The 7th Inning Stretch a.k.a. MLB 2k7 Season thread (Fantasy baseball included)

General Discussion
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Yeah, Cabrera makes that Detroit lineup beastly. He’s better than everybody else in the lineup currently. It’s just a shame Guillen had to move over to 1st. He was so far above average at short, where he’s probably going to barely be average at first. Still, Granderson, Guillen, Cabrera, and Maggs are enough to field a top 3 offense if everybody else is just league average, and with Verlander/Bonderman/Rogers (maybe)/Willis, they’ve got the starting depth to match anybody in baseball, and they’re still pretty young to boot. They sure gave up some studs for that haul, but I think it was a good trade for both sides.

Maybe Hanley’s defense will improve without Fat Mike next to him.

Just goes to show what a crapshoot the playoffs are. Play 162 games to get there, and it all comes down to best of 5, then best of 7. right.

In other news, Jim Hendry said possibly the dumbest thing I’ve heard a GM say. I’m so sick of him and his bullshit “ape whoever won the World Series’s team build, completely ignoring what the real primary factors were in their winning the series” strategy. The Cubs don’t need a lefty outfielder so seriously. If you can’t find a better hiter than Murton, PLAY MURTON. If you can, get somebody better. Fuck what side of the plate he stands on.

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CRAZY DEAL. MLB offseason is always so much more fun compared to the other sports.

Yeah, if the contract situation was different, I honestly think they’d be better off trying to trade Guillen for equal value as a shortstop still. There’s a bunch of teams that need a shortstop (ie. Toronto, Oakland) and Guillen becomes a very, very good shortstop to just like an average first baseman. It’s a LOT easier to find an average first baseman than it is to find even an average shortstop.

Tigers are insane now though, eh? Miggy alone probably adds like 8-9 wins, which was the difference between them and the Indians last year. Seriously, depending on where Santana ends up (please God, not on the Yankees) the best team in either league is either Boston, Cleveland, or Detroit.

D-Train should be a solid #3, maybe even a solid #2 type guy if he can make the transition over to the AL. Florida’s defense was so bad last year that it probably bumped his ERA up a bit…though I’m too lazy to check his dERA right now.

Good time to be a Tigers fan. Too bad I bought an Indians hat last year already (way back in April, so no band wagoning for me!) and I’m obligated to keep alive the Jays/Tigers rivalry from back in the 80’s, pre-Wild-Card.

I never heard any Burnett/Bedard rumours…and it makes no sense. Any discussions about Bedard would probably start with like McGowan AND one of Rios/Hill or something - Eric Bedard’s wanted by like every team in the league.

We might trade Burnett this winter though, if the offer’s good enough. So we have at least one thing to look out for this offseason as Jays fans.

I heard the Giants rumours were about Cain instead of Lincecum though, and I like that. Cain projects to be better, but Lincecum’s got those sexy, insane strikeout ratios in the minors…I honestly would kill for either of them. Rios isn’t worth it though, we should be looking to lock him up instead of trading him out.

I’m not a particularly huge fan of JP, but not trading Rios last winter was a good move. For one, Rios is awesome, and two, it gave Marcum and McGowan time to shine.

If we do something, it’d probably be for a #2/#3 type pitcher for depth (like every other team in the league) and Adam Lind might be a guy we’d trade away for that. He’s probably the only guy on the roster with any trade value…everyone else is either too good and cheap to trade (Rios, Hill), to expensive (Halladay, Frank Thomas), or guys with off years that make no sense to trade at such low value (Wells, Overbay). If we can dump Glaus on someone that would be awesome, but no one would want his contract/injury risks.

No more Wild Card between Cleveland and Detroit though, and Boston’s going to be impossible to beat out for the AL East too. Ouch. I wish we were in the sucky National League instead.

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That Tigers trade is too good.

The Jays better keep Rios.

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High-payroll teams extorting low-payroll teams of their best players. What’s so fun about that? I want to like baseball but crap like this and the Johan Santana foolishness really makes it difficult.

Anyways I think the Tigers gave up too much. Cabrera’s good but Willis is an overrated pitcher. They have just traded for the hitter and kept one of the prospects.

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I think I’d take Lincecum/Cain for Rios. The deal I was hearing about was Rios/Glaus for Lincecum.

As for Bedard/Burnett, the main thing that entices baltimore is that Burnett is from that area and he’s probably not gonna stick with the Jays anyways. Im sure Baltimore wouldnt do it straight up but I’m sure Hill/Burnett/someone else is probably a better deal than anyone for Jason Bay. Keep in mind Bedard is probably gonna jet too, so I don’t think they’re gonna ask for as much as say Billy Beane with Dan Haren.

As for matrix, the Marlins got a crazy good amount of players from that deal and could very easily win the deal. Maybin/Miller would probably be as highly touted as Phil Hughes/Melky Cabrera if they were in the Yankees/Red Sox system. Detroit tapped out their farm system for this deal, and if they don’t win the WS soon, they could be fucked for a while when their bats start to leave, because Detroit is not a team that can keep them all.

Any team that trades for Johan Santana will probably be ripped off. As good as he is, he is NOT worth Hughes/Cabrera/Mid Level AND the 25 mill worth of players that they will get with Santana’s contract, or Ellsbury/Lowrie/Masterson + 25 mill. Santana has such a high value that there is little chance that the Twins will get the short end of the stick on this deal, unless EVERYONE backs out and they are forced to lower their asking prices. But that shouldnt be until the trade deadline.

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don’t forget the Indians are trying to get Jason Bay.

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willis is washed up now

lost a lot of speed off of his fast ball, walking way more people

last year he got into tons of jams and got out of there because he was facing weak NL lineups

that won’t fly in the AL

tigers were looking to dump him even before they got him, but no one wanted him

at best he’d be a 4th starter on the tigers, probably end up being #5

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also i don’t think this tigers trade is as good as everyone is saying, they replaced one of the best defensive third basement in the league with one of the worst. cabrera will drive in more runs, but his poor defense will cost the tigers a lot of runs too.

if they move cabrera to left field, then thats a different story. jacque jones is almost the same power wise as inge, but the loss of defense isn’t as great.

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That’s true, but that’s really more of a comment on the economic landscape of the sport, and how messed up it from the top level down. That’s another discussion entirely, one I’m in complete agreement with.

I like the idea of a salary cap, and I’d love them to push for one in baseball (though it’ll never, ever happen) but since there isn’t one, there’s more salary dumps, leading to more trades overall, and I’m just saying the more trades there are the more fun offseasons are. That’s why baseball video games are the best. Just the nature of the sport as well - with the depth of each organization and the sheer number of prospects involved…there’s all sorts of trade angles you can improve your team with. Whereas with like basketball and 12/15 man rosters…there’s just not a lot of activity possible there, especially with salary matching.

Rios for Cain/Linceum wouldn’t be that bad, actually - we’d have an absolutely elite rotation with Doc, AJ, McGowan, Linceum, with Marcum/Chacin/Janssen/Purcey/Banks (or maybe even Towers) available as the 5th. Linceum barely has any service time either, and the Jays like that.

We would just have to hope that our offense bounced back (Wells, Overbay, Glaus) and that whoever we replace him in the outfield with (Lind, Reed, Stairs) wouldn’t drop off too far. Risky trade through.

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Here’s what I don’t understand.

WHY DON’T PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THAT MELKY CABRERA IS NOT GOOD?

He has a career high OPS+ of 95 at a strong offensive position. 17 qualified SHORTSTOPS had a higher slugging percentage than Melky. His minor league numbers aren’t good, either, and he’s not a toolsy guy. The ONLY thing he really has going for him is being 22. Where is all this love coming from?

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After making this trade the Florida Marlins have a payroll of $8 million. That borders on criminal. They get much more than that from MLB and TV. Where does all of that money go?

Even if there isn’t a salary cap there should be at least be a salary floor that teams have to reach.

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Cabrera a) doesn’t have to play first base, b) doesn’t exempt Inge from playing, since he can play OF or possibly DH, and c) has plenty of potential to improve defensively, while Inge will never come anywhere in the neighborhood of Cabrera offensively.

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cabrera plays third base and according to http://www.billjamesonline.net/fieldingbible/charts/leaders1-0507.gif

inge made 61 plays a league average 3rd baseman wouldn’t of made and cabrera missed 37 plays a league average 3rd baseman would of made

who cares if inge is playing somewhere else, the point is if cabrera plays third he’s not really helping the team that much since the extra runs he brings on offense are almost offset by his horrible defense

and cabrera has shown nothing in improving defensively, he looks worse each year

florida definately won in the deal

they got rid of a washed up pitcher, lost cabrera but picked up the most talented pitcher from 2006 draft, one of the top 5 prospects in all of baseball in Maybin and lot of potential in Eulogio de la Cruz

hopefully the marlins will trade dan uggla and josh willingham and in 2010 they’ll most likely be in the playoffs with a good shot at the World Series

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I was talking about Cabrera playing OF or DH, although Inge could do that as well. And Cabrera has gotten fat and lazy, and hasn’t appeared to care about anything but hitting. It’s been reported that he’s working with a personal trainer and has lost 15 pounds already, plus he’s freaking 24, so he’s capable of getting much better. And you’re talking like Inge wasn’t freaking awful with the bat last year. A starting third baseman shouldn’t OPS under .700. A starting SHORTSTOP shouldn’t. Yet, there he was with his .312 OBP. And that’s not just a down year, either. His career year last year only held to a .313. Cabrera is easily the best offensive 3rd baseman not named Rodriguez. Inge…is pretty close to the worst offensive 3rd baseman and close to the top offensively. He has room to improve; Inge does not. He’s 24; Inge is 30. Cabrera’s career OBP is .388. Inge’s is .304. Like I said, Cabrera is likely to get better, as he’s still 3 years ahead of his prime. Inge is past his prime and is average at best to begin with (3rd base is an offensive position, so he’s well below average there.)

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Yankees prospects are always highly touted, that’s all I was saying. Maybin/Miller would be as well known as Melky was if they were in a high market farm system.

I don’t think Florida has won the deal because Maybin and Miller both had some problems (Maybin with Strikeouts, Miller who didn’t have great numbers last year and has been known to be very passive), and while the other 3 prospects will probably be MLBers, they probably won’t be that good. (Although I hear De La Cruz was busting 100 mph)

Still way too early to say who won, but it’s looking very good for Detroit right now. While I do think both teams made out great, if Detroit doesnt win, they could be very very screwed for the next few years when everybody leaves.

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hey guys in srk fun league putting up big cash prizes this year

1st place - $100 gift card
2nd - $50 gift card
3rd - $25 gift card

100 DAYS UNTIL SPRING TRAINING!!!

choose from any major retailers like best buy, macys, sears, home depot, starbucks, etc.

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“Marty! We’ve got to go back!”
“Back to the future!”

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Is this the ESPN league? If so was it still gonna be a 4 player keeper league? My team had so many injuries last year, I traded for Strasberg and he got hurt lol.

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So I have to try again? I guess I should go look at my keeper or something?

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I miss 2007 it was a good year for me.

Holy shit it has been 4 years already?