OT: 2017 Red Sox/MLB - PLAY BALL!!!!!!

[CDJ]

Quentin will likely be in Pawtucket if he sticks in the org, he's not the hitter he once was and he has negative defensive value. Not really a possible bench piece as a result (and he certainly isn't starting in the majors)

As far as Vazquez and Leon I'm perfectly fine with that to begin the season. Let swihart get into a groove in Pawtucket and bring him up after he gets more defensive reps behind the plate. I don't need much offense out of my catchers anyways, Leon and Vazquez are both great with the mitt and I do think we will see Vazquez' offense tick up this year (not that he will be a world beater or anything, but he's a full season removed from TJ now so he should be feeling 100% back to normal)

 

[22Brad Park]

Dombrowski denies throwing program caused Thornburg injury
http://www.thescore.com/news/1266066
(via http://thesco.re/theScore_app )

 

[EverettMike]

Hey maybe Dave Dombrowski is a ****** GM whose only skill is paying the listed price at the fancy car dealership.

 

[CDJ]

Dombrowski does not create throwing programs and Thornburg has had a PRP injection in his arm relatively recently (some point in the last couple of years). Doesn't shock me that he has a dead arm right now. He'll be fine after april as long as the stuff doesn't diminish.



I think everybody knows that if I had my way cherington would still be here. I don't really have any issue with anything dombrowski has done- I wish he had cancelled the pomeranz deal but I even understand why that didn't happen (didn't want Sean o Sullivan in every 5th day). Still gonna haunt them but **** it, the team is very talented. The system still has high end prospects at the top, i like a lot of the depth guys and think we'll see surprise years from guys like Mata....that should help fill in the middle which looks depleted right about now


Look for Chavis to have a good year. He raked in April then struggled last year, but it just got revealed he was playing through a broken finger

 

[Mr Cartmenez]

I think everybody knows that if I had my way cherington would still be here. I don't really have any issue with anything dombrowski has done- I wish he had cancelled the pomeranz deal but I even understand why that didn't happen (didn't want Sean o Sullivan in every 5th day). Still gonna haunt them but **** it, the team is very talented. The system still has high end prospects at the top, i like a lot of the depth guys and think we'll see surprise years from guys like Mata....that should help fill in the middle which looks depleted right about now

Well, I gotta be honest, I have my issues with Dombrowski. But I know why he was signed in the first place. Many people expected us to go on a huge spending spree (interms of money and prospects) the second his signing was announced.
He's good at what he does, let's put it this way, but he tends to have a boom or bust mentality, which I don't share with him. I am with Theo's mantra of not trying to build an uber-team.

I am ok with trading prospects, but I just don't like the way he did. And IMO he lost almost every trade (some by a landslide --> Kimbrel and some by such a huge margin that it cannot be phrased into words --> Pomeranz) except the one for Sale (which was a very good trade since I actually think he sold them fools gold in Moncada instead of AB). And make no mistake, Pomeranz for Espinoza has all the makings to become one of the worst trades in baseball-history. Not only do you not trade an arm like AEs, but you only trade him for a transcendent player (like including him in the Sale-trade).

But hey, I am absolutely pumped for opening day. Not even the brutal bullpen to start the season can hamper my excitement.

 

[JRull86]

Felger & Mazz brought it up yesterday, Zo & Beetle today;

What can baseball do to help generate interest in the younger generation?

 

[LouJersey]

Felger & Mazz brought it up yesterday, Zo & Beetle today;

What can baseball do to help generate interest in the younger generation?

My nephew loves baseball. Maybe they should get the politics out of high school sports where the team isn't already picked since sixth grade (and better kids that get left off due to who you know and legacy kids go play different sports)

Twenty years ago there were ten town teams. There are now 2. Kids just don't like baseball as much lately.

Why would you want to actually play sports when you can watch/play eSports

 

[FribbleLine]

Felger & Mazz brought it up yesterday, Zo & Beetle today;

What can baseball do to help generate interest in the younger generation?

It is too damn slow and too long. The 'tick' generation can't pay attention long enough to watch baseball.

I like the sport to a degree, not as much as I use to, and I have trouble sitting through a full game anymore and I'm 40.

You need to limit mound visits...maybe 1 per pitcher.

Stop guys like Pedroia from adjusting his gloves every darn swing. The constant fidgeting by batters between swings, the time pitchers like Bucholz waste. That might seem insignificant but I bet if you added up all of that time pitchers and batters waste you could probably shave 20 mins off a game.

The sport is stuck in the past. Doesn't bother "hockey is a minor sport" dinosaurs like Gammons though.

 

[Mr Cartmenez]

Felger & Mazz brought it up yesterday, Zo & Beetle today;

What can baseball do to help generate interest in the younger generation?

It's like a never ending story. Picking up the pace would help. I mean, you have similar situations like in the NBA when the last few minutes can take forever due to the annoying timeouts (but even the NBA is thinking about altering the rules to reduce TO's, but grant teams the option to advance the ball).

But I am not sure those 25-30 minutes would make it much more interesting to the young generation. WHat about the NFL? If you ask me watching an NFL-game is even more annoying. TD, XP/FG --> TO --> Kick-off --> TO. But they don't seem to have the same issues atracting young fans.

If the question is what MLB can do to speed up the games, my answer is: pitch clock (rule is there, just needs to be enforced), forcing players to stay in the box and not going through their routines after every pitch/ball, limited mound visits, maybe even limited pitching changes. How about not having every RP throwing warm-up pitches on the mound?
Seem like minor things, but they add up, especially late in the game with a gazillion pitching changes that take forever.

 

[304]

I love this topic. Simple answer: pick up the pace!

If the question is what MLB can do to speed up the games, my answer is: pitch clock (rule is there, just needs to be enforced), forcing players to stay in the box and not going through their routines after every pitch/ball, limited mound visits, maybe even limited pitching changes. How about not having every RP throwing warm-up pitches on the mound?
Seem like minor things, but they add up, especially late in the game with a gazillion pitching changes that take forever.

Pretty much this. I don't think a hard clock is necessary, but the umpires need to enforce some sort of pace. A lot of it is idling off the rubber/out of the box. MLB fans need to watch an inning or two of a college game and see how dramatic a difference there is with this. Games fly and innings are intense.

I will say, there does need to be restrictions on mound visits and pitching changes. However, there will be something like the old "I'm taking him out due to injury" and replacing said pitching with someone who gets unlimited time to get loose.

 

[Ben Grimm]

125. Dwight Evans (20) 66.9 R
126. Roberto Alomar+ (17) 66.8 B
127. Luis Tiant (19) 66.7 R
128. Duke Snider+ (18) 66.5 L
129. Joe Cronin+ (20) 66.4 R
Pee Wee Reese+ (16) 66.4 R
131. Buddy Bell (18) 66.1 R
Goose Goslin+ (18) 66.1 L
133. Willie Randolph (18) 65.5 R
Ed Walsh+ (14) 65.5 R
135. Craig Biggio+ (20) 65.1 R
136. Red Faber+ (20) 64.8 B
137. Roy Halladay (16) 64.6 R
138. Reggie Smith (17) 64.5 B

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/WAR_career.shtml

I like to study the stats of retired ball players and I think Dewey Evans, Luis Tiant, and Reggie Smith may be underrated outside of NE. They put up great numbers and are in great company. / Change of subject. 28 out of 35 ESPN baseball experts picked the Red Sox to win the AL East. 27 of 35 pick Andrew Benintendi to win the AL RoY.

 

[CDJ]

Ben Taylor made the team

He was drafted in the top 10 because he was considered a cheap sign where money against the spending cap could be saved but he turned into an intriguing pen arm. RHP, low-mid 90's FB. Decent slider. Posts nice strikeout numbers. There are a handful of guys in that category in the system.

 

[SPV]

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/WAR_career.shtml

I like to study the stats of retired ball players and I think Dewey Evans, Luis Tiant, and Reggie Smith may be underrated outside of NE. They put up great numbers and are in great company. / Change of subject. 28 out of 35 ESPN baseball experts picked the Red Sox to win the AL East. 27 of 35 pick Andrew Benintendi to win the AL RoY.

interesting, I know very little about WAR; but seeing that it takes into account defense, this makes sense. I always thought that Evans did enough at the plate to compliment his 8 golden gloves. And I think the golden gloves don't tell the whole story of how respected he was as a defensive outfielder.

I've always thought he should be in the hall.

 

[Pia8988]

Can't wait for it to start, but the Pirates on opening day just seems so boring.

 

[sarge88]

Can't wait for it to start, but the Pirates on opening day just seems so boring.

Unless they wear their black jerseys with white pants.



I honestly think those are the best uniforms in pro sports.

(Although I agree it seems odd to be playing them in the opening series)

 

[chizzler]

You know, I used to be a big Sox fan. Watched everything Sox. Now a days, I don't watch a quarter of games like I did. The FO office of owners have put a bad tast in my mouth with all the dumb transactions they have done the last 5 years or so. I just don't like the moves to "sell jerseys". Acquiring players that 90% of the fans knew that it was a wrong move. I like the prospects aspect of the franchise more than the pro team. The only thing that saves them is the young players that have established themselves recently. NESN is almost unwatchable. They even have them on in between periods during Bruins games. Constantly trying to give us bogus info when the eye test says otherwise. Always signing players from other teams when they have players that can handle the pressure in Boston.

I'm not so inthused with the GM of this team. Haven't seen a good transaction yet from him. The Sale trade remains to be seen. Pitchers are always hurt. I cringed at the Price deal. Pomeranz is a dud. Can't believe they didn't reverse the deal. We'll see with Sale. Boston is a pressure cooker. Who here liked the Sandoval trade? Just another guy making a contract with a good playoffs. Regular season dud.

I guess it's not all doom and gloom. I'll see about watching a little more. Hope they lock up the young players or else....., rant over.

 

[smithformeragent]

I soured on the Sox after '04.

I had always liked the Jays since my first baseball memories were of Joe Carter.
My sister's name is Kelly and we used to call her Kelly Gruber when we'd play wiffle ball.
I remember going to Cooperstown in 93 and getting a Jays cap.

We have the fisher cats in Manchester so I started following the Jays again more closely.
I enjoy going to baseball games live.
The atmosphere etc is relaxing.
As a sport that I can follow and watch on TV, it's dead to me and I don't see any of the proposed solutions to make the game appeal to younger people working.

It is what it is; slow moving games, a marathon not a sprint.

Doesn't appeal to the instant gratification, 30 second YouTube clip crowd.

 

[LouJersey]

Any predictions?

Redsox, Indians and Astros
W/c Orioles and Bluejays

Yankees 88 wins

Mets, Cubs, Dodgers
Nats and Giants WC

Keep an eye on the Rockies.

 

[JRull86]

Indians should have the easiest path to home field for the AL. That division is trash. Not sure if any of the other 4 teams in the central even break 80 wins.

 

[22Brad Park]

Replay is a joke. Just watched Matt Holladay for Yankees safe as plain as day. Tampa players even ran back out to field after watching it. .Yet ump somehow says out.I think Money but be changing hands cause that was way to obvious he was safe.lolGet rid of replay they suck with it too

 

[JRull86]

Replay is a joke. Just watched Matt Holladay for Yankees safe as plain as day. Tampa players even ran back out to field after watching it. .Yet ump somehow says out.I think Money but be changing hands cause that was way to obvious he was safe.lolGet rid of replay they suck with it too

Yeah, not sure how they blew rhat. Clear as day.

 

[smithformeragent]

Any predictions?

Redsox, Indians and Astros
W/c Orioles and Bluejays

Yankees 88 wins

Mets, Cubs, Dodgers
Nats and Giants WC

Keep an eye on the Rockies.

No clue...

Yankees, Tigers, Rangers

WC Blue Jays and Indians

Mets, Cubs, Dodgers

WC Nationals and Giants

Mets over Tigers in the WS

 

[22Brad Park]

Yeah, not sure how they blew rhat. Clear as day.

Then the next replay he was out and called safe.lol I think that anything without clear as day evidence it's wrong they are going with call they made to look right.

 

[22Brad Park]

Tanaka 7 runs in 3rd already and Joe Girardi still has him pitching.haha Yet some say he a great manager.He is a dummy who is managing his last year in New York is my bet

 

[TP]

Is all the snow gone?