moonslav59

I went to the game. I was pissed and down and out. Forgive me. I still have a lot of confidence in this team and think we will claw back and win this series. (I do think we need a big bat(s) for next year to be a very top contender.)

Makes you wonder, if even acquiring JD Martinez and Votto would be enough for 2018.

Deadwood and Broken Limbs... Pablo: 2018: $18.1M, 2019: $18.1M, 2010: $5M buyout --Luxury tax cost: $19M for 2018 & 2019 Castillo: 2018: $11.8M, 2019: $11.8M, 2020: $14.3M -- Luxury tax cost: $0.0 Ramirez: 2018: $22.8M, 2019: $22M vesting option Bending Branches... Price: 2018: $30M (opt out before 2019), 2019: $31M, 2020-2022 $32M --Luxury cost: $31M x4 Porcello: 2018: $21M, 2019: $21M --Luxury cost: $20.6M x 2 Pedroia: 2018: $16M, 2019: $15M, 2020: $13M, 2021: $12M -- Luxury cost: $13.8M x 4

Sucky game today. I'm not giving up hope. For those who believe in clutch and choke, the 'Stros have a long history of coming up short when it counts. I'm think we might want to think about limiting Sale's pitches next year. Maybe next game, he'll prove me wrong. Our season has come down to Pom & Fister. Who'da thunk dat?

Judge's is a roid-induced shriveled up worm.

5th counting pitching. We are 15th in everyday player WAR and 4th in pitching.

5th 58.3 LAD 56.3 CLE 54.7 HOU 52.1 WSH 51.5 BOS 51.5 Cubs 50.2 NYY 39.5 AZ 38.5 COL 37.8 STL 35.0 MN It seems strange that with 7 out of our 9 positions ranked below #15, that our everyday players rank 15th at +17.8. That's in large part to our defense: 1st in fielding 10th in base running 22nd in batting We ranked 4th in overall pitching WAR at 23.9.

I did provide the 2nd half numbers specifically to see how Devers improved our 3B ranking. It wasn't by as much as I expected, due largely to his defensive struggles out of the gate. 7 out of 9 positional rankings below average is worse than horrendous.

The dweebs that lament all this cliff stuff are worry warts and have been missing the real joy of the game in my opinion. I enjoy "the game" as much as anyone in the whole world... probably more than any human should.

Fair points. I didn't mean to imply it just happened for the first time, and it's all one-sided.

I got SRO tix for the first 2 games here in Houston. GO SOX!!!!

Look at Judge's massive and malformed head!

I've long suspected there's something fishy in the Yankee clubhouse water fountain.

Here's the final regular season Sox positional WAR rankings... 4th SP 17.0 (4th 2nd half: 7.3) 4th RP 6.9 (5th in 2nd half: 3.4) 4th RF 5.2 11th SS 3.1 16th 2B 2.3 17th C 1.8 18th LF 1.9 21st CF 2.2 11th out of 15 DH -0.7 24th 1B 0.9 28th 3B 0.5 2nd Half 6th RF 1.7 14th C 1.2 18th 2B 0.7 18th LF 0.5 20th SS 0.8 21st 3B 0.7 12th out 15 DH -0.9 25th 1B 0.0 28th CF -0.2

zOut of the 33 catchers with over 300 PAs this year, Vaz and Leon placed: OPS 20th Vaz .735 32nd Leon .644 wOBA 18th Vaz .317 30th Leon .279 wRC+ 20th Vaz 93 32nd Leon 67 On a more positive note, if you gave Vaz 10% of his PAs to bring him near the leaders in catcher PAs and took 10% of his WAR, he'd be at about 2.5, which would tie him for 8th in catcher WAR with Castillo, Grandal and Avila.

I didn't dismiss anyone's insight or perspective. I played a lot of baseball in my life. I never played on the Notre Dame team, but I tried out. I played in the intramural league, which had many all state players. I could not hit well enough to make the team, but I was a good fielder and base runner. A close friend was a great pitcher who got booted off the team for mouthing off at a coach, he thought was another player. I also was the starting WR (freshman year) and QB (senior year) on two championship intramural football teams (we played with pads), and started on our hall's Basketball team that won my freshman year. (I scored one basket shy of half my team's points in the championship game, and yes, I would not call myself "clutch".) I remember o that basketball championship team, we had a set rotation of our players. When it came to be my turn to sit, the guy who was supposed to come in said, "No f***ing way am I going in for you; your playing out of your mind!" I don't consider myself anymore knowledgeable about basketball or football just because I was good and played against some of the best (Orlando Woolridge, Tracy Jackson, Jerome Heavens and more). I actually think I know more about baseball- the game I basically sucked at when competing at a high level. I know I come off as a know it all at times and a stat geek, but really, I'm rather a humble guy with some OCD issues related to numbers. I don't try to appear to be smarter than anyone else, and I don't think of myself that way. Playing baseball was always my highest love. I dreamed of it for much of my early childhood. I was better at other sports and loved them too, but not like the greatest game ever invented: BASEBALL! I value the opinions of just about everyone here and respect the insights of those who played at much higher levels than I ever did or could even dream of. It's the condescension that tweaks me a bit.

I know all the sayings about "ifs, ands and buts, but had Price been healthy and Porcello pitched like 2016, we'd be at worst, co-favorites. I think the plan was to be at or very near favorites to win it all. It's just my opinion, and since I only played baseball for over 20 years but never above high school and college intramural level, what do I know?

1) How does anyone know who has played the game, and who hasn't? 2) Does the higher level you played make you even more informed and intelligent on baseball matters? Is there a scale? 3) People who play the game might be more insightful in some ways or have a different perspective, but it doesn't mean they know more. 4) Throwing the fact you played the game in someone's face is what I consider "sinking to the level".

I wasn't being sarcastic. ERA is not useless, but it does not factor in park, defense or strength of opponent. It is more flawed than some stats and metrics others often bash here, especially for RP'ers.. ERA for RP'ers, who often enter games with 1 or 2 outs, can be very misleading. It's easy to have a lower ERA, if you start an inning with 2 outs and are taken out after the inning, and only your runner counts against you. ERA- or ERA+ attempts to correct some of those factors, but is not perfect either. They are better than ERA though. That's what I meant by "old fashioned". ERA is not useless, but why use it when other data tells a better story?

Don't you have to admit though that there are plenty of people out there who want to think that they know everything about everything? Yes. But, I don't think it is notin or myself. We give our opinions- like you and others do. Just because we may not say, "I believe this..." or "My opinion is..." every post, doesn't mean we make our statements with the intent that they be taken as facts and not as opinions.

I don't pretend to "know the plan". Of course part of the plan at trying to win the championship involves the side benefit of being competitive enough to make the playoffs, draw crowds, increase TV viewership and souvenir purchases. I think the realistic goal of about 5-7 teams is to try hard to win it all. Yes, it is possible to "be as good as you can be every year". I never said I have any inside information on what Henry's "plan" is. I'm also not the one saying I know more about baseball, because I played the game.

If we traded away our extended future just to make the playoffs 4-5 years in a row, I'll be disappointing. I'm sure making the playoffs every year is tied to making more money and keeping interest high, but I'm pretty sure the goal is to get us to be highly competitive, which means being very near favorites at winning the championship. If Price was 100%, I think we'd be right up there with the Guardians and Dodgers. As it is now, we're still given better odds than some playoff teams. Of course, this is just my opinion, but I'm pretty sure DD and Henry's goal is to win a ring.

Right. The whole plan was to win a ring (or two) in the 3-4 year window. It wasn't to make the playoffs 3-4 years in a row.

Kluber is going game 2 (and 5, if needed) NOT game 1.

Of course, I'll feel let down. If we beat Houston and lose in a close series to the Guardians, I won't necessarily call it unsuccessful... ...unless we lose on a bonehead play.