Daily Archives: February 4, 2016
Baseball’s Newest Rivalry: Boston Vs Detroit
Ground Rule Triple Blog (Featured Baseball Website/groundruletripleblog.wordpress.com)
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Move over Red Sox-Yankees, baseball’s got a new rivalry that’s full of drama. The Detroit Tigers versus the Boston Red Sox. You might be thinking how is an AL Central team vs. an AL East team a huge rivalry? Well, there’s a lot of history to support this, but let’s begin with the most recent event.
Longtime Tigers President and GM Dave Dombrowski was let go days after the 2015 Trade Deadline and eventually signed with the Red Sox to become their president. He’s provided the Tigers with plenty of success from a pair of World Series appearances in 2006 and 2012 and blockbuster trades that netted them MVPs and Cy Youngs.
And now he’s with Boston, and his longtime assistant GM Al Avila has become the GM of the Tigers. Avila has worked for numerous years under Dave, dating back to their time with the then-Florida Marlins. And now…
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The Angels Are Going Cheap In 2016 When They Need To Buck Up One More Time: Sign Fowler!
Billy Eppler and Arte Moreno really need to evaluate how much the 2016 Angels are going to need offense. Easily the worst bench in 2015, coupled with the loss of David Freese so far, the club has not addressed the weaknesses they have at LF and 2B. With Pujols hurt to start the year, this club may be out of it before he returns. At $164 MIL projected they are $25 MIL underneath the limit for payrolls before paying a penalty. Many players are coming off the books after 2016 as well. Spend the dough needed to compete, or risk missing the playoffs – and burning another year of Mike Trout.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part – Owner) Follow @stokes_hunter21
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I won’t be the first one to be on this wave of people who think that the Angels are rotting away the career of Mike Trout in a Halo’s uniform.
The best overall player in the American League (and at least for right now) plus the Major Leagues, must be furious with the lack of offensive help arriving in Anaheim this off season.
New Angels GM Billy Eppler is following the directive of Arte Moreno not to spend over the Luxury Tax Threshold. Now it is catching up with them on the field.
Throw in a disastrous move of bringing in Josh Hamilton a few years back – a debacle that will see the club fork out $53.4 MIL over the next 2 year to see him play in Texas. Read the rest of this entry
Jump On Prices For Megabus Riding – As You Can Book Now Through May.23 – For Prices As Low As $1
megabus allows you to switch all itineraries (whether it is one journey or 20, for a $1 fee to trade in for other fares.) I traded 20 trips – not to be used for $27 credit towards a new fare that was a peak trip. It cost me just $3.00 to pull off the maneuver after a small booking fee was added. These guys also don’t require paper tickets (although you can use a computer printout of your reservations). Megabus has WIFI and dc volt outlets for every one of their 81 seats one each trip.
Today, Megabus is allowing bookings until May.23, 2016. To take advantage of $1 fares – you have to pounce rught now while the getting is good.
This bus company is perfectly situated for travel between the MLB cities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago, Milwaukee, Minnesota and Pittsburgh.
I used these guys for 200 trips last year during my 224 games trip in 183 days. .
In New York, with the new 7 line train going all the way to the Javvitz Center, this takes you right to where the pick up is for NY departures.
In Washington, Union Station is the area to board. Boston has South Station as an area to board and also to be dropped off.
Baltimore has two sites in Whitemarsh Park and Ride Area. Chicago is less than a half mile from Chicago Union Station.
Minnesota has the location for pick up and drop about 500 feet from an entrance to Target in the RF area.
Since there are only $1 fares for a few seat per ride, jump on the chance to book early. Even if you have to change it up later, (There is only a $1 exchange fare), this method is worth it.
This is a perfect scenario for any MLB Fan.
go visit megabus.com
Who Will Win The 2016 MLB World Series Fan Poll Vote: Gambling 101/Fantasy 2016 @MLB Reports
Home of Sully Baseball’s 20 Minute Daily Podcast (has done a show every day since Oct.24, 2012), Sullymetrics, MLB Interleague, MLB Scheduling, TJ Surgeries, Gambling 101, MLB Payrolls, MLB State Of The Unions, Fantasy Baseball, We hand out Daily MVP’s For AL and NL pitchers and hitters during the season called ‘WOB’ (Who Owned Baseball), MLB Shutout Survivor, MLB Runs Scored Survivor and quality ball park chasing tips. Chuck Booth is the President Of The Baseball Bloggers Alliance. Jordan Gluck and I are also part of the ownership/management team.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part Owner) Follow @stokes_hunter21
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So I was really impressed with our readers putting forth the Baseball Hall Of Fame voting last month. Additionally, we also put out some Division Winner polls. The general consensus of what the landscaped was with (in terms of favorites) were pretty much on par with what the pundits have been calling.
The latest installment in our polls to keep you busy is one to who will win the World Series. There are not many sports blog out there that have had the handicapping record as we have over the last few years.
I write a weekly post on the World Series Odds year round, and also have tackled the League Championship odds and Division Races.
In a few weeks we will start seeing season win predictions (for over/unders). We will also do player performances on the campaign.
If that were not enough, we come to you with another season of MLB Shutout Survivor (Charting each team on how long they can avoid being blanked), and also MLB Runs Scoring Survivor ( doing a daily tally on all 30 MLB clubs going through all runs scored variations of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 or plus – until each squad completes all 11 totals).
The MLB Reports also is going to be heavy into Fantasy Sports in 2016. We are looking at putting out Daily Fantasy Rosters at Draftkings.com
Be on the lookout for your gambling/fantasy advice.
For now, take part in who will win the World Series Poll.
Can Gerrit Cole Rely On His Slider Again In 2016?
(AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Jason Rollison (Featured Baseball Writer/piratesbreakdown.com) Follow @pbcbreakdown
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In what seems like another lifetime ago, I wrote that Gerrit Cole was now relying on his slider in 2015 as his go-to pitch.
At the time, Cole’s development of a killer secondary pitch to complement his fastball was something that was in its infancy.
After bursting onto the scene in 2013 with a fastball that could tap 100mph on radar, Cole showed a greater reliance on his fastball while still mixing in his sinker, slider, and curveball.
He even put an emphasis on his still-burgeoning changeup early in the season before that, too, which also took a backseat to the heat.
Despite that emphasis on secondary pitches, Cole was often forced to go back to the fastball in 2014.
The simple fact is that the changeup, curveball, and sinker were getting knocked around a bit, with line drive rates of 30.43 percent, 35 percent, and 28.07 percent respectively.
The sinking fastball and changeup both had batting averages against of .300 or more, with the changeup also displaying a crooked .643 SLG percentage.
It was clear that Cole was still figuring out which weapon in his arsenal would be that second “go-to” pitch.
Enter the slider.
Why The Houston Astros Have The Brightest Future In Major League Baseball
Carlos Correa was the 1st overall pick in the 2012 Amateur Draft for the Houston Astros. He came up in early June and proceeded to win the American League Rookie Of The Year Award with a 3 Slash of .279/.345/.512 with 22 HRs (led all shortstops in the MLB) and 22 Doubles in just 99 Games. This type of production will change the complexion of the team for the next 6 years. He is just going to be 21 for all of next season – and he looks exactly like a young Alex Rodriguez. In his 1st postseason action, Correa smacked 2 HRs in that pivotal game 4 of the ALDS for Houston, staking them to a 6 – 2 lead before the Bullpen gave up the game.
Trey Rose (Featured Fantasy Baseball Writer/Owner – dynastydigest.sportsblog.com) Follow @Dynasty_Digest
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The Houston Astros had some very rough years from 2011 to 2013 (162-324 record).
While this was a tough time for the Major League Organization, their Minor League affiliates were thriving. Luckily for the Astros, a lot of their young talent has made their way through the minors and has finally landed in the big leagues.
This youth movement has helped the team drastically. Many baseball experts and fans didn’t predict the Astros to compete in 2015, but they proved them wrong.
In 2015, they made the playoffs for the first time since 2005. They accomplished this feat while having the 6th youngest roster in Major League Baseball (Average age of 26.7 years old).
If the Astros were this successful with a roster with so little Major League experience, then can you imagine what they will do once their talent matures throughout the next few seasons?
Examining The 2016 Boston Red Sox’s Most Intriguing Non-Roster Spring Training Invitees
Andrew Martin (Baseball Writer/Owner – baseballhistorian.blogspot.com) Follow @historianandrew
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With a 40-man roster that’s already garnering wide praise for its projected ability to win games in 2016, the Boston Red Sox are sitting pretty heading into the upcoming spring training.
That being said, even though they roll deep there’s never a way to know how they might be impacted by injury or ineffectiveness.
Non-roster invitees typically generate little fanfare, but in some cases can end up becoming major contributors.
The Red Sox are no exception, and have some players worth watching on their own list this year.
Odds To Win The 2016 MLB World Series
best odd value on the board this week.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part Owner) Follow @stokes_hunter21
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Howie Kendrick signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers this past week, and the club has learned that Yasiel Puig has dropped 15 LBS in the offseason.
While I still peg the Dodgers for about 90 – 91 wins as of right now, they have the best odds on the board this week.
There is no doubt the San Francisco Giants lineup 1 – 8 is way better and Pitching Staff is also more rounded, however the gap between the two clubs is not a difference of +600.
I would put the Giants about 93 – 94 wins. Their roster moves while decent this winter with Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardzija and Denard Span, they all come with a little question mark here or there. Read the rest of this entry
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – February 4, 2016
AP
Why does Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance in The Revenant remind me of Mike Trout and his situation with the Angels?
Trust me. It makes sense!
It is a Can I Please Win The Big Award Now? episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Read the rest of this entry
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