MLB Hot Stove League 2006-2007 (1 Viewer)

[Mike Frezon]

Pedro tells the AP that if he cannot return at full strength after his surgery he may consider retirement.

I don't believe him for a second.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Eh, I do. This was by far his worst season, and he's already older than his brother was when he retired. It's tough to know how a player who has seldom been anything less than exemplary will handle being merely good.

 

[Evan M.]

Well said Jason. I would actually be a bit surprised if he does not retire. Being a big Boston fan....like a few others here.... the one thing that comes to mind when I think of Pedro is 'Pride'. The guy has soooo much pride that if he does not feel like he can adequately return then he will most certainly not be happy just being an average pitcher. He has accomplished everything he wanted to...Cy Young, World Series champion, future Hall of Famer......what else is there??

As for "new" Matasuka rumors..... In Tokyo newspapers it was said that the Yankees are going to not offer as much as expected in their bid proposal. I have no idea how true this is since this process is generally very secretive but I figured it is worth noting since everybody and their children had the Yankees getting him.

 

[RobLe]

Sammy Sosa told the Associated Press that he wants to play this season.

 

[Shane Martin]

How much will his pride allow him to play for? AFAIK that was the reason he didn't play last year. He wanted too much $ to play. Just like a couple of NFL players I know of that wouldn't play for less than xyz or they didn't play. There was a Seattle running back whose name escapes me that didn't want to play for less than I think it was $1m a season but I can't remember off hand.

 

[Mike Frezon]

One of the things I read in one of the NY tabloids this week is that the Yanks won't be putting in a bid until about five minutes before the end of the bidding window. Cashman was saying this would not give the other teams time to adjust their bids to match the Yankee offer. Makes it all seem like a run-of-the-mill eBay auction, doesn't it?!

 

[Jason Seaver]

And since the bids are allegedly sealed, it makes me wonder if Cashman thinks there's leaks in his office (or intends to exploit leaks in others).

The other interesting Matsuzaka rumors are that apparently some teams have approached Seibu to attempt to set up kickbacks - that they would bid $50M but only pay $30M. Also, some teams (the Mariners and Dodgers) have apparently dropped out because they've been informed that Matsuzaka would not be interested in signing with them.

 

[Evan M.]

The whole bidding thing just seems a bit "sneaky" to me. Supposedly a teams bid and Seibu can accept any bid they want to. They "supposedly" do not know who the bid is from when they receive it and just look at the money. Supposedly all of the teams bidding are and the amount is secretive. That is just too many "supposedly's" for me. I also find it VERY hard to believe that with probably 4 of the biggest media markets in the world in New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Tokyo any of this will be able to kept a secret.

As for Sosa.... I used to really like the guy...then he just imploded to the point where he is just as big a joke as McGuire and Palmiero. When he signed with Baltimore he looked like he lost 40 Lbs.....I also don't think I ever saw more warning track shots come from any player before.....The guy is a disaster and I would be shocked if anyone would sign him.

 

[RobLe]

Yanks pick up Sheffield's option.

 

[Vincent Matis]

I don't really follow japanese leagues closely, but I think the managers have the bad habits of overusing pitchers (often having them throw 150+ pitches ). Considering that that guy once threw 250 (two hundred and fifty!!!) pitches in a (college) game doesn't look good in the long term IMHO

 

[Robert Crawford]

Tell that to the many pitchers that threw 150+ pitches regularly before pitch counts and five man rotations took over and who were effective pitchers for many years. IMO, it's about genetics, conditioning and pitching mechanics.

 

[Evan M.]

Good point Robert. A lot of people are very quick to forget that not so long ago people used to actually pitch complete games (GASP!!) pretty regularly. Most pitchers onlt start 32 games if healthy and are basically "good" for seven innings now. Other than the Quarterback position (and rightfully so), pitchers are the most protected postion in all of sports. My personal favorie is how some people are just left handed or right handed "specialists" and only come in to face one batter. Seems like a waste in filling up a roster spot. The Sox used Meyers in that role then the Yankees signed him last year. The Yankees wanted him pretty much to face Ortiz. Thefirst time the Sox played the Yanks they brought Meyers in to face Ortiz with the lead in the late innings......Ortiz sent the first pitch he saw to the upper deck in RF at Yankee stadium....... That to me was the lone bright spot for us Sox fans last year :frowning:.......

 

[Jason Seaver]

Yeah, the mania to act as though everybody is good for 100 pitches every five days and anything more constitutes "abuse" has been out of hand for a while(*). From what I gather, part of the reason Matsuzaka is able to have some of those high-pitch count games is that he has very good mechanics and his "gyroball" pitch is fairly low-stress.

Oh, and that was a high-school tournament - from what I gather, the summer HS baseball tournament is a bigger deal in Japan than March Madness is in the States.

To be fair, hitting has improved by then, both in terms of teams sending nine good hitters up rather than six or seven, and the strategy involved: It's more common to see hitters working the count, making pitchers have to grind through long at-bats and innings. 130 pitches may be easier to take spread over nine innings than seven.

(*) Of course, people blithely assume knuckleballers can go 200 pitchers every other day.

 

[John_Bonner]

If Pedro is done, the Mets should actively pursue Zito.
Maybe Omar and Rick Peterson together can convince him to join the Metropolitans.

 

[Mike Frezon]

The San Jose Athletics?

The Athletics are expected to announce they will be moving out of Oakland. The San Francisco Chronicle and San Jose Mercury News say the A's are moving 27 miles away...to Fremont, CA (18 miles from San Jose).

Wonder if they'll change their name? I would think so.

 

[Vincent Matis]

I don't buy the theory that current pitchers are "wimps"... Today's lineups are much more "tough" than the "good old days" lineups. And all games were played on the East Coast, no long travels for the players... And a reservoir of "only" 100M people to choose the best players from ((probably around 600M nowadays)...
Maybe I'm naive, but I think that if there was a way of having Pedro, Randy or Roger pitch every other day, some managers would do it...

From Retrosheets:
Number of pitches thrown, per game, minimum 20 starts:
Year... Top 10 pitchers... Next 10 pitchers
1988: 119...110
1990: 116...110
1992: 117...109
1994: 118...112 *
1996: 116...109
1998: 117...110
2000: 113...109
2002: unknown
2004: 108...104

As a point of interest, Don Drysdale, from 1958-1963, threw 106 pitches per start. Koufax, in his prime years, would fit right into the 1988-2000 time period.

As for the durabilty of knukleballers (From Stats.com):
In 1997, Wakefield threw 167 pitches in a game (5 june at Milwaulkee): next 7 starts: 7.54 ERA
In 1996: 162 pitches over 2 days-rest: next 5 starts, 7.77 ERA
In 1993: 172 pitches game, next 8 games: 0-5 with 7.59 ERA

 

[Robert Crawford]

Where in my post did I say today's pitchers are wimps? Please, read my words once again and understand what I said because it has nothing to do with the pitchers makeup of today perse, but how these pitchers are conditioned from the minor leagues up, genetics because every pitcher's body is different and proper pitching mechanics that reduces the stress placed on the throwing arm. Also, pitchers back in the 1960s and early 1970s were pitching in four man rotations with 4-5 teams on the west coast.

Personally, I don't waste my time on arguments on which era was better because there is no way of determining that type of outcome for sure. You can assume some things based on metrics and other variables, but you'll still not really sure.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Koufax only threw 109 to 119 pitches per game during his last five years?!?! I find that hard to believe!

 

[Robert Crawford]

Also, it doesn't take in account the number of games Koufax pitched per year, plus the number of warmup pitches per inning, a pitcher threw back then that constantly went deep into the game. In those days, pitchers used to throw almost everyday to keep their arm loose. I just heard on Mike and Maddog about the famous Bobby Thompson homerun that Don Newcombe of the Brooklyn Dodgers from the end of season to that playoff series threw 32 innings in 8 days.

 

[Jason Seaver]

No DH, lots of teams with good-field no-hit shortstops and catchers, and not a whole lot of players outside of Ted Williams had really figured out that on-base percentage is more important than batting average and accordingly dug in to make the pitcher work.

Also, I gather strikes were occasionally called above the belt back then.