Major League Baseball: 2013 Season
- Thread starter JohnBM01
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- Houston, Texas, USA
- JMarine25
So that concludes the 2013 season of Major League Baseball. 30 teams had the same goal and equal opportunities to make the postseason. 20 failed (including beautiful failure by my Astros), and 10 made it (four Wild Card teams and the six Division champs). Then those survivors were ultimately down to just two. And in six games... it was Boston who won the World Series. If you guessed Boston in 6, pat yourself on the back on a good prediction.
Now that the 2013 season is over, how about you all share your thoughts on this entire season? Share things like...
* what you thought about the season in general
* a final assessment of your team(s)
* most memorable moments
* looking ahead to 2014
* (any other relevant material)
Again- congratulations to the Boston Red Sox. Winning the championship is cool and all, but... that just means the other 29 teams will be ready to take you down come next season. So enjoy that big target on your backs, Red Sox!
Now that the 2013 season is over, how about you all share your thoughts on this entire season? Share things like...
* what you thought about the season in general
* a final assessment of your team(s)
* most memorable moments
* looking ahead to 2014
* (any other relevant material)
Again- congratulations to the Boston Red Sox. Winning the championship is cool and all, but... that just means the other 29 teams will be ready to take you down come next season. So enjoy that big target on your backs, Red Sox!
- 1,626
- DFW Area
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- KM9644
What I thought about the season in general.
I really don't know what to say. Lots of exciting moments (three no-nos, a couple of near perfect games).
Final assessment of my team.
Texas choked away the division for the second straight year. Alot of questions heading into the offseason...will Nelson Cruz be back in Texas next year? How about Matt Garza, Joe Nathan, or AJ Pierzynski?
Most memorable moments.
There were a couple of memorable moments for Texas this year. There were the three straight walk-off wins against the Angels. And Yu Darvish's first outing of the season...8 2/3 innings of perfect baseball against the Astros.
As far as other teams, the Marlins no-hitter on the last day of the regular season was memorable. And so was Boston getting a title after everything they've been through this year as a city. Mariano Rivera's last appearance at Yankee Stadium was one for the ages, as well as Todd Helton's last appearance at Coors Field.
And now, the wait for the 2014 season is underway. Joe Nathan, our all-star closer, is wondering what Texas will do. The team has 3 days to excercise the $9 million option on him, but he has the right to void it since he finished at least 55 games this year. He is seeking at least 2 years.
Elsewhere, Lance Berkman's $12 million option for 2014 was declined. Everyone saw that coming...he batted .242 with 6 homers and 34 RBI over the span of 73 games. Not surprised here. I think he's going to hang it up.
I really don't know what to say. Lots of exciting moments (three no-nos, a couple of near perfect games).
Final assessment of my team.
Texas choked away the division for the second straight year. Alot of questions heading into the offseason...will Nelson Cruz be back in Texas next year? How about Matt Garza, Joe Nathan, or AJ Pierzynski?
Most memorable moments.
There were a couple of memorable moments for Texas this year. There were the three straight walk-off wins against the Angels. And Yu Darvish's first outing of the season...8 2/3 innings of perfect baseball against the Astros.
As far as other teams, the Marlins no-hitter on the last day of the regular season was memorable. And so was Boston getting a title after everything they've been through this year as a city. Mariano Rivera's last appearance at Yankee Stadium was one for the ages, as well as Todd Helton's last appearance at Coors Field.
And now, the wait for the 2014 season is underway. Joe Nathan, our all-star closer, is wondering what Texas will do. The team has 3 days to excercise the $9 million option on him, but he has the right to void it since he finished at least 55 games this year. He is seeking at least 2 years.
Elsewhere, Lance Berkman's $12 million option for 2014 was declined. Everyone saw that coming...he batted .242 with 6 homers and 34 RBI over the span of 73 games. Not surprised here. I think he's going to hang it up.
- 26,247
- Houston, Texas, USA
- JMarine25
Answering my own questions... I found the 2013 season to be quite interesting.
I thought maybe this new look for the Astros would maybe give them a fresh new start. For all it was worth, the winning just wasn't happening. They ended up striking out consistently and constantly. I keep wanting to smack somebody or break something in talking about how money can buy you a winning team or anything like that. Even moving from the NL Central to the AL West, you win on heart and hard play. I was even thankful we won 50+ games having to adjust to the American League.
Memorable moments for me:
* beating Texas on Opening Day 8-2, leading the AL West for only one day.
* beating the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in a four-game sweep at LAA
* defeating the New York Yankees 9-1 at NYY
* finally beating Oakland and winning a series against Oakland after constantly failing to them
I really hope the Astros can be relevant again some day. I wish they can be contenders rather than the butt of almost everyones' jokes. I still remember how much the Astros' payroll was compared to the payroll of specific players. Having a great Minor League system with plenty of prospects will help for the Astros moving forward. But in our society, it's about instant results. The Astros can't be a doormat forever. At some point, they will return to being a tremendously capable team. Or... they can keep losing 100+ times a season until they finally decide to win games and consistently win games. We're riding a 15-game losing streak heading into next season. Our first opponent next season? The team that swept us in our final series of this past season- the New York Yankees.
Besides my team, here are other notes of mine...
* The LAD/ARI rivalry surely got hot with that brawl situation. It was even much a punk job for the Dodgers to head into Diamondbacks country and clinch the NL West in their house. There was also the deal about the Dodgers partying in the D-Backs' pool. Opening Day in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia will have the Dodgers and Diamondbacks going at it 7K+ miles away from home.
* Speaking of the Dodgers, the success of Y. Puig has helped me to practice pronouncing "Puig" better. The Dodgers were truly polarizing in how they just simply rose up and became beasts in winning the NL West.
* The Diamondbacks are going to be contenders for quite some time. Paul Goldschmidt is as solid a player as anybody. Goldy has been a solid addition to the D-Backs lineup. As long as they have him, he may be to Arizona as Chipper Jones was to Atlanta. Speaking of...
* Happy retirement to the likes of Todd Helton and especially Mariano Rivera among others.
* The Washington Nationals may have been the biggest disappointment. They seemed to be basic locks for the postseason. Well... not so much.
* My Astros have been an absolute failure for quite some time. However, the Pittsburgh Pirates know what being an absolute failure is like... until they broke through this season with a winning record and a postseason berth. It was a sweet story until the Pirates were ultimately 86ed from the postseason.
* Though I'm an Astros fan, I do sympathize with the Texas Rangers. Oakland just seemed too tough in that seesaw battle for the AL West. The AL Wild Card battle was just as intense.
* Miami had the sorriest record among NL teams. In terms of bouncing back, they seem better equipped in becoming future powers than my Astros.
That's really I can look back on. I also am sad for all the lives lost among the Major League Baseball community whom we've lost during this season.
I thought maybe this new look for the Astros would maybe give them a fresh new start. For all it was worth, the winning just wasn't happening. They ended up striking out consistently and constantly. I keep wanting to smack somebody or break something in talking about how money can buy you a winning team or anything like that. Even moving from the NL Central to the AL West, you win on heart and hard play. I was even thankful we won 50+ games having to adjust to the American League.
Memorable moments for me:
* beating Texas on Opening Day 8-2, leading the AL West for only one day.
* beating the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in a four-game sweep at LAA
* defeating the New York Yankees 9-1 at NYY
* finally beating Oakland and winning a series against Oakland after constantly failing to them
I really hope the Astros can be relevant again some day. I wish they can be contenders rather than the butt of almost everyones' jokes. I still remember how much the Astros' payroll was compared to the payroll of specific players. Having a great Minor League system with plenty of prospects will help for the Astros moving forward. But in our society, it's about instant results. The Astros can't be a doormat forever. At some point, they will return to being a tremendously capable team. Or... they can keep losing 100+ times a season until they finally decide to win games and consistently win games. We're riding a 15-game losing streak heading into next season. Our first opponent next season? The team that swept us in our final series of this past season- the New York Yankees.
Besides my team, here are other notes of mine...
* The LAD/ARI rivalry surely got hot with that brawl situation. It was even much a punk job for the Dodgers to head into Diamondbacks country and clinch the NL West in their house. There was also the deal about the Dodgers partying in the D-Backs' pool. Opening Day in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia will have the Dodgers and Diamondbacks going at it 7K+ miles away from home.
* Speaking of the Dodgers, the success of Y. Puig has helped me to practice pronouncing "Puig" better. The Dodgers were truly polarizing in how they just simply rose up and became beasts in winning the NL West.
* The Diamondbacks are going to be contenders for quite some time. Paul Goldschmidt is as solid a player as anybody. Goldy has been a solid addition to the D-Backs lineup. As long as they have him, he may be to Arizona as Chipper Jones was to Atlanta. Speaking of...
* Happy retirement to the likes of Todd Helton and especially Mariano Rivera among others.
* The Washington Nationals may have been the biggest disappointment. They seemed to be basic locks for the postseason. Well... not so much.
* My Astros have been an absolute failure for quite some time. However, the Pittsburgh Pirates know what being an absolute failure is like... until they broke through this season with a winning record and a postseason berth. It was a sweet story until the Pirates were ultimately 86ed from the postseason.
* Though I'm an Astros fan, I do sympathize with the Texas Rangers. Oakland just seemed too tough in that seesaw battle for the AL West. The AL Wild Card battle was just as intense.
* Miami had the sorriest record among NL teams. In terms of bouncing back, they seem better equipped in becoming future powers than my Astros.
That's really I can look back on. I also am sad for all the lives lost among the Major League Baseball community whom we've lost during this season.
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- 19,944
- NJ/USA
- Blitzbay
- Blitzbay
They did better than anticipated:
Some notes for the Mets:
Good News:
Harvey is a bonafide ace
Lagares is a gold glove caliber CF.
Eric Young Jr. is now the Mets starting LF.
Syndergaard, Montero are waiting in the minors as SP.
Bad News:
Harvey gone for 2014
Lost year from Santana
Disaster at SS, RF and 1B.
- 314
- United States
Congrats to the Red Sox; truly an impressive team. I'm a die-hard Cardinals fan, so to say the result was disappointing would be an understatement. I thought they had what it took to win, but in my opinion the poor coaching decisions and a couple of key players deciding to not show up in the final few games were catastrophic.
I'm not entirely optimistic for next year; I think the Cards will be back in the playoffs, but we're probably going to lose a couple of key position players, and, unless we do something big in the off-season to pick up some free agents, we don't have much coming from the minors to help out. The one thing I do look forward to is our pitching staff. Wainwright, Miller, Kelly, Wacha, and Garcia? They're young, but I'll take that rotation anywhere.
I'm not entirely optimistic for next year; I think the Cards will be back in the playoffs, but we're probably going to lose a couple of key position players, and, unless we do something big in the off-season to pick up some free agents, we don't have much coming from the minors to help out. The one thing I do look forward to is our pitching staff. Wainwright, Miller, Kelly, Wacha, and Garcia? They're young, but I'll take that rotation anywhere.
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- DFW Area
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Texas excercised the $9 million option on Joe Nathan, but he declined it. He is now a free agent, and it's unknown if he will be back.
The Rangers do have some bullpen options in the event that he does not come back. They have two former closers in Joakim Soria and Neftali Feliz. Tanner Scheppers is also a candidate.
The Rangers do have some bullpen options in the event that he does not come back. They have two former closers in Joakim Soria and Neftali Feliz. Tanner Scheppers is also a candidate.
- 26,247
- Houston, Texas, USA
- JMarine25
Anyone who can contribute and help make the rebuilding process faster and more effecient is fine with me. Choo was solid for the Reds. We could use somebody like him against the likes of Texas, Oakland, Detroit, the Yankees, and everybody else in the AL.
Speaking of Detroit, I heard the Astros got D. Downs from the Tigers. I may need to start an offseason thread to cover all the action between the offseason and Spring Training.
Speaking of Detroit, I heard the Astros got D. Downs from the Tigers. I may need to start an offseason thread to cover all the action between the offseason and Spring Training.
- 4,233
- Indiana
- DolphDrago
Choo was great for the Reds. I wish we could re-sign him. He'd be a great pickup for the Astros.
- 4,687
- Golden State
- xViLLaiNx12
"Need" is a strong word. I'd still put them at being one year away at the soonest on their top prospects hitting the bigs and there really isn't a whole lot out there in FA this year to make an enormous difference for them. Choo is good, but he's an overpay waiting to happen. I doubt he keeps up the value for the duration of any long deal and it doesn't make sense for a young team like the Astros to forfeit a high 2nd rounder to get him since his addition wouldn't be such a massive improvement in the short term.
On the other hand, pending extensions, you've got guys like Homer Bailey, Max Scherzer, and Clayton Kershaw hitting the market in the 2015. If there are still temporary outfield holes to be plugged there will be Josh Willingham (and whatever he has left in the tank, throw in the DH mix if you need to), Brett Gardner, Colby Rasmus, and Michael Cuddyer (same as Willingham).
Other notable position players in the 2015 class (again, pending extensions): Hanley Ramirez, Chase Headley, and Pablo Sandoval (who knows - maybe the Panda will be a part-time position player/DH?).
Those are just names that I pulled off of a list that didn't include any current free agents who haven't signed 1-year deals for 2014.
TL;DR - Astros are better off waiting at least one more year.
