oldtimer

I like your general direction: Kinsler is a good pro but I would rather have a young and capable second baseman to share duties with Pedroia. I doubt if Dustin can do the entire season and if would give us a transition body. You suggest LeMahieu but I would find a home grown (if he exists) or a young and rising player in that role as being a decent choice. I don't think we will get Kimbrel and maybe it is time to go in another direction. Kimbrel has earned his keep in the past but a long term high dollar contract there should be avoided. DD may be able to come up with a solid closer from a different source. I don't have anyone in mind. I believe we should wait to pick up relief pitchers until we have a look at what we have during spring training. We probably lose Kelly but will keep most of our resources and augment as needed. At first base, we have Moreland for another year and I don't expect him to be traded. To supplement him, Pearce is not a bad choice for one year. Possibly Devers will transition there for the 2020 season. I would keep Nunez and Holt as well. One position you didn't mention is catcher. I prefer not to go another year with Leon on the roster. His hitting is just not at a ML level so at some time he will be let go, why not for the 2019 season. Swihart has ML talent and we either should give this versatile and athletic player a chance or cut him lose. Finally, although not a priority, if a better hitting quality CF turns up, I think we should go in that direction. JBJ is a great fielder but in my mind a marginal hitter.

The Yankees has a very stacked lineup on paper. I thought the Yankee starting pitching looked a notch below Boston's but their BP looked pretty strong when they brought the A-Level guys in. Stanton didn't earn his keep and compared to Martinez, he had a poor series. I also think Cora out managed Boone.

Vaz has held his own at bat but Leon has not. With Vaz in, we probably will not need a pinch hitter. With Leon, unless we are well ahead, he should be taken out when we have a scoring opportunity with him at bat. I haven't noticed field players underperforming with the possible exception of Moreland whose injury status is uncertain. We probably stand pat for the astros.

They didn't need Judge to wake them up. Yankee hitters just laid an egg for two games in the Bronx.

Cora pushed the right buttons. Nunez did great for us.

I look at it from the point of view of what are needs will be going forward, and we will have some as I see it for 2019. 1. I, like most here, am assuming that we will find Kimbrel's contract requirements to be above his value to the team and we will reluctantly have to let him go. So a big need (#1) will be to replace our closer and probably no one on the roster is capable of that. 2. Relief pitching with Kelly possibly gone will need to be bolstered. Evaluation of Smith and Thornburg will be needed and possibly we will need a couple of additional solid relievers. This can be done as we get into the season and assess our needs fully. Probably be our #4 need. 3. As far as starting pitching, we will have Sale, Porcello and Price for sure and will no doubt want to hang onto E-Rod. Wright's knee inflamation may be serious enough to make him a no go but medical evaluation will be needed. Eovaldi is looking like a starter if we can affort him. Having had two surgery's on him arm doesn't disqualify him in my book, provided a reasonable contract can be worked out. Possibly our #2 need. 4. We will need a second base backup for Pedey. He is aging and is trying to recover from an injury. I would look for a young and talented player who can play half the time and potentially be our second baseman going forward. How long will Pedey be able to play is the question, not how long does his contract run is the question to address. 5. I would look for a replacement for Leon. He is a very good defensive catcher but a .177 avg is well below league avg and we should have better on our roster. Keep Vaz and Swi and look for another. I would look at this as our #3 need. 6. We still should consider the CF position. Can we replace JBJ for the money he will expect with a good defender who is also a more consistent hitter? Don't know the answer to that but DD should look. I would rate this as a #5 need which can be let go if we are in a salary bind.

Having watched the game last night and had an unsettled night tryiing to sleep, I want to congratulate the players, coaches and managers for doing a great job of beating a stacked Yankee team in their own ball park and bringing home another ALDS for us die hard fans. Saying that, I was nervous about Kimbrel. Kimbrel came in to a game where we had held the Yankees to 2 runs in 17 innings. Kimbrel is very experienced at closing games and facing game pressure. He has had a lot of close calls along the way where he creates trouble for himself but has gotten out of many of those. Kimbrel really has 2 quality pitches. A heavy 4 seam fastball and a knuckle curve. I cannot psychoanalysis him but it appeared that he wasn't willing to use his quality pitches and trust in them to prevent the Yankees from scoring. It appeared he tried to put a little more on each pitch and was wild as a result. Relief pitchers in general appear to be a breed apart and closers perhaps more hyper. We have seen Barnes, Kelly, Workman, Hembree and Kimbrel lose it at times and last night Kimbrel seemed non-plussed and almost irrational in the way he pitched. Cora had to stay with him as who knows how Kelly or Hembree would have done. Kimbrel would have been the goat of goats if he had lost that game. As it is, he has left a very bad taste in my mouth and I would find it a stupid move to go into a bidding war on the FA market for his continued services. Maybe it will be time to move on.

Agreed. No matter what the lead, Kimbrel was set to blow it and our advancement. thhank heaven for Nunez and Pearce. Those that want Kimbrel back on a big contract should remember these moments;

Cleveland came in with an impressive lineup and what looked to be very good starting pitching but were swept by the Astros. Be interesting to what others make of that. I know the Astros are an excellent club, but Cleveland was taken down rather easily. I agree with Moon that winning 16 to 1 last night does not give us an advantage over the yankees in todays game. It's Porcello against Sabbathia and our BP against theirs. They will bring out their best tonight as their is no tomorrow for them. Its win or better luck next year. Whoever is sharp and confident will determine who wins the game. If its us, we move ahead to play a tough Astros team. I thought the Braves and Rockies would go fairly quickly so now the Brewers with play the Dodgers and that should be a good series. Lots of fun watching the games but I haven't seen as much as I would have liked due to playing in the Senior games softball tournament in Cary, NC. Too tired to stay awake for the games. I got home last night around 9:00 pm so saw quite a bit of our beat down of the Yankees.

He pulled his 3 rbi double down the right field line. More balanced hitting for him adds to his value.

All the articles this morning still do no identify the last two pitchers. Certainly Cora has to identify those by the end of today.

I did see tthe Globe article that indicated both Lin and Travis were sent down to continue working, in case they are needed. In addition, Johnson and Velazquez were told they weren't making the playoffs. That leaves the final two pitching slots to Kelly, Poyner, Hembree and Workman. I expect that will be cleared up by sometime tomorrow.

I think the comment by Betts sums up the best way to look at effort during the POs. His comment; "Just think better urgency, and that will be our mindset from pitch one and treat each pitch like it's your last," Betts said. "I think it's very important to set the tone. It's something we haven't done the last couple of years and something we hope to do this year."

I hadn't heard that. Thanks

So far, the playoffs have gone with very good pitching. The highest run total was run up by the Dodgers at 5. Last night was 2 to 1 in 13 innings. Both those clubs have their share of good hitters. The point is that pitching and defense are critical in the PO's and a team will only go as far as their pitching takes them.

Did I say he needs to swing for the fences? No I didn't. It would be nice to see him hit the ball harder to right field, at least some of the time. Did he wear down? He is 24 years old and if he did, how come Betts and Bogaerts did not? His swing looks pretty but he could and probably will become a much better hitter in his upcoming years.

The only question is Lin versus one of the catchers. Lin has been outstanding of late, has speed and can play a variety of positions. He probably will not make it but is still a viable option.

Thornburg is out for the year and Cuevas is not on Coras list.. There is no chance either one makes the Playoff. I will remind you that Johnson was the firth option on Cora's list.

If he and/or the coaching staff feel he needs to make further adjustments to get back some of his power, he should not attempt to do that going into the playoffs. He can contribute a lot by being a table setter and a guy with a good on base percentage. The time to experiment is the off season and spring training.

While Cora said the playoff roster will include 14 field players and 11 pitchers, he didn't really identify the 14 field players. Clearly we know the majority of those but there is doubt on the last 2 or 3 based on players out of options. To me, one big question is whether we will keep 3 catchers. Another question, probably already settled is what do we do at first base. A final question is do we value Swihart and Lin enough to avoid cutting one of them loose, or are either or both of them seen as being more valuable in the PO then a third catcher or an underperforming player at 1st. Tough decisions for Cora but that is his role as helped and guided by his senior coaching staff. He did indicate 9 of his pitching staff with two to be determined. don't think any of the 5 pitchers that are candidates for the two slots have options left. More tough decisions, but this is the season where we have a better chance of winning it all than we may have going forward, so heshould pick the two that round the club out best. I think we know that none of the 5 identified are obvious choices.

There were several stories about how Benintendi bulked up in the offseason because he said he tended to lose weight over the long grind. He worked with weights so put on muscle to get to 185 or 190 pounds (depending on which you believe) on his 5'10" frame (also mentioned as generous). So, he had packed on weight and strength sufficient to up his power, and by what I have seen, he still looks stockier than he did last year. The point is that there are reasons to believe he would hit for more power this year. So what happened that his power tailed off since the AS break? I have attributed it to his reluctance or inability to pull the ball. Many ball he fouls to the left field side and he hits there or to center. Much less often will he pull the ball and in a place like Yankee stadium it would be made for him. The kid has a pretty swing and makes a lot of contact and for this year we have to be satisfied having a table setter, which he has done fairly well.

The first two PO games are moving along with the Brewers beating the Cubs 3 to 1 and now the Dodgers ahead of the Rockies 4 to 0 in the 6th. PO games tend to be lower scoring with pitching more of a factor. Our pitchig needs to hold up in the PO's to give us a shot at moving ahead. Our offense is very solid so pitching is the make or break for us.

I would assume that a high percentage of starting pitchers who throw hard will have durability issues. Don't know if there is a source within MLBB that can quantify durability, but there probably is. Thats why I cringe at the idea of giving any starter a long term contract and particularly if that pitcher has already got a lot of innings behind them. It might work out, but it is a risky endeavor. The Price contract in particular bothered me. He has had his issues, but at least he is still out there holding down a #2 starter role.

And for those who would manage by longterm WAR, good luck to them.

An the final answer is 108 and goes in the record book as our best ever. Great accomplishment. Now on to the post season. We have better odds of winning it all than perhaps ever before but no team is a lock. I will be satisfied if they play well.