I dunno man. The giants lineup is looking deep. I think pagan should be leading off though. I love how they were given melkey

so far
al mvp- hamilton
al cy young- felix hernandez
al roy- mike trout
nl mvp- andrew mccutchen
nl cy young- ra dickey
nl roy- harper

AL MVP: Josh Hamilton
AL CY Young: Jered Weaver
AL ROY: Mike Trout
NL MVP: Andrew McCutchen
NL CY Young: R.A Dickey
N" ROY: Wade Miley

How abut Youkilis's revival in Chicago? Was watching part of that game today on WGN and I think I heard them mention he has more RBI's than innings played for the White Sox so far.

Youk is definitely on fire...so far, it's looking like a great deal for the ChiSox even though I'm surprised they're hitting him in #2 spot...the #3 spot remains the great mystery there though w/ Dunn driving in runs but not hitting for average.

Interesting to hear that the Pirates are pursuing Upton from the D-Backs...after Upton recently ripped D-Backs management, I wouldn't be surprised if other teams join the fray, but the Pirates early interest is a signal that they're going to give it a go in the 2nd half...gotta believe Upton is a prime example of a star who needs a change of scenery...him and McCutcheon could be scary good...as a Cards fan, it's hard to take the Pirates seriously, given their history...but adding Upton to the mix would be a head turner...a huge upgrade over last year's mid-season trade for Derrek Lee.

AL MVP - Trout
CY Young - Verlander
ROY - Trout

NL MVP - McCutchen
CY Young - Cain
ROY - Harper

Why would you choose Felix over Verlander or Weaver?

I was stoned. Weaver is hands down

As well as wade Miley

Yeah, this really seems like bizarro world to me. In that the D-Backs would cut bait on a player like Upton and that the Pirates are considered a favorite to land him! Fucking hell!

Arizona brass must REALLY be down on Upton. Don't know why, he seems like a decent enough kid. I always thought Kevin Towers was a good GM because he never really had a bankroll in San Diego and he won several NL West crowns there and got them to the World Series once, but he really got swindled in the Trevor Cahill deal. Really good evaluator of pitchers, but you never used to see him give up injury prone guys for really great prospects (he sent Ryan Cook and Jarrod Parker to Oakland for Cahill).

i dont know man. i feel like upton will end up like his brother but with a little more pop. they are talking about making the trade around the taillion kid. if pittsburgh trades him for upton then they are stupid. paul goldsmidt is the fucking man

Despite what every national baseball writer has said, expect an announcement within the next week that the Phillies have signed Cole Hamels to a long term deal. The Phillies know that Hamels is their present and future. The new tv deal that is coming up for them hinges somewhat on his signing. The ownership groups knows that if he isn't back then there will be empty seats as well as a huge backlash from the local media in addition to the fans. Plus, the windfall they expect to get from the new tv deal might not be as good as it will be with Hamels returning.

The possibility of Hamels getting traded has been great sports talk, but if Jayson Stark, who is the one guy from the national media who has some sources in the Phils organization, hasn't made mention to any trade then that itself doesn't bring credence to what guys like Buster olney and John Heyman have reported. Even though Hamels is from San Diego, he has now planted roots in Philadelphia. He lives here year round and him and his wife have started a few charity organizations in which they play a huge role in them, and not just have their name attached to it. Hamels loves it here in Philly, and in every interview he has given recently I for one believe him because he seems to be very open and honest about things.

Maybe i'm biased and am trying to think that the greatest home grown pitcher the Phillies have ever had is staying, but if I were to lay some sort of whether he stays or he goes I would say that it is 90/10 that he is staying.

Isn't the biggest roadblock with Hamels that he wants 6 years and the Phillies as an organization have a philosophy against giving out guaranteed 6 year deals?

The Phillies don't like to give any pitcher more than 3 years. They only gave Halladay a 3 year deal with an option for the 4th. However, they made an exception for Cliff lee(5 years) and papelbon(4 years with an option for the 5th). I think with Hamels they realize that they will have make another exception and give him the 6 or 7 years he wants. All of us here have debated who the best pitcher in baseball is along with the other top ones are, but we all agree for the most part that Hamels should be mentioned among the best. Guys like him don't come along all the time. Like I said earlier, the Phillies know he is their present and future so they realize they have no choice to give him a 6 year deal in the $135-140 range.

a comparable pitcher to hamels to me is madison bumgarner. bumgarner will be better

this is the guy that is going to end up replacing brandon phillips
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-l ... --mlb.html

I don't think he'll be replacing Phillips anytime soon especially since he is in his prime and he just recently signed a long term extension.

he will play SS for a couple of years

Jesus did the Giants rape KC on the Cabrera/Sanchez deal or what? What is it with teams giving up on Melky? He must be a total ingrate or something, because he consistently puts up good numbers and is a hell an MLB outfielder.

The Giants/Braves game tonight was the tale of two games. The teams end up going 1-1 after nine innings (Mike Minor really stepped up for ATL) and then decide to put 11 runs up in the next two extra innings. Crazy, but glad to see the Giants prevail. They've already achieved the series win with Philly next. The Giants broadcasters were inferring that Brandon Belt might be on the block for them. I don't dig that at all, but they're a lot closer to the club than I am.

I saw your trade proposal today Adam. What are you looking for? Gordon is starting to heat up (finally). I'd take K-Rod off your hands if you don't want him as a closer. With all the top-of-the-order guys I have I should be invincible in at least the R & SB stats, but alas I'm sweating them out this week. I have such a huge lead that I think I should just stand pat and not do anything rash. I've been playing this season with a huge handicap of no Matt Kemp for about half the season, so I hope he lives up to pre-season expectation. But of course, now David Ortiz goes down. I'm still in really good shape. Wish I had a first round bye though. It sucks that Stefan changed that, but I'll just have to buck up.

K-Rod is definitely available, as I haven't bothered with closers in that league, and was looking at Gordon, as I could use his BB's in particular. (His avg os of late and runs would also be nice.) I cancelled the offer just because I looked at your team again and saw you had a million other OF's still and figured you probably wouldn't be interested in Upton and I didn't have any other players I wanted to substitute for him in such a deal.

My team has started to come around but I dug myself in such a huge hole those first three or four weeks where my offense was stone cold that I still haven't been able to recover from that. Its weird because I liked the make up of my team in your league better than my team in the stoner rock league, and I my stoner rock team has proven to be the better of the two. Go figure.

And talking about pitching...its not even funny how badly Frog is destroying me with his this week. He goes into today with 83 IP, 7 wins, 94 K's, 2.38 era, and 0.96 WHIP. I couldn't even keep up with that if my pitchers were pitching well. At least my offense has done enough to make things not be a blowout, but those stats are still close and could still go either way at this point.

I know right? So far everything seems fine btw Melky and the organization...and the fans. It'll be interesting to see what he can do in the postseason (#assumption)
There's some crazy talk that maybe the Gs should take another flyer on Sanchez... Couldn't hurt and they could always shitcan him. long relief lefty out of the BP? But then there's Penny and Mota should be due back soon.



Weird game. Who saw that coming? a 6 run 11th off the bats of Crawford & Blanco. Heh. I like the Braves, too...when SF isn't playing 'em. Prob my 2nd fave NL team. (it helps that Freeman, McCann, Heyward...and Hudson are all starters for my fantasy team)
I also hope Belt isn't on the block, he still has a lot of promise. I'm hearing more squabbling about Scheirholtz, who isn't happy with his reduced role (don't blame him)...and of course the usual malcontents are on again about Lincecum, like they were in August 2010. (I was one of them back then)

I can't hate on KC for making that Sanchez-Cabrera deal but wow has that one blown up in their face. But when you need SP like KC does, gambling on guys with Sanchez's ability/upside is a risk you got to make.

So, who ends up with a better career: Oliver Perez or Jonathon Sanchez?

not even close. sanchez has a nohitter

Yeah. You really don't have any tradeable OFs. I know the frustration that is BJ Upton. The guy only seems to wake up once a week. A high ceiling that he never touches. If Mike Trout ever falls back down to earth, your team is sunk.

Bumgarner and Sandoval are the only guys on your team that I think would make any sense for me, and I know that Bumgarner is pretty much untouchable.