Lester to the Cubs. Ugh

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

Lester to the Cubs. Ugh

yeah. Disappointed the Sox didn't sign him but I can't really be mad that he went to the Cubs to be with Theo.

That said, our pitching is going to be really bad again this season unless we do something big.

[Troy Loney]

If the cubs sign samarjzia next offseason , that might be the smartest use of resources possible for that team.

[shafnutz05]

Jimmy Rollins traded to the Dodgers, haven't seen the return yet

[canaan]

Dee Gordon, Dan Haren to the Marlins

http://mweb.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-ba ... -dan-haren" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't see Haren playing there

[Mr. Colby]

What a diva. Just play one year there. They're paying you $10M USD and you're not even good. Tell your family to go on a 6 month vacation to Miami. There are worse scenarios.

[Orlando Penguin]

The Royals were barely Wild Cards last year, and I think that's what we'll look like this year as well. Although Hosmer and Moustakas didn't produce to their expected levels in the regular season, and we saw what they're capable of in the post season. I really think the Royals will pretty much follow their performance. The bullpen won't be as great, and we still have to replace Shields. I'd put that at about a 5 game drop, making us last years Indians. If they stay healthy (something we basically did last year), they'll be in the wild card race at the start of September. If their bats stay as alive as they were in the postseason, they could make it in again (and then all bets are off).
The Tigers will win the division, even if their window is closing. The Indians can only improve as a young lineup continues to develop. The White Sox have added more pitching depth around Chris Sale, but they didn't plate significantly more runs than the Royals did.

On August 31st, 2014 the division looked like this:
Detroit..............0
Kansas City.......0
Cleveland.........-2.5
Chicago...........-12.5
Minnesota.........-15

My bet, is on August 31st, 2015 that looks more like:
Detroit..............0
Cleveland.........-2.5
Kansas City.......-2.5
Chicago...........-8.5
Minnesota.........-13

I'd be thrilled if the Twins had a 2-game improvement over a year's time. If they could clone Hughes 4 more times for a full rotation, I'd feel more confident. But that staff outside of Hughes and Perkins is a freakin' dumpster fire. Hopefully, the signing of Torii Hunter will infuse a little bit more leadership in that clubhouse.

As for the rest of the division, the Paper Tigers should be the favorite but I would not be shocked to see the Indians win the division with the Royals coming in 2nd, provided that the loss of Butler and possibly Shields doesn't cripple them too much. As I said when they lost to the Orioles, no team has gotten less out of more than the Tigers have these past 5-7 years. They remind me of the Eagles of the early 2000's -- constantly getting to the NFC title game but not able to get over the hump and then the window slams shut.

[canaan]

Dodgers acquire Howie Kendrick to replace Dee Gordon, trading the newly acquired Heaney and Barnes in the process; close to signing Brandon Mccarthy (4yr deal)

[MWB]

And kemp seems to be the next one to be shipped. Friedman certainly making his mark.

[ville5]

Nice deal for the Padres. They get the Dodgers to pay $30 of the $107 million owed to Kemp.

[Troy Loney]

Cespedes on the move again. To detroit for Porcello.

[Rocco]

I'm not sure why the Padres would want to take on Kemp's deal and help out the Dodgers.

[Troy Loney]

Dodgers are eating $31M of that contract. So 5 years at around $75M? Not unreasonable, but definitely risky, it's hard to see him surpassing his 2014 stats going forward.

[Rocco]

The Reds have traded Alfredo Simon to Detroit and Mat Latos to Miami.

[dodint]

Red Sox, y u trade Cespedes for pitcher and lose other pitcher and MiLB prospect in process? Y? YYYYY!

[dodint]

Nevermind, I read the transaction wrong. Still think the deal is ****.

[shafnutz05]

Note to all Astros fans:

Houston Astros ✔ @astros

Note: the date of the Taylor Swift 1989 tour show at #MMP is subject to change if it conflicts with an #Astros postseason home game.

[columbia]

Seems legit.

[Factorial]

Shaf left out the part where he bought ticket to the TS show.

[shafnutz05]

Shaf left out the part where he bought ticket to the TS show.

Ugh, no way. My sister-in-law (she's 24) is obsessed with her and worships the ground she walks on. I don't get it. carefully steps past Reagan bust to grab my Reagan coffee mug off the shelf

[columbia]

You're a great American.