# MLB Baseball Mid-Season Discussion #1: AL East **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 6, 2005, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-baseball-mid-season-discussion-1-al-east/307218 "2005-06-06T22:34:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-baseball-mid-season-discussion-1-al-east/307218/21 "2005-06-07T17:55:21Z")
It’s kind of funny, the Yanks are at .500 and the big goat last year (A-Rod) is by far and away their MVP. So Yanks fans have to deal with a mediocre squad and A-Rod being their savior. It brings a smile to my face :D. ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-baseball-mid-season-discussion-1-al-east/307218/22 "2005-06-07T19:00:32Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Thanks. I did a couple of calculations, and if **RickJay** isn’t using that method, then he’s using one very similar, because i got the same results as him. Some people use 1.83 rather than 2 for the exponent (for example, Baseball Reference does this) because the results match the actual W-L records a little closer. Interestingly, the Yankees were formula-busters last year, since they won 101 and the Pythagorean W-L for them was 89-73. Not sure what that can be attributed to. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-baseball-mid-season-discussion-1-al-east/307218/23 "2005-06-07T19:38:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Some people use 1.83 rather than 2 for the exponent So has Fermat’s Last Baseball Theorem been disproved? ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-baseball-mid-season-discussion-1-al-east/307218/24 "2005-06-07T20:03:20Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > So has Fermat’s Last Baseball Theorem been disproved? I am the least sabermetric baseball person ever. Today is the first time I’ve ever messed around with spreadsheets when discussing baseball. And I thought the Last Baseball Theorem was related to Mark Bellhorn’s strikeout totals anyway. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-baseball-mid-season-discussion-1-al-east/307218/25 "2005-06-07T20:30:14Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Thanks. I did a couple of calculations, and if **RickJay** isn’t using that method, then he’s using one very similar, because i got the same results as him. Yes, I was using the Pythagorean method. (Well, I didn’t bother for the Yankees. 🙂 ) As cmkeller alluded to, I had heard that actually it works slightly better if you use an exponent like 1.83 or something but A) I can’t be bothered, and B) Over 55-57 games, it won’t make any difference. **Mr. Goob,** , the Blue Jays are spending about $50 million this year. According to the team. they plan to increase the average payroll to $80 million, if it will help the team win - I don’t think they plan on dropping their plan to build from within, but they have said they’ll spend bucks to bring in a big name or two if they feel it will mean playoffs. They’ve said they’d start spending the moeny this year if the team was still in contention come the no-waiver trade deadline (July 31) but at this point, at 30-28, we may have to wait for 2006. I don’t think they’re good enough yet; I think they’d be foolish to increase payroll in 2006 unless they got really hot and were in a playoff spot come July. The team is generally very young, has drafted very well, has a few obvious holes to plug that will impove it, and they almost certainly will be better next year; why not spend the money when it has the best chance to help you, rather than throwing it away in a hopeless effort? Part of the reason this happened this year was that they bought the SkyDome, and so now get all the associated revenue. They renamed it the “Rogers Centre.” ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-baseball-mid-season-discussion-1-al-east/307218/26 "2005-06-07T20:35:24Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > last year the Big Unit was pitching fantastically. This year he gives up run after run. Did he suddenly just get old over the winter? The story he’s been giving the media is that he’s out of his rhythm. He says he likes to pitch every fifth _day_, but the team has him pitching every fifth _game_, or something like that. The point is, he says he hasn’t been comfortable with his post-game conditioning, mid-span workout, and pre-game rampup the way he has been in previous years. Or maybe it’s a load of hooey, and he’s just done. It’ll depend on whether or not the team gives him the opportunity to return to his routine and prove that’s the problem. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-baseball-mid-season-discussion-1-al-east/307218/27 "2005-06-07T20:41:59Z")
Cervaise, I think you’re right. I also think that IF RJ had been a Yankee last year, they’d have won the series. Just a year too late. I am also fearful that the great Mariano Rivera will soon be past his prime as a closer. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-baseball-mid-season-discussion-1-al-east/307218/28 "2005-06-07T20:44:18Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > The story he’s been giving the media is that he’s out of his rhythm. He says he likes to pitch every fifth _day_, but the team has him pitching every fifth _game_, or something like that. The point is, he says he hasn’t been comfortable with his post-game conditioning, mid-span workout, and pre-game rampup the way he has been in previous years. > > Or maybe it’s a load of hooey, and he’s just done. It’ll depend on whether or not the team gives him the opportunity to return to his routine and prove that’s the problem. Well, whatever the situation, he’s hardly going to come out and say, “Hey, you know what? The Yankees wasted their 15 million bucks because i just don’t have what it takes any more.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-baseball-mid-season-discussion-1-al-east/307218/29 "2005-06-07T20:50:32Z")
That would be the greatest news conference EVER, though ;). ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-baseball-mid-season-discussion-1-al-east/307218/30 "2005-06-07T20:59:22Z")
RickJay: > [@](#): > > As cmkeller alluded to, I had heard that actually it works slightly better if you use an exponent like 1.83 or something Can’t take the credit, that was **brianjedi**. I just added the math geek joke. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-baseball-mid-season-discussion-1-al-east/307218/31 "2005-06-08T02:59:26Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Or maybe it’s a load of hooey, and he’s just done. It’ll depend on whether or not the team gives him the opportunity to return to his routine and prove that’s the problem. Johnson is pitching well, though. He’s whiffed 73 men against just 20 walks, is averaging a hit an inning, 4.07 ERA. With an average defense behind him you might get that ERA under 4. He hasn’t been Super Randy like in years past, but he’s been more than good enough; it’s the rest of the staff that’s sucked. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-baseball-mid-season-discussion-1-al-east/307218.md?page=1)