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May I have your attention please?
May I have your attention please?
Will the real Josh Beckett please stand up?
I repeat, will the real Josh Beckett please stand up?
We’re gonna have a problem here…
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WTF? What’s with the walls?
JED LOWRIE, I like having both Pedroia and his clone in the same lineup
How Josh Rupe is 3-1 I’ll never know…
The fact that Rupe has an era under 4 is even more surprising…
Kinda a quick hook for Beckett with a 7-run lead and only 90 pitches thrown. hope he isn’t hurt
Regarding the hurt comment:
I would be more worried if it was Lester.
Not a good way to start off Timlin. Keep it at one run.
Thanks for providing some sense Evan. I don’t think $12 million is really overpaying all that much for Lowell considering he plays GG defense to go along with this 20 HR, 80 RBI bat. If we’re overpaying so much for him, then why’d he have to pass up more money elsewhere to play for us?
Beckett is just as important as Lester if only for eating innings. If he’s injured it’s only going to mean more bullpen whihch is never a good thing
Evan, what was his valid point about Bay? His criticisms were that Bay’s barely better than mediocre (he has a career 131 OPS+), that he’s too cheap (what a shame) and that he can’t play in the AL (where he was hitting .313/.450/.625 before his 3-4 performance tonight). Looks like he’s grasping at straws to me.
You’re right Bob, even when Beckett isn’t completely on, he still goes deep into games. He’s averaged 6.2 innings a start this year.
Notice how Texas’s score is equivalent to ours with the whole 8-2 thing?
I love baseball and its quirky coincidences.
Anyone still have some doubts about Bay?
Are you shitting me Texas? CJ Wilson get the fuck out of here.
Well at least we win. Bay continues to win me over with his base hitting and Dustin…well as the July review said:
Drop it like it’s hot motherfucker.
In case anyone cares, the Farns is pitching in the 6-6 nailbiter a/g the White Sox. Let’s see how the fucker does.
Yanks fall flat to a DP. Win all over.
131 OPS+ means relative to the average major leaguer, rather than LF. He’s an above average LF, but when you factor in the AL switch, there’s a really good chance we’re looking at an .850 OPS player with a bad glove. And one we’ll have to pay $100-120m to keep around.
If I actually thought the front office bothers to analyze players before they throw tens of millions of dollars at them, then I’d feel differently.
Evan, you know the difference between the Lowrie and Ellsbury situation. Ellsbury was at the absolute zenith of his trade power this offseason, as was Buchholz. Lowrie meanwhile was at most a throw-in piece for most teams, ala Moss. Like with everything else, Ellsbury held the greatest delta between actual and perceived value, and so he should have been traded.
Lowell’s MORP projections for this and the next 2 years are 12m, 8.9m, 5.25m, and that was expecting a .277 .341 .446 line, or exactly where he is now. Considering that August is historically his worst month by far (80 tOPS+), and he’s injured (increasing frailty won’t help out the MORP), we’re staring directly into a .260/.320/.420 line or about $2m of value. He doesn’t do enough things well to justify even a slight loss of AVG (he doesn’t walk) or ISO.
As for Beckett, apart from wishing we still had Hanley, I just plain don’t like the guy. Say what you will about Manny being totally braindead, but he worked his ass off in the offseason. Meathead’s 06 involved him disinterestedly chucking 96 mph fastballs down the middle of the plate. Arrogance + 5.04 ERA is not a good combination.
You’re right Sean O. We should just put you in charge. We’d be without the ‘07 World Series, but at least we’d have Hanley Ramirez and Johan Santana as we sat 5 back of the Wild Card without Lester, Ellsbury, Masterson or Lowrie.
Come on Sean O, you took hours to come up with a comeback and that’s the best you could do? What does Lowell do other than his offense? Gee, only play Gold Glove defense at third. How does Bay compare to other LF? Only 7th out of 19 in OPS while hitting mostly in one of the worst offensive parks in baseball. And you don’t like Beckett now because he’s arrogant? I’ll take the arrogance, ALONG with all the World Series titles thank you very much.
I actually though you were smarter before I started challenging you on stuff. Then you said you’d rather Epstein never made the Beckett/Lowell deal and you’d rather he dealt Lester/Ellsbury/Masterson/Lowrie for Santana and that we should DFA Lowell even though we wouldn’t have Lowrie to play 3rd because you would have dealt him for Santana. And the more you open the mouth, the clearer it is that you actually have no idea what you’re talking about and you only complain about Epstein because it pains you that you’re wrong so often.
Bay: Yes, there’s a good chance, but a) a bad glove relative to the league, sure. Relative to Manny? Ha! 2) .850 OPS is no slouch… 3) He’s cost-controlled through next season, that has value, whether or not we resign him. And if we do, he won’t break the bank. Probaby won’t even get Drew money.
Ellsbury: That’s YOUR opinion. Perhaps the prevailing opinion was that a) the return for losing Ellsbury and Buchholz/Lester wasn’t enough. No one’s sold on Santana for that money through the next seven years. B) What if this ISN’T his peak? Unlike us fans, executives have to be more concerned about the future, and you can’t say with any definitiveness that Ellsbury is done — I’ll take baseball executives over you.
Lowell: Great. Who would have replaced him? No one. No one could replace Lowell — offensively, defensively, etc. etc. Signing Lowell was the smart move that allowed us to compete this year.
Beckett: Blame Varitek for putting too many fastballs down — he admitted himself he got too in love with Beckett’s fastball. On the other hand, it’s hurting him with Buchholz because he’s not allowing Clay to establish his fastball.
As for the AL/NL switch… stop harping on the 5.04 ERA switch. It was an adjustment year. Get over it. As for Bay, it seems as if the adjustment year is a crapshoot for hitters… Renteria/Drew as opposed to Bay/Nady/Lowell, etc…
This is what I mean by taking SOME stock in what you say but not completely. You’re right about Lowell, but wrong that we shouldn’t have moved him. And the DFA comment is laughable.
I don’t have time to respond to everything, but I do have to comment on Bay’s Dad’s hysterical comment: “you took hours to come up with a comeback”. Wow. Dude, I like Fire Brand, but it’s nobody’s job but Evan’s. I was unaware I had to sit here all night, especially coming from someone who appears to have just arrived.
For the Santana deal, the Twins offered him to the Red Sox last-minute for either/or, since they ended up taking nothing of value from the Mets. It was no longer a Lester/Ellsbury/Masterson/Lowrie, but either of the first two. I have no doubts that the front office knows more than I do, and have access to more information, but surely they had to see what Ellsbury was going to be this year right? Plus we had Coco capable of playing the best outfield in the league.
You’re telling me we couldn’t have possibly come up with any other solution at third? What about Youk at third and Casey at first, with Carter and Lowrie taking some ABs? I agree that the FO may have issue with Youk long term at third, but Tex would get a whole lot more likely with $12m off the books.
Or, remember that I was repeatedly ripped for wanting Miguel Cabrera, who is hitting .293 .354 .505 at the 2nd worst hitter’s park, and in the AL, and is 25, and can play some (bad, of course) LF if needed.
Bottom line: it is always better to deal with a temporarily sub-optimal situation for a season rather than overpay by 2-3x for performance. Paying someone like Lowell, who has no chance of ever coming close to his ‘07 numbers, is idiotic.
I, being someone who tends to split the extreme ends of a debate, have one thing to say to all of you … it’s all opinion … Sean O thinks the FO should do things one way … Evan thinks another way … everyone has there opinions … respect em guys … and don’t act like your opinion is law … it’s not
Oh and Bays Dad … take it easy man … you probably shouldn’t even start with Sean O … he’s not gonna change his attitude because you don’t like it … trust me lol