Chum Bucket

post from FishStripes on 30 December 2009 11:59:00 PM. © FishStripes

It is apparent the Florida Marlins--and all of South Florida's beat writers--have decided to take the week off of work to usher in the new year. There are no signings, trades, or juicy rumors to report... Heck, there's not even any decent Marlins Crap to speak of right now. But, regardless of the slow news week, there is always one newsworthy item to report here on FishStripes: it is time for your nightly Chum Bucket.

The Chum Bucket is an open thread, so as always, talk about anything that pops into your head. Give Larry and Michael some suggestions for things to do with the team once they make their way back into the office next week, mull over your new year's resolutions, try and decipher what the lyrics to Auld Lang Syne actually mean... whatever you feel like chatting about is fair game.

Enjoy your last day of 2009!

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http://www.fishstripes.com/2009/12/30/1227607/chum-bucket

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Vern Ruhle

post from My First Cards on 30 December 2009 11:33:00 PM. © My First Cards

Entering 1982, Vern Ruhle was seen as an important piece of the Houston Astros pitching staff,[...]

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http://cards.devonyoung.com/astros/vern-ruhle/

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Braves New Years Resolutions

post from Capitol Avenue Club on 30 December 2009 10:58:49 PM. © Capitol Avenue Club

In the spirit of doing something holiday-related–seeing as I haven’t really done so yet, other than to briefly acknowledge it’s presence in passing–I’d like to present a list of Braves New Years Resolutions.On second thought, this is more of a “pet peeve from ‘09 pissing contest” than a list of resolutions, but, on every level, [...]

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Top Prospect Lists Are Useless!

post from LADodgerTalk.com - Get Your Daily Dodger Juice, Dodger News and Dodger Rumors on 30 December 2009 10:41:00 PM. © LADodgerTalk.com - Get Your Daily Dodger Juice, Dodger News and Dodger Rumors

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http://www.ladodgertalk.com/2009/12/top-prospect-lists-are-useless/

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Yankees 2010 Opening Day Roster Debate

post from Bronx Baseball Daily on 30 December 2009 09:53:03 PM. © Bronx Baseball Daily

Today seems like a pretty quiet day on the Yankees? front, so I figured it would be a good time to[...]

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http://www.bronxbaseballdaily.com/?p=1566

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Jennings and Newman Discuss Yankees Pitching
Prospects

post from A Die Hard Yankees Fan on 30 December 2009 09:26:00 PM. © A Die Hard Yankees Fan

Chad Jennings spoke with Mark Newman and had some good stuff about many Yankees minor-league pitchers. Check this out:

Aroldis Chapman is very intriguing, but Newman has no idea what the price tag will be and said ?He?s not where (Stephen) Strasburg was.? He also said that he was exactly what they expected when he threw a few weeks ago. "Huge fastball. Spotty command. Inconsistent secondary pitches.... 'But if you don?t like that, you need to be in another business,' Newman said." Newman also said that he would start in A or Double-A and "needs to work on the command and secondary pitches."

Newman said Jeremy Bleich could be a pitcher that moves quickly through the system this year.
Wilkin de la Rosa will likely "reapeat Double-A", but they're not sure if he will move to the pen or not. As of now he and Bleich will be in the Double-A rotation, which will also inlcude Hector Noesi and Chris Garcia.
Dellin Betances is coming off "ligament enhancement surgery" on his right elbow -- the same one Mo had a few years ago -- and is expected to pitch around the start of the season.
Newman had praise for Andrew Brackman, calling his stuff "top-of-the-rotation stuff." He said everyone must be patient with him due to his ?Big body, limited experience and an injury problem.?
Alan Horne is healthy.

For more quotes and info from Jennings and Newman go over to LoHud and check out the full post.

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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/QlXT/~3/g4CoGDp7hXU/jennings-and-newman-d
iscuss-yankees.html

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Three NY Teams

post from A Die Hard Yankees Fan on 30 December 2009 09:24:00 PM. © A Die Hard Yankees Fan

Tim Marchman wrote an article this week for SI and in it suggests that baseball add a third team in New York as a way to help even the playing field.

As Yankees fans and executives will rightly remind you, when the team adds expensive players like Vazquez, they're not just playing fairly, they're doing so within rules designed to constrain them. Nearly all of the penalties that baseball collects from teams whose payrolls exceed the luxury tax threshold, for example, comes from the Yankees. That doesn't change the fact that they and the Mets have an inherent and unfair advantage over even other teams in huge, rich cities.

According to the measure used by the Office of Management and Budget, the New York metropolitan region numbers about 19 million people. In other words, New York has one MLB team for every 9.5 million people. Chicago, by this measure, has one for every five million people, just as Miami and Atlanta do. Los Angeles has one for every 6.5 million people, as do Dallas and Philadelphia. (This doesn't even take into account New York's vast, inherent wealth.)

As we learned a decade ago, baseball at large is quite willing to jury-rig a silly tax system that only works against the Yankees, because everyone else benefits, be it poor teams getting handouts or rich teams who see the Yankees ever so slightly chastened in their spending. With the collective bargaining agreement coming up for renegotiation, a bad economy and a Yankees team that looks like it will be ferociously good over the next few years even if the likes of Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera begin their inevitable decline, it's quite likely that their continued high spending will provoke some new set of ineffectual regulations meant to reign them in a bit.

The better solution would be to place a third team in New York. That would bring the town's population:team ratio down to the level of Los Angeles or Philadelphia, and with the same number of people and dollars chasing more baseball, would quite likely bring Yankee spending down a hair without doing anything punitive or unfair. The main holdup is baseball's archaic territorial rights system, which has also trapped the A's in Oakland when they should really be in San Jose. Anyone who cried foul last week on hearing that the Yankees had snared yet another great player would be far better served writing a letter to the commissioner about how stupid that rights system is than they would be to grouse about it over a beer. The address is: Commissioner Bud Selig, 245 Park Ave., New York, NY 10167.

As long as the team plays in the NL it'll be fine. There is only one American League New York team and that's the Yankees, and it should not be re-written.

Bringing a third team back to The City That Never Sleeps would be great, even though it's very unlikely that this will ever happen. If it were to become true Brooklyn should get the team. After having the Dodgers ripped away from them, they deserve it.

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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/QlXT/~3/1skwazvu1LM/three-ny-teams.html

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DMB World Series Replay-1900

post from DMB Historic World Series Replay on 30 December 2009 09:17:30 PM. © DMB Historic World Series Replay

1900On January 19, 1900 Boston Beaneaters catcher Marty Bergen brutally murdered his wife, 2 children and then himself on his farm in North Brookfield, Mass. For more on Marty Bergen check here.On March 8, 1900 the National league eliminated the Cleveland Spiders, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals, and the Louisville Colonels. Making the National League [...]

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http://dmbworldseriesreplay.wordpress.com/2009/12/31/dmb-world-series-replay-1900
/

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Holliday Close To Deal With Cards

Looks like this squashes the hopes of those Yankees fans who wanted and believed the Yankees would go after him.

Via Derrick Goold (hat-tip to Chad Jennings):

The wait might have been worth it for the Cardinals, as the club and free-agent outfielder Matt Holliday are working toward an agreement that multiple sources described as gaining momentum and potentially is the largest ever offered by the franchise.

... Sources with knowledge of the negotiations said progress is "strong" and a resolution could come as early as next week.

The article also says that Holliday?s representatives and Cardinals GM John Mozeliak have confirmed that there have been ongoing talks.

Goold later mentions that Boras had been looking for an 8-year deal worth around $18 million per. The Cardinals offer, Goold said "Sources indicated the sides have discussed several structures, including a five-year guaranteed deal and an eight-year framework. The average annual salary would be higher in the shorter deal. The longer deal?s total worth, however, would surpass the largest contract ever finalized by the Cardinals ? the $100-million extension signed by Albert Pujols in 2004."

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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SlidingIntoHome/~3/uxKdJw3aJuk/holliday-close-to-d
eal-with-cards.html

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Jennings and Newman Talk Yankees Pitching
Prospects

Chad Jennings spoke with Mark Newman and had many interesting bits of info about many Yankees minor-league pitchers. Here's a rundown:

Aroldis Chapman is very intriguing, but Newman has no idea what the price tag will be and said ?He?s not where (Stephen) Strasburg was.? He also said that he was exactly what they expected when he threw a few weeks ago. "Huge fastball. Spotty command. Inconsistent secondary pitches.... 'But if you don?t like that, you need to be in another business,' Newman said." Newman also said that he would start in A or Double-A and "needs to work on the command and secondary pitches."

Newman said Jeremy Bleich could be a pitcher that moves quickly through the system this year.
Wilkin de la Rosa will likely "reapeat Double-A", but they're not sure if he will move to the pen or not. As of now he and Bleich will be in the Double-A rotation, which will also inlcude Hector Noesi and Chris Garcia.
Dellin Betances is coming off "ligament enhancement surgery" on his right elbow -- the same one Mo had a few years ago -- and is expected to pitch around the start of the season.
Newman had praise for Andrew Brackman, calling his stuff "top-of-the-rotation stuff." He said everyone must be patient with him due to his ?Big body, limited experience and an injury problem.?
Alan Horne is healthy.

Make sure you go over to LoHud and check out the full post with more quotes and info from Jennings and Newman.

Read The Full Article:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SlidingIntoHome/~3/S3jn4HUUbWY/jennings-and-newman
-talk-yankees.html

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