harmony

illinoisredsox merely confirmed what I wrote: "The review found nothing illegal in Tyler Austin's slide."

That's interesting. Up until this point I've resisted the temptation to point to the bias of Red Sox fans.

When a player slides on his butt where do his spikes belong?

I posted a link to the MLB.com page that included the video. I've seen high slides. That was not a high slide. If anything, Brock Holt's right foot lifted Tyler Austin's left foot up and away from the bag. At :22.

Brock Holt overreacted to Tyler Austin's slide and Austin overreacted to to Holt's overreaction. It all went downhill from there. Still, plunking a batter with a 97.7 mph fastball is no courageous feat regardless of the unwritten rules.

The review found nothing illegal in Tyler Austin's slide in which his foot barely left the ground in a routine attempt to break up a double play in the heat of the moment with no teammates in close proximity. MLB Gameday: Yankees 10, Red Sox 7 Final Score (04/11/2018) | MLB.com WWW.MLB.COM Follow MLB results with FREE box scores, pitch-by-pitch strikezone info, and Statcast data for Yankees vs. Red Sox at Fenway Park I suspect Joe Kelley's pitch -- a 97.7 mph four-seam fastball, according to MLB.com -- was more deliberate as the right-hander stood 60 feet from his target surrounded by his Red Sox teammates.

Could be worse. On Wednesday the Seattle Mariners started four backups due to injuries* despite four off-days already this season. * Nelson Cruz, Mike Zunino, Ryon Healy and Ben Gamel are out with injuries

How much courage does it take to plunk a batter in the back with a 97.7 mph fastball? Granted, it takes some arm strength.

Detroit's Jose Iglesias and Tampa Bay's Adeiny Hechavarria are each in their final year of team control on clubs that are not expected to contend. The shortstops may be available for that reason, but for the same reason may be too expensive with 2018 salaries of $6.28 million for Iglesias and $5.9 million for Hechavarria. Veteran shortstop Cliff Pennington is being paid $1.5 million this year to be the backup shortstop for a Cincinnati team that probably is going nowhere. This season in their final years of team control, Pittsburgh shortstops Jordy Mercer and Sean Rodriguez will earn $6.75 million and $5.75 million, respectively. With two years of team control backup Mets shortstop Wilmer Flores will earn $3.4 million this year while starter Asdrubal Cabrera will earn $8.25 million in his final year of team control. I suspect the Marlins would gladly dump the salary of Starlin Castro, who has two years and $22 million remaining on his contract. Veteran shortstop Erick Aybar apparently remains unsigned after opting out of his contract with the Minnesota Twins. Deven Marrero at the league minimum looks attractive.

The Red Sox are now 5-0 in one-run games

The Seattle Times forum's game thread title for today's game in Minnesota: http://forums.seattletimes.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=239228 The game has been snowed out. The 27-degree temperature at the first pitch of Saturday's game was the coldest game in Seattle Mariner history and the coldest game in the history of Target Field. The Mariners won 11-4 to move to 4-3 on the season.

And vice versa with a blowout loss. Any conclusion is limited by the small sample.

I am no great fan of Michael Chavis (and no fan of steroids), but this matter may point up the difficulty of monitoring every substance that enters the body. From medical prescriptions to over-the-counter supplements to protein shakes, a player places great trust that the provider is not dispensing a banned substance. On one hand, Chavis may have knowingly consumed a banned substance in hopes of enhancing his performance. On the other hand, as Chavis contends, the top prospect may have no idea how the banned substance turned up in his urine.

That assumes a trade partner would be willing to pick up much of the roughly $55 million remaining on contract of Dustin Pedroia, who is coming off a concerning injury as the veteran approaches his 35th birthday in August.

Edwin Encarnacion's AAV of $20 million would have serious luxury tax implications for the Red Sox as Jackie Bradley has a 2018 salary of only $6.1 million. Despite a slow start, the Guardians remain the clear favorite to win the American League Central after posting 102 wins last year. Three years of Jackie Bradley is not enough an upgrade over six years of 25-year-old center fielder Bradley Zimmer to justify the loss of Encarnacion.

A fan so filled with hate is sad.

I suspect the Red Sox don't miss former hitting coach Chili Davis, who was quoted in this ESPN piece about the Cubs striking out an NL record 58 times in their first five games this year: http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/23006550/chicago-cubs-set-dubious-nl-record-58-strikeouts-first-five-games

Of course I am.

I agree that some responses are far too personal. As a general rule I avoid writing the word "you" on this forum unless I use the word in a positive context. I'd like to think that I respond to ideas, not to people. Reminds me of the quote attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt: "Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." I hope that's not condescending.

I am surprised how bent of shape some posters are about opinions that differ from their own. If I question an opinion I typically respond with statistics that readers can incorporate or ignore in forming their own opinions. More often than not, I offer no opinion, leaving that to the province of the reader. My forum contributions are almost always limited to statistics because I watch so little MLB baseball (this old-timer prefers the radio). Statistics and observations should complement each other.

The Red Sox have a Pythagorean record of 2-2: https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/BOS/2018.shtml

The Red Sox have the third-lowest ERA in the American League behind the Twins and ... the Rays: https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/2018-standard-pitching.shtml

Blake Snell was in my active lineup in my fantasy league that counts quality starts. The left-hander came up one out shy of a quality start.

I suspect the Red Sox would receive a return phone call from the Royals on that offer. All four Sox players have six years of team control but somewhat limited trade value. The proposal might not work from the Red Sox end because of luxury tax implications.

As a 29-year-old left-handed starter, Danny Duffy has trade value but a 34-year-old second baseman on the disabled list might be the last player the Kansas City Royals would target.