Referendum on John Farrell

[sk7326]

The Yanks went 8-4 the final two weeks of 2014 when dealing with the emotional and physical toll of the Jeter retirement tour. WHY DID SELFISH JETER HAVE TO MAKE IT ALL ABOUT HIMSELF???

 

This, my friend is how a World Series champion builds momentum heading into the postseason http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/STL/2006-schedule-scores.shtml

[mvp 78]

This, my friend is how a World Series champion builds momentum heading into the postseason http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/STL/2006-schedule-scores.shtml

 

Counterpoint http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/COL/2007-schedule-scores.shtml . Prior to their WS title, they were on a complete roll.

[sk7326]

Counterpoint http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/COL/2007-schedule-scores.shtml . Prior to their WS title, they were on a complete roll.

 

The Rockies finished 13-1 and swept their two NL postseason opponents, entered the World Series with a 20-1 record

Their opponent stumbled to a 7-7 finish, limped through the ALCS ... 14-10 record over that same stretch prior to the WS

 

The Rockies predictably rolled to the title - how do you stop an opponent on that sort of streak.

[Slasher9]

[Slasher9]

the first and second week of september wasnt nearly as emotional. if you guys didnt see the difference the last week of the season for yourselves nothing i will type here will change your mind. the media coverage, the commercials, the instagram/social media postings, the ceremonies, the patches on the jerseys, the interviews, the hour long specials.

 

this.

[mvp 78]

The Yanks went 8-4 the final two weeks of 2014 when dealing with the emotional and physical toll of the Jeter retirement tour. WHY DID SELFISH JETER HAVE TO MAKE IT ALL ABOUT HIMSELF???

 

This.

[Slasher9]

im not talking about the yankees.

and since you brought them up...how did they do in the postseason that year?

[Slasher9]

the first and second week of september wasnt nearly as emotional. if you guys didnt see the difference the last week of the season for yourselves nothing i will type here will change your mind. the media coverage, the commercials, the instagram/social media postings, the ceremonies, the patches on the jerseys, the interviews, the hour long specials.

[Bellhorn04]

the first and second week of september wasnt nearly as emotional. if you guys didnt see the difference the last week of the season for yourselves nothing i will type here will change your mind. the media coverage, the commercials, the instagram/social media postings, the ceremonies, the patches on the jerseys, the interviews, the hour long specials.

 

It was the patches on the jerseys for sure, Slash. There was goddam kryptonite in those f***ers. I think you've nailed it.

[Spudboy]

In the local Boston / Eastern Mass market there was definitely a huge ramp-up of Papi related stuff on TV.

 

It was kind of tiresome.

 

But I don't know that it had any significant effect on the team's play.

[Slasher9]

It was the patches on the jerseys for sure, Slash. There was goddam kryptonite in those f***ers. I think you've nailed it.

 

lol. dammit.

[Dojji]

Be glad when we get a bit deeper into the offseason and the crank theories and hysterical speculation start dying down a bit.

[S5Dewey]

Be glad when we get a bit deeper into the offseason and the crank theories and hysterical speculation start dying down a bit.

 

Yes. So they can be replaced by other crank theories and hysterical speculation.

[a700hitter]

Yes. So they can be replaced by other crank theories and hysterical speculation.

In that way, it is similar to politics. LOL!

[Kimmi]

You would be doing yourself a disservice if that's all you said in response to Maxbialystock's EXCELLENT and highly thoughtful post.

 

Agreed. Very good post by Max.

[Kimmi]

Also add a #8: Farrell's relationship with Jessica Moran. This caused a lot of stress on the clubhouse and it finally caught up with them in the postseason.

 

LOL I forgot about that. I believe you're on to something.

[Kimmi]

the first and second week of september wasnt nearly as emotional. if you guys didnt see the difference the last week of the season for yourselves nothing i will type here will change your mind. the media coverage, the commercials, the instagram/social media postings, the ceremonies, the patches on the jerseys, the interviews, the hour long specials.

 

Slash, I agree with you on a lot of things, but I think you're off base here. If anything, I think Papi's retirement tour was a rallying factor, not a distraction.

[Kimmi]

They lost because Cleveland's starting pitching + Andrew Miller was better than Boston's starting pitching ... that's it. This is something that could have occurred any weekend against any team because baseball is a funny game. It's not like some of the bloops and bleeders in that 2nd inning in Game 2 were anything Price could have done anything about - that's baseball.

 

Also, 2 of the losses were one run losses. Randomness often reigns in one run games, not to mention any short series.

[Kimmi]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, momentum means nothing going into the postseason.

 

And that, my friends, is not a crack theory.

[Dojji]

you may have the honor.

 

Doesn't work that way. But you certainly lost a bit of yours, sadly.

[a700hitter]

Doesn't work that way. But you certainly lost a bit of yours, sadly.

Ouch! And completely unnecessary.

[devildavid]

Has anyone stated the obvious reason the Sox lost to Cleveland? They were beaten by the genius of Terry Francona.

[Wade Boggs]

Has anyone stated the obvious reason the Sox lost to Cleveland? They were beaten by the genius of Terry Francona.

 

 

Miller

Kluber

Not hitting with RISP

Not having a starter go past five innings

Having everybody but Holt and Benintendi go into slumps.

 

It wasn't much Terry Francona. But he is a very good manager.... I agree

[Kimmi]

Has anyone stated the obvious reason the Sox lost to Cleveland? They were beaten by the genius of Terry Francona.

 

Come on. We all know that Cleveland won in spite of 'Francoma'.

[Dojji]

I'm sure there's a few Indian fans that think so -- although I will say that no team's fans (or I should say, no team's media) is as relentlessly negative as Boston's.

[oldtimer]

The Guardians have held the Blue Jays to 1 run in two games and needed to do that to win. They have done that with good starting pitching (which may well be better with the return of injured players next year), good and effective use of the bullpen and good team defense. The Guardians often also manufacture runs. They have good speed and are aggressive on the bases. They are pesky hitters. If you judge a manager by results versus expectations based on talent, then Francona has to be rated high.

 

If you compare what the Red Sox talent and results were, particularly at the end of the season, then the SP looked decent although with some warning signs of trouble, particularly with Price. The RP looked good with the exception of Kimbrel who went wild and couldn't seem to come out of it. Our defense looked on a par with the Guardians and maybe better in the outfield. We have a lot of speedy players but didn't pressure the opponent pitcher much since we weren't getting on base. Our hitting, already declining was really held in check by the Guardians pitching.

 

The Red Sox went into a 9 game malaise at the end of the season. Personally, I would look for a change in the manager and hope for better results. Someone capable of exciting our players and using our strengths to win the close ones. Who knows if someone else would actually do a better job, but standing pat means we get more of the same. It is beating a dead horse though since DD has already indicated JF will be the manager next year.

[Dojji]

Who knows if someone else would actually do a better job, but standing pat means we get more of the same.

 

Only more of the same if you assume that the problem was Farrell's management. I think our roster isn't anywhere near as good as it was playing in the early part of this year, to be honest this team is simply not as talented as it appeared to be. Personally I have to give Farrell some credit for the team playing over its head at key times this season, but at the end of the day a house of cards is a house of cards.

 

We were gambling a LOT on certain players who came out of nowhere to have good parts of years, Shaw, Leon, Wright spring quickly to mind. Bogaerts looked like he'd taken a big step forward only for it to turn out he took a rather modest one. Bradley broke out then cooled WAY down. The bullpen alternated between dominant and fragile all year. We were pencilling in Porcello as our #4 in Spring, and he may win the CYA this year but he came back to earth with a bump at the last minute. All of this bit us hard in the playoffs.

 

This team is an illusion. So many things happened this year that we simply can't count on again, and couldn't have counted on in the first place. It really could go either way next year and I'm convinced the actual strength of our roster is severely overstated both in the media and on this forum.

 

DD worked hard in the offseason and was reward with strong progress in regular season numbers. Now he still has his work cut out. We're not a slum team anymore but the team builders still have a lot work to do before we need to worry about any kind of dynasty, that's for damn sure.

Edited October 16, 2016 by Dojji

[Slasher9]

Pitching = parades

[oldtimer]

Only more of the same if you assume that the problem was Farrell's management. I think our roster isn't anywhere near as good as it was playing in the early part of this year, to be honest this team is simply not as talented as it appeared to be. Personally I have to give Farrell some credit for the team playing over its head at key times this season, but at the end of the day a house of cards is a house of cards.

 

We were gambling a LOT on certain players who came out of nowhere to have good parts of years, Shaw, Leon, Wright spring quickly to mind. Bogaerts looked like he'd taken a big step forward only for it to turn out he took a rather modest one. Bradley broke out then cooled WAY down. The bullpen alternated between dominant and fragile all year. We were pencilling in Porcello as our #4 in Spring, and he may win the CYA this year but he came back to earth with a bump at the last minute. All of this bit us hard in the playoffs.

 

This team is an illusion. So many things happened this year that we simply can't count on again, and couldn't have counted on in the first place. It really could go either way next year and I'm convinced the actual strength of our roster is severely overstated both in the media and on this forum.

 

DD worked hard in the offseason and was reward with strong progress in regular season numbers. Now he still has his work cut out. We're not a slum team anymore but the team builders still have a lot work to do before we need to worry about any kind of dynasty, that's for damn sure.

 

I agree with your points of view. We were not a dominant team period, but had elements enough to be a good team. The near collapse of the team at the end is a great bother to me and that's why I would prefer a change in managerial leadership. Would it help? I don't know if it would but the status quo didn't seem to work and we have lost Ortiz, so will lose a big piece going forward. I do think DD made a good effort to improve the team and expect he will do so again in the off season. It is a competitive business though and it is difficult to get real value and improvement when making trades and picking up free agents.

 

Pitching, Catching, Third Base and Management. It is likely pitching and 3rd will be addressed. Hope that can happen without weakening ourselves in other positions or giving away key prospects going forward. Recognizing you have to give up something when trading for something, it will all be about value.

[Bellhorn04]

Pitching = parades

 

Thanks man. It's a relief to know we don't have to worry that much about position players. We should probably trade Betts, Bogaerts, Bradley and Benintendi for hurlers!