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Post by p23w on Mar 3, 2020 14:06:53 GMT -5
Obla-di, obla-da, life goes on....
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Post by p23w on Mar 2, 2020 21:11:14 GMT -5
Here's a "take" on Mookie Betts. The Dodgers win the pennant (no real surprise here) but then they win the World Series. The disappointment of 2017 and 2018 is purged from la-la land. Mookie Betts wants more than Mike Trout. Mike Trout plays in lower la-la land. Does anyone really believe that the Dodgers would let Mookie leave when they have the ability to one up the Angels after having won the World Series (ESPECIALLY if they beat the Yankees)? The pressure, the anticipation, the alignment of the planets Magic Johnsons standing as an LA icon all point to sign Mookie at all costs. Basically life after Mookie translates to life without Mookie. Blame Bloom, blame ownership but do yourself a favor and move on. OR you could hold out for the tried and true baseball adage that it will take Mookie time to adjust to a new league. New parks, new pitchers, the National League style of play.... but don't put to much stock in that hope. Unless Roberts really screws up with his line up Mookie will have top notch hitters in front and behind him. He will have to be pitched to. Mookie can figure out the rest.
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Post by p23w on Feb 25, 2020 17:16:20 GMT -5
Not unhappy for Cashman's Yanks. Unhappy for Severino. October starters looking a bit more vulnerable.
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Post by p23w on Feb 15, 2020 11:57:30 GMT -5
The only silver lining to the Mookie/Price trade to the Dodgers for 2020 is when Mookie is the WS MVP and Price does his Schilling post season impression...again. (assuming the NYY win 100+ games again and become the first team in MLB history to have 4 consecutive 100 win games seasons and no World Championship).
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Post by p23w on Feb 15, 2020 11:47:07 GMT -5
Good lord. This narrative is just a minefield of pop culture click bait, and so devoid of between the lines baseball. Don't fall the "blame game" and "analytics driven" hype. Real baseball is just 6 weeks or so away. Sheesh. Please do not respond as I will ignore this thread in future internet meanderings.
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Post by p23w on Feb 15, 2020 11:36:00 GMT -5
Minor league games are all about the in between innings entertainment factor. That and the food serves. The game on the field is all about the players trying to implement what well meaning coaches tell them to work on. They call it player development. Sometimes it helps, sometimes not. The players worth watching are the one's with incredible natural physical skills (any of the 5 tools) and the ones who figure out what works for them in a timely manner. Sometimes I think young players are stunted in their development by having to much information presented to them. Some players with real talent take years (too long) to figure it out. For many those years may be better spent pursuing another career. Then there is the woman thing. Whole'nother story.
I'm glad the minor league players got a raise. I just wish more would realize sooner when it is time to move on. There are many stories in this not so glamorous narrative.
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Post by p23w on Feb 13, 2020 0:06:43 GMT -5
I respect your answer and opinion, but it just seems to me (and this is impression only) that you are use to the things the way they are and the way they use to be. If Manfred is proposing this and thinking along these lines with this kind of idea, then all I can tell you is to get ready for it. Manfred wants this and he has held true to all his promises except for the pitch clock, which has had a ton of resistance by the players union to this point and Manfred doesn't want to piss the players off more than they are because of the free agency/service time issues in the MLB right now. As I pointed out earlier and it remains the best point, TV deals in the playoffs are up by the time the CBA expires (besides the world series). Expanded playoffs and expanded teams are coming. It's just the reality of the situation. Best choice is to accept it now while you can.It's more a matter of preference. [/b] More money from big media is just Manfred doing the bidding of the owners, or so it would seem. I was born shortly after the split into 2 six team divisions per league. It makes sense. The Yankees blocked access to the World Series for many, many years. The draft, which came in 1965, was a big equalizer as they had to wait their turn to get talent, but really, it makes sense that if you have a ten team league (or even 8 as prior to expansion), that you're going to have way too many also-rans. So as they expanded again in 1969, it made great sense to create more division races, and at that point there was only one layer of playoffs between the regular season and World Series. That's what I grew up with and liked. If you won your division, whether it was with 85 wins like the 1987 Twins or won 99 and lost like the 1978 Red Sox did, to make the playoffs you still had to beat at least five other teams in your division, so I felt like you earned your way there. I hated the split into 3 divisions and the creation of the Wild Card. It watered down the divisions, particularly in those 4 team western divisions and the Wild Card had almost as much of an advantage as the 1st place teams. I mean, in 2007, with flashbacks of the 1978 pennant race going on as the Red Sox 14 game lead over NYY slipped to 1.5 games in September, Joe Torre called off the dogs, feeling it was better off to get ready for the Division Series than trying to overtake the Red Sox, and I found there was way too much of that, watering down division races, which I hated. But I'm not that much of a carmudgeon that I had an issue with a new wrinkle. I actually liked the idea - if we're going to have a Wild Card anyways, why not add one more wild card per league and make the two wild cards play a sudden death game? I liked it because it gave teams incentive to win the division to avoid that coin toss game. And really, 10 out of 30 teams making the playoffs meant that most 90 win caliber teams were going to the post-season. Fair enough. But adding 2 more wild cards per team knocks that caliber down by another 5 games or so and makes it about as likely to make the playoffs as miss. And making the playoffs shouldn't be that damn easy. Manfred will do what he wants, often to the detriment of the game.
I hate that start the runner at 2b in extra innings nonsense. I'm sure they'll eventually do HR derby or something stupid like that, too.
I'm cool with pitch clocks, 26 men rosters, 28 in September, face 3 batter rules....I'm fine with some of these rule changes...but others..yuch!!
[/quote] [/b] Manfred will do what the owners want him to do. Starting runners at 2B and "shoot out" home run derbies are means to conform to Big Media's time constraints. Pitch clocks and visits to the mound fall into this same category. Follow the money. The money will sponsor "independent" studies that draw a direct corelation to "viewership" (as opposed to fan attendance) and future generation interest as the basis for shoe horning new rules to fit what "works" to maintain said interest in front of a TV or streamed smart device. Social media is encouraged to manipulate the "hype". The business of the the game has become an obsession on this board. Changes to the game, however well intentioned, are driven by money. And yes, this old fogey still yearns for a 154 game regular season.
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Post by p23w on Feb 12, 2020 18:07:00 GMT -5
The 2019 Tigers wouldn't make this postseason format. More than half the team's in the league would be getting in for about 8-10 years until expansion comes, then it will be less than half the league or half the league. The season is made for seeding and that kind of stuff anyways. Attendance has been dropping for 7 years straight, so people in baseball are caring less and less about the "important baseball games in season" right now as is. The only way to expand more money in baseball is to expand the postseason and expand play-off teams. That stuff sells. The Wild card games I'm almost positive gets more viewership than most world series games. I know. I was trying to make a point. After the novelty quickly wears off what makes you think that Wild Card games are more important or riveting than the World Series. It's just another gimmicky layer of playoffs. I mean, we might as well start the playoffs in May, in case teams that lose 100 games don't get huge viewership beyond April. I hate this watering down the playoffs crap. I grew up in the four division setup where finishing first ahead of 6 other teams mattered and there was only one memorable round of playoffs needed to get to the Series. Then they split into three smaller divisions and added the Wild Card, which I hated. I didn't like that the Wild Card had as much privilege as 1st place teams. If they were going to do 3 divisions and have a Wild Card, then I'm glad they added the new wrinkle of a 2nd wild card team playing a 1 game playoff against the other Wild Card team. Makes it important to win your division. Now that won't matter at all. You can be as mediocre as you want to be and still make the playoffs. It's at the point I can barely even remember the first round of playoffs by time they get to the Series. Now they're going to add another round? It's getting to the point of what is the point of trying to win 100 games? With 4 rounds you're just as likely to get bounced out anyways just as much as an 83 win team. If your a Red Sox fan and you want your team to make the playoffs in 2021 and beyond (foreseeable future) you want this expanded playoff scenario. The NYY are gonna' be good for years... The Rays have above average young pitching. The Blue Jays have a "core" that will surpass the Mookie less Red Sox core within 2 years. Sox are gonna' struggle to win 85+ games. If this Sox team is running on all cylinders in October, they could catch lightening in a bottle and Mookie could visit Fenway in October.
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Post by p23w on Feb 11, 2020 22:18:02 GMT -5
Doesn't it seem ironic that Mookie Betts received early "mixed reviews" in large part due to his first name... 6 years later and the name "Mookie" is beloved to the Red Sox nation. Now our beloved Mookie is traded for another for a player whose first name is the same as the last name of an iconic NY player who we could all have done without lo' these last 25 years. I'm glad that Mookie Betts wiped the thought of Mookie Wison from my memory.... I'd be only too happy if Jeter Downs has a long productive career for the Red Sox, and removes some of the sting left by the principal owner of the Marlins.
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Post by p23w on Feb 11, 2020 0:05:37 GMT -5
Where you more or less sad when Nomar was traded in 2004? I'm genuinely curious, because while I obviously root for the team I don't feel any visceral attachment to professional athletes. Less sad because Nomar was toward the end of the line and there was a lot of dissension between Nomar and management. In fact he had already been traded in Dec or so we thought so there was time to get used to the idea. Still I was sad to see him go and sad that he couldn't be on the field when they won it. I'm glad he got a ring and I'm happy that he technically retired a Red Sox. But I'm sad to see Mookie go because he's one of the most unique and talent players they ever had. They've never had an athlete who was great at everything. I guess Nomar wasn't too far off, but like Yaz before him, he didn't really steal bases or run them the way Mookie can. Mookie is smack dab in the middle of his prime, and ultimately you knew Nomar couldn't really handle SS and spent more days injured than on the field when he was traded. With Mookie's deal, you know that what marginal chance they had to get into the post-season this year is most likely gone and you know that the two players they got won't and can't be what he is now. 2004 Nomar looked far different than 2000 Nomar, but Betts is Betts. Nomar was a better hitter than Betts. If not for the wrist injury he would not have been traded (and the Sox might have won the pennant in2003) Betts may have had his career year in 2018 (a-la Ellsbury in 2011). But just as injuries shortened Garciaparra and Ellsbury performance and careers, Betts has been injury free. Yeah he's fun to watch and yeah the RS are a better team with Mookie, but as with Fisk and Lynn and even Jackie Jensen, life goes on. It was weird to see Evans in a Red Sox uniform. Had I been old enough I would have hated to see Tony C. in an Angels uniform. I certainly didn't like seeing Mo in an Angels uniform. Nor Freddy Lynn. And every time Fisk would HR against the Bosox, which felt like every other game, it was painful. It was hard seeing Boggs in a Yankees uniform and seeing Clemens leave or Hurst leave. Hated seeing Pedro leave although that was inevitable too. You do get attached to the players. The players are the game and are what is in your memory. David Ortiz provided a ton of memories. I remember Yaz. It's like they're all family but certain players stick out as a Red Sox. Yes, I ultimately root for laundry, but that affiliation isn't always the case. Last year I went to a meaningless game at Fenway against the Giants. Workman was trying to protect a tenuous 5-3 lead in the 9th with the bases loaded, 1 out and Mike Yastrzemski at the plate. For the first time ever at Fenway, I rooted for the Red Sox to lose, or more specifically, I wanted to see Mike Yaz hit a grand slammer because I grew up a Yaz fan and rooting for a Yaz brought back great memories and exceeded the craptitude on the field that I saw. He whiffed and the Sox barely hung on to win, but there's more to the Sox than just laundry to root for. My allegiance will always go to the laundry but the people who wear it matter and they provide the memories which is why I grow attachments. They're family and you don't turn your back on family, even if they do put on pinstripes....well maybe if they do (nah, I still like Luis Tiant, Wade Boggs, and even Johnny Damon).
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Post by p23w on Feb 8, 2020 18:39:58 GMT -5
It's all about IP.... Price will likely give the Dodgers an equivalent amount of innings as Maeda (160-180). Graterol's chance of giving the RS the same as Price is doubtful (very). Porcello is gone. Sale and Eovaldi have endurance questions. Perez who knows. Front office stepped in with pitching if this trade goes through as is.
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Post by p23w on Feb 7, 2020 18:49:10 GMT -5
I've seen enough film clips now of Graterol's mechanics (warming up, without men on base and with runners on base) to have significant concerns about his future ability to stay away from the DL. Love the "arm" really don't care for his mechanics. A conundrum for all concerned. So far this has evolved into a lose lose situation for the players, agents and management and "yawn" for the owners, who will make this happen. Makes my annual sojourn to ST much less inviting. fortunately I have other interests (motorsports) available during February and March.
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Post by p23w on Feb 5, 2020 11:44:18 GMT -5
The business side of baseball is complicated and largely misunderstood by the "fan". Chill, it is what it is, and if it "offends" your concepts of fairness, social justice, etc. Take the offseason "off" and come back when the boys of summer take to the field. Investing oneself in issues beyond ones' control or ability to influence is madness.
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Post by p23w on Jan 31, 2020 11:39:59 GMT -5
Is David Price a good pitcher? Until he had his Curt Schilling post season I was on the fence. Yes David Price is a good pitcher. Are the resources allocated to Price a good or fair value? At 147 IP per year with a barely sub 4.00 ERA at an AAV of $30.25M/yr. You decide. Given his endurance and health (age) going forward my take is that David Price is not a good value to the Red Sox going forward. Mind you this is not a Pablo Sandoval type debacle. it is what it is. If Price is traded I hope it is to the NL and Iwish him well. The only thing I found tolerable about not signing Jon Lester was that he landed in the NL. Management is toast if they keep Price and the team is toast if they trade him.... particularly if Mooke Betts is part of the deal. Given the fact that they let go of an innings eater (in the tradition of Lester and Miley) the team is pressured to make up the Porcello innings with Eovaldi. Long odds. Your Fathers' Red Sox are looking more like the 2020 edition with each passing day.
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Post by p23w on Jan 29, 2020 20:35:07 GMT -5
LOL, these are going to be a giant flop. Massachusetts - George Washington ? ? ? Knox and Revere on either side of the "B"... ditch the lobster altogether.
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Post by p23w on Jan 29, 2020 20:30:19 GMT -5
All this speculation about trading Mookie and no mention of penalties from MLB regarding sign stealing. If the Red Sox get the same penalty as the Astros then 2020 should be an all out go-for-it year. If the penalty is not as punitive (with regard to draft picks) then trading Mookie makes some sense. The brain trust is walking on eggshells and trying to read tea leaves. Given that Cora was prominently mentioned in the 2017 investigation into the Astros, Red Sox management is really in a tough spot. Methinks a Mookie deal to the Dodgers prior to MLB's finding with respect to the electronic sign stealing investigation of the 2018 Red Sox might lessen the hammer blow if the Red Sox/Cora are found guilty in any way shape or form. Mookie to the Padre's might yield a better "deal". Mookie to the Dodgers makes that franchise an odds on favorite to win the WS. In the court of West Coast public opinion this would qualify as social media "justice".
MHO is to keep Betts and go-for-it in 2020.
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Post by p23w on Jan 21, 2020 12:22:11 GMT -5
Just about the last thing I wanted to hear. The ultimate gamer.
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Post by p23w on Jan 20, 2020 12:41:33 GMT -5
So the "analysts" call the game..... it's the 6th inning, 3rd time through the order is up. The analysts are computing at top speed. The pitcher in the meantime has the beginnings of a blister. The catcher is aware that the pitcher has lost some "bite" on his breaking ball. The analyst calls for a curve ball. The catcher looks to the dugout (analysts box) and shakes his head. Does the "analyst" go to plan B, or back to what his number crunching calls for? Who makes the call? How about the scenario where the catcher CAN ONLY call for the pitch the analyst call for? The catcher calls for the pitch AND the pitcher shakes him off. Forget the analytics DURING the game. There are variables that are fluid and cannot be calculated during game situations. You already see this with defensive alignments. Hitters can adjust in real time to shifts... or not. Some can/will, others won't. This entire "concept" is beyond ludicrous all the way to mental masturbation performed by wanna-bees. I'm done with this stupidity. The guy who brought modern pitching analytics to the Red Sox is former major league pitcher Brian Bannister, fyi. We're not talking spin rates and mechanics. We're talking about merging a pitchers technical data with that of the "book" on a batter, given a real time game situation. Would Brian Bannister, knowing what he now knows, pitch differently then he did when he took the mound during his days as a player? Does his pitching analysis expertise improve the Red Sox staff? There is a long list of Red Sox prospect pitchers that don't or didn't develop. Some develop elsewhere. The Red Sox have had far better results buying established talent then developing there own.
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Post by p23w on Jan 19, 2020 10:09:41 GMT -5
So the "analysts" call the game..... it's the 6th inning, 3rd time through the order is up. The analysts are computing at top speed. The pitcher in the meantime has the beginnings of a blister. The catcher is aware that the pitcher has lost some "bite" on his breaking ball. The analyst calls for a curve ball. The catcher looks to the dugout (analysts box) and shakes his head. Does the "analyst" go to plan B, or back to what his number crunching calls for? Who makes the call? How about the scenario where the catcher CAN ONLY call for the pitch the analyst call for? The catcher calls for the pitch AND the pitcher shakes him off. Forget the analytics DURING the game. There are variables that are fluid and cannot be calculated during game situations. You already see this with defensive alignments. Hitters can adjust in real time to shifts... or not. Some can/will, others won't.
This entire "concept" is beyond ludicrous all the way to mental masturbation performed by wanna-bees. I'm done with this stupidity.
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Post by p23w on Jan 18, 2020 19:19:58 GMT -5
So the "answer " to "tech" sign stealing is to introduce/mandate more tech? Ludicrous to the extreme. Putting everyone on the same exact level without the possibility of stealing without hacking hopefully very secure devices is the only answer, not a ludicrous one. If we have learned anything about "secure devices" and "encryption", is that is can and will be "hacked". I will burn all my Red Sox memorabilia and find another activity to follow if MLB goes this route.
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Post by p23w on Jan 18, 2020 19:11:48 GMT -5
Maybe but didn't that look on Chapmans face have a little bit more going on? Like maybe he knew something? How many guys would stand there like that with that look on his face knowing he just gave them the game. Like I said, interesting, that's all. Maybe it is drummed up and bs but given what we know know you can't dismiss it as bad writing. I think that the can banging was replaced by buzzers under the uniforms. How about the look on Chapmans' face when he gave up the the game tying home run to the Indians in game 7 of the 2016 Fall Classic.... or my personal favorite when Devers took him deep as YS on a 103mph fast ball in 2017. Priceless.
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Post by p23w on Jan 18, 2020 19:03:18 GMT -5
So the "answer " to "tech" sign stealing is to introduce/mandate more tech? Ludicrous to the extreme.
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Post by p23w on Jan 17, 2020 17:27:30 GMT -5
Starts are mostly irrelevant. Quality IP and health in September matter more. I'd take 22 starts, 150 quality IP and a healthy Sale in September. Ditto foe Price. Problem is that those 50-70 regular season IP NOT pitched by Sale (or Price... or both) are not going to get this team into playoff contention come September. A solid year from Eovaldi and Erod will help and a good year from Porcello would have given the team a decent chance for the playoffs. I don't see it. Unless Bloom catches lightening in a bottle with several pitchers this team is going to watch the post season on TV. More and more the 2020 Red Sox remind me of "your Father's Red Sox". I am girding myself to be in complete denial if Mookie is dealt or not signed. Not since Fisk signed with the White Sox or Nomar was traded have I felt such foreboding. Then again, the Sox won the WS the year Nomar was shipped out so what the heck do I know.
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Post by p23w on Jan 13, 2020 18:38:42 GMT -5
Wonder what happens when shrewd players (like Beltran) or coaches pick up "pitch tipping" and pass it along. No cameras, no hi-tech relay equipment. Cheating? I like how you put "pitch tipping" in scare quotes like it's some newfangled thing. Maybe other teams will use "hand signals" to try to combat the other team knowing their strategy! The manager may even use an intermediary "third base coach" to relay signals from the dugout. Of course that isn't cheating, at least not in the sense we're talking about here. The end result is the same. "Analytic sign stealing using tech" being substituted for "shrewd observation" by players/coaches. Much ado about nada. IMO. The ONLY difference is you don't have to have "game" to manipulate tech, but you do need "game" to read/interpret signs, location, et al. Was it cheating when every pitch Mariano Rivera threw was a cutter? And the batters all knew.... and it still didn't matter. Don't need tech to know what's coming, sure as heck need game to make something happen. As an aside MLB banned Pete Rose for life, for gambling, now a gambling organization is a leading sponsor of MLB TV. Ginning up controversy is the name of THIS game.
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Post by p23w on Jan 13, 2020 15:26:14 GMT -5
Wonder what happens when shrewd players (like Beltran) or coaches pick up "pitch tipping" and pass it along. No cameras, no hi-tech relay equipment. Cheating?
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