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Anders, Thomas and I reconvened to talk about the 2012 schedule, the AL West, and the 2009 draft. Listen here.

Skip to 15:45 for part 2, and 40:10 for part 3.

As promised (in the Boxcast that is, go listen to it and come back!), the ESPN and New York Times articles on MLB's behind-the-scenes scheduling process.

Please leave any technical problems in the comments and we'll attempt to resolve them. Other types of feedback are always welcome and appreciated as well!
Boxcast Episode 3: 3 Box 3 Furious | 5 comments | Create New Account
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Richard S.S. - Monday, February 20 2012 @ 11:42 AM EST (#252049) #

Under the new CBA, any Draft Pick that cannot be signed: Teams get an extra year of protection for compensation picks for failure to sign draftees from the first three years.

As it was posted somewhere on this site, Beede's first start truly sucked, apparently his health is still an issue.   I won't miss him.   From anything I could gather, Barrett was out of shape, with a bad attitude, until this year.  So I wouldn't rush to name him the better pick right away.   Of Pax, Eli, Barrett and Beede, I would sign Paxton and take a pass on the others. 

Anders - Monday, February 20 2012 @ 01:59 PM EST (#252050) #
As it was posted somewhere on this site, Beede's first start truly sucked, apparently his health is still an issue. I won't miss him. From anything I could gather, Barrett was out of shape, with a bad attitude, until this year. So I wouldn't rush to name him the better pick right away. Of Pax, Eli, Barrett and Beede, I would sign Paxton and take a pass on the others.

Yeah, it just goes to show you, youneverknow. It's funny, Paxton and Eliopoulos are going to get a little and a lot less money, and Barrett a little more, by not signing. Meanwhile the guys the Jays drafted in replacement look pretty decent, but none of them have Paxton's upside at this point. You could probably say that in aggregate both those three players and the club would be better off if they signed.

hypobole - Monday, February 20 2012 @ 02:54 PM EST (#252051) #

the guys the Jays drafted in replacement look pretty decent, but none of them have Paxton's upside

From what i've read, Syndergaard does have similar upside to Paxton. Sickels rates Syndergaard as having the highest upside of any Jays minor league pitcher, including Norris. However, at this point in time, it's Paxton's chance of actually reaching that upside that is greater.

bpoz - Monday, February 20 2012 @ 03:10 PM EST (#252052) #
NYY do not play the Phillies in inter league, but do play the Braves & Mets 6 times each. Seems unfair.
Boston does not play the Mets but do play the Cubs 3 games. Fair enough.
TB does not play a NL Central team, but the schedule seems fair to me.
Jays play all the NL East teams and the Brewers. Seems reasonable.

LAA plays only NL West teams. Texas NL West but miss the LAD and Astros 6 games.

I can see NYY & Texas having a big edge in winning their divisions. The easier over all schedule also seems to favor the AL West in capturing the WC, IMO.
The AL East has to have 1 playoff team. For the WC or WCs I would like to see a study done after the season to see the effect of the level of competition in the home division.

Of course the Pirates & Astros won their series against the Jays in 2011.

robertdudek - Tuesday, February 21 2012 @ 10:14 PM EST (#252118) #
Home park makes the difference between Texas and LAA offense seem larger than it is. Kendrick, Aybar and Izturis are all good offensive players for middle infielders.
Boxcast Episode 3: 3 Box 3 Furious | 5 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.