Protecting the Shields -- The Nick Cafardo Thread

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Humphrey

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They corrected the Kimbrel/Kelly error in later editions and (shockingly) admitted they made said error.
He had to make his weekly passive/aggressive shot at the Sox for passing Brentz over by mentioning how Chavis edged him out for some minor league award.
 

joe dokes

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Nick is practicing his "getting hit in the head" lessons, while he writes:

The Astros were 21-23 against lefthanded starters. The Red Sox have three lefty starters. So do you exploit that by going with Eduardo Rodriguez in your ALDS starting rotation, joining Chris Sale and Drew Pomeranz, over righties Rick Porcello and/or Doug Fister?
Or does having three lefties in the rotation give the Astros a chance to adjust and counteract it?
Or does it mean absolutely nothing?
Perhaps a fair question. Perhaps not.


Despite the record, the Astros have decent numbers against lefties in general. They have hit .278 with a .348 on-base percentage and .466 slugging percentage (.814 OPS) against lefties. That’s not bad, but the wins and losses don’t match that kind of output.
Josh Reddick, traditionally a player who struggles against lefties, is hitting .315 against them in 92 at-bats. Carlos Correa is hitting .391 with five homers and 19 RBIs. Jose Altuve is batting .353 against them, and George Springer .301 with nine homers and 19 RBIs.
You benefit by it with Carlos Beltran, a switch-hitter, who is hitting only .185 righthanded. Catcher Brian McCann is at .227.
So its really only two guys? (Really just 1. Beltran. McCann's split isn;t all that dramatic. He's just sort of a blah hitter).

So when you start to break it down, could the bevy of lefty starters be the great equalizer between these playoff teams?
Maybe. Maybe not. Since its just Beltran we're talking about.

Before Price, the Red Sox had a situational lefty in Robby Scott and an extra lefty in Fernando Abad. Now they have a legitimate Andrew Miller-like lefty they can use in high-leverage situations. Sometimes in the playoffs you’re not so concerned with lefty/righty. You simply want to go with your best pitchers regardless.
Two good points. Playoff Nick?

Sucker.

You wonder if the lefty thing has gotten into Houston’s head. You wonder, too, if they would use it as a rallying cry in case Boston did left-hand them to death.
*You* wonder. But who best to accompany "you" on "your" Tour of Wonderment?:

“Whether it’s in their heads or not, the bottom line is the bottom line,” said one AL scout at the ballpark Sunday. “They have a losing record against lefthanders. There’s a reason for that. Whether it’s because they don’t get the big hits when they need it or whether lefties make them feel uncomfortable, it’s a fact and they’re aware of it.”
Its a fact that only one guy is really bad against LHPs.

Public servant Nick, apparently aware that the above scout was asleep when he said the above, tried to paraphrase for us:
Maybe it’s physical, maybe it’s mental — and maybe it’s a combination of both. Your opponent has a weakness so you need to take the chance and throw lefthanders at it until it shows it can beat you.
Makes sense, right? (For St. Nick, anyway).
Sucker.
Houston hits a tiny bit better against LH starters than against RH starters.



To sum it up:
The Astros have very few negative numbers. When the opponent scored first they were 30-40.
So if you score first and your lefty starter pitches well, there’s a mighty good chance you can beat the Astros.
Because scoring first when your *righty* starter pitches well is a recipe for disaster.
 

shaggydog2000

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It's like Nick started looking at numbers, but they really confused him. So he went with wins and batting averages for a bit, because those are good number, not evil geek numbers, but then he just started seeing all these other geek numbers, and it scared him. So he called a scout. Feeling re-assured he proceeded to just make up bullshit like usual instead of maybe looking at numbers that cover exactly what he is talking about, like leveraged hitting.
 

joe dokes

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It's like Nick started looking at numbers, but they really confused him. So he went with wins and batting averages for a bit, because those are good number, not evil geek numbers, but then he just started seeing all these other geek numbers, and it scared him. So he called a scout. Feeling re-assured he proceeded to just make up bullshit like usual instead of maybe looking at numbers that cover exactly what he is talking about, like leveraged hitting.
He's like a roomba. Hits an obstacle and turns in a different direction.
 

Humphrey

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So Nick thinks "baseball people in the know" would have put Pedro out there for the 8th inning 14 years ago.

What I want to know, and of course he's too shallow of a writer to ever answer this, is "For how many batters?".

One, two, or the fucking 5 that he faced?

Solid reasons for facing one (Nick Johnson, who he could get out and Embree/Timlin had trouble with),.

Two, sure, given that he got #1 out.

Anything after that, utter nonsense that he was still in there.
 

dcmissle

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Prediction time:

"Dusty should be in the mix (if clipped by the Nats) ... He's good with kids ..."

3-2-1 ...
 

E5 Yaz

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Guys. Bobby Valentine didn’t have a chance. He was given a team that, until the last month, was destroying the American League. How are you supposed to win like that?

And that opening 18-inches of Yankee fawning was ridiculous. So glad that Cashman was able to get from under the contracts of ARod, Teixeira, etc. The guy who gave those players those deals must have been a real dip shit.

How about that Amaro Jr. shout out too?

Nick Cafardo fucking sucks.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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Nick today: "Why Cora? Why don't all these old retreads (list follows) get another chance at managing?"

Jesus Christ. It would be funny if it wasn't so goddamn predictable and pathetic. You get the sense Nick is kicking and screaming about Cora getting the job over old, washed-up guys because he doesn't want to make the effort to update his rolodex with new contents.
 

ifmanis5

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Nick today: "Why Cora? Why don't all these old retreads (list follows) get another chance at managing?"

Jesus Christ. It would be funny if it wasn't so goddamn predictable and pathetic. You get the sense Nick is kicking and screaming about Cora getting the job over old, washed-up guys because he doesn't want to make the effort to update his rolodex with new contents.
Great point. Glad Nick doesn't report on the Celtics... Why hire a young unproven upstart like Brad Stevens when the more experienced and battle tested Gene Shue is still available?
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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I mean, DD has pretty much come right out and said they need a guy who can work with the younger players on the team. How the hell do the old guys who've been around forever help in that regard? How fucking obtuse can Nick really be?
 

TheoShmeo

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From today's Globe:

There was really no reason for Farrell to be fired, but that doesn’t matter now. Cora is in charge and there can’t be any excuses about being a rookie manager getting his feet wet. You don’t get to do that in Boston. You have to act like you’ve done this before or it could be a long three years.
You can disagree with the firing, Nicky. But "no reason"? What a bitter, foolish man. Of course there were reasons. It's not as if DD just woke and said "I think I'll fire the manager." Cafardo is on record as saying that the Sox should not fire Farrell and that the fans were nit picking him. In Nick's unthinking world, that equates to "no reason" to make the change.

Oh how far the Globe has fallen.
 

joe dokes

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Nick today: "Why Cora? Why don't all these old retreads (list follows) get another chance at managing?"

Jesus Christ. It would be funny if it wasn't so goddamn predictable and pathetic. You get the sense Nick is kicking and screaming about Cora getting the job over old, washed-up guys because he doesn't want to make the effort to update his rolodex with new contents.
Jesus was hardly a retread. He was never given a chance. New manangement came in and wanted their own man.
 

joe dokes

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Appropriate segue back to GlobeSanta:
Be patient, Red Sox fans. There will be growing pains. There were for Ausmus
Tigers finished 1st (90-72) in Aumus's first year.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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Aside from the fact that the Yankees are good again, you know what sucks about the Yankees being good again? Nick Cafardo writing about them every fucking week.

I mean did you see some of the bullshit he was pulling on Sunday: Greg Bird is really fucking good you guys, be scared of him forever! Unless he's not, in which case the Yankees will sign Eric Hosmer who is totally made for Yankee Stadium. The Bombers should be all set at the hot corner next year with Chase Headley and Todd Frasier, unless they're not in which case, who cares they have über-prospect Glibber Torres. Unless he sucks in which case the Yankees can sign Mike Moustakas. And the pitching? They can get rid of Sabathia and Tanaka because Severino is so good, unless they want to sign Sabathia and Tanaka because that would make Severino like a million times better because then he won't have to start three straight games every week..

It doesn't matter what the Yankees do because even when they fail, they succeed.

As far as why he's not high on Cora, I think it's obvious; Cafardo looks at the Red Sox manager's seat like it's his seat in the Globe. If he can keep pushing the narrative that just because you're younger and will work cheaper, doesn't mean that you're better than a veteran that's been around the block a few times. Sure, the new guy can understand the new thinking in baseball easier, better relate to the kids, aren't afraid of technology and brings an enthusiasm that the old guys lack, but they're young and they never saw Rex Trailer or Glenn Hoffman's wiener. So fuck them, they don't know anything. Please don't fire me and replace me with Alex Speier. Seriously, this is all I have in my life. I look like Wilber from the Mary Worth comic strip. I can not lose this job.
 

shaggydog2000

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As far as why he's not high on Cora, I think it's obvious; Cafardo looks at the Red Sox manager's seat like it's his seat in the Globe. If he can keep pushing the narrative that just because you're younger and will work cheaper, doesn't mean that you're better than a veteran that's been around the block a few times. Sure, the new guy can understand the new thinking in baseball easier, better relate to the kids, aren't afraid of technology and brings an enthusiasm that the old guys lack, but they're young and they never saw Rex Trailer or Glenn Hoffman's wiener. So fuck them, they don't know anything. Please don't fire me and replace me with Alex Speier. Seriously, this is all I have in my life. I look like Wilber from the Mary Worth comic strip. I can not lose this job.
Good summary of St. Nick. He's probably stress eating right now.

 

joe dokes

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I guess they need new players. Get it?:

The people we spoke to said there are players who “get it” and rise to the occasion, and those who just don’t know how to win. Look at the players on the 2004, 2007, and 2013 Red Sox. They got it. Look at the players on the 2016 and 2017 Red Sox. They didn’t get it.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2017/10/28/getting-more-and-more-ruthless-the-reality-managing-big-market/4MkLOQI2VGZD5UUaADTwIK/story.html?event=event12
 

scottyno

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Not sure how you could watch Price Kershaw and Kluber shatter playoff narratives this year and still come out of it with the idea that certain players "get it" and others can't handle the playoff pressure.
 

timlinin8th

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Not sure how you could watch Price Kershaw and Kluber shatter playoff narratives this year and still come out of it with the idea that certain players "get it" and others can't handle the playoff pressure.
Because sometimes players "don't get it", until they do. But these players, they don't get it! Got it?
 

Sir Lancelotti

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Analytics are coming for your job and your family!

a Sabermetric focused front office or executive is not an outlier anymore, it is a prerequisite. It is not 1985 Nick. There is absolutely no team or successful business that operates without using data to its advantage. His thought process is so binary he simply can't fathom that Mike Rizzo might be able to consider intangibles when making a personnel decision despite having a Baseball Prospectus account.
 

PedroKsBambino

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Analytics are coming for your job and your family!

a Sabermetric focused front office or executive is not an outlier anymore, it is a prerequisite. It is not 1985 Nick. There is absolutely no team or successful business that operates without using data to its advantage. His thought process is so binary he simply can't fathom that Mike Rizzo might be able to consider intangibles when making a personnel decision despite having a Baseball Prospectus account.
So he's the one guy who still has an account there, huh?
 

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Humphrey

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Boy, Nick's head must be all messed up after the Sox put Brentz on the 40 man roster.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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Nick has been on a two-day bender since he heard Tony "The Super Genius, Just Ask Him" LaRussa is coming to Boston. Oh the fun talks, they'll have!

LaRussa slurs, "Then I told Ron Kittle take those fucking glasses off and shove them up your stupid ass! What kind of ballplayer wears fucking glasses?"

Translates into: "Apropos of Nothing, but why don't ballplayers wear eye glasses while they play any more? Ron Kittle's name was mentioned when I spoke to an unnamed member of the Red Sox front office recently and it got us both wondering."
 
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SydneySox

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You forgot the part where three paragraphs later he'll finish a paragraph by saying "... and he'd be an idiot to wear glasses, so instead..."
 

joe dokes

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Humphrey

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Hey, Nick, it's Mike Roarke,not Rourke,...and nowhere in cyberspace is there any evidence that he's dead
 

lexrageorge

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In today's article, Cafardo used Scott Boras to support his "cap is crap" theory that Nicky has been espousing these last couple of seasons. Of course, there is no mention of the actual penalties that get imposed if a team exceeds various thresholds, so Dombrowski and the Sox are obviously incompetent for being careful with their payroll budget when it comes to long term contracts for good but not great sluggers.
 

CoffeeNerdness

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Never too early for Boras to start priming the pump for JBJ and Xander via Nick. I'm sure the binders have already been compiled.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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Today's column was Wilber at his very best.

He starts out with a legitimately interesting idea: teams are hiring inexperienced managers because they're cheaper and it allows superstar GMs to exert more control. Like I said, not the worst idea he's ever had for an article. Only three paragraphs into it, he talks to an unnamed GM who completely submerges the idea and says that this is definitely not the case. Different teams have different reasons for hiring inexperienced managers, but the saving money/greater GM control is not the reason.

Does this make Nick change his story? Fuck no. He already has his lede written, do you really expect him to change? C'mon. So he spends the next, I don't know, ten paragraphs listing how much money each manager makes. Then he moves down to a couple of pitching coaches before finishing up with, "yeah, there are some people who say that teams aren't trying to save money on inexperienced managers and that GMs don't exert more control but that's all bullshit."

It was a triple threat of Cafardoisms: an easily rebuked idea, mounds of unnecessary data and a dollop of passive aggressiveness that tells the reader that, yes, he knows more than the experts that he interviews.

The rest of the piece was typical Wilber tripe: the Yankees might hire Eric Wedge (pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease) he didn't know Bobby Doerr really well, but he seemed like a pretty good guy, launch concept is fucking bullshit you guys, Babe Ruth talked about it and Jim Benedict and his $100,000 salary were let go by the Marlins. Benedict was described by Cafardo as a "pitching guru", but he's really the former Miami VP of Pitching Development. I have no idea what that means and Cafardo didn't feel like explaining it. Todd Frazier might be on the Sox radar, which, if true. Ugh.
 

Sir Lancelotti

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3. Amazing that launch angle is now a popular concept. Isn’t that what Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Frank Robinson, Harmon Killebrew, and countless others did? Some people make it sound like a new phenomenon.
It was at this point I realized his journalism career is An expression of some sort of meta Andy Kaufman performance piece meant to troll this board.
 

timlinin8th

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launch concept is fucking bullshit you guys
I think its awesome when guys like Nick glom onto their "stat geeks and their launch angle!" diatribe, considering Ted Williams talks about it (without specifically calling it that) in his book back in *1970*.

Which I guess is kinda his point, but ugh it just makes for a horrible read.
 
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