Hurray! Live Blog! This draft could get absolutely crazy, or at least I hope so. Seems like most drafts that are supposed to be nuts end up being snoozers, but there's so much potential for the crazy here I can't believe nothing interesting will happen.
As with just about anything, you can bet on a ton of draft related stuff. Because you can bet on it, I did. Here's what I have tonight:
Joel Embiid draft position over 5 (small)
Tyler Ennis draft position over 18.5 (small)
Marcus Smart draft position over 5.5 (normal bet)
Shabazz Napier draft position under 25.5 (normal)
Total seniors taken in first round over 2.5 (extra super big bet)
I also have a combination of bets where I win a normal amount if Parker goes first but don't lose anything if Wiggins go first. It's from a combination of an early bet at great odds that suddenly looked like a bad bet but an opportunity to hedge out of a lot of it presented itself. It's complicated and you're definitely not smart enough to understand.
Anyway, hopefully something happens with Love tonight or soon at least. I think if they can get Golden State to include Harrison Barnes that's a pretty good trade. Remember Barnes averaged 16 points and 6 rebounds per game in 12 postseason games in 2012-2013. Then the Warriors traded for Andre Iguodala and his development was completely blocked. If you can get Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, and David Lee you're acquiring three starters, two of whom could have significant upside and at a minimum you're getting a second tier star in Thompson, a solid starter in Lee, and at least a rotation guy in Barnes (though I think he'll be better than this). I dunno, I take it for sure, especially if you can shed either Kevin Martin or Chase Budinger's contract while you're at it.
Anyway, on to the draft.
- We got a new cat today. Murray. 3 years old and Orange and super mellow. Daughter (age 6) cried tears of joy when we brought him home. Took him less than three hours to get stuck in the crawl space in the basement and, despite being I assured that I would have to do zero work if we got a cat, guess who got to spend 40 minutes getting him out and then figuring out how to block it off so he couldn't get out. Yep.
- Does anyone ever pick in this draft?
- Cavs go with Andrew Wiggins. Kind of a mild surprise since Cleveland is Cleveland and I could see them doing something insane like picking Dante Exum.
- How fast does Milwaukee get this pick in? It should take about 4 seconds. Like you.
- Indeed it's Jabari. What are the odds going to be on him winning ROY? He's got to be an overwhelming favorite as the most NBA ready talent and going somewhere he'll immediately become the #1 option. He will be the top option there, right? I'll admit, I have trouble coming up with Bucks. I think they have Larry Sanders and maybe Brandon Jennings. Or is he on the Pistons now? Wow. This is embarrassing. Jon Leuer maybe? Probably some foreign guys. So yeah, ROY. For a lot of monies.
- Third pick here for Philly is the most interesting one. Go with Embiid and take that risk or take a safer player (or somewhere in between like Exum)? I'd go with Embiid as the Sixers since they aren't going to be anywhere near contending for at least another couple years, why not swing for the fences?
- Boom. It is Embiid. No doubt about, most talented guy in the draft. A seven footer with the athleticism of a swingman who keeps developing more offensive abilities, including a mid-range jumper mid-season. Unreal. IF he stays healthy, and yes that's clearly become a monster IF, he's going to be a monster.
- Magic go with Aaron Gordon at #4. Gross, and what horrid night for Orlando. First they trade Aaron Afflalo for some crappy guard with a frenchy name and almost the last pick of the draft, now they take a guy with absolutely no real basketball skills when there were two much better forwards (Vonleh and Randle) available. Gross.
- Utah travels back in time to when high school kids were drafted in the lottery despite having no real game tape against proper competition and takes Dante Exum. Look, maybe he'll work out - KG, Kobe, and Lebron certainly did, but thanks to Jon Bender, Kwame Brown, and Kovortney Barber I wouldn't touch him with so many semi-proven good players still on the board. And this means the Lakers will get either Vonleh or Randle. Stupid Lakers.
- Exum's accent makes him sound like a dandy.
- Celtics go with Marcus Smart, and this has to mean they're trading Rondo, right? They're practically the same player with the ball, in that their strength is their strength when it comes to getting to the rim to either score, get fouled, or dish. Both are good rebounders for guards, both are excellent defenders, and neither can shoot outside. I had heard earlier that Rondo might be on the move to Sacramento for #8, and now that sounds more likely to me than it did earlier today.
- Vonleh or Randle is one hell of a tough decision. It's like choosing between Knob Creek and Woodford Reserve. I LOVE YOU BOTH.
- I think how they can't stop talking about how Smart is so competitive. Sure, but he's kind of an asshole too and he still can't shoot.
- Randle is the choice. `If Sacramento goes Vonleh and that trade with the Celtics is real a Smart/Vonleh draft is a great one for Boston. Oh, and the cat's in the ceiling somehow. Time to visit my good friend liquor.
- Whoa, Nik Stauskas. Wasn't expecting this. Would Boston want to reload with Smart/Stauskas? Would the Kings really want Stauskas when they took Ben McLemore last year? Well nothing really fun has happened yet, but there are enough questions about this first round that there's got to be some wheels turning.
- Hornets, who have been basically been linked to Doug McDermott by everyone, do the smart thing with Vonleh having slipped and take him. He's going to be a star.
- Interviewer guy to Vonleh, "How important was Tom Crean in your development." Give Vonleh and incredible amount of credit for not just plain bursting out laughing.
- Philly goes Elfrid Payton at #10, which is a horrible pick and also doesn't make a whole lot of sense because he's a point guard and the Sixers have rookie of the year Michael Carter-Williams and neither one of them can shoot. Both are good defenders, but neither has a whole lot of strength and they could both just get brutalized by stronger 2s. I feel like this is another trade waiting to be announced. And never, ever trust a player who shoots up draft boards late for no real reason. It never works. Probably.
- Here comes Denver, a pick that has been rumored to be heading to the Wolves along with Wilson Chandler and Kenneth Faried for Kevin Love and if that happened I would kill myself.
- Nugs take McDermott. Now I'll double kill myself if that trade happens. 1 senior off the board. I need three to go. That's seriously a really big bet.
- There you go, McDermott traded to Chicago for #16 and #19. Let the trade waters flow.
- The Magic take Dario Saric from Croatia to go with trading Afflalo for nothing and Aaron Gordon. Oof. This is like watching Dawger at a fantasy football draft.
- I suppose that means the Wolves are up. I have very little interest in anyone here. Gary Harris is probably the most ready. Adreian Payne is interesting. Zach LaVine is Bilas's best available and even though I think he has bust written all over him I suppose at this point he also has the most upside of anyone available. I dunno. I am strangely ambivalent, but that's probably because I know the Love trade is coming up at some point and that's way more interesting.
- Zach LaVine it is. Any time you can get a point guard who was a backup at UCLA and averaged more rebounds than assists you have to do it.
- Sixers and Magic trade Saric for Payton. One time I gave this bum a bag of trash and he gave me back his bag of trash.
- Suns go with T.J. Warren. This either going to be an absolute steal or a huge bust. Warren is a monster scorer, but he doesn't really look the part. He has a goofy looking jumper and he scores a ton of his points on weird shots that go in because he can just do it no matter how off balance or out of rhythm. He should actually do quite well in Phoenix.
- Atlanta takes Adreian Payne (senior #2), which means we get to hear that whole story about him and that little girl again. Yes, it's a great story, but does it make me a bad person if I'm bored hearing about it? Actually I don't care.
- The Magic should have their two picks, Aaron Gordon and Elfried Payton play horse. Could last until infinity.
- Denver takes some foreigner from Bosnia whose name I don't feel like typing, Celtics go with James Young (who I like a lot, mostly because he's a lefty, he got a lot better last season when he decided to be more than a jump shooter), and the Suns take Tyler Ennis to go with T.J. Warren. Tyler Ennis goes #18. I had the over 18.5. Dammit.
- Vance Worley with 7 innings of 1 run ball tonight, running his ERA to 1.74 in 3 starts with the Pirates. It's like the Twins coaches somehow actually wreck players. I know I've joked about it before, but I think maybe it's time to stop joking about it. They're doing something very wrong over there.
- I'm strangely super bored by this draft. Nuggets take Gary Harris, which means Denver has acquired both Aaron Afflalo and Gary Harris, which is redundant.
- Raptors select some buy from Brazil who nobody has ever heard of. I'm bailing on this draft as soon as Napier goes.
- Jesus Christ with this cat stuff. Now my son, who is kind of scared of everything, is freaking out if the cat goes in his room while he's trying to fall asleep. But he also cries if we shut his door because he likes to sleep with it open. Remember back when I started this blog and I was basically just a drunk stupid kid? Growing up and having to take care of things like kids sucks sometimes. I'm out boys. Pray for Shabazz Napier.
Showing posts with label Vance Worley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vance Worley. Show all posts
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Monday, April 15, 2013
Monday Musings
- Even though the Twins are terrible this year this still could end up being a pretty fun season. If nothing else, they're at least finally agreeing with everyone else and realizing they're terrible so they're going to see what they have for the future. So we're going to get full seasons of Chris Parmelee and Brian Dozier to see what they can offer in the future. We're going to see extended tryouts for Aaron Hicks and Oswaldo Arcia (who got his first career hit tonight in his first career at-bat which is probably like, the first time that's ever happened in MLB history) and get a chance to find out if Darin Mastroianni or Joe Benson can be a fourth outfielder someday.
It sucks that the pitching rotation is basically made up of crappy guys who are crappy, but you're going to watch 30 starts out of Vance Worley and Scott Diamond so we can see where they could slot in the future rotation. Liam Hendriks and Cole Devries should get 20+ starts each so we can figure out if they have a future. Sam Deduno should get a decent shot to see if he can carry over any of his WBC success. Kyle Gibson should hit the bigs at some point this year, and with a little luck maybe we'll see at least one of Alex Meyer and Trevor May as well.
Yes they'll be terrible, but at least they'll be terrible with young guys who are fun. Even Pedro Florimon is a little bit fun, what with all the bunting for hits.
- That Masters was pretty effing awesome, no? I won't rehash everything since you've either watched it, read about it, or don't care but I love it when somebody like Adam Scott, who is dealing with that "great player who hasn't won a major" pressure wins one, especially Augusta, because their reactions are like watching the One Shining Moment of golf. I have no problem with Tiger, I don't hate him or anything but I don't really want to make love to him either, but watching him win is fun too because of the "greatest of all-time" thing, but I'd much rather somebody like Scott win.
That majors pressure just fascinates me with how it affects everyone a little differently. It was really weighing down on Phil but he managed to get passed it, but Sergio Garcia has let it beat him so far down he's reached the point where he says himself that he doesn't think he's good enough to win a major, while despite 10 career top 10s in majors Steve Stricker doesn't seem to be bothered at all. Similarly, the two younger guys you heard this about - Luke Donald and Adam Scott - seemed to be on opposite ends of the spectrum as well with Donald seeming to be more relaxed about it and Scott feeling some pressure, and if you want to throw Ian Poulter in that mix I can almost feel the steam coming off of him when it comes to majors. For some reason I dig Poulter so I hope he's next, but Lee Westwood better hurry up to before his window closes. Actually I'm calling my shot right now - it's between Westwood and Poulter for the British Open. Book it.
- Have you seen what's going down with Purdue's hoops team right now? Guard Anthony Johnson announced he's transferring, making the third player (Sandi Marcius and Jacob Lawson were the other two) who has bounced from the Boilers this offseason. Losing these three isn't a killer or anything as all averaged less than 20 minutes and 5 points per game and Purdue has three Rivals Top 150 guys coming in next season, but losing three of your rotation guys is still a bit alarming. Also keep in mind that Johnson already redshirted, which means that if he transfers to a D-I school he loses an entire year of eligibility when he sits out so you know he really, really wanted out.
I'm sure Painter has everything under control (like I mentioned, great class coming in) it's just odd to see this kind of mass exodus when a coach is already entrenched for eight years and when added to the Kelsey Barlow thing last year it kind of makes you scratch your head. It's probably nothing, but if it's something, remember how smart I am. Otherwise forget it.
- The Seahawks signed Antoine Winfield? Sweet jesus do they just follow the Vikings around waiting to see what they've dropped? In the last three years 46% of Viking players they got rid off ended up on Seattle according to these numbers I just made up. How's Sidney Rice, who I believe is behind Doug Baldwin on the depth chart these days, working out? Maybe the Vikings can use this infatuation to their advantage. You know, they could be all like, "Hey, if Russell Wilson gets hurt you guys really need somebody with a similar skill set. How about Joe Webb" and then they'd trade a 5th round pick for him. I'm a genius.
- Lastly, Ramon Ortiz is back in the majors. Yes, that one. This disturbs me greatly. Although I did learn his middle name is Diogenes, which I kind of like, so I guess I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Fare thee Well, Ben Revere
The Twins, taking my advice and not standing pat, continued making moves at the Winter Meetings to improve pitching in the organization, a desperate and drastic need, this time shipping out Ben Revere to the Phillies for a couple of young arms, and in a Shyamalanian twist the return they got for him looks more impressive than what they got for his predecessor (mentor? elder?) Denard Span.
I was a little bit surprised they would trade Revere since it seeded like such a natural thing to slide him into Span's spot, but it makes a lot of sense. Revere is an elite fielder and has elite speed, but his lack of power, noodle arm, and questionable plate discipline were all major questions. With his high rate of contact and slap hitting plus the speed and no power Revere's upside was pretty much Juan Pierre, which is fine, but when you have a chance to move a possible next Pierre for two good arms under 25 you pretty much have to do it. When you also factor in that Aaron Hicks is a year away and considered a better prospect, not to mention eight billion other OFers who make up practically the Twins' entire top prospects list, it becomes a no brainer.
In getting Vance Worley from the Phillies the Twins' pick up a major league ready arm who still has upside, which is exactly what I'd hoped they'd end up getting by trading Span (although I am happy with the return they ended up getting for Denard). Worley has been in the rotation for the Phils for the past two seasons (most of the time) and has put up an ERA of 3.60 with a WHIP of 1.37 those two years while striking out 7.7 batters per 9 innings, a stat I can only assume that confused the Twins since they hate striking guys out. Worley isn't really a pure strikeout guy since his fastball maxes out in the low 90s (more like exactly 90, really) and he doesn't have a killer strikeout pitch (and actually his contact rate of 86.2% is about what Carl Pavano's was in his days as a Twin so it doesn't really make sense he strikes out nearly a batter an inning. There are plenty of pitchers, however, who continue to defy what their peripheral stats say they should morph into at some point so it wouldn't be unprecedented for him to keep this up. In any case it's not something to worry about. Worley is a 25 year old middle-of-the-rotation starter who is now either the Twins' best or second best starter, depending on your feelings about Scott Diamond. At that age there's still room for him to get better, and Worley would have been an acceptable return for Revere (or Span), but the Twins' got more. Plus, dude rocks the Rec Specs. Holla.
Perhaps because Worley is coming off elbow surgery (although should be just fine) the Twins were also able to finagle Trevor May in the deal, and this my friends is one intriguing prospect. Both Baseball America and MinorLeagueBall.com listed May as the Phillies #1 prospect coming into last year on the strength of a mid-90s fastball and some ridiculous strikeout rates (11 K/9 or better in every stop after rookie ball). He hit Double-A this year and things were a little rougher, posting an ERA of 4.87 and a WHIP of 1.45, although he still struck out more than a batter per inning (9.1 per 9). By all accounts May was struggling with location, which manifested itself both in more walks (4.7 per nine) and hits allowed (8.4 per nine). Interestingly, the 4.7 BB/9 was worse than the previous year, but was still better than 2008, 2009, and 2010 - the increased hits allowed is the real concern. Given the Twins' relative success in developing pitchers with control - although generally that manifests more as few walks rather than pinpoint control - I'm cautiously optimistic. In any case, dude has #1 stuff by all accounts and despite the issues with his command last year he's still considered the Twins #5 overall prospect by MLB.com (Sano/Buxton/Meyer/Hicks/May). Awesome.
Looking at the two trades, let's count the positives:
1. Traded a good, not great, player, but at a position where a MLB ready back-up was available with a comparable skill set to upgrade a position of weakness
2. Traded a low cost, quality but limited player for two badly needed assets with a replacement a year away.
3. Acquired a low cost, team controlled middle-of-the rotation (2-3-4 depending on development) starter under the age of 25.
4. Acquired 2 big-time prospects with the potential to develop #1 type stuff who aren't soft-tossing nancy boys and actually show an interest in making people swing and miss.
5. Recognized the team's biggest weakness (pitching throughout the organization) and biggest area of depth (Young OFers) and moved one for the other.
6. Recognized that occasionally it's good to have pitchers who throw the ball so hard that professional hitters can't catch up to hit and/or have so much movement they can't hit it.
And the negatives:
1. Denard Span was a true leadoff hitter with a lead-off hitter skill set who was very affordable.
2. Ben Revere was really fun to watch and a good guy who was super duper affordable.
3. Darin Mastroianni will probably have to play CF now and maybe even lead-off too which is kind of gross.
That's all I got. There's really no way to hate these trades, especially the Revere one. The team upgraded it's biggest weakness (organization wide) by using it's biggest strength without hurting the future, only the present where they weren't going to contend anyway, while acquiring the exact type of player they're shied away from which has proven to be the type that can make a major difference. Freaking awesome. Even that Mastroianni crack was a little overdone, because he's not that big a drop from Revere. Using WAR (and I confess I don't know what this means other than it tries to measure total value and is impacted by plate appearances) Revere was a 3.4 in 553 PAs, Mastroianni was a 1.5 in just 186. Game freaking on, brohan. We goin' Sizzla.
As far as the Gophers won pretty easily in LA, beating USC 71-57 by doing what they've done all year: tough perimeter defense (USC 1-9 on 3s, hitting the boards (out-rebounded the Trojans 36-29), turned over the opponent (17 TOs), and moved the ball (16 assists). Since the game was on the Pac-10 Network which nobody in Minneapolis gets and I went to the bar with Bogart, Bear, Snake, Dawger, and Crazy Eddie instead of staying in and watching it on my computer I don't really have much else to say. They're now poised to crusie to wins over NDSU and LaFayette and go into their December 31 game against Michigan State at 12-1 and likely ranked in or near the Top 10. Michigan State at home is pretty much the perfect test for this team if you want to know where they stand. If they're as good as I think they are they should handle Sparty at home. If they don't, you know we're looking at fool's gold once again. Pretty much the biggest game in Gopher history since the Final Four. No biggie.
I was a little bit surprised they would trade Revere since it seeded like such a natural thing to slide him into Span's spot, but it makes a lot of sense. Revere is an elite fielder and has elite speed, but his lack of power, noodle arm, and questionable plate discipline were all major questions. With his high rate of contact and slap hitting plus the speed and no power Revere's upside was pretty much Juan Pierre, which is fine, but when you have a chance to move a possible next Pierre for two good arms under 25 you pretty much have to do it. When you also factor in that Aaron Hicks is a year away and considered a better prospect, not to mention eight billion other OFers who make up practically the Twins' entire top prospects list, it becomes a no brainer.
In getting Vance Worley from the Phillies the Twins' pick up a major league ready arm who still has upside, which is exactly what I'd hoped they'd end up getting by trading Span (although I am happy with the return they ended up getting for Denard). Worley has been in the rotation for the Phils for the past two seasons (most of the time) and has put up an ERA of 3.60 with a WHIP of 1.37 those two years while striking out 7.7 batters per 9 innings, a stat I can only assume that confused the Twins since they hate striking guys out. Worley isn't really a pure strikeout guy since his fastball maxes out in the low 90s (more like exactly 90, really) and he doesn't have a killer strikeout pitch (and actually his contact rate of 86.2% is about what Carl Pavano's was in his days as a Twin so it doesn't really make sense he strikes out nearly a batter an inning. There are plenty of pitchers, however, who continue to defy what their peripheral stats say they should morph into at some point so it wouldn't be unprecedented for him to keep this up. In any case it's not something to worry about. Worley is a 25 year old middle-of-the-rotation starter who is now either the Twins' best or second best starter, depending on your feelings about Scott Diamond. At that age there's still room for him to get better, and Worley would have been an acceptable return for Revere (or Span), but the Twins' got more. Plus, dude rocks the Rec Specs. Holla.
 |
| NERD. ALERT. |
Perhaps because Worley is coming off elbow surgery (although should be just fine) the Twins were also able to finagle Trevor May in the deal, and this my friends is one intriguing prospect. Both Baseball America and MinorLeagueBall.com listed May as the Phillies #1 prospect coming into last year on the strength of a mid-90s fastball and some ridiculous strikeout rates (11 K/9 or better in every stop after rookie ball). He hit Double-A this year and things were a little rougher, posting an ERA of 4.87 and a WHIP of 1.45, although he still struck out more than a batter per inning (9.1 per 9). By all accounts May was struggling with location, which manifested itself both in more walks (4.7 per nine) and hits allowed (8.4 per nine). Interestingly, the 4.7 BB/9 was worse than the previous year, but was still better than 2008, 2009, and 2010 - the increased hits allowed is the real concern. Given the Twins' relative success in developing pitchers with control - although generally that manifests more as few walks rather than pinpoint control - I'm cautiously optimistic. In any case, dude has #1 stuff by all accounts and despite the issues with his command last year he's still considered the Twins #5 overall prospect by MLB.com (Sano/Buxton/Meyer/Hicks/May). Awesome.
Looking at the two trades, let's count the positives:
1. Traded a good, not great, player, but at a position where a MLB ready back-up was available with a comparable skill set to upgrade a position of weakness
2. Traded a low cost, quality but limited player for two badly needed assets with a replacement a year away.
3. Acquired a low cost, team controlled middle-of-the rotation (2-3-4 depending on development) starter under the age of 25.
4. Acquired 2 big-time prospects with the potential to develop #1 type stuff who aren't soft-tossing nancy boys and actually show an interest in making people swing and miss.
5. Recognized the team's biggest weakness (pitching throughout the organization) and biggest area of depth (Young OFers) and moved one for the other.
6. Recognized that occasionally it's good to have pitchers who throw the ball so hard that professional hitters can't catch up to hit and/or have so much movement they can't hit it.
And the negatives:
1. Denard Span was a true leadoff hitter with a lead-off hitter skill set who was very affordable.
2. Ben Revere was really fun to watch and a good guy who was super duper affordable.
3. Darin Mastroianni will probably have to play CF now and maybe even lead-off too which is kind of gross.
That's all I got. There's really no way to hate these trades, especially the Revere one. The team upgraded it's biggest weakness (organization wide) by using it's biggest strength without hurting the future, only the present where they weren't going to contend anyway, while acquiring the exact type of player they're shied away from which has proven to be the type that can make a major difference. Freaking awesome. Even that Mastroianni crack was a little overdone, because he's not that big a drop from Revere. Using WAR (and I confess I don't know what this means other than it tries to measure total value and is impacted by plate appearances) Revere was a 3.4 in 553 PAs, Mastroianni was a 1.5 in just 186. Game freaking on, brohan. We goin' Sizzla.
As far as the Gophers won pretty easily in LA, beating USC 71-57 by doing what they've done all year: tough perimeter defense (USC 1-9 on 3s, hitting the boards (out-rebounded the Trojans 36-29), turned over the opponent (17 TOs), and moved the ball (16 assists). Since the game was on the Pac-10 Network which nobody in Minneapolis gets and I went to the bar with Bogart, Bear, Snake, Dawger, and Crazy Eddie instead of staying in and watching it on my computer I don't really have much else to say. They're now poised to crusie to wins over NDSU and LaFayette and go into their December 31 game against Michigan State at 12-1 and likely ranked in or near the Top 10. Michigan State at home is pretty much the perfect test for this team if you want to know where they stand. If they're as good as I think they are they should handle Sparty at home. If they don't, you know we're looking at fool's gold once again. Pretty much the biggest game in Gopher history since the Final Four. No biggie.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Week in Review - 7-4-2011
Happy fourth of July everyone. And that will be the entirety of my introduction.
WHO WAS AWESOME
1. Mike Cuddyer. It pains me to praise Cuddy. There's so much to hate: inability to understand what a "strike zone" is, inability to realize that he's getting that down and away in the dirt slider every time he has 2 strikes, and constant media whoring to name a few, but sometimes you gotta give credit where it's due: Congrats on making your first all-star time, Cuddy Bear. There's something to be said for a guy who can and will play LF, RF, 2b, 3b, 1b, and SS, especially on a team with a bunch of prima donnas who "don't like to DH" or "refuse to play anywhere except catcher." More importantly though is he almost seems to have a knack for picking up his hitting when the team needs him most. First, back in 2009 when he basically carried the offense on his back after Morneau went down and then currently with all the injuries with him being on fire since May. He's not really an all-star, but they do have to pick one person from every team (Ron Coomer made it once for christ's sake) and I gotta say - guy deserves it. Mainly because Kubel got hurt, but it still counts. So congrats Cuddy. I hope they trade you.
2. Vance Worley. As you've probably heard, the Philadelphia Phillies have quite the pitching rotation - Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, and Roy Oswalt each would be the ace of nearly every other team in the league. So the last thing they need (from an opponent point of view) is a good fifth starter, which means everyone should be looking around a little nervously after Worley's outing against the Red Sox on Wednesday. He threw 7 innings of 5 hit, 1 run ball against the red-hot Sox, which now brings his ERA down to 2.57 on the year. He's still more of a reliever being stretched into a starter, but with Oswalt on the shelf now they'll need him in the rotation full-time. I was going to write something else but honestly does anybody give a crap about this guy right now? Let's just wait for the playoffs and then we'll talk about him if we need to.
3. Nick Watney. He won the AT&T National by 2 shots after going bogey-free over the last 27 holes, shot a 62 on Friday to break the course record at Aronimink, and is on my fantasy team. The perfect trifecta that every golfer shoots for.
4. Aramis Ramirez. I don't know if any single hitter is hotter than Ramirez right now. He homered 4 times this week including a couple ninth-inning jobbers, one of which was off of Giants' closer Brian Wilson to tie the game - the first homer allowed by Wilson all year. He also pinch hit and knocked in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth in a different game against the Giants and has hit .400 with 7 homers in his last 11 games. To be completely honest there's little that bores me as much as the Cubs and the worldwide obsession with them, but sometimes someone just keeps hitting home runs and game winning hits off of people who don't generally give up those kinds of things and then sometimes I take notice. This is one of those times.
5. Bryce Harper. Yes, Brian Harper's kid is proving himself to be a bit of a douche by doing things like blowing kisses to opposing pitchers after he goes yard, but he is also hitting the ever-loving shit out of the ball. After demolishing the pitching in single-A this year to the tune of .318/.423/.554 with 14 homers, 17 doubles, and 15 steals, he just got promoted to double A ball. At the age of 18. He's killed the ball at every stop so far (Instructional League, Arizona Fall League, and now single-A) and there really isn't any reason why he shouldn't continue to do so. So basically a total asshat is going to fly through the minors without any issues and arrive in the big leagues with zero humbless and 100% asshattery. This is going to be spectacular.
WHO SUCKED
1. Matt Capps. I am so sick of Matt Capps and his stupid fat face and his stupid fake Jesse Crain necklace. It was a stupid trade when they made it, especially when you consider how the team's starting catcher is more brittle than the 6-month old skeleton of that dead hooker I have in my closet, and it's an even more stupid trade now that Cappsy completely refuses to get anybody out. Not that it should surprise anyone since the only really remarkable thing about his pitching is his consistent opportunities to get saves for shitty teams. His career ERA, career WHIP, and career mediocre stuff basically scream middle reliever/low-end setup guy, but in 2007 the Pirates didn't have anyone in the bullpen and, after trying Salomon Torres with little success, made Capps their closer and he saved 18 games in mediocre fashion and has been tabbed a closer ever since, which is how we ended up here, with no back-up catcher and a shitty bullpen. Huzzah!
2. Nick Blackburn. Speaking of mediocre as shit pitchers who get far too much credit, welcome back to reality Nick Blackburn. A soft-tossing nancy can actually have a long and lucrative career as long as he's left-handed, but seeing as Blackburn throws correctly he will instead continue to flounder about as a 5th starter, maybe 4th, and although he'll have very good stretches at times (like earlier this year) he'll also always fall back into line as a 4th or 5th starter, tops. Regression to the mean is a very real thing, and also a cruel mistress. And not the good kind. You know what I'm talking about.
3. Joe Mauer. I know what you're thinking - "Dude, the Twins aren't playing all that badly right now, why so many Twins call-outs?" And it's because these three guys have been just brutally bad. I won't get into Mauer's deal too much here because I plan on writing an entire post about it later this week, but let me give you a little spoiler: he sucks.
4. MLB All-Star choices. Way to go morons. And I'm not even talking about your average mouth-breather who shows up to games and votes for Derek Jeter and every other Yankee. I think we've washed our hands of them, yes? Then it's up to the managers to get everything else right. Well not really. Enter poor Andrew McCutchen. Maybe the best hitting/fielding combo outfielder in the NL, but doesn't make it. Why? Because they took Pirate "closer" Joel Hanrahan instead because he has a bunch of saves and is actually having a really good year now that I look it up and he's a totally worthy all-star so I'm kind of losing some wind here. But McCutchen is really awesome and deserves it. Actually the fact that he doesn't make it and Cuddy does should really be enough reason to overhaul the whole thing, but I just got my new KC Royals hat in the mail so what do I care?
5. Kenny Britt. This guy is taking the art of "talented headcase" to a whole new level. Whereas your classic headcases like Randy Moss and Terrell Owens generally don't harm anyone other than themselves (and possibly their teammates), Britt seems to be heading more down the Lawrence Phillips path. Britt surrendered himself to police this weekend because of two warrants for giving false information on a drivers license application, which sounds pretty lame but then you combine that with his three arrests for resisting arrest, including one that ended up in a police chase, and he's going to end up doing something really, really stupid one of these days soon. If you have him in a keeper league I'd unload immediately. Call me.
Lastly, I'm sure you all want to know what was on the menu for 4th of July dinner. Credit goes to Mrs. W on this one - she made a cucumber dill dip (awesome), blue cheese meatballs for the grill (super awesome), and corn on the cob. The first two were just tremendous, and then corn on the cob is always good but kind of boring. Anybody know a good way to fancy it up a bit?
WHO WAS AWESOME
1. Mike Cuddyer. It pains me to praise Cuddy. There's so much to hate: inability to understand what a "strike zone" is, inability to realize that he's getting that down and away in the dirt slider every time he has 2 strikes, and constant media whoring to name a few, but sometimes you gotta give credit where it's due: Congrats on making your first all-star time, Cuddy Bear. There's something to be said for a guy who can and will play LF, RF, 2b, 3b, 1b, and SS, especially on a team with a bunch of prima donnas who "don't like to DH" or "refuse to play anywhere except catcher." More importantly though is he almost seems to have a knack for picking up his hitting when the team needs him most. First, back in 2009 when he basically carried the offense on his back after Morneau went down and then currently with all the injuries with him being on fire since May. He's not really an all-star, but they do have to pick one person from every team (Ron Coomer made it once for christ's sake) and I gotta say - guy deserves it. Mainly because Kubel got hurt, but it still counts. So congrats Cuddy. I hope they trade you.
2. Vance Worley. As you've probably heard, the Philadelphia Phillies have quite the pitching rotation - Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, and Roy Oswalt each would be the ace of nearly every other team in the league. So the last thing they need (from an opponent point of view) is a good fifth starter, which means everyone should be looking around a little nervously after Worley's outing against the Red Sox on Wednesday. He threw 7 innings of 5 hit, 1 run ball against the red-hot Sox, which now brings his ERA down to 2.57 on the year. He's still more of a reliever being stretched into a starter, but with Oswalt on the shelf now they'll need him in the rotation full-time. I was going to write something else but honestly does anybody give a crap about this guy right now? Let's just wait for the playoffs and then we'll talk about him if we need to.
3. Nick Watney. He won the AT&T National by 2 shots after going bogey-free over the last 27 holes, shot a 62 on Friday to break the course record at Aronimink, and is on my fantasy team. The perfect trifecta that every golfer shoots for.
4. Aramis Ramirez. I don't know if any single hitter is hotter than Ramirez right now. He homered 4 times this week including a couple ninth-inning jobbers, one of which was off of Giants' closer Brian Wilson to tie the game - the first homer allowed by Wilson all year. He also pinch hit and knocked in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth in a different game against the Giants and has hit .400 with 7 homers in his last 11 games. To be completely honest there's little that bores me as much as the Cubs and the worldwide obsession with them, but sometimes someone just keeps hitting home runs and game winning hits off of people who don't generally give up those kinds of things and then sometimes I take notice. This is one of those times.
5. Bryce Harper. Yes, Brian Harper's kid is proving himself to be a bit of a douche by doing things like blowing kisses to opposing pitchers after he goes yard, but he is also hitting the ever-loving shit out of the ball. After demolishing the pitching in single-A this year to the tune of .318/.423/.554 with 14 homers, 17 doubles, and 15 steals, he just got promoted to double A ball. At the age of 18. He's killed the ball at every stop so far (Instructional League, Arizona Fall League, and now single-A) and there really isn't any reason why he shouldn't continue to do so. So basically a total asshat is going to fly through the minors without any issues and arrive in the big leagues with zero humbless and 100% asshattery. This is going to be spectacular.
WHO SUCKED
1. Matt Capps. I am so sick of Matt Capps and his stupid fat face and his stupid fake Jesse Crain necklace. It was a stupid trade when they made it, especially when you consider how the team's starting catcher is more brittle than the 6-month old skeleton of that dead hooker I have in my closet, and it's an even more stupid trade now that Cappsy completely refuses to get anybody out. Not that it should surprise anyone since the only really remarkable thing about his pitching is his consistent opportunities to get saves for shitty teams. His career ERA, career WHIP, and career mediocre stuff basically scream middle reliever/low-end setup guy, but in 2007 the Pirates didn't have anyone in the bullpen and, after trying Salomon Torres with little success, made Capps their closer and he saved 18 games in mediocre fashion and has been tabbed a closer ever since, which is how we ended up here, with no back-up catcher and a shitty bullpen. Huzzah!
2. Nick Blackburn. Speaking of mediocre as shit pitchers who get far too much credit, welcome back to reality Nick Blackburn. A soft-tossing nancy can actually have a long and lucrative career as long as he's left-handed, but seeing as Blackburn throws correctly he will instead continue to flounder about as a 5th starter, maybe 4th, and although he'll have very good stretches at times (like earlier this year) he'll also always fall back into line as a 4th or 5th starter, tops. Regression to the mean is a very real thing, and also a cruel mistress. And not the good kind. You know what I'm talking about.
3. Joe Mauer. I know what you're thinking - "Dude, the Twins aren't playing all that badly right now, why so many Twins call-outs?" And it's because these three guys have been just brutally bad. I won't get into Mauer's deal too much here because I plan on writing an entire post about it later this week, but let me give you a little spoiler: he sucks.
4. MLB All-Star choices. Way to go morons. And I'm not even talking about your average mouth-breather who shows up to games and votes for Derek Jeter and every other Yankee. I think we've washed our hands of them, yes? Then it's up to the managers to get everything else right. Well not really. Enter poor Andrew McCutchen. Maybe the best hitting/fielding combo outfielder in the NL, but doesn't make it. Why? Because they took Pirate "closer" Joel Hanrahan instead because he has a bunch of saves and is actually having a really good year now that I look it up and he's a totally worthy all-star so I'm kind of losing some wind here. But McCutchen is really awesome and deserves it. Actually the fact that he doesn't make it and Cuddy does should really be enough reason to overhaul the whole thing, but I just got my new KC Royals hat in the mail so what do I care?
5. Kenny Britt. This guy is taking the art of "talented headcase" to a whole new level. Whereas your classic headcases like Randy Moss and Terrell Owens generally don't harm anyone other than themselves (and possibly their teammates), Britt seems to be heading more down the Lawrence Phillips path. Britt surrendered himself to police this weekend because of two warrants for giving false information on a drivers license application, which sounds pretty lame but then you combine that with his three arrests for resisting arrest, including one that ended up in a police chase, and he's going to end up doing something really, really stupid one of these days soon. If you have him in a keeper league I'd unload immediately. Call me.
Lastly, I'm sure you all want to know what was on the menu for 4th of July dinner. Credit goes to Mrs. W on this one - she made a cucumber dill dip (awesome), blue cheese meatballs for the grill (super awesome), and corn on the cob. The first two were just tremendous, and then corn on the cob is always good but kind of boring. Anybody know a good way to fancy it up a bit?
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