oldtimer

Cora's pitching moves will be discussed after this game, whatever happens.

If the leagues adopt the DH universally, he has a chance of getting a multi-year contract. Probably not close to $20 million but possibly tempting.

In the end, it was the lack of hitting depth in the Yankee lineup that did them in.

Putting your best hitters consecutively in the lineup seems to be the best way to cluster hits. The manager therefore can set the lineup to obtain the highest probability of hits in clusters. Am I missing the meaning of cluster hitting (luck)?

The Rays seem to dominate our lefties. Maybe Pivetta makes more sense from that POV also.

We may have issues with pitching contracts that could create serious headwinds for the team , not only in 2022 but beyond. The obvious ones are the Price $15 Mil owed in 2022 and the E-Rod free agency in 2022. We have to decide whether to make a QO and risk overpaying him if he underperforms or get something back if he is still taken. The big question there is whether he might retain good enough form a year away from Covid to lower the risk of overpaying. Once past that, we have given Barnes a 2 year extension at $10 Mil per based on his 1st half performance. Clearly he lost effectiveness in the second half. Will he return to effectiveness or become another albatross limiting the moves we can make? Perhaps the biggest question is with Sale who is contracted through 2024 for Ace money. He was injured when the contract was signed and has done little for us since. He is a great competitor and was one of the best. The Hope is that he can return to being a quality starter, but it is by no means a surety. Will he improve enough from TJ surgery and Covid to be worth the huge contract? It looks like we may need to add up to 2 starters and a late inning BP arm.

Not much mention of Barnes. Cora gave him a shot with an 8 run lead and he got through it, but looked pretty bad with a lack of command. He has a lot of work to do to regain the form needed to be a high leverage BP arm next season.

Our Ace Chris Sale was pummeled in the first.

So long to FREAKIN Chris Sale

I doubt if the analytics guys have a case impacting the shift for a fast guy on third with a left handed pitcher. They shouldn't have shifted like that and Taylor wasn't paying attention. A manager should overrule the directions suggested by the analytics in special cases like we saw last night. Just one of several disappointing aspects of last nights game. Tonight we see if our $30 million ace can keep us in the game for 5 or more innings.

It makes sense financially to promote our best prospects year to year. Other than that, we can trade JDM this winter and pick up Schwaber at essentially the same cost. Vaz will be much harder to replace.

Going into last night we knew that it would be tough to score on the Rays. The have good young arms and generally play defense at the highest level. We also knew they challenge the battery by running and even one run given up to them that way creates a hurdle. So last night the first disappointment was that the bad E-Rod showed up without good command and nibbling. Really, right away the walk to Arozarena and the hit by Franco set the tone, not helped by Kike's mishandling of the ball in center. Two runs later we were in trouble. In the second after another leadoff walk it became obvious that E-Rod was not right and he was removed putting a lot of pressure on the staff. Pivetta while he was in was not that sharp and was tagged for a couple of HR's. The second disappointment to me was when we had the bases loaded with one out and Devers up. The Rays had made a rare error and we were in a position to put a lot of pressure on the Rays. Devers at bat was not smart. He swung from the heels twice and missed two fastballs down the middle. Finally he swung at one out of the zone. He looked bad on that at bat. The third disappointment to me was when Taylor stupidly took a long time setting up to throw with Arozarena half way down the third base line. He essentially gave up the fifth run due to negligence. Perhaps shifting Devers so far from 3rd on that play was also a dumb tactic. We outhit them but couldn't score. They just outplayed us.

Walks have turned into runs although Pivetta's walk of Arozarena was helped by two bad calls by the ump. The steal of home off Taylor was inexcusable. Just not paying attention. The ox are hitting but nothing big.

E-Rod may cost more then he is worth as well.

Pivetta gave up another and the hole is getting too deep. Need to get to Fairbanks if he comes in.

The Rays won't chase, so E-Rod needs to have command and continue the strategy of walking no one.

I trust Cora's assessment of Barnes readiness to contribute. Perhaps the long season just got to him and the hope he can recover for next season as we have laid money on the line for his extension. I doubt if Perez gets in unless we get far behind. Santana vs Arauz or Duran is 6 of one half a dozen of another. Probably none of them get in without an injury or if a pinch runner is needed.

This season his OPS vs RH Pitching .893 and LHP .558. Such a marked difference may have him sit tomorrow. If JDM is not available, there aren't many choices.

Now you are showing your age.

Moon is prolific but I appreciate his contributions, however he chooses to make them.

Very satisfying win. Anytime you can knock the Yankees out of the playoffs it is especially satisfying. Part of the reason was an error free game and very solid pitching with zero walks. Personally, I thought Cole was a bad choice by the Yankees as a starter since the top Sox hitters right now are Schwaber, Devers and Verdugo. I understand why they went with Cole as there would have been immense criticism had they not. He was not sharp and Nate was. The Sox played with fire and will move on to face one of the best TEAMS in baseball. On the negative side, Dalbec looked overmatched at the plate and Arroyo needs more ABs to get it going. We have the chance ahead and with our reinforced BP we could be tough to score on. Interesting that Cora went Brasier, Houck, Robles and Whitlock to get his outs. Taylor was up. Swamamura pitched recently. Kind of identifies who Cora has faith in. Now we need our starters to be on. in Tampa.

Or we could aspire to be a team with good hitting, good defense and smart baserunning. The Rays have found a way to do it on a budget. You make it sound like it is either one or the other, which is a misleading statement of the issue.

You are saying what you think may happen, but not necessarily what you recommend for next season. Some of what happens will be based upon how much Henry is willing to spend and how competitive the front office sees the team in 2022. If more resources were available, you might well recommend a different path. S1. Sale (I no longer see Sale as our #1 starter despite his ace level contract through 2024. I see him as a #3 if he can stay healthy and perhaps improve.) S2. ____ (I'd be thrilled if we could pick up a #2 level starter to bolster the staff. Bif bucks but hopefully reasonable contract length depending on his age) S3. Eovaldi (I see Eovaldi as our current #1 starter or #2. He is here through 2022 and is worth his contract.) S4. I happy with Pivetta as a #4 or #5 starter. I think Bloom got a steal with him S5. I would be happy if Bloom picks up a serviceable #4 or #5 starter while I expect E-Rod to opt for FA and Richards and Perez to be gone.) S6. I think we look at Seabold, Houck and Witlock as furnishing a starter when the inevitable injuries occr. R1. Houck R2. Whitlock R3. _____ (I'm for adding a quality RP as a setup man R4. Barnes ( I would trade Barnes if we see an interested party and we can get a solid return) R5. Taylor R6. DHern R7. Brasier R8. Sawamura R9. Valdez/Davis/Bazardo (I would keep Robles before Davis. Both have issues but Robles still has an impact arm. Other relief help from the minors will be needed. The choices may expand for next year) C Vaz, Plawecki (Finding a FA catcher we can afford could be difficult, but replacing Vaz should be a Bloom priority. Hernandez in the minors may offer some flexibility as a backup) 1B Dalbec, Casas (The option of using Devers at 1st should be explored. Hold on to Dalbec for his utility and delay Casas until 2023 or the experimental results can be assessed 2B Arroyo ( Go into the FA market and sign Simien and keep Arroyo for Util. Don't resign Iggy) SS Bogaerts (Move Bogie to third where range issues will not be a problem. Sign Trevor Story) 3rd devers (move Devers to first and Bogie to 3rd) LF Verdugo (Verdugo is solid and Duran can backup the outfield. Time to cut Cordero loose) CF Kike (If we don't bring Kike to 2nd then he has done well in CF and can be left there RF Renfroe (Renfroe has had his best offensive year and is acceptable even if not a top defensive outiflelder DH JDM ( If JDM doesn't opt out, I would trade him and bring in Schwaber) What I am suggesting would require a large expenditure but would make us a powerful team capable of competing at the highest level. I doubt if Bloom will have the inclination, or the mandate to make such bold moves. It is a path to the top for 2022.

Our best hitters have been Schwaber, Devers and Verdugo so the Yankees may be doing us a favor starting a right hander. With all the pitching available, I expect the winner will have to hold down the opponents run production. With luck we will get a couple of runs early and Eovaldi will hold the Yankees to 5 or 6 scoreless innings. The pressure of being behind late on either team will be enormous.

Who will pitch for the Yankees?