Fan_since_Boggs

Funny how it works out. Last year I wanted the Mets, my second favorite baseball team, to hire Bloom. I knew Bloom was a baseball genius at that time. When the Mets hired Brody VanWagon over him, it was the same old story: typical Mets, they hired the guy who plays golf with the owner over the better baseball mind. But now I'm totally psyched and happy the Mets didn't hire Bloom, leaving him for the Red Sox. Another brilliant move by John Henry. He knows the right guy to bring in at the right time.

Bradley Jr. is gone. I think they trade JD Martinez and cash for something useful. I think Betts stays.

This is the reason the Yankees got their asses kicked against the Astros and would have been destroyed by the Nats pitching staff. The bigger question is why didn't Cashman get something simple like this figured out before he put the 2019 team together? The Yankees are not only desperate for an ace, a Cole or Strasburg, but they also must do something to change/improve the lineup in order to play winning baseball in October. And they will need to resign Chapman; otherwise, the bullpen will take a huge step backwards.

This is true--I've heard it more than once now. Brian Cashman outspends just about every team in MLB over the past decade and yet doesn't have one W.S. game to show for it. That's pathetic. The silver lining for Yankees fans: the Nats would have kicked the Yankees ass all over the place and so getting past the Astros wouldn't have delivered a championship. Although, it would have ended an embarrassing drought.

Bregman's puke play continues -- 0 for 4 with 3 Ks in game one. It amazed me to see the Astros beat the Yankees with Bregman hitting so poorly. But the Nats are a better team than the Yankees. The Astros can't beat the Nats without Bregman hitting.

Agree with this. I would have to look it up, but I don't think the Cardinals ever had the lead in that W.S. OR they had the lead for only one or two innings.

I'm not sure. Just imagine if the Red Sox got past the Yankees winning four in a row and then went on to lose the W.S. In that scenario, the 86 year thing continues. Even though Yankees fans would have been humiliated over the loss, they would have had a good laugh over the Red Sox continued failure to win a W.S. Ultimately, the Red Sox needed both to happen--they need to kick the Yankess ass to eliminate one ghost, and then they needed to win the W.S. to eliminate the other ghost. Since 2004, the Red Sox have obviously had the advantage over the Yankees, not only in winning 4 championships this century, but in defeating the Yankees in the playoffs in 2004 and 2018. The Yankees are now the team that has a few ghosts to overcome.

An entire decade without a world series game, but Brian Cashman is great. He really, really is.

I'm starting to believe that a one or two year rebuild would be the best long term strategy for the Red Sox. Not a complete rebuild and tear down, but get under the cap, strengthen the farm system, and look to compete again in 2022.

A-Rod just said that this is the first decade that the Yankees haven't played in a World Series game since 1910. Is that true? I don't remember anymore.

As far as Cole and Strasburg go, they are exactly what the Yankees need. Cole is from Southern California. I'm expecting the Angels to go after him, but I ultimately believe the Dodgers will sign him. The Dodgers are even more desperate than the Yankees.

Fire Cashman and hire Dave Dombrowski. As weird as that sounds, Henry was brilliant in seeing that the Red Sox needed to hire Dombrowski to win another title. It worked to the tune of 119 wins--the 2018 Red Sox were one of the greatest teams in MLB history. They completely dominated in the regular season and in the postseason, kicking the crap out of the Yankees, Astros, and Dodgers. Henry was also brilliant in seeing that Dombrowski was not the right guy to take the organization forward. Considering where the Yankees are right now, they need Dombrowski, a guy who can come in and put the final pieces in place for a championship. Cashman has proven time and time again that he can't do the job. Let's compare some moves. The Astros outmaneuvered Cashman when they acquired Verlander. The Astros outmaneuvered Cashman when they acquired Cole. Dombrowski outmaneuvered Cashman when he acquired Eovaldi and Pearce. The Astros outmaneuvered Cashman when they acquired Grienke. Who did the Yankees acquire during the 2019 season? E.Encarncion, who went 1 for 18 in the ALCS.

The Yankees look like a broken team to me -- there is no way they are winning this. The Yankees gave the Astros their best punch and the Astros laughed it off, hit the Yankees harder, and both sides now know who the better team is. The Yankees just aren't good enough to beat the Astros and even if something unexpected happens tonight--Verlander struggles and Paxton throws the game of his life--the Yankees have little chance to win two in Houston. One amazing thing about this series: Grienke didn't pitch all that well in his two starts (I expected better things from him) and Bregman has been playing like dog crap. And yet, even with lukewarm performances from Grienke and Bregman, the Astros are still kicking the Yankees ass.

I also agree. Not only were the 2004 Red Sox an incredibly talented team, but they were mentally tough and could obviously handle being down 3 to 0 on the biggest stage in baseball (more people watch the Red Sox v. Yankees in the ALCS than watch the World Series). Millar played an indispensable role in the mental toughness of that historic team.

The Yankees have turned into a total crap show. I figured the Yankees would lose the series, but I didn't think it would get ugly like this. 4 or 5 errors? Lemahieu sucks at 1b. The Nats v. Astros should be a great series with some fascinating SP battles. When you look at the last three teams standing, the Nats and Astros have stud starting pitching, while the Yankees have a bunch of numb nuts in their starting rotation. It is no surprise that the Yankees are getting eliminated--they simply can't compete against better starting staffs and if a miracle happened and the Yankees get past the Astros, the Nats would totally destroy the Yankees. When you watch this series, I have no idea why Joe Girardi doesn't have a job. He is a better manager than Boone and took a worse Yankees team farther in the playoffs in 2017. With that said, it sounds like Girardi will be getting a job soon. The guy who should get dumped next is Brian Cashman. Not only did he fire a really good manager and replace him with a worse one, Cashman outspends just about every single team every year and yet the Yankees haven't played in a World Series game in a decade. Cashman isn't an incompetent GM, and he has made some good moves, but he misses on starting pitchers too often and thus the current reality. He also built a lineup that doesn't have the right kind of balance to win in October--too many right-handed free swingers who excel in striking out against quality competition.

Good stuff:

I don't know how to look it up, but the Nats might have the best record in baseball after the first 50 games. If they don't have the best record in baseball after the first 50 games, they have one of the best records in baseball after the first fifty. Sherzer and Strasburg definitely remind me of Johnson and Schilling who won a championship for the Diamondbacks in 2001. So often we see stud starters carry their teams to postseason championships. Corbin is a really good third starter and ex-Red Sox great A.Sanchez got hot at the right time.

If there is a rainout tomorrow, I would go with J.Urquidy against Tanaka on Thur and save Grienke for the Yankees bullpen game (some mixture of Green and Happ) on Friday. Sure, the Yankees will have a huge pitching advantage in Tanaka over Urquidy but, in turn, the Astros will have a huge advantage on Friday with Grienke against Green/Happ. And beyond that, the Astros will have a huge SP advantage in games 6 and 7.

It looks like the Nats might win in 4. I have a trivia question. In the history of MLB, only one team has lost a 7-game series after being up 3 games to 0. Name the team and the year. Hint: Yankees and Red Sox fans should know the answer to this awesome trivia question. Agreed, they showed no class by throwing things on the field after the replay showed he was out at 1b. Bingo, you have nailed it. Boone isn't the problem. Brian Cashman is the problem--he is the one who failed to provide Boone with a championship caliber starting staff. The Yankees need their relievers to be perfect, but that isn't going to happen if your starters only pitch 4 innings. If the Yankees get past the Astros, the Nats will be difficult to beat--the Yankees starting staff can't compete against studs like Sherzer, Strasburg, and Corbin. Relief pitchers are relief pitchers for a reason--they couldn't make it as starters. Trying to defeat a stud starting staff with a bullpen doesn't work, but Brian Cashman hasn't figured that out yet.

I would start J.Urquidy in game 4 even if game 4 is on Thursday. I would give Grienke an extra day of rest and have him pitch Friday, Verlander on Saturday, and then Cole on Sunday.

Good stuff.

Miley left off the Astros ALCS roster.

An interesting take on Girardi: https://www.nj.com/sports/2019/10/mlb-rumors-ex-yankee-explains-why-mets-should-have-reservations-about-joe-girardi.html

What about our old friend John Farrell -- any chance he gets one of these jobs? He does have a championship on his resume. As far as Girardi goes, I have my doubts about Theo hiring him, and the Mets always do something weird. I'm going to take a guess and say Girardi ends up with the Phillies. I'll also predict that J.Maddon is hired by the Angels.

Interesting. The last Twins pitcher to win a postseason game was J.Santana in 2004 against the Yankees. The Twins won that game 2-0; M.Mussina took the loss. The Yankees won the next three games--the first 3 losses of the Twins postseason losing streak record.