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5GoldGlovesOF,75

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Everything posted by 5GoldGlovesOF,75

  1. Walden and Chavis were up early in the spring and contributed. The one that I thought really revealed a disconnect among the braintrust was Owings; none of us - and I'm guessing AC included -- could understand why he, rather than Marco, got the call in August... And it almost looked as if Cora was saying, "Oh, yeah?", by immediately starting Owings at second and batting him leadoff. The guy went 0-for-5 with 3 Ks in an extra-inning loss.
  2. Without even looking up names, I have to say that the "replacement players" that were either called up or acquired last summer reflected the worst organizational depth I can remember as a Sox fan of 50+ years...
  3. That's a first-place ballclub...
  4. Not a soul knows, maybe not even Mookie. Maybe he's being advised different options by his agents than his family. Maybe he wants to play closer to home and chooses Atlanta or St. Louis. Or maybe he gets to free agency and just takes the most money, even if it's in Toronto, Canada. Personally, I think it does matter how Betts feels he's being treated in Boston, and that the best chance he re-signs here is for him to remain a Red Sox this coming season while negotiations remain open and amiable throughout. There are a lot of employees of the Red Sox who have forged positive relationships with the players from draft day through developmental years and into the majors, and that's a factor to be considered -- even for somebody rich who is already set for life.
  5. Tomase: Betts deal shows player, Red Sox willing to talk https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/red-sox/first-reaction-mookie-betts-red-sox-avoiding-arbitration-27-million-deal
  6. I'm actually encouraged about the Betts signing, even if it's only for one year (so far). The Sox gave him an arbitration record amount, and Mookie settled for less than Harper and Machado each made this past season (even though he's worth more). This was a big day that could have ended badly if either or both sides were contentious. But it appears Boston is open to paying Mookie, while he showed he's not all about demanding every penny as rumored. The chances Betts is a Red Sox in 2020 (at least through July) just increased, because he's now a 35% more expensive rental... Many clubs would gladly pay him 27 Million a year -- starting in 2021 -- but most likely not this season if that also includes giving up good prospects.
  7. Not now that I know they're on crack -- that explains everything.
  8. Did you ever work in an elementary, middle or high school and try taking away a cellphone from a student? These are kids blatantly breaking the rules of a classroom (texting, playing games, even taking pics of exams) but they will fight you harder than if it was an ice cream cone or their puppy.
  9. "The Killer P's" ... made me laugh; killing our interests or soon to be killing the team and thus our braincells?
  10. ... and telescope range, binocular range, drone range and satellite range. Tech isn't going away, and neither are signs and sign-stealing -- they've all been part of the game forever (but just getting more sophisticated). And the MLB knows this isn't a scandal and it isn't on the Red Sox or Astros, even if Manfred or Torre try to pretend it is. The quickest way to cut the crap is to cut the time away from espionage employees by enforcing a pitch-clock and batter's box rule: get in the f***ing box and stay there, and throw the damn ball. A pitcher's repertoire isn't a buffet menu, and the batter still has to hit the ball, even if he thinks he knows what's coming (which has always been the whole point of swinging in the first place).
  11. I hope I am. But any new tech introduced and even deemed legal has just caused more delays and longer games. My dinosaur brain hurts from watching this: https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb-discussing-on-field-wearable-technology-to-prevent-sign-stealing-185641614.html
  12. All the batter's box delays and adjusting velcro on batting gloves before every pitch now have me suspecting these may be team-ordered to give personnel more time to scrutinize devices and crack codes. It always bugged me when Mookie took a first-pitch fastball right down the middle that he could crush... but maybe he was just being a team guy. It also makes me wonder the real reason Cora broke something that didn't need fixing, by switching Benintendi to leadoff. Maybe AC didn't want to waste his best hitter taking pitches, but that strategy backfired when Benny swung at a lot of first pitches -- and usually fouled them off to the left (unless he was supposed to...). So much pablum to blab about in an offseason lacking substance.
  13. I'm not too tech savvy, so I have a question for anyone who might know: Besides the off-limits secret bat cave video rooms, aren't other alternatives constantly at the fingertips of players, coaches and team personnel everywhere in the ballpark? We always see guys looking at tablets in the dugouts, and it's a good bet most own the latest upgrades of smartphones... so why can't they just "pay attention to details" on those devices? Or are they all being monitored by other guys on laptops, desktops, ipads, ipods and iphones???
  14. But JBJ was ALCS MVP because of exactly three hits he had with runners on base, when, allegedly -- since that's all this whole "scandal" really is right now -- the MLB was taking measures to make sure no one was viewing in the video room... hopefully, no one was listening in the audio room, or sniffing in the aroma room, either. I agree with the poster who points out that these are young men who grew up glued to technology. Telling them not to use it -- for any purpose -- would be like a brewery asking my high school football team to guard all the cases in the cold room... "You boys can go in there, but only if you promise not to touch anything."
  15. I get all that and don't necessarily disagree. But Houston and Boston may both need to make splashes now to appeal to fans' emotional (and not so much practical) interests. They're both having uncomfortable offseasons -- and none of that matters if either club reaches its potential out of the gate in March/April/May... but that won't sell tickets in the winter.
  16. The purpose of my post was to suggest a way for two franchises in need of a change to make a swap of quality for quality (instead of dumping a Hall of Famer for bad-contract has-beens or never-weres)... and to replace Betts with another All-Star with roots in New England who may want to play in Boston and sign on in '21. One blueprint for success is to try to lock up a solid core to build around that will keep your team in contention for years. Boston had that in 2017, with the thriller Bs, Devers, Vazquez, etc., but now that core may only be together for another year... if that. If Mookie won't re-sign but the Sox can sign Springer for five years, then that's a good position player -- along with Devers and Bogey, at least -- that they don't have to worry about for awhile. Bloom in Boston shouldn't have to keep transitioning regulars or platoon guys on and off the roster every year like he did in Tampa. He needs and wants to focus on pitching. What other available rightfielder would you prefer (I asked this in a thread a few weeks ago... and personally, I won't settle for any Pederson or Pollock)?
  17. Telling people they can't look at catchers' signs in the video room is ridiculous; what, they're allowed to check replays, but they have to turn their heads if a catcher puts down two fingers? And if you do see an opponent's sign -- and decipher it -- whatever you do, don't tell any of your own players! And coaches on the sidelines and baserunners, make sure you look the other way, too. And gentlemen walking down the sidewalk, if a woman in a building you're passing is getting changed in front of a window with the shade up...
  18. The more I ponder all the crap since the postseason, the more I think both the Red Sox and Astros need to make some kind of major moves to at least show their fans they're sincere about moving forward. Staying status quo -- or stagnant -- for either can project a stubborn look, like, "But we like who we are right now" (which they don't). So here is my simulator-accepted blockbuster: Betts for Springer and Urquidy. Houston probably can't sign Mookie, but who knows -- he may already prefer the southwest to the northeast. At least his salary drive season could bump the Astros to another title (they already won one without Cole). Boston would be able to reach its reset goal, and get the second-best free agent outfielder for 2021. Springer is from Connecticut and just might like to finish his career back home. He'll be 31 in September and cost a lot less than Betts. And getting a young pitcher with promise like Urquidy is as good as it gets at this point. A deal like this could be feasible for two clubs that need to make changes soon...
  19. MLB.com posted its Hall of Fame voting: all six writers voted for Bonds and Clemens, with four for Sheffield. This is good timing for the media -- with many expressing such scorn and rancor at those who would steal signs, a covert practice that has been part of the game throughout its history. They all took a hypocritical oath. The amount of disdain professional scribes have for those they cover makes one wonder how badly they must be treated by the rich athletes. Either that, or it's a slow offseason.
  20. I'm 99.99% certain everyone wants, but no one will get, Trout money. It's an icebreaker, a starting point -- or maybe the only Godfather offer that Betts would consider to sign an extension... sort of the reverse when the Sox lowballed Lester (or Mookie's version of a hometown discount, as in "Pay up or I'll discount staying home"). I can see his agents telling him if he's supposedly the next best thing to Trout -- and the latter got X amount in 2019 -- then Betts should ask for the same two years later (or when the bidding opens)...
  21. "Especially when you consider that basically the same exact team was brought back for 2019 and had a terrible year without cheating" Right -- they looked just like Barry Bonds, after his head shrunk back to normal.
  22. Boston should just be thankful to hosts New York, Houston and LA for supplying the tactical tech necessary that allowed the Sox to win seven postseason games on the road in '18. Imagine the combination of hospitality and cryptology the Yanks provided that let the visitors sneak 16 runs onto the scoreboard at the Stadium. Trolls are clamoring for Red Sox suspensions, and I agree. Fenway should make room to suspend more of these: https://cbslocal-uploads.storage.googleapis.com/anv-iupl/354/2C5/3542C546E22D4B70A6259038E3DBE48F.jpg
  23. The big-market Red Sox were just lucky they could afford expensive technology. Unlike mid-market franchises that have to rely on trashcans. We need new penalties to tax the rich, and use the fines to buy laptops, tablets and iphones for all the poor clubs. Then all the teams would have access to the same resources.
  24. Come on now. Everyone knows that cheating is the only way anybody can possibly beat the Yankees, and that NY is the only team in the entire MLB that would never do anything to try to get an edge. Just ask Arod, Giambi, Petitte, Knoblach, Sheffield, Brown, Stanton (but never Roger... even though his teammates said they were enhanced by his own personal trainer).
  25. Thanks for the corrections, guys; I got my Arizona trades mixed... but as of today, Taylor > Marrero and Swihart (ps. I've seen Wilson play, and to my amateur eyes, he looks 4A). Re. lists, I love Devers, admire Chapman, and begrudge Bregman as a top 10 talent, but most observers have to agree that the best all-around combo of glove and bat at the hot corner is Arenado.
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