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Post by jerseyhoya34 on May 12, 2006 17:01:47 GMT -5
Wow... Cool news... Congratulations to the ex-Janitor.
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Post by AustinHoya03 on May 12, 2006 20:11:34 GMT -5
I found Matsui's comments regarding his injury interesting: Matsui Apologizes For Getting HurtSounds like Matsui may be the only guy on the team Steinbrenner actually likes. Of course, what's not to like about a guy who hits around .300 and quietly drives in and scores 100+ runs every season for the Yanks without having a superstar complex? Big shoes to fill for Melky/Bubba.
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DanMcQ
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Post by DanMcQ on May 12, 2006 20:15:15 GMT -5
Wow... Cool news... Congratulations to the ex-Janitor. Careful, fella. John was light years ahead of any SID you have ever known.
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Post by RockawayHoya on May 12, 2006 21:48:16 GMT -5
Yanks now a game ahead in the loss column after Wang throws 8 IP of shutout ball against Oakland and the Rangers shut out the Sox in a rain-shortened game.
I'll agree with Bridge and give credit where credit is due (regarding Beckett, Schilling, and Papelbon). All 3 have gotten off to good starts this year, especially Papelbon, who is still inexperienced. Although Papelbon's got great stuff (no one can deny that), I'd still like to see how he performs in pressure situations (i.e. postseason) before I can respect him as a big time closer. Schilling and Beckett could be potential Cy Young candidates, but I don't honestly expect either of them to win it (questions mainly about their durability). The Red Sox offense should be fine, and shouldn't struggle to win more than 90-95 games.
As for the Yanks, Matsui's loss kills us. I have absolutely no faith in Cabrera, although I do like the hustle and determination (as well as the fact he can actually hit Wakefield) of Bubba Crosby. We should have enough offense to win 90-95 games (as several have already pointed out), but I don't forsee this team going deep into the postseason unless someone else on the pitching staff can start giving Moose some help. RJ has been terrible, and he really does look like he's starting to decline physically. Pavano is reportedly coming back soon, but no one knows what to expect from him after such a long layoff. Chacon and Wang have performed admirably, but who knows how they'll hold up over the length of a full season (although Wang has been tremendously consistent over the past year and a half when not injured).
I'm most interested to see how Bernie, who obviously was not expecting to see more than 200-250 ABs this year, performs on a full time basis. If he can give us .270/15/70, I'll be more than happy.
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Bahstin
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Post by Bahstin on May 14, 2006 10:38:17 GMT -5
I agree 100% with Borat. Papelbon should be a starter. Let Foulke (or give Hanson a shot) close the games. If you are good enough to be a starter, you should be a starter.
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DanMcQ
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Post by DanMcQ on May 14, 2006 12:01:11 GMT -5
While Borat may be right, Foulke is not there yet nor is Hanson. The Sox may get there by the end of the year, but they'd be crazy to move Papelbon out of the closer's role at this point in the season.
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Hank Scorpio
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Post by Hank Scorpio on May 14, 2006 21:50:29 GMT -5
Hansen is in the minors to develop his pitches. He will be the closer eventually, but he is not there yet, so bringing him along slowly is the best thing for his career. That said...saying Foulke isn't there yet is just false. Foulke is sporting a 0.91 WHIP, a 218 batting average against, and, a 6:1 K to BB ratio. His ERA is 3.68, but, aside from that, his numbers are in line with his 2004 season, where he posted a 0.94 whip, 208 BAA, 5.7:1 K/BB ratio. Papelbon in the bullpen is a waste. Should the Red Sox miss the playoffs by 1 or 2 games, they will be able to point to any number of the miserable innings provided by Matt Clement and Lenny Dinardo and regret not having Papelbon in there instead. Questions? Comments? Fire Joe Morgan While Borat may be right, Foulke is not there yet nor is Hanson. The Sox may get there by the end of the year, but they'd be crazy to move Papelbon out of the closer's role at this point in the season.
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DanMcQ
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Post by DanMcQ on May 15, 2006 21:44:16 GMT -5
Disagree on Foulke. He still looks a bit shaky at times. Anyway, moving Papelbon now is like changing underwear in the middle of a Hoya winning streak. Agree that Papelbon in the rotation is the long range way to go.
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SFHoya99
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Post by SFHoya99 on May 16, 2006 14:40:18 GMT -5
How many pitches does Papelbon throw? It's hard to get through a lineup 3-4 times without three plus pitches. You simply cannot be an elite starter in the majors today with a nice fastball, a plus breaking pitch and an acceptable change (splitter acceptable). The only elite starter I know of in the past ten years without this combo was Randy Johnson, and he's 6'10".
The sabermetric adage was that a starter is worth more than a closer. Well, yes, but once you factor in leverage, a well-used closer (70-80 IP) can be as valuable as a 200 IP pitcher.
Now an elite 200 IP starter will be more valuable than an elite, well-used closer. But the closer could be worth more if the starter isn't elite. In other words, if Papelbon is a 2.50 ERA closer who goes 80 high leverage innings, he could be worth more like that and a 3.50 ERA starter who throws 200 IP over 30+ starts.
A final factor -- how old is Papelbon? Is he still in the injury nexus (25 and under)? It might not be a bad idea to keep him pen-bound for a year to phase him in to big time major league innings.
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SFHoya99
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Post by SFHoya99 on May 16, 2006 14:51:35 GMT -5
For example, according to BP's WXRL stat, which measures wins above replacement level taking into account situations/leverage (in other words, hitting a home run in the ninth innings of a 15-2 blowout earns you less than hitting one in the bottom of the ninth of a tie game),
Papelbon - 2.2 WXRL so far this year, whereas Schilling, in 2.5x the IP, has probably been about 1.5 wins above replacement level.
Now Papelbon's been dominant and Schilling has been very good for Fenway but not dominant, but I hardly think you could expect Papelbon to be better than Schilling.
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Bahstin
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Post by Bahstin on May 16, 2006 21:53:38 GMT -5
Agreed, SFHoya. But "replacement level" is generic. In this specific situation, the closer replacement would be a (seemingly) very capable Foulke, whereas Papelbon would be replacing a very over-matched Lenny DiNardo in the starting rotation. Out of curiosity, what are Foulke and DiNardo's WXRL, VORP, or whatever?
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SFHoya99
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Post by SFHoya99 on May 17, 2006 12:29:38 GMT -5
Agreed, SFHoya. But "replacement level" is generic. In this specific situation, the closer replacement would be a (seemingly) very capable Foulke, whereas Papelbon would be replacing a very over-matched Lenny DiNardo in the starting rotation. Out of curiosity, what are Foulke and DiNardo's WXRL, VORP, or whatever? Foulke was capable...so I guess that is the question -- can he get back to where he was? BP projected a 4.00 ERA for DiNardo this year, but that hasn't happened so far. He's been awful. Manny Delcarmen's got a projected ERA in the mid-5's, so no help there. BP's projection system has the opinion that Foulke is done. But he's obviously pitched pretty decent this year. So, you're probably right. Though I might wait a year to move Papelbon. But in any case, even if Foulke bombs, relievers are much easier to find than starters. On Papelbon himself, he is already 25, and while he's never really been a starter, even in college, he does apparently have a good change and breaking ball. So I'm with you. Toss him in.
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Post by AustinHoya03 on May 17, 2006 17:34:20 GMT -5
Disagree on Foulke. He still looks a bit shaky at times. Isn't that a Kenny Williams quote from 2002? Perhaps the Red Sox should look at acquiring Billy Koch in a set-up role... If you look at Foulke's career numbers, his WHIP has only been over 1.00 once since 1999, which was his third year in the bigs. IMO, last season was an anomaly. On closers in general, I would guess almost any scrub from any major league bullpen can close with a 75% success rate or higher (but have no actual statistics to back that up). Look at Tampa Bay's closer situation right now -- Ty Walker has been doing an okay job. Joe Borowski has a an ERA of over 5.00 but has blown only one save for Florida. Boston doesn't need a lights-out closer when Foulke is the second option. Papelbon should have gone into the rotation at the beginning of the season, especially since the Sox hinted they were seriously considering it all spring.
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hoyarooter
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Post by hoyarooter on May 18, 2006 11:54:39 GMT -5
I may despise the Yankees, but wow, that double-comeback the other night against Texas was sick.
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RDF
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Post by RDF on May 21, 2006 22:33:32 GMT -5
No idea where to put this and didn't want to start another thread, but since Yanks play Sox tomorrow, thought it'd be fitting to put more NO ROD as in nothing that resembles a male aka A-ROTTEN, bashing on the board.
This guy sucks. I not only hate him, but he backs up my hatred any time a game has meaning or he's needed. But never fear Yankee fans--after another disasterous series against Boston where a so called MVP should carry a team that is hampered by injuries, we'll see him hit 3/4 HR's against the Royals next weekend as that is what this man does--puts up numbers against bad teams and with game decided. Just proves time and time again that he's the CURSE that Boston needed to reverse their fortune and everything about this guy speaks to failing. Sooner he leaves, the better. I only hope he demands to leave and "return" to SS somewhere else. He's garbage.
And Gammons doesn't get it--his little sympathy commentary was an inning too soon--the 8th inning is why Yankee fans (and yes the majority of them do dislike this guy and think he's overrated Borat) can't stand him. NO ROD is a choker, plain and simple. Say what you want about others failing, but the 8th inning saw bases loaded and nobody out and majority of Baseball fans who know the sport knew NY had one shot--Giambi--as the upcoming DP was a guarantee--if there were 2 outs--it would have been the K--most likely looking with him nodding or doing something annoying. I hate him more then any other athlete to ever play on a team I follow. Just a gutless, coward who asked for the big stage and fails time and time again.
Only nice thing was seeing his rear pulled even if it was to avoid having to pinch hit in the 9th.
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Hank Scorpio
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Post by Hank Scorpio on May 22, 2006 10:24:50 GMT -5
Yawn. Another A-Rod rant by RDF. Thanks for letting me know what the majority of Yankee fans think about A-Rod. I think the majority of Yankee fans are idiots that feed into the stereotype of "arrogant and ignorant" as well as "entitled". You have no idea how proud I am to be in the minority.
- Free Colter Bean
PS - A-Rod is OPS'ng 900 vs the BoSox this season, including the go ahead HR of Schilling 2 weeks back that I almost caught. Actually, his worst OPS numbers are against the D-Rays, Royals, and Orioles.
Jeter is OPS'ng 871 vs the BoSox this year without a single extra base hit. His best OPS numbers are against the Angels, Royals, and Orioles.
Connect the dots.
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RDF
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Post by RDF on May 22, 2006 12:42:07 GMT -5
Borat, take great pride in loving this guy all you want, but the biggest fact is he's supposedly the best player in baseball, and when your lineup is decimated by injury, you expect great players to step up--what has this clown done? What has Jeter done? I don't care what the numbers say, if I have to have a hit I take Jeter at the plate over this clown any day of the week. I'd take Mekly Cabrera up at the plate over A-Rod too. The guy is a joke and fact you point to his AB against an injured Curt Schilling is great--what did he do against the Angels in the postseason? His error killed the Yankees in Game 2, his hitting was beyond atrocious and when Jeter got things going in the 9th in deciding Game 5, who came up to kill that?
But go ahead and keep putting up those pretty numbers and stats--they are pretty and can be manipulated. Question is why do many people see things too late? Let me ask you this? You ever play Baseball? Did you play it at the college level or beyond? Some things go beyond stats and facts are this guy is one of those players who those within the game don't have nearly the respect or hold in high standard as those who love to play Fantasy Baseball or are statistically driven.
I admit I'm biased toward the guys who helped the Yankees get back on top-but I also will be openly critical of them when they do things that are wrong--For instance Jeter's insistance on bunting when he's a .350 hitter drove me nuts last night but it worked out for best--still didn't care for the play. We had one shot to win that game--Giambi getting a hit so A-Rod couldn't F UP the inning and he hit it hard--just got caught up in the wind at Shea. Then as us "ignorant majority" all knew would happen, the COOLER did his thing and the inning is over.
This happens far too often and as a Yankee I can point to far more of these instances then you can come up with and as I said--he's far from the lone reason this team is losing-they are flawed and not very good defensively as a team or strong in starting pitching but man o man do I wish he'd beg for a trade out of NY.
But bigger fish to fry as Yankees continue to go away from what helped them compete/win titles and focus on having this power driven team that can't hit good pitching and is a bunch of butchers in the field.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2006 12:49:08 GMT -5
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Boz
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Post by Boz on May 22, 2006 12:53:52 GMT -5
[/b]?!?[/quote] RDF is Jim Leyritz. Didn't you know that? ;D
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Bahstin
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Post by Bahstin on May 22, 2006 14:20:06 GMT -5
[/b]?!?[/quote] Ah, ha. RDF's rages are steriod induced. He is either Giambi or Sheffield.
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