MLB Off-Season Thread

Gregg Popabitch · Post by **Gregg Popabitch** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 1:24 am

congrats to philly.

Tommy Bunz · Post by **Tommy Bunz** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 1:29 am

godmc · Post by **godmc** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 1:39 am

CLIFTON!!! ruben must be sleeping with the devil.

BigCat8 · Post by **BigCat8** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 1:51 am

Insane. I can't believe it happened. I just kinda shrugged off the rumors of the Phillies as a "mystery team" in the Lee negotiations, but... once again, Cliff Lee is a member of the Philadelphia Phillies. Incredible.

alpha · Post by **alpha** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 1:52 am

that is nuts. props to Lee for taking less to sign where he wanted to be.

to hopefully a repeat of this years NLCS matchup. Congrats Philly

vinylfiend · Post by **vinylfiend** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 2:05 am

SF Giants still have the best rotation in baseball.

Jayou Ayen · Post by **Jayou Ayen** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 2:10 am

vinylfiend wrote:SF Giants still have the best rotation in baseball.

39

alpha · Post by **alpha** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 2:17 am

vinylfiend wrote:SF Giants still have the best rotation in baseball.

I'm a huge fan and I ain't drinking that Kool-Aid. it's close tho...

DLG · Post by **DLG** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 4:32 am

Lee is a hero, wow

Joe Pesci · Post by **Joe Pesci** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 8:29 am

lmao, figures this asshole wastes the Yankees' time.

Congrats Philly

YouTube · Post by **Philaflava** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 8:30 am

Philaflava wrote:Apparently Ron Washington thinks Lee is returning and so do most Yankee executives.

If this does happen, still seems unlikely given NY's deal, does this make the Yankees the biggest losers of the off-season?

No Werth. No Crawford. No Lee.

x10000

YouTube · Post by **Philaflava** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 8:34 am

I'm so glad I didn't see this news before I went to bed otherwise I never would have slept.

This is the greatest assembled Philly pitching staff of all-time. Dare I say possibly the greatest 1-2-3-4- in the league and best assembled staff we'll see in our lifetime.

This is just insane. I suppose RAJ prefers to have dominate pitching and worry about his OF problems later. This makes the Phillies heavy favorites for the WS again, but still think we need to dump at least 3 players to make this deal breathe easy.

Joe Pesci · Post by **Joe Pesci** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 8:38 am

Take a flier on Brandon Webb please

Trademark · Post by **Trademark** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 9:01 am

Worst December 14th ever...... :(

Tommy Bunz · Post by **Tommy Bunz** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 9:23 am

vinylfiend wrote:SF Giants still have the best rotation in baseball.

Not to be obnoxious, but no they don't and its not really even that close either.

Still in shock that Lee is going to be in red pinstripes this year.

Tommy Bunz · Post by **Tommy Bunz** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 10:01 am

Rumors coming out already about a Blanton to Boston trade a possibility and that the discussions began last night.
Wonder if Boston even seriously wants Blanton or if they only got involved to further cockblock the Yankees offseason. They already have 6 starters.

jredd109 · Post by **jredd109** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 10:40 am

holy shit. never woulda seen this coming. if they hold on to all those guys then that rotation is just deadly. who's the 5th starter though, jamie moyer? haha.

Gregg Popabitch · Post by **Gregg Popabitch** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 10:43 am

how would this cockblock the yankees? why would the yankees want blanton?

Gloss, you better hope that the Yankees don't win the World Series this year. Pray to Yah'weh. Pray to God. Pray to whatever deity you deem proper (In this case, would it be Ruben Amaro Jr?). Just pray. Because not only am I ressurecting all these old thread but I will make 2-3 more to counteract the overdose Cliff Lee thread as well. and it will be YOUR fault.

I was perfectly level headed about this before Gloss decided he could style on me in teh Sports Bar, on my Facebook, and then a personal fuck you phone call from the PF CEO as well.

Tommy Bunz · Post by **Tommy Bunz** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 10:50 am

Gregg Popabitch wrote:how would this cockblock the yankees? why would the yankees want blanton?

I meant, agree to help the Phillies shed payroll so they could afford Lee and keep him out of New York.

YouTube · Post by **Philaflava** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 10:50 am

I don't condone texting while driving and you initiated that.

Also, I wanted to check in to make sure you hadn't Madoff'd yourself this morning.

Gregg Popabitch · Post by **Gregg Popabitch** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 11:05 am

Philaflava wrote:I don't condone texting while driving and you initiated that.

Also, I wanted to check in to make sure you hadn't Madoff'd yourself this morning.

i didn't realize i texted you. I IM'ed you and I guess that goes straight to your texts.

And like I said, I was completely cool with this until you tried to permeate my life through every way possible. I wouldn't be surprised to see a package sent from you with a Cliff Lee jersey in it. I think i'd burn it on the spot. You are escalating my anger. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

YouTube · Post by **Philaflava** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 11:18 am

But if not, this is almost ridiculous. The 2011 Phillies would begin the season with what might be the greatest starting rotation in the long history of major-league baseball. Whenever you use a word like "greatest," you run the risk of hyperbole. But not this time.

Cliff Lee, Cy Young winner.

Roy Halladay, two-time Cy Young winner.

Roy Oswalt, MVP of the 2005 National League Championship Series.

Cole Hamels, MVP of the 2008 NLCS and World Series.

They have 13 All-Star Game appearances among them. Two lefties and two righties. Balance, power, finesse, guts. Proven postseason excellence. That is a remarkable combination.

Trademark · Post by **Trademark** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 11:35 am

I went from depression to rage..Fuck cliff lee taht fucking fuck face fuck fuck fuck. jnxfhgjxjhgfm

Tommy Bunz · Post by **Tommy Bunz** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 11:40 am

Trademark wrote:I went from depression to rage..Fuck cliff lee taht fucking fuck face fuck fuck fuck. jnxfhgjxjhgfm

Don't worry, give it a few hours and then you'll completely forget he signed with the Phillies until October.

Gregg Popabitch · Post by **Gregg Popabitch** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 11:41 am

Philaflava wrote:But if not, this is almost ridiculous. The 2011 Phillies would begin the season with what might be the greatest starting rotation in the long history of major-league baseball. Whenever you use a word like "greatest," you run the risk of hyperbole. But not this time.

Cliff Lee, Cy Young winner.

Roy Halladay, two-time Cy Young winner.

Roy Oswalt, MVP of the 2005 National League Championship Series.

Cole Hamels, MVP of the 2008 NLCS and World Series.

They have 13 All-Star Game appearances among them. Two lefties and two righties. Balance, power, finesse, guts. Proven postseason excellence. That is a remarkable combination.

-Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Roy Oswalt

-Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, Millwood

-Koufax, Drysdale, Sutton, Osteen

-Palmer, McNally, Dobson, Cueller (only rotation with 4 20 game winners)

-Cone, Gooden, Darling, Fernandez

These are maybe the only viable contenders.

YouTube · Post by **Philaflava** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 11:54 am

RE: Braves vs. Phillies staff

The Braves have 3 HOF on that roster. No doubt about it.

The Phillies as of now just have 1, with two potential HOF candidates depending on the next 3-4 years. The Phillies still have to have success with this core to compare in that regard.

That said, this is the best 1-2-3-4 weגve seen. Millwood or Avery were never #1גs. To many they werenגt even #2גs. The Phillies arguably have 4 #1 pitchers this season. People donגt realize just how awesome Cole Hamels did last year. His numbers and performances were overshadowed by Roy. Like King Felix, Cole suffered from lack of run support but he was every bit as good as most CY Young candidates last year.

This is what separates the Phillies to the Braves. They have legit #1גs and all of them are pretty much in their prime. If Cliff Lee has 4 quality seasons, maybe a CY Young or WS win, he will be a lock for the HOF IMO.

Gregg Popabitch · Post by **Gregg Popabitch** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 11:58 am

The dodgers have 3 HOFers in that roster too but I've never seen any of them. The fact that there is a rotation that has 4 20 game winners boggles my mind.

Trademark · Post by **Trademark** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 12:43 pm

Tommy Bunz wrote:
Trademark wrote:I went from depression to rage..Fuck cliff lee taht fucking fuck face fuck fuck fuck. jnxfhgjxjhgfm
Don't worry, give it a few hours and then you'll completely forget he signed with the Phillies until October.

you know me to well...

vinylfiend · Post by **vinylfiend** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 12:56 pm

Tommy Bunz wrote:
vinylfiend wrote:SF Giants still have the best rotation in baseball.
Not to be obnoxious, but no they don't and its not really even that close either.

Still in shock that Lee is going to be in red pinstripes this year.

I said it mostly to rile you guys up, but it is still fairly close. Giants beat most of those guys recently in some pretty important games, just saying tho..

Joe Pesci · Post by **Joe Pesci** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 1:11 pm

If Pettitte comes back I'm not too upset about the Yankees rotation, although Lee would have been a tremendous help obviously. As much as I despise Burnett he can turn it on at a moment's notice so we'll see if he bounces back. I expect Hughes to continue to improve this year after a rough 2nd half last season (remember, he's on;y 24) and CC will be CC. They need another starter somehow though because I don't think Nova is going to cut it.

As far as Phillies having the best rotation ever, let's wait for the season to start guys. Not saying they won't be fucking fantastic, but what if Lee reverts to his old self? What if Halladay gets injured? What if 2009 Cole Hamels decides to show up?

That's a lot of what ifs, but things don't always go as planned in sports. Again, not saying they won't be great because I expect them to breeze through the NL this year.