A Bit of a Rant About Yuniesky Betancourt
by Graham MacAree on Apr 19, 2009 5:53 PM PDT
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PrintOr, if you want the title to be more positive, Why Ronny Cedeno Should Start At Shortstop.
When Betancourt come up in 2005, watching him field was a revelation. I've seen bad shortstops and good ones, but I've never been quite so entranced just by watching a guy pick the ball off the ground and throwing to first. It wasn't just that he had a tonne of range, or a cannon arm - there was something else to his play. 2005 Betancourt was as smooth a defensive player as I'd ever seen. He was almost languorous in making plays - something that would have been detrimental were he the type who didn't have the physical talent to make the insanely difficult routine. Watching him make not a single motion that didn't help get the ball off the ground and into the first baseman's glove was amazing, and I used to try to get to Safeco Field as early as possible just to see him field the ball. His beautiful defence helped to make up for the frustration of watching him hit, too.
Those days are long gone. Since his arrival in the US, Betancourt has gone from a stick thin kid to a full grown Yuniesky. The added pounds have sapped his agility and range, and the astonishing efficiency has turned into laziness. Normally you expect a guy to defend worse with age, but to my eyes, Betancourt went from being one of the great defensive shortstops to a complete catastrophe within the span of three years.
All of this might have been mitigated by his development at the plate, but the added weight didn't really give him any power, and the added experience didn't teach him to wait for a pitch to hit rather than swinging wildly at whatever's near the plate. Being chewed out for it in spring training didn't change a damn thing. As a batter, Betancourt's in that horrible limbo in that he's just talented enough to squeak by without knowing what he's doing but not talented enough to avoid being a liability. He'll have his hot streaks here and there (including to start the season), but we've never been the sorts of people who like results based analysis anyway, so that shouldn't factor in.
Enter Ronny Cedeno.
A former top Cubs prospect, Cedeno was part of the return for Aaron Heilman, basically making him a part of the JJ Putz trade by extension. Some of you have not been lucky enough to see him play this year, but he's been quite clearly the best defensive middle infielder on the team. There was a great example of that today, when he started at second base - he made a Boone-esque dash to pick up a ball way over to his left and threw the runner out, making the whole thing look easy. Jose Lopez would have merely frowned gently at the ball as it trickled into right field. Betancourt, on the other hand, made two lazy errors that ended up blowing the game completely open in the seventh, failing to convert a medium-difficult chance at a double play, and then bobbling a ball that was hit straight at him in the next at-bat. I can excuse the occasional error, but Yuni failed to record one out of a possible four outs, and it looked like he was just indifferent to the whole thing. It's pretty safe to say that Cedeno's defence kicks Betancourts's ass.
I'd also make the argument that Cedeno is a far better hitter than Yuni, and probably on par with Jose Lopez. The results haven't been there, but unlike the double play twins, he always shows some sort of plan at the plate. He takes balls and waits for strikes, and he generally hits the ball pretty hard with a nice little line drive swing. When was the last time you remember Lopez or Yuni homering when down 1-2? And considering his success at AAA, I'll take the sort of player who knows to not swing at balls in the dirt or over his head over Yuniesky ****ing Betancourt, who couldn't learn plate discipline to save his life.
Either Yuni is too stupid to realise that he's playing terribly and needs to improve, or he's too secure in his starting gig to care. In the first case, he's irredeemable and doesn't deserve to be on a MLB team, let alone one that may well contend for a divisional title. In the second, he needs a wakeup call.
It's time to send a message. Ronny Cedeno should start every game of the Rays series at shortstop.
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Cedeno's plate appearance in the 9th was beautiful. Negative result, but still WOW!
Preceded by Beltre and Yuni flailing at pitches off the plate (especially low and away), it really highlighted his at bat. I don’t recall him offering at anything outside, and it wasn’t even close. And the pitcher had to start coming in, go figure. Fantastic job.
And Shannon Drayer in the post game came as close as she gets to harsh words, if she’s any kind of gauge for the inner sanctum it sounds like Yuni is running out of rope.
I'll believe it when I see it.
We’ve heard for close to two years now how Betancourt is “running out of time” or “he’s playing for his job” or “If he keeps playing bad we’ll replace him” ect. And yet he’s still out there.
I’ll believe they actually mean it when I see him sitting multiple games in a row on the bench.
You can't hide from the omnipresent eye.
I believe so yes
The best option we’ve had to replace him these last couple years has been Willie, and that wouldn’t have been an upgrade.
Shannon has been pretty vocal for the last two years on Yuni’s need to apply himself, and general lack of interest in doing so
Could you please use the subject like, msb?
It’s not a big deal in this case, but we like it when people make a habit of it otherwise moderation becomes a hassle since we don’t get hotlinks to flagged posts etc.
by Graham MacAree on Apr 19, 2009 9:26 PM PDT up reply actions
I was swaying back and forth at the start of the season, because he made a few plays here and there
But that’s not saying much, since I started the season wanting to see Cedeno at shortstop.
Now I don’t really think we have any choice but to put Cedeno at shortstop. He’s at worst a wash with Yuni at the plate, and his glove is infinitely better at this stage. This really has turned into a no-brainer.
If you went home and bought yourself a Cedeno jersey we're going to have words.
I saw him first ;)
by Kirsten Schlewitz on Apr 19, 2009 6:14 PM PDT reply actions
I bet there's more than one Cedeno jersey in existence.
by JI on Apr 19, 2009 6:27 PM PDT up reply actions
I wonder if you wouldn't mind keeping your relationship issues off the site
by Dewey N on Apr 19, 2009 7:27 PM PDT up reply actions 7 recs
Hush boy you'll understand when you're older
by Kirsten Schlewitz on Apr 19, 2009 7:31 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
This went green?
Jesus people, get a life. They never even fucking mention it unless it has some comedic value.
Or maybe it was funny because we knew Fogel was being ironic?
Give us some credit Robert. I rec’d not out of bitterness but because it made me chuckle.
The system has broken down, recs have now lost all meaning
We can’t even rely on them as a way of expressing approval if they can be used for so many other contexts. We won’t know if someone is reccing something because they liked the post or if they’re reccing it out of protest. It’s madness I say! MADNESS!
I think it wasn't entirely pure
but I realize that I’ve been quite cranky the last few days so it’s properly me seeing something that isn’t there.
But in my defense, when was the last time that retard Fogel made a funny?
by Robert on Apr 20, 2009 10:08 AM PDT up reply actions 2 recs
The name change ruined his career.
That being said, let people be impure in their thoughts if they want.
I would not even dare to tell you what you should or should not say, because that might stifle your creativity. However, LL is a voyeuristic experience for many and rec clicking is their only way of communicating pleasure.
If people want to bitch about something they should complain to me rather than being whiny little bastards
by Graham MacAree on Apr 20, 2009 10:23 AM PDT up reply actions
I agree almost completely with everything you've written
and I appreciate your lack of personal attacks on Yuni.
Can you write an open letter to Wak?
“As probably the biggest fan of Yuniesky Betancourt, even I think he should be benched at this point.”
by appleshampoo on Apr 19, 2009 6:16 PM PDT up reply actions
Sadly, the biggest fan of Yuni's actually some old lady in Lake Stevens
I just know how to use the internet.
But yes, he should be benched. If only so he realized he can’t make so many mistakes.
Fun fact: Cedeno has a higher career OSwing% than Yuni does
That said I rather obviously agree with you.
I've been cursing Yuni for a while...
Watching the game today, after the 2nd error on what looked like it should have been a routine play, my girlfriend turned to me and said, “I understand now.”
The only problem with starting Cedeno at SS, is we can’t put him in 2nd or use him to give the outfielders an off day as often! Man, I love this kids defense.
Yes we can
Just because he’s playing SS doesn’t mean he can’t not play shortstop. When someone else needs a day off, put Yuni at short and Cedeno can move around
Determined, Jonesing Commentor | Proud proprietor of Wyomingroutes.org & Washingtonhighways.org
If Yuni sucks he should be the one moving down the defensive spectrum
…or to Tacoma (if that’s allowed)
by JI on Apr 19, 2009 6:50 PM PDT up reply actions
I'd demote him to Tacoma if he isn't playing everyday, personally
But if he’s still on the team I’d rather have him playing an incompetent SS then a completely incompetent anything else. Can you imagine Yuni in LF? Frankly I’d rather have Cedeno in LF and Yuni at SS then the other way around.
And if he’s being demoted to Tacoma, we need to find ourselves another infielder anyway (Chris Burke?), either the new guy can move around or Cedeno can depending on who the new guy is. Chris Burke seems ideal to me because he is a competent infielder and outfielder
Determined, Jonesing Commentor | Proud proprietor of Wyomingroutes.org & Washingtonhighways.org
Can we demote him to Cuba?
I was actually more making a joke that we would lose the “super utility” player by “locking him in” at a position; while trying to point out that he’s played stellar defense at every position. I realize he wouldn’t actually be locked in, and could slide to anywhere, while letting Yuni play SS again.
I think that's somewhat debatable
The player with inferior defensive skills may have more trouble adjusting to playing a new position than someone with good defensive skills. If this was ST and Yuni had time to learn a different position, that would be one thing, but I don’t know about doing it on the fly.
If Yuni’s still got options, sending him to Tacoma might be an intriguing kick-in-the-pants.
Yuni played 2B in Cuba some
He would probably be serviceable. I mean, he would make the same boneheaded plays as he does at SS, but I don’t think the position switching would make him any worse.
by appleshampoo on Apr 19, 2009 11:11 PM PDT up reply actions
I just don't see him playing "good" defense at any position.
Sending him down to AAA will probably mean nothing to him. I don’t believe he can be saved. I hope I’m wrong. I think he got all that he wants and that’s pathectic, but I think that’s right. We got nothing.
by Sinking Away on Apr 19, 2009 11:17 PM PDT up reply actions
Lopez is at least a league-average 2B
and unlike Yuni, he can hit mistakes hard.
by seattlebruin on Apr 20, 2009 6:08 PM PDT up reply actions
Lopez is going to play pretty much every day and deservingly so.
And using him in the outfield isn’t necessary now that Ichiro is back. Chavez is going to be out there every day, or when Wlad is out there, Chavez can be the defensive replacement.
Or a 3rd title: "Yuniesky Betancourt is a lost cause"
Despite a having completely new organizational staff we’re still seeing the same Yuni. Lackadaisical at Shortstop and really crappy plate discipline.
Heck, I think Cedeno (and/or Chavez) tried to help Yuni with his game in Spring Training. Obviously, no dice.
Gonna have to make a decision on him sooner or later.
We need Yuni takes no pride in his defense gifs.
Ok, maybe he does take pride, but if he does’ I’m not sure why.
Not to the glory of Ibanez.
Or at least not yet.
Yeah but I don't really think anyone thinks Yuni is still good.
by JI on Apr 19, 2009 7:00 PM PDT up reply actions
Something tells me his mom is unable to watch him on television.
by JI on Apr 19, 2009 7:03 PM PDT up reply actions
Of course, there are some who would argue Betancourt > Lopez.
Maybe we should put Betancourt at 2B and trade Lopez.
by eponymous_coward on Apr 19, 2009 6:36 PM PDT reply actions
Lopez is going to hit. He'll be fine. Watching Yuni play, I have no confidence
that he would even get to more balls than Lopez.
I don't know why anyone would do that.
Lopez has proven to be teachable, and had a good season last year, despite the team falling apart around him. That, and when he makes a blunder, he actually looks like he cares.
Betancourt has much more defensive value
Lopez’s projected offense wasn’t much better than Betancourt’s.
It’s an oversimplification, but that’s how I understand it.
Well said
It says a lot about my faith in Z and Wak that I fully expect Yuni to lose his job at some point, a question not of if but when.
I agree. Cedeno is Jack's guy. Yuni was Bavasi's boy.
Cedeno will be the starting shortstop very soon
I like Larry Stone.
But he needs to do a better job after today’s game of getting some quotes in regards to the Betancourt vs Cedeno thing. Where the heck is Baker, he would have jumped all over this topic and gotten Wak to address it.
I wrote it two hours ago
Just had it set to publish later so that Derek’s anti-Silva post would get some love.
by davidcameron on Apr 19, 2009 7:02 PM PDT up reply actions
Very well written and rational.
He just isn’t the wonder that he was in 2005. His offense has always been “young”, but as he been playing a while now I would have expected him to learn; that hasn’t happened. His defense used to be a joy to watch, now it’s painful. Cedeno should be given the chance, as he clearly may have more promise at this point, and he certainly would be an improvement defensively.
I wanted Yuni demoted for being lazy since last season so frankly I feel as if my ideas were stolen.
Lazy has never really made sense to me.
It seems to me that complacency is his problem. He gets by. He’s got a good contract now and is comfortable. He’s bulked up (ick), but that’s really only made his defense worse, his offense is no better or worse than its been. Cedeno finally is here to challenge him and he has no clue, W and the new coaches aren’t going to be looking at 2005 highlight reels, they see what they see in front of them and he most certainly will be sitting on the bench very soon.
by Sinking Away on Apr 19, 2009 7:14 PM PDT up reply actions
Congrats, Graham, I just submitted this to BTF's Newsstand.
Hopefully the Primates will have some insights to add, or some entertaining snark at the very least.
Patriotism, Pepper, Professionalism
Question: Benching him for Cedeno makes us better defensively, but
how is he useful on the bench? I don’t see him as a pinch hitter. I guess he could be used to give Lopez a day off, but he’s pretty limited in his usefulness off the bench. WFB was better in that sense or am I wrong?
I'm not convinced he'd be useful at all on the bench
What I want to see is a message sent that the starting shortstop job of the Seattle Mariners is not Yuni’s birthright, because I think that’s the only way he gets motivated to do anything about his terrible play this year.
by Graham MacAree on Apr 19, 2009 7:30 PM PDT up reply actions
That's what I thought, but what about all the work he did this summer with Raul?
I thought he got the message, worked at improving himself but that clearly didn’t work. Can he be motivated? Can he regain what he was? Should we just hope that someone needs him way more than we do, anyone?
by Sinking Away on Apr 19, 2009 7:38 PM PDT up reply actions
Frankly since he still has 2 option years left and doesn't have so much service time that he can reject those options
I’d send him down to play in Tacoma and bring up somebody useful
Determined, Jonesing Commentor | Proud proprietor of Wyomingroutes.org & Washingtonhighways.org
LFoYB?
It's hard to convince people to let you eat them if you're an asshole. - Thingray
There used to be a commented here called the Last Fan of Jose Lopez
Faux is making a play on it
by Graham MacAree on Apr 19, 2009 7:41 PM PDT up reply actions
Most of this, I agree with completely.
The added pounds have sapped his agility and range, and the astonishing efficiency has turned into laziness.
Either Yuni is too stupid to realise that he’s playing terribly and needs to improve, or he’s too secure in his starting gig to care. In the first case, he’s irredeemable and doesn’t deserve to be on a MLB team, let alone one that may well contend for a divisional title. In the second, he needs a wakeup call.
There are many reasons to ditch Yuni for Cedeno, most of which have been rehashed quite a few times on this site by numerous people. But we’re statheads here, we don’t know the players. I don’t like the idea of putting value judgments on mental/clubhouse/attitude issues that you can’t quantify.
Saying he has no discipline or is fat or lost his range and so on is something we can measure, whether through stats or with your eyes. You can’t tell if he is being lazy, or is too secure, or is trying his hardest and working with the support staff to fix what they think is wrong. We just don’t know what is going on in his head or in that locker room that affects or doesn’t affect what he does on the field.
Until there is evidence of mental issues from the horse’s mouth, I feel that judgments like this detract from the otherwise sound arguments you put up.
It's hard to convince people to let you eat them if you're an asshole. - Thingray
by Faux on Apr 19, 2009 7:55 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
Discipline = Batting
Not a fat joke.
It's hard to convince people to let you eat them if you're an asshole. - Thingray
The former is merely a play off the old languorousness
As for the latter… well I have some indication as to what’s going on in Yuni’s head.
by Graham MacAree on Apr 19, 2009 8:01 PM PDT up reply actions
I'll have to take your word for it.
I was just putting my two cents in about how a common argument from the stat community (Intangibles don’t really affect a team, they can’t be quantified) should be turned around when we as numbers people make value judgments on player’s mental state or intangibles.
If you do have a way to quantify, however, my argument becomes moot. Good on you for sharing, then.
It's hard to convince people to let you eat them if you're an asshole. - Thingray
I don't have a way to quantify but in certain circles Yuni is not exactly known for coachability
by Graham MacAree on Apr 19, 2009 8:12 PM PDT up reply actions
Neither was Raffy, from my recollection.
He seems to be doing ok somewhere else, so maybe it’s still more complicated than everyone would like to think.
Doesn’t change that he seems to not be working out here, and maybe should be somewhere else where he might be more likely to succeed.
I’m just a “the simplest answer is probably wrong” type, so I tend to dislike conclusions/characterizations based on anything besides firsthand information.
It's hard to convince people to let you eat them if you're an asshole. - Thingray
Second paragraph: He = Yuni
It's hard to convince people to let you eat them if you're an asshole. - Thingray
I'm a skeptic too so I totally understand
But I wouldn’t have made that assertion unless I was pretty sure that that was the situation.
As for Raffy, it was a slightly different situation as it was off-field matters rather than onfield ones which did him in
by Graham MacAree on Apr 19, 2009 8:23 PM PDT up reply actions
I do think Faux makes an interesting point
about how we discourage people from talking about chemistry and its effect on performance, but are willing to engage in conversation about perceived mental states like complacency or laziness.
If coaches etc don't think that Yuni is living up to his potential because of those mental states, it's a perfectly reasonable thing to mention
by Graham MacAree on Apr 20, 2009 1:04 PM PDT up reply actions
Preaching to the choir
I think it’s perfectly acceptable to talk about it.
But I also think that the same coaches talk about the positive influence of Griffey in the clubhouse… but we’d rather not indulge those statements. Curious.
One is an effect on an individual player, one is a nebulous effect on a whole team
Furthermore, we accept that effort/grit/etc can improve player performance, we just don’t value the grit component any higher than we should.
30% talent + 70% hustle does not beat 70% talent + 30% hustle.
by Graham MacAree on Apr 20, 2009 1:09 PM PDT up reply actions
Hypothetically
If I posted a diary about how it would help the entire team if Yuni was benched, how would it be received?
My case would go something like: Currently everyone is allowed to be a free swinger (there are no real consequences to disregarding the coaching strategy) Someone has to be made example of. Who better than Yuni? Imagine the effect on Beltre and the rest of these hackers if a player like Yuni actually lost his job because of his refusal or inability to attempt better plate discipline.
My guess is that the diary would not be ripped or flagged… although I’m clearly suggesting a “nebulous effect on the whole team”. My guess is that I would be spared the lions because people tend to agree with the central core of “Yuni should swing at less bad pitches.” But people don’t tend to agree with the central core of “Griffey will help this team by bringing a winning attitude” so those posts get shot down with prejudice. Faux’s comment made me think about this fallacy.
Chemistry is non-predictable and never has been shown to have a tangible effect on a team
Which is why people disagree with the premise that Griffey will bring a winning attitude to the team, just like how we disagreed with the premise that Carl Everett and Scott Spiezio would bring a winning attitude to the team.
I’d also disagree with the premise of your hypothetical ‘benching Yuni will help the team in more ways than just having Yuni off the team’ post.
by Graham MacAree on Apr 20, 2009 1:28 PM PDT up reply actions
Well the central premise of "Yuni should swing at less bad pitches" is verifiably correct
If your central premise were “benching Yuni will help the rest of the team swing at fewer bad pitches,” I’m sure people would disagree with you, but they’d still be in favor of the benching anyway just because Yuni sucks.
by Jeff Sullivan on Apr 20, 2009 1:43 PM PDT up reply actions
This is literally racist, you limey bastard
by lemonverbena on Apr 20, 2009 10:31 AM PDT up reply actions
I can't remember the last time I saw a monkey that black.
by Robert on Apr 20, 2009 10:49 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
I honestly don't see why this kind of comment is tolerated.
No politics, religion, or chatspeak. Racism: a-ok!
by lemonverbena on Apr 20, 2009 11:07 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Sub thread closed.
If you have an issue, take it up privately.
Defying Matthew's STC suggestion
this isn’t an all-blacks-are-monkeys thing. This is a Yuni-has-the-personality-and-idiosyncrasies-of-a-monkey issue. Way different.
by Jeff Sullivan on Apr 20, 2009 11:27 AM PDT up reply actions
A pretty fine line to tread, and one a non-LL-intiate might have a hard time discerning.
Especially in light of recent Yuni comments such as “Go back to Africa you stupid monkey” that have gone unscathed. I don’t understand why that kind of humor is such a treasured commodity.
by lemonverbena on Apr 20, 2009 11:37 AM PDT up reply actions
Also I didn't know equating Cubans with monkeys was a racism thing
Yuni isn’t African-American.
by Jeff Sullivan on Apr 20, 2009 11:43 AM PDT up reply actions
Assuming that Cuba is part of the Americas
and that his heritage includes Africans brought over on the middle passage as part of the slave trade… then Yuni’s about as African American as anyone.
When did LL get so sensitive?
Seems like people don’t even have a sense of humor anymore.
Why are you afraid of sensitivity?
Lindsey: It’s hard to believe that, all of that.
Powder: It’s because you have this spot that you can’t see past. My grams and gramps had it, the spot where they thought they were disconnected from everything.
Lindsey: So that’s what they’d see if they could? That they’re really connected?
Powder: And how beautiful they really are. And that there’s no need to hide, or lie. And that it’s possible to talk to someone without any lies, with no sarcasms, no deceptions, no exaggerations or any of the things that people use to confuse the truth.
Lindsey: I don’t know a single person who does that.
Because it's not funny*
Always err on the side of humour.
*And if you don’t find things funny and we do that’s kinda too bad
by Graham MacAree on Apr 20, 2009 5:39 PM PDT up reply actions
Defense, defence
Aw what the hell. Good article.
Some day I might have to just switch to US English just because I'm sick of being 'corrected' all the time
by Graham MacAree on Apr 19, 2009 8:18 PM PDT up reply actions
YOUR IN AMERICA SPEAK AMERICAN
Whatever that is…
It's hard to convince people to let you eat them if you're an asshole. - Thingray
And if I were to add anything to the TOS it would be 'and you now owe Graham a dollar'
by Graham MacAree on Apr 19, 2009 8:24 PM PDT up reply actions
When I first came, the TOS was:
Don’t be mean, unless you’re Graham.
Therefore I am unaware of any other rules.
One SBN suggestion: A “Site Memo” button, that acts like a mass warn for the next time a registered user opens a lookoutlanding.com page? It could be used to update members on a new TOS, scheduled site downtimes, or other important information that would be site local? (I’m assuming that mods have a bigger piece of clockwerks’ ear than the average user)
It's hard to convince people to let you eat them if you're an asshole. - Thingray
There's been changes since that time long long ago.
http://www.lookoutlanding.com/2009/4/17/843397/griffey-brings-back-old-mojo#14413639
It currently says:
No politics, no religion, no chatspeak (lol, ur, brb, and so forth), no +1’s, no unwarranted hostility. Please capitalize and use comprehensible grammar. Read this and this before posting. Follow the rules and you should be fine.Or at least it should
It's hard to convince people to let you eat them if you're an asshole. - Thingray
It's kind of funny.
But ultimately, British English is out of context. Imagine if a writer on a Man U site used “center”, “realize”, etc. I’m guessing some consternation would ensue. “Realise”, “defence”, “centre fielder”, all slightly amusing, but “tonne of range” is like reading a baseball critique penned by Milton.
by lemonverbena on Apr 20, 2009 10:38 AM PDT up reply actions
That assumes people on Man U fan sites are literate
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
by pdb on Apr 20, 2009 10:43 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
If I found a Utd site I'd be busy posting gifs of SAF doing his 'I'm angry and my head is exploding' dance
by Graham MacAree on Apr 20, 2009 10:43 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
That would be completely awesome
and oh yeah fuck Chelsea.
By which I mean congratulations.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Yes yes yes.
[even better because it was against City when we crushed them last year].
I was at Shea for the Felix-Slam!
Personal M's record: 5-4.
by EnglishMariner on Apr 20, 2009 12:16 PM PDT up reply actions
You have no idea how happy that first .gif makes me
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Maybe people shouldn't be fucking idiots
In Canada they spell it "centre field’ and that country plays MLB.
Both ways are correct.
But in Canada 3rd place is first because of the metric conversion factor!
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
My point is right now I would have to imagine that the authors are sick of complaints
and right now isn’t a good time to criticize one of them because they didn’t come from where you came from.
by JI on Apr 20, 2009 11:25 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Why are you anti-Milton?
Office Space was awesome.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Why bring THEM to my last sanctuary?
Do you see me talking about Mexican Invaders, or AIDS? No? So why mention Man United??!!!?
I was at Shea for the Felix-Slam!
Personal M's record: 5-4.
by EnglishMariner on Apr 20, 2009 12:15 PM PDT up reply actions
Have I mentioned that we love Christiano Ronaldo around these parts?
by Graham MacAree on Apr 20, 2009 12:17 PM PDT up reply actions
If that's in a gay way and a gay way only, then I'm fine.
I was at Shea for the Felix-Slam!
Personal M's record: 5-4.
by EnglishMariner on Apr 20, 2009 12:18 PM PDT up reply actions
Except (at least around LL) 90% of the corrections are from regulars doing it ironically
by seattlebruin on Apr 20, 2009 6:11 PM PDT up reply actions
There's no way for me to respond to this without invoking the deadest of dead memes
but this is entirely true.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
This looks like another great opportunity to evaluate the front office.
The last several moves have not been so fantastic (Clement, Aumont, Sweeney), and we’ve again reached a point where a move can be made. Another week or two of this abominable play will be a week or two too many.
It seems like so far Wak has done a pretty good job of knowing when to yank pitchers when they look to be struggling,
and he has preached the play for your job philosophy since the first day so it will be interesting to watch the Yuni situation. Wak seemed to take a sort of passive aggressive tone when he talked about Yuni’s errors, mentioning that he wants the team to (paraphrase) “…come to the ballpark ready to play 9 innings.” At times I wonder if Yuni can keep his focus for 2 pitches.
At this point, and I know it’s early, I’m pretty fed up with Sweeny and Yuni both. Sweeny because he’s old, and we have similar players with a whole lot more upside waiting in AAA, and Yuni because I don’t think that Yuni is a better hitter or shortstop than Cedeno is, and I really, really don’t think he’s gonna turn a corner anytime soon.
Plus, according to the above picture, Cedeno uses protection.
I like my Mariners to be responsible when I’m ready to declare my love for them.
GO GO POWER Z!
PHILADELPHIA – Everth Cabrera, a rookie shortstop off to a promising start with the Padres, might be lost for two months because of the hand injury he suffered in Sunday’s 5-4 loss to the Phillies, General Manager Kevin Towers said afterward.
The Padres will not be surprised, both Towers and manager Bud Black said, if Monday’s CT scan reveals a fractured hamate bone caused by Cabrera’s right-handed swing on a sixth-inning pitch from Phillies reliever J.A. Happ at Citizens Bank Park.
"It’s bad," a teary-eyed Cabrera said with a wince as he extended his puffy left hand. "Disappointing."
Said Towers: "That (injury) is worse than a loss."
Towers said he probably will look outside of the organization for a shortstop.
Shut up Ellliott is going to stay a Senator.
by Kirsten Schlewitz on Apr 20, 2009 12:48 PM PDT up reply actions
I wish you two would keep your relationship off the site
by Graham MacAree on Apr 20, 2009 12:50 PM PDT up reply actions 3 recs
I only wish I had a relationship with Elliott.
by Kirsten Schlewitz on Apr 20, 2009 12:53 PM PDT up reply actions
Also Ashley Young is not going to be traded to Chelsea.
by Kirsten Schlewitz on Apr 20, 2009 12:53 PM PDT up reply actions
Maybe they have scout already on it:
“They do have marquee players in Ichiro and [Adrian] Beltre,” one scout said. “And I like their shortstop [Yuniesky Betancourt] a lot.”
Whomever that scout is, get his team on the phone and work a deal!
Pfff
clearly a case of Rule Five Disease.
by Jeff Sullivan on Apr 20, 2009 1:46 PM PDT up reply actions
You know what sucks?
Posting an obnoxiously provocative post… anticipating some juicy replies… and then getting your comment banned before you had a chance to read the replies! If only I’d left the thread open. Then, at least, I’d get to read the 2 replies it got before it was shut down. Curse the 3-fingered gods of internet trolling intervention.
Don't worry, the replies weren't any good
by Jeff Sullivan on Apr 20, 2009 2:50 PM PDT up reply actions
That makes me feel better
I was hoping to get some white defensive rage, deeply rooted in insecurity and onanistic self-righteousness.
Is that something to do with UZR?
I was at Shea for the Felix-Slam!
Personal M's record: 5-4.
by EnglishMariner on Apr 20, 2009 3:13 PM PDT up reply actions
I am also calling for Adrian Beltre to be DFA'd
by Graham MacAree on Apr 21, 2009 9:21 AM PDT up reply actions
That's solid reasoning also.
Since Betancourt likes to set up behind third anyway we don’t really need him.
Wow
No, he hasn’t bunted …
It’s like this guy doesn’t actually watch the games.
by appleshampoo on Apr 21, 2009 1:03 PM PDT up reply actions
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