Protecting the Shields -- The Nick Cafardo Thread

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joe dokes

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My goodness, what is he saying about the .500 Yankees? Time for the fire sale?:D
Cafardo’s take? It’s time to create a new show for Bill Cosby.

Honestly, I could get through this column today. First week of baseball? Let’s talk some TV and ballwash Tom Warner.

For a guy who’s been in the business for decades, his journalistic instincts fucking suck.
 

CoffeeNerdness

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That article is particularly dumb, even for Nick. It all basically comes down to him needing to crowbar this dig into the article:

These are normal early -season questions, but it’s obvious that the “launch angle” concept hasn’t taken hold quite yet.
The Cora Red Sox with their analytics guys in the dugout and their real time video analysis and their not doing drills in the hot Florida sun until they're exhausted have to be driving him nuts.
 

Granite Sox

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In his two starts, Chris Sale hasn’t looked like his overpowering self. Maybe his command hasn’t been the greatest. Maybe there’s something a little bit off. Having said all that, between the Rays and Marlins — granted, second-rate teams — Sale has allowed just one run over 11 innings, striking out 15.

Sale hasn’t pitched deep into either game, leaving after five innings Tuesday night with his pitch count at 93, one more pitch than he threw in his first outing against Tampa Bay. It could be that getting hit off the hip in his final spring training tuneup is affecting him, even though Sale said he’s fine.

Maybe it’s best that Sale didn’t crank it up against the inferior lineups of these two teams. Maybe it’s better he save it for the Yankees, Orioles, Blue Jays, or another team against which he needs to use his strikeout arsenal more.
Four times in the first three paragraphs. Drives me insane.
 

CoffeeNerdness

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2. Alex Cora hasn’t been a big fan of the new buzz phrase “launch angle.” He basically dismissed it when speaking about the Red Sox’ offense recently, bringing it up out of the blue. He emphasized that his team needs to swing at strikes, which in his mind is the most important thing for a hitter to do.

3. Not a big fan of exit-velocity numbers, but for those of you who are, the top three through Thursday’s games on “average” exit velocity were 92.7 (m.p.h.) by Elvis Andrus, 92.1 by Xander Bogaerts, and 91.0 by Starlin Castro. The highest exit velocity was Giancarlo Stanton’s 117.9 off an 88-mp.h. pitch by Blake Snell.
The man hates anything new.
 

shaggydog2000

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Has it ever actually occurred to him what "exit-velocity numbers" is?

Because it's not really all that new.
It's more that he used to be able to say "So-and-so hits the ball harder than anyone else in the American League", but now if he did, someone would point out that there are actual numbers that measure these things, and that old Nick is laughably wrong about his assertion. So he could find out where these numbers are, and do actual work before writing an article, or he could just fart out another fluff piece hating on numbers and praising scouts. I'm assuming someone sends him these stats, and he occasionally uses them while talking about how he hates them for some reason. Maybe because his bosses asked him to?
 

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It's more that he used to be able to say "So-and-so hits the ball harder than anyone else in the American League", but now if he did, someone would point out that there are actual numbers that measure these things, and that old Nick is laughably wrong about his assertion. So he could find out where these numbers are, and do actual work before writing an article, or he could just fart out another fluff piece hating on numbers and praising scouts. I'm assuming someone sends him these stats, and he occasionally uses them while talking about how he hates them for some reason. Maybe because his bosses asked him to?
Screw you science guy.
 

Sir Lancelotti

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Its a lot easier to write "Jim Rice was feared, I was there" and collect a probable six figure paycheck than go through the arduous task of opening up a new browser and looking up pedestrian walk totals on Baseball-reference. Lets not complicate things here.

Exit velocity! launch angle! Robots are here and they coming for your jobs! All this and more on tonight's edition of 60 minutes!
 

Reverend

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Like anyone who loved baseball growing up never asked why they couldn't put the radar gun on the ball after it was hit.
 

E5 Yaz

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"They've usurped our history. 'Cut and Paste' meant something when you had to use your good scissors and a glue gun!"
 

Quiddity

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Its a lot easier to write "Jim Rice was feared, I was there" and collect a probable six figure paycheck than go through the arduous task of opening up a new browser and looking up pedestrian walk totals on Baseball-reference. Lets not complicate things here.

Exit velocity! launch angle! Robots are here and they coming for your jobs! All this and more on tonight's edition of 60 minutes!
Do we really think he is making a six figure salary when they could easily find a 25 year old at half, if not even less than that who if anything would probably provide even more quality work than him?
 

shaggydog2000

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Do we really think he is making a six figure salary when they could easily find a 25 year old at half, if not even less than that who if anything would probably provide even more quality work than him?
Pretty much, yeah. I don't know why either.
 

joe dokes

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Do we really think he is making a six figure salary when they could easily find a 25 year old at half, if not even less than that who if anything would probably provide even more quality work than him?
For better and worse, I think there's a union behind him.
 

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Do we really think he is making a six figure salary when they could easily find a 25 year old at half, if not even less than that who if anything would probably provide even more quality work than him?
There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s making six figures. And the reason why the Globe hasn’t replaced him is because of the newspaper union.

Edit: pretty much what the last two posters said.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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Most veteran reporters have left the newspaper world and have gone to the web, whether it's ESPN or the Athletic or the BSJ or even writing for the city's sports radio and TV stations. There are a group of people who haven't like Shaughnessy and Steve Buckley, whom I assume get paid to much to make a jump and are old souls who seem to like the newspaper biz.

With so many of his beat colleagues leaving, isn't it odd that Cafardo is still at the Globe? He's not a general columnist like the CHB or Buckley, he's been writing the same stuff for 30+ years. His pension is probably vested. Why does he stay at the Globe? He's sort of a name, right? And no matter how badly he uses them, he DOES have connections. There are hacks all over the place and guys who have lost their fastballs years ago, yet to some people their names mean something. Why hasn't some online rag picked Cafardo up?

I wonder if it's his choice or the market's?
 

joe dokes

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Most veteran reporters have left the newspaper world and have gone to the web, whether it's ESPN or the Athletic or the BSJ or even writing for the city's sports radio and TV stations. There are a group of people who haven't like Shaughnessy and Steve Buckley, whom I assume get paid to much to make a jump and are old souls who seem to like the newspaper biz.

With so many of his beat colleagues leaving, isn't it odd that Cafardo is still at the Globe? He's not a general columnist like the CHB or Buckley, he's been writing the same stuff for 30+ years. His pension is probably vested. Why does he stay at the Globe? He's sort of a name, right? And no matter how badly he uses them, he DOES have connections. There are hacks all over the place and guys who have lost their fastballs years ago, yet to some people their names mean something. Why hasn't some online rag picked Cafardo up?

I wonder if it's his choice or the market's?

I think its his. His contributions seem to have "evolved" only in the sense that his deadlines have moved up. His "tomorrow" newspaper stuff is done "today" by mid-afternoon. I think most on-line rags would probably require more in the way of real-time reporting, which, [speculation alert] I dont see as his thing. He has a pretty comfortable lifestyle. He might enjoy the travel grind and seeing old friends in every city. He just may not be interested in switching horses. From his perspective, it's understandable. Whatever his shortcomings, he'd

His pension is probably vested. But he may not be old enough to avoid taking some sort of "early collection" haircut. Combine the haircut with surrendering a 6-figure salary a few years early, and it makes some sense why he's sticking it out at the Glob. Giving up the paycheck, and getting both pension and Soc. sec. benefits shrunk by early collection takes a serious bite out of a financially secure retirement.
 

CoffeeNerdness

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I wonder when Nick will refer to his own Sox offensive doom and gloom article with a comment like "we were all worried about the Red Sox early season offensive woes." I say at least by late May.
 

InstantKarmma

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There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s making six figures. And the reason why the Globe hasn’t replaced him is because of the newspaper union.

Edit: pretty much what the last two posters said.
When I was at the Globe, "Columnist" was a union position with a published pay scale. A select handful of columnists, though, including Shaughnessey, Barnicle and some others, had the title of "Associate Editor" (or something similar) and were exempt employees, so who knows how much they made. I suspect that Cafardo falls into the exempt category, too.

Edit: This was, to me, one of the biggest problems with the Globe union (then BGEA, now Newspaper guild, I think, so it may be different) - exempt employees doing unit work. It happened in the newsroom, and where I was in I.T. Programmers and systems analysts were in the union, but I (and some others) were promoted out of the union but still did unit work. The only difference was my paycheck was much bigger and I got much bigger bonuses. It greatly weakened the union, which in hindsight, is a bad thing.

And yeah, if he's been there for 30 years, his pension is vested. Mine was vested and I was there for 21 years.
 
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Humphrey

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I wonder who came up with his story about ties today. I actually like the idea, although I would go with the Japanese rule which is 12 innings. Going home after 9 doesn't cut it, but given the current pitching situation, where it's a miracle that anyone out of the pen can go for more than two innings (and two is streching it for a lot of guys), these marathon ballgames don't make much sense for anyone.
 

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This beauty from Nicky today,
7. Sam Travis, 1B, Red Sox — Travis’s success at Triple A Pawtucket is definitely tied into how close Hanley Ramirez will come to attaining the 497 plate appearances he needs to kick in a $22 million vesting option for 2019. Travis started 4 for 20 at Pawtucket after a sizzling spring training.
Nick believes that the Sox are going to manipulate Hanley's at bats to avoid the vesting option. I mean, I guess that's possible and others have so speculated. But one, if Hanley performs, I think they will absorb the hit. Period. And two, Travis' performance at Pawtucket will be just one factor. Meaning that the only way the Sox would sit down Hanley would be if Hanley is underperforming or misses time due to injury and they had a better option for his spot. Travis is one such option, but Mitch Moreland is on the major league roster and could simply play a lot more. Sigh.
 

CoffeeNerdness

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Also, “Keep in mind that Marlins president and CEO Derek Jeter never played on a team with more than 73 losses, the 2014 Yankees.”
I'll certainly keep that nugget in mind, Nick and Bill.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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ballwashing of actual current yankees conspicuously absent this week.
The Yankees didn't play one game at all this week. Weather totally played havoc with their schedule and the New Yorkers haven't had a game since their first one in Toronto when GC Stanton went yard twice.
 

tims4wins

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It's been fixed

What messed up Swihart’s career, at least temporarily, was that he fractured his ankle while playing the outfield and missed most of last season.
 

joe dokes

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https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2018/04/17/mookie-betts-mike-trout-who-gets-nod/zstyKLTtsyjUpGwCk2FefI/story.html
So I asked 10 evaluators (a combination of scouts and GMs) to choose one over the other, and the answer was predictably in favor of Trout. I thought he would get all 10 votes. He got seven of the 10. Here are some responses:
. . . . . . . .
“Haven’t seen Trout play in person since 2011, but with that in mind, I’ll go with Betts,” said an American League scout.
If Nick was covering Watergate, his "DeepThroat" would have given him inside information on Estes Kefauver.
 

Humphrey

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Bautista got signed by the Braves. So Nick will devote a paragraph a week tracking his progress...and, assuming the Braves continue to suck...concoct deals with contenders to pick him up
 

Humphrey

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I richly deserved that sarcastic post! Getting as bad as the guy I'm knocking. They and the Phils, both 10-7, have, at least up to this point; snuck up on me.
 

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Cora remembered this special bond LeVangie had with the pitchers and his ability to scout and pick up trends when he was the team’s advance scout.
What a passive-aggressive doofus.

Along with his typical leg-humping of LaRussa and Dave Duncan, this was a particularly obsequious article.
 
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joe dokes

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As usual, Nick is right on top of things, pointing out how no team ever in the history of anything has ever survived a two-game losing streak or even a two-game batting slump (edited to preserve consistent stupidity):


OAKLAND — The Red Sox have lost two straight for the first time this season. Do the bad times end here? This will be the test this team faces as they head into a three-game series against the Blue Jays starting Tuesday.

But over the last two games, where have all the runs gone? The Red Sox led the league in runs scored heading into the last two games.


The runs have vanished. These pesky Oakland A’s took them away. They have turned the vibrant can’t-be-stopped lineup into something resembling the Miami Marlins over the last two games, being no-hit Saturday night and then scoring only one run in Sunday’s 4-1 loss, decided when Khris Davis broke a 1-1 tie with a three-run homer off David Price in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Who knows if the no-hitter spun by lefthander Sean Manaea has spiraled Boston into a slump. Is it a case of two A’s pitching that well? Righthander Daniel Mengden was also mowing them down Sunday until he ran into trouble in the seventh, when the Sox scored their only run.

The Sox had hit some balls hard throughout the day, but few were falling in.

And so we await the test. Will the Red Sox spiral into a bad spell, or can they lift themselves up again?
http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2018/04/22/new-challenge-for-red-sox-put-quick-stop-skid/Bx6swGkr0FQXSUrqwvK64K/story.html
 

Van Everyman

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Eh, let’s hit Cafardo when he really deserves it. It’s perfectly legitimate to talk about whether this is the first real test of the team’s mettle – and he’s right to point out that teams may be adjusting to their their aggressive approach at the plate.

That said, one thing I find kind of amusing during this “My God, What Happened to the Offense?!?” reaction is that no one seems to remember how slow the offense was out of the gate. Without their pitching, the team probably starts the first ten games of the season around .500. So results aside, it’s not as if they’ve been firing on all cylinders for 20 games solid.
 

joe dokes

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The Red Sox, meanwhile, have been mired in a bit of mediocrity (they have won six of their last 10), which has allowed the Yankees to gain ground.
6 of 10 is a 97 win pace.
 

Humphrey

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6 of 10 is a 97 win pace.
He's already made it seem like an indisputable fact hat you are supposed to go undefeated against the bottom 4 or 5 AL teams...which even if the Sox and/or Yanks win between 95-105 games ain't gonna happen.
 

The Gray Eagle

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"Luis Severino is the ace of all aces, averaging more than 97 miles per hour with his fastball and just dominating on the mound as the Yankees’ No. 1 starter."

The ace of all aces? Is this some Yankee fan blog or the Boston Globe?
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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"Luis Severino is the ace of all aces, averaging more than 97 miles per hour with his fastball and just dominating on the mound as the Yankees’ No. 1 starter."

The ace of all aces? Is this some Yankee fan blog or the Boston Globe?
Is this from his front page column from yesterday, May 6, announcing that "The Yankees are coming! The Yankees are coming!"? Because honestly, I didn't have the strength to read 1500 words talking about how great the Yankees are and how the Red Sox are lucky to be in the position that they're in.

* And BTW, I was a little embarrassed to see that story front and center on the Globe sports page. Think that the Post, Times, Daily News or any other New York papers had that? It was a minor league effort.
 

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"Luis Severino is the ace of all aces, averaging more than 97 miles per hour with his fastball and just dominating on the mound as the Yankees’ No. 1 starter."

The ace of all aces? Is this some Yankee fan blog or the Boston Globe?
Severino: 5-1, 2.11 ERA, 47 IP in 7 starts (6.7 IP/start), .851 WHIP, 10.0 K/9, 4.33 K/BB

Other arguable American League "aces"
Verlander: 4-1, 1.17 ERA, 53.2 IP in 8 starts (6.7 IP/start), .708 WHIP, 11.7 K/9, 6.36 K/BB
Cole: 3-1, 1.42 ERA, 50.2 IP in 7 starts (7.2 IP/start), .691 WHIP, 13.7 K/9, 8.56 K/BB
Sale: 3-1, 2.02 ERA, 49 IP in 8 starts (6.1 IP/start), .939 WHIP, 11.6 K/9, 5.73 K/BB
Porcello: 5-0, 2.14 ERA, 46.1 IP in 7 starts (6.6 IP/start), .820 WHIP, 8.9 K/9, 9.20 K/BB
Kluber: 5-1, 2.41 ERA, 52.1 IP in 7 starts (7.5 IP/start), .783 WHIP, 9.1 K/9, 5.89 K/BB
Manaea: 4-3, 1.63 ERA, 49.2 IP in 7 starts (7 IP/start), .664 WHIP, 7.6 K/9, 6.00 K/BB

Yup, Cafardo's right, Severino stands out over all of them. :rolleyes:
 
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