Divisional playoffs

[buconvict]

I just wish the Yanks had a true ace going tonight, like Fausto Carmona, the greatest pitcher in the world according to TW.

What are Sabathia's playoff stats? Just sayin'.

Or Burnett's? Or A-Rod's? Or Tiexiera's? Or Chamberlain's? Or anyone in he bullpen besides Rivera?

[branchinator]

Well, in A-Rod's defense, his playoff stats with Seattle were actually pretty good. It's just in New York where he has turned into the most unclutch performer of our generation. But Burnett, Joba, and the entire Yankees bullpen minus Rivera hasn't. And that'll be worth watching once the real playoffs start after this Twins exhibition series.

[BCEagle74]

Late season trades are on thing, but Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. --he gave up none of his top 4 blue chip prospects and assraped Mark Shapiro for Lee, who has one more year.

One of the best all

Cy Young Awards don't mean squat the next year.

The last 5 Al Cys--TRADED!

Santana (2), Colon, Sabathia, Lee.

Peavy Clemens, Gagne, Johnson...

As Craig nettles said to Sparky lyle in 1978..."You went from CY Young to Sayonara!"

[branchinator]

It's the playoffs and the Twins are starting Duensing/Blackburn/Pavano against the Yankees. And all they have to show for the Santana trade is a pinch runner in Carlos Gomez. Nice GMing that was.

[auggiebc]

It's the playoffs and the Twins are starting Duensing/Blackburn/Pavano against the Yankees. And all they have to show for the Santana trade is a pinch runner in Carlos Gomez. Nice GMing that was.

just goes to show how disasterously weak the AL Central is. Hence the importance of a Wild Card bert out of each league.

[buconvict]

Well, in A-Rod's defense, his playoff stats with Seattle were actually pretty good. It's just in New York where he has turned into the most unclutch performer of our generation. But Burnett, Joba, and the entire Yankees bullpen minus Rivera hasn't. And that'll be worth watching once the real playoffs start after this Twins exhibition series.

Alex Rodriguez hasn't been a Mariner since 2000, when he was 24 years old, so I'm not sure how relevant his numbers back then are.

[branchinator]

Well, in A-Rod's defense, his playoff stats with Seattle were actually pretty good. It's just in New York where he has turned into the most unclutch performer of our generation. But Burnett, Joba, and the entire Yankees bullpen minus Rivera hasn't. And that'll be worth watching once the real playoffs start after this Twins exhibition series.

Alex Rodriguez hasn't been a Mariner since 2000, when he was 24 years old, so I'm not sure how relevant his numbers back then are.

How are they not? When you want to factor a player's performance in the playoffs, you can't just cherrypick the timeframe that you're going to use. The reality is that A-Rod's "playoff choker" label is the result of his performance from 2005-2007. In 1997, 2000, and 2004, he was very good. But in 2005-2007, he was 7-44 with only 1 RBI. And that's what everyone remembers. Not that he was 16 for 50 (.320) in 2004 with 8 RBI's in 11 games.

[buconvict]

Well, in A-Rod's defense, his playoff stats with Seattle were actually pretty good. It's just in New York where he has turned into the most unclutch performer of our generation. But Burnett, Joba, and the entire Yankees bullpen minus Rivera hasn't. And that'll be worth watching once the real playoffs start after this Twins exhibition series.

Alex Rodriguez hasn't been a Mariner since 2000, when he was 24 years old, so I'm not sure how relevant his numbers back then are.

How are they not? When you want to factor a player's performance in the playoffs, you can't just cherrypick the timeframe that you're going to use. The reality is that A-Rod's "playoff choker" label is the result of his performance from 2005-2007. In 1997, 2000, and 2004, he was very good. But in 2005-2007, he was 7-44 with only 1 RBI. And that's what everyone remembers. Not that he was 16 for 50 (.320) in 2004 with 8 RBI's in 11 games.

Because you're referencing events that happened 9 years ago as some sort of indicator of current ability to perform in the playoffs. That's foolish.

[branchinator]

No, I'm not. All I'm saying is that A-Rod hasn't been a "playoff choker" his entire career. It's been a recent phenomenon.

[buconvict]

No, I'm not. All I'm saying is that A-Rod hasn't been a "playoff choker" his entire career. It's been a recent phenomenon.

That's the point you've been trying to make? Sorry Ms. Hudson, I didn't mean to offend you or your boyfriend.

[auggiebc]

Posada.....Bwahhhhh.....

[branchinator]

No, I'm not. All I'm saying is that A-Rod hasn't been a "playoff choker" his entire career. It's been a recent phenomenon.

That's the point you've been trying to make? Sorry Ms. Hudson, I didn't mean to offend you or your boyfriend.

I'm a Red Sox fan, dipshit, but I do like to call out people when they clearly don't know what they're talking about. Carry on, .

[buconvict]

No, I'm not. All I'm saying is that A-Rod hasn't been a "playoff choker" his entire career. It's been a recent phenomenon.

That's the point you've been trying to make? Sorry Ms. Hudson, I didn't mean to offend you or your boyfriend.

I'm a Red Sox fan, dipshit, but I do like to call out people when they clearly don't know what they're talking about. Carry on, .

I never used the term 'playoff choker', you ascribed it to me. Then you defended A-Rod against something I never said by stating that NINE YEARS AGO, he had a solid 9 game stretch (2 homers, 7 RBIs), before finally conceding to the point I never made that he isn't a good post-season player. If you want to reference old stats to defend players with reputations for being underachievers in the post-season, I'll remind you that a 20 year old CC Sabathia beat the 116 win Mariners in the 2001 ALDS.

But you're right, you totally just called me out for not knowing what I'm talking about.

[Pre1321]

C.C. going 6 so far with 1 ER and 7k's. A-Rod drove in his first run in a long while in the playoffs. Hopefully a sign of good things to come out of these so called playoff chokers.

[branchinator]

Actually, you responded to TW's post by asking for A-Rod's playoff stats. Well, here they are (not including tonight):

Games: 39
BA: .279
OBP: 373
SLG: .483
HR: 7
RBI: 17

Now, please go ahead and explain your point. I won't try to interpret it this time.

[branchinator]

C.C. going 6 so far with 1 ER and 7k's. A-Rod drove in his first run in a long while in the playoffs. Hopefully a sign of good things to come out of these so called playoff chokers.

The playoffs haven't started yet for the Yankees. This Twins team is garbage.

[SJeagle09]

C.C. going 6 so far with 1 ER and 7k's. A-Rod drove in his first run in a long while in the playoffs. Hopefully a sign of good things to come out of these so called playoff chokers.

Phillies.

[buconvict]

Actually, you responded to TW's post by asking for A-Rod's playoff stats. Well, here they are (not including tonight):

Games: 39
BA: .279
OBP: 373
SLG: .483
HR: 7
RBI: 17

Now, please go ahead and explain your point. I won't try to interpret it this time.

It was rhetorical question, which makes all the more annoying that it's resulted in such a drawn out discussion over implied semantics.

[auggiebc]

If the Twins were playing the Washington Nationals in a 5 game series right now, I'd take the Nationals.

The Twins have no offense and no pitching. I've never seen a playoff team with such a lack of talent.

Cabrera, Mauer and Nathan are the only 3 players on that entire team who would even make the Red Sox playoff roster.

And now I gotta watch Randy Wolf, a journeyman, bottom-of-the-rotation pitcher, pitch in game 1 of the NLDS for the Dodgers.

There is such a huge disparity in talent among these playoff teams. It's the Sox and Yanks and everyone else.

[branchinator]

The Phillies are capable of beating both the Sox and Yankees in a 7 game series if their bullpen doesn't implode.

[angryty]

But that's the problem. The Sox look like the late 90s Yankees out of the bullpen compared to the trainwreck that is the Phillies' bullpen.
I love the cockyness of Sox fans--it is amusing if nothing else. The Sox brief, early century resurgence can be traced to the Yankees getting away from being a fundamentally sound baseball team and replacing that with a rotisserie line up. The Yankees have fixed that problem and in turn have fixed the Sox. I for one will enjoy it when that realization hits the collection of donkey faced downie types who make up a vast majority of Red Sox Nation--if panning across Fenway during any given telecast is to be believed.

[buconvict]

But that's the problem. The Sox look like the late 90s Yankees out of the bullpen compared to the trainwreck that is the Phillies' bullpen.
I love the cockyness of Sox fans--it is amusing if nothing else. The Sox brief, early century resurgence can be traced to the Yankees getting away from being a fundamentally sound baseball team and replacing that with a rotisserie line up. The Yankees have fixed that problem and in turn have fixed the Sox. I for one will enjoy it when that realization hits the collection of donkey faced downie types who make up a vast majority of Red Sox Nation--if panning across Fenway during any given telecast is to be believed.

You sure seem to find a lot of problems with a 95 win AL team that pitched John Smoltz and Brad Penny, had their SS's season ruined by a wrist injury so was forced to play NICK GREEN for like 100 games, got NOTHING from their DH for 2.5 months, and got historically bad production from the catching position before the trade deadline. All problems that have been fixed, leaving the Red Sox with superior starting pitching, superior bullpen pitching, and superior defense. The Red Sox offense was second in the league, so it's not as if they are wanting in that department either.

The Red Sox have the best bullpen in baseball. Period. So offering backhanded compliments seems trite coming from a team that is jogging out Coke and Aceves in key situations. The cokiness you find so amusing can be turned right back around. The Yankees haven't won a fucking thing in 9 years, yet their fans are already anointing their team as the best in the world after beating the shitty Twins and their shitty #4 starter. The Sox emergence as the premier team in baseball has everything to do with them signing and developing a better team than the team in the bedpan, not a result of the Yankees doing things horribly wrong.

It's my opinion that at this moment, the Red Sox are better equipped to win a 7 game series than the Yankees are because of their depth in pitching. All the talk in the world won't prove anything, so the best idea is to just wait 7 days and watch the series happen. In the meantime, laugh with me at the dismal NL. The shortstop on the Cardinals looks like a CPU generated player from a mid 90's Atari game. With such a gulf in talent, it's amazing that the NL can ever win a WS 40% of the time. I can't believe just how poor the quality of play is... the Cardinal infield has to be one of the sorriest collections to ever play a post-season game.

*I respect you

Edit: The panning of the Red Sox fanbase would need to be focused on the bleachers to see the stereotype-driving yahdoods. The infield crowd isn't what it used to be, which to me is a good thing.

[auggiebc]

The Sox brief, early century resurgence can be traced to the Yankees getting away from being a fundamentally sound baseball team and replacing that with a rotisserie line up. The Yankees have fixed that problem and in turn have fixed the Sox.

I wouldn't go as far as saying the Yankees have "fixed" their problem just yet. They certainly threw a band-aid on their failures by spending half a billion dollars this year. But they haven't fixed their fundamental organizational failures just yet. Cano and Hughes are the only 2 young players that the Yankees have developed who are good enough to contribute. Before Phil Hughes, the Yankees hadn't had a pitching prospect pan out since Andy Petite...13 years ago..imagine such an epic failure....they went a full DECADE without drafting a single pitcher who was good enough to make their roster, despite outspending every other team by millions in scouting and contracts for their draft picks. (they had to double their contract value for Joba just to make sure they could sign him over another team....just to save some face and be able to say they actuall had a "prospect").

Compare this to the Red Sox. With the exception of Dise-K, the Red Sox have developed their team from the inside. Beckett, Lowell, and V-Mart by trading prospects, and home grown talent Lester, Buckholtz, Paps, Ellsubry, Youk, Pedrioa, Bard, Delcarmen, Lowrie, etc, etc, and a whole stable of prospects wating in the wings to either contribute in future years or be dealt for players such as King Felix or Zack Grienke in years to come.

My point is...The Yankees are still years behind the Red Sox in player development. Cashman was bullied for too long by the Yankee front office...he couldn't follow Theo's plan for success....until just recently. So it's "catch-up" time for the Bombers.

[angryty]

Yeah, but you can catch up overnight if you can spend $200 million--which they clearly have as the results on the field indicate. The truth is the Yankees have several nice prospects in the pipe--and more importantly, they didn't trade them away for Halliday (who they no doubt will sign in the off season). I also think the idea of a massive infusion of home grown talent is an overrated concept. No doubt you need a core and you need to have enough in the pipeline to trade for key pieces, but just as important is the signing of excellent character guys. The key to the success of the Yankees dynasty of the late 90s had as much to do with bringing in Jimmy Key, David Cone, John Wetteland, Paul O'Neil, Scott Brosius, Joe Girardi, Tim Raines, etc. as it did with the core of Rivera (with apologies to Jeter by far the most important piece), Jeter, Petite and Posada. The Yankees slipped when they started bringing in the Sheffields, Giambis, Pavanos, etc.--low character guys who utterly lack the champion's heart. That isn't to say you can't bring in one or two of those types (David Wells comes to mind), but you need to surround them with the other type to keep them in line. And that's the biggest difference with the Yankees this year--in his heart of hearts A-Rod still has the same problems he has always had--but in a clubhouse dominated by good guys like Jeter, Texiera, Damon, Posada, Swisher, Hinske, etc. and the absence of some of the aforementioned d-bags--he shuts his mouth and plays and the result is pretty good.

And Convict, I agree with you that the NL is an absolute joke. Was Jeff Fucking Weaver really a Game 1 starter in a playoff game? Really? Really? And he fucking won! Unbelievable. After the abortions I witnessed yesterday I think there needs to be an asterisk next to every Albert Pujols stat. He is an excellent player but he is playing against AAA competition. The Yankees, Red Sox and Angels should all be able to pile drive whatever team crawls out of the NL.

[twballgame9]

ty, the Yankees haven't proven shit on the field yet. They won the regular season title that Talon loves. We'll see if this fantasy baseball team is any better than the last few that have won regular season crowns only to bow out less than gracefully in the playoffs.

And, although you went with AAA over "minor league", I think you may have violated my intellectual property.

[branchinator]

Like I said before, the playoffs haven't started for the Yankees. This Twins team is an embarrassment. I mean, they're trotting out Duensing/Blackburn/Pavano in a playoff series. That's just gross. Next round, the Yankees will be seeing either Lester/Beckett/Buchholz/Dice-K or Weaver/Lackey/Kazmir/Saunders along with a much more difficult lineup. And they'll be having to trot out Joba Chamberlain's 92 mph fastball in Game 4.

[hansen]

And Convict, I agree with you that the NL is an absolute joke. Was Jeff Fucking Weaver really a Game 1 starter in a playoff game? Really? Really? And he fucking won! Unbelievable. After the abortions I witnessed yesterday I think there needs to be an asterisk next to every Albert Pujols stat. He is an excellent player but he is playing against AAA competition. The Yankees, Red Sox and Angels should all be able to pile drive whatever team crawls out of the NL.

the cardinals were awful yesterday. they continued they're late season swoon. carpenter's performance was a huge letdown to say the least if not a total pounding. he gave up 4 earned in 5 innings and i think his whip was like almost 3. pujols was 0-3 but anytime there were men on base he was intentionally walked (twice).

they guy has gone at least .300-100-100-30 for basically 9 seasons playing gold-glove defense. i can't even comprehend how you can diminish those numbers. the guy has a 1.012 OPS in the postseason which includes 2 world series appearances.

[twballgame9]

And Convict, I agree with you that the NL is an absolute joke. Was Jeff Fucking Weaver really a Game 1 starter in a playoff game? Really? Really? And he fucking won! Unbelievable. After the abortions I witnessed yesterday I think there needs to be an asterisk next to every Albert Pujols stat. He is an excellent player but he is playing against AAA competition. The Yankees, Red Sox and Angels should all be able to pile drive whatever team crawls out of the NL.

the cardinals were awful yesterday. they continued they're late season swoon. carpenter's performance was a huge letdown to say the least if not a total pounding. he gave up 4 earned in 5 innings and i think his whip was like almost 3. pujols was 0-3 but anytime there were men on base he was intentionally walked (twice).

they guy has gone at least .300-100-100-30 for basically 9 seasons playing gold-glove defense. i can't even comprehend how you can diminish those numbers. the guy has a 1.012 OPS in the postseason which includes 2 world series appearances.

You can diminish those numbers because he is playing against a league whose best pitchers are guys like Chris Carpenter. Enough said.

[hansen]

And Convict, I agree with you that the NL is an absolute joke. Was Jeff Fucking Weaver really a Game 1 starter in a playoff game? Really? Really? And he fucking won! Unbelievable. After the abortions I witnessed yesterday I think there needs to be an asterisk next to every Albert Pujols stat. He is an excellent player but he is playing against AAA competition. The Yankees, Red Sox and Angels should all be able to pile drive whatever team crawls out of the NL.

the cardinals were awful yesterday. they continued they're late season swoon. carpenter's performance was a huge letdown to say the least if not a total pounding. he gave up 4 earned in 5 innings and i think his whip was like almost 3. pujols was 0-3 but anytime there were men on base he was intentionally walked (twice).

they guy has gone at least .300-100-100-30 for basically 9 seasons playing gold-glove defense. i can't even comprehend how you can diminish those numbers. the guy has a 1.012 OPS in the postseason which includes 2 world series appearances.

You can diminish those numbers because he is playing against a league whose best pitchers are guys like Chris Carpenter. Enough said.

one bad game and the guy sucks? unbelievable. redsox fans are so damn fickle. i guess consistently losing those 86 years will do that to you.

* i respect you

[twballgame9]

And Convict, I agree with you that the NL is an absolute joke. Was Jeff Fucking Weaver really a Game 1 starter in a playoff game? Really? Really? And he fucking won! Unbelievable. After the abortions I witnessed yesterday I think there needs to be an asterisk next to every Albert Pujols stat. He is an excellent player but he is playing against AAA competition. The Yankees, Red Sox and Angels should all be able to pile drive whatever team crawls out of the NL.

the cardinals were awful yesterday. they continued they're late season swoon. carpenter's performance was a huge letdown to say the least if not a total pounding. he gave up 4 earned in 5 innings and i think his whip was like almost 3. pujols was 0-3 but anytime there were men on base he was intentionally walked (twice).

they guy has gone at least .300-100-100-30 for basically 9 seasons playing gold-glove defense. i can't even comprehend how you can diminish those numbers. the guy has a 1.012 OPS in the postseason which includes 2 world series appearances.

You can diminish those numbers because he is playing against a league whose best pitchers are guys like Chris Carpenter. Enough said.

one bad game and the guy sucks? unbelievable. redsox fans are so damn fickle. i guess consistently losing those 86 years will do that to you.

* i respect you

One bad game? Seriously? Shall I go back and look at his stats when he used to pitch in the major leagues for Toronto? You are missing the point if you think it has anything to do with one bad game. Chris Carpenter is at best a 14-12, 4.35 pitcher if he pitched in the AL East.

I'd rather face Carpenter and Wainwright than Sabathia and Burnett, and I don't think much of the latter two as a playoff duo.