I was extremely shaken after hearing it because this is one of the first prospects I had followed in a while. I am absolutely heartbroken.
I was extremely shaken after hearing it because this is one of the first prospects I had followed in a while. I am absolutely heartbroken.
So a former associate of mine who works for a baseball publication now was scheduled to interview Taveras back in May. There had been a miscommunication, and no interpreter had been set up. Taveras was extremely nervous about the whole thing, as he wasn't confident at all in his English. Well, apparently the interview went perfectly, and Taveras was beaming at the end that he'd gotten through the interview. He was so giddy that he just kept shaking the interviewers hand and asking for reaffirmation that his English had come through ok. As it was relayed to me, he was just so polite and friendly and happy and young.
Fucking hell.
Most exciting half inning in baseball coming up: Game 7, 9th inning with the home team down by one.
If the Royals come back here, this game and series will be the stuff of legend by tomorrow. If they don't, Madison Bumgarner will be a legend.
Never thought I'd see a pitcher win three games in the same World Series after Randy did it.
Bumgarner is now a legend and he's only like 12 years old.
Amazing performance from Bumgarner this World Series.
Really may be the best pitching performance for a series I've ever seen.
Always figured that would stay Randy in 2001 but this was just so dominant. And for five innings. Legend.
Pedro-esque
Easily one of the best playoff performances by a pitcher ever.Originally Posted by Atty
If a faster runner than Gordon hits that ball in the 9th...
I was actually thinking if ANYONE on the Royals other than he or Butler hit it...
The World Series trophy presented by Chevy, which has technology and stuff.
Red Sox on the verge of signing both Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval. Speculation is that Hanley will play LF leaving Bogaerts at SS.
They need to find some DH time for both those guys.
not a fan of these signings
Bad move on Sandoval, Hanley can be great when he wants to. The problem is having people around him that can help him with the mental crap.
Apparently Ortiz is good friends with Ramirez and Hanley considers him a mentor. Whether or not that matters, we'll see. Ortiz probably won't even be playing in a year or two. I like the Hanley deal a lot more now that it's 4 years with a vesting option for 5. I bet he'll be very good-great in at least two of those years. I'm not a huge fan of the Sandoval signing particularly. They clearly needed an upgrade at third base but was it worth overpaying for this guy? Probably not.
The biggest thing is this frees up a lot of guys as trade chips. Hopeful they can land someone like Hamels, Fister or Zimmerman. I'm not going to hold out hope that Lester signs as well, and honestly I'm not sure I want to see them lock up another guy for 5-7 years anyway.
No James Shields please.
As well as no James Shields could we also not trade Betts or Bogaerts, thanks. Same as Brian, not keen on Sandoval but I guess the FO are looking at 3B in the system and FA and thinking there's is not a whole lot there either now or in the future, still don't like the deal though. I guess these deals will also rule out from signing Moncada which is another sadface.
Somehow sign Lester and trade Cespedes + bits for a capable 2/3 starter. Cafardo (who I really dislike by the way) is reporting Sox are in heavy with Miller as well, which really would be a head scratcher.
Yeah I'm with you guys. Sandoval is a $15 million per year player, not $20, but I think he's coming at a premium since he reached free agency earlier than most at age 28. Hanley is a better talent and worth what he got if he can stay healthy. Money aside though I'm very psyched to have Hanley back in Boston despite his reputation as a locker room disruptor. Definitely adds some excitement to the lineup.
And yeah, some big trades coming for sure. I can't imagine they'd actually go with Hanley at SS so I think Bogaerts is safe. I hope they keep Mookie like you said but if it lands us an ace then I could swallow it.
Only two young controllable aces I can think of is Sale and Strasburg, which would be tasty.
I don't think Miller would be too much of a head scratcher. I'm not totally sold on Koji as the closer beyond this year...if he lasts that long. Miller is an absolute force. I don't know if I'd go four years on him but 3/30 sounds reasonable. I think some team will go crazy and give him 4 or 5 years though.
Head in the clouds there Chris??
Wouldn't have thought Cespedes has nearly that much value.
I think the contracts they've given out possibly show that they don't value Bogaerts and Betts as much as they should, probably because they expect to ship one out in a deal with Hamels. Head scratching moves massively overpaying for the decline of two players who have big question marks in the first place. Sounds familiar for the Red Sox. And you'd assume along with them Craig, Victorino, obviously Cespedes and Middlebrooks are all likely candidates to be shipped out now.
There is absolutely no way Ben Cherington is dealing Xander Bogaerts or Mookie Betts for Cole Hamels, none. Only way possible is if the Phillies eat a significant portion of Hamels contract, which isn't happening. You don't deal a young controllable asset with superstar potential for 4 years of a pitcher being paid market price.
Cespedes and bits was me meaning him along with some of our top prospects (hopefully not Swihart) but you are right I don't think there is that much value to Cespedes. There was talk of Iwakuma (he's the kinda of 2 or more likely number 3 starter I was talking about), so Cespedes along with say Barnes or something like that would be a good pick up. Again I agree with you, Panda is a massive overpay, I differ with you on Ramirez though, I don't think he's a overpay. His question is wether he can remain healthy or not and give us value for his contract. One thing is for certain moves are coming, which at least should fun to speculate on.
Brian, I like (sorta) the 3/10 for Miller but would be surprised to see him sign for that and there's no way we should be offering more years on that, he is, regardless of how good he is, still a reliever and as such very volatile.
Well exactly, you wouldn't think so, but you also "don't" create a log jam of position players by signing older players to long, high valued contracts when you have players like Bogaerts and Betts to fill the roles you are signing these players to fill?
I think 22m a year for an injury prone, declining 31 year old with little defensive value is an overpay to be honest.
Also surprised to see posts from you guys praising the Hanley contract whilst saying you definitely don't want to see a reliable, consistently excellent and similar aged ace like Shields signed.
wtf is Billy Beane doing
Yessssssssss
It's arguable that A-Rod is the WORST 3rd Baseman in the AL east now. Donaldson and Sandoval to compete along with Longoria and Machado. Insane.
Love that Hunter is going back to Minnesota. I grew up watching him in center at the dome.
Has now essentially traded Addison Russell for Marcus Semien
I'm not sure that I even see an argument on that point at this point in time.
Pretty fun day for a White Sox fan.
Beane's been making some weird moves. I'm surprised he didn't think he could get more than Semien for Samardzija. Semien's not a bad player, but best case scenario is he becomes a serviceable 2B with ok fielding and a bottom of the order bat. He's got decent power for a middle infielder. Maybe Marcus Semien was the best guy being offered? Either way, I'm very happy with Rick Hahn's tenure as GM, so far. I'm pretty good with the LaRoche signing, especially considering that it's almost not possible for him to do worse than the guys he's replacing (Dunn and Konerko) did last year.
I'm pretty happy with the Robertson signing, too. I'm not usually a fan of signing free agent closers for big money/years, but the Sox tried a whole bunch of guys at closer last season and all of them were bad.
They still need a left fielder, RH starter, better 3B and bullpen help, but they should, at the very least, be able to contend within the division.
Robertson is really, really good. A lot of Yankee fans wanted him gone, but his k/9 was every bit as good as Betances, and ironically, his worst game last year was his blown save against the White Sox.
He's so bad the Yanks don't even view him as a 3rd baseman anymore. He'll be DH and spend as much time at 1st as he does at 3rd. Unless he's on the dl more than any of those three.
http://m.espn.go.com/mlb/story?storyId=12008073
LESTER SIGNS WITH CUBS
Funny, I didn't know Lester was going to suck next year.
Lots of movement for the cubs this offseason. Madden will make them an instant division contender, I think. Him with deeper pockets and Theo could mean good things
It'll also be interesting if Theo spends even more. I'm not sure they'd be out on Scherzer or Shields, even after signing Lester.
As far as fielders, I feel like the Cubs are in that 'one veteran away' zone. Lots and lots of very young talent that needs a Jake Taylor to bring it all together.
I'm disappointed the Red Sox didn't match the Cubs' offer to Lester as I would be happy to give that to him given the value of an ace who is proven to be successful in the AL East, but I'll need to wait to see what the Sox do the rest of the offseason before I make a final judgment.
A lot of talk about trading someone for Cole Hammels.
What do you logical Sox fans think about that potentially going down?
Yes that's a potential trade that's been discussed at length in this area. Would be great but the question of course is what do the Phillies want to get back, reports today are that they need to be "wowed" in order to let him go. Most Sox fans do not want to see Xander Bogaerts or Mookie Betts traded but are open to trading just about anyone else.
I don't think the Phillies would take less than Bogaerts. A package would start with him as the centerpiece.
i think it might be worth it. The Sox could use a guy like Hammels..makes losing Lester only slightly sting.
So the Dodgers made a bunch of moves. It provides them with stopgates at SS and 2nd until their top prospects are ready. Plus getting rid of Kemp clears part of a logjam.
I don't get it.
Red Sox trade for Porcello.
Tigers get better offensively with Cespedes.
Makes sense for both teams.
I wake up and half the league is traded.
With the money they have, this could well mean The Tigers go hard on keeping Max or getting Shields.
Are the Cubs trying to play baseball or something? Silly Cubs. They will still suck.
Don't get the Dodgers moving Kemp. Either or Crawford, sure, but Kemp? And moving him in division. And paying the other team in the division a huge chunk of his salary.
Boston trades Cespedes for Porcello
Thanks, I missed that when it was posted a half hour ago.
Sox sign Masterson.
Buchholz
Miley
Porcello
Joe Kelly
Masterson
Extremely mediocre rotation if that's what they stick with. I think there's one more coming and then Masterson slides into that 6th starter/long reliever role. Shields perhaps but if they give him a ton of money it'll make letting Lester walk look even worse.
I know. Remember when Jon Lester was good? Like a few days ago? Too bad he sucks now lol. I always liked his talent but the Cubs uniform is seriously cursed. I honestly feel sorry for that team.
He will give them a boost. That is for sure but they are still going to lose more than they win.
I think the Cubs will make the playoffs within the next 2 years
Even if they make the playoffs they will not make the World Series thanks to the billy goat.
Also to make matters worse the NL Central is the most competitive division in all of pro sports. Even if the Cubs are a contender that just means that there are now five teams competing for first in that one divison. Meanwhile the NL east, home of my beloved Atlanta Braves, can be won by the one team that posts an above .500 record.
This division has had it share of bad years but yes the last so many years the wild card has come out this division and it not an easy one to win.
Heard my Braves traded J. Upton to San Diego for new shoelaces AND a bucket of chicken! SUCKERS!
So the Braves OF is BJ and.... who now?
Gattis will move to left and that guy they got in the trade with Heyward in right. Marklesuckyphucky or whatever.
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