HOU/WASH

no way fuck you mlb you are no better than fucking wrestling

 

way to vindicate that nonsense Rendon fucking a

 

can you blame him for flipping the fuck out?
maybe that's the technically correct call but I've never seen anything like that especially in a big game
always thought a guy was entitled to the dirt

 

I think the nats are going to torch Zack
not hoping for that for him but there just isn't much mystery to his stuff anymore
looking forward to game 7

 

So is Scherzer a solid start for Game 7 with everyone available for relief?

 

I mean if it's instead of Darvish, maybe not

 

sure he's had acupuncture, massage and any other kind of therapy as well as being shot up prior to game time

 

And Rendon is from Houston. Stras was nails after giving up 2 early. We have our Game 7. Happy about that. But I sure do wish they both could lose

 

If we had Verlander instead of Darvish we win the 2017 WS going away. Just taking Darvish off that team is a huge boost to us.

What makes me salty about Verlander/Darvish is that we won that trade deadline. Verlander was damaged goods that year. I remember only a handful of people on this board even talked about Verlander as a possible pickup, I was one of them, but even then I wanted Darvish more than Verlander. Verlander was a desperation overpay, August deadline trade made by the Astros that just happened to pan out. Honestly, fuck Verlander, fuck Darvish, and fuck the Astros.

 

C'mon, bro. Verlander didn't just happen to pan out. For one, Astros have a hell of a pitching coach there in Strom that was able to get Verlander back on track as well as Verlander just being excited about the actual chance of winning again. We hear that shit all the time..this player needs a new start elsewhere type of stuff, new scenery. It was definitely time for Verlander to get the fuck out of Detroit. He was still pumping in 96-98 on the gun there, but his slider was dead..and the slider is maybe the hardest pitch on a guy's arm, so if you're in a losing situation like Verlander was in Detroit, might you lose your slider? He made it to a winning situation with the Astros and Strom and found the slider..voila. I was right there with you in wanting either Verlander or Darvish, but Verlander was the 1st guy up, IIRC. Texas kinda fucked around and waited to make Darvish available.

But yeah, and let's not act like Verlander wasn't of interest to LAD..they held those talks and didn't like what was being asked for in return, didn't like the money side of it either. But Verlander was pushing to be a Dodger and LAD ultimately balked, went for the cheaper option and sometimes you just get what you pay for

 

Greinke getting the ball has to be a good feeling for HOU. Mentioned already, he's dominated the Nats more than any other team in his career. Nats have to be hoping for some Game 7 Greinke anxiety issues

Who gets MVP for DC if they win?

 

Zack looked pretty terrified at the end of last nights game

 

Your Darvish/Verlander timeline is off, Darvish was traded at the July 2017 deadline, Verlander was traded a month later. I admit, take out the contracts and Darvish and Verlander both had the same outlook: dominant potential, having a down year, a bit of a gamble. Darvish had the better contract, so he was more sought after by everyone. Verlander cleared waivers, the league as a whole wasn't jumping to get him, Astros included. They traded for him at the last minute, after having an extra month to go in on him (if I remember, Verlander had a good August that year, so there was more reason to feel positive about him, and I think the Astros had injury problems in the rotation to boot). At the end of the day, Verlander was not Plan A for the Astros, Plan A doesn't happen on August 31.

 

That's right..Verlander was a waiver deal. Forgot about that. You've jogged my memory big time there, especially his performance around the time Detroit started discussing deals for him. He actually found it before landing with Strom, but I imagine Strom only strengthened his outlook thereafter, Strom being a slider guru.

That said, yeah..as soon as Verlander started hearing the trade rumors he was out to show he still had it and to get someone to come and save him. But it wasn't even unbelievable that Verlander had regained form. Because remember, Verlander was the Cy favorite in the AL the previous season. Lol And he should have won.

Also, though, remember that the Astros weren't Plan A for Verlander. He had no trade rights. This man wanted pitch for the Dodgers. He finally waived the no trade rights and decided to embrace the Astros/Nolan Ryan thing

 

Could definitely call it sandbagging, or just losing interest, etc. Feels like he took control over the things that he could control..also tried to control his next destination until his preferred team turned away and went the cheap route ( Darvish).

And if you're willing to shelve you slider for half a season, you're damn well willing to use your no trade clause to get to your preferred destination

 

I remember Kate Upton had the epic tweet after Verlander lost the Cy Young in 2016, “I thought I was the only one allowed to fuck Justin Verlander”

 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2017/09/03/justin-verlander-astros-trade/629711001/

Trade talks between the Detroit Tigers and Astros that spanned most of the summer finally concluded a little more than a half hour before Thursday's 11:59 ET trade deadline, leaving Verlander with precious moments to make the biggest decision of his professional career: Waive his no-trade clause to join the contending Astros, leaving behind more than a decade of decorated work in Detroit.





So there's that too. Whatever plan he was for the Astros, I'm gonna say that the Astros definitely liked Verlander more than Verlander liked the Astros. Of course, again, it was reported that he wanted Dodgers, which you can believe. But also, trades like these that involve players with full no trade clauses do tend to take quite a while since everybody involved is trying to wet their beak a little. Player wants another destination..more money, etc. Toss that on top of what the orgs are reaching for

 

Lol Rick Porcello..guy's already a bum again
Porcello and his shiny 22 wins to Verlander's 16 that year
Yeah, I can see why Verlander was ready to leave DET

 

The Dodgers also went the Darvish route because the plan was to re-sign him to long term deal even after he blew up in the WS. People forget, the Dodgers were still very much in on retaining Darvish even after all that, but he elected to take the Cubs deal as he was not happy with the way people in LA had begun to treat him and his family. The peripherals greatly favored Darvish at the July 31st deadline, which is why it appeared to be the smarter move at the time. With Verlander still looking at $56M over the next two years, he was easily the riskier option with a great 2016 sandwiched in between a bad 2017(up to the 31st deadline) and 3 not very Verlanderesque years from 2013-2015. It is easy in hindsight to say what was the better deal, but at the time, Darvish seemed like the better route.