What does that have to do with anything? They may make a little more with their own network but before that they made more than everyone else with FSNY or the other cable company there.

Maybe it has something to do with how business works? Those who take risk get to enjoy the fruits of it. Those who share in the risk do the same. According to this article, Goldman Sachs and Providence Equity Partners financed the start-up of the network. They have earned over a 100% return on their investment through dividend payments. That's not to mention that their original $340 million share is worth upwards of $1.2 billion (as of almost two years ago).

If I'm a shareholder and you're coming for a slice of the revenues, I'll tell you to shut the f up and sit back down.

I dont think you can apply business theories to the argument...

It's easier just to whine about the "antichrist" big markets.

So I'm sure I've missed it somewhere in the thread, but who is the National League's Starter for the All-Star game? I figure you really have three choices.

1. Tim Lincecum - 10-1, 115.2 IP, 2.49 ERA, 122 Ks, 44 BB, 1.24 WHIP
2. Edinson Volquez - 10-3, 104.2 IP, 2.24 ERA, 113 Ks, 51 BB, 1.24 WHIP
3. Brandon Webb - 12-4, 118.0 IP, 3.43 ERA, 100 Ks, 31 BB, 1.16 WHIP

Even though I'm a homer and a half (I have a Lincecum jersey on as I type this), I have a hard time picking between these three guys based upon statistics alone. I think that Webb's record (even though I hate Wins) and peripherals (K:BB Ratio and WHIP) make up for his higher ERA to put him right on par with Lincecum and Volquez. Lincecum has pitched better recently, but all three have had warts in their last 10 starts.

Personally, I give the nod to Lincecum - he's easily the MVP of the Giants this season, and has pitched better than the other two recently. Who do you guys choose?

Again it doesn't work that way in sports. We are partners in this event.

The fact that you were awarded a franchise in a larger populated market shouldn't mean you get a larger cut of OUR profits.

Yep. Great game.

Gillick has done a masterful job with his pickups. Sure, the core of the team (Rollins, Utley, Howard, Hamels) came from Ed Wade, but the majority of Wade's pickups have been low-risk great reward. The Moyer deal is a great example of Gillick's adds.

His greatest move though just got re-signed this morning. Closer Brad Lidge got a 3 year, 37 million extension; fixing the mistake of letting Billy Wagner go.

Thankfully it does, and that's never going to change.

Popularity lineups..err..All Star lineups are out

While that is correct that it is the way it works today to say your thankful for it and that it will never change is classic big market arrogance.

I think you have to vote Lincecum because the moment his oblique goes, his career is over. he ought to have one moment in the sun.

You can bet your ass that McCourt wants a salary cap

What a ridiculous argument. When the Packers won the SuperBowl did you consider it tainted because it was heavily subsidized by the Giants and 49ers?

Obviously, the NFL seems to care more for the small markets than MLB does and it has paid off more than they imagined. If you want MLB to be a league that only those on the coasts follow, then fine. But if you want try to grab the top spot from the NFL again, you need to go after the Midwest areas that may not have all the big cities that the coasts do. After all, the KC Chiefs do a pretty decent business and no one blames them for taking the money of the coasts to be successful.

Apples and Oranges. NFL teams don't have local TV contracts, there's national deals, and that's split amongst the teams equally. That national tv is about 2/3 of all revenue generated by the NFL, and it's plenty to keep all teams competitive. As a result, there really isn't the huge difference in revenues between NFL teams that you see in the MLB.

Splitting a national TV deal 32 ways is way different than taking Yankees money from their YES network and ticket sales and handing it to small markets teams (And I'm not against MLB revenue sharing in general, I just think people are asking for the impossible and then they get all pissy when I point out the actual economics). For true equality in MLB, you'd have to really gut the big market teams in a big way, I'm talking hundreds of millions of dollars. MLB would be insane to put those kind of handcuffs on their big money-makers.

I know some people would love to see all MLB team's TV deals pooled and split equally but again, that's just insanity and its never going to happen. Because you play 162 games, baseball is a regional, not a national sport, and it lends itself to regional, not national TV deals.

People talk about arrogance of the big markets but the arrogance of the small market team fans continue to astound me - first we hear that MLB will be as popular as Lacrosse without the Royals and other small market teams, and now all MLB has to do to pass the NFL is build up the Royals to a contender. That's arrogance.

Wow...

No, that sounds more like you reaching to make yourself feel better about being a big market fan who doesn't mind reaping the benefits of being such, or throwing it in the faces of those less fortunate.

Not that the passing the NFL thing is isn't a reach itself, but seriously, molson. There have been some amazingly arrogant things said by some big market fans in this thread, yourself included. And keep in mind, I am a big market fan myself.

Francona is a joke. Jason Varitek is not an all-star.

As a Red Sox lifer, I must agree. As much as I respect 'Tek, and especially his game-management, his time as an all-star has passed, and frankly, I think to a large extent his value as an everyday player is quickly diminishing.

Wow. I can't believe that one. This isn't a borderline guy getting the call over a 20% statistically better deserving one. This is nuts. I think Keith Law's heading about this missed pick says it all: "Jason Varitek over various multicellular organisms capable of wearing a catcher's mitt".

SI

I hate fan voting. Why can't they just let the fans vote then let managers choose the team and say that's who was voted in?

C.C. to the Brewers?

Am I wrong or does this rumored deal for Sabathia look pretty good for the Brewers with only one high level prospect changing hands and a couple of ok guys?

SI

You know what doesn't look good? Billy Wagner giving up a game-tying 2-run bomb to Werth with 2 strikes and 2 outs.

Good job all star. Prick.

Isn't it for basically a rental year?

I know that's (mostly) facetious, right? You want to see another stupid scandal for baseball that they cannot weasel their way out of? ;)

I would like to see a couple of changes, tho. The half inning or inning when ballots are handed out, I'd love to see stats put up on the scoreboard instead of out of town scores. I know this isn't possible everywhere but most stadiums have large video boards where you could "educate" all MLB fans as to who is more deserving.

For instance, only the pure Royals ballots would be voting for Tony Pena Jr for SS this year. But the AL SS race this year is pretty bad so they don't know who else is most deserving, say, Michael Young, this year. I could see a lot of them voting for Jeter solely on name recognition. But if you flash the stats on the screen, I think it would help some of these races where there's the name recognition vs the more deserving.

Similarly, MLB.com doesn't have the stats on their site when you fill out a ballot, the last time I checked. Yes, MLB.com has the stats on the statistics part of the site, but just place them side by side on the ballot so you can see every player. Maybe that's changed in the last couple of years, tho- it's been a while since I've done an online ballot.

It's a modest suggestion but I think a good one.

SI

note that according to Keith Law's article, the players picked Varitek, not Francona. So you can't blame Francona for being a homer or anything.

grrrrr - good point here in that article too

Putting six relievers on the roster is bad enough, but the players and AL manager Francona snubbed one of the majors' best pitchers this year and a member of his own staff in the process: Jon Lester. I'm not sure what more Lester would have to do to get everyone's attention. Throw a no-hitter? Oh, he did that. How about shutting out the Yankees in the Bronx? Um, he did that too. And his backstory is pretty good, too. He's an emerging star, the type of player MLB should want in the All-Star Game as they showcase the next generation of centerpiece players.

Of course it is. But almost all deadline deals are for rental years.

When I was in an old BBPro league, I would almost never make deadline deals because I'd rather have a prospect for 6 years than a good pitcher/prospect for a half season. But I was also one of the most conservative owners in the league- I'd rather build my franchise like the Braves with lots of division titles but maybe not the postseason success rather than risk it all and go for a title. Other owners were different, of course.

SI

Good move for the Brewers. Worst case scenario, you take your two comp picks and try to find a guy to replace who you just dealt. You have to take your shot when the opportunity presents itself.

Two games going 15 innings on the same day.. I wonder how often this has happened.

To be fair, he was using anecdotal evidence in that entire section to justify certain players. He also suggested Greinke instead of Soria. Greinke has been pretty good but not great while Soria didn't give up a run until the middle of May and has saved nearly 60% of the Royals wins.

Edwin Jackson shut out the Yanks for 7 innings earlier this season and so did Garrett Olson. I don't think they're being championed for an All Star spot. Hell, Kyle Davies pitched a nice game there. I don't think he's getting a spot in New York, either. Lester is 6th in the AL in pitcher VORP but 7 more guys are within a couple as the season hasn't had a chance to sort itself out yet. And that makes you borderline when you do have to fill a spot for every team.

One could easily make an argument that James Shields belongs on the team more than Lester as he has a higher ERA but less walks, more K's, less hits, and a lower WHIP in a comparable number of innings. Or, hell, the aforementioned Greinke is quite comparable as well.

I don't know if we have enough Red Sox in the game, yet, tho. Could we add a couple of more Cubs, too :p

SI

Jeremy Burke, the backup catcher for the Mariners, is pitching the 15th for Seattle.

Miguel Cabrera doubles off of Burke to open up the 15th. Burke is featuring a vast array of 79-82 mph FBs.

Burke just tried to use a curve ball, whch one hopped the back stop.

hahah...i wanna see this on sportscenter!

2 outs. Thames sac fly to make it 2-1, and a Pudge ground out. Pudge, of course, tried going yard every pitch.

And Ichiro makes a shoe string catch to get Burke out of the 15th. Honestly, if Seattle scores, I have no idea what they do in the 16th. I assume RA Dickey, who pitched last night, comes in because he is a knuckleballer.

Sure thing!

Is there some reason the Mets/Phils game is still going? Wouldn't that game have started about 5 hours ago?

This is the type of day I wish I had MLB.tv :(

SI

Tigs pull it out in 15, giving Jeremy Burke his first career loss.

Burke is no Doug Dascenzo, that's for sure.

That game started 7 hours ago. 2.5 hour rain delay from 4:30 until 7.

Huge win though. Fernando Tatis strikes again.

Why don't the powers that be(including the fans) come to a consensus as to what they want the All Star team to be about. Is it about who is having the best first half of the season? Who is the "best" player at each position since the last All Star game? How about a roster of who the fans want to see in the game? What exactly should the criteria be?

It should be about what collection of players have the best chance of winning home field in the WS for their league. The fans, at the very least with the ballot stuffing of guys from their own team, don't get that.

That's a good question. There's no answer. People always seem to assume that the All-Star Game is supposed to be the players that had the best 1/2 season, but I don't think that's necessarily true. Why shouldn't it just be the biggest stars in the game? The fans seem to vote for a combination of both, and while the managers tend to lean towards guys who had a good few months, they also usually show a little bias for stardom.

As for the Home Field advantage thing, it's just a fun gimmick, I don't think the players you have on your team really impact who wins a single baseball game like this. A single baseball game is a toss-up anyway, it becomes even more so when you throw out a bunch of players who are putting forth various efforts and there's no real unifying strategy or gameplan. The AL's chances of winning don't really decrease just because you have Ichiro playing the first 3 innings instead of Carlos Quentin.

Yeah I should add that I don't believe any of the crap I wrote above.

Yes, the CC deal is good for the Brewers but, as an Indians fan, I also think it's a good deal for the Tribe. The Indians knew Sabathia was going to walk at the end of the year. With the way the team has underperformed its way out of playoff contention this year, I think the decision to move Sabathia "for something" now was pretty easy for Mark Shapiro.

As I stated earlier in this thread, the Brewers get a half year "rental" from Sabathia and will also receive two first round draft picks when he signs elsewhere in the off-season so the trade is more valuable to Milwaukee than a typical rental deal.

I'm happy with the Indians' haul, too. Matt LaPorta is a legit power prospect and the Indians badly need power, especially at the corner outfield positions and especially in a lineup which includes the suddenly powerless Travis Hafner.

In the end, the Indians dealt Sabathia out of necessity but received honest value given the nature of the deal. The Brewers now have a half year of one of the best pitchers in baseball and a legitimate chance to win the NL Central.

Also don't forget that I'm a Mets fan and I am under no illusions that the Mets are anything but a massive market team. As for national vs. regional revenue, I know the difference. I also don't think it's such a big deal to have that revenue shared. Not the entire thing, but I put forward the Costas idea that half of the local revenue is put into a pot which is evenly distributed. It'd be a nice start (along with an "everywhere draft").

bawhahaha

the indians are from ohio.

ohio can go fuck itself

Varitek is 15 for his last 133. Amazing.

QFT.

John Danks should have been a lock, but I guess the 2.50 ERA and 1.1 WHIP doesn't go as far as it used to. With that being said, I'll take him out-dueling Harden and the A's any day of the week. Being 120th in run support kills all-star chances, apparently...

And you are...a Red Sox fan?

Brett Gardner beats Papelbon! Yankees stay within 3 games of the Sox. Great game.

I'm an ohio-hater first and foremost.

Sorry to hear that.

I agree. He should have gotten in over one of the 2 Angels starters that got picked. And I apologize to Francona, I think he picked Varitek. Are the players who vote even paying attention to Varitek's atrocious season? Jermaine Dye deserves to go too, but he'll have to beat Giambi and Longoria in the fan vote to get there.

We hate you too.

Really? Which one? The one tied for the AL and MLB in wins, or the one with the third most Ks in the league?

Not saying Denks doesn't deserve, but Santana and Saunders deserve as much as anyone.

I think Longoria deserves to go over Dye, to be honest.

And now that Joe Crede's an All-Star can we please trade him at this inflated value and bring Josh Fields back up?

LOL. I know at least one person there does.

(I hate with reason - bitter towards a certain single person in OH, if you get my drift)

Checking out Danks, he is actually a tough call, and not so straight forward. Yes, he has a better ERA than Santana and Saunders (Santana has the "worst" ERA on the All Star staff at 3.28 except for Sherrill), but he is only 5-4. Yes, wins are a crappy stat at times, but they do make a difference. Plus, Danks is actually closer to 1.20 WHIP, rather than 1.1, and Santana beats his WHIP significantly there, along with the wins and Ks. And Saunders, as I said, leads the AL in wins. He might even be the starter, I am thinking.

No, if Danks were to get in, the guy I actually think should have been left off was probably a homer or player pick: Papelbon. Not that 2.19 ERA and 25 saves is bad, but there are six relievers on the squad. The Red Sox have plenty of representation, and frankly, Papelbon isn't having as good a year as Soria, Rivera, Nathan or K-Rod. And Sherrill, I think, is the O's lone rep. The staff is over-represented with relievers as it is. Papelbon should be on vacation next week while Danks or maybe another pitcher (a starter), like Shields (James) should be in NY.

Saunders

You would leave the league leader in wins off of the All Star team? I don't think that has ever happened. Saunders also has a better WHIP than Danks, while whipping him on win/loss record. Neither are strikeout mavens (Danks has the edge there).

I agree with this. Put Danks in, take Papelbon out. White Sox are repped, so we can remove Dye and put in Longoria, who should be on the team.

Yes, because wins are a context-dependent statistics. Evaluating pitchers by wins is only slightly better than evaluating hitters by RBI's (in the short term).

What about WHIP?

Or, y'know, within 4 games. Same difference.

I do get a laugh out of the Yankees and the Red Sox fighting tooth and nail...over second place.

To the Rays.

The best-record-in-the-majors Rays.

It's like a ludicrous Disney movie made flesh.

Hey, the Royals have a new streak going! Yeah!

Oh, wait. It's another losing streak.

Yep :D.

For one of the few times ever I was rooting for the Yanks over the Red Sox, to give the Rays a bit more breathing room on top of the division. The Rays just have to keep on winning (I know, easier said than done) and I hope the Red Sox and Yankees take each other out (as well as the rest of the league ;)).

And their schedule the rest of the way is far weaker than what it's been up to this point.

Rays have 2 against the Yanks starting tomorrow, then on to Cleveland, where I think they might have faced CC is he hadn't been traded.

Rays will tighten right up down the stretch.

I thought that Longoria belonged ahead of Crede (17 errors!) but that the White Sox got screwed on the Varitek thing. Is there another AL catcher that belonged ahead of AJ Pierzynski?

Dye is also having a very solid season - particularly against my Cubs - but the AL outfield picture is a lot more competitive than the one in the NL.

Danks - has there ever been an All-Star with 6 wins? That is a pretty low number, even if it "context dependent". He has been terrific, but I have a hard time explaining him as an All-Star ahead of the guys on the roster.

Laird may have belonged on the team, but he has had a season limited by injury.

Longoria did get screwed, but he's a rook and that happens sometimes. Still has a chance. Though I think Giambi got screwed over by Mourneau. And Dye should have made the squad too.

For the final vote, I picked Longoria (for the NL I took Burrell).

Eh, they're probably not THIS good, but if they falter, it'll be more likely due to guys coming to earth a bit and tiring out, as opposed to not having enough of a "veteran presence" or "being too young to handle the pressure" or some nonsense like that.

I tihnk the players did Varitek a disservice by voting for him rather than honoring him, since now he's got to play in the game with those awful numbers that will be even more highlighted compared to the rest of the team.

call it what you will

On the other hand, Pena has been utterly HORRIBLE early this year and is just coming out of it. On the same token, Garza is really coming into his own. And Crawford has been playing below his career numbers. So I think that rise will counter any coming back to Earth of Longoria or Navarro.

After losing three players (2 RP's & a UTIL) to the DL yesterday, the Braves recall Francoeur after just three days in the minors.

He hit over .500 down in AA but what remains to be seen is whether the problem was mental (and should now be corrected) or physical (because major league pitchers are a lot tougher than AA pitchers).

If I had to guess what'll happen, I think the most likely outcome is that he hits around .280 through the rest of July & then regresses back around .240-.260 for the rest of the season.

Has Franky learned in his 3 days in the minors that sometimes you just gotta take some pitches and maybe even a walk ever once in a while?

We'll see. I knew they'd be good, just not this good, this fast. But look at the 1991 World Series. Neither of those teams had any real let down and still finished with around 95 wins each, I think.

If he didn't have a mental problem before, he sure will now, since he called the decision to send him down a "betrayal" and questioned Wren's 3-minute "we're sending you down" meeting. Neyer had a blog entry about this, and basically showed that more than anything, he's just been unlucky this year. Add in the fact that he's not really as good as people think he is (although he has improved his walk rate, to his credit), and he'll eventually get back to what he was.

Sunday: 4-5, 0 BB, 1 K
Saturday: 1-4, 0 BB, 1 K
Friday: 2-4, 1 BB, 0 K

3 game total 7-13, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K's

While it was a joke, at least he had one ;).

The funny thing is that the one Braves game I went to see this season (against the Mets, of course), the guys sitting next to us informed us that Franky, no matter what the pitcher throws will swing on the first two pitches without fail. Franky then proceeded to prove this person right 3 out of the 4 at bats during the game (including swinging at some UGLY pitches). The last one, when he layed off the 2nd pitch, the fans in our section were literally cheering... it was great stuff :D.

His career splits are kind of interesting to look at.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/player...&type=batting3

1550 career AB's.
310 AB's on 0-0 counts
159 AB's on 0-1 counts
159 AB's on 0-2 counts

But he actually appears to lay off more than it seems from just watching him.
698 AB's after 0-1 counts, 542 AB's after 1-0 counts (plus the 310 first pitch AB's). Just from watching him I wouldn't have given you a nickel for the odds of him being 1-0 roughly 1/3rds of his AB's.

Yep.. and that's why we have statistical analysis.

Good job, JIMG!

Good job jynxing that one :)

SI

Shades of Erstad. Somewhere Estrada is shaking in his boots. Not Ramirez, though.

I just watched a Rangers C named Ramirez (never heard of him) basically take a charging wall while standing blocking the plate against Jeff Mathis. Knocked him completely off his feet and a few feet back. But he held onto the ball for the out. Then after being momentarily dazed, he suddenly jumps up and guns out Kotchman trying to take third while Ramirez was "dazing" on the ground. Way to play tough, Ramirez (even if it was against my Angels).

You'll probably be able to see it on Sportscenter.

Willy Wagner is currently causing me to pull out my hair...all over my body.

Congrats on YOUR FUCKING SAVE ALL STAR.

they tried hard to blow that game

So...um...Dodger game?

Watching. But from my experience, you guys should be losing.

Braves win a crazy game (a one run game at that!) in 17 innings. Terrific performance from the bullpen, with 11 shutout innings.

Just announced. Sorry to see Murton go, I always liked him.

The Cubs answered the Brewers acquisition of CC Sabathia, picking up Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin from Oakland on Tuesday for Sean Gallagher, Eric Patterson, Matt Murton and Josh Donaldson.

The right-handed Harden is 5-1 with an 2.34 earned-run average and 92 strikeouts over 13 games for Oakland, bolsters a Cubs rotation that just got saw the return of Carlos Zambrano.

Harden is 36-19 with a 3.42 ERA and a .224 opponents average over his career.

Patterson and Murton had spent time between Chicago and Triple-A Iowa this season. Patterson hit .237 with 1 home run, 7 runs batted in and 2 stolen bases in 13 games in Chicago this season. Murton hit .250 with 6 RBI in 19 games with the Cubs this season.

Gaudin is expected to join the Cubs bullpen but could spot start if needed, general manager Jim Hendry said. He is 5-3 with a 3.59 ERA over 62 2/3 innings. He has struck out 44 and walked 17. He is 24-23 over his career with 4.33 ERA, 299 strikeouts and 197 walks.

Gallagher went 3-4, 4.45 with the Cubs this season. Donaldson was with Double-A Peoria.

Hopefully Harden can stay healthy enough...

Hard to believe that after rooting for Wood + Prior for about five years that we now have a guy who is a bigger injury risk than either of them. Love Harden when he pitches, but it seems like he is always hurt.

I won't miss Matt Murton at all, but Gallagher is a decent prospect. Not sure about Patterson quite yet - he crushed the White Sox for a couple of days but otherwise has been very non-descript at the big league level. No idea about the 4th prospect (Donaldson). As Ronnie said, Beane usually does pretty well at assessing talent.

Jesus. Anyone see the 2nd at bat in the Mets-Giants game? Fred Lewis on 1st, ground ball to 2nd, Easley fields it cleanly, goes to tag Lewis. Lewis runs onto the grass by about 3 feet, right in front of the umpire, causing Easley to miss the tag, and he throws to 1st for the sole out. No help from any umpire.

No doubt, after looking at the numbers Danks certainly wasn't a lock, and I do believe it's probably better(strategy-wise) to stack the squad with closers. With that being said, I do think the AL's best pitching staff(by the numbers) deserved to have a representative at the game, Danks/Floyd/Jenks/Linebrink, whoever, but it matters not. As long as the AL wins!