Phightins

Some Russian website reported yesterday that the Flyers are "in" on Kovalchuk. Whaaaaaaat?

So many great pitchers this year. Lots got snubbed. Maybe all the Strasburg fanboys will see this now, and realize that he absolutely should not be on the team.

WOW. The TBS coverage is absolutely brutal. On the ticker at the bottom of the screen for the AL starters, they have Vladimir Guerrero listed as an Angel. It's scrolled by at least 20 times and they still haven't fixed it. And they had Halladay listed as a Cardinal earlier. I almost forgot how terrible they are at baseball coverage.

Hopefully Votto will take Chase Utley's spot. I don't think they announced who that will be.

They had a Cardinals logo up when they announced Roy Halladay. TBS fail. Cool to see some guys like Evan Meek and Arthur Rhodes make it. And as I predicted, Ryan Howard made it over Joey Votto (bring on the [expletive]ing and moaning). But, Charlie also took an extra Brave (Omar Infante) as one of his managers selections, but not Jayson Werth. Only 2 Phillies, so I don't want to hear it about Charlie being too favorable to his own guys.

I could see Votto being snubbed. Probably won't happen but there are lots of really good first basemen this year. And Charlie Manuel will in all likelihood be taking Ryan Howard as one of his first basemen (whether you guys like it or not, that is how it goes...also one of the perks of winning the pennant ). So yeah, not out of the realm of possibility.

^That is awesome.

This is funny... Matt Gelb from the Inquirer points out that the top 3 hitters in the Pirates lineup tonight (Jose Tabata, Pedro Alvarez, and Andrew McCutchen) were born after Jamie Moyer made his MLB debut.

I hate listening to Eklund, but he is saying that the Flyers have asked Simon Gagne to waive his NTC.

How do you go from not being able (or caring) how to spell Byfuglien (or knowing how to spell Toews), to providing in depth scouting reports? Something is fishy here... And Niemi is a RFA. I could easily see the Hawks getting screwed there, if someone signs him to a big enough offer sheet.

You don't miss having the league's 2009 leading pinch hitter? He would have been start to stay with the Marlins. Way more at-bats for him there. Hard for him (or any other bench player) to get into any sort of rhythm when they are only getting 5 or 6 ABs a week. He and Ben Francisco are both getting victimized by that this year.

Looking 2-3 years down the line, they are definitely replaceable. But as far as this upcoming season, to expect the new guys to stop in and provide the same production they got from Byfuglien, Ladd, and Versteeg in particular is not very realistic. But you are right that Eager and Burish are plugs and can easily be replaced by AHL guys. Also, lets not forget that there's a chance they can still lose Kopecky and Niemi.

Everyone knows why they did it, lol. Doesn't change the fact that most of their depth and physical presence from last season is gone.

This year, maybe. But the worst bench player ever wouldn't have led the league in pinch hits 2 years ago.

This is not in response to the troll, but on a serious note about the Blackhawks...they have lost a ton of their physical presence. Byfuglien, Eager, and Ladd specifically. Their depth was the main advantage they had over the Flyers in the Finals, and now basically all of their depth is gone. And also, this goes without saying, but the Canucks look damn good.

Honestly. That bottom 4 might be the worst in MLB history.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Eh, that's true I could have. It was more of a general statement about how lethal walks are (and how bad the Cubs are).

Wow, just noticed Eklund has his phone number listed on his Twitter. I seriously think people prank call him and pretend to be NHL execs, and that is how he gets all of his "rumors". He was wrong on literally everything yesterday. Now he is saying that a big trade is coming for the Flyers, so lets see if his wrong-streak continues.

Wow, talk about a [expletive]ty 7th inning for Cubs pitchers. 58 pitches, 34 of which were balls. 5 walks, 3 doubles. 9 runs in the inning. For the game, they have allowed 10 runs on 5 hits. Ouch. Walks will truly kill ya.

Interesting lineup tonight.... Rollins SS Ibanez LF Werth CF Howard 1B Francisco RF Dobbs 3B Valdez 2B Sardinha C Moyer P And apparently Brian Schneider has been seen walking around with some sort of cast on his hand. I guess his injury is worse than initially thought.

Yup. You can have your punch and judy slap hitting 1st baseman, I'll take the guy with the 22nd best career OPS in MLB history. And actually, Ryan Howard is only striking out once every (roughly) 4 at bats this season, which is down from his career average of about once every 3 at bats. And his OPS is down from his career norm. Batting average up, OBP down. He has a different approach this year. Higher batting average and less strikeouts, but less production. Still having a very good year, but aggressive Ryan Howard (with all of those strikeouts) is one of the most dangerous hitters in the game.

Oh, Gaby Sanchez. He is still a prospect? And, I will take Ryan Howard and his .950 career OPS, please and thank you.

I am not sure who that is, but if you are 27 years old and still sitting in the minor leagues, with very few exceptions you are not a "prospect". They have other words for that.

Dustin Pedroia is a prospect?