Funketown

And they make awesome gelato/ice cream. If I had to rank tree nuts, I'd probably go 1) Pistachio 1a) Macademia 2) Hazelnut 3) Pecan 4) Almond 5) Walnut 6) Brazil Nut

I just remembered I have a Nyjer Morgan autographed baseball card from when he was a rookie for the Pirates a few years back. I have no clue where it is, but I'm curious to know whether he signed as Plush or Nyjer.

Polanco at 3B seems a bit odd, but 3B in the NL is a really bad position to select from. Ryan Roberts is having a decent season for the D-Backs, but I could also see Aramis Ramirez as a selection to take care of the Cubs mandatory player.

Just posted this in the IGT: In 72 PA's against LHP this season, McGehee is 12/67 with 12 singles and 4 walks. Of course, he hammered LHP's the two previous seasons; I was just amazed to see that he has been so inept against left handed pitching this season.

Well, he could always put Hart in 2 and Lucroy in 5, or the other way around...Then again, the back end of that lineup would be an absolute black hole of suck. McGehee is 12/67 with 12 singles this year against LHP (4BB). Ouch!

Not to mention, Hardy was a very good defensive SS at the time of his demotion; Casey is currently a mediocre-bad defender at 3B. McGehee is now 6th in the majors in -WAR. I really think the team will do something about this by the end of the all-star break.

http://www.mrsmartys.com/home/images/stories/food/MrsMartys-MeatTray.jpg Let me just say I will not be "relishing" in the decision to let go of the tray.

Pessimist! 24-3. Anyone who disagrees is a Cubs fan and probably a commie.

Cameron has really struggled the last couple years, so I just don't see a fit. This is probably the end (or near) for Cameron's playing career. Just to recap his career numbers: 272 HR, 296 SB, 51.5 WAR Never put up an incredible batting line but he was a great fielder at a premium position who swung a pretty good stick. Not to mention he was a total class act.

Does he have any experience in the OF? On BR, it lists him with zero games of MiLB experience in the OF. I'm sure he could learn, but there would certainly be growing pains.

How would Chris Carpenter explain Ryan Theriot's presence on the Home Run Derby team to his son? Teams of four, no? I'd take Matt Kemp, Berkman, and Bruce or Carlos Pena.

It makes more sense to look at Greinke in the past four years rather than the past 8 years; recall that he he pitched only 6 major league innings in 2006 and spent much of his season in the bullpen in 2007. From 2008-2011, Greinke has posted a 3.45 ERA; not on the level of Sabathia (3.10), Halladay (2.63), or Lincecum (2.86). I think using xFIP or FIP would draw Greinke closer (I'm too lazy to do that), but I agree that he is a very good pitcher who is not quite on the level of those guys, even if he is close. "The use of "luck" as a legitimate reason for success or failure is incredibly lazy analysis in my opinion" In many cases I agree, but often the reason that people conclude a player is unlucky is due to their inability to find any perceptible difference in how the player is pitching. For example, we keep hearing that Greinke is leaving balls over the plate, etc., but as And That posted quite some time ago, that does not appear to be the case. It is not necessary that results like this are simply due in large part to luck, but it is certainly a reasonable possibility. Remember that a great pitch can be knocked over the fence four a 3 run homer and a terrible pitch can be grounded weakly back to the mound; the result of a pitch does not determine the quality of the pitch, although that is an extremely hard distinction to make. My gut is telling me that Greinke must be getting the plate or missing spots in key situations, but I just haven't seen anything to confirm (or deny) that feeling. Ultimately I think the truth lies somewhere between both camps; I certainly don't think Greinke has been 5.7 ERA bad, but I also don't think he's having a good season, as the fangraphs writer suggested. I think we can all agree that he should get better results from here on out, although it may not seem that way at times.

If McGehee doesn't turn things around quickly, we've got to assume he'll be a very strong non-tender candidate. His power has been sapped and his LD% is down to ~16% this season, and he just isn't a good enough defender or base runner to justify keeping him in the batting order much longer, much less tendering him an arbitration-1 offer. It's unfortunate to see this happen to anybody, especially a guy like McGehee who seems like a quality fellow.

That might be one of the most idiotic things I've ever heard from an announcer, and that includes many years of listening to Darron and Bill.

I like proper margaritas. I found 40 key limes in the discount cart at Harris Teeter for $1, so these past couple nights I've squeezed 3-4 of them and mixed with 1.5 parts tequila and .5 parts gran gala (Italian knockoff Gran Marnier). I use cheapish (but still all agave) tequila, and it works just fine for my needs. I'm also a big fan of the Mint Julep. Muddle mint with a teaspoon of sugar, pour over 2 oz. bourbon, strain over ice. Last but not least, I must give some love to the White Russian and Mr. Lebowski.

It's great to finally see Gamel in the lineup, but I really wonder how long it will take for McGehee to be dropped in the order. I really don't mind Gamel being the DH while Prince plays the field, though.

Well, given that my preconceived notions are 100% correct... It's quite impressive that the Brewers are on top of the division despite below replacement performances from two full time players and one ~half time player, not to mention the terrible 83 plate appearances the Brewers got from Nieves and Almonte. In my mind, Rickie Weeks is clearly the Brewers' MVP over the last 1.5 seasons. He is truly becoming one of the game's elite players; it's just amazing how far he's come over the past five years.

From Cots, the Yankees' payroll is just north of $200M, while the Red Sox are at $163M and the Phillies are at $165M. I was surprised to see the Phillies higher than the Sawx.

I think their success at the WBC is due to the time of year the WBC is played. If we played the WBC during their pre-season workouts and during our season, I'm confident that they wouldn't dominate as well as they do.I think that may play some part but I think for the most part it's simply because so few games are played and it's hard to really judge a baseball team based on ~10 games. If you ever tried to judge MLB teams only based on their last 10 games, you'd quickly see the absurdity of doing so; the Nationals are 7-3 while the Red Sox are 5-5, clearly they are the better team!

Count me in saying the Twins are toast. Even if the division can be won with 81 games, they'll have to go 49-36. They've made some runs in the past but this team is just too crippled by injuries to make that kind of run, and I just don't see Mauer and Morneau returning to their dominant ways this season.

Saw that earlier today. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Braun has his head on straight. He's the type of guy you want to have around for a long time.

I feel like Japanese players tend to get way more hype than Cuban players and also tend to sign much more lucrative contracts. I'm pretty sure Chapman has the record for a Cuban player signing a major league deal straight out of Cuba, and he signed for $31 million, just more than half of Dice-K's posting fee. According to Wiki, there have been only 11 Japanese-born MLB position players. One has been an elite player (Ichiro). Quite a few were right around average for the most part (H. Matsui, Tad Iguchi, Fukudome). The rest were below average major leaguers (Shinjo, So Taguchi, Kaz Matsui, Nakamura, Johjima).

100 innings isn't an absurdly small sample, especially when his peripherals support his ERA.

As a hitter, I think you're right on Matsui. He was a significantly above average hitter during his time in New York. It's the fact that he was such a horrendous defender that makes me consider him somewhat of a flop. It's probably more accurate to say Matsui was a disappointment, not somewhat of a flop. He had been one of the best players of the decade in Japan, and in MLB he was pretty average, taking into account his defense and position. From what I see on Cots, his first contract with the Yankees was way cheaper than I had thought, at $21M for 3 years, without a posting fee. I was mistaken in thinking the Yankees had paid a huge posting fee for Hideki.

He was an average overall player in MLB, but not a star by any means. In his final two years with Yomiuri he OPS'd 1.080 and 1.155; in his first two years with the Yankees he only OPS'd .788 and .912. He put up 6.9 WAR in his first four seasons with the Yankees, which is pretty much the production of an average outfielder. He was on the wrong side of his prime by the time he came over, but he wasn't ancient either (28 years old when he first came over). Fukudome also has not been not a bad player by any means, but he is nowhere near the hitter people expected him to be. He was a .950 OPS type guy in Japan who hit with good power, but the power didn't cross the pacific with him. Edit: Dice-K's 4.25 career FIP and ERA are better than average, but they paid ace money for the guy. Another case of a superstar being nothing more than an average to slightly above average player.