2014 MLB thread

[Ninja108]

Doesn't get as many hits as it use to but I'm making the thread for us baseball fans anyway.

Yankees 2014 or bust!

 

[King Gumby VIII]

Bring on Spring Training.

Go Nats...

 

[Ninja108]

I'm ready for spring training after our latest signings. Go YANKS!

 

[sonny10305]

I'm ready for spring training after our latest signings. Go YANKS!

Seriously excited, first spring training games start at the end of February
Yankees on 2/25 Mets 0n 2/28

Lets go Yankees and Lets go Mets
Unless they play each other than of course LETS GO METS!

 

[sonny10305]

Football is over... you know what that means!!! ️️️

 

[Sausy]

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sneering at the snow outside after yesterday's relatively balmy Super Bowl(sorry that the game couldn't match the weather,but halftime was great I heard...had to work so couldn't see the game mercifully!)so counting the days to our boys starting spring training and thoughts of warmth!

 

[sonny10305]

Congrats to Derek Jeter, a hall of famer on and off field, on occasion of his announcement of retirement

Jetter wrote
“Last year was a tough one for me, as I suffered through a bunch of injuries, I realized that some of the things that always came easily to me and were always fun had started to become a struggle. The one thing I always said to myself was that when baseball started to feel more like a job, it would be time to move forward. So really it was months ago when I realized that this season would likely be my last. As I came to this conclusion and shared it with my friends and family, they all told me to hold off saying anything until I was absolutely 100% sure. And the thing is, I could not be more sure. I know it in my heart. The 2014 season will be my last year playing professional baseball.”

Mets David Wright’s said
“I was fortunate as a young player in this town to be able to watch how Derek Jeter conducted himself on and off the field," Wright said. "I had the privilege to call Derek a teammate during the World Baseball Classic and got to see firsthand, how to lead by example. I've always been a big Derek Jeter fan for what he has done on the baseball field. I became an even bigger fan after getting to know Derek and learning there is more to this game than what goes on between the lines. Excluding the Subway Series, I wish him all the best in his final sea

Mets Matt Harvey said
“When you grew up watching baseball, that was the guy that you watched and wanted to be like, the amount of respect that he has in the game and in New York, it’s going to be sad to see him leave. But he’s had such an amazing career. Obviously he’s ready to move on with whatever he is interested in, but as a fan of New York sports, it’s going to be a sad thing to see him leave.”

Many more tributes and fond good wishes flooded the baseball world yesterday, Derek was one of a kind arguably one of the best shortstops to play the game. I love the way he is leaving with such style and grace which was his trademark always the pro always the consummate professional when the time comes it should be a no brainer to retire Number 2 Derek Jeter.

 

[sonny10305]

No one wants to comment on Jeter's retirement?
Come on Yankee fans how bout showin some love for the Captain

 

[Ninja108]

Bittersweet for me seeing Jeter retire. When he does, it will like the last part of my childhood is gone.
Def a first ballot HOF and someone who always played the game the right way.
He will be missed.

 

[Sausy]

He definitely will be missed, Ninja. He's off to a slow start this spring but there's a lot of rust from last year, so I would cut him some slack. Hopefully he can have a steady, solid season and help the Yankees towards another championship, at least help make them serious playoff contenders along with their shiny new additions. He's one of the best ever to represent the Yankees and just glad to see a great player and person like Derek Jeter play his whole career as a Yankee. He has worn the pinstripes proud

If I'm Atlanta I'm flummoxed by it just being spring training and they could lose not one but two young starting pitchers to Tommy John surgery in Kris Medlin already and now likely Brandon Beachy. They signed Erwin Santana but he's not a world beater despite his potential, and losing two main guys expected to be in the rotation especially this early has to feel like a devastating blow.

 

[Sausy]

MUCH more sense for the Angels to lock up young New Jersey boy slugger Mike Trout for six more seasons for a relatively budget friendly 144 mil than Detroit's head scratching decision to give their all world slugger Miguel Cabrera a ten year deal worth 292 mil. Trout does it all, great teammate and personality, terrific defender with world class speed and great power tools as well. He's also not 23 until this August and will be 29 when this contract ends, freeing him for one more big contract later, and if the Angels are successful maybe a lifer with the organization.

But Cabrera will be 31 this year, and ten years at such big money is an awful lot to ask... six or seven would have been defensible, with possible option years to give more flexibility towards the last few years of the contract. Ultra long contracts just about always have found a way to reward their dispensers with a financial albatross. Giving one a contract of that length as they enter their early thirties is damn risky at best, though at least this deal was given to a player connected their entire career with the Detroit organization, which is commendable to a point. It still has a great potential to really blow up in the Detroit organization's face, but it's their call and money.

 

[Ninja108]

I fully understand Trout (he could have been a Yankee) but Cabrera makes no sense to me, especially given his history of alcohol problems.
As for Trout, it will be intresting to see. A chance to win a ring is a huge factor as well and I don't know if the Angels will have the pitching to carry them through.

 

[Sausy]

I fully understand Trout (he could have been a Yankee) but Cabrera makes no sense to me, especially given his history of alcohol problems.
As for Trout, it will be intresting to see. A chance to win a ring is a huge factor as well and I don't know if the Angels will have the pitching to carry them through.

I know...Yanks thought Trout would fall a bit because he's an East Coast guy and they would be able to grab him. LOL he was raised a Phillies fan, but where he was raised here in NJ his area was in the Philly television market, so I'll cut him some slack,lol... the Angels really did their homework and surprised the Yanks when they scooped him up early. He does like it there but if like you say the Angels don't have the pitching, or just somehow continue to disappoint, maybe the next time there'll be a bidding war between the Yanks and Phils for his services. Would love the Mets to join in but goodness knows if they'll jump in like that. If they're as good with the young pitching as they expect, they hell better be willing to at least consider Mike if he does eventually choose free agency after the contract expires in 2020.


Yep, still a head scratcher regarding the Tigers move to lock up Miguel Cabrera for ten and $292 mil. Just seems excessive for a guy 40 when the contract ends, plus like you said his personal history with alcohol.

 

[Ninja108]

I know...Yanks thought Trout would fall a bit because he's an East Coast guy and they would be able to grab him. LOL he was raised a Phillies fan, but where he was raised here in NJ his area was in the Philly television market, so I'll cut him some slack,lol... the Angels really did their homework and surprised the Yanks when they scooped him up early.

From what I've read, one of the Angels scouts knew Trout's father hence why he was on their radar. It was a big blow to the Yanks but in the same breath, as Trout is learning with the Angels, pitching matters just as much as having a future hall of famer.
Having a team that can hit a lot of runs doesn't mean much if your starters and bullpen give it right back.

 

[Sausy]

Well we'll see how Mike Trout feels about staying with the Angels when his contract is up in 2020. Just hope ten year contracts are banned by then... no reason any contract should go longer than six years, unless with an option. You want to reward the best players without losing your mind, lol!

 

[Ninja108]

Well we'll see how Mike Trout feels about staying with the Angels when his contract is up in 2020. Just hope ten year contracts are banned by then... no reason any contract should go longer than six years, unless with an option. You want to reward the best players without losing your mind, lol!

I've only seen a couple of ten year contracts work out, Derek Jeter's being one of them. IMO, giving a ten year deal to anyone over 30 is insane but that's just me.

 

[Sausy]

I've only seen a couple of ten year contracts work out, Derek Jeter's being one of them. IMO, giving a ten year deal to anyone over 30 is insane but that's just me.

I agree... enough with record breaking contracts. Only the player and agent egos benefit. The best players should get six years maximum guaranteed, with seventh year option provisions. Especially with pitchers as we are seeing health is a crapshoot, and ten years is an awfully long risk that like you pointed out rarely pays off.

 

[Ninja108]

Yanks FINALLY won a game. Let's hope that streak continues

 

[Sausy]

Great doubleheader effort by Tanaka and Pineda yesterday, could be a nice rortation after all with Nova and if he gets himself right, CC Sabathia. Almost forgot about Koruda, too!

Great step by CC going seven innings allowing seven hits and only two runs in a 10-2 Yankee victory against Tampa Bay while the offense exploded throughout the lineup, with offseason acquisitions Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann and Brian Roberts a big part of it.

 

[Ninja108]

Great doubleheader effort by Tanaka and Pineda yesterday, could be a nice rortation after all with Nova and if he gets himself right, CC Sabathia. Almost forgot about Koruda, too!

Great step by CC going seven innings allowing seven hits and only two runs in a 10-2 Yankee victory against Tampa Bay while the offense exploded throughout the lineup, with offseason acquisitions Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann and Brian Roberts a big part of it.

Indeed, the old Bronx bombers are back! As for the AL East, I expect it to be a battle between Baltimore, the Red Sox and the Yanks all year.
Toronto simply doesn't have the pitching and the Rays have no offense but now also have virtually no pitching either.