Elktonnick
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Everything posted by Elktonnick
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The new breed of data driven baseball executives are becoming increasingly more skeptical of long term contracts especially those where the ballplayer will be older than 35 in the latter years of the deal. The game is changing in many ways more dramatically and rapidly than most players, agents and club executives had anticipated.
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Anyone agreeing in 2018 to pay a ballplayer who will be 37 years old in 6 years nearly 30 million in that 6th year is fiscally irresponsible.
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I hope he does change his approach toward hitting. I get the biggest kick out of everyone talking about launch angle. That is nothing more than the swing that Ted Williams taught. I am old enough to remember the big argument that Williams had with Charlie Lau and Walt Hriniak style back in the day. Because of his wrist injury, Bogaerts adopted the classic Charlie Lau Walt Hriniak swing that Rich Gedman became noted for at the end of his career.
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I think it is more likely than not. JD is already 30 years old. How healthy will he be at 36 and 37? That's why teams are shying away from a 7 year deal. If he were 28 maybe but not at 30 going on 31.
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I think if Martinez is signed the Sox will have to move HR. He simply won't get enough ABs to vest. Keeping him would give Cora a ticking time bomb in the clubhouse. For these reasons, I have come to the conclusion DD has made his stand on Martinez. JD either signs at DD's price or the Red Sox are prepared to go into the year with what they have got. I believe DD's thinking is that the Sox will contend with this team plus a few minor adjustments. The thinking probably is that the Sox can always make a major acquisition in July as next year's free agent post season approaches when the really big fish will be in play. If Sox play as well as they should, additional bats should be available to help with any possible post season run. Keeping his powder dry now means the Sox will have the flexibility to make any needed moves later.
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I think that is obvious.
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Actually this FA market is pretty bereft of any position player that would help other than in a support role. I think DD is going to play this hand out all the way. He may opt to try to make a trade but only once the Martinez free agency question is resolved one way or another.
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I think time is now on DD side. There is no movement on any FAs. Martinez's camp is now faced with the fact that spring training is fast approaching. If he doesn't get a multi year deal this year. next off season the FA market for big bats is going to get a lot more crowded. Patience is a virtue here.
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The problem with Bogaerts is assuming he bounces back from the wrist injury (and that's a pretty big assumption) he historically fades in the second half of the season. If the Sox are to get past the first round of the playoffs they'll need Bogey to play better later in the year than he has done in the past.
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A Canadian diplomat once told me that the Canadian Foreign Ministry advised it citizens abroad to act as "Canadian as possible under the circumstances!" I think that says it all. For the record I love Canada. I will never forget how Canadian diplomats hid our people during the Iran hostage crisis. Besides how can anyone criticize a country that produced Bobby Orr.
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I agree. There are bad agents just as there are bad ballplayers. If, however, you look at what Scott Boras has accomplished it is quite impressive. BTW he has set up a foundation as well.
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Some of the most slimey people have set up foundations too. Setting up a foundation is easy, actually funding it and not using it as a tax dodge is quite another. You'd be surprised at the administrative overhead at a number of foundations. Agents preform a service which is why they exist. To say agents just cash checks and screw kids is just a wild exaggeration and not reflective of reality.
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May be but Castro is a tenuous ball player. I don't know if those players have his spark and leadership skills. In any case, I expect the Yanks and Sox will be battling for ALE supremacy until the end of September. I just don't see anyone else in the division being a factor.
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I will never believe that Peter Angelos will permit Manny Machado to play for the Boston Red Sox this year. That being said, I don't think the Yankees as currently constructed are any better than the Boston Red Sox. Both project to be 90+ win teams. The rest of the ALE is substantially weaker. Arguably the Bombers may be better constructed once the playoffs begin but given the age and the past injury record of some their key players I just can't see them having a cake walk to the ALE title. Don't be blinded by the Yankees signing of Stanton. They gave up Castro to get him. While Stanton may be a far better player than Castro, the latter's spark, defense and 16 home runs will be missed in the infield by the Bombers. As currently constructed the Yankees have defensive issues. In my view they need Machado probably as much as Boston, but neither will get him.
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All I am saying is that professional sports players are percentagely just as slimy as the agent-attorney profession. Truth be told once every one gets the stars out of their eyes that professional athletes are no better than the agents who represent them if not worse.
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Come on successful pro athletes have to be every bit as conniving as any agent or attorney in the context of the game. Had you forgotten about the Red Sox "signgate" this past summer or juiced bats or illegal substances on pitcher's caps or the entire steroid era.
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The point is that agents are no more prone to "slimeyness" by reason of their profession than ballplayers. I confess many of the professional athletes that I have known personally and that I have had to deal with professionally weren't very reputable types whereas I have had a more positive experience with attorneys.
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Look at the number of ballpalyers who make the news because of their brushes with the law and compare that with the number of agents with police involvement.
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They as a group are no more or less slimey than the players.
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So are the players.
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touche
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I certainly agree that this club even without adding JD Martinez will be favored to make the post season. If they do add Martinez, however, they will need to trade someone. Either Bradley or Hanley Ramirez are the two most likely possibilities. Ramirez poses a particularly sticky problem for Alez Cora if they do sign Martinez. Ramirez needs 499 plate appearances next year for his option to become effective. Unless the Sox make room for Martinez by trading someone it is virtually impossible for Hanley to get the needed number of plate appearances. The prospect of Cora having to deal with a discontented Ramirez wouldn't be very appealing. If Martinez is signed look for someone to get dealt. My choice would be Hanley but that won't be easy.
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What exactly does Boras stand for?
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Actually that was a pretty lame accusation based on pretty thin grounds considering that the author presented no evidence that Boras's clients were unaware of any possible conflict or that Boras had failed to produce a waiver. BTW since the article was written how many complaints against either Boras or any other baseball attorney agent for alleged conflict of interest? How many complaints against agent representing athletes in other professional sports? The article has seemed to have been stunningly unsuccessful at inhibiting Boras' ability to attract new clients.
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A wise man once said that if you enjoy what you do for a living, you'll never work a day in your life.