Keep Manny. First of all, the Angels never make that deal. Second of all, they aren't worth it. You have to keep the dynamic duo together, and Manny is what makes it tick. There are 10, only 10, players in the history of baseball (with enough PA to qualify) with an OPS over 1.000. Manny is one of them.
I was OK with Beckett when it was dominate, dominate, dominate, shelled, dominate. I can stomach a 4.75+ ERA when that is what's going on. Now it's 2-3 bombs, 4-5 runs, in 6-7 innings just about every time out. I don't like it.
I don't agree there, well at least not in terms of average. He's about an average fielder, so I'd call the balance sheet equal. Although, he's been costly the last two games.
No, there's no time for their announcers to do that. They are too busy telling everyone how great Kazmir is (even when he isn't pitching) or complaining about how Crawford didn't make the ASG. Seriously, they don't talk about anything else.
I agree. There's no stressing over what hasn't happened, and it doesn't stress me in the least. That said, his control is an issue, and I think it's a bit fanboyish when people are extremely dismissive of it.
Don't get me wrong. I'm very impressed with Lester. He's got 3 very good looking pitches and he mixes them up well for a 22 y/o. Even more important, and more impressive for his age, is the kid has some serious juevos grandes. He just doesn't get rattled by the situation. The only time he's been upset is when he's cursing himself for a bad pitch.
I have no doubt that he'll improve over time, but right now he's a crooked number waiting to happen. Not in the Clement way where he just gets bombed, but in the way that he puts so many people on base, and at some point, one of those hard hit balls in the gap (which aren't frequent) will come after he's walked the bases loaded.
Where did I compare him to Chacon? I didn't. Take off the rose shaded glasses. He's going to get bombed if he keeps putting 2 on per inning. All it takes is one of those GB being in the hole instead of right at a fielder for the DP. It's only a matter of time.
What's encouraging is that not many hitters are hitting the ball hard. His stuff is very good, but where he throws it sucks about 50% of the time right now.
He's f***ing Houdini. Chacon was pulling this same highwire act earlier this year, it didn't last. He can't keep this up and keep his ERA as low as it has been.