jacksonianmarch

Cash made some major errors last night. Very atypical. He took a three run lead and instead of protecting it like a nugget of gold, he let his relievers stay in longer than they should have and by the time he could take them out, he was down 3. Very weird. Usually Cash manages like every out and run is precious. That being said, Sox swung it well and took advantage of mistakes.

Sox offense flexing hard. They made this a series.

Once Wisler came in and threw his first two sliders, I knew the Rays were in trouble. It’s rather interesting to see Cash paint himself into a corner like that. Wisler is a one pitch pitcher. I’d never have him warming up alone in a tied or close playoff game. I’d have him warm with another able armed pitcher side by side and have the catcher give me the scouting report. If he doesn’t have feel for his slider, he can’t go into the game, it’s that simple. Also surprised he didn’t load the bases when JD was up by walking him. JD was his third batter and Robertson was warm. I take my chances with sacks packed and one out with a warmed Robertson vs two men on and JD at the stick with a one pitch pitcher who cannot get movement on his one pitch

Houck has two pitches. You keep him in the pen until he gains trust and capability of another big league level pitch. His two pitches are dynamite, but if a big league hitter sees them enough, they’ll adjust. So he doesn’t have the stuff to go a third time through an order. Also, if he doesn’t have his slider one day, then he’s dead meat, same goes with the location of his fastball.

And FYI, game is far from over

Sox have one pitcher and he got burned in the WC game. You won’t see what Sale can be until next year, but prior to tearing his elbow, he was not able to locate the higher velocities like he could before his shoulder issue. He seemed to be “humping it up” to get it above 94 and sacrificed location for velocity. That’s what you saw last inning, that plus an utter loss of a change up. Ultimately, velocities have risen and hitters have adjusted to the better velocity meaning that it’s less important for Sale to try and hump it up to the upper register and more important for him to locate and change speeds. This off-season will be important for Sale. He needs to add a pitch he can locate, maybe a 2 seamer to give something that runs away from righties.

I’ve said before and I’ll say again, the national rankings take into account mostly just the upper crust of a farm. They do not take into account the depth of an organization. Yanks got Gallo and Rizzo without touching their top 5. That should tell you something about the Yankee farm. I’ll tell you now and continue to tell you that I’ll take the Yanks farm over the Sox right now since the Sox farm is essentially tied entirely to the success of a recent HS draftee and Tristan Casas.

I don’t disagree and that’s one of the points I made against the deal at the deadline. The major point for was that even as a three true outcome player, he was better than most us his great defense added something we were lacking. Clearly, his career best beginning of 21 crashed down once he put on the pinstripes.

The new ball, the early injuries, and the ultimate inability to hit to situation or even run stunted this team from day 1. Their philosophy is off. Too many unathletic hitters who get hurt too easy or are just three true outcome players

Can’t disagree with this statement at all

Lot to unwind here. I needed a good long workout to get the stink of last night out of me. This was an underachieving team built as a 3 true outcome offense that can easily be shut down by good pitching. We were .500 at the ASB and barely won the season series vs one of the worst teams in history in the Orioles. We couldnt win the season series vs the sox, jays, or rays, which might be the first time in history we lost the season series to all three of those teams in one season. That being said, going on the run we did post ASB and the moves made by Cashman at the deadline reinvigorated the team and pushed them to the POs, so I cannot be entirely upset. But, we do need to shake things up. I think we keep Cashman as he has shown the ability to win trades and upgrade on the fly while building a solid farm. I think we keep Matt Blake, a guy who has turned plenty an underachieving pitcher into a solid performer. And that is about it. The rest can go as far as I am concerned. Boone, Thames, Nevin, everyone else. Take the trainer too. Boone's managerial style does not work with this crew. He is the positive reinforcement, everyone is my buddy manager that continually gets less out of his team than is expected. While I don't think a true disciplinarian is needed, a guy who will preach accountability and also hold players to it would be best. On the personnel front, we continue to have the same issues. Too many starters on the IL. Lemahieu, Hicks, Frazier, Voit. All 4 were in the opening day lineup, all 4 on the IL for the WC game. Lemahieu's issue is easily fixed and his history as an iron man puts him more in the likelihood of a solid rebound candidate for 2022. The others cannot be counted on out of the gate without having a true starting caliber backup. So, here goes Catcher: It is time for Gary Sanchez to go. He will likely top $10 mil in arb and he just isnt worth it. His defense is atrocious, his game calling sucks and his hitting can be counted on for one month of the year. Time to deal him off or cut him entirely. I do not think this team needs to have an offense first catcher. With our pitching staff, we need guys who can call games and play defense. I think Higgy is the perfect person to be the RH platoon for the position in 2022. The other guy I would want is Tucker Barnhart. He's a lefty hitting catcher known for his defense. Not much pop, K's a lot, who cares. Save some cash, sign the guy and platoon the two First Base: You cannot go into 2022 with Luke Voit as your starting 1b. He had meniscus surgery, then had swelling in the knee they called a bone bruise, then went on the 60 day a week ago after running to 1b. The guy has an arthritic condition in the knee. I look to deal him to a team with an open DH spot. I actually think the 2022 1b may be DJ Lemahieu. DJ will come off his core surgery and return like gangbusters. Calling it now, he will be the comeback player of the year. DJ has been billed as having a "groin injury" as early as ST and he clearly wasn't right all year. Surgery is curative. Second Base Gleyber Torres stays at 2b. He was moved to 2b off SS the final 6 weeks of 2021 and he responded offensively with an OPS over .800. He starts 2022 as a 2b and we don't move him around. He is too good yet too emotionally fragile to handle the Yankee SS position Short Stop Corey Seager. There has never been a more obvious fit for a need than this guy. Lefty, power, OBP, average and has a playoff pedigree. He will cost a lot, but the Yanks have the money Third Base Kyle Seager. Crazy, bring the two brothers together. There are a few reasons why I like this. The guy plays a mean 3b. The guy has lefty power and moving from Seattle to NY can only help. He will also come cheap and can be platooned with Urshela. This has the sounds of a Brosius type move to me. Outfield to come

Strange end to a strange year. Started off with no fans, light baseballs, spider tack and pitchers having the advantage. Never saw the offensive bump other teams did, continued to pitch well. Team was managed horribly and coached terribly on the offensive side. Cannot complain about the defense after Torres moved off SS or the pitching coaching, just the managerial moves in game. If this rids us of Boone then it’s a successful year. Boone is the king of getting less out of his team than what they’re capable of and folding when the pressure is the greatest. If it wasn’t for the Twins, A’s, and Guardians, we’d have been eliminated first chance we got since he got here. We own those three teams in post season historically and they gave us a bit of a boost until we faced off with the real clubs. I also think a possible change at the very top is needed. Yanks are built as an all or nothing offense then went out and got the most all or nothing player in the game to further shift us in that way. Time for a new voice, a new leader, and a new architect

Enjoy the win. With the loss, at least my team should be cured of their Boone curse

Green??!? You go peralta all day long here

Nobody warming???

I’m at the game. Cole should have gotten pulled in the second. Clearly had nothing. You also cannot leave Sevy in vs Verdugo there. Called both with my friend. Yanks aren’t hitting, so kudos to the Sox, but Boone again isn’t responding

Depends on what they find. If it is just a clean up procedure, he should be 100%. If they need to repair the labrum, then it will likely sap some speed

They wouldn't have dealt him for nothing if they thought he was any good. Info on him from the time he was drafted was that he was a reliever in waiting. Yanks spent 2019 trying to get him to start. He failed. My bet is, if he stayed in the Yankee system, he would have been a pen arm

Mookie was hurt this year, played through it and will likely need offseason surgery. An injured guy who can put up 4 WAR is pretty valuable

Yanks figured out in 2019 that Frank German wasn't starter material. The fact that the sox keep trying him in the rotation is why he sucks. He's got enormous potential, it just will be in the pen

Like I said, we need to get Eovaldi out early.

51-31 first three months. 41-39 last 3 months. But yes, I was wrong. I think every non sox fan under the sun picked the sox to finish under or at .500

I nailed the pen and that they would get worse and worse. I did not nail that they would start out the year like gangbusters

Two divergent paths here. For the Sox, they need to hope the offense gets to Cole early and that Eovaldi lasts late. For the Yanks, they need to try to tie or lead by the time Eovaldi leaves. No need to try to blow the sox out early, use the pen difference to your advantage. Getting Eovaldi out early will increase the chances of winning

Stanton has been nails in September and when he gets hot, he carries a team. He also murders Fenway for his career. I'd have him higher than anyone on the Yanks for Tuesday's game. For Cole, it really all depends on if he is fully healed. If he is, awesome, roll out there. If he isnt then use the pen to your advantage and get a few innings of high octane cheese out of him. I would tell every pitcher on the team that, if you are given the ball, leave it all out there every pitch. Do not pitch for tomorrow. If you start and only give 3, then give us the best three you can give.