Fan_since_Boggs

We have to watch to the end so that we see Big Papi's last at bat. Oh well, it was a heck of a career. 3 championships. Some guys like Ted Williams and Ernie Banks didn't win any.....

I'm rooting for the blue jays over the Guardians. This series has pissed me off too much. Pomeranz LOL.

I think he will pinch hit for Leon. The Red Sox can't give up a run this inning.

I'm just thinking about some of the big time starts that some pitchers have had in the post season. Schilling in game 6 in the ALCS against the Yankees. D.Lowe. J.Beckett with the Marlins and Red Sox. In comparison to those starts, Clay Buchholz's start sucked s***. You sometimes need a starting pitcher to step up in a big spot. Buchholz failed to do that.

It looks like the Red Sox have a special player in Benintendi. He reminds me of a young George Brett, the way he swings the bat. I just hope he has the same career as Brett. And G.Brett was a great Yankees killer, the greatest one prior to Ortiz.

Leon's at bat was so pathetic. The pitcher didn't throw him one strike. Leon got himself out.

Leon can't lay off the pitch in the dirt. He is turning into the real Sandy Leon....

Guardians pitching philosophy: get ahead in the count and then make them chase a slider or curve in the dirt. The Yankees do the same thing.

can we get a big hit from the bottom of the order? that wasn't a strike. f*** these umps

As usual, Clay Buchholz can't be counted on in a big spot. 4 innings 2 runs. Not a disaster, but not what you're looking for in October in an elimination game.

Castillo didn't hit in the AAA: he finished with a .664 OPS. Everyone knows he is not a major league caliber hitter. As such, I can't imagine any team wanting him. While he might play above average defense, he is at that age when his defense should begin to decline. To be sure, the Red Sox would have to pay off the entire contract to move him, but then that money would count toward the luxury tax. Thus, I agree he is in "transactional purgatory," a situation he created through his inability to hit major league AND Triple A pitching. I'm not convinced the Red Sox will pick up Buchholz's option. There is a lot of disagreement over this matter, but I wouldn't pick it up--I don't trust Buchholz from a performance or health standpoint. Brian Johnson could be the Red Sox's 6th starter next season, and he is only making league minimum.

I wonder about this too. Was making the playoffs (winning the division) enough to save John Farrell's job or does he have to go deep into the playoffs in order to save his job? Don't know.....

I agree with this; I don't have any confidence in Price. I would pitch Rodriguez in game 4 and Porcello in game 5. I also like the idea of giving Porcello some extra rest--looks like he could use it.

Interesting ideas, Moonslav. I would prefer Reddick over Beltran. Living in N.Y., I saw a lot of Yankees games this year and Beltran is really terrible in the outfield at this point in his career. True, you have him playing LF in Fenway, but he would still need to play LF on the road. He will really weaken the Red Sox's outfield defense. But the idea of sending Bradley Jr. to the White Sox in a deal for Quintana or to the Mets for someone like deGrom are possibilities the Red Sox should explore. The other thing: I think the Red Sox are going to try to get some value out of Sandoval next year. They can't trade him. I think he starts at 3b for the Red Sox and will given half a season to prove himself. If he continues to suck, they promote Moncada around the all star break.

Not only did David Price stink up the joint today, but then Lester throws a gem. PAINFUL!

A couple of points. (1) I like the idea of moving Betts to CF, signing Reddick for RF, and trading Bradley Jr for starting pitching. Some teams, like the Mets for example, are desperate for a CF who can hit and field and thus it is possible that someone will overpay for Bradley Jr. I would definitely shop Bradley Jr. in the early part of the offseason while Reddick is still on the free agent market. (2) I like Hanley at DH next year and so I wouldn't sign Beltran. Hanley gets injured walking to the bathroom at night and so I would like to increase the odds of keeping him healthy.

With 5 strikeouts.

What a horrific at bat by Bogaerts. He should have walked but he kept swinging at pitches in the dirt. He had no chance. Bogaerts' slump has probably caught the Red Sox attention to the extent that M.Dubon will not be a trade chip in the off-season.

Does Farrell have to speak this way to a Red Sox fan: The fan was just making a point about trying to secure the second seed.

Exactly. If Showalter doesn't use Britton at the start of the inning, he has to bring him in after an intentional walk to Encarnacion. Let's face it, Jimenez is pretty much a loser and Britton had one of the best seasons of any relief pitcher in the history of baseball. When Showalter came out and brought in Jimenez I said to myself he must have used Britton already. You don't bring in Jimenez until you have exhausted better options, and Britton is the best option around. I was stunned after the game when I learned that Britton had not been used and was available. I saw the bottle toss in the game recap. I also heard they couldn't locate the person who threw the bottle. I thought that was strange, but maybe the report was wrong and they did locate the person (and remove him from the stadium)?

There is no excuse for this level of incompetence from a manager. There are a ton of articles coming out. I like this one: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/the-colossal-inexplicable-mistake-of-buck-showalter-081733150.html Joel Sherman: http://nypost.com/2016/10/05/all-the-reasons-buck-showalters-epic-blunder-makes-no-sense/ NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/05/sports/baseball/zach-britton-buck-showalter-baltimore-orioles.html?_r=0 CBS Sports called it the "stupidest decision": http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/why-buck-showalter-made-the-stupidest-managerial-decision-ive-ever-seen/ Orioles fans will be debating this one forever: http://forum.orioleshangout.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/2-Orioles-Talk As far as Encarnacion goes, I don't want the Red Sox to sign him. They would lose a first round pick and the Red Sox need to keep the farm system strong. I would rather sign J.Reddick, who is a few years younger and won't cost first round compensation. On the other hand, the Red Sox have so much money tied up in Price, Ramirez, Sandoval, along with the horrendous contracts of Craig and Castillo, that they might not be willing to add payroll over the winter.

I can't believe Showalter didn't get Britton into that game. That is so indefensible. I was watching the Vice Presidential debate and then turned to the game kind of late. At that point, it was tied and Britton wasn't in there. I naturally assumed Showalter had already used Britton for two innings. I found out at the end that Showalter didn't use him at all. Showalter deserves to lose his job for this blunder (comparable to Grady Little). Showalter tried to defend the decision in the press conference but it seems indefensible to me. Britton is the best relief pitcher in baseball this year. He has to pitch two innings in that game. It's as simple as that. Britton has given up only one HR this year and that was early in the year against Mookie Betts. I know U.Jimenez has been pitching well, but he was pitching well as a starter, not a reliever. You can't bring Jimenez in over Britton. Jimenez has been an inconsistent pitcher throughout his career--you can't count on him at all. Saving Britton for a save situation doesn't really work there. A better strategy is to get two innings out of Britton and hope your team scores some runs. You worry about the save situation later. In saving Britton for a save situation, the Orioles would be using Britton for one inning rather than two. J.Torre gets M.Rivera into that game and doesn't worry about the save situation. Instead, Torre would want to get two innings out of Rivera, the best move in an elimination game.

When the Red Sox took away the starting 3b job from Shaw and decided Moncada wasn't ready, I would have given Hernandez a chance over Holt. I don't know about Hernandez's defense at 3b, and he isn't the most disciplined hitter, but maybe they could get a .300 BA out of him for the rest of the season and post-season (he has shown that ability in the minors). I'm not overly optimistic about Holt's offensive game. Farrell's lack of faith in Hernandez is a mystery to me. B.Holt doesn't seem like a better choice to me. Having a PH for the catcher is a good point and so I would add Hernandez to the roster and take away one of the relief pitchers. SPs: Porcello, Price, Rodriguez, Buchholz Bullpen: Kimbrel, Uehara, Ross, Ziegler, Kelly, Tazawa, Pomeranz, Hembree OR Scott (12 pitchers) C: Leon, Vazquez INF: Ramirez, Pedroia, Bogaerts, Holt, Hill, Hernandez OF: Benintendi, Bradley Jr, Betts, Young DH: Ortiz (13 position players) I would go with Vazquez over the other two catchers, but I agree that Farrell doesn't seem to be leaning in that direction.

25 man for the Guardians series. SPs: Porcello, Price, Rodriguez, Buchholz Bullpen: Kimbrel, Uehara, Ross, Ziegler, Kelly, Tazawa, Pomeranz, Hembree, Scott (13 pitchers) C: Leon, Vazquez INF: Ramirez, Pedroia, Bogaerts, Holt, Hill OF: Benintendi, Bradley Jr, Betts, Young DH: Ortiz (12 position players) Question: I suppose I am taking too many relief pitchers and not enough position players? Why take T.Shaw? He hasn't been hitting and Farrell has lost confidence in him. He doesn't help as a pinch runner and can only play two positions. As such, it might make more sense to go with a 3 man bench and load up on the bullpen allowing the Red Sox to play matchups throughout the series. I wish the Red Sox had a stolen base threat on the bench, but they didn't address that area, believing that Moncada would fill the role. In the bullpen, I'm taking Hembree over Barnes because Barnes' walk ratio is too high (over 4). I'm taking Tazawa--he has looked good in the month of September (albeit a small sample size). If Tazawa is rested, maybe the old Tazawa will show up in the playoffs.

I'm expecting the Cubs to be there. In the first round, the Cubs will get the weak NL wild card team, and that should be an easy series for the Cubs. They will then play the Dodgers or Nationals in the NLCS. I would normally like the Nationals chances, but they have some key injuries with Strasburg and Murphy, and I'm not sure if they will be ready to go or play at 100 percent. I'm not sure if the Dodgers have enough pitching behind Kershaw to beat a team like the Cubs. The Cubs are really good, built by Theo, they are probably the biggest threat to the Red Sox's championship aspirations. The Cubs have an impressive starting staff and that is why they scare me. I'm hoping (1) the Cubs aren't quite ready for prime time in a big spot. That is to say, the Cubs haven't faced many challenges or adversity this year (in contrast to the 2004 Red Sox) and might crumble under the pressure of a 100 year curse. Such a concern is minimized, however, when you consider the veteran presence on the team: Lester, Lackey, and J.Maddon, a manager with World Series experience. (2) It is possible that the Cubs took advantage of some weak NL teams this year including the Brewers and Reds. In contrast, the Red Sox generally faced stiffer competition in the AL East.