December 31, 2008 – 12:05 pm
I hate to be all message board fan boy, but I keep reading stories like this that say Manny is in trouble since the Yankees are no longer showing interest and Boras pissed off the Dodgers. You have to wonder, could Jack Z make a run at Manny? There’s a story on USS Mariner about how the Mariners are going to be better than expected in 2009 and could top out at 86 wins if they signed at +3 win free agent to fill the DH spot. But what if they signed Manny Ramirez? Fangraphs has him at a +3 win player as an OF, but doing some loose math more like a +4 win player as a DH. We’d have to get rid of Jarrod Washburn to do it, so that’d make him something like a +5010321123 player.
I think I’d rather have Milton Bradley or Adam Dunn on a 2-3 year contract simply because they bat LH and Safeco is better for them, but if there is a big enough discount on Manny I think they’d have to take a look. He’s simply one of the best hitters in all of baseball and for close to the same price the Phillies gave Ibanez you have to consider it. This would of course cause me to be excited and then pull my hair out for the majority of the season. Since I love my bangs so much, I am going to vote no on this.
December 29, 2008 – 1:18 pm
I love listening to baseball on the radio. Baseball is the only sport that I think loses absolutely none of its luster on the radio and in a lot of cases it’s better than it’s TV counterpart (hello, ESPN Sunday Night Baseball). I remember last season being on a flight last year that featured XM and being in pure heaven listening to the Cubs, Brewers and Mariners games simultaneously. What I failed to realize though was how completely spoiled I have been for most of my life with baseball announcers. Harry Caray, Steve Stone, Ron Santo and Bob Eucker have been apart of my life since I was a kid and I’ve never thought about what it must be like for other people.
Well I saw this linked on Al’s Ramblings today and besides the whole living in Ohio and liking the Reds thing, THANK GOD I’M NOT A REDS FAN. The way he attacks Adam Dunn is one thing and I don’t think I could ever see Bob Eucker doing that to a player, but his hatred of the team is disgusting.
Brennaman is way past the point of telling tough truths about players, and now he’s simply bitter. Day in and day out, he sounds like a man who truly hates his job, and truly hates the Reds. He hates that after having been able to watch the Big Red Machine in the 70s and some pretty darn respectable Reds’ teams in the 80s and into the mid 90s, he’s had to watch a mostly bad team play for the past decade. What’s worse, he’s not professional enough to put that disappointment aside and simply do his job like Skip Caray and Herb Score any number of other announcers of bad teams have done over the years.
Last season I remember a few Mariners games where the suckiness of Jose Vidro, Richie Sexson and others was completely ignored with the announcers acting as if they were in a slump or something. This was annoying, but is certainly better than the reverse where your announcer clearly hates the team. Ron Santo loves the Cubs, Bob Eucker loves the Brewers, Dave Niehaus loves the Mariners and they all do it no matter what. Not only are these people paying you a lot of money, but they are doing it for a job that you love. If you don’t love it anymore, get the hell out of there and stop ruining it for the rest of us.
December 18, 2008 – 2:25 pm
Being the weird type of fan that I am I read both Brewers and Mariners blogs. For my trouble I know way too much about either team. What I found annoying is when the blogs talk about the other teams because you realize that they don’t know anything. There’s been more than once I have emailed to call someone out on an incorrect statement. Sometimes you don’t even want to bother though. Like this recent quote from Geoff Baker of the Times.
Pitching-wise, the Brew Crew just signed Chris Capuano to a minor league deal (completing a stunning fall from grace for him) and will likely explore other free-agent routes, like Derek Lowe of the Dodgers, before entertaining any trade scenarios.
Real quick.
- Having Tommy John surgery is not a “fall from grace.”
- Yes, it’s a minor league contract but there are incentives that could push it towards $3 million. He will wear a Brewers uniform next season.
- The Brewers don’t pursue Type A free agents because they build through the draft.
December 16, 2008 – 1:23 pm
I am the kind of guy who wants to work for himself in life. I could never see myself behind a desk at a corporation or in a cubicle. Anything like that. However, there is an exception to that rule and that would be working for either the Milwaukee Brewers or the Seattle Mariners. That is something that I could get on board with. So every now and then I search Monster and MLB.com for job openings. Here’s what I found.
Pitch F/X Operator: I’ve never learned pitch recognition so this one is out, but that just sounds awesome. Both teams are hiring on this one.
Stats Stringer: Both teams are hiring on this one too. Basically it’s getting paid to keep score. According to this it’s for the website and you know what that means: fucking with people who are playing fantasy even if it’s just for a split second! Oh, did I just put in homerun instead of double? Sorry about that Mr. 5×5!
Advance scout: Seriously, the same job Billy Beane once held with the A’s. I doubt he was an intern paid $6.55/hr though.
Sports reporter: This is the one that makes me sad. Maybe if I started writing crisper on the site about the Brewers I could use that as my resume, but without that I’m probably screwed. It’s sad because I know that I know more about baseball than the teams have writing for their website, but maybe that’s a bad thing. Besides who has ever gone from website reporter to General Manager?
December 12, 2008 – 12:40 pm
Raul Ibanez was a pretty good Mariner. One of the few bright spots on a bad team, but at the same time he was everything that was wrong with the Mariners. He was bad at defense and the team didn’t realize it. He was more valuable at 1B or DH and the team didn’t realize it. He was signed for his track record and not for what he might do going forward. He did a good job, but his leaving is symbolic of the M’s future with Jack Zduriencik. No more overpaid veterans who will be bad by the end of their contract, we’ll leave that to the Phillies.
They do realize they signed him for his age 37 -39 seasons right? And are paying $10m/year for it? Here I was thinking the Mets would be the stupid NL East team to sign him. Pat the Bat turned down a 2yr/22M offer earlier, but you have to wonder if a third year would have kept him. For a couple more million they could have had someone 5 years younger who isn’t as atrocious in the outfield. Terrible signing.
I feel bad for Raul though, he seems like a nice guy (look at that picture! He bowls!) and the Philly fans are just going to absolutely murder him. His defense is terrible, will get worse and his OPS has only one way to go. I guess he’ll deserve it, but still.