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Grant Brisbee
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Jeff Sullivan
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Rob Neyer
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Albert Pujols Finally Driving In Runs, Still Not Walking - May 25
Dan Moore
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Joey Votto And The Twilight Of The Giant First Basemen - Apr 14
Jason Brannon
Hot Corner Scribe
The 9th Inning Is Different - May 25
Jim Baker
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eBay Item Of The Day - May 25
Marc Normandin
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What's Wrong With Ike Davis? - May 25
Wendy Thurm
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Baseball On Par With Other Professional Sports In Dealing With Bad Umpires - May 20
Newspapers and TV and the Internet are just so 20th Century. We rely on Twitter for our breaking news and our hard-hitting analysis!
Jan 24, 2012 - Twitter is the second-greatest baseball-related invention.
3. Bill James.
2. Twitter.
1. Striped socks.
I love my job, but every moment that I'm writing or editing is a moment when I'm not simply staring at my computer screen, and watching the latest goodies populate my Twitter feed.
Here's a curated sample of tweets from today's Prince Fielder flurry ...
ESPN's Karl Ravech:
Great day for prince but is this a good day for competitive balance in baseball?
It's not a great day for competitive balance in the American League Central. Not in the short term, anyway. But it's good to see different teams spending money. While the Yankees are always going to dominate with their dollars, at least the Angels and the Rangers and the Tigers are going to keep the Red Sox company in that next tier.
As for the National League, I say to hell with those Pantheists!
Average salaries, first basemen: Howard $25M, Pujols $24M, Prince $23.8M, Teixeira $22.5M, Adrian $22M.
Yeah. Prince Fielder is going to make nearly as much money as Albert Pujols ... and Ryan Howard is going to make more. I know this is Scott Boras Day and he deserves it. But shouldn't some sort of big trophy be sent to Ryan Howard's agent. Or just a big bit of modern art that just says +1 for his office wall?
The Tigers have now guaranteed $338 million for the upcoming years to three 1B/DH types in Fielder, Cabrera and Martinez.
I don't know. Kinda seems like a lot of money for guys who can't play anywhere but first base. But at least they're good first basemen, right Jayson Stark?
Fielding Bible's ranks of bottom 5 first basemen over last 3 years: Dunn (-31), Konerko (-25), Howard (-24), Cabrera (-16), Prince (-15).
No. But it's okay because one of those last two guys won't be playing first base any more and -- wait, what?
Expect the Tigers to play Prince every day at 1B, and to move Cabrera to 3B. And don't be surprised if he's better there than you think.
You're not the boss of me, Danny Knobler!
I'll be surprised if I want to be surprised. And I will be very very surprised if Cabrera does play third base and is not terrible. Actually, I could be surprised because Cabrera could be less terrible than I think. Maybe Danny and I need to get together, so I can tell him exactly how terrible I think Cabrera will play third base.
Same general theme, Dave Cameron:
Cabrera at 3B, Peralta at SS, and Fielder at 1B? I'd like to take the over on every Doug Fister ERA projection now.
Because, see, Doug Fister is a ground-ball pitcher. The good news is that he's not an extreme ground-ball pitcher. The bad news is that Rick Porcello is (to a greater degree, anyway).
Rival execs think Fielder was done above GM Dombrowski's head, just like other Boras clients were: Magglio, Pudge, Damon
Now, we're taking Sherman's word for this but ... Do you notice anything peculiar about those guys? Yeah: They were all terrible.
Actually, they weren't all terrible. Damon was even worth a little more than his $8 million salary. Pudge wasn't terrible, either, though his hitting fell off the cliff in the second season of his four-season deal. Magglio ... well, that one didn't work out too well. That one didn't work out too well at all.
What gives Sherman's suggestion more credibility is Scott Boras's repeated claim that this process would take longer than most because ownership would be involved. So apparently this was his strategy all along: Bypass the front office -- you know, the people who know what baseball players are actually worth -- and go straight to the top, to the guys who think it's a good idea to put pineapple on top of pizzas.
Speaking of which, here's Lynn Henning:
Mike Ilitch turning 83 in July, wanting a World Series way more than he ever wanted a Stanley Cup, just wrote a check for all the Tostitos.
I'm not smart enough to get the Tostitos reference, but the rest makes sense. And I can't help but recall 1990, when the Royals blew a bundle on Mark Davis and Storm Davis because Ewing Kauffman was really old. With the Davis Boys aboard, Kansas City finished sixth, sixth and fifth, and Kauffman keeled over.
This time it'll probably go a little better.
Finally, we'll give the last word (for now) to Braves reliever Peter Moylan:
Will Boras ask Prince to loan some $$$ to Madson??
/ zing.
38 comments
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Jan 26
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Comments
Never disagreed with you more...
than with your anti-pineapple on pizza stance. Combined with the salty meaty goodness of bacon and pepperoni and sausage it is heaven.
by plen on Jan 24, 2012 6:18 PM EST reply actions 6 recs
Pineapple on pizza might be as good as you say, but I never intend to find out.
by Jim Baker on Jan 25, 2012 11:17 AM EST up reply actions
C'mon, Jim
Give it a try. It can’t hurt, and you might really like it. I did, and I do.
by GBSimons on Jan 25, 2012 1:00 PM EST up reply actions
Wait wait hold up.
You’re anti pineapple-topped pizza? I need to reconsider some things.
by Justin Bopp on Jan 24, 2012 6:19 PM EST reply actions 3 recs
All the Tostitos
Is a Brent Musberger reference, he said it before Auburn’s game winning kick in the BCS Championship game last January.
by Sheriff Blalock on Jan 24, 2012 6:19 PM EST reply actions
And I guess he said it about Ohio State
going to the Fiesta Bowl in 2002 as well.
by Sheriff Blalock on Jan 24, 2012 6:20 PM EST up reply actions
the game was sponsored by tostitos. thus the reference.
by bobgee200 on Jan 24, 2012 7:25 PM EST up reply actions
Pineapple on pizza makes the cheese all plasticky
Glad someone else has the guts to say something about it.
IGNORE ME
by tsunamijesus on Jan 24, 2012 6:21 PM EST reply actions
that's just bad cheese
"Some guy on the net thinks I suck, and he should know - he's got his own blog." - Nick Hornby
"Lex clavatoris designati rescindenda est"
"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein
by Andrew T. Fisher on Jan 24, 2012 6:32 PM EST via mobile up reply actions 1 recs
Agreed.
whoever you are… ;)
Die-hard Rockies fan since seven years after Jamie Moyer's MLB debut.
Poo-Bah of the San Diego Padres in the Purple Row OOTP League.
@Paul_Franz
My blerg
by EmersonCR on Jan 25, 2012 1:25 AM EST up reply actions
Anything but anchovies...
…and if it doesn’t have tomato sauce it better not call itself pizza. It may be delicious, but it ain’t pizza.
Didn’t they used to grow the infield grass longer at Tiger Stadium to slow down ground balls in the 80s? About knee-high should do here.
--
‎"Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right."
--Isaac Asimov
---
by TLBKlaus on Jan 24, 2012 6:26 PM EST reply actions
Bamboo is technically grass, right?
by Phrozen on Jan 24, 2012 7:10 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
pineapple is the best pizza topping
Guess that means I ought to throw my name in the ring and try to buy the Dodgers
"Some guy on the net thinks I suck, and he should know - he's got his own blog." - Nick Hornby
"Lex clavatoris designati rescindenda est"
"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein
by Andrew T. Fisher on Jan 24, 2012 6:31 PM EST via mobile reply actions 1 recs
I am willing to bid up to
$1500 on the dodgers.
maybe as high as $1650
"id take 5th Dimention Wormhole Rivera over Wells any day of the week"
-clover_black
by the king of CERA on Jan 25, 2012 2:58 AM EST up reply actions
good on ya, Rob
Pineapple on pizza is a waste
Fuck lion say what! i got a fuck lion now come fuck wit me
by UncleWeez on Jan 24, 2012 6:54 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Pineapple on Pizza is the new market inefficiency.
DRaysBay: Home of garbage-level analysis and circle-jerking writers.
by kericr on Jan 24, 2012 7:52 PM EST reply actions 3 recs
This.
by Aaron Lehr on Jan 25, 2012 10:49 AM EST up reply actions
All the political crap you post on your twitter feed, which I followed for baseball, not politics, didn't make me unfollow
But being anti-pineapple on pizza will surely do the trick.
Wait. My wife doesn’t like pineapple on pizza either, and I married her.
Carry on.
But is there a way to maybe have a separate twitter feed for the political stuff, or show me a way to only see the baseball stuff?
by Inkara1 on Jan 24, 2012 8:14 PM EST reply actions
Rob
I just gained a huge amount of respect for you. You, sir, had the guts to stand up and say that pineapple should never touch pizza. For that sir, you deserve a medal
isitspringtrainingyet.com
by imstillhungry95 on Jan 24, 2012 8:15 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
You'll learn ISH.
Its awesome!
I got nothin'.
by Bcawz on Jan 25, 2012 12:13 AM EST up reply actions
Yeah...
uh-huh…
isitspringtrainingyet.com
by imstillhungry95 on Jan 25, 2012 10:35 PM EST up reply actions
pineapple and pepperoni pizza
yum
You have to include smiley faces - Poppy
;- ) :- ) :-O : -> : -] : -}
by micdog2001 on Jan 24, 2012 8:49 PM EST reply actions
Pudge's "Not-Terrible" Contract
Skip…er, I mean Rob, Pudge’s four-season deal with the Tigers totaled $36 million. Pudge’s value to the Tigers during the deal was $45 million. $45 million > $36 million. Significantly greater, actually.
Just once I’d like you to apologize for getting your facts wrong when bashing Pudge, Skip. Just once. Or how about not bashing Pudge in the first place? (Seriously, what is your deal, Skip?) At the very least, it would be nice if you made sure that your insults were accurate and supported by evidence. Your Skip Bayless-esque trolling with respect to certain players you dislike is really unnecessary and beneath you. Why do you keep doing it? Why don’t you leave the trolling for ESPN?
by hooperxx on Jan 24, 2012 10:12 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
It was actually a 5 year, $50 million deal
Not 4 years, $36 million.
by Adam J. Morris on Jan 24, 2012 11:17 PM EST up reply actions
No, Adam - You Are Wrong
Pudge’s contract was NOT for 5 years and $50 million. It was a 4-year deal when he signed it. The last year of Pudge’s contract was NOT guaranteed and the Tigers were under no obligation to pick him up. It was a team option. Why are you making stuff up?
In fact, less than half of Pudge’s contract when he signed it was guaranteed. I really had no idea just how much of a bargain Pudge truly was. (Clearly, Rob didn’t either.) When the Tigers signed Pudge, the guaranteed value of the contract was only 2 years and the total value guaranteed was just $20 million. And the Tigers were able to defer nearly a quarter of that money. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1725282
Seriously, a quick Google search for the terms “Ivan Rodriguez Tigers Contract” would have given you that information. Why didn’t you take the 5 seconds necessary to look up that readily available information before commenting? It’s nice to get one’s facts straight before commenting, isn’t it?
by hooperxx on Jan 25, 2012 11:55 PM EST up reply actions
Is this serious?
I got nothin'.
by Bcawz on Jan 25, 2012 12:14 AM EST up reply actions
Yes.
But nice trolling, dude.
by hooperxx on Jan 25, 2012 11:56 PM EST up reply actions
brilliant
i like how you called his estimated value to the tigers a fact. classic.
I'm a clown, I'm just here to entertain.
by Doyle on Jan 25, 2012 10:52 AM EST up reply actions
Sigh. Really, Doyle? Are You Really This Stupid AND Obnoxious?
Yes, Doyle. Fangraphs’ player values for Pudge do constitute a “fact.” In the same way that the WAR statistic is a fact. I suppose I could have referred to it as “evidence,” but I imagine you still would have gotten your panties in a bunch over that, too. I suppose I could have said, “Pudge’s estimated value, according to Fangraphs, is evidence of Pudge’s value during his contract.” (Although, be honest, you still wouldn’t have gotten it, would you?) Anyone who reads Rob regularly knows that he often relies on and cites Fangraphs’ seasonal player values. I suppose I could also have cited Pudge’s WAR in those seasons, which is how Fangraphs derives its seasonal player values. Sorry about that. I assumed all of Rob’s readers were intelligent. Clearly I was incorrect.
by hooperxx on Jan 25, 2012 11:46 PM EST up reply actions
I liked pineapple on pizza.
When I was in my 20s. Thank God I grew up! As bad as cinnamon raisin bagels.
"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring". ~Rogers Hornsby
by extavernmouse on Jan 24, 2012 10:23 PM EST reply actions
Pineapple is good
on just about anything!
by TheTypingFiend on Jan 24, 2012 11:09 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Magglio's contract
Obviously by the end of his deal when he couldn’t stay healthy the deal for Magglio was a problem. But you have to take the entire thing in context. When Maggs signed the TIgers were coming off of a terrible run and needed to do SOMETHING to turn things around. Signing Maggs at that point helped turn the franchise around.
Here were his OPS+ numbers in Detroit: 113, 112, 166, 126, 111, 129, 74. While not MVP level those are very solid numbers for someone that helped turn the franchise around.
by AC1997 on Jan 24, 2012 11:09 PM EST reply actions
The big issue
with Mags’ contract was that he missed huge chunks of time with injuries. He had the sports hernia that knocked him out of half the first year of the contract, then mostly leg problems the last couple of years, so the missed time devalued the overall contract. He was also dealing with his wife’s cancer for basically a full season, and that’ll distract anyone.
by HawkeyeEdward on Jan 24, 2012 11:30 PM EST up reply actions
2007 was MVP level
In 2007, he finished second in voting and won a batting title. In 2006 he was the hero of the ALCS. I’m sure Mr. I was plenty happy with how that contract turned out.
by freetz on Jan 25, 2012 10:11 AM EST up reply actions
I finally agree with Rob on something,
pineapple should never be on pizza.
Official prediction: The Angels will win the AL west this season.
by RexTookMyStash on Jan 25, 2012 12:42 AM EST reply actions
Magglio
“Magglio … well, that one didn’t work out too well. That one didn’t work out too well at all.”
What a weird thing to write. I don’t know of any Tiger fan that would agree with that statement.
by SteveMcQueen13 on Jan 25, 2012 12:05 PM EST reply actions
Seriously, what is going on here? Magglio is the reason why we’re even talking about Fielder. The Tigers were a joke in the 90s. They had to overpay to get legitimate players to even consider them. it was the first step towards changing the cultutre. everything can’t be summed up in little numbers and cute formulas. these are real people with real emotions and real biases. Even if given $200 million dollars to work with, the Pirates can’t sign players to the same deals the Yankees or Angels can. It takes two to tango and you’ve got to start somewhere. Pudge and Maggs helped turn around a decade of embarassment. And they actually played pretty well, too.
Just curious, but when was the last time Neyer actually wrote something that could be considered remotely positive that wasn’t related to his crush on Bill James?
by sparty316 on Jan 25, 2012 1:28 PM EST up reply actions
It used to be a west-coast thing
My brother moved out to Portland (Oregon) in the mid-1970s. When I asked him how he liked it out there, he told me that, apart from all the rain, the hardest thing to get used to was having to say “hold the pineapple” whenever he ordered a pizza. At the time, none of us New Yorkers had ever heard of such a thing and chalked it up to the fact that Oregon (at least from our perspective) just about shared a border with Hawaii. Since then, of course, the practice has spread to the point where if you order a pizza with pineapple around here, no one will make fun of you.
I suppose that’s progress of a sort.
by Tom Ruane on Jan 25, 2012 12:29 PM EST reply actions
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