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5GoldGlovesOF,75

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Everything posted by 5GoldGlovesOF,75

  1. Here's a true sentence: When he was 22, Harper led the majors in a major offensive category (OPS). When he was 22, Devers led the majors in a major offensive category (Extra Base Hits). Since XBH is basically half of OPS, does that count? Wait a minute: did you mean your initial statement only? Can I substitute Sh for the F in Famer? Or can I buy a prefix and put an un- in front of willingness? Raffy just called and said substitute positions with teams and call it a post.
  2. Harper could go on NESN and get even with Papelbon with a Will Smith slap at the Oscars... or a Will Smith tag at the plate...
  3. The front office blew that with Mookie, because every time they made him a "competitive" offer, it was a year too late for what his market value had actually become. And this was when Dombrowski was GM, and then presumably when Bloom took over... two different guys in charge, with different agendas. The common thread: the dozens of Assistant Vice Presidents -- who are still there -- haunting the conference rooms with their spreadsheets and projections. But the extensions for Bello, Rafaela, Campbell and Anthony, among others, show that at least they learned something...
  4. Teams signing superstars longterm are all about contracts half full -- they know they're paying for the first half of contracts, with the understanding that the back-end won't be as productive. Mookie led LA to three World Series in the first half of his contract. The Dodgers have won 35 postseason games in those years. They got what they paid for. The Red Sox won zero playoff games in those years.
  5. All those quality pitchers they constantly invested in, and a spectacular rookie like Yesavage could be the difference in finally winning a ring. Toronto started recruiting quality arms around the same time Boston stopped, trading for or signing Berrios, Riu, Ray, Gausman, Kikuchi, Bassitt... every year this decade they paid someone at the top of the market. Jays fans can't complain they didn't try to win the past six years. Of course, inking their homegrown superstar longterm is also key to the core. I can definitely see GMs and CBOs -- and their bosses -- looking at this model and thinking the best bet is to just hang onto all their top pitching prospects in the hopes they'll discover the next Yesavage.
  6. Betts coming off a 7.2 WAR at age 26 making $20 mil in arbitration needed to be salary-dumped by Boston. But Bregman coming off a season of 4.1 WAR at age 30 was worth $40 mil AAV to the Sox. I know, it was six years later, and we have to account for inflation -- and we all must admit that our own incomes have doubled in that time, too...
  7. How can you use anything for comparison in Boston, where Mookie wasn't even worth fair market value? (according to the smartest idiots in the history of the franchise)
  8. At age 32, Mookie made himself a Gold Glove worthy fielder at the most difficult position on the diamond that doesn't wear the tools of ignorance. And his team won the pennant. Anyone here really think Betts won't make adjustments to become a good hitter again?
  9. Great interview on MLB channel yesterday with Toronto's batting coach David Popkins and his job of optimizing the strengths of each individual to form a balanced offensive attack. When questioned on his use of the word "clutch" -- since modern metrics dispute its existence -- Popkins said it's real, there are numbers to show it, but players and coaches can see it, based on observation. He mentioned certain hitters whose heartbeats slow down in big moments, when they come through more than others. Popkins cited guys like Clement, Gimenez and Kirk. This is a professional coach and former professional ballplayer who may know more about actually batting than a front office employee running analytics on a computer. I recently spoke with a guy who played against Ernie Clement in college. He said Clement wasn't a star in any one thing, but "did everything right in baseball."
  10. Yoshida will be in his element by the start of next season, because there's another WBC, where Mass Attacker is a stud! Everyone forgets he led the World in RBIs for the World champs in 2023. Predicting right now that Yoshi will reach career highs in homers in 2026; previous high is 15 in '23 and he will shatter that -- 16, 17, maybe even 18!!
  11. But that one win difference could be also be attributed to Hancock beating Boston and Sean Newcombe at Fenway back in April. There's more than ZERO VALUE in that for the M's...
  12. He pitched for a third-place team. Seattle handed the ball to Hancock in 22 games, so he had value to someone over there. Hancock only had a -0.2 WAR, but that was still better than -0.8 Mariner Bryce Miller, another 26-year old. I'd still take either over broken-down Buehler at this point.
  13. How can a guy who threw 90 innings for a first place team -- more than everyone on the pitching staff except for the regular starting rotation -- have ZERO VALUE?
  14. I don't hate the Dodgers for spending, because after all, they have a 25-year agreement with SportsNet LA for $8.35 BILLION through 2039. Great point by Drewski on the other owners reaping the tax penalties from LA, so we might as well forget anyone -- players, agents, owners -- ever advocating for a salary cap. As a Red Sox fan (especially this decade) of course I'm jealous, but I say this for fans of every MLB team: forget about a cap, but there definitely should be a salary shoe -- I don't care if it's a freakin flipflop -- something on the floor where even the most miserably miserly owners are required to invest... or get the hell off of our baseball lawn.
  15. They all could've batted clean-up for the '25 Sox, and I'm not on pot.
  16. I don't know if you're overanalyzing something you think is overanalyzing, but I'm just going by what I observed: Bello's manager -- who really needed his only available veteran starter besides Crochet to go at least 5 innings in the playoffs, but then deemed for whatever reasons he was only good for 7 outs....
  17. ... which is what he had in Game Two in New York. So count me in, too.
  18. You lost me at 2018. I was sure the end of your sentence was going here: "Almost as weak as the Sox lineup in the last..." WILD CARD ROUND A MONTH AGO!
  19. Sox minor league position player depth seems alarmingly weak at catcher, first base and third base, with no legit prospects in the upper levels. Worcester and Portland might as well be on Planet Dearth. Hopefully, guys like Arias, Godbout and Gonzales continue to develop and move up fast. Mayer looks destined for 3B. If Bregman isn't resigned, I like Bichette as the best free agent option for a quality bat who can start somewhere in the infield. If Boston won't pay market prices for Alonso or Schwarber, then trade for Yandy Diaz at 1B -- which will add another solid contact man who won't strike out.
  20. Home run! It was predictable that's what would take to win the "second" game last night, and LA had a huge edge once the Jays replaced Springer, Bichette, Barger and Kirk in their lineup. The postseason is all about HRs, because the pitching is so good it's less likely clubs can string together an inning with three singles to produce a run -- or two hits and a well-placed grounder or sac fly -- instead of one big swing.
  21. I like it -- and above the scoreboard, cut out a chunk of the wall and insert a couple rows of seats in the shape of a grin; the ladder's already installed for fans to climb up and down, and Henry gets to increase attendance for more profits to buy cigars... and pay for all the home run balls it will cost him. Then next winter Sam Kennedy will announce they'll be painting two big eyeballs near the top of the Monster, with a contest to decide what awards batters will get if they hit either target (ex: automatic two-run homer, but they have to circle the bases twice).
  22. The ambidextrous are the real problem -- they won't just rely on traditional measures or metrics, but insist on using all tools of evaluation. The ambidextrous consider every angle in circular motions that create holistic holes in the whole panorama that sink boats in the panorama canal before we can identify if they're manned by fishermen or scapegoat farmers. If only the ambidextrous would just put both hands in their pockets and use their eyes, they'd see what the rest of us are told we're seeing.
  23. At school, I couldn't drum pencils on my desk without missing a beat, but there was an opening with a band that liked me. I know I wasn't tapped out, but then someone gave me a flutophone. I just started practicing when someone else handed me a triangle... but I dropped it. I know I can improve my grip with some pinetar. Just don't ask me to be designated singer. Who keeps flashing the laser pointer-- the bell rang; was that the first bell or the late bell?
  24. Yet somebody from the org apparently told Kristian Campbell that a year ago -- or at least the last line in Florida. And somehow it doesn't make sense that voice was from Alex Cora, a legitimately good major league infielder for 14 seasons of positive dWAR, who watched every prospect throughout Spring Training -- when it was obvious Marcelo Mayer outplayed KC on D.
  25. Plus, a lot of our depth starters being suggested in trades will be coming off injuries -- no team will swap assets for damaged goods this winter. Any deals involving guys like Crawford, Dobbins, Fitts and/or Perales -- if they happen -- will probably have to wait until Spring Training for the rehabbers to show they're recovered and ready. To reiterate: any package for a top of the rotation starter will undoubtedly have to include Tolle and/or Early... ... and that doesn't mean guys like Clarke or Witherspoon are worthless -- just worth less, for clubs seeking MLB-ready arms for '26.
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