Will always be one of my own biggest disappointments. For years watching him in San Diego I thought he would be an incredible fit in Boston. When we finally got him I was over the moon. And then he got here and ....mehAdrian Gonzalez hit his first homer of the season last night, bringing his OPS up to .663
Yea, leading the league in hits, top 10 MVP, all-star, gold glove and silver slugger. Damn, he sucked, didnt he?Will always be one of my own biggest disappointments. For years watching him in San Diego I thought he would be an incredible fit in Boston. When we finally got him I was over the moon. And then he got here and ....meh
Yea, leading the league in hits, top 10 MVP, all-star, gold glove and silver slugger. Damn, he sucked, didnt he?
I'm with you. He was great. I think the problem is that a lot of people associate him so much with the baseball disasters that were September 2011 and The Year of Bobby Valentine. Even in 2012 he was a pretty damn good player.Yea, leading the league in hits, top 10 MVP, all-star, gold glove and silver slugger. Damn, he sucked, didnt he?
Shaw, meanwhile, looks a lot more like the budding star from the first half of last season than the hitter who struggled down the stretch. He batted .333 in May, and Saturday he went 3 for 4 with a grand slam, raising his average for the season to .296, with 10 home runs and 40 runs batted in — just the type of production the Red Sox have been missing.
“I miss the guys over there, but coming over here was a blessing for me,” Shaw said. “I get a chance to play every single day. They wanted me, the ballpark fits my strengths a little bit more, and so far everything’s gone very smoothly. I’m glad I’m over here.”. . . . . . .
“One of the things we set out to do was add some balance in our lineup,” Manager Craig Counsell said. “We were very heavy right-handed last year. Getting Eric Thames and Travis, we thought we could really serve to balance our lineup against right-handed pitching, especially.”
Shaw started well last season, too, but hit just .184 from Aug. 1 through the end of the season. Pitchers baited him with off-speed pitches away, and Shaw had trouble adjusting. He acknowledged that he had also been unnerved by Boston’s trade for a veteran third baseman, Aaron Hill, in July.
“I lost touch a little bit with hitting it the other way, and kind of became a dead pull hitter the second half of the season,” Shaw said, “It didn’t work, and you come to the field kind of pressing for results. After they made the trade for Aaron Hill, I knew I had to put up results to stay in the lineup. Everything kind of spiraled out of control.”
He was great in 2011. I think people were expecting him to also show up in 2012, not the Mark Grace, rich man's Sean Casey version of him that did instead. Still a very good player, but not one anyone would give up Rizzo and Kelly, and $21MM a year for.I'm with you. He was great. I think the problem is that a lot of people associate him so much with the baseball disasters that were September 2011 and The Year of Bobby Valentine. Even in 2012 he was a pretty damn good player.
Well, sure, but it feels like there is a disconnect between this, and the amount of vitriol that I sometimes see directed towards him from around here.He was great in 2011. I think people were expecting him to also show up in 2012, not the Mark Grace, rich man's Sean Casey version of him that did instead. Still a very good player, but not one anyone would give up Rizzo and Kelly, and $21MM a year for.
For me it's that ultimately he did not appear to have any interest in leading the team when it seems that was an expected role for him given his 7 year contract. Then there's that fucking picture of the three of them on the plane to LA which sort of confirms his lack of buy in. It was a tumultuous time for the team and I get this sense he was just along for the ride and couldn't wait to get off.Well, sure, but it feels like there is a disconnect between this, and the amount of vitriol that I sometimes see directed towards him from around here.
There were stories surrounding him that he was a locker room lawyer and then he made the comment about how it was God's will that the Redsox didn't make the playoffs or whatever. Add in his salary, lack of power and the team not performing and there you have it. That and almost any player traded out of Boston goes through the hatchet job.Well, sure, but it feels like there is a disconnect between this, and the amount of vitriol that I sometimes see directed towards him from around here.
There's that and the fact that the Sox were practically salivating for him. "He hits HRs out of Petco Park!" Also, he was supposed to have a swing made for Fenway.There were stories surrounding him that he was a locker room lawyer and then he made the comment about how it was God's will that the Redsox didn't make the playoffs or whatever. Add in his salary, lack of power and the team not performing and there you have it. That and almost any player traded out of Boston goes through the hatchet job.
He could also be really hard to watch next year. He's been pretty awful this year and he's 35.
Often overlooked as well is that David Ortiz often credited Gonzalez with helping him with his swing against lefties (Ortiz's OPS vs LHP from 2009-2012: .716, .599, .989, .985). That and a general return to health had a lot to do with Papi's resurgence in the latter half of his career.Gonzalez put up an OPS+ of 155 in 2011, which was an improvement from his last year in SD (152) and in fact is the second-highest mark of his career. I'm not entirely sure what people were hoping for from him but 2011 was a great season for him in terms of production.
Holy cow, his head swelled after his rookie year and that was that.I'll just leave this here
Pat Light as well. I expect Layne will turn up again somewhere
No doubt, but the biggest no doubt of the all is that ANOTHER team will give Daniel Bard a shot: https://www.sny.tv/mets/news/mets-sign-daniel-bard-to-minor-league-deal/235761222Pat Light probably will too on some AAA team.
I imagine any ex mlb player can play on a single A team, if they are willing to take the minimum. surprised he is still giving it a goNo doubt, but the biggest no doubt of the all is that ANOTHER team will give Daniel Bard a shot: https://www.sny.tv/mets/news/mets-sign-daniel-bard-to-minor-league-deal/235761222
http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/19625799/milwaukee-brewers-3b-travis-shaw-newborn-daughter-had-open-heart-surgery-last-weekShaw said his daughter, Ryann, also had to undergo another surgery Saturday because of complications but is in stable condition. He said additional surgeries are expected in his daughter's future.
Beautiful.And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the wildness, sitting in a bullpen: and Tebow seeing their faith said unto the sick of the wildness; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee...Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine clubhouse. And he arose, and departed to his clubhouse.
Basically a 200 strikeout pace over a full season, in the minors. It would be one thing is he was tearing the cover off the ball as well, but that shit won't fly once he's in the majors. I'd compare him to Javier Baez, but not even Baez struck out that much.Yoan Moncada's last 21 games: 93 PA, .143/.280/.234 with 32k/15bb. Brings his season line to .272/.369/.426 in 236 PA. 69k/32bb.
I liked this from Arroyo:Those of you who watched tonight's game probably already saw this, but Bronson Arroyo's comeback seems like it might be just about over due to shoulder issues: http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/19673733/bronson-arroyo-cincinnati-reds-says-shoulder-pain-end-career
"I've been dealing with the same two arm issues for a while," Arroyo said, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. "The elbow -- Tommy John is like a chain out on a bicycle. It doesn't matter how bad the chain is, if the rest of the bike is OK, you change out the chain and you continue to move forward.
"But a shoulder is more like your favorite shirt you've been wearing for the last 15 years and it's been washed too many times. So it gets brittle, right? You have some tears in there and there's really not a whole lot you can do about it.
Not sure if this counts for the purposes of this thread, but former Future Red Sox Great Rey Fuentes hit his first career home run for other former RS Torey Lovullo's DBacks team on SundayI'm not sure why Rizzo was slept on so much as a prospect to begin with and I "hated" the trade. I thought he would be the next huge thing in Boston. He hit 20 HRs as a 20 year old in AA, and 25HR for the season. First baseman are generally underrated as prospects anyway but all the signs were there for him to be a stud.
I thought Fuentes was going to develop into a starting OF too though. I was never sold on Kelly.