MLB Discussion Thread (2015)

17 days until pitchers and catchers report.

 

Go Red Sox!

you fucker I wanted this thread :( if it was anyone though i'm glad it's you

Fantasy baseball can't come soon enough.

We LOVE LA. DODGER BASEBALL!
My dodgers had 94 wins last year...I pick them for 90 to 92 wins this year and a third pennant. Hopefully they can do something in the divison series this time though...
I'm pretty excited for the Cubs this year. I'm thinking they could actually be contenders from year one, for a wild card. Hoping too see them be relevant again, it'd just be good for baseball. I think everyone wants them to be at this point lol. Them or the Padres are my sleepers to well exceed their W-L predictions. Who's your sleeper teams? Not sure if anyone comes in here besides Starbucks lol.

Even if the Padres' lineup ends up being just league average (for the NL), it would still mark a massive upgrade. Rotation has upside, but I wouldn't be shocked if it ends up falling apart. I feel like there's a lot of injury risk on that team (Cashner, Shields (he has a pretty hefty workload), Johnson (obvious reasons), and Ross (especially with his slider usage)) IMO.

 

I think the Indians could be pretty darn good. I really like their rotation, though their defense still looks pretty iffy. I think Salazar and Bauer break out this year, and Carrasco pitched very well down the stretch last year as a starter.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/2015-top-100-prospects/

Red Sox and Mets are tied for the most prospects with 7 each.  smiley

Let's talk fantasy, fellas.

Who are you guys targeting on draft day? Who are you avoiding (or at least drafting way later than their ADP), aside from obvious injury candidates like Tulo?

A couple people I'll be targeting:

  • Shin-Soo Choo: His ADP is close to 200, which is crazy low. I'm also in OBP/BB leagues, where's he's super valuable. He rushed back from an injury last year and put up shitty stats in 120 games. I doubt his steals will bounce back much, but I'd expect that everything else will be close to where it was in 2012-13.
  • Oswaldo Arcia: Only 23, huge power potential. High K rate is probably here to stay, so I don't expect him to hit for average, but he did hit for really high averages in the minors, so he should definitely improve from .231. Hopefully he'll hit fourth, depending on where they stick Hunter.
  • Ryan Braun: If he doesn't hurt his hand in spring training, I would probably take him in the 3rd round. I got burned on him in the first round last year, but I'm still intrigued.
  • Dustin Pedroia: Another hand injury guy. Too good of a player not to bounce back if he's healthy.

Avoiding:

  • Michael Brantley: Huge explosion last year. Everyone knows he'll regress, I just think it might be by a lot (not like Chris Davis a lot, but still). I'd like to see some history before I take him super high. (Upon further review, he's actually being taken in the mid-third round, which is probably fair.)
  • Kipnis: Huge disappointment last year. Might be a post-hype breakout kinda guy, but I don't think he's a ~7th rounder otherwise. There's not much separating him from guys being drafted a lot lower besides a handful of stolen bases.
  • Closers: Never drafted a closer before the ~15th round, never regretted it. Plenty of opportunities to snag good players off the waiver wire in the middle of the season, assuming you're playing H2H instead of roto.
Happy Opening Day everyone. Granted it was against the Phillies, Buchholz looked great and it's encouraging to see Pedroia hit two home runs after hitting only 7 last year. Hopefully his wrist is indeed healed. And Hanley's debut couldn't have gone any better (2 HR, including a grand slam in the 9th). Betts also homered. :)
Holy fucking balls can we talk about this incredible overpay for Rick Porcello? Just... what. When I went to read the article titled "...4-year extension...", I was like 'this number shouldn't start with anything higher than a 5'....... and then it was $82 million.  Starbucks, tell me you're not okay with this.

Holy fucking balls can we talk about this incredible overpay for Rick Porcello? Just... what. When I went to read the article titled "...4-year extension...", I was like 'this number shouldn't start with anything higher than a 5'....... and then it was $82 million.  Starbucks, tell me you're not okay with this.

 

It's definitely an overpay, given Porcello has only one year since 2009 with an ERA+ north of 100 (and even then, he overachieved) and  only one season with 200+ IP. But I do think it should be mentioned that Porcello's ERA+ could partially be explained by some terrible defense over the years in Detroit, and for several years, Porcello's FIP and xFIP were much lower than his ERA.  And he's still pretty young (only 26).

This is the best time to be a Royals fan. After losing that world series I can tell everyone is fired up for every game. The A's series we cleared our benches every game, then last night's White Sox brawl was incredible. Ventura needs to settle his ass down, even though he was defending himself, but still. Being paid as much as he is, he should learn to control his temper.

Going to Royals/Tigers on April 30th, maybe gonna see another brawl

Hamilton back to the Rangers? Awkward... Also, great sweep for the Giants... much needed. Aoki has been a great pick up thus far and Duffy seems to be improving a lot on offense. Maybe this season won't be as bad as I thought.

Hamilton back to the Rangers? Awkward... Also, great sweep for the Giants... much needed. Aoki has been a great pick up thus far and Duffy seems to be improving a lot on offense. Maybe this season won't be as bad as I thought.

I'm rooting for him to hit 50+ home runs with the Rangers. Fuck Arte Moreno and the Angels.

 

Those classy Angels fans over at Halos Heaven:
Baseball?  ewww
That has to be the weirdest thing... Not playing in front of a crowd. These guys have been playing in front of someone since tee ball. Then to have a stadium of that size to be empty after crowd sizes have increased at each level of play. Just kind of bizarre they let them play like that. Probably still more people there than a Indians game though.
What a laser show from Bryce Harper earlier.
cant stop them cards boi

red sox blow

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:(

 

Sox pitching has been brutal so far.  Porcello's actually been OK, but his ERA's dragged down by one horrible start (8 ER in 5 IP). Buchholz has good peripherals  as well and I expect his ERA to drop significantly, but his health is always a concern. Joe Kelly's got incredible stuff, but doesn't know how to use it. His command was awful today.  Masterson should be in the bullpen at this point. 

Hanley's shown some incredible power so far, but he's been leaving games early/getting hurt. His defense in left has looked pretty awful too. Red Sox were already forced into calling Swihart up after their two catchers (Ryan Hanigan and Christian Vazquez) suffered potential season-ending injuries (Hanigan could be back in the 2nd half).

 

Still a lot of season left though. I still think there aren't any stand out teams in the AL East, though I could see someone pulling 95+ wins out of their ass (kinda like the O's last year).

 

Bumgarner putting in work with that wet newspaper.

Bumgarner putting in work with that wet newspaper.

 

I think it's safe to say he'll outhomer Ben Revere for the season.

Heston...

Too bad he's probably going to blow dick next start, seems to be a theme. The movement he brings is crazy, hope he figures it out though. Never gets old seeing a great pitching performance. Bumgarner, step yo game up.

Heston...

Too bad he's probably going to blow dick next start, seems to be a theme. The movement he brings is crazy, hope he figures it out though. Never gets old seeing a great pitching performance. Bumgarner, step yo game up.

 

Heston's very intriguing. High ground ball pitcher with very solid K/BB numbers.

It's a very exciting time to be a baseball fan. The influx of young talent is crazy.

Duffy for ROTY. Fucks with my bias.