OT: Blues Forum Lounge (Home of All Things OT) - Part XIII

[wannabebluesplayer]

DeJong is a natural 3B anyways, I would love to see an infield of 1B-MATTYC/2B-GYORKO/3B-DEJONG/SS-MACHADO. I am not on this J.Martinez hype train as an everyday 1B. I think you package Dakota Hudson/another pitching prospect with upside+Wong(or Martinez since they have Schoop) for Machado and use ElCafe/Kolten as rest days for the infield/bench bat or replacements for our inevidable 30 DL moves in June...

[/QUOTE]

I wouldn't mind that infield. Munoz is doing fine right now, so I don't think it would be a rush to get Machado, but they can't shy away from the bidding war that will happen this summer. Dude needs to be wearing Cardinal red come next year. All the young pitching in the world is great, but unless you have an offense to back them up, you aren't going anywhere.

 

[Stealth JD]

So...I’d expect this to get about as much response as a basketball question on a hockey forum, but I’ll ask anyways. At what point do you start reasonably arguing for Lebron>MJ? I mean, my heart says it’s undoubtedly MJ as the GOAT...but he had Pippen and Rodman and Kerr and Cartwright and Horace Grant and Kukoc, etc.. Cleveland has Lebron...and the threat of more Lebron. Even if he doesn’t have the perfect Finals record that MJ has, doesn’t the fact that he’s been to 8 straight Championship rounds with some pretty inferior teams speak volumes?

 

[tfriede2]

So...I’d expect this to get about as much response as a basketball question on a hockey forum, but I’ll ask anyways. At what point do you start reasonably arguing for Lebron>MJ? I mean, my heart says it’s undoubtedly MJ as the GOAT...but he had Pippen and Rodman and Kerr and Cartwright and Horace Grant and Kukoc, etc.. Cleveland has Lebron...and the threat of more Lebron. Even if he doesn’t have the perfect Finals record that MJ has, doesn’t the fact that he’s been to 8 straight Championship rounds with some pretty inferior teams speak volumes?

That point was a couple of years ago - it already passed. I’m an MJ person too - grew up watching him. I don’t think it’s clear that one is better than the other, but I surely wouldn’t fault someone for picking James. James is arguably better than Jordan was. Jordan was arguably better than James is.

 

[Lord Helix]

To me, it's scorer vs all around player. Like Gretzky vs an extended peak Fedorov, Datsyuk, etc.

(not to take away from Jordan's defensive ability, so maybe Gretzky isn't the best analog)

 

[yogintheaveragebears]

Gross

 

[The Note]

I’m a pretty open Lebron-basher but I have no problem saying he’s the best player of all time. It’s getting hard to argue against him. The fact he has drug this clown car full of vomit that is the Cavaliers to the Finals is remarkable.

 

[yogintheaveragebears]

Goat? No. In the conversation? Absolutely! Best player right now? Without a doubt

 

[542365]

Kolten Wong with another walk-off homer!

It really highlights how bad giving the win/loss to a pitcher is. Bud Norris comes into the top of the ninth with a one run lead. He proceeds to give up a solo homer to tie the game. Gets out of the inning without allowing another run. Wong comes up in the bottom of the ninth and hits the walk-off and Bud Norris gets the win. Really? He "won" the game? He was the single biggest reason we almost DIDN'T win the game. Why does he get the win?

So many just moronic stats in baseball. Wins, holds, saves, errors etc. all fail to actually show what they set out to measure. They give the "batting title" to the guy with the highest batting average who almost never actually was the most productive offensive player in the league(which being the "batting champion" would suggest that you are). Thankfully we're moving on from some of this stuff, but not all of it. Every time there is a pitching matchup, right behind their name is their Win/Loss record. So incredibly stupid.

+/- in hockey is right up there with these awful stats too. I imagine every sport has them.

 

[Shwabeal]

Kolten Wong with another walk-off homer!

It really highlights how bad giving the win/loss to a pitcher is. Bud Norris comes into the top of the ninth with a one run lead. He proceeds to give up a solo homer to tie the game. Gets out of the inning without allowing another run. Wong comes up in the bottom of the ninth and hits the walk-off and Bud Norris gets the win. Really? He "won" the game? He was the single biggest reason we almost DIDN'T win the game. Why does he get the win?

So many just moronic stats in baseball. Wins, holds, saves, errors etc. all fail to actually show what they set out to measure. They give the "batting title" to the guy with the highest batting average who almost never actually was the most productive offensive player in the league(which being the "batting champion" would suggest that you are). Thankfully we're moving on from some of this stuff, but not all of it. Every time there is a pitching matchup, right behind their name is their Win/Loss record. So incredibly stupid.

+/- in hockey is right up there with these awful stats too. I imagine every sport has them.

Have you read Smart Baseball by Keith Law? Great read that takes a look at a bunch of different topics like W/L record. Pretty short read (I finished it in two sittings). Well worth the cost though.

https://www.amazon.com/Smart-Baseba...qid=1527979223&sr=8-1&keywords=smart+baseball

 

[542365]

Have you read Smart Baseball by Keith Law? Great read that takes a look at a bunch of different topics like W/L record. Pretty short read (I finished it in two sittings). Well worth the cost though.

https://www.amazon.com/Smart-Baseba...qid=1527979223&sr=8-1&keywords=smart+baseball

I haven't. Looks very interesting though. I like a lot of Law's stuff. Thanks.

 

[Memento]

Cardinals select Nolan Gorman with their first round pick (#19 overall). He's a high school third baseman with a ton of raw power. Boom or bust pick.

 

[wannabebluesplayer]

@Memento The Cardinals have a ton of young pitching. They need some young hitting. Not a bad thing to take a chance.

 

[David Dennison]

The pitcher we took yesterday sounds intriguing, high 90s fastball, one of the best sliders in the draft. Sounds like he will be in a MLB bullpen sooner rather than later.

 

[TheDizee]

so does mikey get fired during this season or after it?

 

[Veneficus]

He may get one more year, he won't get anymore than that.

 

[wannabebluesplayer]

He may get one more year, he won't get anymore than that.

No, if the Cardinals miss the playoffs again, I cant' see Matheny staying. Fans will be going absolutely bonkers and the Front Office will have to do something. Honestly, I'm more surprised Mabry still has a job to this point. This offense is all singles and home runs, boom or bust, nothing in between. I was listenting to Bernie on the way in to work today, on 101.1, and he was talking about how the Cardinals are also one of the top teams in called strikes, looking at a lot of attack-able pitches. I agree with Bernie, that's a philosphy thing that I could see Mabry teaching and it could be why some players are slumping. The initial thought at the beginning of the season was Carpenter, Pham, and Fowler would get on base and Ozuna would just drive them in. That didn't pan out because Carpenter, Pham, and Fowler weren't getting on base and Ozuna wasn't hitting and I'm starting to think a large part of that is because they were instructed to see more pitches. It's starting to feel like the moneyball philosophy of offense.