ORS

Chucky McFastball is getting worked.

How 'bout some outs there, Ace?

At some point, it always does, or it wouldn't be a "law". The reason I'm adamant about this point, is that there have been quite a few studies of "clutch" hitting. They've found that, over the course of a career, a player's stats in the given clutch categories (RISP, Close and Late, Runners on, etc) vary wildly from year to year, and taken in aggregate are very close to the player's career stats.

And that's why you are stupid. They don't find anything. They play the game and they either win or they lose. Sometimes, good fortune is on their side. A .270 hitter has a 27% probability of getting a hit when he's up. When, as a team, you get more hits in situations advantageous to scoring runs than in other situations, then fortune is on your side. People don't find extra talent, and a .270 hitter has the talent of a .270 hitter. Now quick, say something cliche about chemistry.

Das, no offense, but you are bit of a mental midget about these things. http://www.talksox.com/forum/336594-post8.html

Lucky clustering ****s. I've never seen a team who can group all their hits in the same inning like this year's Angels.

Izturis needs a mirror. You know, just to remind him who he is. Guy is a doubles machine against us.

Nobody named Maggadon works for the Red Sox.

The deuce looks hot tonight.

Nothing. The meat of who can help the Sox now is off the market. Like you said, they are unlikely to improve in the short-term. If you claim him, they recall him.

Now you are talking about regular waivers. Irrevocable waivers, what he was placed on in the '03 offseason, is when the team can't recall him if someone claims him. Irrevocable = can't revoke. This is not what they refer to when they talk about waivers and trades after the deadline.

I think the Teixiera deal made tons of sense for both sides, and both sides benefitted. In a vaccum, there's no way Kotchman gets traded for Teixiera, but the mitigating circumstances change the calculus. EDIT: Do I think they could have received more in return? Not when the receiving team would only get 2 months service out of the acquisition. The reports now are that Manny will only waive his 10/5 rights if the team he goes to guarantees they won't pick up his option, making him a 2 month rental with having to deal with Boras on the free-agent market looming. Not surprisingly, the interest in him is low.

Oh, and I'll laugh my ass off if he ends up signing for say, 3 yrs / $39M. One less than if he just shut his mouth, showed up, played hard, and played nice.

I think his offers, when you consider age, attitude, the trend in his numbers, and the position he ought to be playing (DH), will be in the $11-13M range. The Big Hurt finished 4th in MVP voting in Oakland when they took a flier on him for less than $1M. The next year his big offer was from Toronto for $5.5M. This was when he was only a couple years older than Manny. Now, Manny will have less concern about season ending injury than Thomas did, and he can still go out there and field a position (he just happens to be the worst in the league at it), so those things should bring his value up from where Thomas signed. Remember, though, this is the same Boras who said offers for Damon would start at 7 years / $84M.

I love that this is an element of your position because it gives us insight your analytical abilities, or lack thereof. It's not just a cut and dried, "Who's career numbers are better?" case. Therefore, I'm left with a choice of two conclusions. One, you actually do think it is only about the bottom line on the back of the baseball card. Which, if that's the case, demonstrates what a great fool you are. Two, you know there's more to it. Which, if that's the case, demonstrates how full of dung you are. Neither conclusion makes me, or anyone else here, inclined to take you seriously. This is a 2-month rental. That's it. No club options. The Braves traded away 2 compensatory draft picks and 2 months of Mark Teixeira for Casey Kotchman. Kotchman is a former 1st round draft pick himself, who flew through the minor league system, made it to the bigs by the time he was 21, and has already established himself as a slightly above average MLB hitter by the age of 25. He hasn't even hit his prime yet. Will he ever be a star? Not likely, but he's a safe bet. They traded the risk of those picks busting for a guy they know can contribute for at least the next 3 years while he's under their control. They did not trade away 4 compensatory draft picks and 8 months of Nady/Marte for 4 guys who look destined for an MLB bench at best. Comparing the two as similar, is, like I said, comletely stupid, or completely disingenuous. In the past, I would have leaned toward the latter as it at least credits you with some degree of thought process, but now I'm inclined to think it's the former.

Why not? He's been more productive than Manny with the bat over the last 1.5 seasons. Despite playing in the Philly bandbox he's got no career home/road split. Yeah, he's a pretty poor defensive LF, but there's only one MLB LF'er who's worse. I'll give you one guess who that is.

And he K's. The genius of Girardi is like the light from the sun. If you look straight at it, it could blind you.

Wilson's hitting? I thought this was the situation they got The Big Sexy for?

I do too, and I like our chances with Kemp as much as I do with Manny. Over the course of 108 games, he trails Manny by 0.5 wins by WARP1. And he's doing it in other ways, such as on the basepaths and with his glove, that I think have increased value in the postseason. Doesn't matter anyway. From the sound of things, the Dodgers aren't going to trade him.

Blowing it up is a bit much. All the components of the team have above average talent, but have suffered from inconsistency. The thing they have yet to do this year is really click together at the same time for a decent stretch, like they did last year. It seems like when the starters are going well, the BP lets them down, or when both do well, the bats hide. At the same time, they are still kind of relearning roles out in the BP. Okajima and MDC appear to finally be settling in. Hansen has been identified as garbage. Masterson looks capable. Will it all click? Don't know, but I'll tune in to find out, because if it does, I like their chances, and not just for the playoffs, but for the whole shebang.