A Realistic View at 2017 Part I

[moonslav59]

He's becoming the next Alan Craig in that we can't move him and we can't play him, albeit for a different reason. Ughhhhh.

 

Craig's contract ends this year, thankfully.

 

He's a guy that could do great in AAA this year, and if we added him to the 40 man roster for just a short period, all we'd pay is the pro-rated amount.

 

My guess is Sam Travis would get the call first, unless he's struggling and Craig is doing much better.

[Spudboy]

Craig's contract ends this year, thankfully.

 

He's a guy that could do great in AAA this year, and if we added him to the 40 man roster for just a short period, all we'd pay is the pro-rated amount.

 

My guess is Sam Travis would get the call first, unless he's struggling and Craig is doing much better.

 

Has anyone ever figured out what happened to Craig? He just fell off a cliff it seems. He says it has nothing to do with the foot injury.

 

Too bad.

[moonslav59]

Has anyone ever figured out what happened to Craig? He just fell off a cliff it seems. He says it has nothing to do with the foot injury.

 

Too bad.

 

Very strange case indeed.

 

Allen had an .803 OPS after over 1800 PAs. A large enough sample size to think he had made it.

 

He had 4 straight playoff series with an OPS over 1.000 until facing the Sox in 2013 and breaking his foot.

 

His .432 OPS with the Sox was barely half of his OPS with STL.

 

He can't even maintain his minor league numbers...

 

2015: .718 AAA (399 PAs)

2016: .572 A- and AAA (111 PAs)

 

He was only 29 when he fell off the cliff.

[notin]

Very strange case indeed.

 

Allen had an .803 OPS after over 1800 PAs. A large enough sample size to think he had made it.

 

He had 4 straight playoff series with an OPS over 1.000 until facing the Sox in 2013 and breaking his foot.

 

His .432 OPS with the Sox was barely half of his OPS with STL.

 

He can't even maintain his minor league numbers...

 

2015: .718 AAA (399 PAs)

2016: .572 A- and AAA (111 PAs)

 

He was only 29 when he fell off the cliff.

 

I always wondered if he injured his foot when Middlebrooks tripped him in the World Series. ..

[moonslav59]

I always wondered if he injured his foot when Middlebrooks tripped him in the World Series. ..

 

You mean when he ran out of his way to fall over Middy, right?

[Bellhorn04]

Has anyone ever figured out what happened to Craig? He just fell off a cliff it seems. He says it has nothing to do with the foot injury.

Too bad.

 

I would speculate loss of bat speed, probably from simple deterioration of physical strength and/or coordination. That has sent the careers of many hitters to premature terminations.

[moonslav59]

I would speculate loss of bat speed, probably from simple deterioration of physical strength and/or coordination. That has sent the careers of many hitters to premature terminations.

 

Seems odd at 29, but I think you're right.

[cp176]

Has there ever been a rumor that Craig was a steroid guy? I'm not trying to start one but it is hard to imagine his decline not being linked to something other than just natural ability. He is young and it is very strange.

[jacksonianmarch]

Could be physical. Could very well be mental. It could also be lack of adjustments. One big thing about playing at a high level is that weaknesses get broadcasted and exploited. If you cannot adjust, you'll fail.

 

When I played, I could hit most any fastball or curveball. Pretty good on change ups too. I batted down in the order and saw a lot of those. For two years, I ripped apart the league, D2 mostly but great times against some D1 teams as well. My senior year, I started seeing a lot of cutters and sliders. Couldnt make the adjustment. Just couldn't see them out of the hand well enough. That caused me to think every pitch was a slider and I then couldn't hit the fastballs and was still to fast for the change ups. Fell down to earth with a thud and eventually was demoted to the bench. Big league ball players don't have those types of holes. But they might have a sequence issue. "Change his eye level, then throw the slider low and he can't hit it." Something like that. And as a hitter, when you're protecting a weakness, you lose your strengths

[moonslav59]

The Cards always know when to dump these kind of guys right before the fall off a cliff.

 

Makes you wonder...

[Kimmi]

Could be physical. Could very well be mental. It could also be lack of adjustments. One big thing about playing at a high level is that weaknesses get broadcasted and exploited. If you cannot adjust, you'll fail.

 

Or it could be just randomness. LOL

[moonslav59]

Or it could be just randomness. LOL

 

The Rays also had a knack for getting career years out of journeymen then dumping them right before their return to mediocrity or worse.

[Kimmi]

The Rays also had a knack for getting career years out of journeymen then dumping them right before their return to mediocrity or worse.

 

Theo also had the knack for knowing when to let our big free agents walk. As a fan, I didn't always like it, but his decision not to re-sign someone was right more often than not.

[mvp 78]

Theo also had the knack for knowing when to let our big free agents walk. As a fan, I didn't always like it, but his decision not to re-sign someone was right more often than not.

 

And when to feed the monster with a nice fat CC signing!

[jacksonianmarch]

He let Pedro go, and he got hurt. Jason Bay he let walk and he plummeted. Johnny Damon was really good as a Yankee. Who else of note did he let walk?

[Kimmi]

And when to feed the monster with a nice fat CC signing!

 

As you know, I blame Lucchino.

[mvp 78]

He let Pedro go, and he got hurt. Jason Bay he let walk and he plummeted. Johnny Damon was really good as a Yankee. Who else of note did he let walk?

 

Derek Lowe? I don't think anyone thought he'd come back to bite us. Can't really think of another guy.

[Kimmi]

He let Pedro go, and he got hurt. Jason Bay he let walk and he plummeted. Johnny Damon was really good as a Yankee. Who else of note did he let walk?

 

Johnny Damon had no position to play in Boston. He would not have been as good with us as he was for you. Either way, eff Damon.

 

Victor Martinez is one who comes to mind. There are probably others that I just can't remember at the moment.

[moonslav59]

He let Pedro go, and he got hurt. Jason Bay he let walk and he plummeted. Johnny Damon was really good as a Yankee. Who else of note did he let walk?

 

If it includes trades, Nomar jumps out.

 

FAs who bolted include, OCab, D Lowe, Mueller, Gonzo (ss), VMart, Beltre, Papelbon and of course Ellsbury.

 

[moonslav59]

He let Pedro go, and he got hurt. Jason Bay he let walk and he plummeted. Johnny Damon was really good as a Yankee. Who else of note did he let walk?

 

Surprised you forgot about Ellsbury.

 

Can't say as I blame ya!

[moonslav59]

Johnny Damon had no position to play in Boston. He would not have been as good with us as he was for you. Either way, eff Damon.

 

Victor Martinez is one who comes to mind. There are probably others that I just can't remember at the moment.

 

Very true.

 

Damon's noodle arm meant he'd have had to play LF or DH with the Sox.

 

Correct me, if I am wrong, but didn't we have those two positions covered pretty well those years?

 

I can't remember the names of those two scrubs we had playing LF and DH. Can anyone think of who they were?

[Slasher9]

Eff Damon. Eff Ellsbury.

JBj!!!!

 

also - count on this for 2017 season:

Panda: .275/.350/.440

BOOK IT

[Bellhorn04]

Surprised you forgot about Ellsbury.

 

Can't say as I blame ya!

 

Ellsbury and Papelbon walked after 2011, but so did Theo.

[mvp 78]

If it includes trades, Nomar jumps out.

 

FAs who bolted include, OCab, D Lowe, Mueller, Gonzo (ss), VMart, Beltre, Papelbon and of course Ellsbury.

 

 

Ells and Paps left after Theo did.

[mvp 78]

Eff Damon. Eff Ellsbury.

JBj!!!!

 

also - count on this for 2017 season:

Panda: .275/.350/.440

BOOK IT

 

He's going to exceed those numbers and play 130+ games.

[Slasher9]

He's going to exceed those numbers and play 130+ games.

 

IN.

[notin]

Beltre was the biggest mistake to let walk. In another universe, keeping Beltre might have meant not trading for Gonzalez, which could have meant keeping Rizzo.

 

Also , Beltre has largely been flat out awesome, outside of his propensity for destroying left fielders....

[a700hitter]

Eff Damon. Eff Ellsbury.

JBj!!!!

 

also - count on this for 2017 season:

Panda: .275/.350/.440

BOOK IT

That is a very low threshold for a monster season.

[mvp 78]

Beltre was the biggest mistake to let walk. In another universe, keeping Beltre might have meant not trading for Gonzalez, which could have meant keeping Rizzo.

 

Also , Beltre has largely been flat out awesome, outside of his propensity for destroying left fielders....

 

I don't think anyone could doubt that. I think Theo just saw him as a one year guy and had no interest in signing him again.

[moonslav59]

Beltre was the biggest mistake to let walk. In another universe, keeping Beltre might have meant not trading for Gonzalez, which could have meant keeping Rizzo.

 

Also , Beltre has largely been flat out awesome, outside of his propensity for destroying left fielders....

 

In hindsight, we should have traded Youk before his rapid decline. I remember arguing to keep Beltre and have Youk play 1B. I did not think VMart was worth big money to play 1B and (in theory) replace Papi at DH at some point. Papi made it all the way through VMart's contract though.

 

One big silver lining: we drafted JBJ and Swihart with Beltre's comp picks, so that mitigates the bad choice to some extent.