MLB 2009 Season

[PHILLYQ]

Pudge is back! YAAAAAAY!!!! Always figured he'd be back eventually to wrap up his career with the Rangers.

Last night hurt, though. Seems like everyone else in the race won but the Rangers. OUCH!!!

You're tied with about 42 games left, so now every game matters. I looked at the Rangers schedule the other day and they have a pretty favorable one. The last three games against the Angels may be gimmes if the Angels have clinched and they want to rest players.

Much better than last year for you, right?

[WorldB3]

The ease of schedule thing doesn't always play in your favor. Wasn't in 06 that if the Tigers could just take one of three versus the Royals who were terrible that year on the final weekend they would clinch the division. The Royals swept. I remember being pissed as an A's fan because it meant the A's had to play the Twins in the first round, the general consensus was that the Tigers were the weakest playoff team in AL that year.

[Soulstation1]

Damn

We can't get pass the A's in the wild card race

[Tim McG]

Good Speak,

If the Giants come back with Fred Lewis and Randy Wynn next year I will puke. Molina had the big hr Saturday but over the last couple weeks with him, Rowand and Wynn its been some of the most pathetic ab's I have ever seen in my life.

Fred Lewis needs to go away, no doubt. But Randy Winn? Nah. Just a rough year is all for him and Rowand.

[WorldB3]

Good Speak,

If the Giants come back with Fred Lewis and Randy Wynn next year I will puke. Molina had the big hr Saturday but over the last couple weeks with him, Rowand and Wynn its been some of the most pathetic ab's I have ever seen in my life.

Fred Lewis needs to go away, no doubt. But Randy Winn? Nah. Just a rough year is all for him and Rowand.

Rowand makes around 12 mil, for that money he isn't entitled to back to back rough years. I love his heart and the dude will run through a wall and play hurt but right now he is stinking it up to high heaven at the plate. At least Wynn's contract runs out this winter.

Check out Bruce Jenkins today, not only did the A's screw themselves but also the Giants by getting rid of Houston Street and Carlos Gonalez for Matt Holiday.

[Tim McG]

Good Speak,

If the Giants come back with Fred Lewis and Randy Wynn next year I will puke. Molina had the big hr Saturday but over the last couple weeks with him, Rowand and Wynn its been some of the most pathetic ab's I have ever seen in my life.

Fred Lewis needs to go away, no doubt. But Randy Winn? Nah. Just a rough year is all for him and Rowand.

Rowand makes around 12 mil, for that money he isn't entitled to back to back rough years. I love his heart and the dude will run through a wall and play hurt but right now he is stinking it up to high heaven at the plate. At least Wynn's contract runs out this winter.

Check out Bruce Jenkins today, not only did the A's screw themselves but also the Giants by getting rid of Houston Street and Carlos Gonalez for Matt Holiday.

I dunno.

Rowand had a fairly decent year last season, but his fielding is nothing less than superb. I mean, you have to have a guy like Rowand with his take-no-prisoners attitude to spark up the dugout and shake the doldrums. They are actually playing with some fire this season.

I'm guessing Winn will be trade bait if the Gigantes decide not to keep him. Got to get something for him, right?

The Jenkins column isn't on the SF Gate website today [usually a day or so lag before we see it; we can't get the Chron out my way for some reason] but what intrigues me is why the Rockies would trade off Holliday. Seemed crazy to me. Though Street with his 100th career save is a boon for the Rocks.

And what's the deal with the A's? Man, it's like they just don't want to win. I know the small market is always their hue and cry, but you won't fill the stadium with Holliday....especially now that he's with the Cards. Another dumb move. Giambi should have taught them that much. It seemed that when the Fremont stadium deal died, so did the team.

Edited August 19, 2009 by GoodSpeak

[WorldB3]

The A's ownership wants low attendance so they can move.

Good take on it here:

http://www.insidebayarea.com/athletics/ci_13002019

"That would explain the unconcern with presiding over a product not only inferior but faceless, with a marketing staff either asleep or working under severe limitation. The A's were going to ignore the chance to take advantage of their most attractive promotion for '09, the 20th anniversary of Oakland's 1989 World Series champs. It was not on the original promo schedule. With so many smart folks in the building, this was no oversight but a matter of deliberate neglect.

How could an entire organization remember to designate June 6 as 1989 Replica Jersey Day but forget to invite members of their most popular team into town for a weekend celebration?

Oh, right. That might have sold a few more season ticket packages, which doesn't jibe with Wolff's frequent complaints about the low season-ticket base.

A cynic — and there are plenty of us — might even conclude the A's embrace this trend of declining attendance because they would like to think it might grease their exit from a place they hate with a passion.

If Wolff wants baseball to fail in Oakland, and most of his efforts imply he does, he is proceeding masterfully."

[Tim McG]

The A's ownership wants low attendance so they can move.

Good take on it here:

http://www.insidebayarea.com/athletics/ci_13002019

"That would explain the unconcern with presiding over a product not only inferior but faceless, with a marketing staff either asleep or working under severe limitation. The A's were going to ignore the chance to take advantage of their most attractive promotion for '09, the 20th anniversary of Oakland's 1989 World Series champs. It was not on the original promo schedule. With so many smart folks in the building, this was no oversight but a matter of deliberate neglect.

How could an entire organization remember to designate June 6 as 1989 Replica Jersey Day but forget to invite members of their most popular team into town for a weekend celebration?

Oh, right. That might have sold a few more season ticket packages, which doesn't jibe with Wolff's frequent complaints about the low season-ticket base.

A cynic — and there are plenty of us — might even conclude the A's embrace this trend of declining attendance because they would like to think it might grease their exit from a place they hate with a passion.

If Wolff wants baseball to fail in Oakland, and most of his efforts imply he does, he is proceeding masterfully."

Excellent article, WB3.

But this still begs the question: Where would the A's go?

The San Jose market is owned by the Giants as they have a farm team well established in SJ. I suppose the Single A team could move, but where would they go...further south to Gilroy? Sacramento and Modesto both have teams and I don't know that the North Bay [or the Concord/Pittsburg/Antioch areas do either] has a fan base to support the SJ Giants.

But it does appear that chasing off the fans is their goal. Reminds me of the Charlie O. daze when there were no radio or TV broadcasts and fewer than 800 fans showed up to the games. Weird.

Edited August 20, 2009 by GoodSpeak

[Dan Gould]

Aaron Rowand has been a below average hitter from the moment he left Philly. His OBP has usually been mediocre at best, and his slugging is down from his Philly highs as well (which was to be expected). On top of that, his fielding has declined dramatically too.

Great heart doesn't make up for mediocre performance. And he's not even halfway through that contract he signed. But don't take my word for it - Rowand got a mention in Joe Posnanski's "Worst Contracts" column:

A bad contract that was just sort of unavoidable: Aaron Rowand (5 years, $60 million). He will be paid $12 million per for the next three years, which is a whole lot of money to pay for a below-average hitter who probably has been pretty wildly overrated defensively for three or four years. But, hey, he came off that big 2007 season -- .309/.374/.515 -- and he'd had one year like that before (2004 in Chicago) and he had the great defensive rep, and he was a free agent, and somebody was going to overpay for him. Brian Sabean was the lucky winner.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writ...l#ixzz0OgHjd7IS

[Chalupa]

Cliff Lee!!

[Patrick]

Cliff Lee!!

Cliff is the man. Bit irritating that his one lousy season recently was 2007 when the Tribe got oh so close to the Series. If he's healthy that year...

Oh well. Back to rooting for ex-Indians that play for Phils, Bosox, and Yankees. And wondering if Grady Sizemore will ever hit .280 again.

[Tim McG]

Aaron Rowand is batting .272 right now with a career BA of .282.

OBP .341

SLG .451

OPS .792

This year he has 10HRs, 48 RBIs, 4SB, 23BB while SO 93 times. Not a great year, but not in the dumper either.

Career-wise, he isn't the weak hitter some folks here make him out to be. Like I said...just an off-season is all.

Now then...any complaints about his fielding? Here ya go: A career .989 FLDPCT/.991 this year and only 2 errors all season.

**************************************************************

Now will somebody PLEASE beat the damn Rockies?!?

Grrrrr

Edited August 20, 2009 by GoodSpeak

[Big Al]

Pudge is back! YAAAAAAY!!!! Always figured he'd be back eventually to wrap up his career with the Rangers.

Last night hurt, though. Seems like everyone else in the race won but the Rangers. OUCH!!!

You're tied with about 42 games left, so now every game matters. I looked at the Rangers schedule the other day and they have a pretty favorable one. The last three games against the Angels may be gimmes if the Angels have clinched and they want to rest players.

Much better than last year for you, right?

No doubt about it: no one expected the Rangers to be this good this deep into the season (much less at all!). Still, aside from the inconsistent bats, the Rangers' biggest problem has been their inability to beat the so-called "easy" teams: they can take care of the Angels and the Red Sox with the greatest of ease, but the Twins? How in the name of the baseball gods can a team be this good, yet blow five-run leads for two consecutive games and lose to a team that is where the Rangers usually are this time of year?

That's baseball, I guess...

[WorldB3]

Pudge is back! YAAAAAAY!!!! Always figured he'd be back eventually to wrap up his career with the Rangers.

Last night hurt, though. Seems like everyone else in the race won but the Rangers. OUCH!!!

You're tied with about 42 games left, so now every game matters. I looked at the Rangers schedule the other day and they have a pretty favorable one. The last three games against the Angels may be gimmes if the Angels have clinched and they want to rest players.

Much better than last year for you, right?

No doubt about it: no one expected the Rangers to be this good this deep into the season (much less at all!). Still, aside from the inconsistent bats, the Rangers' biggest problem has been their inability to beat the so-called "easy" teams: they can take care of the Angels and the Red Sox with the greatest of ease, but the Twins? How in the name of the baseball gods can a team be this good, yet blow five-run leads for two consecutive games and lose to a team that is where the Rangers usually are this time of year?

That's baseball, I guess...

Big Al,

Didn't you hear on ESPN that the Twins are part of the most exciting division race in the major leagues? There only 5 games back, they could go all the way. There should be a law that any team under 500 should not be considered a playoff contender, at least get to a game over 500 first.

Dan,

Since your post above was SFW I will agree with you on Rowan and I will check out that link. Rentieria and Zito should be on that list also. In Zito's defense if you throw out the W-L record he has been quite good this year and has the best ERA on the Giants post all star break. Poor guy has had 9 starts this year where his team got shut out. Obviously though the Zito contract was still horrible. That one is more the fault of the previous owner Magowen and not the GM.

[Chalupa]

The Giants scare me. I don't want to see them in 5 game series. Go Rockies!

[Matthew]

Aaron Rowand has been a below average hitter from the moment he left Philly. His OBP has usually been mediocre at best, and his slugging is down from his Philly highs as well (which was to be expected). On top of that, his fielding has declined dramatically too.

Great heart doesn't make up for mediocre performance. And he's not even halfway through that contract he signed. But don't take my word for it - Rowand got a mention in Joe Posnanski's "Worst Contracts" column:

A bad contract that was just sort of unavoidable: Aaron Rowand (5 years, $60 million). He will be paid $12 million per for the next three years, which is a whole lot of money to pay for a below-average hitter who probably has been pretty wildly overrated defensively for three or four years. But, hey, he came off that big 2007 season -- .309/.374/.515 -- and he'd had one year like that before (2004 in Chicago) and he had the great defensive rep, and he was a free agent, and somebody was going to overpay for him. Brian Sabean was the lucky winner.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writ...l#ixzz0OgHjd7IS

Put me down as agreeing with Dan on this one about Rowand, he is not having a good year and his fielding is getting worse as the season goes on, even Duane Kuiper & Mike Krukow were getting on Rowand's case about the poor job he was doing in center during the Mets series. I watch the Giants a lot, and Rowand just never seems to get a good jump on the ball, I'm in the not impressed column on Rowand right now.

[Quincy]

So the Cards sign Smoltz. Back on August 7th after the Red Sox DFA'd him, Squawking Baseball noted the following:

"But you know what? He’s not done, and the Red Sox may end up feeling really stupid about this one.

Smoltz has gone 40 innings; he’s struck out 33 and walked 9. That’s 18% and 5% of the batters he’s faced, respectively. His BABIP is .390, and his HR/FB 14.8%. Both are career highs by a mile. Pitch fx doesn’t see any major differences in his velocity or movement, and his LD% (if you’re into that) is right in line with his career norms.

PECOTA predicts a 3.92 ERA for the rest of the season, and ZIPS says 3.97. I see no reason to disagree. Someone will pick him up — for the league minimum, no less — and that team could end up feeling very, very lucky."

He definitely had some of the oddest numbers (high K to BB) I've ever seen for a guy who wasn't getting it done. Going back to the NL may increase his chances of not sucking.

[Dan Gould]

It would be unfortunate if hiding in the no-DH league makes Smoltz look like he doesn't completely suck. But it surely was obvious that the POS had no business pitching in a decent division with actual talent. That debacle in the Bronx demonstrated that he has zero command of his pitches, particularly his fastball which got consistently hammered. He didn't get better in Boston, he got worse. Its the strikeout-walk ratio that is an anomaly, not the results. They should continue, though probably not as badly when he'll get a breather in the bottom third of every order.

As much as I'd like to see the Cardinals fall out of contention, I'd enjoy it very much should they reach the World Series and try to rely on Smoltz against any A.L. lineup.

[Tim McG]

Aaron Rowand has been a below average hitter from the moment he left Philly. His OBP has usually been mediocre at best, and his slugging is down from his Philly highs as well (which was to be expected). On top of that, his fielding has declined dramatically too.

Great heart doesn't make up for mediocre performance. And he's not even halfway through that contract he signed. But don't take my word for it - Rowand got a mention in Joe Posnanski's "Worst Contracts" column:

A bad contract that was just sort of unavoidable: Aaron Rowand (5 years, $60 million). He will be paid $12 million per for the next three years, which is a whole lot of money to pay for a below-average hitter who probably has been pretty wildly overrated defensively for three or four years. But, hey, he came off that big 2007 season -- .309/.374/.515 -- and he'd had one year like that before (2004 in Chicago) and he had the great defensive rep, and he was a free agent, and somebody was going to overpay for him. Brian Sabean was the lucky winner.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writ...l#ixzz0OgHjd7IS

Put me down as agreeing with Dan on this one about Rowand, he is not having a good year and his fielding is getting worse as the season goes on, even Duane Kuiper & Mike Krukow were getting on Rowand's case about the poor job he was doing in center during the Mets series. I watch the Giants a lot, and Rowand just never seems to get a good jump on the ball, I'm in the not impressed column on Rowand right now.

Only two errors and a near flawless fielding percentage trumps one bad series with the Mets.

He has been a sparkplug on a team in desperate need of a leader. Rowand provides just that.

You know, I remember hearing the very same complaints when Marvin Benard was on the team. Same with Robby Thompson. I guess you just can't please some people.

Edited August 20, 2009 by GoodSpeak

[PHILLYQ]

Pudge is back! YAAAAAAY!!!! Always figured he'd be back eventually to wrap up his career with the Rangers.

Last night hurt, though. Seems like everyone else in the race won but the Rangers. OUCH!!!

You're tied with about 42 games left, so now every game matters. I looked at the Rangers schedule the other day and they have a pretty favorable one. The last three games against the Angels may be gimmes if the Angels have clinched and they want to rest players.

Much better than last year for you, right?

No doubt about it: no one expected the Rangers to be this good this deep into the season (much less at all!). Still, aside from the inconsistent bats, the Rangers' biggest problem has been their inability to beat the so-called "easy" teams: they can take care of the Angels and the Red Sox with the greatest of ease, but the Twins? How in the name of the baseball gods can a team be this good, yet blow five-run leads for two consecutive games and lose to a team that is where the Rangers usually are this time of year?

That's baseball, I guess...

here's another, Big Al- you'll be a Yankee fan this weekend!!!

[Big Al]

Pudge is back! YAAAAAAY!!!! Always figured he'd be back eventually to wrap up his career with the Rangers.

Last night hurt, though. Seems like everyone else in the race won but the Rangers. OUCH!!!

You're tied with about 42 games left, so now every game matters. I looked at the Rangers schedule the other day and they have a pretty favorable one. The last three games against the Angels may be gimmes if the Angels have clinched and they want to rest players.

Much better than last year for you, right?

No doubt about it: no one expected the Rangers to be this good this deep into the season (much less at all!). Still, aside from the inconsistent bats, the Rangers' biggest problem has been their inability to beat the so-called "easy" teams: they can take care of the Angels and the Red Sox with the greatest of ease, but the Twins? How in the name of the baseball gods can a team be this good, yet blow five-run leads for two consecutive games and lose to a team that is where the Rangers usually are this time of year?

That's baseball, I guess...

Big Al,

Didn't you hear on ESPN that the Twins are part of the most exciting division race in the major leagues? There only 5 games back, they could go all the way.

There should be a law that any team under 500 should not be considered a playoff contender, at least get to a game over 500 first.

A-freakin-MEN!!!!

[Tim McG]

Pudge is back! YAAAAAAY!!!! Always figured he'd be back eventually to wrap up his career with the Rangers.

Last night hurt, though. Seems like everyone else in the race won but the Rangers. OUCH!!!

You're tied with about 42 games left, so now every game matters. I looked at the Rangers schedule the other day and they have a pretty favorable one. The last three games against the Angels may be gimmes if the Angels have clinched and they want to rest players.

Much better than last year for you, right?

No doubt about it: no one expected the Rangers to be this good this deep into the season (much less at all!). Still, aside from the inconsistent bats, the Rangers' biggest problem has been their inability to beat the so-called "easy" teams: they can take care of the Angels and the Red Sox with the greatest of ease, but the Twins? How in the name of the baseball gods can a team be this good, yet blow five-run leads for two consecutive games and lose to a team that is where the Rangers usually are this time of year?

That's baseball, I guess...

Big Al,

Didn't you hear on ESPN that the Twins are part of the most exciting division race in the major leagues? There only 5 games back, they could go all the way. There should be a law that any team under 500 should not be considered a playoff contender, at least get to a game over 500 first.

Dan,

Since your post above was SFW I will agree with you on Rowan and I will check out that link. Rentieria and Zito should be on that list also. In Zito's defense if you throw out the W-L record he has been quite good this year and has the best ERA on the Giants post all star break. Poor guy has had 9 starts this year where his team got shut out. Obviously though the Zito contract was still horrible. That one is more the fault of the previous owner Magowen and not the GM.

Zito is a head case.

Those nine games you speak of, Zito had the Giants in the hole before the National Anthem stopped echoing in the stadium. The odds will be stacked against you if you make your team have to play catch-up everytime out.

However, the Giants' pitching staff has the best ERA in the league right now....all they need is some hitting.

Maybe the Giants pitching staff could team up with the [hated] Dodgers line-up. Now that would be one kick-ass team!

Edited August 20, 2009 by GoodSpeak

[Matthew]

Aaron Rowand has been a below average hitter from the moment he left Philly. His OBP has usually been mediocre at best, and his slugging is down from his Philly highs as well (which was to be expected). On top of that, his fielding has declined dramatically too.

Great heart doesn't make up for mediocre performance. And he's not even halfway through that contract he signed. But don't take my word for it - Rowand got a mention in Joe Posnanski's "Worst Contracts" column:

A bad contract that was just sort of unavoidable: Aaron Rowand (5 years, $60 million). He will be paid $12 million per for the next three years, which is a whole lot of money to pay for a below-average hitter who probably has been pretty wildly overrated defensively for three or four years. But, hey, he came off that big 2007 season -- .309/.374/.515 -- and he'd had one year like that before (2004 in Chicago) and he had the great defensive rep, and he was a free agent, and somebody was going to overpay for him. Brian Sabean was the lucky winner.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writ...l#ixzz0OgHjd7IS

Put me down as agreeing with Dan on this one about Rowand, he is not having a good year and his fielding is getting worse as the season goes on, even Duane Kuiper & Mike Krukow were getting on Rowand's case about the poor job he was doing in center during the Mets series. I watch the Giants a lot, and Rowand just never seems to get a good jump on the ball, I'm in the not impressed column on Rowand right now.

Only two errors and a near flawless fielding percentage trumps one bad series with the Mets.

He has been a sparkplug on a team in desperate need of a leader. Rowand provides just that.

You know, I remember hearing the very same complaints when Marvin Benard was on the team. Same with Robby Thompson. I guess you just can't please some people.

IMHO: Bengie Molina is the leader of this Giant team -- he's a true gamer. The future, in terms of leadership, is very promising for the Giants. I see the big leaders being Panda, Lincecum, and Nate Scheirholtz (who could turn out to be a great player). The Giants will be a very interesting team to watch in the years to come, that old Dodger/Giant rivalry might get very intense after it's all said and done.

[Tim McG]

Aaron Rowand has been a below average hitter from the moment he left Philly. His OBP has usually been mediocre at best, and his slugging is down from his Philly highs as well (which was to be expected). On top of that, his fielding has declined dramatically too.

Great heart doesn't make up for mediocre performance. And he's not even halfway through that contract he signed. But don't take my word for it - Rowand got a mention in Joe Posnanski's "Worst Contracts" column:

A bad contract that was just sort of unavoidable: Aaron Rowand (5 years, $60 million). He will be paid $12 million per for the next three years, which is a whole lot of money to pay for a below-average hitter who probably has been pretty wildly overrated defensively for three or four years. But, hey, he came off that big 2007 season -- .309/.374/.515 -- and he'd had one year like that before (2004 in Chicago) and he had the great defensive rep, and he was a free agent, and somebody was going to overpay for him. Brian Sabean was the lucky winner.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writ...l#ixzz0OgHjd7IS

Put me down as agreeing with Dan on this one about Rowand, he is not having a good year and his fielding is getting worse as the season goes on, even Duane Kuiper & Mike Krukow were getting on Rowand's case about the poor job he was doing in center during the Mets series. I watch the Giants a lot, and Rowand just never seems to get a good jump on the ball, I'm in the not impressed column on Rowand right now.

Only two errors and a near flawless fielding percentage trumps one bad series with the Mets.

He has been a sparkplug on a team in desperate need of a leader. Rowand provides just that.

You know, I remember hearing the very same complaints when Marvin Benard was on the team. Same with Robby Thompson. I guess you just can't please some people.

IMHO: Bengie Molina is the leader of this Giant team -- he's a true gamer. The future, in terms of leadership, is very promising for the Giants. I see the big leaders being Panda, Lincecum, and Nate Scheirholtz (who could turn out to be a great player). The Giants will be a very interesting team to watch in the years to come, that old Dodger/Giant rivalry might get very intense after it's all said and done.

I agree.

Molina leads by what he says and by his professionalism on and off the field. However, Rowand leads by example. A great combo for the young guys to be associated with, IMHO.

Panda and Lincecum need some seasoning before they can take on a leadership role...especially Lincecum; too kid-like just yet. But what a fire plug that guy is! Scheirholtz needs to be more consistant in his play...an every day player he is not, right now. If he can dial it up a notch and stop being sent down to the Triple-A club in Fresno, then you're right, he could be a great player.

[WorldB3]

Zito is a head case.

say what you want but his life time record when he get 4 runs or more is 19-2 in the orange and black, and 104-6 in his 10-year career.

look at any box score from any night and a lot of teams can manage 4 runs.

Nate is hitting 300, he has to be in the lineup everyday. If Rowand or Wynn has to sit so be it.