Tuesday, September 21, 2010

SweetSpot Roundup 9/21

B-List Indians Blog: The B-List Lite
Fausto Carmona's newfound command.

Pro Ball NW (Mariners): Rainiers Gunning for AAA Title
Take heart, Mariner fans, just replace your MLB club next year (sans Felix Hernandez) with the AAA squad.  It's not like it could get any worse.

Baseball Time in Arlington (Rangers): Framing the Rangers' Criticisms
"I guess I'm trying to say two things: (a) don't spend too much time overreacting to the non-injury events in any one game between now and the ALDS, because it's time better spent doing something else; and (b) don't extrapolate this weekend's situational-hitting problems."

The Ray Area: AL-H?-S
Mark thinks this upcoming series against the Yankees may not end up mattering much:  "Take away the division crown, which the Yankees apparently don’t care about, and homefield advantage, which the Twins may steal, and this week feels like four more games for the Rays to figure which 25 men to take with them to October."

Fire Brand of the American League (Red Sox): A Reason to Stay in the Game, Prince Felix' 2010
Red Sox fans are apparently checking out early in 2010.  Hey, it's Pats season, right?  Wicked.

Royals Authority: The Next Big Three?
"Congratulations to the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on winning the Texas League Championship.   The Naturals won with a roster full of intriguing prospects, not the least of which were a trio of young arms with upsides through the roof."

Nick's Twins Blog: Four Questions About the Playoff Roster
With the AL Central crown all but wrapped up, Nick's got big questions about the post-season rotation and Justin Morneau.

Sox Machine (White Sox): Skid (re)Marks
I love Ozzie Guillen.  You love Ozzie Guillen. Ozzie Guillen just committed sacrilege, in commenting on the departure of the White Sox' beloved organist, Nancy Faust: "Guillen compared Faust’s music to the vuvuzela, the South African horn. 'At the beginning of the season, it’s fun,' he said. 'Now in June or July, it gets old.'"

It's About the Money, Stupid (Yankees): Honoring the Boss
"I’m too young to remember anything other than the good years, the post-banishment Steinbrenner who took more of a backseat to his baseball people, giving them the resources and space to create a dynasty...and became a benevolent dictator of sorts. It’s my firm belief that this version of George Steinbrenner is the greatest owner is the history of American professional sports, and no matter what anyone tells you, any fan would give his left arm to have that guy owning his favorite team."

Also, IIATMS has been all over the shattered bat almost-tragedy from Sunday, as it's been a cause Jason has railed about for more than a year.  They were on point all day yesterday, so do yourself a favor and read up.

Austin's Astros 290 Blog: Mills Continues to Garner it Up
"Right now, Brad Mills is getting a lot of credit for turning the Astros around, even though he is making many of the same horrible Garner-esque and Cooper-ish decisions that have led to the Astros being a perennial loser in the immediate aftermath of going to the World Series."

Capitol Avenue Club (Braves):  Rotationgate 2010
CAC goes through the strange conflicting reports yesterday about who would be pitching for the Braves on Monday night.  The upshot: "Given the choice between a healthy Brandon Beachy and a hurt Jair Jurrjens, the choice is equally automatic, it’s Brandon Beachy every time.  When players play hurt, they play poorly."

Disciples of Uecker (Brewers): The 2010 Season, Graphically
With the Brewers mathematically eliminated from contention, Jack looks at how depressing the season was for the Brew Crew in graph form.

Fungoes (Cardinals):  Are Injuries a Valid Excuse for the Cardinals' Demise
Fungoes has a fun new stat (for me, at least) with an awesome acronym: "So although the Cardinals have certainly experienced more than their share of PAIN, losing at least 4.0 wins above replacement to injuries, it’s true that other teams, especially the Phillies, have persevered and, either through trades or internal replacement, addressed their injuries and overcome."

The View From the Bleachers: Book Reviews
Somebody's been using their library card!  Reviews of We Might as Well Win! and Parables from the Diamond.

Dodger Thoughts: Selfish Good News
Jon Weisman is very pleased that Logan White and De Jon Watson will not get the GM job in Arizona, "For all the talk about Joe Torre and Don Mattingly, keeping the hope alive in the farm system is probably more important for the Dodgers' future."

Mets Today: DJ Kitty Spins Rays Into First Place
"Mr. Met will forever have our heart. But there is a new mascot who’s a big beat blaster, dropping dope beats cuz he knows he has to."

Nationals Baseball: Stop Being So Unlucky
"It's bad enough that the Nats are bad, but do they have to be unlucky, too? They've lost their last 4 one-run games and more "impressively" 10 of their last 11."

Ducksnorts (Padres): Twenty-four
Geoff's got advice for the Padres: score more, get scored on less.  Things aren't looking good in S.D.

Crashburn Alley (Phillies): Braves-Phillies Series Preview
Exactly what it sounds like except that Capitol Avenue Club's Peter Hjort stops by to answer some Braves questions.

Redleg Nation: Something's Wrong with Brandon Phillips
"It’s quite clear that Brandon Phillips has not been right since being hit on the hand with a pitch on August 25, out in San Francisco. This morning, I wondered how bad it has been. The answer: worse than I thought."

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