Running 2011 Baseball Thread, Vol. I: Dedicated to spnited

That was quick. Maybe Farrell wishes he hadn't left Boston.

I don't blame him for being fed up. Bill Walsh used to tell his apostles never to stay anywhere 10 years, that it would never end any other way than badly.

 

I'll agree the standards for catchers have changed as the steroid era fades away.

But Montero is very young. Maybe he can develop into a legit catcher. At the least, the Yankees have options--at least three at the major league level right now (granted, that's a technicality b/c of September roster expansion) as well as Gary Sanchez, who is not even 19 yet, down in the minors.

And Martin, as annoying as he is, is a REALLY good defensive catcher. It was incredible watching him on a day-to-day basis this year. If he'd take another one-year deal Cashman should sign him ASAP. There's a lot worse things a team can have than Jason Kendall with power.

The Sox, meanwhile, have Jarrod Vowelsandconsonants, who is OK but nobody's idea of a long-term solution or even a short-termer like Martin.

 

I wondered that too. I figured when Farrell left Boston that Francona let him know he wasn't leaving anytime soon.

Then again, Farrell got a lot of credit up there--maybe too much for Lord Theo's liking. Perhaps he was encouraged to go. Who knows?

 

And to be fair, it's not like the Yanks just dumped him, they got a very good player in return. If you look at Kennedy's numbers before he was traded, there wasn't anything that jumped out and said hang on to him. More hits than innings pitched, almost a 1:1 K/BB ratio and in the AL East that just doesn't work.

I also think that as things were progressing, the Yankees had three young arms in Kennedy, Hughes and Chamberlain and felt they could move one in that three-team deal to get Granderson. Now if Kennedy was the only one they had in the farm system, the might not do such a trade.

 

Bill Buckner would like to announce that he's no longer taking any shit.

 

Yeah, Buckner threw out the first pitch at the 2008 opener. He hasn't taken shit for years. Per usual, you don't have a clue. Stick to what you know--whatever fragment of information that is--and away from the big boy baseball thread.

 

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/7952063-419/tito-wants-out-of-beantown.html

Francona wants out!

Who will they tap to replace him?

Just throwing this out there, but why not Mike Hargrove?

 

Because sneaking into a one-game playoff for a postseason berth and actually winning the World Series for the first time in 68 years are, you know, exactly the same thing.

 

Montero will probably DH next year, unless the Yanks lose in the playoffs and overwhelm Seattle for King Felix, which is highly unlikely. Maybe they'll try to work him in behind the plate a few games, especially in NL ballparks, and keep trying to get him to improve, or teach him perhaps to play right field as an eventual Swisher replacement.

Martin was really seen as a one-year stopgap that they hoped would stay healthy and turn out OK for them, and he has. I think his contract is up after this year, and it'll be interesting to see if they want to re-sign him. I'm guessing Martin would want a multi-year deal, which the Yankees probably won't want to give him.

Romine wasn't really even supposed to be called up this year, except as a Sept. replacement who would play in 10-run games. But injuries to both Martin and Cervelli forced them to move him up and throw him into the lineup. His fielding is fine, but his hitting needs work, and you really can't judge what he's done in New York so far, considering that he has another couple of years to develop.

Cervelli is little more than a journeyman backup catcher who, if he stays healthy and avoids any more concussions, will probably play for 7 or 8 teams in 15 years. The pitchers seem to like working with him and his fielding is decent.

They also have Sanchez, but he's very young, and it'll be a few years yet. And I don't see Posada coming back, unless he fully understands that he should be happy with $500K and being the 25th man on the bench. Somehow, I think he tries to squeeze in another year, maybe with Oakland.

 

I've got a better chance of playing for the Yankees next year than Posada does. I hope he goes somewhere and hits 25 bombs, 17 against the Yankees and that prick Girardi.

 

As a Cardinal fan, I'm very thankful and appreciate to the Phillies for their work in Atlanta this week, but I have to wonder if they did themselves a disservice by not laying down against the Braves. St. Louis is 6-3 against Philly this year. In terms of maximizing their chance of winning a title, would think they'd have been better off going against Arizona in round 1 and have the staggering Braves in the mix vs. the Cardinals.

Oh, and in terms of how this plays out: Cardinals over the Rays in 7. It's density, McFly.

 

Should I start a playoff thread