The 2014 Major League baseball season

[Jim3k]

A's trade for the Cubs' Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel. Susan Slusser of the SF Chron has it.

Looks like the A's are serious about the post-season this year. But, as Slusser points out, they are giving up a lot and the ripple effect on the lineup will be strong.

[YmoBeThere]

A's trade for the Cubs' Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel. Susan Slusser of the SF Chron has it.

Looks like the A's are serious about the post-season this year. But, as Slusser points out, they are giving up a lot and the ripple effect on the lineup will be strong.

What year do the Cubs actually expect they'll be able to compete?

[Blue in the Face]

What year do the Cubs actually expect they'll be able to compete?

Right around the time our sun goes red giant. Which is still sooner than the Astros.

[Olympic Fan]

What year do the Cubs actually expect they'll be able to compete?

I don't know, but I think this is a good deal for the Cubs.

They give up Hammel, who they will lose to free agency after this season, and Samardzija, who they lose to free agency after the 2015 season.

They get a GREAT prospect in Russell -- a 20-year-old shortstop with a three-season minor league OPS of over .900. I've seen him listed anywhere between the 14th best prospect in all of baseball (Baseball America) and the 7th best prospect (Baseball Prospectus). In both rankings, he's rising every year in the rankings.

They also get Dan Stailey, a 25-year-old pitcher who won 10 games with a 3.96 ERA for the A's last season. True, he got off to a bad start this season and was sent to Triple A. Not a great prospect but a guy who has been successful in the majors ... and won't be a free agent until 2019.

McKinney is more of a middle of the road prospect ... last year as an 18-year-old outfielder, he had an outstanding .964 OPS in low A ball (although he was three years younger than the average player in the league). This year, he's batting just .241 with a so-so .770 OPS in as high A league (although now he's almost four years younger than the average player in the league).

Still he's just 19 years old.

Obviously, the A's get an immediate benefit -- Samardzija is an ace and Hammel is a solid middle-of-the-rotation starter. Clearly, the A's are rolling the dice to win it all this year.

If they do win a title and/or are able to sign Samardzija to a long-term deal, they will be happy with this deal. But if they come up short and lose Samardzija after next season, they may regret giving up Russell.

[YmoBeThere]

Agreed that it makes all the sense in the world for a win now Oakland A's team. From the Cubs perspective, I also understand the implications of losing both players to free agency. But at some point, don't you have to retain some talent on your team to compete? Looking at their rotation, I don't see how they can matchup for 76 games in a division where their best starter is perhaps a 3 but more likely a 4 on any of the other teams in the division. That doesn't appear like it is going to change anytime soon.

So, since I'm a Reds fan, why the concern? Not sure...just trying to understand what Theo is doing, I was in Boston for a bit of his tenure there. Perhaps he is so hamstrung by spending limits/ownership that they are making moves for 5 years from now? I understand to an extent that they may not be ready to commit long term, the Reds have placed their bets(Votto, Bruce in particular) but can't seem to get over the hump. They(the Reds) are a bit limited because of those contracts with what they can do to improve the team. Though there is the argument is that they should have enough talent right now to make it further into the playoffs than they have the last few years.

[Olympic Fan]

Well, the Yankees missed on Samardjiza and have no chance to get Price (the Rays aren't trading him in the division), so they went out and got ...

Brandon McCarthy!

Almost a straight up swap -- Victor Nuno (2-5, 5.42 ERA) to Arizona for McCarthy (3-10, 5.01 ERA). Not exactly an earthshaking deal:

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/yan...rthy-lose-nuno

In other Yankee news, the .500 Bronx Bombers dumped Alfonso Soriano to make room on the roster for a minor league middle reliever.

BTW: I'll be watching Oakland today -- Samaedzija gets his first start for the A's

[awhom111]

So many A's in the All Star Game? I miss complaining about snubs.

[Olympic Fan]

Looking at the all-star roster today, there are some snubs -- there are ALWAYS some snubs (I'm not a Nats fan, but how was Anthony Rendon passed over?)

But I want to bring up an age-old issue -- is the all-star game for STARS or is it for guys who have a good half-season?

I was thinking of the selection of Derek Jeter as the starting SS for the AL. Based on this season alone, he certainly doesn't deserve it, but based on career, he's the greatest SS of modern times -- a certain first-ballot HOFer. Clearly, the fans want to see him.

But if Jeter makes it for his career, what about Albert Pujols? What about David Ortiz?

Based on first-half numbers in 2014, neither deserves selection (although both have 19 HRs), but, like Jeter, they are legitimate STARS. Pujols is a guaranteed first-ballot HOFer and the only thing that could keep Ortiz out are concerns with his early brush with PEDs.

I think the game should be for stars, but I understand the argument that it means something (home field advantage on the WS) and therefore it should have no room for sentiment.

Okay, here's my 5-point fix for the all-star game:

1. Make it an exhibition again. Give the WS home field to the league that has the best record in interleague play.
2. Shrink the teams -- no more guaranteed selections for every team. If you want to be represented, get better players.
3. Let the stars stay in the game longer.
4. Pick the teams this way: A player vote, a fan vote and a manager's vote. A player who sweeps all three plays nine innings. A player who wins two of the three plays six innings ... one of the three and you get three innings. (Obviously, this doesn't apply to pitchers).
5. Use the DH in every game -- in AL and NL parks. If there is one game where we don't need to see pitchers hit, it's the all-star game.

In the good ol' days, the stars stayed on the field. Ted Williams won the 1941 game with a ninth-inning homer. DiMaggio was still in the game. Miggy ought to play nine innings. So should Trout and McLendon. Those are the guys I want to see -- not some token representative of the Padres.

I love that Jeter is going to be there ... but I think Pujols and Ortiz should be too.

[weezie]

Miggy ought to play nine innings. So should Trout and McLendon. Those are the guys I want to see -- not some token representative of the Padres.

Come on Oly, normally I'm your gal but them guys is too valuable to stay in there for the whole fashion show. It's about eyes on the tube and yes, those west coast teams do have their loyal fans/voters/eyeballs (see: Jim3k).

I think you might have meant Mr. A McCutchen on whom I have a serious secret (man that guy is FLY!!!) crush...and probably not Lloyd McLendon, former Tigers bullpen coach and yeeesss mariners head coach now.

[Duvall]

Good job rewriting the rulebook, umps.

[Olympic Fan]

Come on Oly, normally I'm your gal but them guys is too valuable to stay in there for the whole fashion show. It's about eyes on the tube and yes, those west coast teams do have their loyal fans/voters/eyeballs (see: Jim3k).

I think you might have meant Mr. A McCutchen on whom I have a serious secret (man that guy is FLY!!!) crush...and probably not Lloyd McLendon, former Tigers bullpen coach and yeeesss mariners head coach now.

Ooops ... you got me on the McLendon/McCutchen mistake. Obviously, I meant the long-haired Pittsburgh CFer, who might be the most exciting player in baseball today (well, him, Trout of Puig ... actually Puig probably wins because of the sometimes crazy baserunning he does).

But you can't be serious about guys being "too valuable to stay out there."

They can't play a whole midweek game -- when they don't have to play the day before or the two days after? I'm never subscribed to the old saw about modern players being wimps, but this sounds like it.

[weezie]

It's not a stamina issue, it's just to get more guys on the field, more swag sold, more props for more players. The AS game is kind of a yawn, so we saw MLB tweak it with the HR Derby, WS advantage, etc., and still nobody is truly thrilled with it.

Right now I'm more anxious about the dodgers heading into Comerica tonight. The Tigs have been on another of their mini-swoons.

[Olympic Fan]

It's not a stamina issue, it's just to get more guys on the field, more swag sold, more props for more players. The AS game is kind of a yawn, so we saw MLB tweak it with the HR Derby, WS advantage, etc., and still nobody is truly thrilled with it.

In understand the swag issue, but as you note, the way they do the all-star game now doesn't work -- even with the home-field issue, it's still a yawn.

I contend that it would be MORE interesting if the stars actually played and they stopped trying to get every two-bit "all-star" into the game. Let's see how has the better stars -- the AL or NL?

Of course, the league mystique is all but gone with everyday interleague play. There used to be two real chances to see the best of the AL vs. the best of the NL -- the all-star game and the world series. Now they cross over several times a week.

I was reading an account of the 1916 World Series the other day ... the Red Sox beat the Brooklyn Robins (the future Dodgers) 4 games to one. When Brooklyn won game three behind veteran pitcher (and future Duke baseball coach) Jack Coombs, a young Babe Ruth (who had won Game 2 with a 12 innings complete game) was quoted as saying, "Well, we might have gotten beat, but it took an American League pitcher to beat us." Coombs, of course, played most of his career with the A's.

We don't have that kind of league identity any more. Can you imagine Zack Greinke of the Dodgers beating the A's in the world series and Josh Donaldson shrugging and saying, "It took an American League pitcher to beat us."

In the first all-star game in 1933, Ruth and Gehrig played the whole way. Well, Sammy West replaced Ruth for defensive reasons in the ninth. That was the only position sub for the AL. Seven of the nine NL starters went the distance.

That's the way it should be -- an All-STAR game.

[Duvall]

Atlanta well on their way to being swept by the Mets, which would be an impressive feat.

[weezie]

Last night's dodgers @ Tigs was one hilarious game.

Not so funny during Verlander's 1st inning 5 run brain-toot but far more entertaining when Mattingly was escorted back to the dugout and out of the game by the 6'6, 295lb 1st base umpire.

[YmoBeThere]

I've not been happy with the results of the last days of play. (For the Dodgers at least.)

[Olympic Fan]

Really pumped up to see Kershaw start against the Padres tonight.

He has 36 straight scoreless innings and tonight gets to go against the worst offense in baseball -- the Padres have scored 272 runs -- 70 runs less than the Cubs and Red Sox, tied for the next worst offenses. (Time out: I just looked that up because I can't believe it -- the Red Sox have the worst offense in the AL and tied for the second-worst in all of baseball!!!)

Anyway, back to Kershaw ... with another shutout, he gets into range of historic scoreless streak territory -- but he has to get into the 50-inning range to be among the all-time leaders.

Interesting that the two longest scoreless streaks in baseball history both belong to Dodgers -- Orel Hershiser set the record at 59 innings in 1988, breaking the 58 inning streak set by Don Drusdale in 1968.

BTW: More bad news for my Yankees -- Tanaka goes on the 15-day DL (and may be out longer). With Sabathia now out for the year, that means that we've lost 4'5th of our starting rotation (with Nova and Pineda also going down). Can Kiroda be far behind?

[Blue in the Face]

Can Kiroda be far behind?

Well, if Tanaka's injury is anything more than the minimum 15 days, the yankees should really have Kuroda follow those guys off the roster, though hopefully not due to injury.

[DU82]

BTW: More bad news for my Yankees -- Tanaka goes on the 15-day DL (and may be out longer). With Sabathia now out for the year, that means that we've lost 4'5th of our starting rotation (with Nova and Pineda also going down). Can Kiroda be far behind?

According to ESPN, Tanaka has a partially torn UCL. When it rains, it pours.

[Olympic Fan]

According to ESPN, Tanaka has a partially torn UCL. When it rains, it pours.

The best estimate is now 6 weeks, but more likely that Tanaka needs Tommy John surgery, which is at least a year.

That's not all ... Carlos Beltran was hurt yesterday in batting practice. He fouled a ball off his face and broke two bones ... Brett Gardner is nyrsing a pilled muscle in his abdomen ... and, no telling how serious it is, but tonight Derek Jeter (hitting .333 over the last seven days) injured his wrist -- probably he's facing an MRI.

That's not just a downpour ... it's a hurricane.