RIPPA Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 JJ Putz is joining the D-Backs front office... so I guess he is retired now God this story shouldn't make me laugh but here we are Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Lucia Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 Gabe Kapler is joining the Dodgers front office as farm director, which means the best MLB TV analyst is now....? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdA Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 Gabe Kapler is joining the Dodgers front office as farm director, which means the best MLB TV analyst is now....? Leiter or Smoltz? But they are not on enough. To be fair, I somehow must not have seen Kapler on MLB. I swear to God I will punch anyone who says Billy Ripken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 If we aren't counting Leiter or Smoltz than I would say Cliff Floyd EDIT - And yeah - Kapler was on Fox Sports not MLB Network. But Joe might be talking analysts across networks who cover baseball Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdA Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 If we aren't counting Leiter or Smoltz than I would say Cliff Floyd EDIT - And yeah - Kapler was on Fox Sports not MLB Network. But Joe might be talking analysts across networks who cover baseball Yeah, all of baseball makes more sense. I suppose some regional networks might have decent people who we never see (OBVIOUSLY THE CUBZ!!!! SINCE...CUBZ!!!!!!! THEDIZHOT!!!!). National...makes it tough. Hmm...God it might be easier to pick the worst. Or maybe not. Worst could go on for days. Is Barry Larkin still good? I am not subjecting myself to ESPN to find out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig H Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 I think Bob Brenly may be the best in the business. I was really bummed to see him go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdA Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 I think Bob Brenly may be the best in the business. I was really bummed to see him go. Oddly, Brenly is WAY better as an announcer than he was a manager - especially when the Cubs made him pull back from the grumpy old man thing. From the few Cubs telecasts I caught, Jim Deshaies grew on me. But if we are talking just about national studio guys, I think it's probably the aforementioned four - if Larkin is still good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig H Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 JD is very much Bob Brenly lite. I don't think he'll take the team to task like Bob did, but he calls a good game. Bob was always a joy to listen to and I see that echo'd quite a bit. I think he would do pretty well in the studio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nice Guy Eddie Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 I guess it's only natural for a Yankee fan to be partial to the Yes announcers. Along with the aforementioned Al Leiter, I think Ken Singleton and David Cone are two of the best in the biz. I love the insight they bring to the broadcasts from a player's perspective. I'm surprised that neither Cone or Leiter have gotten a shot as a pitching coach in the majors. I'd go with one of them whenever the Yankees decide to replace Larry Rothschild. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 From his Twitter, it seems like Hayhurst is going to college now and seems to be pulling back on baseball work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Lucia Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 Yeah, I was talking national studio TV across the major networks as opposed to local booth analysts. My top four in no particular order: Nitkowski, Schilling (dude knows his shit, even if he's an ass), Glanville, and Mulder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 See - you are forced to watch FOX and ESPN for your job. Many of us have never seen any of them I actually didn't realize Nitkowski had an on-air gig. Just reading his Twitter though and you can tell that he gets it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Man Known as Dan Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 I lack the patience for MLB free agency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranesi Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 I find Mark DeRosa to be an infectious goofball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nice Guy Eddie Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 See - you are forced to watch FOX and ESPN for your job. Many of us have never seen any of them I actually didn't realize Nitkowski had an on-air gig. Just reading his Twitter though and you can tell that he gets it. I can't take it when the Yankees are on Fox or ESPN. I'd rather jam a fork in my ears than listen to their broadcasts. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Man Known as Dan Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 Reports are the Phillies are looking for "3 top prospects, with 2 being major league ready" for Hamels. Good luck with that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 Lester and/or Shields is looking pretty good right about now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilwaldo Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 Reports are the Phillies are looking for "3 top prospects, with 2 being major league ready" for Hamels. Good luck with that. Amaro gonna Amaro. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 I CANT UNDERSTAND WHY NO ONE WILL TRADE WITH ME!!!! THE OTHER GMS ARE POOPYHEADS!! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilwaldo Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 Yeah, if that is the case Amaro clearly learned nothing from the trade deadline fiasco. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdA Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Reports are the Phillies are looking for "3 top prospects, with 2 being major league ready" for Hamels. Good luck with that. I honestly don't see why this is unreasonable. It says nothing about SURE FIRE HALL OF FAME PROSPECTS~~!!! I mean, when the Pedro was traded to the Red Sox from Montreal after winning the NL Cy he was moved for Carl Pavano and Tony Armas Jr. Pavano and Armas were thought of as solid prospects and even then people thought the Expos were robbed. Of course Hamels is not 1997 Pedro but the fact remains - a good starting pitcher is going to command prospects. I mean, I get it - LOL. Ruben iz dumb! LOL But Hamels is going into his age 31 season and is signed through 2018 (with a club option for 2019). If I am the GM, I start the conversations with that request and see what people are really willing to offer - if I want more prospects back, or that haul in general, I start talking about eating some of Hamels salary. And a major league ready prospect is not a sure thing - shoot, at best we could be talking about a good position player, a bench player and a reliever/back of the rotation guy. To be fair to Ruben, Hamels is his only real chit: you really have to ask for the sky to begin with and work your way down. I like laughing at Ruben as much as anyone, but this supposed request is not completely unreasonable - just as long as Ruben is not hardlining this request. And since it's the offseason, he can throw that out there and sit back and wait while the FA's shake out to see if a team gets desperate enough to do something crazy if they lose out on Lester, Shields and Scherzer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Lucia Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 I think I said this before - I'll never fault a GM for shooting for the stars. What if in two months time, all of the top FA pitchers have signed with teams that aren't the Cubs, and Hamels is still there? You don't think Theo and Jed will look at this situation and be more inclined to pay that price? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Man Known as Dan Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 I think I said this before - I'll never fault a GM for shooting for the stars. What if in two months time, all of the top FA pitchers have signed with teams that aren't the Cubs, and Hamels is still there? You don't think Theo and Jed will look at this situation and be more inclined to pay that price?If that is the case, I take my Jason Hammell and Brett Anderson on prove it deals, go in fully with the knowledge that in reality, we are ahead of our proposed rebuild and are waiting for the youngens to develop. No incentive to give up more then market value for a team built for the long term when the free agency pitching class for next year could be even better.And for "why is that an unfair asking price" the reason is literally very few teams even have "3 top prospects, 2 ready for the majors and other close". And the ones that do (Chicago, LA) are sure as he'll not gonna pay. Now, this is also assuming there definition of top prospect matches what most fans think it is. I think top prospect, I assume top 50 in baseball. The Cubs have arguably the best farm system in the game, and we have, at most, 6 top 50 prospects: Bryant, Russell, Soler, Edwards, Schwarber, and Almora. I'm not parting with 4 of those guys (Bryant, Russell, Soler, Schwarber) in this trade as a major piece by itself. So let's say the offer was Edwards, Almora, and our next best prospect (probably a McKinney) If that is the offer on the table, I don't take it. Now, if they are willing to consider Wellington as a piece of this trade as a "top prospect" stuff, if we sign Martin, then I might think about it. But I'd rather not get any TOR arms this off-season then pay Amaros price. Also, I for one cannot wait for this to hold over till the trade deadline next year, only for Hamels to need Tommy John two weeks before the deadline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdA Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 I think I said this before - I'll never fault a GM for shooting for the stars. What if in two months time, all of the top FA pitchers have signed with teams that aren't the Cubs, and Hamels is still there? You don't think Theo and Jed will look at this situation and be more inclined to pay that price?If that is the case, I take my Jason Hammell and Brett Anderson on prove it deals, go in fully with the knowledge that in reality, we are ahead of our proposed rebuild and are waiting for the youngens to develop. No incentive to give up more then market value for a team built for the long term when the free agency pitching class for next year could be even better.And for "why is that an unfair asking price" the reason is literally very few teams even have "3 top prospects, 2 ready for the majors and other close". And the ones that do (Chicago, LA) are sure as he'll not gonna pay. Now, this is also assuming there definition of top prospect matches what most fans think it is. I think top prospect, I assume top 50 in baseball. The Cubs have arguably the best farm system in the game, and we have, at most, 6 top 50 prospects: Bryant, Russell, Soler, Edwards, Schwarber, and Almora. I'm not parting with 4 of those guys (Bryant, Russell, Soler, Schwarber) in this trade as a major piece by itself. So let's say the offer was Edwards, Almora, and our next best prospect (probably a McKinney) If that is the offer on the table, I don't take it. Now, if they are willing to consider Wellington as a piece of this trade as a "top prospect" stuff, if we sign Martin, then I might think about it. But I'd rather not get any TOR arms this off-season then pay Amaros price. Also, I for one cannot wait for this to hold over till the trade deadline next year, only for Hamels to need Tommy John two weeks before the deadline. I really don't get the hate for Amaro here. Let's say the Cubs get it together and have a 7 year run. Whatever the end result is, the Cubs have their run and it is clear that in 7-8 years they need to rebuild. Let's say at that point Kris Bryant has a massive contract and is really only able to play 1B by then. Somewhere in there the Cubs draft the second coming of Lou Gehrig. Li'l Lou takes over first, Bryant can't play 3rd anymore, but he can still hit - yet is way expensive in a rebuild. Obviously, moving Bryant to a AL team where he could DH and play 1B would be ideal - hopefully for some good prospects. Would THED be evil for asking for 2-3 MLB prospects for a guy who hits like a monster but fields like...Dunn? We have no idea what "3 MLB ready prospects" means. But I don't get people thinking Ruben should not be sniffing around at teams with good farm systems - Houston, the Cubs, Boston, etc - for some good return on his only real treasure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilwaldo Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Amaro tried that stand at the trade deadline and nobody bit. He wanted MLB ready prospects for everyone including Byrd and Hamels.It did not work then and more than likely it will not work now.Oh, he pretty much made Houston's system in the Pence trade which is why he has that stance now. http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/hunter-pence-trade-astros-phillies-prospects-070214 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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