sk7326

Collins bullpen deployment was dreadful all series. Using Familia in a 6 run game for mop up, then the next night bringing him for a 5 out save, and then not using him in the situation where he was most successful. That was Grady-esque. Considering I have seen the Red Sox - down 3-2 in consecutive years come basically 5 outs away from winning 4 straight do or die games in Yankee stadium (with a one legged pitcher and John Burkett's entrails, and a guy on 2 days rest as 3 of the 4 starters) - the hypothesizing about the Mets in KC is foolish.

It's a lot worse than that - apparently Shapiro said he strongly disagreed with some of Anthopolous' deadline deals. The deals which got them 2 wins from the pennant. This sure feels like Rogers is going to cheap out after building a team that can contend next year with just a couple of moves.

BTW: The Anthoopolous business is a major major cluster for Toronto

No - because the conditions are known. It's one thing to enter a gig with your eyes open - it is another thing to have the gig you have change.

It's a treatable illness.

I am curious now with the Toronto job open whether he gets a call - who knows what direction Shapiro will take that.

It is. Shows that at the end of the day, these are jobs. Your old boss gets replaced, that might be enough to change gigs - especially if you are in demand.

As I've noted - not a centerpiece of a deal but a valuable one. Good, cheap help is hard to find. His risk is actually quite low - as is his ceiling. He can get on base, the bat is streaky and the glove is breathtaking.

Small samples - he also recorded his only big league save in the toughest spot of his life. Let's not lapse in clutchy mcclutcherson arguments. His stuff can sustain for the contract mostly. He'll get paid very well by somebody and be worth it - mostly.

Bradley wouldn't - although he should be the first guy they offer for anybody. There is power in telling somebody "I have a solid starting CF who will cost you $1.5M for the next three years". That has real value. But I think the Mets would want Betts - as well they should.

Technically Hoyer and Cherington did the Beckett thing

Hard thing with dealing Harvey is that Betts and/or Bogaerts almost has to be in the deal because the Mets are built to contend, and it'd be hard for Alderson to make a deal that will hurt the major league club in the short run. If this were a true sell-off then something like Devers (if you are a believer to the extent that a lot of the industry is) and another guy might be sufficient. But the Mets are going to want major league return. You could argue the same for Cleveland although there are more financial constraints there, but that roster looks promising - that team when Lindor got settled in started to look very good. Both of those teams will want some major league return in a big deal.

Well that and hitting a homerun in 6 straight games

There will be fewer - and likely better openings than Seattle. (which has that combination of poor farm and ownership who does not want to tear down)

There are openings every year. There will be an opening in Minnesota coming up for instance, and perhaps even Toronto (although that sure seems less likely). Seriously, you think that the Seattle and Anaheim positions are obvious plums, the same as Boston's in terms of plusses?

Seattle is a very shaky job. And besides a lot of these jobs involves interviewing owners - what are their priorities and what are they looking for? Gigs differ greatly. Philadelphia would have been a good fit - Cherington and McPhail would have made a lot of sense together.

They have the money to make a strong move ... plus the market provides a strong financial incentive ... the wins pay off in a way they don't in say Tampa Bay. The Porcello extension is fine. It's not wholesale - and clearly he did not pitch well for 3/4 of the season - but that is the going rate for a pitcher of his relative merit (on the high side granted), who is young enough to project some modest improvement. The path to him being worth the contract is not difficult - and they are not locked into any physical decline. The Panda contract was the diciest of the three because I just don't think he's that good. I know why you give him a big deal - they had literally nobody at 3B, he is 29 so there was some projection if you squinted hard enough, and Fenway was tailor made for his Wade Boggs-esque spray chart. But those were opinions I did not share. Ramirez I thought made sense as a 3B, and less so as a LF (although his impossibly bad fielding at LF was not something a reasonable person could have anticipated given the long history of potted plants, cinder blocks and guys named Kevin Mitchell who have patrolled it adequately). But he was brought in to hit, and that he did not hit was surprising. If that part gets fixed, the fielding sins are tolerable - I am going to assume a return to the infield will help him rise up to "non Vine-worthy". The Red Sox will undoubtedly try to move him - and the market for Ramirez might not be as barren as it looks (especially if the Red Sox are just trying to deal him, return be damned) because the contract is not that long and his non-hitting reads "injury-driven fluke" for now.

The youngsters to me was less of an issue than assuming recurrences of a couple of seriously lucky breaks (the amazing production from the corners). I'd have sincerely preferred trading for a Justin Upton over clicking your heels and hoping Mike Carp, Daniel Nava and Victorino could spit out that level of work again.

I don't know - the evidence was strong and betting on games has always been the most sacrosanct of the things to not do. If anything the evidence that Rose did it is worse now than it was in the Dowd report.

The critics have a point given the number of last place finishes. That said, there is definitely a strain of fandom which preferred 2011 to 2013 - since complaining about not winning is something which many have lots of experience with. This team is certainly not thinking of rebuilding - with the outlook of the position players, that would be batty. Essentially the Sox will go into the 2015/6 offseason in the same place the Cubbies did - bursting with position talent, light-ish on pitching. There is no lucky break like saving Arrieta's career alas, but then they had nobody approximating ERod's promise.

I think he actually made bigger mistakes - or for that matter, actual mistakes - in the 2013/4 offseason.

You are right - it won't happen. What is funny is that the hypothesis of letting Ellsbury go has been more or less ok. He was solid last year - but this year we got "injured and sucky" Ellsbury. In other words, welcome to his whole career.

No depth at all. The weird thing was how they did not adjust at all even though clearly DeGrom did not have good fastball command and was throwing his breaking ball more when he needed a strike. But no adjustments.

Baseball in the US - baseball in latin america has much much more flare

And Ian Desmond too. And Denard Span will be on the market too. Between Trea Turner, Michael Taylor, Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez (who might be more of a swingman/releiver), they have a lot of help on the way. They are going to be contenders next year with any sort of decent manager. (and the candidates that have been mentioned, Bud Black, Alex Cora, perhaps Torey Lovullo, would qualify)