Let's laugh at Robbie Cano

[Rock Strongo]

They were talking about Cano's struggles in the Mariners forum, and I mentioned that he can no longer hit off speed stuff and that's where he used to butter his bread. I also mentioned that when a team like the Yankees lets their best player walk in free agency, it's likely not a good thing to be the team that signs him.

You'd have thought I called their mothers whores. With nothing else said, the conversation switches from Cano's struggles to what a shithole Cleveland is. Talk about some sensitive, insecure quims. You guys warned me about Mariners fans, but this was ridiculous.

@gowazzu02 literally menstruated right there on the floor and started crying, and then @PolarVortex came to console him with bunny slippers, a bucket of bon bons and the complete Friends DVD boxed set. Truly incredible.

@PolarVortex will hunt you like wild game. the he will wear your skin.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

Yeah, he's after losing a step this year. Shame too because he was such a good 2nd baseman for a long time.

Mariners have him for another 8.5 years. That's fucking brutal.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

@PolarVortex will hunt you like wild game. the he will wear your skin.

That's funny. I suppose it'd be an improvement from the bunny slippers.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

This baseball board doesn't have near the amount of activity that the CBS (or ESPN board where I used to post) has, so it's not really a valid comparison. How many threads are typically created here a day? A handful at most?

I mean, there are also a lot less HOF debates here, but that's moreso because there's less activity here.

Overall, I like SportsHoopla quite a bit, but the MLB threads have quite a bit of room to improve. There's not much activity and there's less quality content. Its' not the site's fault, it just is what it is, I guess.

 

[Tapey]

240 mil well spent imo.

 

[DHoey]

.237 with 2 HR & 20 RBI lmao

As soon as I get done laughing at Stephen Drew's .172 average

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

Regarding his waning ability to hit offspeed stuff, a quick glance at tabular data can give you a pretty good idea. Here’s “prime Cano” numbers, taken from 2012:

Pitch Category Count AB K BB HBP 1B 2B 3B HR BAA SLG ISO BABIP
Hard 1669 401 62 38 4 65 32 0 21 .294 .531 .237 .305
Breaking 642 172 29 9 2 31 7 1 7 .267 .442 .174 .287
Offspeed 305 99 12 6 1 20 12 0 4 .364 .606 .242 .386
That guy crushed slow stuff. Unfortunately, that guy isn’t really around anymore:

Pitch Category Count AB K BB HBP 1B 2B 3B HR BAA SLG ISO BABIP
Hard 448 101 15 9 0 21 7 0 0 .277 .347 .069 .326
Breaking 140 41 12 0 1 4 4 0 1 .220 .390 .171 .286
Offspeed 77 31 4 0 0 4 1 0 0 .161 .194 .032 .185
In his prime, Cano was one of the absolute best offspeed hitters in the game. So far in 2015, he has just one extra-base hit against change-ups and splitters. That’s an important note — he’s still producing against breaking pitches. It’s not the movement of a slider or curveball that’s causing the problems. It’s an inability to react — or possibly to recognize in the first place — when a pitcher is changing speeds.

I phrased those last couple sentences carefully, because Cano’s been so thoroughly befuddled by offspeed pitches that it very nearly does not matter whether a pitcher throws those pitches in the zone or not. Through the season’s first seven weeks, Cano has taken a hack at just 58% of change-ups and splitters in the strike zone. At the same time, he’s swinging at 55% of those same pitches that miss the zone.

This isn’t a new problem for Cano. This particular decline started last year — albeit in such a manner that it wasn’t a bright red flag, until he continued the plunge in 2015.

Good read. Is Robinson Cano Still a Viable Fantasy Option? | FanGraphs Fantasy Baseball

 

[Banned 10x]

As a M's fan you just kinda get used to this. I figure Cruz will fall into the Mariner trap as well...

 

[obxyankeefan]

Stephen Drew @ $5 mil has a run production of 30 and an OPS+ 65

Robbie Cano @ $24 mil has a run production of 43 and an OPS+ 75


Yes Cano is doing better than Drew, but is the difference in production worth the difference in salary?

I liked Cano when he was in NY, and wish him all the luck wherever he is. But it was a bad signing for Seattle.

 

[Cyder]

Laugh at a man who has a 250 million dollar contract and already has his ring? Nah, I'll laugh at the team that gave him 250 million to a 30 year old who already had his ring

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

Laugh at a man who has a 250 million dollar contract and already has his ring? Nah, I'll laugh at the team that gave him 250 million to a 30 year old who already had his ring

This.

 

[obxyankeefan]

Overall, I like SportsHoopla quite a bit, but the MLB threads have quite a bit of room to improve. There's not much activity and there's less quality content. Its' not the site's fault, it just is what it is, I guess.

This site was set up by NCAA Football fans, so the baseball boards were an afterthought. The CBS baseball boards were mainly smack talk between Yankee and Red Sox fans with a sprinkling of fans from other teams thrown in.

Since I have been here it has been a mixture of smack talk and serious discussions, but the serious discussions seem to be limited by the number of posters.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

This site was set up by NCAA Football fans, so the baseball boards were an afterthought. The CBS baseball boards were mainly smack talk between Yankee and Red Sox fans with a sprinkling of fans from other teams thrown in.

Since I have been here it has been a mixture of smack talk and serious discussions, but the serious discussions seem to be limited by the number of posters.

FanNation's MLB threads were great. There really were no ongoing feuds. There were some seriously knowledgeable baseball fans and people didn't get away with bullshit - if you said something stupid or inaccurate, you'd get called out quick.. That's not to say it was all baseball talk, because it sure as shit wasn't, but the overall baseball IQ I felt was very high. Some seriously funny motherfuckers, too.

There's a few of those folks on SportsHoopla, but they don't come around here much. @Cyder knows his baseball - his recollection of things blows me away. It'd be good if he'd spend some more time on here, but I hope he doesn't bring his blow up doll in the princess-leia-as-jobba-slave costume because that makes me uncomfortable.

 

[Cyder]

FanNation's MLB threads were great. There really were no ongoing feuds. There were some seriously knowledgeable baseball fans and people didn't get away with bullshit - if you said something stupid or inaccurate, you'd get called out quick.. That's not to say it was all baseball talk, because it sure as shit wasn't, but the overall baseball IQ I felt was very high. Some seriously funny motherfuckers, too.

There's a few of those folks on SportsHoopla, but they don't come around here much. @Cyder knows his baseball - his recollection of things blows me away. It'd be good if he'd spend some more time on here, but I hope he doesn't bring his blow up doll in the princess-leia-as-jobba-slave costume because that makes me uncomfortable.

I keep telling you I only bought the blow up doll so I could have Lil Ms Cyder wear the costume.

 

[StanMarsh51]

Overall, I like SportsHoopla quite a bit, but the MLB threads have quite a bit of room to improve. There's not much activity and there's less quality content. Its' not the site's fault, it just is what it is, I guess.

I think the quality on the whole here is better than the ESPN boards where I posted for a good 12ish years (particularly since those boards had a lot of trolls/spammers), but the activity level/frequency for baseball at least is far less. But that's what would be expected on a forum with a large college football fanbase.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

I keep telling you I only bought the blow up doll so I could have Lil Ms Cyder wear the costume.

Oh, yeah. That's right. So, can I have the doll?

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

I think the quality on the whole here is better than the ESPN boards where I posted for a good 12ish years (particularly since those boards had a lot of trolls/spammers), but the activity level/frequency for baseball at least is far less. But that's what would be expected on a forum with a large college football fanbase.

For what it's worth, I think you're one of the posters that elevates the baseball discourse around here.

 

[Cyder]

Oh, yeah. That's right. So, can I have the doll?

Turns out it's not anatomically correct so you really don't want it.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

Turns out it's not anatomically correct so you really don't want it.

Sonofa!

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

@The Moose knows a ton about baseball, but I'm not sure I've ever seen him over here.