LTF had a rotisserie baseball handbook in the late 90s that listed the stats of a player and had a little write-up. I will never forget the one for Jon Nunnally. All it said was, "Do not get thee a Jon Nunnally."
I plotzed.
I plotzed.
MyDaughterLovesTomGordon said:What could possibly the criteria be?
John Marzano Olympic Hero said:Mitch Albom's ears alone would stretch into Idaho.
And a very important Tanyon Sturtze Facebook re-post. I mean, he IS from Worcester, clearly that's important.The Gray Eagle said:It was great to get another update on Mark Mulder yesterday. Everyone in New England was wondering if Mulder was going to continue with his comeback or not.
Mulder needs to be added to the list of Cafardo's People, along with Jason Bay, JP Ricciardi and the rest of the people Nick loves to give continual irrelevant updates on.
Is that Henry Kissenger MC'ing?JayMags71 said:I'm disappointed at the lack of an "after" photo of a blood-soaked Dan Patrick standing proudly over the carnage.
ifmanis5 said:And a very important Tanyon Sturtze Facebook re-post. I mean, he IS from Worcester, clearly that's important.
Not a Boras client, so it doesn't matter.John Marzano Olympic Hero said:
The one interesting tidbit was that Daniel Bard said that he's going to sign with a minor league team this week. Which one? WHO KNOWS!
3. Xander Bogaerts, SS, Red Sox — Red Sox infield coach Brian Butterfield, who is recuperating from knee surgery, is excited about continuing his work with Bogaerts as a shortstop, saying, “I was very happy with what I saw by the end of the year.” Bogaerts has been working this winter at EXOS in Arizona. Butterfield is also eager to get a firsthand look at Pablo Sandoval after enjoying his defensive work in the World Series.
PHOENIX — Remember the Bangles song, “Walk Like an Egyptian?” Well Seahawks coach Pete Carroll has stressed “tackle like a rugby player” during his successful tenure, in which his team has won a Super Bowl and gotten into a second.
5. Dustin Pedroia has a huge chip on his shoulder to prove people wrong about his so-called decline. Wouldn’t bet against the little fella.
The Gray Eagle said:He did admit that the GMs voted on making a rule against the shift and only a handful were in favor of doing anything. Because it is a dumb idea, and most GMs aren't as dumb as Cafardo.
How many games can a manager win or lose for a team? Who really knows, especially now that front offices are making managers factor in analytics?
They are based on my opinions and the opinions of the many people around baseball I speak with during the course of the week..
3. Joe Maddon, Cubs — Consistently near the top of these rankings. Innovative, fun, smart. Don’t like that he reintroduced defensive shifts to the game.
7. Rob Manfred, commissioner — Got to like his early going in the big chair. He’s not afraid to explore or converse about tough topics, such as the elimination of defensive shifts,
Those books were the best. Two I remember very well: Rick Sutcliffe "He'll take the ball. Unfortunately, he will then throw it" and Greenwell "Williams, Yaz, Rice, Greenwell. Evidence of reverse evolution".John Marzano Olympic Hero said:LTF had a rotisserie baseball handbook in the late 90s that listed the stats of a player and had a little write-up. I will never forget the one for Jon Nunnally. All it said was, "Do not get thee a Jon Nunnally."
I plotzed.
16. John Gibbons, Blue Jays — Your record (462-472) is what you are, but this is a guy who has searched deep inside to come up with the right tone and perspective. He’s been tough, soft, and maybe now he is a guy who can manage people, tries to get his personnel to play the game the right way, and has found himself.
Van Everyman said:These managers rankings are always Nick at his worst – all his biases, hunches and agendas all packed into one "opinion of one" catch-all column. Even still this summary of Bill Murray's The Razor to inform us of John Gibbons' road to mediocrity has to be the best:
Did anyone else notice he ranked all the managers without saying anything negative about any of them? That, my friends, is quite a feat.
John Marzano Olympic Hero said:This is saying something, but his manager rankings are the most useless things he writes all year. There is no rhyme or reason to how he ranks the managers at all.
He does this every year, putting new managers last. I love the logic by extension:John Marzano Olympic Hero said:This is saying something, but his manager rankings are the most useless things he writes all year. There is no rhyme or reason to how he ranks the managers at all.
Paul Molitor last? Sure. Why not, he's new.
...maybe also how many times Nick quoted the guy during the previous season and how well the manager/organization did with Boras clients.John Marzano Olympic Hero said:If someone had the time and was a complete sadist, they should go through these rankings year-by-year and just list how the managers are ranked and see the fluctuations.
And if someone was really ambitious, they should have the manager's record the season prior to the rankings and the manager's record for the season after the rankings.
Great point. ISIS is probably the biggest name out there right now; I'm going to go buy their flag because of all the attention they've created.The Gray Eagle said:Before you utter, “Why would anyone pay to watch him or wear his jersey?” the fact is, he’s the biggest name in baseball right now. And he will create a lot of attention."
You saw what the Angels did.
It’s probably what the Red Sox should have done.
They should have made a splash and signed Josh Hamilton, one of the best players on earth. But the Angels and the outfielder agreed to a five-year, $125 million deal Thursday. The Red Sox couldn’t have done that?
The glitz and glamour of Hamilton vs. the low-key, lunch pail Victorino.
Twelve months from now, we should know which method was more successful.
ifmanis5 said:We do know that, Nick. Victorino helped Boston win another World Series, meanwhile Hamilton was an expensive bust who sadly can't get his act together. Good thing the Sox FO doesn't listen to you... Make a splash!
About a month and a half ago, Olney tweeted this:cmac24 said:You forgot that the Josh Hamilton contract was still worth it despite his relapse and subpar performance. The Sox definitely should have signed him.
To which I replied:Looking over OFers today,and was reminded of this: Josh Hamilton's contract heavily backloaded, and he'll make $90.2 million from 2015-2017.
After which Cafardo replied:@Buster_ESPN Don't tell @nickcafardo -- he thought the @RedSox should've given him that deal.
I declined to reply, "After 3 suspensions and 3 failed drug tests, I sure didn't."after 43 homers and 128 RBI. I sure did.
You don’t give a guy a seven-year contract for $72.5 million and then make him the fourth outfielder (or worse, send him to Pawtucket).
Castillo is 27 years old, major league-ready. He had a .928 OPS in his first 40 plate appearances. Sending him down or not using him as a starter means you didn’t make the right decision. The breaking-in time for Castillo was last season
But the Red Sox are right to promote Victorino as their starting right fielder. First of all, it’s only fair to him that he doesn’t lose his job to an injury,
As he says, the Red Sox have 13 million reasons to keep him in the starting lineup.
Aside from the uselessly wordy "he was a guy who" construct.....he was *not* a guy who.....For several years, he was a guy who hit .270-.300.