The 2008 MLB Thread

[Headache in a Suitcase]

the tampa bay rays, the florida marlins and the oakland a's... the three lowest paying teams in baseball with a combined payroll of $113,240,123 dollars... have a combined record of 89-63, and are in first place, first place, and second place.

the new york yankees, new york mets and detroit tigers... the three highest paying teams with a combined payroll of $481,790,061 dollars... have a combined record of 69-82, and are in last place, second to last, and second to last.

gotta love it.

the five highest paid teams in baeball
1. NY Yankees 207,108,489 - 5th place
2. NY Mets 137,391,376 - 4th place
3. Detroit 137,290,196 - 4th place
4. Boston 133,220,112 - 2nd place
5. Chicago Sox 121,189,332 - 1st place

the five lowest paid teams in baseball
26. Washington 54,166,000 - 5th place
27. Pittsburgh 48,689,783 -4th place
28. Oakland 47,167,126 - 2nd place
29. Tampa Bay 43,422,997 - 1st place
30. Florida 22,650,000 - 1st place

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Yeah that is interesting but the Marlins and Rays will eventually lose their divisions to the Mets and Red Sox, who are both in that top 5 payroll category.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Yeah that is interesting but the Marlins and Rays will eventually lose their divisions to the Mets and Red Sox, who are both in that top 5 payroll category.

i agree that the marlins will eventually sputter, i don't agree about the rays. forget about the name on the shirt and just look at that roster up and down and that's a good, quality team, certainly capable of finishing the season above .500 in the 85 to 90 win range. that won't win the division, but it'll make things interesting into september, and may keep them in contention for the wild card. i also fully expect the white sox to drop out of first place, but i don't think it'll be the tigers who replace them, rather the indians, with the twins in 2nd.

the mets right now aren't going anywhere. right now the next savior is apparently jose valentin, who has a "calming effect" on jose reyes and the clubhouse. so yea, that's all you need to know about that.

doesn't matter how much talent you have if your talent is a bunch of pansy asses.

 

[phanan]

I also agree that the Rays aren't going anywhere for a while. They won't make the playoffs, but they'll give plenty of teams fits.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

i think they'll stay in contention for the wild card late into september... and if things fall the right way they could win it.

the question, of course, will be this... come august 31st, with tampa still in contention, will they be willing to increase their payroll by adding in another player who could push them over the top?

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

i also fully expect the white sox to drop out of first place, but i don't think it'll be the tigers who replace them, rather the indians, with the twins in 2nd.

the chi-town white sox and the cleveland indians will be fighting for first place deep into September. They are the teams with the strongest defense in the AL central...pitching being the first line of defense, of course. And Carlos Quentin is a beast. A monster. Leave it out over the plate to him and he will fucking crush it. I've never seen a player emerge so swiftly and vividly as a true force in the game. I like to call him Mini-Pujols. Or maybe Qujols.

The twinkies will be nowhere near Sox or Tribe. They can't pitch with Cleveland or the Buzzsaw.

 

[No spoken words]

the chi-town white sox and the cleveland indians will be fighting for first place deep into September. They are the teams with the strongest defense in the AL central...pitching being the first line of defense, of course. And Carlos Quentin is a beast. A monster. Leave it out over the plate to him and he will fucking crush it. I've never seen a player emerge so swiftly and vividly as a true force in the game. I like to call him Mini-Pujols. Or maybe Qujols.

The twinkies will be nowhere near Sox or Tribe. They can't pitch with Cleveland or the Buzzsaw.

There is a rumor that before Paciorek left Chicago, he and Hawk Harrelson sort of.....consumated....their relationship. Are you the result of their coupling?

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

There is a rumor that before Paciorek left Chicago, he and Hawk Harrelson sort of.....consumated....their relationship. Are you the result of their coupling?

Yes. Hawk Harrelson is my biological father. But to be honest with you, I don't know who the other partner was. I don't think it was Wimpy Paciorek.

There are whispers that Hawk and Michael Stipe used to drink Chardonnay together on summer nights down in Georgia. I could have been conceived there...

 

[CTU2fan]

Rays are in for the long haul. Marlins are doing it with smoke and mirrors though, and that coach is bound to turn pumpkin sooner or later. A's will go as far as Harden's arm takes them I suppose...not sure they have the horses to actually win anything but they'll hang around if Harden stays healthy.

I didn't realize the Sox had fallen to 4th in payroll, makes sense with the young players they have but it still looks funny to see.

 

[Hewson]

I actually knew Hawk Harrelson's kid when I was growing up. Lived in the same town. Not close friends or anything, but knew him, was a year ahead of him in school. Never met the Hawk though.
True story.

 

[DaveC]

Yeah that is interesting but the Marlins and Rays will eventually lose their divisions to the Phillies and Red Sox, who are both in that top 5 payroll category.

Fixed that for you. The Mets ain't goin' anywhere this year.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

not as long as willie randolph is still managing them they aren't.

the phillies may win the nl east by default, much like last season... but they certainly have no shot at winning a world championship.

 

[phanan]

At this point, I wonder if any team in the NL has a shot.

 

[No spoken words]

D-Backs and Cubbies both look pretty good thus far.

 

[phanan]

The Cubs have a decent offense, but I don't trust their pitching.

And the D-backs have excellent pitching, but they can't hit.

 

[John Lackey]

In our last 5 games we've played the White Sox and currently Detroit and we're 4-1 with our starting 5 averaging 8.04 IP per game. Nobody can touch our pitching staff right now, nobody. We have the best staff in the game right now.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

there are no great teams in baseball. the red sox come the closest.

 

[No spoken words]

The Cubs have a decent offense, but I don't trust their pitching.

And the D-backs have excellent pitching, but they can't hit.

Arizona's third in the NL in runs scored.

 

[phanan]

Then they must be getting a lot of walks and hits in the clutch, because their overall batting avg. and power numbers aren't that great.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

arizona had a hot start from the plate and have cooled off considerably... still better than they were last year, but that's not saying much.

top it with the fact that nobody can hit in the NL, and yea... there ya go. 3rd in runs.

 

[No spoken words]

But the point is, everything is relative. So, they have solid pitching, and better hitting than most teams in the NL.....thus, they're legit contenders, that's my only point here. Cubs are too. I'd not want to face Webb/Haren/Owings/Johnson in a short series. Hell, they went to the NLCS last season and are only getting better.

But, yes, I agree that the only true "great" team in baseball is the Red Sox. Fuckers.

 

[phanan]

I agree, they are legitimate contenders for the NL pennant.

As for a world championship? Unlikely at this point, although you never know.

And the Red Sox can't be considered great until they learn to win consistently on the road.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

anyone can get hot at the right time and get it done... see the cardinals in 2006. but if i had to guess i'd say the red sox will win it again. unless eli manning decides to play baseball. then i'd have to go with whatever team he's on.

 

[phanan]

Eli Manning can suck it.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

he's a buzzsaw.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Eli Manning can suck it.

Or, more appropriately, that blonde girl that Eli is with in Headache's sig can suck me.

Goddam, she's hot. Who is that?

 

[WildHoneyAlways]

^Dude, really?

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

No, not really. My bad.

 

[zonelistener]

hihihihihihihihi

^Dude, really?

WHA...you may be the only respectable White Sox fan on the whole internets.