Talkin' Baseball: MLB Draft, MLB Network Programming, Divisional Races

 

49er16: Okay I gotta admit something from the very beginning. I've tried to become a better baseball fan. I've studied up on sabermetrics and how arbitration works. And yet I still have no idea how the MLB Draft works. The "experts" talk about a player's "ceiling" and all I can think of are houses and wondering why you want a high ceiling. How do you clean it?

The Colonel: So you watched the MLB Draft last night, eh? Yeah I gotta admit I don't follow the draft or minor league players that closely either. I also watched the draft last night and the only kids I heard of where the local bay area kids. I also have no idea how these new "draft pools" work to sign these players.

49er16: That's another thing. At least the slotting system made some kind of sense. The way I understand the draft pools is that each team is given a set amount of money to spend on their drafted players depending on where they select. So the Astros have more money to spend on players than let's say the Rays.

The Colonel: I guess that's how it works. I have no idea.

49er16: Neither do I, but that's a guess.

The Colonel: It's hard to get interested in these kids when you've never really heard of them until they are drafted. I know there are a quite a few websites dedicated to the draft and minor league players, but it sure would be nice if the MLB Network had some sort of programming dedicated to this subject.

49er16: Yes it would but the world demands more Chris Rose and Kevin Millar.

The Colonel: I was having such a nice day until you mentioned them. I hate you.


49er16: You know my biggest pet peeve about the MLB Network is their programming. I mean really you stopped airing that great Brian Kenny/sabermetric show to air an entire hour of Rose/Millar shouting nonsense?

The Colonel: I love how they basically re-air those old World Series highlight shows and Prime 9 countdowns between 10 and Noon before going to The Rundown.

49er16: I like that show. I like MLB Tonight. I like Quick Pitch. But there is so much more they can do. And their top 100 players of 2012 was a joke. Nice job ripping off the NFL Network their.

The Colonel: I'm surprised they haven't gone further into ripping off the NFL Network by airing some sort America's Game and Top 100 players of all-time. What kind of programming would you like to see?

49er16: Well I would have liked to seen a couple of draft preview shows before the actual draft. I would also like to see Brian Kenny's sabermetric show return. They can keep the Rose/Millar show in the 5 o'clock hour just make it a half an hour along with Kenny's show. I would also like to see more classic games, especially when Fox and ESPN are airing their exclusive coverage of games.

The Colonel: You'll get those twenty Bob Costas top 20 games of all-time shows and like it! They must get their money's worth out of Costas.

49er16: Sigh. Let's move on before I start crying. How about that AL East?

The Colonel: Are you still on the Orioles bandwagon? Should have known all those teams would eventually start beating up on each other sooner rather than later. Have you looked at the standings recently? All the teams are within 3 games of each other. I have no idea who's going to win that division, but it wouldn't surprise if all those teams are in a tight race the entire year.

49er16: Maybe it's just how the Yankees are playing right now, but I feel like they're eventually going to run away with that division. The Blue Jays are a year away. The Red Sox are inconsistent. The Orioles along with Matt Wieters have returned to earth. And the Rays are plagued by injuries. It just feels like the Yankees are going to run away from everyone.

The Colonel: What about the White Sox? I still think Detroit will eventually make their run and win that division but it's kind of cool seeing the White Sox right now play this well.

49er16: The Rangers have also slumped recently have allowed the Angels to get back into that division race. One thing is for sure is that the hot teams that started the year have drastically cooled off lately.

The Colonel: It's still early in the year and a lot can happen, but I always feel like this is the month where you can't go on any long losing streaks because then it becomes increasingly harder to make up. That's why I wasn't worried when the Giants go off their start. The Dodgers weren't going to be amazing all year and they haven't been recently.

49er16: If you had to bet money right now, who would you bet on in the NL Central.

The Colonel: The Pirates...........just kidding although I'm happy to see they're playing well right now. If you put a gun to my head I would say the Reds. The Cardinals just have too many old players, players who are injured, and young players who don't know what they're doing yet. The Reds have the hitting, but I still don't exactly trust that pitching staff in their ballpark. Yes their pitching staff is middle of the road if you look at the stats, but it's about to become warm and balls fly out of that bandbox in warm weather.

49er16: I hope the Pirates can keep up this pace. It would be kind of cool to see someone different come out of that division. Their pitching though is very average and their hitters make the Giants look like the 27 Yankees.

The Colonel: Anyone but the Cards again.