Guide to the World Baseball Classic

[Duran Is The Man]

18 minutes ago, jad said:

The only thing he's hit in the direction of second in the WBC have been long fly balls landing 400 feet away.

maybe he'll remember how to do that when he gets a Boston uni back on.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

14 minutes ago, jad said:

Yeah, he was also playing through injury last year.  I wonder too, given the FO notoriously bad communication skills, if there might have been some confusion about what his role would be.   Pretty sure players with established track records (like Devers or Yoshida) do not like feeling that they're being treated like scrubs (not that they were, but rather that the FO could not convince them otherwise).

Last year Yoshida was rehabbing and trying to come back from an operation; the year before he was playing injured for at least half of it -- this is what I try telling my son every time he yells, "He sucks!" And then somehow I'm not citing facts but "just making an excuse."

Masa's first year in the majors which everyone forgets, when he was adjusting to a new culture, he finished 5th in the AL in batting and had a .783 OPS. 

What gets me is when posters suggest the Red Sox send him down to the minors. Even if the overall comp in the WBC is borderline Triple A, hasn't this professional hitter already proven he has mastered that level? 

And in order to keep career bench-warmers like Eaton, Sogard and Monasterio instead? None of them have ever driven in the most runs to win world titles or had big league organizations with 75 Assistant VP analysts offer them $90 million dollars (combined).

[notin]

17 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Last year Yoshida was rehabbing and trying to come back from an operation; the year before he was playing injured for at least half of it -- this is what I try telling my son every time he yells, "He sucks!" And then somehow I'm not citing facts but "just making an excuse."

Masa's first year in the majors which everyone forgets, when he was adjusting to a new culture, he finished 5th in the AL in batting and had a .783 OPS. 

What gets me is when posters suggest the Red Sox send him down to the minors. Even if the overall comp in the WBC is borderline Triple A, hasn't this professional hitter already proven he has mastered that level? 

And in order to keep career bench-warmers like Eaton, Sogard and Monasterio instead? None of them have ever driven in the most runs to win world titles or had big league organizations with 75 Assistant VP analysts offer them $90 million dollars (combined).

I do think sending him down to the minors is only being done to keep him as opposed to a DFA.

The Sox do need to keep him.  If he can’t/won’t be demoted, they still need to keep him.  Their weakest link is more likely offense than the inability to find a makeshift right fielder for two innings…

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

24 minutes ago, notin said:

I do think sending him down to the minors is only being done to keep him as opposed to a DFA.

The Sox do need to keep him.  If he can’t/won’t be demoted, they still need to keep him.  Their weakest link is more likely offense than the inability to find a makeshift right fielder for two innings…

The last thing the Red Sox should stress about is outfield defense... right? This team is built around pitching -- with mostly strikeout men or ground ball inducers.

Personally, if there's any player I'm worried about in the pasture, it's Duran, who luckily is fast enough to outrun most of his misreads.

Yoshida doesn't have the range of the rest of the OF corp, but he can catch the damn ball. Yesterday he flagged down a Travis Bazzana oppo liner -- which fly-chasers will tell you is the most difficult play for leftfielders.

[mvp 78]

The 4 seam fastballs that Masa has faced:

Chinese Taipei - 93.3, 8th

Korea - 91.3, 17th

Australia - 89.7, 19th

Japan had an easy pool to get through in round 1. Team with the best 4 seam is DR at 96.5 followed by US at 95. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

2 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

The 4 seam fastballs that Masa has faced:

Chinese Taipei - 93.3, 8th

Korea - 91.3, 17th

Australia - 89.7, 19th

Japan had an easy pool to get through in round 1. Team with the best 4 seam is DR at 96.5 followed by US at 95. 

Obviously not all WBC teams are loaded with MLB ringers. I'm watching Bello carve up Israel this afternoon... oops, just gave up a solo shot to Horowitz (a big leaguer).

The thing is, not all WBC players are having great tournaments -- including not all the major leaguers participating. 

So gotta give credit to the guys who are getting it done. The pitchers aren't trying new grips or stretching out their arms like in the Grapefruit or Cactus Leagues -- everybody's trying to win.

 

[JoeBrady]

On 3/6/2026 at 4:34 PM, jad said:

I am not ashamed of liking a post that says:   if you are invited by a national team to play for them and you accept, you should be allowed to play.    In fact, that seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to propose, and I am baffled that anyone would object.

Right now, this is all for fun.  But there should be some natural association with a country before you can play for them.  The whole idea is to root for players that had their roots in your country.  Me playing for Ireland is fine.  But I don't see how Italy inviting a bunch of Irish guys to play for Italy gives Italians a rooting interest.

[Kimmi]

On 3/7/2026 at 11:52 AM, UtahSox said:

I’m not sure Kimmi was coming from where you said, or even worse “assumed” she was. 

Especially in this time, it’s great to celebrate. Let’s not assume asking questions defines her position.

Thank you. ❤️

[Kimmi]

On 3/7/2026 at 12:28 PM, notin said:

Although maybe they could cut back on the Shohei praise a little.  Like maybe limit it to games he is actually playing in…

My beef with Shohei is that, IMO, he got away with illegal baseball gambling, while at the same time throwing his interpreter under the bus.  MLB swept this under the rug.  I know why MLB swept it under the rug, but that doesn't make it okay.

[JoeBrady]

2 minutes ago, Kimmi said:

throwing his interpreter under the bus.

FWIW, while Ohtani got away with it, his interpreter was still part of it.  He either stole the money, or he made the transfers on behalf of Ohtani.  Both are crimes.  That said, I'm pretty sure his interpreter will be taken care of.

[Kimmi]

There have been a LOT of pitch clock violations during these games, both on the pitching side and the batting side.  With so many international players having never used a pitch clock, perhaps it shouldn't have been used in this tournament?

It was cool to see Manny Ramirez in the house, taking in his son's play.  And seeing Lucas hit 2 homeruns (albeit against team USA.)

As someone else posted, it's nice to see a lot of youngsters playing.  Imagine being a 17 year old high schooler pitching against the likes of Aaron Judge.

Panama vs Puerto Rico was a really good game.  So many of the others have been lopsided.

[Kimmi]

8 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

FWIW, while Ohtani got away with it, his interpreter was still part of it.  He either stole the money, or he made the transfers on behalf of Ohtani.  Both are crimes.  That said, I'm pretty sure his interpreter will be taken care of.

No doubt the interpreter was part of it.  And you're right that he will probably be well taken care of.

Ohtani was involved in a real estate thing too.  Not a good look.

[jad]

Federal authorities and MLB found NO evidence against Ohtani.  All evidence pointed to his interpreter.   If you are going to accuse him,  you need to state why you have more facts than the feds and MLB and what those facts (unknown to federal investigators) are.

[JoeBrady]

2 hours ago, Kimmi said:

With so many international players having never used a pitch clock, perhaps it shouldn't have been used in this tournament?

That's one that they should've talked about.

[notin]

54 minutes ago, jad said:

Federal authorities and MLB found NO evidence against Ohtani.  All evidence pointed to his interpreter.   If you are going to accuse him,  you need to state why you have more facts than the feds and MLB and what those facts (unknown to federal investigators) are.

So we need proof to suspect we don’t have the entire story?  Exactly how ironclad should this proof be? And does it only apply to Ohtani and gambling?  Also, if we accuse him without proof, exactly which law enforcement agency will be handling our cases?

[notin]

23 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

The 4 seam fastballs that Masa has faced:

Chinese Taipei - 93.3, 8th

Korea - 91.3, 17th

Australia - 89.7, 19th

Japan had an easy pool to get through in round 1. Team with the best 4 seam is DR at 96.5 followed by US at 95. 

Ok.  We get your point that the competition in the WBC isnt the same as MLB, but Yoshida is outhitting most of Team USA in the tournament so far and those guys are facing that same inferior pitching…

[JoeBrady]

4 hours ago, jad said:

Federal authorities and MLB found NO evidence against Ohtani.  All evidence pointed to his interpreter.   If you are going to accuse him,  you need to state why you have more facts than the feds and MLB and what those facts (unknown to federal investigators) are.

There are an easy dozen stories that are almost impossible to explain away.  

• How does an interpreter, making $200k/year, get a multi-million $$$ line of credit.
• How does an interpreter manage to swindle banks out of $16M+++?
• How does Bowers get a one-year jail sentence for taking maybe $100M worth of bets?
• Ippie tells Ohtani's accountants/financial team that they aren't allowed to examine an account with $16M+ in it, and no one thinks to ask Ohtani to confirm it?
• The scam goes on for maybe 26 months, and in all that time, Ohtani does not look at one single bank statement?

All this is impossible in the real world.

[Jasonbay44]

Duran is having a really good WBC. 3 homers in last two days and an outfield assist

[UtahSox]

8 hours ago, jad said:

Federal authorities and MLB found NO evidence against Ohtani.  All evidence pointed to his interpreter.   If you are going to accuse him,  you need to state why you have more facts than the feds and MLB and what those facts (unknown to federal investigators) are.

LOL. So we’re supposed to believe that 19,000 bets and $17 million of Shohei’s money were gambled away without him ever noticing? This is the same guy whose entire career is built on obsessive attention to detail, discipline, and precision. Meanwhile MLB/ USA is looking at $700M+ per year in economic impact from the “Ohtani effect.”

Maybe the official story is exactly what happened… but it’s also not hard to understand why everyone involved would be highly motivated to make sure the league’s biggest global star stays completely clean and the whole thing lands on a convenient fall guy.

[jad]

9 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

There are an easy dozen stories that are almost impossible to explain away.  

• How does an interpreter, making $200k/year, get a multi-million $$$ line of credit.
• How does an interpreter manage to swindle banks out of $16M+++?
• How does Bowers get a one-year jail sentence for taking maybe $100M worth of bets?
• Ippie tells Ohtani's accountants/financial team that they aren't allowed to examine an account with $16M+ in it, and no one thinks to ask Ohtani to confirm it?
• The scam goes on for maybe 26 months, and in all that time, Ohtani does not look at one single bank statement?

All this is impossible in the real world.

I assure you, I don't have a lot of money and what I have in retirement is in the hands of a broker I've never met.  I have never ONCE checked out any charges in my account in 30 years.   Not once.  He could have been spending my money on coke and hookers and I would never have known.   Maybe you check your account activity on a daily basis.  Most of us don't.

Also, I understand completely that MLB has a stake in this and I woouldn't put a lot of stock in their findings.  But you have to explain what stake the fed government would have in protecting a non-citizen from a scandal like this.  I mean, it's not like he was in the Epstein files or  ...

[jad]

13 hours ago, notin said:

So we need proof to suspect we don’t have the entire story?  Exactly how ironclad should this proof be? And does it only apply to Ohtani and gambling?  Also, if we accuse him without proof, exactly which law enforcement agency will be handling our cases?

I'm not saying you need proof for a suspicion; you can believe or suspect whatever you want.  I'm just saying in my opinion your belief is incorrect, and has no hard evidence backing it up.    

And finally, who cares?  We rooted for Bonds, McGuire, Sosa, Clemens, Manny, Ortiz, even Pete Rose (well, that's a tough one!), bec. they were all great players--pretty much all we asked  of them is to go easy on the police blotter and say nice things to children.

[Hugh2]

Sox have been well represented in the WBC, Anthony and Duran looking good.  Even Bello looked good and Whitlock has been good out of the pen. 

I know it's ST, but it's nice to see. 

[mvp 78]

55 minutes ago, jad said:

But you have to explain what stake the fed government would have in protecting a non-citizen from a scandal like this.

The feds have a stake in shielding a rich and powerful business like MLB. 

[mvp 78]

6 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

Sox have been well represented in the WBC, Anthony and Duran looking good.  Even Bello looked good and Whitlock has been good out of the pen. 

I know it's ST, but it's nice to see. 

Wow, no mention of how great Masa (WBC GOAT, how come Sox can't put him in LF) is hitting?!?!?!?

[Hugh2]

7 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Wow, no mention of how great Masa (WBC GOAT, how come Sox can't put him in LF) is hitting?!?!?!?

And Masa....what are we going to do with all these power hitters????

[jad]

Yoshi with another hit today in a game that shouldn't have been competitive, but was.  (Well, until the 8th when Czech fielding and Japanese hitting put it away).

[notin]

17 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

FWIW, while Ohtani got away with it, his interpreter was still part of it.  He either stole the money, or he made the transfers on behalf of Ohtani.  Both are crimes.  That said, I'm pretty sure his interpreter will be taken care of.

The best part of that scandal was Michael Che’s joke on SNL “Shohei Ohtani’s translator was arrested in connection with sports betting. When reached for comment, Ohtani said …. something in Japanese.”

[jad]

Y, Kanemaru!  Get that guy to Boston!

[Yaz Fan Since 67]

16 hours ago, jad said:

Federal authorities and MLB found NO evidence against Ohtani.  All evidence pointed to his interpreter.   If you are going to accuse him,  you need to state why you have more facts than the feds and MLB and what those facts (unknown to federal investigators) are.

Yeah that was my understanding as well.  I'm not sure where these comments about Ohtani are coming from, he appeared to be the victim.  

[mvp 78]

18 minutes ago, Yaz Fan Since 67 said:

Yeah that was my understanding as well.  I'm not sure where these comments about Ohtani are coming from, he appeared to be the victim.  

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