sk7326

"It seemed like" ... and also given the information one had on Victorino (age, recent performance, platoon splits), committing 3/39 to him was a shaky idea. He has been terrific in a way that vindicates the signing - but one that was pretty unlikely to take place given the dossier.

Victorino was a bad signing at the time - age, declining performance in Philly, lot of reasons to be skeptical ... but he has been terrific here and Farrell has used him well. He still should decline in the next 2 years but he probably will do enough in 2 years to justify the contract. Victorino by war has probably given the Sox $35M worth of value (Boston's $$/WAR is higher than most) ... although you have to offset it with what the Red Sox would ACTUALLY replace him with, not the normal "replacement player" benchmark.

He deserves some blame - although considering ownership concerns about NESN ratings and buzz ... one wonders how much of the "sign the top free agents of each class" strategy was driven by the baseball operation. Ownership basically decided to fix something that wasn't broken because the team was not sexy enough. Fortunately 2012 was enough of a disaster that they seem to be going back to the 2004-6 playbook, which clearly is an improvement. The trade helped organize their books - and certainly some wallets. And the guys who have been their stalwarts are back to being stalwarts - uninjured stalwarts.

This is true - although in a more long run sense. Rebuilding seasons are ok - as long as the plan is clear and the purpose is there. Theo in Chicago has had a couple of rough seasons - but the team was barren in the farm and bloated in the big league club. Moves so far have been turning Paul Maholm, Matt Garza, trading guys who were not going to be part of the next decent Cubs team - particularly good hauls for both. I severely doubt that the ND receiver gets much - still an average big league starter. Not like he is going to help a contender the way Garza projected to. Running stuff in Boston is a tough gig. On some level, ownership sees the Red Sox as a TV channel and Tourist attraction that fields a baseball team. There are always those sorts of pressures from both the fans and the front office. A baseball operation sacrificing sexy moves for good baseball decisions is tougher here at times. Certainly in 2011-12 the team's management succumbed to those temptations - after the best decade in modern Red Sox history. How would I rate the FO - can this team churn out 90 win seasons every year (assuming normal injury luck) ... can't really use "titles" as a criteria - since a FO can't control that? We are close to being there again. In some ways, the minors is like college basketball. You can have an amazing group of dudes, some of them graduate via trade or promotion - and then your system is bare except for guys in short season ball, if that. Cherington's team - and to be fair the final vestiges of Epstein drafts - have been able to restock the system with both guys who could help us, as well as help land veteran help. For Boston in particular, it is the ability to augment the financial advantages with the prospect inventory so that the Red Sox can fill virtually any hole on the big league roster. We are more or less there now. What I have seen good from Cherington so far is that he is not going to just sit on prospect depth - moving Iglesias for Peavy was a smart move which required some proactiveness. What I have seen bad is that he has done this to acquire "proven closers" - P U. Next offseason will be fascinating - because the Sox will have the money and the prospect depth to makeover the team as radically (knock on Seattle and King Felix' door) or as conservatively as they want (give Nava some platoon help, add some bullpen help). They have more pieces than they have had in quite some time.

The approach has been a problem - yeah at his age it is time to make a contribution. I am not sure if he will start, or if he can be a credible righty caddy for a Nava - I'd settle for the latter.

Like most lineup things - I imagine long run it doesn't matter. But for the playoffs - we stop caring about that sort of thing. It does help I think to take a platoon advantage off the table. Forces you to use good pitchers. Fortunately the Red Sox bullpen has been fairly solid against either. No classic matchup lefty like Coke or Boone Logan (Breslow is not extreme delivery-wise) but Breslow, Tazawa, Uehara are pretty good against whomever.

More like arguing the odds vs how a single game (and all the noise that comes with any data point). Holding over Uehara to a point where he might not have impacted an important game of bullpens is low percentage. Would I concede that Breslow against a lefty is a fair reason to let Uehara sit until it gets hairy? That is a fair argument. But playing the percentages here - in a tie game in the 9th (10th, 11th whatever), what is your first job - to not lose and to keep the game going? Who is best equipped to keep the game going? Your best pitcher. Means you have to figure out a way to negotiate the part after we take the lead - but that's a good problem to have. The bad problem is the one where the other team is piling up on the plate while your best pitcher is ready in the bullpen. Tonight was overcoming adversity - some of our own creation. It's a hell of a team.

Well, depends on the game - but yes. If you can't get revved up about tonight or that Rangers-Cardinals Game 6 (or the David Ortiz moment of glory in the 2004 ALCS) ... as Louie Armstrong noted, "if they don't know, you can't teach em"

The team has terrific spirit - survived a lot of adversity - a lot of it self inflicted. But it's Sox-Yankees. Getting close to tracking magic number time.

Because the Red Sox were lucky enough to have Soriano run into an out - that life turned out as it should have? I am amazed you are arguing to use inferior pitchers for a more important situation. Uehara did the setup job earlier this year quite well - there is no magic in the 9th and the score - just baseball. Farrell has some weird habits at times - treating Uehara like he is good at his job is not one of them.

Feel on splitter off with Overbay ...

It is not a bad idea - you have to be ready to swing or do something ... he is around the plate so much.

And Tazawa works harder to get hitters out than Uehara - this is not really a relevant comparison. I worry about Uehara's durability too - but it's not a back-to-back situation and Uehara barely broke a sweat the last time out. This is a moot point now in this game ... but the games are more important now right? Nothing wrong with treating them like they are when you have an opportunity (12 pitches in 3 days is an opportunity).

Great break for Victorino - he probably swung at that - way to take advantage.

Of course you can - he's the 9th inning guy - it's the 9th inning. This is what the Yankees have done with Rivera throughout history. It becomes an issue in the 10th or 11th ... not like Koji is not pitch efficient. It's like that game in San Francisco where Farrell let Uehara on the vine for some random flotsam. This is a guy coming off of a day off who threw 12 pitches the night before. He hasn't been overworked. At that point I don't want to lose the game in regulation because I wanted to wait for an A+ situation to use my best guy (as opposed to an A- one).

Should have been picked off twice - lucked out once.

Nava looked bad, but that was on Breslow - any sort of decent throw gets him. Nava was handcuffed enough that even if he caught it not enough time to make the throw. Baserunning taketh away though.

Breslow going a 2nd inning is ok here - although Koji is not a delicate flower here or a faberge egg. Funny what a radical thought putting Koji in was. And yes, Koji getting loose here is a good idea ... no need to dick around if we need a big out. Breslow can make this a lot simpler with Granderson tho.

Don't want to lose this game without your best pen guy having a say in the outcome. Took some stones to snatch this game from defeat, would like to give it the best whirl here. (and to get a gratuitous Dave Roberts highlight on the MLB.TV feed, which is never a bad thing)

Koji all the way - had the day's rest - did not have to burn him in the 8th. Meat of the order coming up.

Berry should find a position on the postseason roster - at least take one of the injury replacement slots we have

There we go!

Nap just missed that ... at least game is still alive

Taz left some hangers clearly ... some regression due from the bullpen last week or so I guess.

hung a splitter ... oh well, time to try to win this a second time