Category: MLB General

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MLB General

Always be wary of a fantasy baseball companion who gives you a case of Schlitz


Now that the baseball season is underway, we know you are clamoring to jump out of the gate with a ferocity never seen before by your fellow managers in your fantasy baseball league. After all, we all know that your performance last year was a complete debacle. Luckily, the fellas at the Armchair Association put together 5 Ways To Undermine Your Fantasy Baseball League which should hopefully give you the extra assistance you need in order to avoid the league cellar once again. While all five of these nuggets are great advice, we must admit that No. 1 is perhaps the most important.

1. Always work a trade with a drunk person – I don’t know about you, but pretty regularly I get late night IMs from people that inevitably go like this: “Dude, what’s up?” “Nothing, about to go to bed” “Man, I am fucking WASTED!” “Oh really?” “YAIS!” “Hey, I was looking at your team, we should make a trade.” Using this strategy I was once able to pull off a Albert Pujols for Steve Kline & Runelvys Hernandez deal that shook my league to the core. Unfortunately, I was also taken by this against my better drunken judgement in the form of Ryan Howard and Hanley Ramirez for Carlos Zambrano and Vladimir Guerrero in the early parts of last season. It always works. Your first response to “I’m drunk.” (unless it’s a chick, in which case your response should obviously be “I have a case of High Life, I should swing by.”) should be, “We should make a trade.

And the strategy isn’t limited to MLB. If we’re not mistaken, this is exactly how the ball got rolling between the Mavs and the Nets when Jason Kidd got dealt.

Links:

[Armchair Association]: 5 Ways To Undermine Your Fantasy Baseball League

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MLB General

2008 MLB Payrolls



It’s good to be A-Rod

The 2008 Major League Baseball payrolls were released today and the Yankees somehow managed to spend more than ever with a total payroll of $209M. That is a $14M increase over last year’s payroll, which incidentally bought them a first round exit out of the playoffs by the Indians, who cost about a third as much. It’s hardly surprising that the Yankees are #1 when you consider that A-Rod will make more than the entire Florida Marlins roster this year.

The real surprise is that the Red Sox are no longer #2.  Boston actually pared payroll by $10M this season and have been supplanted by the Detroit Tigers, who acquired Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera in the offseason, apparently with designs to win it all this year.  The Tigers spent a league high $43.5M more this year vs 2007.  Other teams who really opened up the checkbook this year are the Mets (+$20M) and the… Rays?  Tampa Bay spent an extra $20M this year but still ranks next to last with a total payroll of $43.8M.  

Besides the Red Sox, the Giants, A’s, and Orioles all stand out for significantly reducing payroll when MLB as a whole spent an additional $203M this year vs 2007.  For the record, the Rockies only spent $54M on payroll last year.

The entire 2008 MLB Payroll numbers after the jump.

Continue reading “2008 MLB Payrolls”

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MLB General

Jose Canseco says Alex Rodriguez is an attempted home wrecker


Jose Canseco has a new book coming out which can mean only one thing: more major leaguers are about to get thrown under the bus. First up, Alex Rodriguez.

According to writer Joe Lavin who got his hands on a copy of “Vindicated: Big Names, Big Liars, and The Battle to Save Baseball” prior to it drop date on April 1, Canseco claims to have introduced A-Rod to a steroids distributor. At this point, we’re willing to believe just about anybody is or has been juiced, but considering Canseco apparently freely admits to not actually sticking a needle into Rodriguez’s ass and pumping him up, we’re going to leave it at that. However, we all know A-Rod is true player in every sense of the word, so we don’t doubt Canseco’s other claims for one second.

He [Lavin] says Canseco claimed he didn’t inject Rodriguez but “introduced Alex to a known supplier of steroids.” Lavin also says “Canseco claims that A-Rod was trying to sleep with Canseco’s wife.”

“I really, absolutely, have no reaction,” Rodriguez said Tuesday when asked about the claim relating to the steroids distributor. As far as the allegation regarding Canseco’s wife, Rodriguez responded:

“I don’t know how to answer that.

Well, you could start with either a yes or a no, that’s how most people go about answering questions. Of course, you are a modern-day baseball player, so we assume you’re just following protocol.

Links:

[NBC Sports]: Report: A-Rod was pursuing Canseco’s wife

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MLB General

Obama T-shirt guy, you’re outta here!


Major League Baseball bends for nobody. Not even Senator Barack Obama…or the dude selling Obama T-Shirts.

MLB shut down an online business called Obama Of Dreams because it was using team logos and tweaking them slightly to promote Obama. They must be Hillary supporters.

We sent a cease-and-desist letter for violating our trademark,” baseball spokesman Rich Levin said Tuesday.

Morris Levin, a supporter of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, operated www.obamaofdreams.com and said he shut down the site March 4. He said he stopped sales on that date.

“I started the site as a fun way to show support for Sen. Obama, and I’m a big Phillies fan,” he said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. “I did not make any profit on this, and I think that Major League Baseball has a fantastic product of which I am a big consumer.

So, this guy gets shut down for printing Obama shirts using MLB typefaces, but we allow countless retards to sport tees that say “Vote for Pedro” and “Jesus is my Homeboy”?!? What is this world coming to?

Links:

[NewsObserver.com]: Obama supporter whiffs
[The Smoking Gun]: Obama Business Strikes Out

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MLB General

Pull out your hankies, it’s fantasy baseball time at ESPN

We know that the NBA is “where amazing happens,” but we’re just now finding out that ESPN fantasy baseball is, well, it’s apparently where estrogen and hormones happens.

Not enough drama for ya? Well, go grab a box of Bon Bons, put on your Tweety Bird slippers and crawl under a nice, warm quilt because the fellas at ESPN put together a whole slew of commercials to keep you crying, laughing, hating, smiling, cringing and loving fantasy baseball.

Endless Drama – Episode 2
Endless Drama – Episode 3
Endless Drama – Episode 4
Endless Drama – Episode 5
Endless Drama – Episode 6
Endless Drama – Episode 7

Don’t worry if you still haven’t got your fix of fastballs to your feminine side; according to the website, there are at least two more episodes on their way.

Links:

[ESPN]: Endless Drama Home

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MLB General

If only Roger Clemens’ face could speak


Everybody is curious to find out the truth behind if the Rocket took roids, but, c’mon people, can’t we just wait for the wheels of justice to do their thing?

A facial expressions expert says Roger Clemens seemed more nervous and afraid than his former trainer, Brian McNamee, during their Congressional testimony.

Dan Hill, an expert in analyzing facial expressions, says “fear” was clearly etched in the 7-time Cy Young Award winner’s face.

Hill doesn’t profess to be able to declare which person was lying. But after viewing video clips of portions of the hearings, Hill concluded Clemens seemed more nervous than McNamee.

Hill says Clemens’ facial expression could mean being afraid of not getting into the Hall of Fame. Or it could mean something else.

“He also could be lying,” Hill says.

He also could have eaten chili for lunch and had a serious case of bubble-guts. Why don’t we just bring in a fortune teller or, better yet, a palm reader to solve this mystery once and for all? Heck, maybe a mood ring could shed some light on things.

Links:

[KCBD.com]: Facial expressions expert says Clemens seemed more nervous

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MLB General

After all these years, the Famous Chicken is still finger-lickin’ good


Minor league baseball is always trying to pack the stands with some sort of gimmick or promotion. It seems like the ideas just keep getting wackier and wackier with every passing season. Of course, if all the front office knuckleheads would just stick to the basics then attendance wouldn’t be a problem. You don’t need to give away bobble heads of players or put together expensive postgame firework shows. Nope, just sign up the Famous Chicken to make an appearance and watch the dolla, dolla bills come rolling in.

Its appearance at minor league games, on average, increased attendance by 26 percent.

That’s pretty good when you consider, as the firm [Plan B Branding] reveals, that the Chicken’s appearance only cost teams 22 cents per fan. It’s also pretty good when you consider that the Chicken is more than 30 years old.

My favorite business story with the Chicken involves the day long ago that the man inside the costume, Ted Giannoulas, negotiated an attendance deal with the Padres. The rule worked that he’d get a piece of every ticket above a certain number of expected fans for the night.

The Chicken brought some 30,000 more fans to the game and Giannoulas came home with a $40,000 payday. As the story goes, he spent all that money defending himself in a lawsuit against KGB radio, the station that in March 1974, first put him in a chicken suit as part of a promotional gimmick.

And if you can’t get the Famous Chicken to pay your park a visit then we’d like to suggest this lady as option number two.

Links:

[CNBC.com]: The Ex-San Diego Padre Chicken Still Rules!!

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MLB General

The Full Count: Cleveland completes choke


Masters of the ALCS: It seems like 2004 all over again now that Boston has completed another improbable ALCS comeback. Down 3-1 to Cleveland, they crushed the Indians three straight times to reach the World Series. Boston was nearly untouchable as the series went on; in Game 7, there was little doubt they would win even when the game was close. Down by one in the 7th, the Indians has men on first and third with one out. Then Casey Blake grounded into a double play to end the inning, and the Red Sox scored a combined 8 runs the next two innings. Rafael Betancourt, who previously hadn’t allowed a run this postseason, was lit up for 7 runs. The Red Sox bullpen, which got two scoreless innings each from Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon, was nearly perfect by comparison.

Overall, this series seems similar to the Red Sox-Yankees ALCS in 2004, but there’s a major exception. While the games were all close as the Red Sox came back in the previous series, they blew the Indians out three times in a row, leaving the impression that they are clearly the best team. None of the games were even in doubt, as the Red Sox won the last three by a combined 30-5. They have been perfect in all phases of the game recently, with a balanced offense and dominant bullpen. Players like Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedrioa have played huge roles in the comeback, while the pen pitched seven scoreless innings in the final three games. Their starters excellent as well, with Josh Beckett taking home the ALCS MVP. Curt Schilling and Daisuke Matsuzaka redeemed themselves for poor starts earlier in the series by winning the last two games. Going into the series against the Rockies, the Red Sox seem like the clear favorite, but Colorado is well-rested and still on a roll. This World Series should be an interesting one, as it pits the preseason favorite against the one-in-a-million contender.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Rest up Rockies, this might be a while


Not so Fast: The Indians, one game shy of reaching the World Series, lost to Boston in what was a must-win game for the Red Sox. Boston won only because of the efforts of their best players, both on offense and pitching. Josh Beckett remained utterly fantastic this postseason. He had 11 strikeouts and allowed one run in eight innings, improving to 3-0 in this postseason. Beckett has become one of the best playoff pitchers not just in the game today but all-time. He has a 5-2 career record in the playoffs with a 1.78 ERA and is averaging 9 strikeouts per start. Unfortunately for the Red Sox, this is the last start they can get from Beckett this series, as Game 7 if played is slated for Sunday. But the Red Sox’s 7-1 victory was not just a solo effort. Manny Ramirez, the all-time playoff home run leader, went 2-4 with an RBI; playoff monster David Ortiz had two RBIs and kept his average over .400 this postseason. For the Indians, it was another shaky start for CC Sabathia, who has let down his team with a string a poor performances in the playoffs. Fausto Carmona, who tossed a shutout in the divisional series, is looking to bounce back from a subpar Game 2 effort as he pitches in Game 6 on Saturday. The Red Sox will send Curt Schilling to the mound as they return to Fenway Park, still needing two straight wins to reach the World Series.

Choosing to Walk Away: Joe Torre was not fired as expected by some, though he still won’t be returning to the Yankees next season. The legendary, sure-fire Hall of Fame manager turned down a contract offer from George Steinbrenner. He was offered a one year deal worth $5 million, less than he had been making yet still more than any other manager in baseball. For reasons unknown, Torre turned down the offer, ending a glorious 12-year run as Yankees manager. He won 4 World Series titles and ten division championships as manager of the Yankees. No matter who replaces Torre, they will likely never come close to his success.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Indians on the doorstep


One Win Away: We are one game away from the network’s worst nightmare-an Indians-Rockies World Series. After getting crushed in Game 1 by the seemingly invincible Red Sox, the Indians gave the series a huge momentum change by scoring 7 runs in the 11th inning of Game 2. Since then, Cleveland has been nearly unstoppable. They won Game 3 to take the series lead, and on Tuesday they beat the Red Sox with ease to extend their lead to a commanding 3-1. They won 7-3 after a great performance from Paul Byrd and a seven-run fifth inning. Tim Wakefield was charged with five runs in the inning after pitching very well at the start of the game. Now the Red Sox need to win another Beckett-Sabathia matchup on Thursday or they’ll be going home.

One of the reasons the Indians have gotten this far is the pitching of Byrd and Jake Westbrook, who have actually performed better than Sabathia and Fausto Carmona this series. But the best pitching by the Indians has come from the bullpen, especially the sensational Rafael Betancourt. Betancourt has shut opponents out in 7 innings of relief this postseason. Every time he has appeared, the Indians have won. On Tuesday Betancourt was perfect through two innings to seal the deal. The Red Sox now find themselves back where they were in 2004–desperately needing a win to stay alive. If they win game 5, the series will go back to Boston–though Cleveland has shown that they can win there as well. According to ESPN.com, in MLB history only 10 teams out of 65 have come back from a 3-1 deficit. 34 of those teams lost in five games, as I predict the Red Sox will do as Sabathia bounces back from a weak earlier performance this series.