MLB 2015 Thread

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BUTCHER 206

FREE BUTCHER206
Aug 22, 2003
12,316
109,200
113
Seattle, WA
#24
Also double the home runs as last year. Here was the changes:


CINCINNATI — With storms threatening to curtail the 2015 MLB Home Run Derby on Monday, the league announced an adjustment to the already revamped rules to accommodate a shorter contest.
Where 2015 Derby participants were initially slated for five minutes per round to hit as many home runs as they can, the changed format gave them only four — with one time out per round. And it scrapped plans to stop the clock after home runs hit with less than one minute remaining.
It worked: The first round of the Derby moved far faster than some of the interminable early rounds of recent seasons, when players would continue hitting until they made 10 “outs” — any swing that wasn’t a home run — regardless of if they had already ensured a spot in the second round.
This year, the Derby was stripped to an eight-man single-elimination tournament, with players advancing only upon out-slugging a competitor in a head-to-head matchup. The changes not only made the event easier to follow, but more entertaining: Employing the clock eliminated long delays between swings, and added a sense of urgency and an associated element of buzzer beating.
In the first round, Albert Pujols smacked his 10th home run to beat Kris Bryant just as time ran out. In the second round, with mere seconds left on the clock, hometown favorite Todd Frazier blasted two late home runs to tie and pass his opponent, Josh Donaldson, and advance to the finals.
Wait, it gets better: For hitting at least two homers over 425 feet, contestants received an extra 30 seconds for their rounds. So the new format rewarded players for hitting awesome, majestic home runs, which is the whole darn point of having a Home Run Derby in the first place.



And the crowd went wild:
Next year’s All-Star Game is in San Diego, where there will likely be significantly less threat of inclement weather. But the league should stick with the rules it seemed to create on the fly for this year’s Home Run Derby when the event moves to Petco Park in 2016: Eight-man tournament, four minutes each, bonus time for moonshots. It plays.
 
Nov 18, 2010
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#25
Athletics starter Scott Kazmir is headed to the Astros in the year’s first major trade, Oakland has announced. Returning to the A’s in the deal are righty Daniel Mengden and catcher Jacob Nottingham, per the release.
 
Feb 8, 2006
3,435
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#26
Athletics starter Scott Kazmir is headed to the Astros in the year’s first major trade, Oakland has announced. Returning to the A’s in the deal are righty Daniel Mengden and catcher Jacob Nottingham, per the release.
pretty smart move by billy considering you lose him for nothing at end of year
nottingham is supposed to be a beast
 
Nov 18, 2010
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#27
The Reds announced that Johnny Cueto has been traded to the Royals for left-handed pitchers Brandon Finnegan, John Lamb, and Cody Reed. The Reds are also sending cash considerations to KC, according to the Royals’ press release.
 
Nov 18, 2010
4,790
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#30
2015-2016 Free Agents

Catchers

Alex Avila (29)
Chris Iannetta (33)
John Jaso (32)
George Kottaras (32)
Jose Molina (41)
Dioner Navarro (32)
Brayan Pena (34)
A.J. Pierzynski (39)
Matt Wieters (30)

First Basemen

Jeff Baker (35)
Chris Davis (30)
Edwin Encarnacion (33) – $10MM club option with a $2MM buyout
Garrett Jones (35)
Justin Morneau (35) – $9MM mutual option with a $750K buyout
Mike Napoli (34)
Sean Rodriguez (31)

Second Basemen

Joaquin Arias (31)
Mike Aviles (35)
Jeff Baker (35)
Gordon Beckham (29)
Emilio Bonifacio (31)
Asdrubal Cabrera (30)
Stephen Drew (33)
Kevin Frandsen (34)
Maicer Izturis (35) – $3MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Howie Kendrick (32)
Daniel Murphy (31)
Cliff Pennington (32)
Sean Rodriguez (31)
Skip Schumaker (36) – $2.5MM club option with a $250K buyout
Chase Utley (37) – $15MM vesting option with a $2MM buyout
Ben Zobrist (35)

Third Basemen

Joaquin Arias (31)
Mike Aviles (35)
Gordon Beckham (29)
Willie Bloomquist (38)
Kevin Frandsen (34)
David Freese (33)
Jonathan Herrera (31)
Maicer Izturis (35) – $3MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Don Kelly (36)
Jeff Keppinger (36)
Casey McGehee (32)
Aramis Ramirez (38)
Sean Rodriguez (31)
Juan Uribe (37)

Shortstops

Joaquin Arias (31)
Mike Aviles (35)
Willie Bloomquist (38)
Asdrubal Cabrera (30)
Ian Desmond (30)
Stephen Drew (33)
Alcides Escobar (29) – $5.25MM club option with a $500K buyout
Maicer Izturis (35) – $3MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Cliff Pennington (32)
Alexei Ramirez (34) – $10MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Sean Rodriguez (31)
Jimmy Rollins (37)
Brendan Ryan (34) – $1MM player option

Left Fielders

Jeff Baker (35)
Willie Bloomquist (38)
Yoenis Cespedes (30)
Endy Chavez (38)
Tyler Colvin (30)
Rajai Davis (35)
Alejandro De Aza (32)
David DeJesus (36) – $5MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Chris Denorfia (35)
Jonny Gomes (35) – $3MM vesting/club option
Alex Gordon (32) – $12.5MM player option
Matt Joyce (31)
Don Kelly (36)
Nate McLouth (34) – $6.5MM club option with a $750K buyout
David Murphy (34) – $7MM club option with a $500K buyout
Gerardo Parra (29)
Steve Pearce (33)
Sean Rodriguez (31)
Ryan Sweeney (31) – $2.5MM club option with a $500K buyout
Justin Upton (28)
Chris B. Young (32)
Delmon Young (30)

Center Fielders

Endy Chavez (38)
Rajai Davis (35)
Alejandro De Aza (32)
David DeJesus (36) – $5MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Dexter Fowler (30)
Tony Gwynn Jr. (33)
Austin Jackson (29)
Nate McLouth (34) – $6.5MM club option with a $750K buyout
Gerardo Parra (29)
Colby Rasmus (29)
Cody Ross (35) – $9.5MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Skip Schumaker (36) – $2.5MM club option with a $500K buyout
Grady Sizemore (33)
Denard Span (32)
Drew Stubbs (31)
Ryan Sweeney (31) – $2.5MM club option with a $500K buyout
Shane Victorino (35)

Right Fielders

Nori Aoki (34) – $5.5MM club option with a $700K buyout
Jeff Baker (35)
Jose Bautista (35) – $14MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Marlon Byrd (38) – $8MM vesting option
Endy Chavez (38)
David DeJesus (36) – $5MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Chris Denorfia (35)
Jason Heyward (26)
Torii Hunter (40)
Matt Joyce (31)
Nate McLouth (34) – $6.5MM club option with a $750K buyout
David Murphy (34) – $7MM club option with a $500K buyout
Gerardo Parra (29)
Carlos Quentin (33)
Ryan Raburn (35) – $3MM club option with a $100K buyout
Cody Ross (35) – $9.5MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Ichiro Suzuki (42)
Ryan Sweeney (31) – $2.5MM club option with a $500K buyout
Justin Upton (28)
Will Venable (33)
Shane Victorino (35)
Chris B. Young (32)

Designated Hitters

Edwin Encarnacion (33) – $10MM club option with a $2MM buyout
John Jaso (32)
Adam Lind (32)
David Ortiz (40) – $10MM club option
Carlos Quentin (33)
Delmon Young (30)

Starting Pitchers

Brett Anderson (28)
Brandon Beachy (29) – club option
Erik Bedard (36)
Chad Billingsley (31)
Clay Buchholz (31) – $13MM club option with a $245K buyout
Mark Buehrle (37)
A.J. Burnett (39)
Trevor Cahill (28) – $13MM club option with a $300K buyout
Chris Capuano (37)
Jhoulys Chacin (28)
Wei-Yin Chen (30)
Bartolo Colon (43)
Johnny Cueto (30)
Ross Detwiler (30)
R.A. Dickey (41) – $12MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Marco Estrada (32)
Doug Fister (32)
Gavin Floyd (33)
Yovani Gallardo (30)
Jaime Garcia (29) – $11.5MM club option with a $500K buyout
Zack Greinke (32) – can opt out of remaining three years/$71MM
Jeremy Guthrie (37) – $10MM mutual option with a $3.2MM buyout
J.A. Happ (33)
Aaron Harang (38)
Dan Haren (35)
Tim Hudson (40)
Hisashi Iwakuma (35)
Scott Kazmir (32)
Kyle Kendrick (31)
Ian Kennedy (31)
John Lackey (37)
Mat Latos (28)
Mike Leake (28)
Cliff Lee (37) – $27.5MM club/vesting option with a $12.5MM buyout
Tim Lincecum (32)
Kyle Lohse (37)
Corey Luebke (31) – $7.5MM club option with a $1.75MM buyout
Justin Masterson (31)
Brandon Morrow (31)
Bud Norris (31)
Mike Pelfrey (32)
David Price (30)
Ricky Romero (31) – $13.1MM club option with a $600K buyout
Jeff Samardzija (31)
Alfredo Simon (35)
Ryan Vogelsong (38)
Jerome Williams (34)
Chris Young (37)
Jordan Zimmermann (30)

Closers

Joaquin Benoit (38) – $8MM club option with a $1.5MM buyout
Casey Janssen (34) – $7MM mutual option with a $1.5MM buyout
Joe Nathan (41) – $10MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Jonathan Papelbon (35) – $13MM vesting option
Bobby Parnell (31)
Fernando Rodney (39)

Right-Handed Relievers

Scott Atchison (40) – $1MM club option with a $100K buyout
Grant Balfour (38)
Jonathan Broxton (32) – $9MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Santiago Casilla (35) – club/vesting option with a $1MM buyout
Joba Chamberlain (30)
Tyler Clippard (31)
Neftali Feliz (28)
Jason Frasor (38) – $2MM mutual option with a $550K buyout
Kyuji Fujikawa (35) – Club option
Juan Gutierrez (32)
David Hernandez (31)
Tommy Hunter (29)
Jim Johnson (33)
Shawn Kelley (32)
Brandon League (33) – $7.5MM vesting option
Edward Mujica (32)
Darren O’Day (33)
Joel Peralta (40) – $2.5MM club option (no buyout)
Sergio Santos (32)
Kevin Slowey (32)
Joakim Soria (32)
Tim Stauffer (34)
Chad Qualls (37) – $3.25MM club option with a $250K buyout
Ryan Webb (30)
Brad Ziegler (36) – $5.5MM club option with a $1MM buyout

Left-Handed Relievers

Jeremy Affeldt (37)
Antonio Bastardo (30)
Joe Beimel (39)
Jerry Blevins (32)
Craig Breslow (35)
Neal Cotts (36)
Randy Choate (40)
Ross Detwiler (30)
Scott Downs (40)
Brian Duensing (33)
J.P. Howell (33) – $6.25MM club option with a $250K buyout
Sean Marshall (33)
Paul Maholm (34)
Eric O’Flaherty (31)
Josh Outman (31)
Manny Parra (33)
Oliver Perez (34)
James Russell (30)
Tony Sipp (32)
Matt Thornton (39)
Wesley Wright (31)
 
Nov 18, 2010
4,790
50,933
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#34
The Blue Jays have struck a deal to acquire star Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and veteran reliever LaTroy Hawkins in exchange for Jose Reyes and as-yet-unnamed minor leaguers, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (links to Twitter). Needless to say, the move constitutes one of the most stunning deadline deals in recent memory.
 
Nov 18, 2010
4,790
50,933
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#36
1) Devon Travis
2) Josh Donaldson
3) Jose Bautista
4) Troy Tulowitzki
5) Edwin Encarnacion
6) Russell Martin
7) Chris Colabello/Justin Smoak/Dioner Navarro
8) Danny Valencia/Ezequiel Carrera
9) Kevin Pillar

Wouldnt be surprised to EE possibly get traded for more pitching but to be honest I hope not. 1-7 is gonna be hell for pitchers haha
 

BUTCHER 206

FREE BUTCHER206
Aug 22, 2003
12,316
109,200
113
Seattle, WA
#37
1) Devon Travis
2) Josh Donaldson
3) Jose Bautista
4) Troy Tulowitzki
5) Edwin Encarnacion
6) Russell Martin
7) Chris Colabello/Justin Smoak/Dioner Navarro
8) Danny Valencia/Ezequiel Carrera
9) Kevin Pillar

Wouldnt be surprised to EE possibly get traded for more pitching but to be honest I hope not. 1-7 is gonna be hell for pitchers haha
Yeah good luck scoring 8-10 runs every game to even have a chance at winning.