Ian Snell calls it a career

by Brakeman8 on Mar 15, 2011 3:52 PM EDT

MLB Trade Rumors is reporting that former Pirates pitcher Ian Snell has retired. St. Louis sent Snell to its minor league camp and he instead elected to retir. Snell, 29, had signed a minor league contract with the Cardinals in January after being let go by the Mariners.

Snell's best season was 2007 with Pittsburgh, when he posted a 3.76 ERA in 208 innings. That performance earned him a three-year, $8.6MM extension. He became a headcase and quickly lost effectiveness by the time the ink dried.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of the managing editor (Charlie) or SB Nation. FanPosts are written by Bucs Dugout readers.

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wow!

I just came to link this. Boy, that was quick!

A pity, too, that he lost it in such spectacular fashion. I half-expect he’d consider coming back out of retirement, but there mayn’t be too many offers…

by BurgherKing on Mar 15, 2011 3:55 PM EDT reply actions

Seems like Ian would be happier doing something other than baseball.

by Thunder on Mar 15, 2011 3:56 PM EDT reply actions

About 8 million

other things.

Free your ass and your mind will follow.

by cocktailsfor2 on Mar 15, 2011 4:11 PM EDT up reply actions

so...

he’d do money?
Isn’t it an offense to defile currency?

that’s a lot of washingtons.

by BlindSquirrel on Mar 15, 2011 11:21 PM EDT up reply actions

FANSHOT FANSHOT FANSHOT

You can’t just copy the MLBTR article and call it your own. Just saying at the beginning “MLBTR is reporting that…” and then cut and paste the whole thing is not cool.

Compare to original article

by Wizard of Woz on Mar 15, 2011 4:18 PM EDT reply actions

Look at this

Texas might want a closer
and compare to this

Canyoudigit takes the MLBTR article, and writes his own, using them as a reference.

by Wizard of Woz on Mar 15, 2011 4:20 PM EDT up reply actions

Sorry...whatever your name is this week.

I didn’t know you ran this site.

by Brakeman8 on Mar 17, 2011 12:12 AM EDT up reply actions

Whatever my name is this week?

First, I have never posted under a different name. I am definitely not one tf the multinamed people. Check my profile, since I joined SB nation, I have commented on this and other sites. I have commented here with regularity, not popping in to start fights and leaving. You must have me confused with someone else.
Secondly, not trying to say I run the site, it is just offensive to me when people claim someone else’s work and call it their own. It is called a fan post because it is supposed to be an original post from a fan. Not trying to be a jerk, just to add some advice, which is partially what the comment site is about. I didn’t flag it as plagiarism, or anything like that. No need to be so defensive.

by Wizard of Woz on Mar 17, 2011 9:51 AM EDT up reply actions

Not trying to be a jerk???

Really??? Shouting “FANSHOT FANSHOT FANSHOT” means that is exactly what you are being. Sorry if I got your panties in a wad. Not trying to be a jerk or anything, but when you type in all caps, people understand that to be shouting. No need for you to be defensive, but be prepared for a response when you call someone out in that manner.

Having a degree in jorunalism and having worked as a sports writer for both a local paper and the AP I always try to credit the source material. Linking the material may be “lazy,” but certainly not required. Had I left out where I obtained the information from, then you certainly could have flagged the post.

There are very few people posting on these sites that are getting their information first hand, so you could certainly argue that the majority of posts on this site are all “stolen” by your thin definition.

And in the words of Forrest Gump, “That’s all I have to say about that.” Perhaps I should like to that….

by Brakeman8 on Mar 17, 2011 12:08 PM EDT up reply actions

Agree to disagree I guess

I see the majority of the posts on this site as information or opinion that is largely original. If you see most of it as directly ripped off of someone else, then I guess we see things differently. Your degree in journalism should hold you to a higher standard. You say you credit the source material, but as Vlad pointed out, you didn’t even do that. You sited (without a link) an article who was linking to the original material. No mention of the reporter, BJ Rains, in your post. Are you honestly telling me that your approach to this would have been acceptable in any of your journalism or English classes? I know that this is a blog, so the standards for accreditation are lower, but not even a mention?
I feel it is you who got your panties in a bunch, no need to be defensive, just pointing out something that is obviously a habit with you.
Maybe I’m out of line, if so, someone else please let me know.

by Wizard of Woz on Mar 17, 2011 1:20 PM EDT up reply actions

Jeeeezuss....

Yes, Woz, you were a bit harsh with the ALL-CAPS admonishment. We’re not dealing with evan meek here.

Yes, Brakes, you over-reacted in calling Woz “whatever your name is this week.” Woz is not melikie, or CUNNING or p21 or primetime.

And yes, Brakes, you shoulda provided a link, at least.

Awright? Can this be over, now?

Free your ass and your mind will follow.

by cocktailsfor2 on Mar 17, 2011 2:18 PM EDT up reply actions

agreed

lots of stuff being taken personally these days, apparently… clearly, we cant wait for the winter to get over…

by BurgherKing on Mar 17, 2011 2:32 PM EDT up reply actions

I extend an olive brance to Brake

Sorry for yelling. and anything personal. See you at the gathering?

by Wizard of Woz on Mar 17, 2011 2:35 PM EDT up reply actions

your placations

offend me sir! Have at you!

by BlindSquirrel on Mar 17, 2011 8:46 PM EDT up reply actions

Also,

I just looked through your history of posts, and it seems like many of them follow the same pattern of changing a word or two from a previously published report, and claiming it as your own. You don’t even link to the source material. This seems sloppy and lazy. I appreciate the content, but this (Fanposts) isn’t the forum for this. FanShots are. That is the way the site (SB Nation) is set up. There is a reason for the organization of the site, like it or not.

by Wizard of Woz on Mar 17, 2011 9:56 AM EDT up reply actions

Also:

It isn’t MLBTR who’s reporting that Snell has retired. It’s BJ Rains of FOX Sports, via Twitter. MLBTR is just linking to Rains’s report.

by Vlad on Mar 15, 2011 4:38 PM EDT up reply actions

Doesn`t Look Good for Huntington

Maholm extension – then tanked
Doumit extension – then tanked
Snell extension – then tanked
Jack Wilson extension – then tanked

Maybe we should wait for another 100 loss season before trying to sign McCutchen to an extension

by bmcferren on Mar 15, 2011 4:19 PM EDT reply actions

The Maholm extension is OK, but the others were bombs. Capps also bombed, also the Mclouth deal failed, but only after we traded him.

Over all, I think they’re more bad luck than anything. On paper, if you sign guys in their prime after a successful year, the expectation is that most will produce decently.

by Adam Reynolds on Mar 15, 2011 4:26 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

The McLouth deal wasn't a failure

It may have made him more trade worthy, as he appeared to be locked in at a reasonable salary.

by BarryJT on Mar 15, 2011 10:16 PM EDT up reply actions

You forgot

McLouth extension, then tanked.

I don’t really see Maholm as having tanked, though. His team option year is right near the free market value for a pitcher of his caliber. I think he will have to go down some in price, though.

by MarkInDallas on Mar 15, 2011 4:27 PM EDT up reply actions

Kendall extension and Giles extension were better than these ones

you might even argue that the K Young extension was as least as good as these mentioned above

by bmcferren on Mar 15, 2011 4:42 PM EDT up reply actions

Are you joking?

Kevin Young made $24 million over 4 years. His OPS+ was 84 during that four years.

Ryan Doumit will make $11.5 million over three years (the Pirates will not exercise his 12-13 options). His OPS+ has been 95 so far.

During his time with the Pirates, they paid Ian Snell $4.1 million over 2 years. That’s pretty cheap, no where near KY price range. Club options would have taken it there, but that’s why teams do club options, they don’t wanna get stuck with a bad contract or losing out on a good player.

Maholm is under a $14.5 million contract for three years with a club option for next year which would still have him at $2 million less than Kevin Young made for four years.

So no, I don’t see how you can argue that the Kevin Young contract was at least as good as these.

by IAPiratesFan on Mar 15, 2011 5:32 PM EDT up reply actions

KY had a better year in 1999 than any of those others have had in their career

http://www.nytimes.com/1999/03/07/sports/baseball-spring-training-kevin-young-signs-pirates-richest-deal.html

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/y/youngke01.shtml

by bmcferren on Mar 15, 2011 5:58 PM EDT up reply actions

Young was already under contract for 1999...

…at the time he signed his extension. See here.

Young’s extension covered the 2000-2003 seasons, and in all four of those he was well below average.

by Vlad on Mar 15, 2011 6:11 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

He put up

a .909 OPS and a 5.4 WAR the year before the extension kicked in. How, exactly, were they supposed to see the train wreck coming, other than the fact he was 30? With exception of one year, his OPSes had gone up every year from age 25 to age 29, from .577 to .909. The guy looked like he was going to keep getting better.

Terrible deal in hindsight but it looked like a good deal AT THE TIME, is all I’m sayin’.

by bucdaddy on Mar 16, 2011 10:22 AM EDT up reply actions

How, exactly, were they supposed to see the train wreck coming, other than the fact he was 30?

He was known to have a degenerative knee condition, and yet they didn’t have him take a new physical before signing the extension, in order to assess the state of the knee.

If they had, then they might have realized that it was in bad enough shape to make an extension like the one Young signed a bad idea.

With exception of one year, his OPSes had gone up every year from age 25 to age 29, from .577 to .909.

When you start out at .577, you can make a large number of small improvements without actually ending up as a particularly productive player.

Young was an above-average regular in 1997 and 1999, and an acceptable-ish regular in 1998. That’s pretty much the sum total of his accomplishments up to that point.

from age 25 to age 29…The guy looked like he was going to keep getting better.

That’s part of the problem, right there. Players tend to go downhill once they enter their 30s, rather than improving or even remaining at their most recent level of ability.

by Vlad on Mar 16, 2011 11:21 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

Can't argue with you about the knee

However, he wasn’t making “small improvement,” he was making pretty big leaps. Even at turning 30, why should he have fallen off a cliff? He could have just as well slid backward at the rate he improved (.850, then .800) and still have been a reasonably productive player for a few more years instead of a disaster.

I dunno, the knees … turning 30 … just forgetting how to hit? A combination of everything? I don’t know how to forecast such a decline with certainty.

by bucdaddy on Mar 16, 2011 2:45 PM EDT up reply actions

Yes.

But I didn’t count 1999 since as Vlad said, he was already under contract for that season. I only counted the 2000-2003 as those were the years that covered the insane four year contract.

by IAPiratesFan on Mar 15, 2011 9:46 PM EDT up reply actions

FTFY:

McLouth extension, then traded for potentially useful players, then tanked.

by IAPiratesFan on Mar 15, 2011 5:36 PM EDT up reply actions

He extended Jack Wilson?

When was that?

by IAPiratesFan on Mar 15, 2011 4:57 PM EDT up reply actions

Huntington did not extend Jack Wilson.

Link:

Wilson’s salary for the coming season will remain $4.6 million, but he will receive a $600,000 signing bonus. He will earn $5.25 million in 2007, $6.5 million in 2008 and $7.25 million in 2009.

by IAPiratesFan on Mar 15, 2011 5:01 PM EDT up reply actions

Of course

Maholm extension – then tanked – but he’s our #1 starter, so we have to love him
Doumit extension – then tanked – and on the way out the door
Snell extension – then tanked – for someone else
Jack Wilson extension – then tanked – for someone else
McLouth extension – then traded – then a shrine was built, he got Lasik, blamed our docs – and tanked for someone else.

Hey at least we’re now willing to show the bums the door rather than keeping them cluttering up our team.

"Who is John Galt?"

by Trogluddite on Mar 15, 2011 9:24 PM EDT up reply actions

To tell you the truth, I think these may have been Coonelly decisions

they were around the same time as the nixed Bay for Lee/Shoppach trade

by bmcferren on Mar 15, 2011 4:41 PM EDT reply actions

For the record:

Coonelly said when we interviewed him that he didn’t nix a Bay for Lee/Shoppach trade.

by Vlad on Mar 15, 2011 4:49 PM EDT up reply actions

Everyone always said Snell was a reliever when he was coming up

surprised he never gave that a shot

by bmcferren on Mar 15, 2011 4:45 PM EDT reply actions

He didn't want to relieve.

And our rotation at that point was awful.

by Vlad on Mar 15, 2011 4:50 PM EDT up reply actions

Sounds like...

Olsen now.

by Thunder on Mar 15, 2011 4:54 PM EDT up reply actions

cage match

sign ollie, then royal rumble

by bmcferren on Mar 15, 2011 5:05 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

royal rumble

+1!

by BurgherKing on Mar 15, 2011 5:15 PM EDT up reply actions

I kind of assumed Snell was at least nominally part of a competition for the 5th starter spot with the Cardinals, but I just now looked up his spring stats and it turns out he only made one appearance on March 3. He threw 2 innings, gave up 2 runs on 4 hits, and never made it back on the field. I assume they just weren’t seeing anything from him during his bullpens.

by ElDuce on Mar 15, 2011 4:46 PM EDT reply actions

For Ian Snell I foresee......

a failed attempt at a MMA career, another name change and a stint on a reality show.

by Kev S on Mar 15, 2011 5:17 PM EDT reply actions

Uh oh.

I missed this thread. Charlie’s going to be having regrets about now . . . .

You're entitled to your own opinions. You're not entitled to your own facts.

by WTM on Mar 15, 2011 5:23 PM EDT reply actions

OBN

WTM, any idea why I cant find a registration page that works for OBN? Has it reached its max no of users?

by BurgherKing on Mar 15, 2011 5:40 PM EDT up reply actions

The admins closed registration a while ago due to a persistent troll problem.

You're entitled to your own opinions. You're not entitled to your own facts.

by WTM on Mar 15, 2011 5:45 PM EDT up reply actions

oh well

too bad… it seems like a nice board…

by BurgherKing on Mar 15, 2011 5:52 PM EDT up reply actions

Funny

I thought Ian liked AAA.

by MDBuc on Mar 15, 2011 5:31 PM EDT reply actions

maybe they said AA

by BurgherKing on Mar 15, 2011 5:34 PM EDT up reply actions

Rhetorical Question

Isn’t implying that someone has a drinking problem (by suggesting that he liked Alcoholics Anonymous) making a serious allegation without any evidence? ;-p

"Who is John Galt?"

by Trogluddite on Mar 15, 2011 9:27 PM EDT up reply actions

maybe its "hey hey hey"

by white angus on Mar 15, 2011 10:34 PM EDT up reply actions

at least 1/2 this board is too young to recognize Dwayne from What’s Happenin’. Sadly I am not in the younger 1/2.

Yinzers uber alles

by BostonBuc on Mar 15, 2011 11:46 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

Wait a second

“Hey, Hey, Hey” is Fat Albert from Fat Albert and the Gang (a cartoon, which back in the stone ages were only on Saturday morning) or from Bill Cosby’s comedy records (also a stone age reference).

Surely, Bill Cosby didn’t get ripped off on his signature character, did he?

"Who is John Galt?"

by Trogluddite on Mar 15, 2011 11:58 PM EDT up reply actions

Shockingly someone took the time to write at Wikipedia about that very similarity:

Dwayne’s character is well known for his greeting, “Hey, Hey, Hey,Hey!” (which differs slightly from the “Hey, Hey, Hey!” greeting of Bill Cosby’s Fat Albert character).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What’s_Happening!!

Yinzers uber alles

by BostonBuc on Mar 16, 2011 8:36 AM EDT up reply actions

as a fan of whats happening, rahj/dee/rerun/dwayne, i think im right when i say that it was "hey hey heyyyyyyyy"

i dont remember a fourth “hey” in there

by white angus on Mar 16, 2011 8:55 AM EDT up reply actions

Correct. Who knew Wiki could be wrong :) it was only 3 Heys.

For the young ‘uns. Dwayne’s voice was much higher than Fat Albert’s and his voice rose with each Hey. He also held out the last Hey.

I never really thought of these being similar until this thread, but I also haven’t thought about that show in 20 years.

Yinzers uber alles

by BostonBuc on Mar 16, 2011 9:02 AM EDT up reply actions

I must be a "young'un".

Because I have no idea who that is.

by IAPiratesFan on Mar 16, 2011 11:54 AM EDT up reply actions

…and his voice rose with each Hey. He also held out the last Hey.

Nope. The second “hey/hay”was emphasized, as “Hay HAY hay.”

See link below.

Free your ass and your mind will follow.

by cocktailsfor2 on Mar 16, 2011 1:17 PM EDT up reply actions

Okay, look:

Here’s how they went:

Fat Albert: About the 10 second and 1:00 marks (cannot find original “Buck Buck” routine) Hey, hey, heyyyy

Dwayne from “What’s Happening”: At 2:40 Hey HAY hey

Free your ass and your mind will follow.

by cocktailsfor2 on Mar 16, 2011 12:29 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs

And

you’re all welcome.

Free your ass and your mind will follow.

by cocktailsfor2 on Mar 16, 2011 12:29 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm really glad we cleared this up

now I can sleep soundly at night again.

by Garrett122 on Mar 16, 2011 12:52 PM EDT up reply actions

Free your ass and your mind will follow.

by cocktailsfor2 on Mar 16, 2011 1:17 PM EDT up reply actions

I’m guessing that isn’t a pic of you, but every time you post, I imagine that guy.

by Wizard of Woz on Mar 16, 2011 4:40 PM EDT up reply actions

I have hair.

And I hope to God I’m younger than him.

Free your ass and your mind will follow.

by cocktailsfor2 on Mar 16, 2011 7:52 PM EDT up reply actions

Not for long.

(Hey, not for long for ME, either.)

by bucdaddy on Mar 17, 2011 9:50 AM EDT up reply actions

You bastard,

you’ll get yours come June 4.

Free your ass and your mind will follow.

by cocktailsfor2 on Mar 17, 2011 10:29 AM EDT up reply actions

get a room already.

by white angus on Mar 17, 2011 11:48 AM EDT up reply actions

Have tripod, will travel

Just in case you want to document it.

by Wizard of Woz on Mar 17, 2011 1:20 PM EDT up reply actions

Sure,

I hear there’s a hot trend in Senior Porn.

by bucdaddy on Mar 17, 2011 1:38 PM EDT up reply actions

We prefer to call them Mature Couples

and GILFs

by Wizard of Woz on Mar 17, 2011 1:39 PM EDT up reply actions

Thanks. I knew someone would find an audio.

Yinzers uber alles

by BostonBuc on Mar 19, 2011 8:07 AM EDT up reply actions

well

except that having a drinking problem is not illegal, or prohibited by the rules of MLB. In fact, it often leads to leadership positions in the St. Louis organization.

by Garrett122 on Mar 15, 2011 11:03 PM EDT up reply actions

Guess we'll find out

if Miguel Cabrera is suspended, assuming that some charge sticks from his DUI arrest. Who’s the last baseball player to be suspended for “the good of the game” a la Big Ben?

"Who is John Galt?"

by Trogluddite on Mar 15, 2011 11:56 PM EDT up reply actions

pretty much anyone caught using PED's... yes?

by white angus on Mar 16, 2011 6:42 AM EDT up reply actions

Pete Rose

by Wizard of Woz on Mar 16, 2011 9:22 AM EDT up reply actions

well not really

Cabrera’s case doesn’t really disprove my point — having a drinking problem isn’t illegal, but DUI certainly is. (And in Miggy’s case, chugging a bottle of scotch in front of the arresting officer and telling him to shoot you is probably pretty illegal too.)

by Garrett122 on Mar 16, 2011 9:26 AM EDT up reply actions