Talkin' Baseball: Blue Jays, Terrible Boston, & Hacking Cardinals

49er16: I like how the Blue Jays recently said, "screw it we'll pound teams with our offense and not let our bullpen blow this game". And it's worked! Because of their 11-game winning streak they're now only 3 games back and over .500.

The Colonel: I love how polar opposite the Blue Jays are. Great offense while the pitching couldn't be any different. And that pitching staff is bad. They give up a home run every 9 innings while only leaving 70% of runners on base. They're going to be an interesting team at the deadline.

49er16: The problem with today's baseball is that with the extra wild card there's hardly any sellers and more buyers. The Blue Jays certainly have the prospects to make a trade. But do the Blue Jays just call up Norris and Sanchez instead of selling? Or do they trade someone like Pentecost for a pitcher?

The Colonel: I think at the very least they need to trade lower end prospects for some bullpen help. Both the White Sox and A's have relievers that could help Toronto.

49er16: Speaking of the AL East, I'm enjoying how bad Boston is. They're bad defensively, offensively, and in the field. Ortiz is finally looking like an old man who can't hit lefties. Pablo is way out of shape. Hanley doesn't give a shit out in the field. They stupidly traded for and extended Rick Porcello who's always been a disappointment. What a delight.

The Colonel: You forgot to mention Wade Miley feuding with John Farrell in the dugout. I like how they can't find a position for Hanley when it doesn't matter since he doesn't give a shit about playing defense.

49er16: To me Hanley is more of a poison than Pablo. Pablo is a good guy who just has an appetite. Hanley with his indifference can bring a whole team down. Going to be funny when they trade all these players to Los Angeles.

The Colonel: I don't think the Dodgers are going to save their ass this year. There's no Adrian Gonzalez to sweeten up the deal.

49er16: BREAKING NEWS! Hot off the presses the St. Louis Cardinals are being investigated by the FBI involving them hacking into the computers of the Houston Astros.

The Colonel: A couple of points: 1) Deadspin reported a while ago the Astros security on their files was vulnerable. Why haven't they fixed that problem yet? 2) This is the Patriots Spygate. This is fucking corporate espionage. That's why the FBI is investigating.

49er16: My favorite points from the story: 1) According to the NY Times this was not a sophisticated hack. 2) The Cardinals wanted revenge against Luhnow for making the Cardinals better while he was there. 3) Luhnow never changed his passwords since going from the Cardinals to Houston. Come on Jeff, even my father knows to change his password when he went from one job to another.

The Colonel: Now I wonder how baseball handles this? They'll of course wait until the investigation is over but from there what do they do? Do they take draft picks away from the Cardinals? Suspend their GM? Fine them? What?

49er16: MLB will give Alex Rodriguez a year long suspension for this.

The Colonel: Ha! MLB is so mad they're going to impose a salary cap on the players!

49er16: In all seriousness, everyone needs to follow @BaseballsBestFans right at this moment.

The Colonel: "DURR OTHER TEAMS ARE JUST JEALOUS OF THE CARDINALS! THEY'RE COWARDS WHO HAVE TO GET THE FBI INVOLVED TO STOP THE CARDS!"

49er16: Have a good week, folks.

Talkin' Baseball: The A's Putrid Defense, Troy Tulowitzki's Trade Value, & Coors Field

49er16: You see the A's are thinking about bringing back Ron Washington to help improve their putrid defense? "Playing first base isn't hard Scott. Tell him Wash."

The Colonel: "It's incredibly hard." In all seriousness I'm shocked that the A's defense is bad. Who knew going from Josh Donaldson and Jed Lowrie to Brett Lawrie and Marcus Semien would turn the A's defense into a putrid defense?

49er16: That last game Scott Kazmir pitched he looked like he was ready to strangle poor old Marcus Semien for making another throwing error. The A's have also been incredibly unlucky. Their record in 1-run games is like 2-16.

The Colonel: The A's relievers have been bad this year. Hard to win one run games when your bullpen blows leads in the 7th and 8th innings.

49er16: On the bright side, Sonny Gray is looking like a legit ace pitcher. So they have they got that going for them.

The Colonel: The Rockies are horrible again and Troy Tuloqitzki's name is being brought up again in trade talks. I agree with Fangraphs that Tulo's trade market basically comes down to a big market team that can take on his huge contract but can throw in some good prospects. I can't believe though Dave Cameron didn't mention the Dodgers as a trade partner. They have the budget and prospects to send to Colorado.

49er16: If I were the Rockies, I would ask for Alex Guerrero and Joc Pederson and a pitching prospect and see if the Dodgers say yes.

The Colonel: The Mets arguably have the best package for Tulo. They could trade a trio of pitching prospects. But do the Rockies really need pitching prospects? They have guys like Eddie Butler who are suppose to be good and look good in the minors and then bomb once they get to Colorado.

49er16: Well that brings up the age old question about Colorado. Could Cy Young himself even be a successful pitcher in that park? And what gets me is that park seems to ruin pitchers even when they leave and play on the road.

The Colonel: I go back to what Jim Leyland said about Coors Field after his one year managing there, "That ain't baseball." And he's right.

49er16: Well when they finally trade Tulo or Gonzalez they'll receive another pitching prospect to be ruined by the altitude.

The Colonel: I have a feeling that team is never going to have sustained success unless they play in a dome because that field chews up too many pitchers to keep being good for a long stretch.

49er16: Anything else we need to hit upon today?

The Colonel: Nah, I've got a bagel that I've been staring at for an hour so it's time for me to go.

49er16: Have a good week, people.

Talkin' Baseball: Astros, Mets, & AL Central

49er16: Okay we've got to talk about the surprisingly good teams so far this year. And of course we need to talk about the Astros. Their swing for the fences or strike out approach is actually working and has given them a lead in the AL West which admittedly, is very weak. Does this last though?

The Colonel: Talk about extremes. Check out their team BB% and then check out their team K%. They're basically the Orioles Southwest except they walk a little more. It's too early to tell if this sticks but I don't see why not because the AL West appears very mediocre.

49er16: I still don't believe in that pitching staff over the long run. They're pitching well right now but they still don't strike out enough batters (ditto for the Giants in this area as well). All this being said, it cannot be pointed out enough that the AL West is weak as hell. The A's are inconsistent. The Mariners don't have a bullpen. The Angels really don't have a lineup except for Trout. Texas is injured. Astros could almost win that division by default.

Talkin' Baseball: Josh Hamilton, Red Assed Royals, & Ryan Braun

49er16: We got to talk about this Josh Hamilton deal. What a disaster for the Angels. They try to weasel out of his contract after his reported relapse, then have to swallow the majority of that contract and shipped him to Texas for nothing in return. What fools.

The Colonel: Like was said on Hardball Talk, if you wanted to get a better return for Hamilton maybe next time don't leak that he failed a drug test. I do love these stories about Moreno. He's basically Donald Sterling without the racism and mistresses. He has LA envy, probably will do whatever it takes to move to Los Angeles, and tries to buy championships. I've secretly loved everything about this story involving him.

49er16: Here's what I wonder. Hypothetically lets say the Dodgers move. Would Moreno move the Angels into Dodger Stadium like when Sterling moved the Clippers into the old LA Sports Arena? If so that would be hilarious.

Talkin' Baseball: Opening Week and Pace of Play

49er16: Well all the teams in baseball have had their home openers now and what are your first impressions of the season?

The Colonel: My impressions/questions so far: 1. Are the Royals really this good? 2. Is the AL West really that mediocre? 3. Same old Giants on offense 4. Are the Nationals really that bad defensively? 5. Atlanta really isn't that good, are they?

49er16: To answer your last question, no I don't think they are. Plus they've played both the Marlins (twice) and Mets to start the year. Sorry if I don't quite buy into the Braves yet. The Royals are the most intriguing team. We knew they could defend and pitch, but now they're mashing home runs. They definitely won't keep up with this pace but if they're improved at the plate they might be one of the best teams in baseball this season.

The Colonel: I really don't know why people are surprised their bullpen is still good. The Giants have had the same 4 relievers(Casilla, Romo, Affeldt, Lopez) for 3 championships and have been fine. Good pitchers even if they're relievers will stay good at least for a few years.

Talkin' Baseball: Opening Day

49er16: /dusts off the blogger cobwebs
Who are you again?

The Colonel: Just an asshole in a white suit who likes baseball. And like Mike Krukow said, I'm sick of Scottsdale. I know we complain every year that spring training is too long but man did this year's camp feel like it dragged on forever.

49er16: Yeah a little over 6 weeks in spring training is way too long. I know it's for the pitchers but for crying out loud it's still too long. Spring training basically lasts from my birthday in February to my brother's birthday in April.

The Colonel: We can complain all we want but it ain't changing. They make too much money down there so the 40 day training camp ain't ending. Moving on, what or who are you looking forward to seeing this year?

49er16: Everyone is saying is how loaded the AL Central is this season so I am looking forward to seeing that division. Are the Tigers about to fall off the cliff? Are the Indians as good as Sports Illustrated is projecting? Can the Royals repeat? Are the White Sox improved? When will the Twins call up their super prospects?

The Colonel: It's going to be funny when the Tigers win that division again after everyone said the Tigers would take a step back this year.

49er16: Are we ready for another postseason failure for the Tigers? I'm also looking forward toward the NL Central race. The Reds in particular fascinate me because they're getting older, haven't really improved, and are getting grumpier. You would have to figure they're going to try and move either Phillips or Bruce this season, right?

The Colonel: Moving Bruce would be easier because his contract ends after next season and he doesn't have 10-5 rights like Phillips. On paper that Reds team looks miserable. Some bad contracts there. I'm not looking forward to another Cardinals victory in that division.

49er16: We need to talk about the Cubs. Them firing Rick Renteria after 1 season to hire Joe Maddon feels wrong to me. I'm rooting against them with Maddon because of that situation.

The Colonel: Maddon is just another person in a long line of "Cubs Saviors". From Dallas Green to Sweet Lou the Cubs every 5 or 6 years hires someone new who is suppose to lead them to the promise land and nothing happens. I'm not looking forward to the fawning Joe Maddon praise from everyone and you know it's going to be worse this year since he's with the Cubs.

49er16: Some people were already talking about how smart he is because he had a pitcher batting eighth in spring training. OMG JOE MADDON IS BATTING THE PITCHER EIGHTH! WHAT A GENIUS! IT'S NOT LIKE TONY LA RUSSA EVER DID THAT SORT OF THING! Puke, let's move on before I punch something.

The Colonel: How the mediocre AL East? Seriously besides the Red Sox, I don't see how anyone in that division improved themselves. I agree with the projections in that whoever wins that division will only have between 86-89 wins.

49er16: And yet we'll still be subjected to a million Yankee games on the MLB Network.

The Colonel: Oh man don't get started down that road............on second though, get it out of your system. You know you want to complain about the MLB Network airing a ton of Yankee games.

49er16: Here's the thing that pisses me off. I get why ESPN, Fox, and TBS air a bunch of Yankee games. They need max viewers and the Yankees do provide them that. But the MLB Network not only sending their own broadcasters to their games and simulcasting a bunch of their games infuriates me. Last time I checked the MLB Network is suppose to promote the league. Doesn't that mean showing non-Yankee games? I'm almost positive there won't be a week this year where a Yankee game will not be played on that network.

The Colonel: The problem is the executives at the MLB Network think just like the execs at the rest of the networks. More Yankee games because of viewers. They're not about promoting the league and teams like the Pirates. They're about money and viewership and sadly the Yankees drive it.

49er16: Sadly you're correct. Anything else you're looking forward this year?

The Colonel: The AL West is the division that interests me the most. Will the Angels take a step back? Will the new Oakland pieces gel? Are the Mariners as good as projected? Will the Astros OBP/Dingers/Strike outs strategy work?

49er16: I love how the Astros have created a lineup that is either boom or bust. I'm sure everything will work out just fine for them with this strategy.

The Colonel: What's amazing to me about the Astros is that we heard about how amazing their farm system is, but I don't remember anyone saying that these guys are strike out machines?

49er16: Why do we get so excited for farm systems/drafts? Most of these guys never live up to the hype and we're always left with blue balls.

The Colonel: Because we're suckers for the future.

49er16: We need to talk about anything else?

The Colonel: Nope

49er16: Enjoy opening day folks.

Talkin' Baseball: Fired up Red Sox, Cubs vs MLBPA, & Red Hot Blue Jays

49er16: Can you tell me when was it not appropriate to advance a base on a error? I didn't realize the Rays broke some unwritten rule here?

The Colonel: I think I agree with the assessment that the Red Sox were mainly frustrated with themselves more than with the Rays themselves. I mean after all the season hasn't exactly been stellar for them. Their guys that had career years last year aren't panning out (we'll call this *gulp* Giants Syndrome) and the guys they didn't bring back like Salty are chugging along. They were a big time hocus pocus team last year. Career years and karma really carried them.

49er16: Their pitching staff has been a mess this year. Pedroia has regressed badly. I would say Big Papi finally looks old but he's looked old before and came back.

Talkin' Baseball: Tommy John, Texas Rangers, & Crazy Parents

49er16: The worst part of these recent rash of Tommy John elbow injuries is that we start to see the blame game and pointed fingers. For instance with Jose Fernandez you're seeing his lawyer say that Fernandez had a different injury but he continued to pitch through it altering his mechanics which lead to the injury. We don't know if that's the truth or not.

The Colonel: Yeah that's the sad thing about these recent injuries is that people are looking to blame instead of looking to fix. Hell even the MLB Network hosted a roundtable looking for blame instead of looking for a solution. I know they're also looking for causes and you need that to find solutions still though it always leads to blame and that always gets ugly.

Talkin' Baseball: Streaking Giants, Annoying Rockies, & AL Central

49er16: This stat about Kershaw throwing over 2,000 curveballs without giving up a home run until today against Brandon Hicks and the Giants is incredible. What do we make of the Giants? They can kinda hit, kinda pitch, but it looks like it's hocus pocus.

The Colonel: Well if you look at their batting BABIP, they're way below average. You'd think that has to change eventually start ticking upwards and their offense can really get going. I am happy to see their starting pitchers playing better. I worry about the wear and tear of the bullpen. They were leaky this weekend. They need some rest and recoup time.

49er16: They won't get it Monday night with Lincecum pitching who remains perplexing. He can look okay or look like dog crap. And you can usually tell right way which way his start will go.

Talkin' Baseball: Stroman, AL East, & the Brewers

49er16: Looks like the Blue Jays have finally called up uber-prospect Marcus Stroman while placing another pitcher on the DL again (poor Brendan Morrow again). The Blue Jays pitching staff hasn't been that bad but their staff does give up a lot of walks over 9 innings and the pitchers don't exactly help themselves with a xFIP over 4. How much will this move help them?

The Colonel: Well they're only 3 games back in what looks like a pretty weak AL East this year. On the other hand looking at their pitching staff's numbers, they look very mediocre overall. Mark Buehrle is pitching well but RA Dickey isn't fooling anyone anymore. Drew Hutchinson won't average 10 strikeouts per 9 innings the entire year. Stroman helps them a little, but not by much. What will be interesting is will that division continue looking mediocre the whole year?

49er16: The AL East is weird this year. All the teams have a negative run differential but they're all ranked in the top 20 for pitching. Does everything even out by the end of the year? Will the Orioles pitching staff catch up with their offense? Will the Red Sox offense catch up with their pitching staff?

Talkin' Baseball: Pine Tar, Dumb Ned Yost, & Beanballs

49er16: Okay we got to start the week talking about Pineda and the pine tar. 10 games seem excessive but those are the rules put in place. I do respect Pineda more for being honest and not making some bogus excuse.

The Colonel: My favorite part of it is that the Red Sox didn't care if he was using pine tar but were upset it was right on his neck. Which was dumb of Pineda but I can see where the public is annoyed at the Red Sox for being like, "you can cheat but not out in the open like that". That is being kinda petty by the Red Sox.

49er16: Cheat where we can't see it! Yeah it is ridiculous.

Talkin' Baseball: Angry Pirates, 3 Errors, & AL Central

49er16: I'm glad to see a youngster like Gerrit Cole doesn't like a player showboating and tossing a bat like he's Yasiel Puig. We need more non-Braves to decided who and who isn't playing the game the right way.

The Colonel: I say let Gomez celebrate. He's the one who looks like an ass celebrating a ball that isn't a home run. Would have been funny if McCutchen fielded it cleanly and threw out Gomez at third or second.

49er16: Puig holding the bat like he hit one out at AT&T this past week and then him just running to the dugout instead might be the most Puig moment. He just looked like a clown.

Talkin' Baseball: Instant Replay, MLB Network Complaints, & More

49er16: Figures the first truly blown replay challenge involves Derek Jeter because of course. My favorite part is that they say they didn't have the angles showing Jeter's foot off the bag even though the Yes Network showed it. Begs to question at what type of feeds they have at their replay system?

The Colonel: It wouldn't surprise me at all if MLB is using equipment from the 1970's to look at those plays. Leave it up to this league to half-ass instant replay.

49er16: I'm just thankful they have replay at all. This league moves so slowly they make the NCAA seem fast to change.

Talkin' Baseball: Dodger Chaos, Giants Glory, & the Mariners

49er16: Oh man I'm going to enjoy reading these type of columns all year if the Dodgers stink. And man did Friday feel good. Kemp (who I do like) dropping that fly ball and the calls for Puig from the stands. I know it won't last, but I'm going to enjoy the Dodger chaos right now.

The Colonel: It's too bad they can't have all these injuries and bad pitching later in the year because like you said this right now won't last. That being said I'm definitely enjoying their agony. The Giants have completely ruined their opening series.

49er16: What's weirder is that I have no opinion on Puig. I'm not a "LET HIM PLAY THE GAME THE WAY HE WANTS TO PLAY IT" person or a "PUIG NEEDS TO LEARN HOW TO HIT THE CUTOFF GUY" person who is always immediately smeared as being a racist by the other crowd. I'm just sitting back and enjoy him and his mistakes and great plays.

Talkin' Baseball: Opening Day

49er16: I love how this is actually the third "opening day" for baseball. Yeah I'll just pretend that those games in Australia and last night in San Diego never happened. I also love how the Dodgers have played 3 games before anyone else.

The Colonel: MLB is so clumsy in these situations. With the NFL opening night is an event. Ditto for the NBA. MLB is like well here's "Opening day in Australia." Here's "Opening night". And here's "Opening day". So very clumsy and so very MLB. They can't get out of their own way. Does anyone care baseball is starting? Did anyone care that it started last night in San Diego? They can't even do opening day correctly.

49er16: I don't know why, but I'm bothered that Oakland, Anaheim, and Arizona don't have "opening days". They play their home openers at night. That's one thing I'm going to change when I'm commissioner one day. Every team will play during the day on "opening day".

Talkin' Baseball: NL West

49er16: Well we might as well start this preview talking about the team we both watch the most and that's the Giants. Projections systems like PECOTA and ZIPS are actually high on the Giants this year projecting they'll win around 88 games and win the wild card. It's weird seeing these optimistic projections while being pessimistic about the Giants. They'll need a lot to go right this year to get 88 wins in my opinion.

The Colonel: I agree. They could top out at 88 wins, but they have 79-81 wins written all over them. They need guys to stay healthy, Lincecum and Vogelsong to look good again, and hope the bullpen doesn't regress. That's asking for a lot to go right.

49er16: They already have 2nd base problems. Morse and Pagan have a history of injuries. Their depth ain't that great. Vogelsong and Lincecum haven't looked that good in spring. 88 wins is very optimistic. I am looking forward to the continued development of Brandon Belt.

The Colonel: I definitely look forward to the continued #BeltBash talk coming from KNBR. That poor dude strikes out once and the sycophants are out in force wanting Posey to move to first and Belt to the bench. Lets not get into this now.

Talkin' Baseball: AL West

49er16: I forgot that the Houston Astros play in the AL West now until I saw this story involving them and their prospect George Springer fighting over service time and contract extensions. Do the Astros know they're going to screw up the service clock for other teams who like to wait to call up their prospects in June to delay their service clock?

The Colonel: The Rays have been using the delay the service time clock for years. Longoria, Myers, others have had to wait to be called up for the Rays could delay the service clock. So of course leave it up to the Astros to screw that up for everyone else.

49er16: I can see why Springer would be pissed. He's already 24, has outgrown the minors, and would be 30 by the time he's a free agent. I can understand the angst.

Talkin' Baseball: NL Central

49er16: We talk about how boring the AL Central is but what about the NL Central? You have the same teams (Cardinals, Reds) fighting for a playoff spot with Pirates joining last season for the past 5 years. The Cubs are always waiting for next year and who knows with Milwaukee.

The Colonel: I like the NL Central much more than the AL Central. Many more interesting teams, many more interesting players, less interesting managers since LaRussa and Baker are gone. Just look at how Ryan Braun has become a villain.

49er16: I do like Braun's "I'm an artist" routine. That will go over about as well as when an athlete calls himself an "entertainer". Yeah Ryan you really are an artist in those Ed Hardy T-Shirts.

Talkin' Baseball: AL Central

49er16: Well are you ready to talk about the division you liked the least in baseball?

The Colonel: Well if we have to. My problem with the AL Central last season was that it was such a bland division. I know they had three teams fighting for playoff spots and two of those teams made the playoffs but they were all so boring. And the two worst teams in that division were laughably bad. I'll try to give this division a fair shake this year but I have a feeling it will still be bland.

49er16: I actually agree with you. Both the Indians and Royals are fairly bland. They have some nice pieces but they're not the teams you're going to go out of your way to watch. And the Tigers are interesting when Verlander is pitching and Cabrera is hitting but other than that they've fairly bland as well.

The Colonel: Sticking with the Tigers, I think this is the year they finally fall back to Earth. Their outfield is relying on Andy Dirks and 1000 year old Torii Hunter. They have an unproven commodity on third. Ian Kinsler is regressing. Cabrera is really going to have to carry this team this year.

Talkin' Baseball: NL East

49er16: PECOTA has no one in this division winning more than 88 games and only two teams are projected to have more than a .500 record. I know we like to bang on the AL Central a lot, but the NL East is my early contender for the most irrelevant division in baseball. Are you really excited to watch Atlanta or Washington?

The Colonel: But..but...but Sandy Alderson says the Mets are going to win 90 games. You're not excited to watch them? In all seriousness I agree with you. The AL East just isn't interesting. Even Atlanta and Washington have nice players to watch, but they're about as bland as it gets.

49er16: The Marlins are interesting to me in a weird way. They have some nice young players in Christian Yelich and Jake Marisnick. They of course have stars in Stanton and Fernandez. And then you look at the rest of their roster and it might be the ugliest thing I might have ever seen. Do you realize they're expecting Rafael Furcal and Casey McGehee to play at 2nd and 1st? Neither of those guys played in the MLB last season. Ed Lucas is at third and he's already 30-years old despite not playing a inning until last season. And they still have the immortal Adeiny Hechavarria at shortstop. I mean what a shitty infield.