sk7326

If only we had pooped home field advantage away as well as the Blue Jays did!

Ooh, funny - though the strawmen are strong here: 1. Lineup doesn't matter - nobody said that, but that the differences are small, and from a player psychology perspective, some guys care and some don't - and you try to accomodate the former and hopefully have enough of the latter to make it possible. Getting the right players on the field trumps exactly where they hit. You don't want Betts batting 9th, but within reason it's not a big deal. 2. Home field doesn't matter - It does help, but historically it has not been some sort of iron lock the way it is in the NBA. (or the NFL if they did best of 7s) Occasionally you get a team to sweep home games in the postseason (like the 2004 Red Sox), but it is extremely rare. Instead, teams win some, teams lose some. We know World Series teams have won exactly half of the Game 7s since 1946. Home teams lost the first five games of the 1996 World Series and went 1-4 in the 1986 World Series. What sucks is that this is baseball - good teams have 2-3 or 0-3 stretches all the time, usually against weaker competition than the playoffs. You build a team for the ballpark - but even then the results are still not much more than 6 out of 10, which is awesome, but can be scuttled in a short series very easily. After all, Toronto cut through a home field disadvantage with almost no difficulty. 3. Managers matter - and using the bullpen is the one tactical thing which does have value. At the same time, the players still have to perform. But in general, most of a manager's work does not happen during those 2.5 to 3.5 (or in the case of Sox-Yankees, 5.5) hours they are sitting in the dugout.

40 is too young to be in the same job until you die - the relationship with the superiors was not amazing, and perhaps he just wanted to do something else

Farrell had a pretty good read on his guys most of the season - they played hard for him. He ran the bullpen reasonably effectively - sometimes the pitchers sucked, but it was rare where I thought Farrell had the wrong guy out there for the specific job.

Given how much the Red Sox were beaten up between the 19-8 game, and the Ortiz game before that (and the washout which got rid of any day off) ... they were seriously running out of better ideas.

The 2013 team was better. Better starters, better bullpen and a lineup only slightly worse. They were the league's best team basically every day of the season. The 2016 team didn't achieve that magic because the pitching was garbage for about half the season. And then when that got fixed the team took off. This year's end was annoying - but this year represents nothing but progress. Was Ortiz pressing? Maybe in the playoff series - but the Guardians pitched well throughout, and Francona managed the bullpen very aggressively (like a guy who was an underdog). It happens. Ortiz has had rough series too - just not a lot of them.

There were some lucky balls - but he was also missing locations badly and leaving the ball high. The command was leaving him. The exact same thing happened in Game 5 of the Oakland series - the Sox wiggled out of that ... Grady also had history to look at it and forgot

I agree with the numbers - in a one game season you have to take every percentage point available - this was a pretty easy decision compared to other ones.

Given the rate of salary inflation (read: the industry is swimming in cash) and his durability - there is almost no chance this will truly be an albatross. Heck, it's effectively a three year deal. Any FA deal is buying decline for the most part.

Hoo boy. The team lost because it got two rotten starts when they needed zero. That's it. (and yes, I know they scored 0 runs in one of the games) This team won 93 games, won 11 in a row during their most crucial stretch of the season and lapped the field on offense with a core which is (mostly) not even 27 yet. Papi had his best season during this tour, so he was clearly distracted.

I think the Game 5 experience vs Oakland should have been the alarm

Williamson had settled in as the closer at this point too

It was a terrific season. Farrell did fine - considering the Sox game plan was built around their top 2 starters at least being durable - not a lot you can do. It's a good experience for the kids. I am bummed though - only natural.

I did not have the time to read the full original post - but if you want to break down some of the activities of the offseason which are - if not realistic at least plausible. 1. Get some stability at 3B. I am not actually sure we should bail on Shaw - or for that matter Sandoval. If either of them are the team's 8th best position player, that is not shabby at all. Perhaps see if you can bring Aaron Hill back on short money as a right handed caddy (I am of course assuming this past year was a fluke as midseason trades often are). Either way, whether you are a believer in Moncada or Devers - this is not a position which will get a huge FA commitment 2. DH - Encarnacion will require a big commitment, although his power is pretty special. But if they wanted to go after a more "pretty good" sort of alternative like say Carlos Beltran, it would make sense as well. Another option could be Ian Desmond. Desmond's ability to fake multiple positions can be useful here as well. 3. Getting relievers with stuff is always an idea. 4. The Sox have prospects - the Sox have young big league studs. I do not expect the Sox to land a stud starter via trade (because that is not the sort of thing you should expect anyway). But there are packages which could work for a really good starter - and we know Dombrowski has the license to go there.

You can probably describe a lot of three outcome hitters that way (and yes, I know Bradley does not have Mike Napoli power). The fact is a .317 OBP with good defense is a reasonable starter - not a great one, but a perfectly acceptable one. Have that plus 30 games where he is much more than that and that is what Bradley is - a darn good CF.

And as noted before, with Grady it was the 2nd TIME THAT POSTSEASON he tried to ride Pedro much too far.

You can never blame a loss on a manager - since Ubaldo could have gotten him out. But this was a one game season - and instead of managing to get him a save, you need to take the best reliever in the league (if you believe he is) and deploy him to keep the game going. Nobody would have blamed him for burning Britton for the 9th and 10th and then seeing what happens. This was not an ordinary time. Showalter's decision uncontroversially lowered their probability of escaping that situation. In terms of doing his job, Showalter blew it.

Given how high his hands are to begin with it sometimes feels like it takes him a bit to load ... it's nothing that just sticking with it cannot fix some - but obviously time is not on our side here.

They won 89 games and were not eliminated until the final weekend in a season where Ellsbury, Pedroia and Yook (the latter only two of the ten best offensive players in the league at that point) all had season ending injuries. They played 53 players and had to give important at-bats to Darnell McDonald, Daniel Nava and Bill Hall. Adrian Beltre was damn near MVP but the team was the walking wounded all season.

i suspect his acknowledging him made that $500 guy's day

This team did not build its run total up just feasting on 4s and 5s. They have hit good pitching too this year. I wish we had won Game 1, but I am not worried. (or any more worried than any short series would make me)

I am always amused that he could "lose the clubhouse" the year after his best managing job. I think things might have run their course anyway - but he is the best manager in the league, given what the job description is (to me) in 2016.

Like when he sat on his hands and never brought Keith Foulke in before the 9th inning during that postseason. Or how he never brought Papelbon in for 6 out saves.

The story of the game was Porcello not being sharp at all - even early when he struck the side out, he was leaving everything high. Cleveland made him pay. Francona saw a chance to steal a game he was not expecting and he maneuvered the bullpen accordingly. He pulled Bauer before the Sox big bats could get a third look at him, used his best reliever in a vulnerable part of the game (as opposed to a garden variety "middle reliever") and called on his closer for a 5 out save. He is betting on Kluber to hold up his end of the deal. Quietly ironic the Red Sox development people who saved Miller's career helped create this monster. For the Sox, it's one game closer to elimination - but really no big worries - just have to get it done.

It makes things urgent. I think last night once Porcello spit the bit, Guardians saw a chance to steal a game and they did. If Boston wins tonight (totally reasonable possibility) - series is tied and can close out at Fenway. Things always change very quickly and dramatically.