moonslav59

There might still be a couple that need to learn the lesson. (Not DD.)

Agreed. It's not like Nunez has been a worry for the opps this year. Devers has been deadly.

Gotta like it!

Too many have no idea what a good fielding play actually entails or even what a good fielder fielding the baseball looks like. I loved playing baseball, and when I got too old to play anymore, softball kept me going for a while. To me, defense was always my passion (in basketball, too). As a kid, I didn't dream of hitting a game winning grand slam in the bottom of the ninth in game 7 of the World Series: I dreamed of making a spectacular catch crashing against the wall. I was never a very good hitter, but my two favorite personal memories in sports were a defensive plays I made as a CF'er. One was robbing a guy of a HR in left-center field as i collided with the left fielder at the wall. The other was a miracle play I've never seen anyone else ever do. The ball was hit a long way over my right shoulder. I turned and ran, thinking I had no chance at catching it and would play the ball off the wall. When I turned to look, while running full speed away from home base, the ball was right there. I had not time to get my glove properly positioned so I swatted at the ball as it went by me. Somehow, the ball ended up in my glove, even though my glove was only opened facing away from the plate. I had caught the ball as my glove was moving downward away from me as the ball was past me. My teammates and opponents were in as much shock as I was. I'll never forget that play. I probably had a few big hits here and there, despite being a below average hitter, but those memories are lost.

Signing anybody based on a 5-10 start stretch is usually not a good idea. I have more confidence in Sale being strong all next year than Eovaldi.

If we win this year, like I'm pretty sure we will, I think Henry and DD will keep us competitive for another year, but they may have re-setting the tax in 2020 or 2021 part of the 2019 plan.

I wasn't for signing depth last springs. I think you were. I'm not for spending big on a starter next year, unless Henry opens the checkbook wide. I'm happy with the 8 guys we have going into next year, and feel like we can trade for someone next summer, if we need a starter. Eovaldi was not that expensive. Maybe DD will find a good one again, if needed.

Official lineup 1. Mookie Betts, RF 2. Andrew Benintendi, LF 3. Steve Pearce, 1B 4. J.D. Martinez, DH 5. Xander Bogaerts, SS 6. Rafael Devers, 3B 7. Ian Kinsler, 2B 8. Jackie Bradley Jr., CF 9. Christian Vazquez, C

He did move JBJ up in one playoff game, I believe.

We had these guys this year with Beeks, and we still had to go out and get Eovaldi.

Maybe Nunez did not scare him.

He may decide to keep spending more and more. I believe this year, we ended up just barely under the max $40M line. Just keeping that the same next year will force DD to be "limited" in his spending. That's what I meant by limited. If $39.9M over is "the limit" again next year, then we probably can't keep Eovaldi & Kimbrel, unless we dump other salary somewhere-somehow.

When were playing in NL parks earlier this year, JBJ was not coming off a 9 RBI stretch like he is now. Beni & JBJ have been big parts of our line-up, and JBJ has been a much better hitter since the middle of May. If Kinsler didn't look totally lost at the plate, I might think otherwise.

...and Pablito.

We have limits. I think the term is justified. Our limit my be $39.9M over the luxury tax limit next year. It may be less than that. If we win, I could see henry trying to position us to reset the tax, but I think he'll wait for 2020 or 2021 for that. I know it sounds funny to call the biggest spending team in MLB "limited", but with all our arb cases coming due and Pablo's contract still on the books, I do think DD will be restricted (or limited) in the amount he can spend next season. If we don't win this year (very slight chance), I think henry will allow DD to spend as much as needed to try and win in 2019, since the window begins to close soon after 2019.

Yes, but he's a FA this winter and will likely sign a multi-year deal. We can afford him, but if we sign him, we may not be able to sign any/many pen arms.

This how I feel. I think Eovaldi will be too expensive for our limited budget.

...and JBJ rounds the base hard then looks to see if the ball was bobbled or misplayed.

I hesitated out of the box as he watched his hit ball, then he ran fats but slowed as he neared 1B, thinking the ball would be fielded cleanly. He should have run hard right from the start and slowed down only after reaching 1B and being held up by the coach. I think he'd have been on 2B had he run hard and rounded first.

I don't think the game win totals will make any difference in Cora's everyday player choices- only the pitchers. He's going to go with the hitters/fielders he thinks gives us the best chance at winning that game.

Anyone else slightly bothered by the no throw by Beni and his jogging to 1B on the boop hit to LF that got by the fielder? Hard to be too critical on a guy who went 4 for 5. BTW, for those fretting about Beni's lost power, I like this Beni more.

He also looked towards the plate on the way to second base, long after a hit & run look might have been justified. That might have slowed him down a split second. JD getting picked off was ugly, but I think the thought they had Kershaw's move figured out.

Certainly in the playoffs, this is true. Remarkably, we did better as a percent last year: Last year, we had 75 HRs with men on base out of 168 (45%). This year, we have 90 out of 208 (43%).

Great way to kick off a World Series. Seems like everyone is getting their day in the sun at some point this post season, even guys like Holt, Devers and Nunez. Barnes and Kelly continue to shine. Brasier had a tough time last night, but it was nice to see ERod pick him up. What a rocket shot by Nunez. At first, I thought it was going to be a double that would have been an HR everywhere else. Great to see Kimbrel come into form- just in time. I'm hopeful Sale will look better in warmer LA.

I can see not wanting to pitch to "the clutch" Devers, but I agree. Keep Baez in, if you want to win.