Marco's Baseball Blog-O-Roonie: HOT STOVE MELTDOWN!

MARCO'S BASEBALL BLOG-O-ROONIE: HOT STOVE MELTDOWN!

Welcome me back after a relaxing month of basking in the glow of my successful prediction that Kansas City would sweep the field and take the World Series. It's so gratifying to be right once in awhile. (Let's not mention my less accurate predictions that the Washington Nats would win the NL East over the Mets, that the Astros would finish last in the AL West, the Twins would finish last in the AL Central...well, just never mind.... how about those Royals!?)

Now it's the silly season for baseball rumor and ballpark innuendo... The Hot Stove Trade/Free Agent Binge wherein all fans worship at the altar of that one perfect player that will suddenly transform their team into a world beater.

It's so funny to listen to GMs and Managers and fans alike all repeating the same mantra for baseball success...

“We're looking for a top-of-the-rotation Starter,

a Power-bat for the middle of the order and some

bullpen help...especially a Leftie. All with controllable contracts. That's really all we need...”

Yeah...right! But if every team is looking for the same thing, how many do you think are actually going to score it? A few of the rich clubs might get hold of what they need...while all the rest go begging and wind up with players like Bartolo Colon in the rotation, Mark Trumbo in the middle of their batting order and leftie Oliver Perez coming out of the pen. And then they talk all positive about how these moves give them a “real shot” at the playoffs this year. Wrongie wrong wrong.

The big name stars of this Hot Stove episode were Aces David Price and Zack Greinke. Everybody was waiting to see where they would go collect their several hundreds of millions first so the rest of the pecking order could proceed in an orderly and predictable fashion. Jordan Zimmerman, Johnny Cueto etc. Then we'd move to the hitters like Chris Davis and Justin Heyward.

Whoops! The Detroit Tigers threw a fly into the ointment when they nabbed Zimmerman early. All the big market clubs were jockeying for position and telling themselves “if we can't get Price or Greinke we'll just pick up Jordan Zimmerman for less money and make HIM our Ace.” But when the Tigres signed Zim for a cool $120 mil or so it scra-zambled the well-laid plans. Next thing you knew, the Bosox grabbed Price by overpaying him $27 million more than runners-up St. Louis were offering (because otherwise Price would have taken $10 million less just to avoid going to his most hated team! But $27 million? “I guess I can stand David Ortiz after all!”)

Now Greinke was looking good and his expected salary ticking upward faster than Facebook stock. The main players were supposed to be the Dodgers and the Giants....NL West rivals who would bid him to the sky to avoid letting the other team have him. In all fairness, Greinke is probably the best bet of the big free agent pitchers of the last few years. He's a control artist....(a 'Rembrandt' if you will, in baseball hip parlance) who paints the corners with breaking pitches and change-ups to set up his sneaky 94mph fastball. Working in that pitcher's park at Chavez Ravine last year, his whip was in the .80s. Unheard of. And even though he's 32, Greinke projects to last a while...ala his doppelganger Greg Maddux.

So who gets him? The Dodgers? The Giants? A sneak attack from the Cubs or Yankees? What??? The Diamondbacks!!!??? Yep. The Arizona Afterthoughts actually outbid the big market clubs and got back on the map with this signing. Now they have a good young club with some up and coming stars like Archie Bradley who can learn from Zack while that good offense raps the ball in Chase Field. Greinke's ERA will go up a run, at least, in that ballpark but he'll still be the Ace they need. Instant relevance! Well done, Diamondhumps!

Now the Dodgers and Giants, both of whom were desperate for a complimentary starter to their Big Guns Kershaw and Bumgarner respectively, are left with only Johnny Cueto to save them. And Johnny was like the little girl with the curl last year. When he was good he was very very good and when he was bad he was horrid. Cueto already said no to a $110 mil offer from Arizona (before they got Greinke) which looks pretty prescient now that's he's the last Ace (or pseudo-Ace) standing. He'll cash in for some National League club...I predict St. Louis, who just lost their most effective starter from last year, John Lackey, to the Cubs. Maybe the Desperate Dodgers.

Here's a quick rundown of all the teams and their prospects:

AL EAST:

BOSTON BOTTOM-FEEDERS: It was probably worth it for the Sox to get Price because without an Ace last year they never matched up with other rotations. Of course, it's doubtful that Price, who is now 30, will last as a winner for the length of this contract. Power pitchers don't usually last into their late thirties (see Verlander,Justin...signed through 2019 and no longer an Ace.) Price is a good citizen who really supports his fellow pitchers on any staff he's been on. This signing gives the Sox a real shot at sending Big Papi out with one more playoff appearance before he makes his last bat flip pose. (Big Papi...the only “Ruthian” player we've had in baseball in many decades. He created legends.) Remember that Boston played very well the last two months of 2014 and their young players Betts and Bogaerts became stars. New closer Craig Kimbrel will also do well in the AL East.

NEW YORK YANK-YER-DOODLE DANDIES: Old. Older. Oldest. I've been saying this for years but even the Yanks themselves now acknowledge that they have to get younger players. I think they may bypass the free agent market and “go bad” for a few years while they retool. Really. Look at the big money DL players they have on their roster! Sabathia, Beltran, Texeira, Gardner (who will be traded), Ellsbury (never the same hitter after shoulder troubles of a few years ago and his speed is waning). When your big offensive star is Aging-ARod? They have a bullpen but with that overpriced, under-productive roster let's just say Girardi must be a genius manager to have gotten them into the wild card last year.

TORONTO ALMOSTS: Well, at least you went for it Blue Jays. You rented David Price for a half season and traded the farm for Troy Tulo. You just couldn't get past those pesky KC Royals. Now you don't have any depth in your farm system, especially pitching, and you are hopeful your starting staff doesn't have injuries, cause if it does you are screwed. You say you're going to bag a free agent pitcher but really, Jay Happ doesn't really count for much, does he? Here is Marco's adage: 'Toronto will never win steadily because no big free agents will sign in Canada with the bad exchange rate, higher taxes and lack of Mexican food.'

BALTIMORE BORE-RIOLES: Can't afford to lose Chris Davis, can't afford to keep him. If they do re-sign him they won't have any money for all the other stuff they need....corner outfielders who can hit, starting pitching, bullpen. They don't have much to trade either. “This is the End....my only friend, The End...of our elaborate plans, The End...”

TAMPA BAY PRE-SCHOOL FOR YOUNG STARTING PITCHERS WHO WILL EITHER BLOW OUT THEIR ACL'S OR BECOME STARS WITH OTHER TEAMS: Nuff Said.

AL CENTRAL:

CLEVELAND POLITICALLY INCORRECTS: Supposed to be on their way into the higher echelons because they have a Met-like collection of young power pitchers maturing fast. Plus Corey Kluber as a veteran Ace. Trouble is, they aren't that good of an offensive club and now their one big star, Michael Brantley, has hurt his shoulder. Have you noticed how many everyday players lose their hitting ability after shoulder injuries? Ellsbury hit thirty homers once, then hurt his shoulder and never regained any power to speak of. Hanley Ramirez was killing the ball last year until he ran into a fence...the rest of the season was nil power-wise. Matt Kemp hit 39 homers for the Dodgers in 2011 (should have been the MVP over steroid Ryan Braun...and no bold typeface for you Ryan)) then hurt his shoulder (and hamstrings) and has hit just 77 in the four years after. So anyway, I think Cleveland is in trouble.

MINNESOTA OVER-ACHIEVING BUNCH OF NICE TWINKIE FELLAS: My new heroes even though they made me look bad last year by winning more than they had any right to. Just a hustling bunch of good players with an inspirational Hall of Fame manager and now a new Korean power threat (Byung-Ho Park)to compliment Sano.

CHICAGO WHITE SUCKS: Really Chisox...get it together. You have one of the best Aces in baseball in Chris Sales but your offense hits like a bunch of wood elves. None of your trades worked out and the whole team except Sales seems to be under achieving. Look at Kansas City winning with bullpen, speed and defense. Hint Hint!

DETROIT ALMOST-EXTINCT TIGERS: It's the last gasp of an almost great club. They lost two World Series in the last decade and won several division titles. Their owner is not afraid to spend his money. They have had four or five of the top pitchers in baseball on their roster...sometimes two or three at once. They have had the preeminent hitter in all of baseball on their team for a while now and some other worthy studs. But they haven't been dealt the hero card yet. They remind me of the Seattle teams of the nineties who had superstars but never won.

Now they traded Price cause they knew they couldn't sign him, just like Scherzer before him. So they got Zimmerman, who is good, to help what's left of Justin Verlander. They got KRod to be their closer, but the bullpen is still weak. Their two top hitters, Cabrera and Victor Martinez, should both be DHs now. (Even with that they'll hurt themselves just running the bases.) All those great young pitchers they got from Toronto in the Price trade aren't quite ready but if one or two of them step up... I think they have one more run in them. Go Tigers.

KANSAS CITY KING-FOR-A-DAY ROYALS: It seems a shame that they can't keep the old ball team together. What a glorious year they had! But that's the Hideous Reality of small market clubs...no way Jose can you keep them down on the farm after they've smelled the millions waiting for them in free agency. Bye Bye Big Homer guy Alex Gordon. Bye Bye Ace-for-a-day Johnny Cueto. But they still have the core and they have the bullpen and they have speed, defense and confidence. Let's see how far that gets them in 2016. I say probably to the top of the division again at least.

AL WEST IS THE BEST:

HOUSTON IMPOSTROS: Imposters because these can't be the Astros we all knew and loathed as existential losers for all these bitter teasing years? They took us from dubious (“They can't be this good...they're just on a hot streak and they'll fold”) to hope (“Wow! Maybe a team that strikes out 14 times a game can win anyway!”) to euphoria (“Now that Chris Correa is the new Willie Mays how can we lose?”) to dashed dreams (“I knew they'd do this to me! Why Oh Why did I buy in again?”)

They've dumped Scott Kazmir who was a dud for them. Also “Let-me-hit-solo-homers-only-and-strike-out-anytime-guys-are-on-base Carter. But something has changed in Houston. They have good young players all over the place and solid pitching. The bullpen has been addressed with new closer-type Giles coming over from Philly via trade. (The Astros were prospect rich but have spent their dime). I pick them to win the West so far...

TEXAS REVENGE-OF-THE STRANGERS: Another surprise. The Rangers showed some real grit and clung to life for another run at post season glory. Even though they had an ugly meltdown in Toronto to end the season, they made a good noise. If big Yu Darvish comes back strong to go along with Cole Hamels they have a one-two to match Keuchel and McHugh down in Houston. Should be a great battle this year.

LOS ANGELES FALLEN ANGELS: “First we had to eat dirt from the Oakland A's and Texas for a few years. Then we went out and got Pujols and found a diamond in the draft in Young Trout. We traded for Josh Hamilton to put us over the top and he smoked crack until we gave him back at our expense. Now Pujols has a hurt foot and our erstwhile Ace Weaver is washed up (and how) and we got beat by Houston of all people and even got nudged by what's left of Texas. Our defense is shaky so we got Andrelton Simmons from the Braves. So can we please win?”

Nope. They called your number a few years ago Angels, and you forgot to step to the front of the line. Welcome to Hell.

SEATTLE RHYME-OF-THE-ANCIENT MARINERS: They must have screwed up and killed an albatross to incur this much decades-long bad fortune. They hocked their future payroll to get Robbie Cano and he (predictably) wasn't the same hitter in that lousy home ballpark that he was in Yankee Stadium where his pop flys were all homers. They never got pitchers who could compliment the Great Felix Hernandez and they don't seem to realize that outside of Nelson Cruz nobody is going to be a fearsome slugger in Safeco. If they paid any attention they would realize that teams in big ballparks have to win with pitching, defense and team speed ala the Royals. Wake up Seattle!

OAKLAND TRADING-BEANEHEAD IDIOTS: Billy Beane: You used to be a genius and they made a movie out of your brilliant career and you don't even look like Brad Pitt. So now you think any trade you make is just groovy. What? Did Josh Donaldson break your daughter's heart or something? Who'd you get for him again? Three guys in A ball?

SENIOR CIRCUIT: Where people applaud pitchers who manage to hit a ground ball the other way instead of striking out. Oh God, the purity of it all! Well, was baseball pure back in 1912 when they used one mashed up spit upon blackened baseball per full game and everybody bunted every other at bat? Sure it was. Let's not change for God's sake! It might disrupt the boring purity of it all!

NL EAST COAST BIAS:

NEW YORK METROSEXUALS: (I don't know why I call them that. Maybe it's all the long hair?) This is what is wrong with baseball in the free agent era. The Mets came blasting out of the pack and knocked off the favorite Nationals and then steamed through the playoffs and into the World Series largely because two hitters...first Cespedes and then Murphy...got insanely hot at crucial times and carried their otherwise pathetic offense. Now the Mets don't expect to keep either one of them. Loyalty is a dollar bill in this era.

They somehow screwed Pittsburgh out of Neil Walker and also got Asdrubal (strangest name in baseball) Cabrera. That gives them an impressive keystone combo. Too bad they're too cheap to keep Cespedes. (Rumors of a trade for the Rockies' Carlos Gonzalez. Do it Mets!)

WASHINGTON UNMENTIONABLES: What terrible team chemistry! Maybe the new manager Dusty Baker can get these bozos on the same page. Papelbon actually choked Brash Boy Bryce in the dugout. Harper is a prodigy, but they need some kind of veteran on that club that Bryce will respect and listen to so he matures just a little. The Nats have lost about half of the team. They lost half of their pitchers including Zimmerman, Thornton, Jannsen and Fister. The starting shortstop Desmond is gone and the center fielder and leadoff hitter Denard Span. Werth, Ryan Zimmerman and Rendon are all coming off serious injuries. Their once vaunted rotation is now suspect after Scherzer. They'll sign somebody I guess but that's a lot of holes. Baker, remember, absolutely ruined the careers of his two Chicago Cubs stud pitchers Kerry Wood and Mark Prior with high pitch counts. Prior was averaging 126 pitches a game from September 2003 through the playoffs and was never the same.

Get ready for trouble if he pulls that with Strasburg.

ATLANTA DISMANTLERS: What the fuck are they doing? Rebuilding is one thing, but trading every decent player they have for prospects that need 2-3 years to mature? They trade Andrelton Simmons, the best fielding shortstop in baseball? They traded Kimbrel? Justin Heyward for Shelby Miller and now they trade Miller? They got some real good prospects from Arizona but they better hope those prospects include some Mike Trout, Bryce Harper type stars or they'll lose their fan base. Would you buy a season ticket to see what's left of that roster?

PHILADELPHIA DECONSTRUCTORS: Cliff Lee is coming back. One of my favorite players but he's 37 and his arm is glass. Hell, maybe they can do an arm transplant on Roy Halladay and re-trade for Utley and Rollins. Give Mike Schmidt some Viagra and haul his ass out to third base. I bet they'd draw fans. I hear Steve Carlton isn't busy. Anybody got Greg Luzinski's number?

MIAMI (OR SHOULD WE BE FLORIDA THIS YEAR?) SCHIZOPHRENICS:

Ugga wugga! Me start ball team in Florida! Me build shitty ballpark! Me sign Giancarlo to lifetime contract and promise pennant push! Me get new GM and manager every other year! Me hire Barry Bonds to create new era of good feeling and lovie dovie public relations. Now me trade all other stars. Listen to deals on Dee Gordon and Jose Fernandez and Ozuna. Me still got Ichiro so what problem is? Me go back to crooked Jai-Alai games!

NL CENTRALIA:

PITTSBURGH-THE-ACCURSED: The Buccos can't catch a break. They are the ultimate fan tease, playing great all year and roaring into the playoffs but only as a wild card. Then one hot pitcher shuts them out for two years in a row. The apocalypse is coming in the form of free agency for Andrew McCutcheon and others. They'll have to start trading people before they all walk away. Really a shame. They were out of it for what, thirty years? I think they have to break through this year or forget it but now they have the Cubs to deal with as well as the Cardinals.

Pirates, I suggest you buy a few pitchers, don't trade Neil Walker and make sure you replace Alvarez with a good hitter...it may be awhile before you pass this way again.

(*New Development...the Pirates just traded Neil Walker to the Mets for spare change. Bad move...he had one more year before free agency and the Bucs could have used him to try to win once before the apocalypse. Walker was killer in the clutch for them last year.)

CHICAGO CUDDLIES: Finally, a team that seems to know what it's doing! Epstein and friends have guessed right on a bunch of young players who are now productive and exciting. They made that great trade that got them Arietta and he turned into Sandy Koufax. They went out and signed John Lackey which helps them back-up Jake and John Lester while simultaneously damaging St. Louis by taking away the man who was their number one starter by the end of last season.

They signed Ben Zobrist to (probably) play mostly second base for them and they traded Starlin Castro who has been behaving himself lately but has been a real attitude problem in the past. They will still likely add pitching and a center fielder but it all seems well thought out and it seems like they are getting the right kind of players to go with their very young team. Seasoned vets who want to win. I'm pickin' 'em this year.. (for the NL Central at least!)

(*New Development...the Cubs seem to be challenging St. Louis to get Justin Heyward. The Angels are in it too. Wouldn't it be devious of Epstein to not only take Lackey away from their Central rivals, but Heyward too? It would be even smarter if they were trying to bid St. Louis up and bleed them of extra money.)

ST.LOUIS DISABLEDS: Wow! The Cards must be thinking ...Holy Shit! We lose half the team to injury and still kick ass the whole season and win the division going away before what's left of our starting staff disintegrates and we can't put it away. AAAAARGGHHH! Now, as usual, the Cards retool and get what they need via a combo of great minor league call-ups, shrewd trades and an endless supply of good arms. They have two new outfielders (Randall Grichuk and Stephen Piscotty) who look pretty good. If they sign Chris Davis to play first base and hit homers and the young outfielders are good enough to make people forget Justin Heyward they'll probably contend again...although Pittsburgh and especially Chicago have closed the gap. At least, St. Louis is a welcome anomaly in this era because they are a (very) small market club who has expanded their fan base with good public relations, a winning attitude and consistently competitive teams. Thank God for the Cardinals.

By the way, not resigning Heyward is a wise decision. His asking price is in the $200 million range. For what? A great fielding right fielder (note that last: RIGHT FIELDER...the next to last most crucial fielding position.)

Right fielders don't change the whole team with their defense, they only get about 3 or 4 plays a game...once a week they have to make a sliding catch. Twice a week they have to make a strong throw. That's not enough to justify a huge contract for somebody who can't hit for power. Okay, he's a good base runner. That's worth $200 million?

(WHAT USED TO BE)CINCINNATI REDS: The Reds probably wish they could just swallow a handful of reds and sleep through the next few years and wake up with a good team again. They are in serious trouble. They have no money to fix it and nobody they can trade. (Vuotto loves The Natti and refuses to leave...and his contract lasts forever so even though he's good, he's gonna play out his career on a loser. Why couldn't he allow himself to be traded to Boston say, where the Sox would gladly give up 3 or 4 hot young prospects to get Vuotto and his huge contract and his high on-base percentage? Which always gives the Red Sox a hard on.)

MILWAUKEE WHY-BOTHERS: Brewers...you don't realize it but you are cursed. As long as Ryan Braun is your big star you won't win. Why? Because he has angered the Baseball Gods and he must ATONE! You shouldn't be able to cheat your way to an MVP. (Wonder where Sammy Sosa is right now?) Trade Braun instead of Lucroy. Then we'll talk. Seen any pictures of Braun with his arm around Robin Yount or Paul Molitor or any of the other Brewer greats of the past? Didn't think so. He is shunned by all true baseball fans, as is Barry Bonds and the other Mega-Cheaters of the medicinal era.

NL WESTERLIES:

L.A. WE'RE DOING-YOU-A-FAVOR-BY-LETTING-YOU-BE-IN-THIS-LEAGUE-WITH-US DODGEHEADS: Oh you handsome Dodger Devils you! How could anybody have the nerve to turn down your dollars? You decided Greinke wasn't worth an extra year and a few extra million on his contract and let Arizona steal him. Your payroll was already an absurd $240 million and you have the money and Greinke was going to get paid one way or another anyway and you needed him bad. Greinke was almost a sure thing every game out last year. There is no replacement for him. Hope you enjoyed saving your money. Maybe you can spend it on Hyun-Jin Ryu's next arm surgery.

I often mention the Philadelphia Phillies' huge mistake of a few years ago when they signed Roy Halladay but traded Cliff Lee at the same time to “rebuild their minor league system”. So instead of keeping two Aces for long enough to win a couple of titles, they remained just good enough to lose out on a couple.

You got your foot in the door Dodgers...do you have the guts to close the deal?

SAN FRANCISCO IF-IT'S-AN-EVEN-YEAR-WE-WON'T-STINK GIGANTES:

They need a true power hitter. They really, really need a number two starter behind Bumgarner, yet they won't re-sign Leake... who everybody else seems to covet... but hang on to Peavy at $9 million a year and pay $10 mil a year for Samardzija (He of the 4.99 ERA last year!)

I am willing to concede that the Giants front office is smarter than me. They have a winning track record (in even years) to prove it...I guess. You got to like their shortstop/second base combo of Crawford and Panik. But this team is injured and stays injured. Almost every star is down for significant time every season. They're always plugging holes with a Blanco or some other non-hitter. And Bumgarner is pitching too many innings. I know he's a Bear but preserve him just a little bit, Bruce Bochy!

ARIZONA COMPRESSED-COAL-INTO-DIAMOND BACKS: The Dodgers and Giants better get serious 'cause the Humps are coming! Tony LaRussa and Dave Stewart are making a splash in Phoenix. The Greinke deal was awesome for their morale and even though they gave up a lot in that trade for Shelby Miller, they needed starters to be relevant and they have to win now while they still have Goldschmidt and Pollock signed. (What are those guys going to bring in free agency?)

The thing I like about the Diamondhumps is their cool names. Tuffy Gosewisch, Socrates Brito, Gabby Guerrero, Yasmany Tomas... If they win they'll be a publicist's dream...and they just might win this year.

SAN DIEGO DEFROCKED PADRES: How can a team makeover fail so spectacularly? Well, your three big gets last year were Justin Upton, Matt Kemp and Will Myers. Trouble was, all of them had to play in the outfield and they couldn't hack it. You need a speedy center fielder out there to cover for the slow guys in that huge ballpark. So they had 3 slow guys and they got burned.

Also, Matt Kemp had a pretty good year statistically by the end, but started off so cold that they never recovered. The Padres were buried by May and it didn't matter what Kemp was hitting anymore.

Myers failed to launch. Upton was pretty solid all year but his power was also muted by Petco. Will Middlebrooks was a disaster at third...they had to flat out release him. They will lose Upton to free agency. They traded Kimbrel for prospects so they now suck in the bullpen. Their starters might have done well if they had some defense behind them but the Padres tried to win without a shortstop. They still need one.

Even with a new manager, this team is adrift on a Sea of Pain.

COLORADO ROCKY MOUNTAIN DUDS: Boy, this is getting to be a sorry excuse for a franchise. No matter how much they freeze the baseballs, they still can't get anybody who can pitch to play for this team. And they don't have enough offense to compensate and outscore people. Dozens of Rockies get hurt every year. Watch out or they'll move this franchise to San Antonio. (Hey! Good idea!)

Let's think of something nice to say about the Rockballs. Oh Yeah, Nolan Arenado can really play.

Thus ends my acid-tongued thesis on the state of baseball here on the last day of winter meetings. If I seem to be remarkably sour on the prospects of so many teams, it's because I get frustrated by the constant moving of players and the imbalance between large and small market clubs and the seeming impossibility of anybody keeping any kind of team together for more than a year.

It was a different era in my youth. Every year you knew who the Dodgers were going to be...Duke Snider, Gil Hodges, Jackie Robinson, Carl Furillo, Roy Campanella, Pee Wee Reese...maybe they'd get a new left fielder once in a while. The Yankees would have Mickey and Yogi and Whitey...the Braves would have Aaron, Mathews and Spahn.

Yeah, I know...the teams stayed consistent because of the reserve clause forbidding players from being free agents and letting teams bid for their services and that wasn't fair...but free agency has cost us the pleasure of consistent rosters of stars staying with teams so the fans could really take them to heart. That aspect of the modern game depresses me.

What could possibly cheer me up? How about a Stan Musial story? That always seems to work...

Stan had the habit of always signing his contract before the Cardinals entered a dollar figure. (I know...hard to imagine today!) He said he trusted the front office to pay him what he was worth. He was always one of the highest paid players in baseball and was the first $100,000 a year player.

Stan had his first ever bad year in 1959, hitting .255 while playing hurt in only 115 games. (This after 16 years of hitting around.350 every year with 30 dingers and 100+ RBIs). So in 1960 Stan signs his blank contract and the Cardinals give it back with the salary line filled out with the same amount he got the year before...$100,000.

Stan tells management that he'd been overpaid in 1957 and 1958 and his salary should be based on what he did in 1959. (In 1957 his stats were .351/29/102 with an on-base of .422 while slugging .612. He finished second in the MVP voting that year. In '58 he only batted .337)

Stan crosses out the $100,000... and puts in $80,000.

Then he goes on a fitness program and by 1963 he's back up to hitting .330.

Thank you God, I just want to play baseball in the sun.

“Those were the days my friends...we thought they'd never end...”

Happy Holidays!---Marco

Marco's Blog-o-Roonie Series Notes Post Haste

Marco's Baseball Blog-o-roonie

Series notes Post Haste:

Game 1: You can't start off a series better than the Royals did: an inside the park home run by Escobar that pumps adrenaline into the fans and crushes the spirit of the opposition when their studly outfielders botch the play. You're up a run and the other team is getting the Vapors.

The next best thing is when you are down late, one of your favorite sons parks one in the eighth to tie the score. (Alex Gordon)

The next best thing is to play in a classic extra inning game and win it like the Royals did.

BAD JUJU FOR ROYALS HOWEVER: They are supposed to be a great defensive team but Hosmer failed to get in front of a slow grounder and butchered it. It cost them a run...like practically every other error in this series has so far.

More Badness for KC: they had to pitch their game 4 starter, Chris Young, 4 innings in game one. Of course he held the Mets scoreless so it was probably worth it...but how is he going to do in Game 4?

Also, Volquez's Daddy passed away and he has to go to Dominica for the funeral then get back in time to pitch game 5....how is he going to be? I sense trouble on the horizon...they better win at least one in New York.

Also, their eighth inning 100mph gunner Herrera pitched badly and threw 35 pitches....bodes ill for the rest of the series.

Game 2: Wipe out. Cueto allows only two hits? I guess that 5 day layoff did affect the Mets hitters. Cueto is Jekyll-Hyde in the Playoffs. Is he back to Hyde next start if it goes 6 games? The magic is sure gone for Danny Murphy...that layoff took him right out of his game. Only two singles in the first 4 games of the Series.

Game 3: Perez is like a rock at catcher for the Kcs. He gets hit by foul balls over and over...on the thumb even! And he still gets big hits and never gets in fights with the umpires...I think the umps love the guy cause he's so big it protects them from getting hit by those foul balls.

I think Perez is the MVP of that team. Zobrist is doing pretty damn good too.

They get smoked in this game by clutch hitting by the Mets...finally! Mets inspired by their “Captain America” David Wright hitting a homer. (Can we just stop with the Marvel comic names? Dark Knight and Thor etc. etc.?)

Thor pretty much announced he was going to brushback Escobar to start the game ...then he threw at his head...then he bragged about it in the locker room after.

Hey Joe Torre! You've suspended guys all season for throwing at people, whether they hit them or not. It's the new policy of MLB and all that to protect your million dollar players. This guy is smugly bragging about throwing at a guy's head...not at his chest mind you, but right up at his head...if his control is just a little off you've got another ball to the face like Stanton got last year.

Nobody does nuttin'. Is it because Syndergaard is so cute with all his blonde hair and looks good on TV and baseball likes ratings that he didn't get tossed? Or even fined?

I like old time baseball too...but not at the head...chest high is as far as it should go.

Ventura looked young and undisciplined in this game. Threw a lot of meatballs. What's he gonna be like if the series goes 7 and he has to pitch that ultimate game. Sweat Royals, sweat!

More bad defense by KC...Ventura didn't cover first on the hopper into the shift...cost a run. And Morales had a brain cramp on a comebacker that should have been two. WE won't see much more of him I don't think.

Game 4: The Mets should have won this game. They brought in their sub-bullpen with all that weak meat and the Royals pounced. More bad defense by both teams! It's been the defining factor because all the mistakes have led to runs.

Rios went to sleep in a critical moment out in right field and forgot how many outs there were...(in THIS game???) costing a run...or at least the opportunity to throw the runner out at home on the sac fly. Inexcusable.

Then the Mets miracle Murphy came to earth with a thud when he whiffed on a slow roller that let in the tying run. (I think it was the tying run?)

Wade Davis was great pitching 2 relief innings. The Royals defense was laughable when they shifted for Murphy, leaving only Moose Moustakas to cover the whole left side. Moose can dive left or right when he's at third, but footwork is not his strong suit and he couldn't field a grounder hit 6 feet to his left. Put Murphy on with one out. They called it a hit cause Moose didn't touch it. Hah!

So now after Cespedes singles, Duda comes up and they shift for him too with Moose covering all of short and third...and just like Murphy, Duda hits it the other way....but this time it's a wounded duck liner that Moose catches. Cespedes completely screws up when he breaks for second and gets doubled off first easily to lose the game for the Metskies. Stupido! Mas stupido!

Game 5 Preview: Matt Harvey vs. Volquez. I got to like Harvey to outpitch Volquez after that sad trip to his Father's funeral. Look for Volquez to go maybe 5 and then turn it over to the bullpen. The Royals will probably be behind by then. Question is, can they do their late inning thing again and punish the Met's bullpen? There's a lot on Harvey's shoulders...he has to go deep into the game to give them a chance. The Royals have seen everybody the Mets have out there and they make contact.

I predict the Mets win Game 5...maybe a blowout...and the thing goes back to KC for Cueto to win Game 6. If Cueto doesn't win Game 6 I think the Royals could be in a world of hurt sending Ventura out against Synergaard again.

We Shall See!

Salutations!

Marco's Baseball Blog-O-Roonie: Playoff Ruminations 2015

Marco's Baseball Blog-O-Roonie:

PLAYOFF RUMINATIONS

“95% of playoff teams down by more than 4 runs after the seventh inning never come back to win”.

Well tell it to the Astros and the Rangers. Everybody got in a tizzy about the “Cuteness Cubbies” and the “Amazins” when those two lovable loser types made it into the playoffs. “Not since 1986, 1984, 2000 etc. etc. blah blah insert your meaningless latter decade year here.

Hey...down here in Texas no team has EVER WON THE WORLD SERIES...EVER!!! We're 0 for 3 in the Series since the Houston Colt 45's came into the National League in 1962. In over 50 years the two Texas teams have managed only 17 playoff appearances: 7 for the Strangers and 10 for the Disastros. Why?

Because God punishes us!!! Diabolical disastrous ill luck and ineptitude clobbers Texas Teams over the head with alarming regularity. If it's not Nelson Cruz lurching helplessly after a fly ball so he can turn it into a triple off the wall it's the Astros giving up 5 runs in the 8^th inning of Game 4 of gthe 2015 Divisional Series and turning a 4 run lead over Kansas City to an eventual 9-6 loss.

The Astro's bullpen gave up 14 runs in that playoff series. Read that again...14 runs! I think they may have an area of concentration picked out for next year's team.

An unprecedented comeback by the Royals? Not really. This kind of stuff happens all the time in baseball...it's just so much more dramatic when one team is about to win a playoff series and move up to the ALCS like Houston was about to do.

Here's the story of the greatest playoff comeback of all time. We take you now to the year 1929:

The Philadelphia Athletics are playing the Chicago Cubs in the 1929 World Series. (Yes...those Chicago Cubs...the “Goat-Curs-ed”. I swear, they ought to put Bartman headphones on a herd of goats and let them graze on the Wrigley Field ivy for about a week just to mollify the Goat Demons. But more on that later.)

Philly...under legendary manager Connie Mack...was just beginning a three year pennant romp behind future Hall of Famers Jimmy Foxx (.354/33/117), Al Simmons (.365/34/157), catcher Mickey Cochrane (.331) and Uber-Pitcher Lefty Grove (league-leading 170Ks and 2.82 ERA in one of the highest scoring years of all times). They won 104 games that year, leaving the Ruth/Gehrig Yankees in the dust.

The Cubs were no slouches either. They scored an epic 982 runs in 156 games behind Hack Wilson (.345/39/159), Rogers Hornsby (.380/39/149) Riggs Stephenson (.362/17/110) and Kiki Cuyler (.360/15/102)

The Athletics are up 2 games to 1 in the 7^th inning of the 4^th game with Chicago about to tie up the Series with an 8-0 lead. In the bottom of the 7^th the Athletics are up and this happens:

*starter Charlie Root pitching for the Cubs

*Simmons homers onto left field roof

*Foxx singles to right

*Bing Miller singles to center when Hack Wilson loses the ball in the sun

*Jimmy Dykes singles to left

*Joe Boley singles to right

*George Burns pinch hits for the pitcher and pops to short for the first out

*Max Bishop singles over pitcher Charlie Root's head

(this is the same Charlie Root who would give up Babe Ruth's famous “called shot” homer 3 years later... a man of destiny for sure)

*Art Nehf comes into pitch for Root (about time)

*Mule Haas hits 3-run inside the park homer when Hack Wilson loses the ball in the sun AGAIN!

*Mickey Cochrane walks

*Sheriff Blake replaces Nehf on the mound

*Simmons singles over third

*Foxx singles in the tying run

*Pat Malone comes in to pitch for Chicago

*Miller is hit by a pitch, loading the bases

*Dykes doubles to the wall

*Boley strikes out

*Burns strikes out

Final score: Philadelphia 10 Chicago 8. Philly now leads the series 3 games to 1 and polishes off Chicago the next day.

That was some half inning.

The Texas Rangers had themselves one of those in the 5^th game of their division series against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Rangers looked great knocking off the Jays in the first two games in Toronto but coughed up furballs in their two home games back in Arlington. In the 5^th game back in Toronto it's 2-2 in the top of the 7^th, Odor scores from third when Toronto catcher Russell Martin hits Choo's bat with his throwback to the pitcher. The ball trickles down the third base line and Odor alertly runs home.

Not even the umpires have seen this play before and when they finally figure out it's a live ball (with help from the Umpire Gods who sit on Olympus back in the New York control room), the Toronto fans litter the field with beer cans when Odor's run is allowed, giving the Rangers a 3-2 lead going into the bottom of the 7^th.

One of the weirdest plays ever.

But in true Texas-team tradition, the Strangers find a way to turn this good fortune into a macabre death spiral. They make 3 bad errors in the bottom of the inning...shortstop Andrus dropping an easy grounder and an easy force out at third...and allow the Jays to tie it up. Then they serve up an inside fastball to Bautista who deposits the ball in the left field seats. Bautista struts his stuff and flings his bat at the Rangers bench...celebrating his greatness while conveniently ignoring the fact that he shouldn't even be batting because the inning should have been over.

The Rangers start milling around as if they are offended but nothing happens except somebody pats Troy Tulowitzski on the butt and somebody pushes somebody. Then the Rangers lie down quietly and die, accepting their unchanging loser-fate.

Thus expires another Texas team.

The Dodgers find another way to die. They hook up with the pitching heavy Mets. I picked them to win this series because of Kershaw and Greinke...two of the top three Cy Young candidates along with Arrieta of the Cubs...are set up to pitch 4 games of the 5 game series. They won 3 out of 4 all year.

But not this time. Kershaw wins once but the Dodger bats are melted by the Mets' young pitchers and especially their lights out closer Familia. On top of that  the Mets second baseman Danny Murphy suddenly turns into Bat-Beast and starts hitting everything into the seats and off the walls and stuff. This character hit his all time high homer total in the 2015 regular season...14 bombs. Then the sonuvagun hits 7 in the playoffs (so far) and homers in 6 games in a row...last 2 Dodger games in the Divisionals and then all 4 in the sweep of the Cubs. Unreal.

So the Dodgers flame out again. They could never get a settled batting order and Utley sliding hard into second in game 2 and breaking the leg of Met second sacker Ruben Tejada motivated the Metskies. (Tejada was woefully out of position on the play but was helpless. As I argued earlier in the season, the rules should be changed to prevent this kind of contact at second base, just as it's prohibited at other bases.) Manager Mattingly is now kaput in Dodgertown.

He was no genius but he was at least an honorable baseball warrior. I doubt the Dodgers will do better.

The Cubs went down too, but at least they made some noise before they folded.

First, they dispatched the poor Pirates in the Wild Card game. Arrieta shut out the Pirates for the third straight time in a month. The Buccos just couldn't hit the guy. (However, Arrieta finally used up his mojo and was not as effective the rest of the playoff run. The Cubs burned out their Ace in the Wild Card which illustrates the point that it pays to win your division.)

Cubs-Cardinals turned on the injury bug. The Cardinals were hurt more by the loss of catcher Molina and starter Martinez than the Cubs were hurt by the loss of shortstop Addison Russell.

The key game was game 3 at Wrigley...the wind was blowing out that night...(pure poetry, I know) and for some reason the Cardinal pitchers...starters, relievers, whoever...decided to keep throwing sternum-high strikes to the Cub hitters. Hey, any pop fly was going into the seats! A pop foul behind the plate went foul behind the screen and blew back onto the field where Molina (trying to play with a broken thumb) had to make a circus catch. Anyway, 6 homers later, the Cubs had thoroughly spanked the Redbirds. I believe only 1 homer was legitimately not a factor of wind...Schwarber's blast to right field that landed on Mars somewhere. The Cards needed somebody out there throwing sinkers or at least staying in the low part of the zone. Too late!

The Cubbies triumph and those ever-optimistic Cubs fans thought the Prophecy of Back to the Future was coming true. (The movie sarcastically predicted that the Cubs wouldn't win a series until 2015. Almost!)

Unfortunately for the cute little Bears, the Mets spanked them in New York and then spanked them worse back in Chicago to take 4 straight and win the ALCS. Arrieta had shot his wad and Lester wasn't as good as whoever the Mets put out there. DeGrom, Syndegaard, Harvey, Matz...clean sweep. The Cubs only scored more than 1 run in just 1 inning the whole series.

But Mets haters can relax...The Mets have 5 days off now, waiting for the ALCS to be over. That's been the Kiss of Death for playoff teams in recent years. Whatever mojo they had goes stale. Do you think Danny Murphy is going to sustain his Cosmic Clutch hitting? The pitchers can use the rest but the hitters always lose their timing with long layoffs.

Their opponent in the 2015 World Series will be either the Toronto Blue Jays or the Kansas City Royals. The Royals are up 3 games to 2 at this writing with the series going back to Kaufmann Stadium. We've had a couple of blowouts but it's been a pretty good series. The Jays bullpen has been exposed but the Jays lineup has scored enough runs on the Royals starters to win those 2 games and make it a contest. The Royals have 2 games in their home park to win the one that takes them back to the WS for the second year in a row.

I stand by my preseason prediction: THE KANSAS CITY ROYALS WILL WIN THE WORLD SERIES.

YOU GUYS ENJOY THE REST OF THE SEASON!!

Marco's Baseball blog-o-roonie hideous reality

MARCO'S BASEBALL BLOG-O-ROONIE SEPT. 2015

HIDEOUS REALITY...dispatches from the pennant race

1/ The Houston Astros have lost their mojo. As Lucinda Williams sings in “I Lost It”...

“I think I lost it

Let me know if you come across it

Let me know if I let it fall along a back road somewhere.

Money can't replace it

No memory can erase it

And I know I'm never gonna find another one to compare.”

This after a season long game of mirrors in which these upstarts bashed homers and struck out in record numbers. They were young and strong and they couldn't hit for asverage or win on the road, but everybody else in the American League West sucked so bad that the Astros took over first place by default and stayed there most of the season.

Then the given-up-for-dead Texas Rangers, who seemingly lost their chance at franchise glory a few years ago in back to back world Series losses to the Giants and Cardinals and then endured a couple of voodoo injury years when most of their roster was on the DL, suddenly woke up, traded for Cole Hamels and decided they would smoke this division.

The Rangers spanked the Baby-Stros in four straight punishing contests in Arlington and won the first game of a three game set in Houston. Sure, the Astros are mathematically in it, but the way they lost!

Kazmir, the 'Stros big trade deadline addition, continued to stink up the field with yet another lame outing. The Astros made errors, misjudged fly balls, threw wildly over cut off men, ran into their own star second baseman Altuve and knocked him out of the game with a concussion-watch and in general did everything they could to make sure they lost big.

The Astros led 9 to 4 in the second game (6 solo homers...their usual variety...2 each by Altuve and Correa who have been carrying them)going into the ninth and wound up with the tying runs on base before they could put down the Strangers 9-7. Sure they won but it was a sick kind of win. The bullpen is just not there anymore.

Keuchel won the rubber game...he always wins at home and almost never on the road...so they have given hope to suffering Houstonians....it's a false hope though.

The Rangers are in their head. Season series is now 13-6 for the Rangers. Houston has no chance at the division title anymore. The Astros are clinging to a forlorn hope that they can hold off two bad teams...Minnesota and L.A. and somehow limp into the second wild card slot. But...the HIDEOUS REALITY...After the Rangers series the Astros end the season with 6 road games ...and the Astros are the worst road team of any of the contenders.

Mojo is so gone...better luck next year Astros.

2/On July 27^th the Yankees were up by 7 games over the Toronto Blue Jays. So they decided to skip the trading deadline and keep their young and future stars down on the farm and go into cruise control into the playoffs. Then Ellsbury got hurt...then Texeira got injured, then a couple of starters got hurt. Meanwhile...

The Blue Jays went out and traded for mega-shortstop Troy Tulowitzski and leftie Ace David Price, sending a message to their already talented bunch that the front office was committed to winning now. The players responded with a winning streak and now lead the division by 4. That's an 11 game turn around in less than two months.

The Yankees are not going to win the division. They better hope Tanaka has a good day against whoever wins the second wild card...the Twins, the Angels ...(probably not the Astros). Plus...the HIDEOUS REALITY...the Yankees know they are not as good as the Toronto Blue Jays.

3/The Washington Nationals are the biggest disappointment in many years. They were picked by EVERYBODY (including your idiot correspondent) to win the division at least and probably the pennant. And even with Harper having a startling MVP season they are at least a dozen games OUT OF THE WILD CARD! Suckola!

The way the Nats folded in that series in Washington...getting leads in almost every game and then coughing up furballs...hard not to think there is a chemistry problem on that team.

Why did these idiots keep pitching to Yoenis Cespedes after he killed them over and over and over? HIDEOUS REALITY...Ask their now sure-to be-fired manager Matt Williams.

What Cespedes did in that series made a certain correspondent with an historical bent remember the 1949 season, when Joe DiMaggio, after being on the shelf for 67 games with terrible bone spurs to start the season, suddenly woke up one morning with no pain in his heel and talked Casey Stengel into letting him play in a crucial series at Fenway against the first place Red Sox. Joe hadn't even SWUNG A BAT in two months! So what happens? The Clipper hits 4 homers in 3 games and the Yankees sweep and go on to win the first of five straight World Series.

That's what Baseball Gods do. Good start Cespedes. Let's see what comes next.

4/The Metskies will be playing the Dodgers in the first round. That should be a good series. The Mets starters have suddenly got tired arms though...except for Bartolo and Syndergaard...and you have to like the Dodgers chances with Kershaw and Greinke pitching the way they are. If Harvey and DeGrom can pitch up to their capacity, the Mets have a chance.

Hideous Reality...Harvey and DeGrom look tired.

5/Pittsburgh has been beating Chicago like a red-headed step child. The Pirates have won about 9 straight and are going into a series with the Cardinals with a chance to pull even or overtake the once unassailable Redbirds. Amazing! The Pittsburgh pitching philosophy...”pitch to contact, come inside, try to get an outcome by the third pitch”...is paying off big time as their starters seem to have more left at the end of the season after lower pitch counts.

It's going to be a great play-in game between Cole and Arrietta. Should be a 1-0 or 2-1 type contest. The Cubs have been handling the Cardinals pretty well lately. Maybe they should throw a game to Pittsburgh just so the Pirates have a better chance of winning the division. That way Chicago can play the Cards in the wild card and not have to face Cole again in a one-win-takes-all situation. I know I'd rather go up against Jaime Garcia and the Molina-less and Carlos Martinez-less Cardinals right now.

Of course...that would be WRONG! But I wonder if they've thought of it? Hideous Reality...sometimes teams cheat.

How many times have teams who are out of it in September started a bunch of rookies against one team and put all their stars in against a more-hated rival? Only like all the time. Other teams complain and accuse but who's to stop them “scouting their talent” at the expense of other teams in the pennant race? (It's a good reason to do away with expanded rosters...or at least 40 man expansions.)

And always remember that the most famous playoff series of all time...Giants against Dodgers 1951 decided by Bobby Thompson's “shot heard round the world” only happened because the Giants figured out how to put a man with binoculars in center field to tip pitches to Giant hitters for the final month and a half of the season. I think the Giants went 37-5 or something ridiculous like that to gain 12 games on the Dodgers and tie them up. Ralph Branca still insists that Thompson stole the sign on that famous homer. A bitter pill to live with all this time.

6/Enough of this crap! Let's say something nice about a wonderful guy...YOGI!!

I once got in an argument on a call-in radio show with Rob Dibble. Dibble was dissing Yogi because “he was a midget” and couldn't have been any good. He seemed to think that all the old-timers were overrated and couldn't have competed with modern players.

I pointed out that Yogi won 3 MVPs, finished second twice, third once and fourth once. He was so durable that he caught over 130 games a year for a decade. He batted in over a hundred runs 5 times, hit homers and only struck out 414 times in a 19 year career. He was a catcher batting third, fourth or fifth for his whole career.

Yogi wasn't the best defensive catcher ever but he was very good. He was certainly one of the best handlers of pitchers ever. He could go out to the mound and say something stupid to settle down a nervous pitcher. They loved him. He had vast baseball knowledge.

Two all-timers had something to say about Yogi: Casey Stengel said his secret formula for winning all those pennants was “I never played a big game without my Man out there”....meaning Yogi. And Ted Williams said “When we play the Yankees I don't worry about Mantle...I worry about Yogi.”

I think Ted said that because there was no way to pitch to Yogi. He'd hit any pitch and hit it anywhere. And yet he still got his walks.

So Berra wasn't a clown...he was a ballplayer, and even though he was only 5'7” and 180 pounds he takes his place with a lot of other underrated stocky little guys who could play the game. (Hack Wilson, Frankie Frisch, Joe Medwick, Jimmy Wynn, Kirby Puckett and Jose Altuve just to name a few...short arms can equal compressed power and fewer K's)

My last Hideous Reality of the day...never think Rob Dibble has a clue!

And thank you Yogi, for entertaining us all these years and making Baseball a more joyous experience for so many.

Have fun rooting for your favorites.

See you next time!