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Post by Oregon Norm on Apr 1, 2024 1:30:43 GMT -5
I'm repeating myself but that was the highlight. Consider that as a group they outpitched one of the best rotations in MLB. They won two, should have had three, and could have had four if everything fell right.
A few more observations; Rafaela just radiates baseball smarts in the field on the basepaths, and even at the plate; the additions to the relief corps are a game changer (of course); it's early but the trade for O'Neill looks like it may have been grand theft.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Mar 31, 2024 9:53:24 GMT -5
As good as the Mariners' starters are, the Sox' group has matched them just about step for step. That has to be the takeaway so far.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Mar 31, 2024 0:42:09 GMT -5
Well that crushed my hope for a series win. Like Pivetta last evening, Crawford was outstanding and Campbell, Martin, and Weissert were lights out. I did cringe when I saw Rodriguez warming up and mentioned to my wife possible problems. After his debacle I felt bad for him, his head was down as he walked off.
The starters have looked good, and there's serious talent in the pen. But that was a tough way to introduce Slaten to the big leagues. Julio Rodriguez used the first few pitches to get a handle on how they were working him. He's such an intelligent hitter he just reached out and served a pitch to right center - no need to to anything more than that.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Mar 29, 2024 2:26:03 GMT -5
Hey just wanted to give a big public shoutout to fellow moderator Oregon Norm who is hooking me up with opening day tickets for tonight. Your Pac Northwest Soxprospects representatives will be attendance and cheering on the away team! Thanks for that. Had the extra tickets and I couldn't imagine a better set of eyeballs to get those to. I'll bet you enjoyed that at least as much we did. So the team seemed to transition seamlessly from spring training, bringing all the energy from the games that didn't matter to this one that did. It's just one win but it counts! That's a strong lineup I believe: patience, speed, some power... and the defense brings tears of joy after last year's painful performance. I was hoping for at least a series split. Maybe I need to reset the expectations!
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Post by Oregon Norm on Mar 28, 2024 9:31:01 GMT -5
Probably best to start a new thread for this to keep it out of the Gameday talk.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Mar 26, 2024 17:35:08 GMT -5
Just my take, but it seems to me that Abreu's timing is slightly off. He's also hit a few hard shots that were directed right to fielders. I think he'll be fine when he catches up to the pitching.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Mar 26, 2024 14:27:07 GMT -5
Guess Fitts is gonna sleep with a smile on his face. 0ER and 3K vs the WS winners real lineup...must feel good Seemed very comfortable in his interview afterwards. Great radio/tv voice if he wants to move on later.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Mar 25, 2024 10:48:22 GMT -5
Campbell had the best showing of all.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Mar 24, 2024 15:27:09 GMT -5
It's the Samson effect - cut the hair, lose the flair.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Mar 23, 2024 23:34:48 GMT -5
I'm still trying to figure out who the Sox should have tried to acquire, what it would have cost the team, and how it would have helped. And please don't say Yamamoto for $400M.
The defense is far superior, the offense at least as good and maybe better and the bullpen is loaded with talent. While the starting pitching will require the kind of luck, good health, and lack of deadwood they didn't have last year, I'm greatly encouraged that the oldest one is Pivetta. That's the biggest question mark but if that group can avoid serious injuries I see at least 85 wins.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Mar 23, 2024 14:26:15 GMT -5
Weissert has to be very difficult to hit against - all his stuff moves. And my impression from having watched Campbell with Seattle last year hasn't changed. Very good acquisition.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Mar 23, 2024 0:24:46 GMT -5
That first game he definitely looked overmatched. What surprised me was how his command deserted him at crucial times. Nerves perhaps.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Mar 22, 2024 23:59:51 GMT -5
It isn't about generosity it's an answer to the question and nothing more. For context it was one of three scenarios laid out by Silver including the idea that it was Ohtani's bet. Please read his entire narrative. Next question...
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Post by Oregon Norm on Mar 22, 2024 22:40:37 GMT -5
I take note of the last paragraph: the basic fact of the matter is that $4.5 million was transferred from Ohtani's account to a bookie. Occam's razor leans in the direction that Ohtani was gambling. For those with a banking background, how exactly would a person steal money via wiring from someone else’s account, which is what Ohtani’s people seem to be alleging? Life if I use a shady ATM to withdraw 100 bucks my bank will text me to make sure it’s me - how would Ohtani not get notified about 4.5 MILLION dollars in bank transfers? Ippei was an interpreter, not an accountant? If you read Silver's piece, he explains it clearly. His relationship with the interpreter was very close, very personal. If he trusted him enough to have him acting as a personal secretary with access to the account, that's all it would take.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Mar 22, 2024 13:27:08 GMT -5
I read about that so-called relationship early this morning. For the uninformed, Wikipedia has often been used for spin control. Since it's open to anyone it can quickly be corrected also. The back fence denizens never stops chattering so critical thinking is always in order.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Mar 22, 2024 11:57:20 GMT -5
That is very true. My estimate was closer to a half-dozen fewer losses than they experienced. That's more realistic I believe.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Mar 22, 2024 11:48:37 GMT -5
The most important point Meyer makes, for me, is about the complete unwillingness of MLB - which carries the water for ownership - to ever consider: It took years, but club owners finally figured out that the aging curve informs decisions about big payouts - as opposed to vastly underpaying young talent in their pre-arb and even arbitration periods.
This is the one place where Marvin Miller's legacy hurts. He believed that having too many players in the market would devalue their worth. Neither he nor just about anyone else foresaw the flood of data that would become available for mining everywhere thanks to networked computing power. That data clearly revealed that the 5-6 years of cheap control coincided with the peak years for most players. It's simple to conclude that owners will fight like hell to maintain such extreme financial leverage.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Mar 21, 2024 19:43:37 GMT -5
He had the presence to understand that, from where he scooped up the groundball, he had a good angle on the throw to Story at second. He may even have planned the short hop pickup to get that angle. His instincts seem to be over the top.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Mar 21, 2024 15:05:01 GMT -5
I concur, as this will have wide reaching implications if MLB tries to sweep it under the rug.. ( Kindly requesting a "Say It Ain't So, Sho" thread name How about "Sho' me the money"??
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Post by Oregon Norm on Mar 21, 2024 6:40:55 GMT -5
Yamamoto hasn't quite reached all-star caliber yet.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Mar 21, 2024 5:34:09 GMT -5
Absolutely disastrous first inning for Yamamoto in Seoul. More than 40 pitches, over half were off the plate, five runs given up. Batters were just teeing up.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Mar 20, 2024 23:10:24 GMT -5
I have a hard time believing a gambling operation would allow for an interpreter to rack up that much in debt I'll beg to differ. You've got a pilot fish in tow and the big one is following along. That could have been an easy bet to get the bill paid. But the $4.5M may have blinded the bookie to how big the wake would be, pulling in the Feds. This fellow must have been known to the authorities and they may have been willing to ignore him for the "service" he provided. No more...
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Post by Oregon Norm on Mar 20, 2024 17:41:52 GMT -5
There's a conflict in the threads, between wanting to plan for extensions such as the one Bello got, and shipping money out to Snell and other unnamed "shoulda-hads". I imagine there's some budgeting and long-term planning going on. I felt early on that they needed more starting pitching depth. With Giolito hurt and Sale gone, that's still a need I believe. These are tough decisions and reasonable people can disagree. But going forward, I don't see how they can get the emerging core extended while also buying for marginal wins.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Mar 17, 2024 0:02:56 GMT -5
One of the dead horses I regularly beat is that while slow-mo video combined with bio-mechanics has allowed pitching gurus to optimize every aspect of a pitchers delivery for maximum effect, that may have unexamined physical implications that are unsustainable for the long seasonal haul we expect from starting pitchers.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Mar 16, 2024 13:37:17 GMT -5
Listening to Ian Cundall right now. Brings all the insight and expertise from the podcasts to the NESN broadcast.
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