Red Sox/MLB Buffalo Blue Jays - Mookie Betts agrees to sign 12-year, $365 million contract extension with LA

[EvilDead]

If the organization knew in February that there would be 4 wildcards in the AL instead of 2 this year, do they still let Chris Sale get TJ?

There was no choice but to have Sale get Tommy John. Sale's throwing arm was shot and couldn't do a bullpen session with out pain flaring up in his elbow. Add on the fact that Sale knew almost three to four years ago that he was going to get TJ surgery sooner than later and that his pitching motion is heavily dependent on his arm than driving off the mound with his legs, this was unavoidable.

 

[Caper Bruins fan]

NEW YORK — Major League Baseball owners gave the go-ahead Monday to making a proposal to the players’ union that could lead to the season starting around the Fourth of July in ballparks without fans, a plan that also envisioned expanding the designated hitter to the National League for 2020.

MLB officials are slated to make a presentation to the union Tuesday.

Spring training would start in early to mid June, a person familiar with the decision told the Associated Press.

Each team would play about 82 regular-season games, against opponents in its own division plus interleague matchups limited to AL East vs. NL East, AL Central vs. NL Central, and AL West vs. NL West.

For the Red Sox, that would mean in addition to division rivals in the Yankees, Blue Jays, Orioles, and Rays, they’d also face the Phillies, Mets, Nationals, Braves, and Marlins.

Postseason play would be expanded from 10 clubs to 14 by doubling wild cards in each league to four.

MLB owners approve plan to start baseball season in July - The Boston Globe

So if baseball is making what appear to be semi concrete plans to get started in July how come we aren’t hearing any news with hockey ?

 

[Seidenbergy]

So if baseball is making what appear to be semi concrete plans to get started in July how come we aren’t hearing any news with hockey ?

Because baseball can do a modified season like the one being proposed without screwing up next season; and the ballparks have no scheduling conflicts (outside of perhaps a few concerts and one-off events that already have been or will be cancelled). NHL can't come back without screwing up both this season and next and they would have to deal with other competing events in their arenas that also might want to move forward without fans (NBA, UFC, etc).

 

[N o o d l e s]

You guys seen Sabathia? He looks like he could field a bunt now

 

[McGarnagle]

I often find myself compulsively watching 90s baseball games on YouTube.

Tonight I would up stumbling upon game 1 of the 1997 World Series, and I'm convinced that that series was the most ludicrously absurd sporting event of the entire decade.

You've got the teal everywhere in the Marlins stadium, then in Cleveland one of the games they played through snow. You get a famous closer meltdown, a big error, a walkoff single to win the championship in have 7. But the broadcast of game 1 is something else. It begins with Keith Olbermann in the brief period between leaving ESPN and joining Fox Sports, working for NBC and doing a segment on Livan Hernandez and his brother in Cuba who he refers to as "The Duke". (El Duque would defect and make it to America that winter). Then they go to a segment with Phillies pitcher Curt Schilling in an NBC sports polo shirt talking about how to pitch to Matt Williams and Gary Sheffield, and they dangle that he has a scouting report for every hitter in the lineup on the new website for NBC sports on what the anchors refer to as cyberspace (of course Schilling volunteered to be the internet guy for them...). Then the icing on the cake is when, for the national anthem, they bring out Hanson, who get soundly booed by the Miami crowd.

I didn't even watch the entire thing through, but just the pregame is so 90s and meme-y in ways that you don't see in any of the other series that decade really.

 

[GabeTravels]

6 years ago was a really weird game.

Sox played at Minnesota...I went and scored the game as usual.

Looked at it when I went home and the Sox had no ground outs. The Twins first basemen didn't touch the ball all game. Super weird.

Red Sox vs. Twins - Play-By-Play - May 15, 2014 - ESPN

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

no Cora return to Boston..... or anywhere else in a managerial-type role is now being reported

 

[BigGoalBrad]

no Cora return to Boston..... or anywhere else in a managerial-type role is now being reported

I mean you can’t bring him back immediately but he’s young enough it might happen. I’d guess the phone rings somewhere else sooner tbh.

Our record this century with first year managers is not half bad Roenicke is fine.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

I mean you can’t bring him back immediately but he’s young enough it might happen. I’d guess the phone rings somewhere else sooner tbh.

Our record this century with first year managers is not half bad Roenicke is fine.

he's not coming back when the suspension ends anywhere......too much scrutiny no matter where he even interviews..... because he'll always be connected just as Beltran was gonzo'd by the Mets without managing a single game

 

[BigGoalBrad]

he's not coming back when the suspension ends anywhere......too much scrutiny no matter where he even interviews..... because he'll always be connected just as Beltran was gonzo'd by the Mets without managing a single game

If that’s the case I got money on him to replace Roenicke.

I feel like we will be good this year. Rosters expanding are perfect for the closer. Normal season you can’t get away with no starters but there won’t be 162 games. An 80 win team should make it to whatever expanded postseason we get. Cool with me if the games all matter.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

If that’s the case I got money on him to replace Roenicke.

I feel like we will be good this year. Rosters expanding are perfect for the closer. Normal season you can’t get away with no starters but there won’t be 162 games. An 80 win team should make it to whatever expanded postseason we get. Cool with me if the games all matter.

no, Brad.... Cora is leaving the sport once the suspension is lifted

 

[McGarnagle]

These reports are all speculation based on Cora responding to a tweet saying "maybe I want to do something else."

That's not much to go on and it's not like he can sit there and say "Yes, in 2021 I want to be back with the Red Sox."

I'm not closing the book on it. He's young, successful, a good manager, players like him, and honestly he didn't really do anything that bad but got thrown under the bus by Luhnow and Hinch to try to mitigate their part in the scandal.

 

[stungun54]

argh... those changes are going to be extremely hard to convince all the players to agree to. so many dipshits in the world today.

 

[Centrum Hockey]

These reports are all speculation based on Cora responding to a tweet saying "maybe I want to do something else."

That's not much to go on and it's not like he can sit there and say "Yes, in 2021 I want to be back with the Red Sox."

I'm not closing the book on it. He's young, successful, a good manager, players like him, and honestly he didn't really do anything that bad but got thrown under the bus by Luhnow and Hinch to try to mitigate their part in the scandal.

The Redsox can easily run a press conference on nesn where he apologises and promises to be accountable going forward.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

These reports are all speculation based on Cora responding to a tweet saying "maybe I want to do something else."

That's not much to go on and it's not like he can sit there and say "Yes, in 2021 I want to be back with the Red Sox."

I'm not closing the book on it. He's young, successful, a good manager, players like him, and honestly he didn't really do anything that bad but got thrown under the bus by Luhnow and Hinch to try to mitigate their part in the scandal.

then why didn't Henry et all do their diligence when they hired him.....remember that question Sam Kennedy dodged repeatedly

 

[DKH]

I have 0.0 issues with Sale getting Tommy John when he did. I’m glad he did wish he got it earlier. The Red Sox need to stop being so insecure ~ so some people don’t like it. Eighty/twenty. Conservative maybe but 20% will bitch about anything....20% will disagree it’s the month of May.

Advice - stop apologizing to people that don’t deserve one.

 

[Fenway]

 

[McGarnagle]

FWIW, Johnny Damon did an interview on the Section 10 podcast and it's really good (if you can look past Jared Carrabis being douchey).

I have to feel bad for the guy. The Red Sox didn't even offer him an extension because they were going with Ellsbury. He courted the Tigers but they were bringing up a rookie Curtis Granderson, then he called on the Dodgers but they had just given big money to Rafael Furcal to bat leadoff and didn't have the budget. So the Yankees were the only team offering him a reasonable contract to play baseball in 2006, and the Red Sox fans acted like he was satan for it. The interview also revealed that in 2010 at the waiver deadline the Red Sox had a deal in place with the Tigers to bring him back here, but he was still not in a good place mentally, plus the Sox were 6 games out at that point, so he invoked his NTC to block it. He didn't want to go back into Yankee Stadium in September as a Red Sock and was also afraid of still being booed at Fenway. Poor guy got screwed over hard by circumstance.

 

[CDJ]

I’ll never hate Damon

 

[DKH]

FWIW, Johnny Damon did an interview on the Section 10 podcast and it's really good (if you can look past Jared Carrabis being douchey).

I have to feel bad for the guy. The Red Sox didn't even offer him an extension because they were going with Ellsbury. He courted the Tigers but they were bringing up a rookie Curtis Granderson, then he called on the Dodgers but they had just given big money to Rafael Furcal to bat leadoff and didn't have the budget. So the Yankees were the only team offering him a reasonable contract to play baseball in 2006, and the Red Sox fans acted like he was satan for it. The interview also revealed that in 2010 at the waiver deadline the Red Sox had a deal in place with the Tigers to bring him back here, but he was still not in a good place mentally, plus the Sox were 6 games out at that point, so he invoked his NTC to block it. He didn't want to go back into Yankee Stadium in September as a Red Sock and was also afraid of still being booed at Fenway. Poor guy got screwed over hard by circumstance.

Damon was sitting 4 rows infront of me at the Bruins game in Tampa last year. He was with 3 other guys and after the game when it cleared out my daughter wanted to go meet him. We took a picture and she started talking to one of the other guys so I ended up with Johnny. I told Johnny I remember when he came up with the Royals with all those prospects including Carlos Beltran and current Red Sox coach Carlos Febles (I didn’t mention to Johnny I played in an APBA baseball league which was why so up on all this) and I mentioned how I thought Febles would be a star but never got there. Johnny loved talking about those guys in KC. We got to game 7 of the 2004 Yankees series when he hit 2 homers including a GS. I mentioned I was 8 in the ‘67 Impossible Dream season and that was my foundation for my love of baseball. I told him I was still not over 1986.

He told me the Sox never offered to keep him and he made it known to them he wanted to stay and was open - but they were going to go with Ellsbury. He said he loved Boston but they didn’t want him and the Yankees did.

Damon is right there with the nicest people - forget athletes- I’ve ever met. He was so down to earth.

guy always will be one of my favorites

 

[KrejciMVP]

I always liked Damon, will always remember the 2004 playoffs, thats horrible collision, and the Boston Massacre series when he went to NY

 

[JRull86]

Didnt they not sign Damon because they wanted to sign Coco Crisp? Not because they had Ellsbury slotted as their starting CF.

 

[CDJ]

Ellsbury had just been drafted- if I had to guess what happened I’d say the Sox probably wanted Damon back on a short term deal which would make no sense for Johnny to accept. They didn’t retain Damon and then had a need for a CF as Ellsbury had only just been drafted 6 months before so they went out and flipped Andy Marte for Coco Crisp




Sometimes I forget about Coco Crisp. I liked him.

 

[JRull86]

Ellsbury had just been drafted- if I had to guess what happened I’d say the Sox probably wanted Damon back on a short term deal which would make no sense for Johnny to accept. They didn’t retain Damon and then had a need for a CF as Ellsbury had only just been drafted 6 months before so they went out and flipped Andy Marte for Coco Crisp




Sometimes I forget about Coco Crisp. I liked him.

Oh yeah that's right, they traded for Crisp.

 

[CDJ]

It was in a way Edgar Renteria for Crisp, as the Sox had just acquired Marte for Renteria not all that long before

Ellsbury was projected as a fast riser due to his speed/defense coupled with him being a polished college player....he slashed .317/.418/.432 with more walks than strikeouts and 23 steals in 35 games after being drafted so it’s understandable why the Sox wouldn’t make Damon a significant long term offer

Jacoby was a lot of fun to watch. Sucks Damon had to go to the Yankees but if that was his best offer like it seemed to be then more power to him. I can’t hate on him for that