Palodios

There's really no reason to tax the guy in a dead season. Honestly, Workman should have gone out for another inning.

Vazquez has two CS tonight. You'd think they'd learn...

Betts took 3 consecutive strikes looking. Wow.

Mookie madness.

Thanks Fred. J_E is the guy who really doesn't believe in RISP. Personally, I think that power hitters are more successful with RISP only due to infield positioning. Ortiz probably loves having guys on base because teams are less likely to put the shift on him. There is also an element of nervousness. Hopefully as Bogaerts ages, his power increases, and composure increase, inevitably making him a better middle of the order bat.

When was the last time Ortiz had a 6 RBI night? Daamn.

Ortiz singlehandedly winning this game.

Are we without a game thread?

Its a joke for Fred -- he overemphasizes RISP numbers.

Vazquez with RISP : .350/.360/.500/.860. This guy is a stud.

I don't understand the dislike of interleague play. The NFL, NBA, NHL all do it, and they play fewer games against their division opponents. Are 19 games against the Rays not enough? The other factor is that less interleague play means longer west coast road trips, and more games most of us can't watch. The only real problem with interleague play is parity -- the Yankees shouldn't get 3 extra home games where they get to play a bad team, while the Red Sox are forced to play the NL East winner every year.

Shortstops get beat up because of the physically demanding position. Looking at the Reyes and Tulo contracts, I don't see him getting much lower than those guys. The other factor is that the teams who will need shortstops next year include the Dodgers, Yankees, and potentially the Tigers or Red Sox.

They're giving them the opportunity to show something during a time when the games don't mean anything. What, would you rather Kelly Johnson and Alex Hassan out there? The team appears to be trying to protect Mookie and Cecchini from major league scouts incase they need trade chips for next year.

The Yankees were willing to pay the pro-rated portion of his $15 million contract for him this year. I don't think he deserves 10-15 million, but Boras keeps finding a way. Replace "SS" with "CF" and you're talking about Ellsbury. Hanley is a 4-5 WAR player with 30/30 potential at a premium position. He's asking for 25 million, and the one-dumb-owner rule is usually a lock. Scherzer seems likely, but I doubt Lester goes to the Yankees -- despite their interest. My bet is on Shields though, he seems like the kind of player they've been targeting in free agency lately. Robertson may very well accept a QO. Teams have been overvaluing that draft for mid-tier free agents.

Here's the thing. Shorter innings doesn't mean shorter commercials. If we have 9 inning games, and commercials every half inning, would commercials every half inning get shorter? Probably not. Technically, they're only going to need to shorten the content. We would see fewer commercials if there is a limit to bullpen changes, but that might be one string of commercials per game. As far as stadium revenue, I don't think it would take a big hit either. Right now, your average fan doesn't get into the stands until the second or third inning anyway, and the average fan leaves immediately after Sweet Caroline. Cutting night games from 7-10:30 to 7-10 will mean that more fans get in the park on time, and that families and 9AMers are more likely to stick around for the whole game. It also means that stadium workers will be paid for fewer hours. Worst case scenario, beer goes from $10 a pint to $15 instead of the expected $14 hike. I think the 18 minutes was actually referring to football. With baseball, its closer to 5-6 minutes . I had proposed a 3 ball rule in another thread, which would be a far more drastic and unrealistic change. More offense, more contact, fewer pitches thrown, less nibbling.

Getting rid of interleague play is not the solution. I would bet that younger fans are actually more interested in seeing stars from other leagues -- I recently saw Kershaw pitch in Milwaukee the other day, and I'd take him over Scott Feldman every day of the week. The biggest complaint you will hear among young people is that baseball is too friggen slow.We need to see a reduction in game time from 4 hours to 2.5-3 hours. It may be possible without changing the actual rules, but it needs to happen. Pitchers should not take 60 seconds between pitches. We also need to see limitations in what kind of pitching changes a manager can make in an inning -- 3-4 pitching changes is dumb. A baseball wide bullpen-trolley rule to get BP pitchers to the mound could save an extra few minutes per game. Getting rid of the DH would help too, but I'm biased against that one. Extra commercials for "premium" games like Red Sox v. Yankees is also a huge problem that may cost the game more than it gains them. A digital strikezone would limit argued ball/strike calls, and those dumb delayed "Striiiiiiiiiike" calls that waste time. It needs to be a baseball-wide effort.

I hope we see the end of the MLB TV blackouts for sold-out games. That s*** is stupid.

Cespedes is singlehandedly proving the one-more-bat theory. Its crazy what kind of impact he has made to this lineup.

Nomar needs to have a conversation with Lester. Both were drafted early by the Sox, and both had long careers that will be defined by their time here. Nomar always seems sad when he talks about leaving the Red Sox, and seems to have so many regrets.

Webster has done very well against AAA teams in the past. Hopefully tonight is no different.

Robinson Cano makes me think differently. Just with the return of A-rod's cost, the Yankees are already going to have a higher payroll in 2015 versus 2014. They have to replace Jeter. Hanley would cost 25 a year, or Drew who will cost 10-15 a year despite his mediocrity. They have to replace Kuroda. Shields will cost 15-20 a year, or Scherzer at 25-30. Then they have to replace Robertson who will cost 10-15 a year. That's somewhere between 35-70 million a year on top of this year's salary just to replace the guys they're losing. Even if they do end up with Hanley, Scherzer, and Robertson I am not convinced they're the best team in the division, nevermind the league.

Tanaka is the difference in the futures of the two clubs. If he doesn't need TJS, the Yankees are golden, and probably charge into the playoffs. However, if he does need TJS, and they wasted all this time trying to get him through it, they'll have lost nearly a year and a half of ace-like production. They'll also go into 2015, the second time in two years without going to the playoffs, and without Derek Jeter.

Rusney Castillo and the Red Sox have been gaining a lot of heat lately. With their outfield prospect situation, it seems highly likely.

Winning 2 games against the Reds is big here. The more the Reds lose now, the more open they will be to blowing up their team and trading Leake/Latos/Cueto.

Painfully, the one-more-bat-theory may have been correct all along.