harmony

Unlikely Yankee trade target: https://www.pinstripealley.com/2023/7/28/23809494/yankees-mlb-trade-deadline-red-sox-rotation-lefty-starting-pitcher-fastball-cutter-curveball

The Red Sox hover above .500 despite: https://www.masslive.com/redsox/2023/06/red-sox-let-2-starters-walk-in-free-agency-both-named-pitchers-of-the-month.html?outputType=amp

The minor league comps of lefthand-hitting Triston Casas and Seattle's Jarred Kelenic, who were born six months apart and who were taken out of high school with the 26th and sixth picks of the June 2018 draft: TC 284 G, .269/.374/.485/.858 JK 289 G, .295/.369/.540/.909 Kelenic was nearly written off after his historically dismal first two MLB seasons but has rebounded with a 135 OPS+ and 1.6 bWAR so far this year.

That makes two of us.

A tip of the cap to the Red Sox.

Last night Cal Raleigh became the first catcher in Fenway Park history to homer from both sides of the plate in a single game. Take that, Jason Varitek.

FWIW entering Tuesday's games the Seattle Mariners ranked sixth in MLB in run differential: https://www.teamrankings.com/mlb/stat/run-differential

^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Enough to prompt one fan's exodus.

FWIW FanGraphs currently gives the Red Sox a 26.9 percent chance and the Seattle Mariners a 28.6 percent chance of advancing to the postseason: https://www.fangraphs.com/standings/playoff-odds A year ago the Mariners came into Fenway Park with a humble 17-21 record and left 17-25 after a four-game Red Sox sweep.

The updated prospect rankings at MLB.com have Marcelo Mayer No. 5, Miguel Bleis No. 78 and Cedanne Rafaela No. 87: Top 100 Baseball Prospects | MLB.com WWW.MLB.COM The Official Site of Major League Baseball

Meh Mariners introduce Aquaman trident as home run prop WWW.MLB.COM This story was excerpted from Daniel Kramer’s Mariners Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

A year ago the Mariners came into Fenway Park with a 17-21 record and left 17-25 after being swept by the Red Sox.

A Seattle perspective on the Red Sox series: https://www.lookoutlanding.com/2023/5/15/23724374/series-preview-seattle-mariners-at-boston-red-sox-may-2023

Audit a free online course in sport analytics: https://www.edx.org/course/sport-analytics-data-driven-decision-making

FWIW the thread was started in General Baseball Forum, not the Talk Sox Forum, because of the broad scope of the book Winning Fixes Everything.

The incident was no secret in when the Red Sox rehired Alex Cora In November 2020: https://www.masslive.com/redsox/2017/12/alex_cora_boston_red_sox_manag_2.html ... and the Boston front office almost certainly was aware of the incident when Cora was originally hired in October 2017. The Red Sox brain trust saw enough in Cora to hire him regardless. Mere speculation but the parties likely addressed the behavior and agreed to specific conditions of employment. Winning Fixes Everything is not a book about Alex Cora; it's a detailed examination of the evolving culture of the Houston Astros and Major League Baseball. Read it.

The reported drunken incident involving Alex Cora was buried in a 329-book about the culture of a Houston Astros franchise that went from three straight 100-loss seasons to two World Series titles. The incident certainly did not merit mention in the book's liner notes (or in any promotion of the book). Alex Cora is not a focus. Winning Fixes Everything provides a detailed account of the evolution of the Astros and Major League Baseball the past two decades. The book is highly recommended. Is the title to this thread considered clickbait? if so, to what end? The thread's creator lacks the standard clickbait's financial incentive. The short shared passage could be of interest to Boston fans because Alex Cora is the current Red Sox manager. Or not:) But this fan of another team would be interested in a similar report about his team's current manager. At any rate, thank you for the feedback.

That was more troubling than the reported drinking. That language is common in many workplaces but probably crosses the line when directed in anger at a co-worker. The word would be even more egregious if directed at a woman.

Alex Cora was not a focus of Winning Fixes Everything, which critically examines a Houston franchise that challenged, and sometimes crossed, ethical and legal boundaries. The book is recommended for anyone interested in technology's role in the evolution of Major League Baseball.

Alex Cora reportedly is the current manager of the Boston Red Sox.

That's a harsh judgment if based on only a condensed summary of three pages from a 329-page book: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/winning-fixes-everything-evan-drellich?variant=40828339322914 Winning Fixes Everything chronicles in critical detail the Astros' rise from three straight 100-loss seasons to a World Series title and beyond. The accounts in the book may or may not be accurate. Reserve judgment until the entire book is read. People are complex. Alex Cora probably is complex. It's easy to label as fake news any information that tarnishes the image of a hero. We've seen it before.

The new book Winning Fixes Everything by former Red Sox and Astros beat reporter Evan Drellich includes interesting disclosures about the relationship of Alex Cora and A.J. Hinch when Cora was a bench coach and Hinch the manager of the 2017 Houston Astros. https://www.harpercollins.com/products/winning-fixes-everything-evan-drellich?variant=40828339322914 At an August 2017 game in Tampa, Cora assumed the managerial duties when Hinch was ejected in the first inning. Astro Hall of Famer Craig Biggio had no day-to-day duties with Houston but hung out in the dugout for that game. After the game Cora reportedly stormed into A.J. Hinch's office screaming "Why do you have Biggio watching me? You don't think I can do this on my own?" The Astros flew back to Houston and on a team shuttle bus Cora played music loudly on his speaker. Players and other team personnel, trying to reach their families by phone in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, could not hear their loves ones over the music. Astro broadcaster Geoff Blum reportedly approached Cora: "Any other day, crank it. But if you can just turn it down a little bit, and let us kind of figure out how we're goig to get home, see the families are OK ..." "Oh, you want me to turn it down?" Cora shot back. "You want me to turn it down? I'll turn it down. How about I just turn it off?" Blum returned to his seat on the bus but Cora was soon hovering over him. "I bet if Puerto Rico was going through this you'd be playing the music," Cora reportedly said. Blum replied "You got to be kidding me. How dare you say that?" Cora reportedly then called Blum a "c***." The yelling continued for about five minutes before the team exited the bus. When Blum tried to apologize Cora reportedly snapped at Blum and Hinch, "He's your buddy, you want him to be your bench coach, you don't trust me," Cora said to Hinch. Cora reportedly called Hinch "a f***ing c***." The second rant lasted about 10 minutes in front of most of the team. Reports were that Cora was clearly drunk and "sort of being a drunk *******," according to the secondhand account of one front office employee. To quote the book: "'Cora really likes to drink,' said someone who traveled with the Astros. 'Any road trip I was on with him, or plane flight I was on with him, he was drinking a lot. Him and Craig Bjornson, CB, were basically wasted on every single flight. Such much so that Cora would turn into the equivalent of like, the scary homeless person that's talking to themself doing like drunken tai chi in place, and you're like: Oh, my God, what's wrong with that guy? Like, Cora would get that level drunk on basically every single trip.'"

But Alex Verdugo attempted four steals last season.

Have analytics spoiled the game of MLB? One-time Red Sox beat reporter Evan Drellich addresses the issue at The Athletic in a column with the headline: "An MLB owner told Rob Manfred ‘analytics is an arms race to nowhere.’ The commissioner agrees": https://theathletic.com/4368996/2023/04/01/rob-manfred-mlb-analytics-front-offices/ Subscription required.

At No. 13 the Boston rotation is ranked ahead of the Seattle rotation at No. 17 by FanGraphs: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2023-positional-power-rankings-starting-rotation-no-16-30/ ... despite this summary: