-P- Yay!
-P- Class A+ Lynchburg's manager and former pitching coach both had their pay docked for letting Daniel Moskos go six pitches over his pitch count limit. That's hardcore, but it's probably a good thing.
-P- Last night's loss aside, this season hasn't really been a terrible one for the Pirates, and I have to admit I feel a little bit baffled by each win. It's nice to be able to enjoy someone else's misery for once -- there are a lot of teams who have it just as bad as or worse than we do right now, at least in the standings. So!
Back in December, writing the Jeter comment for this year's Baseball Prospectus annual, I said, "For years, Jeter's offense has made him a net positive at shortstop despite his defense. The second half of 2007, taken together with his age, suggests that the day of reckoning may finally have arrived." Emphasis on "may" added-if you have the book, you will note that the qualifier isn't there. Cliff Corcoran, who reviewed the text in his sagacious way, and an experienced follower of the Yankees in his own right, argued that we should strike it, making the statement more definitive: "The day of reckoning has finally arrived."
"Argue" is probably too strong a word for what Cliff did, as I didn't argue with him. I noted the change and mentally shrugged, saying, "He's right. By all available evidence, the time has come." Yet, in the back of my mind, I was still hedging. "This is Derek Jeter! He's got an edge, baby!" (Of course he does; he's the only one who can afford the gas.) As time has gone by, I've become more convinced that that change was the right one, and become grateful for it, as Jeter's performance has borne out the more emphatic prediction.
Lots of people had “the nerve” to tell you that you did a horrible job building this roster, Bill. Lots of people pointed out that this team wasn’t a contender. Lots of people told you that you that you had a roster setup for failure, with collapse potential everywhere. You just don’t listen to those people, because they’re nerds with computers who don’t understand baseball. Or something.
But you don’t get to rewrite history. We knew this team wasn’t good, and we spent the entire offseason trying to tell you that. You ignored us at your own peril, and you built a terrible baseball team for $117 million. That’s your fault.
I arrived home in time to see 14-4, but I did not stick around for 20-5. That Jorge De La Rosa trade just keeps paying dividends, huh? This game was like the Rockies of this season facing their mirror image, a team that got hits every time there were runners on base to be knocked in. Perhaps with the Diamondbacks having taken their licks the Phillies are now working on completing their revenge for the playoff sweeps last fall.
The real culprit for this montrosity is, of course, the sorry state of Rockies pitching taken as a whole. Save for Aaron Cook the starting rotation is a shambles. While the bullpen has some bright spots -- Taylor Buchholz, whom the Rockies seem determined to never start in any circumstances, ever, has a sub-1.00 WHIP, Brian Fuentes is doing his thing, and until they both took it on the chin tonight, veterans Jason Grilli and Matt Herges were holding it down. However, after that, things get scary, and what's as striking as the high ERA's is the sheer number of hurlers that Colorado has used this season. It's nineteen. And it's May!
Over the past three years, MetsGeek has provided readers with top-notch analysis and writing about the New York Mets. I regret to inform you that those days have passed. Writing about the team just became too much for our staff to take. The Mets’ play has been so disappointing in 2008, that we just couldn’t bring ourselves to write another word on this team. Something needed to change.
Eric called a meeting at the MetsGeek offices. We threw some ideas around to liven the site up again, but, in the end, the staff unanimously agreed to just drop the Mets gimmick. We’re tired of this team, and we felt it was time to attach ourselves to a new beacon of light and hope: the Tampa Bay Rays.
If you're a fan of one of these teams and you happen to read this, I apologize. But it could be worse. You could have teams like this every year.