Last night was episode 51 of The Baseball Show. If you haven’t listened to the show yet, what’s wrong with you? We’re working on some good guests this season. Plus we have some very entertaining segments coming within the next couple weeks. Clint Evans of Diamond Hoggers, M.J. Lloyd of Halo Hangout and I actually talked some baseball last night:
-I talked about my new gig as lead prospect blogger for Bleacher Report.
-Prospects and players impressing during the spring and MJ’s new crush on Eric Hosmer.
-Chipper Jones will retire after this season and where he ranks in fWAR.
-Players retiring early vs. players playing until they’re completely out of gas
-Dusty Baker is on the hot seat
-Arte Moreno’s GQ interview. And MJ’s take.
Check it out, get used to us. Next week we’re going to do an over/under episode with plenty of absurd categories mixed in. Listen below or find us on iTunes and then let me know how you found us. We are on there, somewhere.
Business is about to pick up in the sport of baseball, and business picked up last night on The Baseball Show, Clint Evans of Diamond Hoggers and M.J. Lloyd of Off-Base Percentage and Halo Hangout discussed the following with me:
On the latest installment of The Baseball Show, Clint, MJ, and I discussed the week’s most interesting story lines as well as our usual assortment of nonsense.
We started things off by discussing Yu Darvish and how his signing was inevitable after the Rangers posted a $51.7MM bid, so it’s no surprise that they ultimately paid $111MM. According to MJ, Darvish would have to produce a 22 WAR over the next six years to justify his price. But what separates Darvish from previous imports like Hideo Nomo and Dice-K?
We also debate whether or not Darvish will perform like the No. 1 starter that Rangers expect him to be.
We discuss MJ’s Baseball Prospectus debut, “The Advantage of Low Expectations,” which has been well received throughout the baseball blogosphere.
A day after our last show, the Yankees and Mariners conducted a big-time prospect swap, as the Bronx Bombers sent Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi to the Mariners for Michael Pineda and Jose Campos. We evaluate the trade and can’t help but feel that the Yankees were on the winning end of this swap.
Who has received the best return for their starting pitcher this offseason? Although we agree the Padres received a great haul for Mat Latos, we unanimously agree the A’s received the best return this offseason.
And of course, what would The Baseball Show be without “Ask MJ…”
Clint:
Would you take a job in the Angels front office if it were offered to you today?
Yes
Cure for hangover? No booze – note: you can’t say “more booze.”
You’re going to have to find a Waffle House and order the greasiest Cheese Stake plate with hash browns and jalapeños to get through it.
Weirdest thing you’ve ever owned or collected?
I was a huge baseball card fan, but mainly when I was growing up I spent a lot of money on hockey cards for some reason. I doubt I could get anything for my Pavel Buree rookie card. I do have an autographed John Smoltz Starting Lineup figurine still in its package.
If you could sit at a bar and have a drink with any three sports figures, who would it be and why?
1) Mickey Mantle – We’re going to have a good time and hopefully get into some trouble
2) Wayne Gretzky – He was my hero growing up
3) Dana White – I like I guy who curses every other word
4) More so 3a) Mike Trout received an honorable mention provided that MJ can find him a semi-decent fake I.D.
Clint:
1) Mickey Mantle
2) Willie Mays, but he’s just an old saltry prick
3) Joe Nameth – he likes to drink Johnny Walker
4) Babe Ruth – The more drunk Yankees the better
Mike:
1) Mickey Mantle
2) Michael Jordan
3) Mark Grace
We agree that Vin Scully would have to be there to narrate the entire night.
Mike:
If you could sponsor one BR page, regardless of price, who would it be?
Too easy. I literally sat around waiting for Mike Trout to buy his page. If not, then it would probably be Barry Bonds.
Your favorite Disney movie?
Cinderalla, and you’re not going to believe his response…
Rookie of the Year or the Sandlot?
The Sandlot. No question.
Celery or Celery Salt?
Celery. They should just re-name it “ranch shovel”
Jered Weaver: Long hair or short hair?
Long hair! Come on, he’s a dirt bag.
If you could assume a fake identity, what would it be?
MJ: Viagra Nopantsman, a middle-aged pitcher; Hunter Dye and he’d carry around a shotgun like Omar from The Wire.
Last night’s episode of The Baseball Show was only supposed to last an hour, but ultimately reached the hour and a half mark, which only means good things. Clint, MJ, and I touched on several different topics including the Hall of Fame, the Reds’ recent acquisitions, Howie Kendrick‘s extension, and our favorite bizarre MLB injuries. Last night also marked the debut of “Ask MJ,” a new series where Clint and I ask MJ whatever we want. Somehow he survived and actually came up with surprising answers, which can be found below.
Hall of Fame Voting
– Barry Larkin is the lone Hall of Fame inductee from the Class of 2012. Would we all have voted for him? Yes. As a Reds fan, Clint is especially pumped, and we’re pumped for him.
– Larkin isn’t the only player we would have voted for…so who else? We’re not quite sold on Jack Morris, but how about Jeff Bagwell? Absolutely. Tim Raines? Absolutely. Edgar Martinez? Hopefully. Perhaps Frank Thomas‘ imminent induction will open the door.
– As we look ahead to the Class of 2013, we speculate about which players will make the cut? Our early unanimous votes go to Mike Piazza, Craig Biggio, and Curt Schilling.
– A great deal for both teams as they lock up Kendrick for his prime years. We all consider him to be about the seventh or eighth best second baseman in baseball.
MLB Injuries
– This past week Dustin Penner of the L.A. Kings injured his back eating pancakes…seriously. Don’t worry, despite the injury he still finished the meal.
– So naturally we discuss our favorite freak baseball injuries: Clint: Joel Zumaya injuring his elbow playing Guitar Hero; MJ: Clint Barmes falling down a flight of stairs while carrying a slab of deer meat; Mike (three-way tie): Smoltz ironing his shirt while wearing it, Kevin Mitchell microwaving a donut/cupcake that caused the microwave to explode, and Jeff Baker burning his ass while trying to light fights on fire with the Cubs pitchers.
Ask MJ:
Clint’s questions:
– Jerry Dipoto: Over or under career fWAR of 5? – MJ answered under, and was wrong. Dipoto finished his career with a 6.6 fWAR.
– Worst pick up line ever used on a woman: Told strippers he’s a baseball writer; told women he could get them on a lingerie football team when they were actually having open tryouts; he’s a race car driver.
– In a four-year keeper league, would you rather have Justin Upton or Matt Kemp? – Kemp
– You have to go the next year of your life without either looking at Fangraphs (or any Saber-related site) or drinking booze. Which one would you choose: No booze…it’s hard to be a blogger without using stats.
Mike’s questions:
Who will have more wins in 2012: Reds or White Sox? – Reds
Name the three core ingredients in a Denver omelette: Green peppers, ham, and onions. Wow, he actually got it right, although his “I’m not even near a computer” claim remains suspect.
Rapid Fire Round – Pick one:
Chuck or Steve Finley: Steve
Freddy or Jason: Jason
Braun or Kemp: Kemp
Todd Hundley or nobody: Nobody Shane Victorino or Benny Agbayani: Victorino Todd Walker or Neil Walker: Neil Walker
Nomo or Dice-K: Nomo
Bonds or Aaron: Bonds
Goldstein or Neyer: Goldstein
Trout or Harper: Mike Trout
Paul Assenmacher or Terry Mulholland: Mulholland Vernon Wells or a pile of rocks: After clarifying that I’m not referring to the rocks beyond the left-centerfield wall…rocks, hands down.
Whiskey or Rum: Rum
Which Hostess product will you be sad to see go? Snowball (Editor’s note: Gross)
Have you ever considered entering the medical field? Somewhat. I am actually a certified medical coder.
If you had the to domesticate one wild animal, what would it be? Probably a hawk or falcon to my bidding.
How many dugout/clubhouse brawls will the Marlins have in 2012? It will be a season-long brawl. Gatorade should remove all dispensers from their dugout.
On Thursday night The Baseball Showwas back with its first episode of the New Year. As usual, I was joined by Clint from DiamondHoggers.com and TomahawkTake.com, and MJ Lloyd from OffBasePercentage.com and HaloHangout.com. I know, it’s getting to be a lot of websites, right? Anyway, we had a blast talking baseball and touched on a slew of different topics. We will now be recording the podcast every Thursday night, so if you’re free, please feel free to join us. If not, don’t worry; we’ll have the entire show available on all of our sites the following day.
Here are some of the topics we discussed on Thursday’s show:
– MJ is the new editor for HaloHangout.com, so he describes why he’s an Angels fan.
– Why are the Braves so willing to ship Prado? How much are they expecting for Jair Jurrjens, and is he really healthy?
– Where will Prince Fielder land? Nationals, Mariners or a mystery team?
– Why does Ryan Zimmerman fly under the radar? Can the Nationals sign Prince Fielder and ultimately re-sign him?
– What is Kenny Williams doing? Are the White Sox rebuilding or contending? Mike shares his frustrations…
– The Marlins are officially a team full of nut jobs. Will all of their personalities mesh or are we in store for utter mayhem?
– What prospects are we looking to see in 2012? Obviously Matt Moore and Bryce Harper, but who else? Speaking of Harper, it’s always fun to speculate on whether he can break camp with the Nationals.
– Most importantly, be sure to tune back in next week as we debut a new series, “Ask MJ” where we will spend 10-20 minutes asking MJ whatever question we want. We welcome any questions from our readers and listeners as well. The more ridiculous, the better. I personally can’t wait.
March 23, 2012
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Posted by Mike Rosenbaum
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