# MLB: July **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 1, 2014, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july/692097 "2014-07-01T14:40:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2014, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july/692097/221 "2014-07-28T20:18:28Z")
Anyone else think the Red Sox should trade Lester, given how little effort they’ve put into resigning him. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2014, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july/692097/222 "2014-07-30T06:26:57Z")
Orioles won in 12 innings over the Angels on a Manny Machado home run. As i type this (11.23 p.m. Pacific; 1.23 a.m. Central), there’s another extra-inning game under way. The Rockies and Cubs are tied 3-3 in the bottom of the 16th inning. Cubs put Catcher John Baker on the mound for the top of the 16th, and he got out of it without surrendering a hit or a run. He got a pop-up, conceded a walk, and then got the third batter to ground into a double play. The Rockies haven’t been reduced to using position players on the mound yet, but they have had to use starting pitcher Tyler Matzek, who is now on the mound and pitching to Baker. I’d like to watch the rest of this game, but i think i need to go to bed. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2014, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july/692097/223 "2014-07-30T06:34:58Z")
Well, i didn’t have to stay up much longer anyway. Cubs win in 16 on a sacrifice fly. John Baker scores the winning run, and also gets the Win as the pitcher. Longest games in Cubs history (in terms of hours and minutes), according to the Cubs’ announcers. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july/692097/224 "2014-07-30T11:23:19Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Anyone else think the Red Sox should trade Lester, given how little effort they’ve put into resigning him. I guess I just don’t understand why they aren’t putting any effort into re-signing him. That part baffles me. I suspect Lester, if he is traded, will end up in Baltimore. There is talk of both the Blue Jays and Dodgers wanting him too, but a) The Blue Jays have nothing the Red Sox would want that they could afford to give away, and b) The Dodgers are already pretty stacked in the rotation and this doesn’t seem like the best trade they could swing. The Pirates are also a possibility, as they have many good young prospects, really could use Lester, and the rental cost isn’t that high. ---
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july/692097/225 "2014-07-30T12:51:43Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I guess I just don’t understand why they aren’t putting any effort into re-signing him. That part baffles me. The thought process on this is that 4+ year, big money deals for pitchers in their 30s have basically all turned out poorly in the past decade or so, and the Boston ownership doesn’t really care about the sentiment, career-Sox, multiple-rings part of the equation. Not saying I agree (it’s not my money, back up the truck, the flexibility to re-sign guys like this and eat a couple years at the back end is the whole point of having a high payroll and top farm system), but there’s at least a rationale behind it. I do think Lester is being honest in that he’d have no problem re-signing here even if they trade him away, and I tend to think trading him in this particular market (super high price on Hamels, Rays waffling on Price, not much else out there for ace-level pitching) is a good idea. That said, I don’t think they’re paying his price as a FA either way. They’ll offer him 5/110 or so after the season, and he’ll sign with NYY for 6/150. On a Sox prospect-centered forum that I follow, most are hoping he gets traded to Pitt (centered around Josh Bell), Baltimore (around one of the potential aces), or LAD (if they’ll give up one of their big three). I think the Pirates are the most likely of those choices, but who the hell knows. I wish they’d get it done with so I can stop obsessively checking Twitter, though! ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july/692097/226 "2014-07-30T14:29:27Z")
What bothers me most is that they squeeze pennies like this on true difference-makers, guys they need for the next few years, while dumping silly money on journeymen. You pay the guys you need to pay if you want to compete for the Series every year, and if you have a budget limit then you squeeze the guys who are easily replaced with somebody else as good. But I don’t think this pitcher-over-30 stuff is the real bottom of it. Some things had to have been said that nobody is apologizing for, and it’s about egos now, probably mainly Lucchino’s. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july/692097/227 "2014-07-30T14:35:46Z")
The other day Melky Cabrera hit home runs from both sides of the plate. On the radio they commented that the all time career record for a switch hitter homering from both sides of the plate is 13, shared by two players. Alright, think of all the great switch hitters, and try to guess the guys who share the record. Mark Teixeira and… Nick Swisher. Yeah, those weren’t my guesses either. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2014, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july/692097/228 "2014-07-30T14:49:10Z")
I never know how much credence to give to stories like this, but the Mariners appear to be pissing everyone else off my being [really crappy](http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/trader-jack-as-seattle-s-gm-struggles-to-complete-deals-some-rival-executives-wonder-072814) at negotiating trades: > [@](#): > > To hear rival executives tell it, though, Zduriencik mostly has exasperated trade partners with his negotiating style while trying to guide the M’s to the postseason for the first time since 2001. Those executives say the Mariners frequently inquire on a number of players, only to shift direction when a deal appears within reach. > > \ > > Some GMs turn aggressive when their jobs seemingly are at stake. Zduriencik, on the other hand, baffles rival executives with his inability to close deals. > > “He has made offers and then pulled back after we have said, ‘This is something we would do,”’ one executive said. “He responds (by saying) it wasn’t an offer and that he will need to discuss it with his guys.” > > \ > > A third executive said, “They (the Mariners) don’t set out on a trade saying, ‘Here’s what we need. Let’s do what we can to get him.’ They think, ‘Who can we give up that will never be any good?’ \*\*They don’t want to give up anyone who will haunt them. \*\*That’s just flat-out fear.” Emphasis mine. AKA the “Adam Jones” effect. ---
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july/692097/229 "2014-07-30T18:22:35Z")
Justin Masterson reportedly to the Cardinals for OF prospect James Ramsey. Masterson has been doing this weird thing were he was ace-level in 2011 and 2013, but in 2012 he had slightly below-average peripherals and train-wrecky results, and he’s been doing that again this year (5.51 ERA, 4.08 FIP). Free agent at the end of the season, basically it’s a flyer that Duncan can fix him, and fast. Unless he improves markedly in the last two months, might be looking at a shorter-term make-good contract this offseason. Ramsey is outside of the Cardinals’ top 10. Sickels had him as a C+ prospect before the year. He’s had a good year statistically when he’s played, but he’s repeating double-A at age 24, and he’s missed a bunch of time with injuries. If he’s all that’s going to Cleveland, it’s a pretty low return for a guy who was worth a lot before the season started. Not sure if this is bad for dealing Lester because it removes a bidder, or good because it might raise the urgency for the other teams in the Central. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2014, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july/692097/230 "2014-07-30T18:31:58Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I suspect Lester, if he is traded, will end up in Baltimore. As an Orioles fan, i’d be happy enough with that, although the talking heads on ESPN this morning seemed to think that the Dodgers, Pirates, or Cardinals were the most likely possibilities. Given **Kiros** ’s news about the Cardinals taking Masterson, they’re probably out of the bidding for Lester now. Lester has been scratched from his scheduled Red Sox start today, suggesting that a deal is in the works somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july/692097/231 "2014-07-30T19:28:38Z")
More things are starting to happen: Felix Doubront from the Red Sox to the Cubs, where presumably they’ll try him back out in the rotation and build his value back up. From the Sox point of view, any return at all here is pretty much fine (and pretty much on cue, Bowden just tweeted that it’ll be a PTBNL). From the Chicago point of view, this makes a lot of sense as buying low on a potential asset, and I think Doubront will do well in the NL. Conflicting tweets that Lester to Baltimore is “close” ([MLB.com](http://MLB.com) and Boston Globe reporters) or “not close” (Joel Sherman, which you might just take to read as “almost done” since he’s had bad accuracy on these things historically). ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july/692097/232 "2014-07-30T21:32:26Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The other day Melky Cabrera hit home runs from both sides of the plate. On the radio they commented that the all time career record for a switch hitter homering from both sides of the plate is 13, shared by two players. Alright, think of all the great switch hitters, and try to guess the guys who share the record. > > Mark Teixeira and… Nick Swisher. > > Yeah, those weren’t my guesses either. First guess would probably be Mantle or Eddie Murray. I was a little surprised to find out Teixeira is sixth all-time in home runs for switch hitters, right behind Carlos Beltran. ---
**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:** [July 31, 2014, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july/692097/233 "2014-07-31T00:20:33Z")
Check out [this terrible piece of baseball](http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/6479266/v34943983/pitsf-giants-get-two-rundowns-for-odd-double-play) from the Pirates. They have men on second and third, and the guy at the plate is walked to load the bases. Some brain fart makes the guy on second think that he has the right to walk to third, so he starts strolling, and then suddenly realizes that he needs to get back to second. They get him in a rundown, get the out, and then get the man on third in another rundown. What should have been bases loaded with one out turns into an inning-ending double play. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july/692097/234 "2014-07-31T00:42:57Z")
Pretty impressive! And just like that, a chance to break the game open becomes an opportunity to…lose. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july/692097/235 "2014-07-31T00:46:27Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The other day Melky Cabrera hit home runs from both sides of the plate. On the radio they commented that the all time career record for a switch hitter homering from both sides of the plate is 13, shared by two players. Alright, think of all the great switch hitters, and try to guess the guys who share the record. > > Mark Teixeira and… Nick Swisher. > > Yeah, those weren’t my guesses either. I guessed Murray and Beltran. Teixeira wasn’t a huge surprise, but to me anyway Swisher is. I didn’t think it was Mantle because of the prevalence of complete games back in his day. I’d guess he had a lot more games in which he batted from just one side of the plate than modern switch-hitters do. (Also because you asked the question, which isn’t a very interesting question if Mantle is the answer…:)) ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july/692097/236 "2014-07-31T00:48:28Z")
Edwin Jackson simply needs to be designated for assignment. I woke up last night and saw a bunch of MLB alerts. I figured the cubs had either put Jackson on the DL or DFA’d him. I wasn’t expecting 1 am baseball. He was dreadful, about 100 pitches in 4 innings. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july/692097/237 "2014-07-31T11:13:28Z")
Not sure if this will be anything more than a human interest story, but the Twins have given a decent chunk of change to a real long shot. NY Daily News [article](http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/twins-sign-unknown-100-mph-pitcher-250-000-deal-article-1.1885791). > [@](#): > > In one of their craziest scouting experiences, the Minnesota Twins have reached a deal with a 24-year-old pitching prospect who has thrown 100 mile per hour fastballs but has never been drafted. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july/692097/238 "2014-07-31T13:52:39Z")
Corey Kluber with a Maddux-like 85 pitch complete game shutout against Felix Hernandez yesterday. He’s gonna be in the Cy Young discussion by the end of the season. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july/692097/239 "2014-07-31T14:05:01Z")
[Jon Lester and Jonny Gomes to Oakland](http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2014/07/31/jon-lester-trade-red-sox-oakland-athletics/13401893/) for … are you ready? … Yoenis Cespedes. Me like. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july/692097/240 "2014-07-31T14:37:29Z")
Hmmm…Well, we know Lester is basically a hired gun for Oakland to finally make a title run. He could very well be back in Boston next season. But that’s a lot of offense to give up. Cespedes can become a free agent after next season, so I’m wondering what the plan is with him. Maybe Boston is looking at this season as another 2012, and figure they can compete again next year. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july/692097.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july/692097.md?page=13)