The Polaroid Random Thoughts Baseball Thread

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Where was Miami on the list of sports towns that ESPN released? I think Toronto was 2nd last and I feel that is pretty accurate. I know Miami has a reputation of also being a shitty sports town.

Miami and Atlanta are far worse sports towns that Toronto.
 
Bad teams have to overpay (if they choose) to get talent. The Cubs situation is not attractive to top-tier FA's.

Indeed - the Jayson Werth effect, that contract is looking even worse halfway into the season. I don't think that the Cubs are that unattractive to free agents, they're a big (albeit badly) spending club with a rich history. There are a Pujols and a front office not making bonehead free agent signings away from competing in the division.
 
Where was Miami on the list of sports towns that ESPN released? I think Toronto was 2nd last and I feel that is pretty accurate. I know Miami has a reputation of also being a shitty sports town.

Miami is a horrific sports town. That ESPN thing is a joke.

Not only do fans not show up to events, they are very uneducated fans.

The BIGGEST problem with the sports climate in South Florida is that everyone is still a fan of the team they rooted for when they lived in the Northeast.

This place is ripe with annoying Philly fans who moved to Florida 20 years ago.
 
Indeed - the Jayson Werth effect, that contract is looking even worse halfway into the season. I don't think that the Cubs are that unattractive to free agents, they're a big (albeit badly) spending club with a rich history. There are a Pujols and a front office not making bonehead free agent signings away from competing in the division.

This is the biggest problem, besides Soriano playing LF 3 more years. They desperately need to go young and develop talent, something they have no idea how to do. No excuse only scoring 3-4 runs a game in Wrigley.
 
New Cubs ownership does not have the money anyway to spend, polaroid. They will say it, but the actions of the past two years are louder than words. Now they are not selling out, so less revenues coming in.
 
This place is ripe with annoying Philly fans who moved to Florida 20 years ago.


lurch1.jpg

You rang?
 
Looking over all the MLB clubs payrolls and their needs IMO the Cubs will either get Pujois or Fielder? Never been to Chicago but looking over the numbers didn't know how much the Cubs outdraw the Sox as bad as they are!

The Cubs need to do something! My thinking is they will get Fielder being all Albert has to do is look at the LeBron exit from a town that loves him and Chicago couldn't be a worst city for him to go too from St Louis! They might want Pujois but don't think he wants them? Plus Fielder is 4 years younger than Albert!

The owners might not want to spend but there is plenty of cash coming off the books after 2011! Their payroll is 134 mil which is 10 mil less than 2010 and they still draw 3 mil plus with a shitty team!

Carlos Silva's 4 mil is off! Ramirez 12.5 mil after buyout comes off the books! Fukudome's13.5 mil is gone! I hope the guy that said to sign him is gone also! Pena's 1 year 10 mil audition is done! Grabow's 5 mil is gone! You have 45 mil right there with IMO you are only needing to replace 3B?

Yes you have a couple dogs still there like Soriano for 3 more years 57 mil and Zambrano for 2 more totaling 37 mil! Who knows if the Red Sox totally fuk the Yankees due to NY's starting pitching and the Yanks want a proven veteran pitcher (if is head is on straight) without having to give him a long term contract?

The Cubs really could use a power bat from the left side and Prince fills that need nicely!
 
Miami is a horrific sports town. That ESPN thing is a joke.

Not only do fans not show up to events, they are very uneducated fans.

The BIGGEST problem with the sports climate in South Florida is that everyone is still a fan of the team they rooted for when they lived in the Northeast.


This place is ripe with annoying Philly fans who moved to Florida 20 years ago.

Same with socal. There is always more red sox or yankees fans at Angels games..
 
Looking over all the MLB clubs payrolls and their needs IMO the Cubs will either get Pujois or Fielder? Never been to Chicago but looking over the numbers didn't know how much the Cubs outdraw the Sox as bad as they are!

The Cubs need to do something! My thinking is they will get Fielder being all Albert has to do is look at the LeBron exit from a town that loves him and Chicago couldn't be a worst city for him to go too from St Louis! They might want Pujois but don't think he wants them? Plus Fielder is 4 years younger than Albert!

The owners might not want to spend but there is plenty of cash coming off the books after 2011! Their payroll is 134 mil which is 10 mil less than 2010 and they still draw 3 mil plus with a shitty team!

Carlos Silva's 4 mil is off! Ramirez 12.5 mil after buyout comes off the books! Fukudome's13.5 mil is gone! I hope the guy that said to sign him is gone also! Pena's 1 year 10 mil audition is done! Grabow's 5 mil is gone! You have 45 mil right there with IMO you are only needing to replace 3B?

Yes you have a couple dogs still there like Soriano for 3 more years 57 mil and Zambrano for 2 more totaling 37 mil! Who knows if the Red Sox totally fuk the Yankees due to NY's starting pitching and the Yanks want a proven veteran pitcher (if is head is on straight) without having to give him a long term contract?

The Cubs really could use a power bat from the left side and Prince fills that need nicely!

Good post, yes the Cubs will free up a lot of money this offseason. It's also possible that Dempster or Zambrano is traded at the deadline. They will look to dump any salary they can at the deadline.
 
Mr Monkey, this will be possibly the last season the Cubs draw 3 mil for a while. Many season ticket holders sold their tickets at a profit, now they cannot sell out thr bleachers on Tuesday night $3 Bud Light nights. They are averaging 5k+ no-shows/game, and growing. Believe me, this isn't an attractive situation for a FA in their prime.

Here are the Cubs biggest needs:

A president with a sound baseball mind.
A GM that can build a farm system
A manager with a clue.

Gone are the days when the Tribune can fleece small-market teams for potential FA's. Remember, they still haven't won 3 in a row this season.
 
white sox big tonight

make or break bet with 2 books
 
Are the Pirates going to do a salary dump at the deadline or go for .500?

I guess right now they have to pretend they are in the race - only 5 back in the Wild Card
 
Are the Pirates going to do a salary dump at the deadline or go for .500?

I guess right now they have to pretend they are in the race - only 5 back in the Wild Card

They have no salary to dump. As to whether they will be selling, the WC spot is not that important. If they have a realistic chance of a winning season, I think they will focus on that.
 
Polaroid what are your thoughts on potential division realignment and interleague play?

I don't see why there can't be 1 AL/NL series going on at all times to balance out the schedule? Move Houston to the AL West is easier than moving Arizona to the AL West and Houston to the NL West.

Or, there is discussion of scrapping the divisions and moving Arizona or Houston to the AL and just having two leagues, and the top 5 spots make the playoffs with playoff expansion. Then there is discussion of the postseason format with the 4th and 5th place teams.

There is so much going on, I'm not really sure what has legs and what is just column fodder.
 
Good questions, Herman. I'm on my droid at the moment so I can't give a full answer right now. I'll do it later.
 
How about Mike Stanton from 21-28 for less money than Fielder?

Giancarlo Cruz Michael "Mike" Stanton (born November 8, 1989 in Panorama City, Los Angeles, California) is an outfielder for the Florida Marlins.
Stanton has been considered to be the top prospect in the Marlins organization since 2009 and is the No. 3 ranked prospect in the game, according to MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo's survey, which was announced in January on the MLB Network. In the 2010 rankings he was behind fellow rookies Jason Heyward and Stephen Strasburg. According to MLB.com, Stanton has the potential to be the best player in the game.[1]


Check out Stanton's numbers through the first 162 games of his MLB career?