Thoughts on the 2nd half of MLB

[Burkex]

Originally Posted by sticktastic

He is one of the most productive lead off hitter's we have ever seen. You do understand what his job is right? His primary role is to get on base....not hit home runs. If "slapping" the ball was that easy to do, and everyone could do it, I assure you they would, last I checked getting on base was a good thing. Next thing, speed. Speed is the one irreplaceable thing for a lead off hitter, he needs to be fast, so by you saying "dropping a sissy little bunt and beating it out because he has speed" is just silly. Did you see the post game conference last night? Leyland said ichiro hit more "effortless" home runs in BP then anyone else. Which has been said before by others, just wasnt on national television. The man has driving power. It just isnt his job. You ask anyone in MLB who they want as a lead off man and I bet you ichiro is their choice, even with him being a little older than reyes and the other 1 or 2 good lead off hitters. I would take the "slap hitting bitch" on my team any day of the week.

QFT

I think Ichiro is one of the best hitters to play the game. Home Runs are crap these days, guys that can get 2-3 base hits a game are where it's at. These big oafs that just go up there and swing for the fences and hit 50 homeruns and strike out 300 times a year are fun to watch their long homeruns but when was one of these home run hitters on a good team? When did they REALLy help their team to get to the playoffs? When they get on base they are usually slow as hell and the only position most of them can play is first base, DH, or left field, and in left field they tend to suck...I am thinking of a home run that bounced of Jose Canseco's head. When Big Mac hit all his homers his team sucked. It's because they strike out a ton and play selfless baseball and not team baseball.

You also forgot to mention that Ichiro is an amazing fielder with a gun for an arm. He has some amazing highlights where he has thrown out guys from the warning track that are trying to tag up.

He is wasted in Seattle though, he really needs to sign/get traded to the Red Sox. Please someone make it happen.

[sticktastic]

Yeah I agree, he is wasting away in seattle. I believe they are about to sign him for 100mil extension tho. Another thing i wonder about tho, is if Ichiro would even want to play in boston, simply because of the well known and documented racial divides in that city. That chinese NBA guy Yi that got drafted had a few cities he had said he would play for, based off of asian population and seattle was on that list. So maybe Ichiro is happy making all that jack, and being on a mediocre team as long as he can go out and not have to stare at asian haters during the off season .

[kcxiv]

Originally Posted by Kirun

I don't understand the love for Ichiro. He always has been and always will be a slap-hitting bitch that relies purely on his speed to get on base. I don't really see how that's admirable at all.

wow, i dont beleive i actually read a post like this.'


Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+ TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
2001 27 SEA AL 157 692 127 242 34 8 8 69 56 14 30 53 .350 .381 .457 127 316 4 4 10 8 3 SS,MVP-1,RoY-1,AS
2002 28 SEA AL 157 647 111 208 27 8 8 51 31 15 68 62 .321 .388 .425 125 275 3 5 27 5 8 MVP-17,AS
2003 29 SEA AL 159 679 111 212 29 8 13 62 34 8 36 69 .312 .352 .436 110 296 3 1 7 6 3 MVP-23,AS
2004 30 SEA AL 161 704 101 262 24 5 8 60 36 11 49 63 .372 .414 .455 135 320 2 3 19 4 6 MVP-7,AS
2005 31 SEA AL 162 679 111 206 21 12 15 68 33 8 48 66 .303 .350 .436 109 296 2 6 23 4 5 AS
2006 32 SEA AL 161 695 110 224 20 9 9 49 45 2 49 71 .322 .370 .416 109 289 1 2 16 5 2 MVP-15,AS
2007 33 SEA AL 85 357 61 128 13 4 5 39 23 2 31 35


Has never had less then 200 hits. (that is amazing)

Never batted below 300 (amazing again)

Never missed more then 5 games in a season since playing in the Majors.

Hasnt struck out more then 71 times in a season.

Has scored more then 100 times in each season.

[Akileese]

Kurin, people like you is why I hate the steroid era.

Ichiro fucking changed baseball. Guys are looking for the next Ichiro. The speedy leadoff guy with above-average defense and a .400 OBP WHO DOESN'T EVEN WALK! Imagine what would happen if he could draw 90 walks a season? He has a career .333 average in the majors and he avgs 226 hits a year. So yeah, a guy with over a .800 career OPS isn't a hall of famer. Ichiro is going to be the first player to cross over FROM Japan to make it into the HOF.

Guys like him are ridiculously valuable. One of the most important things to a team is having a lead off guy who can get on base. 2005 was his worst season in MLB and he improved last year and now he's on pace to beat his stats from last year.

Best thing about slap hitters is that unless they blow their legs out, they're always valuable because they don't rely on strength. Even if his defense becomes a liability, you could always DH him (although as long as he keeps his legs, he'll always have the speed to be an above-average outfielder.

[kcxiv]

Ichiro is a way way better Brett Butler, and Butler was a pretty damn good player. heh

[Duppin]

Originally Posted by Burkex

He is wasted in Seattle though, he really needs to sign/get traded to the Red Sox. Please someone make it happen.

I'll cut you.

[Pharazon]

Originally Posted by Burkex

QFT

Home Runs are crap these days, guys that can get 2-3 base hits a game are where it's at. These big oafs that just go up there and swing for the fences and hit 50 homeruns and strike out 300 times a year are fun to watch their long homeruns but when was one of these home run hitters on a good team? When did they REALLy help their team to get to the playoffs? When they get on base they are usually slow as hell and the only position most of them can play is first base, DH, or left field, and in left field they tend to suck...I am thinking of a home run that bounced of Jose Canseco's head. When Big Mac hit all his homers his team sucked. It's because they strike out a ton and play selfless baseball and not team baseball.

No doubt its great to have players that can play small ball, but you need guys with power these days too. Obviously the more a guy strikes out, the lower his average is, the less valuable he is to the team. But good power hitters help their teams win as much as the next guy, pretty silly to classify them all as selfish players. Since you mention Canseco and McGwire after saying guys like these don't help their team to the playoffs, I'll remind you that they helped their team get to the WS 3 years in a row. Yeah, they had the greatest leadoff hitter of all time of those teams, but they drove him in a hell of a lot. You need both.

[Mimirswell]

Ichiro became the first player to hit an inside-the-park home run in an All-Star game last night.

[Akileese]

Travis Hafner just resigned with Cleveland. 4/56 with a 5th year club option. He's now locked up till 2013. Sabathia is DEFINITELY next to be locked up by Cleveland.

As for Hafner, he took a substantial discount to stay in Cleveland. He probably could of got a 5th year guaranteed with a 6th year option and 16-17 a year as oppose to 14 a year (not even since it seems as though part of the contract front-loads his 07-08 salary).

This is the new trend in baseball. Guys taking hometown discounts to stay with their teams. Poor Toronto though. Vernon Wells has been putrid.

[Thorpe]

My only problem with Ichiro is that he won Rookie of the Year. Yes, I know it was his first year in the MLB, but come on. Other than that, he is one of if not the best CF in the game today. He may have a slightly weaker arm than Guerrero, but he has one of the most accurate arms in the game. He is also just about impossible to pitch around. He can hit just about anything you throw at him. After his first season, everyone said MLB pitchers would figure him out. Well, its been seven years and they still haven't figured him out.

As for what I hope happens in the second half, I pray that the Phillies get their act together. It sucks that a team that started the season with six starters now has a starting rotation filled out with rookies. Any kind of improvement with the rotation would greatly improve the team leading the NL in scoring. Getting Myers back in the closer role will be a great help since our current bullpen can't do shit.

Other than that, I just want the Yankees to miss the playoffs.

[Ham n Cheese]

That's close to market for Hafner. Would've probably got Carlos Lee money, but 1B is a loaded position in MLB and they're paying close to what he'd get if he left so I don't see that as a substantial discount.

edit: i assumed he was having a down year when I read that to and I just checked and he's playing pretty awful for a $15m/year man. .262 and 14 HR? Yeah I don't see that as much of a discount.

[Akileese]

Originally Posted by Ham n Cheese

That's close to market for Hafner. Would've probably got Carlos Lee money, but 1B is a loaded position in MLB and they're paying close to what he'd get if he left so I don't see that as a substantial discount.

edit: i assumed he was having a down year when I read that to and I just checked and he's playing pretty awful for a $15m/year man. .262 and 14 HR? Yeah I don't see that as much of a discount.

Internal speculation from most people around him said that his contract situation was really hindering his performance. On top of that, power numbers are pretty much WAY down this year. Guys like Manny, Ortiz, Hafner, Delgado, etc. They're all batting way below their career avgs in home runs, rbis, avg, slugging, OBPS, and pretty much any other offensive category you can think of.

As for Hafner, the compartivie was Ortiz's 4/52 (which was fairly different because Hafner is getting part of that 56 loaded into his current deal in bonus form I believe since his base 07-08 salary is pretty much shit). Hafner is a lot like Ortiz. He's not a poor defensive first baseman, but when you have 1 or 2 internal options that are significantly better, why not DH him? First base is deep I will agree, but I still think he could of gotten a 5/80 guaranteed as oppose to 5/65 with the 5th year and 13 million being an option. I'm really not looking too much into the sagging power numbers this year. A lot of pitchers are having career years and more importantly, a lot of young unknonw pitchers are coming up through the ranks and having great years. I'm pretty sure it will all even out in the second half.

[Ham n Cheese]

Yeah I think he probably could've got 80/5 on the open market, assuming he didn't keep sucking all season long. They're saying Andruw Jones' season is so bad he might have to accept a 1 year deal somewhere to repair it. I don't think that's the case as $ is crazy when Gary matthews is getting $10m a year.

[Blumpster]

I've tended to agree about Ichiro being wasted in Seattle. After their '01 HOLY FUCK WHO ARE THE MARINERS? season it seemed like it was over. That said, I wouldn't want him going to the Red Sox. I fucking hate big market baseball. The games at Safeco with the Sox in town have tons of red hats in the stands. They've always been a big team with a good fan base, but after their comeback against the Yankees and the whole "breaking the curse" bullshit they have become a huge bandwagon. It's really cool to be a Boston fan these days, unlike the past where it was seen as a masochistic endeavor. I actually do like the team, and was pretty pumped when they won, but it seems like a lot of people were all too quick to jump onto something great and claim to be a part of it.

This year it's different. Lacking a big name slugger, and an ace pitcher (ok, Felix is close) this team is coming together. If they really are benching Vidro that's probably the biggest step the team can take to becoming more successful. That guy is just terrible. Ichiro is worth 20m a year. If you're questioning that I'm shocked. He's getting old, yea, but he's showed zero signs of slowing down yet, and even when he does start to slow down it'll still take years for him to become the "mediocre old guy" like Maddux and Wells are, and Henderson was when every time he got a hit every shit their pants. I love it when teams like the Marlins or Blue Jays win the world series but nobody remembers. They just focus on the failure of the teams with huge fan bases and how lousy they played. Sports journalism is just as biased as political journalism, and ESPN is a huge culprit.

The stats don't lie and that's really what I focus on, and Ichiro IS worth 20m and Seattle does deserve to have him on the team. Jeff Weaver is the man.

[Duppin]

Blumpster, I agreed with you until...

Originally Posted by Blumpster

Jeff Weaver is the man.

Now, I question your sanity.