AL East Thread

[bksballer89]

Having Fried here and getting Gil back in the summer doesn’t have me as down about the news as I would have been last season.

 

[chappee11]

Having Fried here and getting Gil back in the summer doesn’t have me as down about the news as I would have been last season.

Objectively, there just aren’t a lot of good teams in the American League. There aren’t even many teams that seem to be trying at all. That includes the entire AL Central and basically the AL west, too. A team like the Mariners could have probably been dangerous if they were willing to spend some $$. Houston seems to be downshifting from what they have been over the past decade. Texas blew their budget on degrom, Seager and Simien a few years back. They could still be good, though.

That really leaves the AL East. The Orioles have not spent in a way that would supplement all their young talent. Toronto could be decent, but doesn’t look like a real contender. The Red Sox aren’t ready yet, but might be a wild card team. The Rays can probably win 80 games and be competitive. Even without Cole and without Gil for 3 months, I think the Yankees might still be the favorite to win the pennant.

 

[chillerdab]

Objectively, there just aren’t a lot of good teams in the American League. There aren’t even many teams that seem to be trying at all. That includes the entire AL Central and basically the AL west, too. A team like the Mariners could have probably been dangerous if they were willing to spend some $$. Houston seems to be downshifting from what they have been over the past decade. Texas blew their budget on degrom, Seager and Simien a few years back. They could still be good, though.

That really leaves the AL East. The Orioles have not spent in a way that would supplement all their young talent. Toronto could be decent, but doesn’t look like a real contender. The Red Sox aren’t ready yet, but might be a wild card team. The Rays can probably win 80 games and be competitive. Even without Cole and without Gil for 3 months, I think the Yankees might still be the favorite to win the pennant.

Hard to argue with much of this.

The Orioles apparently decided that a deeper team was what they were going to go for.

They signed Sagano from Japan and Morton for SP, are counting on Rodriguez who is already injured, and also shored up their bullpen with kittridge who is also already injured and our for a few months if not longer.

They sre counting on big stepa forward from Holliday and Kjerstaad, and Tyler O’Neil to hit lefties over the new brought in left field fence.

They get The Mountain back as closer.

To me, this seems like a wild card team unless a lot breaks right for the O’s

 

[TheGoodMan19]

Gerrit Cole to have TJ Surgery. See you in 2026. I'm not a Yankee fan but I don't like to see this

Yankees ace Cole will have Tommy John surgery

On Tuesday in Los Angeles, Yankees right-hander Gerrit Cole will undergo Tommy John surgery, the team announced, ending his season before it began and leaving New York staggering from another blow as it prepares to defend its American League pennant.

www.espn.com

 

[redseat]

Gerrit Cole to have TJ Surgery. See you in 2026. I'm not a Yankee fan but I don't like to see this

Yankees ace Cole will have Tommy John surgery

On Tuesday in Los Angeles, Yankees right-hander Gerrit Cole will undergo Tommy John surgery, the team announced, ending his season before it began and leaving New York staggering from another blow as it prepares to defend its American League pennant.

www.espn.com

It's amazing how many pitchers are getting hurt and they haven't played a meaningful game yet

 

[TheGoodMan19]

It's amazing how many pitchers are getting hurt and they haven't played a meaningful game yet

It's amazing how old time pitchers could throw hard, as hard as now, and never have catastrophic injuries. Bob Feller, Steve Carlton, Don Drysdale, Bob Gibson. Sandy Koufax had arm issues but his was arthritis. Carl Hubbell threw the damned Screwball, which forces a lefty to throw against the arms natural movement, and never missed any significant time. And no pitchcounts.

 

[chappee11]

It's amazing how old time pitchers could throw hard, as hard as now, and never have catastrophic injuries. Bob Feller, Steve Carlton, Don Drysdale, Bob Gibson. Sandy Koufax had arm issues but his was arthritis. Carl Hubbell threw the damned Screwball, which forces a lefty to throw against the arms natural movement, and never missed any significant time. And no pitchcounts.

How about more recently. Did Roger Clemens, Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson or Curt Schilling ever have TJ surgery? It seems like it’s a prerequisite for every pitcher now. Many even have it multiple times. I can’t get a sense of why just about every pitcher is hurt all the time now. Cole was one of the last fireballers to dodge this surgery for so long.

 

[TheGoodMan19]

How about more recently. Did Roger Clemens, Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson or Curt Schilling ever have TJ surgery? It seems like it’s a prerequisite for every pitcher now. Many even have it multiple times. I can’t get a sense of why just about every pitcher is hurt all the time now. Cole was one of the last fireballers to dodge this surgery for so long.

Are pitchers training too hard or too "modern"? I think Steve Carlton's only real training method was shoving his arm into a huge barrel of rice (someone did, I think it was Lefty). No computers, no specialists, no ergonomics. You would think modern sports medicine would prolong careers. I know some pitchers had careers derailed by bad medical decisions, Koufax, Herb Score, Smoky Joe Wood, JR Richard, Mark Fidrych. I bet no team doc ever heard of a ulnar collateral ligament back in the day