2013 Official Major League Baseball Thread.

[Merlot]

Boyz,

...thank god that the boring playoffs are over(Yawn), now the real excitement begins(free agency).

Oh, since you brought it up. FANTASTIC SHOW wasn't it. And by the way, that trophy you awarded the Yanks, along with everything else last March, has taken a little detour to the east...to BOSTON!!! :thumb:

That's right. It's much safer for...you...to stick to your fantasies of free agency where everyone is a Yankee.

Ben Cherington: VINDICATED...to say the least.

Cherington became Executive Vice President and General Manager on October 25, 2011. Yet, it's widely known that he was overridden in choosing a team manager by President and CEO of the Boston Red Sox Larry Lucchino choosing Bobby Valentine. The result was a manager-players meltdown leading to disaster and the worse season since 1965. The depth of the 2012 bomb, also notably loaded with record injuries, led to a huge drop of faith by the fans and low expectations rarely better than the bare hope of improving to .500 in 2013. All that set up maybe the Greatest Comeback Season in baseball history, largely because Cherington took control and built a team his way...a WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM in his first real year of authority.

An unforgettable season of redemption
Posted by Matt Pepin, Boston.com Staff October 30, 2013 10:18 PM

Before we fully revel in all that the 2013 Red Sox are – and son, that's going to take awhile – let's lead off with a quick acknowledgment of what they are not.

They are not the 2004 Red Sox, the Jack-sipping pack of Idiots and savants who vanquished the Yankees and 86 years of anguish in the most improbable manner possible.

They are not the 2007 Red Sox, a more business-like champion, but rich in talent and vicious in their efficiency, outscoring their opponents by more than 200 runs over the season.

And they most certainly are not your father's Red Sox, whose grandest baseball dreams – in 1967 and '75 and '78 and '86 and other Octobers gone cold – proved beyond the cruel grasp of possibility.

But your great-grandfather's Red Sox? Well, now we may be onto something, and not just because those beards could be straight out of a sepia-tinted 1918 Red Sox team photo.

For the first time in 95 years, the Red Sox clinched a World Series title on their own soil Tuesday night. Appropriately, it was John Lackey, who authored his own personal redemption tale this season, earning the final unforgettable victory in the franchise's own season of redemption. Shane Victorino delivered a three-run double, Stephen Drew homered, and the Red Sox knocked around Cardinals phenom Michael Wacha in their clinching Game 6 victory. It is their third World Series title in 10 years, and how many of our forefathers would believe that?

This dream did not prove impossible. But given where this franchise was perceived to be when players began arriving in Fort Myers, Florida in February, what they accomplished is as improbable as anything that came in the seasons before. Maybe it's that we're in the midst of reveling in the moment and thus prone to hyperbole, but right now it feels like that includes winning four straight against the Yankees in October 2004.

This is the rare champion that can bring out the no-one-believed-in-us mantra and be telling the flat-out truth. Among 134 writers from the Globe, Boston.com, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus, only nine had the Red Sox making the postseason, and one picked them to win the AL East. Me? I liked them. And I had them getting edged out for the second wild card by the Blue Jays.

To be fair, any immediate faith would have seemed a blind wish at that point. The Red Sox were coming off a season and a month of pure, lousy baseball misery. They had let an almost certain playoff berth slip through their greasy fingers in October 2011, winning just seven of their 27 games in September as a disconnect between manager Terry Francona and his players proved fatal.

There was no solace or recovery to be found in the next season. With Bobby Valentine – the wrong man at the wrong time with the wrong team in the wrong city – at the helm of a team buried by injuries and unnecessary aggravations, they won just 69 games and became an afterthought on the New England sports scene before the leaves began to fall.

But there was one blessing, and it was so significant that it's right to say this season doesn't happen without it. The first twist of good fortune actually occurred before the final pitch of last season had been thrown.

While the Red Sox were playing out the string on 2012, an extraordinary opportunity to start fresh in 2013 presented itself out of the Dodger blue in late August, when the Los Angeles Dodgers reached out to Red Sox management about the availability of first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. The deal that was ultimately consummated redefined the modern concept of a baseball blockbuster.

The Red Sox sent Gonzalez, the talented, dispassionate first baseman, pitcher Josh Beckett, outfielder Carl Crawford, and utility infielder Nick Punto to the Dodgers. In return, they got five players -- including prominent pitching prospects Ruby De La Rosa and Allen Webster -- and $265 million in salary relief.

It was the ultimate fresh start, and despite some cloudy-eyed pleas from short-memoried segments of fans and the media to pursue free-agent stars Josh Hamilton and Zack Greinke, general manager Ben Cherington went about a more disciplined and nuanced plan. Rather than throw mounds of new-found cash at another star or two and repeating the vicious cycle, he set about filling in a top-heavy roster with respected, accomplished, unsung veterans who all had one thing in common long before the unifying beards: they had made a habit of playing on winning teams.

The blueprint proved brilliant. The first to sign on was David Ross, the affable, pitcher-whispering catcher, in mid-November. Then came Jonny Gomes on the first day of December, and Shane Victorino a dozen days later. Then came Koji Uehara, who submitted a season that left Dennis Eckersley, a pretty fair closer in his own day, in reverential awe. Before December was through, Cherington would add Ryan Dempster and Stephen Drew, and Mike Napoli signed on for a year in January. Most were essential. All contributed.

But this wasn't just the renovation work of the newcomers. It was easy to forget while looking away from the tattered remains of the 2012 season, but there was top-notch talent on this roster. To a man, the returning core of high-quality players -- David Ortiz, Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, Jon Lester, and Clay Buchholz – all had better seasons than they did a year ago based on the statistic Wins Above Replacement.

Was there good fortune along the way? Sure. Who expected Ortiz, who played just 90 games last season because of an Achilles' injury that lingered into this year, to stay healthy, let alone submit a vintage season, walloping 30 homers with a .959 OPS. Jon Lester, under the familiar eye of manager John Farrell (one cannot praise him enough for his effect on the culture), restored his ace status and then some. Pedroia played and played well through an Opening Day hand injury that would have sidelined players of lesser motivation. And when starters did need a day off – or even a two-week stint on the disabled list – the depth Cherington accumulated made it survivable.

So many ifs were answered in a way that even the most optimistic Red Sox fan wouldn't have dared hope. But the players, they believed early. To a man, they'll tell you now that they knew in Fort Myers this combination of players was going to gel into a hell of a team. Pedroia was always at the forefront. "Our goal is to win the World Series every year," Pedroia said in February. "If we come into camp and that's not the goal ... I know everybody thinks that's not our goal right now, but it is."

They excelled out of the gate, with Mike Napoli driving in 27 runs in the 18-win April while Ortiz made his way back. Early May brought a hiccup – they lost 9 of 11 at one point – but recovered to finish the month at 15-15. It was their worst month of the season.

Those caterwauling that they weren't this good were left to devour their own words in an angst-free September in which the Red Sox pulled away, ultimately finishing with 97 wins. The Rays were runners-up in the division and a four-game speedbump in the wild card round. The Tigers had phenomenal pitching, an ailing slugger, and so many flaws to be exposed in the six-game ALCS. The Cardinals were a worthy World Series foe. But just as in 2004, the banner they were left to wave said National League Champions, a prize to be sure, but one of small consolation.

What's funny, or miraculous, or just kind of amazing, was that the Red Sox won a championship in what truly was a bridge year to the next generation. Xander Bogaerts arrived early and delivered late, and I think we're all down with watching this kid for the next 15 years. Hell, this is a night of optimism. Make it 20.

But this isn't about the future. Thank goodness it's not about the past. The Red Sox, in this remarkable season of redemption, are World Champions. The only disappointing thing about this year's talented, deep, unified, and very woolly team? That we don't get to watch them anymore. But that's OK. Because Wednesday night was the culmination of a season that no one fortunate enough to see it is ever going to forget.

Cheers to all.

Merlot

 

[smuler]

For sure Smuler!! If the Sox can turn around one of the worst seasons they ever had then any team can.

Ill invite Bill Buckner for nostalgia's sake...

Best Regards

Smuler

 

[Merlot]

In Baseball’s Time Machine, 21st Century Belongs to the Red Sox

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/03/s...tury-belongs-to-the-red-sox[/COLOR].html?_r=0


By DAVID WALDSTEIN
Published: November 2, 2013

If it were not bad enough that the Yankees missed the playoffs for only the second time since 1993, and if there were not enough agony with all the injuries and the losses and the Alex Rodriguez story leaving a sour taste for everyone, surely the final indignity came the night before Halloween when their archrivals became champions — again.

For the third time since 2001 — technically the start of the 21st century — the Boston Red Sox won the World Series; the Yankees have won only one in that period.

That the Red Sox have won three times as many championships as the Yankees over a decade seems implausible, unless one examines history. Around the time of World War I, the Red Sox won four World Series in seven years, from 1912 to 1918.

That small sample was eventually overwhelmed in a tidal wave of Yankees championships — 26 during the 20th century, including four from 1996 to 2000.

But so far, the 21st century belongs to Boston.

The three-to-one ratio since 2004 is hard for many Yankee supporters to accept, and perhaps many regard it as a usurpation of their birthright. Certainly, George Steinbrenner would not have stood for it, they declare. He would do something. He would scream and fire people and spend a billion dollars if necessary.

But that is not the way the Yankees see it now. The Yankees’ front office respects and appreciates what the Red Sox accomplished this year, especially if their championship helped their city heal, even in a small way, from the Boston Marathon bombings in April, as the Red Sox said they had tried to.

“If we weren’t going to win it, then I was actually happy they won after everything their city went through,” Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman said. “They definitely earned it and they deserved it, so congratulations to them. They did a great job.”

Cashman said that Boston’s winning a third World Series since 2004 would not change his approach to the off-season. And he said that Steinbrenner had been just as demanding and insistent on winning the next season’s World Series whether the Yankees had just won it, or the Red Sox.

“We are trying to win every year,” he said. “Our mandate from our owners and from the fans every year is to win a World Series. So just because Boston won it this year doesn’t change anything. It’s the same every year. We feel we’ve got to win it, and that’s what we try to do.”

The two other most notable periods in which Boston had more success than the Yankees were the early part of the 20th century at the dawn of the World Series era, and the years 1986 through 1990, when the Red Sox made three playoff appearances and the Yankees had none.

Boston never earned a title in those years, but from 1903, when the team won its first World Series, to 1918, when it won its fifth, the franchise was a dynasty. That ended abruptly when the Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1920 to help finance a musical, and from there the Yankees commandeered the 20th century, winning it all 26 times from 1923 through 2000.

But in 2004, Boston finally defeated the Yankees head-to-head, then won its first World Series in 86 years. That title seemed to lift the Red Sox from the burden and pressure of decades of futility.

Then they started to flow. Another arrived in 2007, and now 2013.

Since 2001, the Yankees have won only the 2009 World Series. They have been to the playoffs more often than the Red Sox (11 to 7) this century, but the Yankees are 1-2 in the World Series, and the Red Sox are 3-0.

There is no indication that Hal Steinbrenner, George’s son, who has taken over as the Yankees’ managing general partner, has unleashed a tirade against his top executives since Boston won. He is more reserved and measured than his father, who was known to issue stern warnings to his front-office people the day after the Yankees had captured a title.

Nor is anyone expecting Hal Steinbrenner to tear up his blueprint for the Yankees to build a champion while remaining, if possible, under the $189 million payroll threshold in 2014 to secure huge savings for the team.

Steinbrenner said it was a goal, not a mandate. So if the Yankees think they cannot build a championship-caliber team for less than $189 million, they can exceed it. And if they do get under $189 million in 2014, they will have more flexibility to spend in subsequent years.

Still, there is some discontent that the Yankees have not been able to draft and develop a reliable flow of young players who can contribute on the major league level. Even before the season ended, Steinbrenner made known his displeasure regarding the team’s failures in player development.

The Red Sox, in contrast, have had a more productive farm system, the latest example being the 21-year-old infielder Xander Bogaerts. He made his major league debut in August and became a solid contributor in the postseason, hitting .296 and starting all six World Series games. Bogaerts is expected to be a regular member of Boston’s 2014 lineup, at either third base or shortstop.

John Henry, the Red Sox owner, seemed to have his organization’s ability to keep good young players coming when he spoke in the clubhouse during the team’s Champagne celebration early Thursday.

“It’s difficult to win when there are 30 teams trying to do what we did this year,” he said. “The unsung heroes of World Series champions are the scouting departments, the coaching staff and the medical staff. Our medical staff did a tremendous job, and I think our coaching staff is the best in baseball. Oh, I shouldn’t say that because people will come knocking on our doors. But I think that was a large part of it.”

Like Cashman, Randy Levine, the Yankees’ president, offered his congratulations to the Red Sox for their achievement (although he playfully argued that 2000 is part of the 21st century, making the Boston-Yankees championship score 3-2).

“They were an excellent team and they deserved to win it,” he said. “They are a great rival and a great organization. But this year is over. Let’s see what happens next year.”

Levine has a point. After all, the Red Sox dominated the early part of the last century, too, and look what happened. If only the Yankees could persuade Henry to put on a musical and sell them David Ortiz.

Ahhhhhhhh, what a day. I went to my third Red Sox parade. There was an ocean of people clad in every sort of Red Sox logos and slogans, including so many gorgeous college babes. I was lucky enough to be on the south side of Boylston street a few blocks from Fenway, and right across from the spot where the floats with all the players stopped to the wild cheers of over 2 million fans. Then it was off to Jerry Remy's for great food, then the Cask N' Flagon for more drinks. What a BEAUTIFUL DAY!

From the CITY OF CHAMPIONS, eace:

Merlot

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

Congratulations to the newly elected Mayor of New York City, Red Sox fan Bill diBlasio.

NYC's new mayor loves the Red Sox

Red Sox fans have surely enjoyed gloating about the World Series, especially to friends and colleagues who root for the Yankees.

Here's some more ammunition for you: Bill de Blasio, the new mayor of New York, is a Red Sox fan.

The Globe's Kevin Cullen wrote about it last month and de Blasio readily admits it even while walking the streets of the Bronx. Brave man.

The mayor was born in New York but grew up in Cambridge and developed his allegiance to the Red Sox then.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Robinson Cano signs with Seattle Mariners for10 years/$240 million

The news-of-the-day in MLB!!! I must admit that i was nearly certain the Yankees would wind up re-signing him. This totally changes the landscape of the AL East. Wow!

p.s. The Texas Rangers are also very interested to bring back Mike Napoli, i just learned. They believe he and Prince Fielder would be a great pair at the 1st base/DH position.

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

Sneaking the baseball back in, eh, Doc.

I must say that, if I were a Yankee fan, I'd be feeling much better about the Jacoby Ellsbury signing than I was a day ago. As anybody who has been reading the NY press or listening to NY talk radio, the Ellsbury signing has been hammered in the Big Apple. However, with Cano gone, and there's no way the Yanks should have matched the Seattle offer, the Ellsbury signing doesn't look so bad, except, of course, that it really didn't address their greatest need, the shortage in the starting rotation and their lack of a second baseman, shortstop, or third baseman. Oh, and their lack of a bullpen.

As for Seattle, I'm not so convinced that it's as bad move for them as it would have been for the Yanks. They have a good farm system and a few good position players in the bigs. Let's say they can parlay Nick Franklin, Mike Zunino and a pitching prospect for David Price, they'd have a rotation of Hernandez, Iwakuma, Price and Walker. probably as good as any in the majors. If they can sign Choo, and yes they have the money, with Seager, Choo and Cano. Can that club compete in the west? Quite possibly.

This tweeted by Joe Sheehan:
Joe Sheehan ‏@joe_sheehan 3m
Cano for $240M total is fine, and $24M AAV is excellent. I like this contract. Ms are close to a championship core now, work still to do.
Expand

 

[Doc Holliday]

First, i wasn't 'sneaking' baseball back in. This thread was open and we're still in 2013. Had we been in 2014, i wouldn't have touched it.

Second, i agree with you that the Yankees are better off without Cano instead of matching Seattle's ridiculous numbers. Having Cano improves the Mariners, but they're still far from contending for the championship. Like many others, i don't like the term. Ten-year contracts never work and teams falling under that temptation usually wind up trading that player a couple of years later or so, as we've recently seen with Detroit and Prince Fielder. There's also the fact that not many teams would be willing to hand out a big contract to a player who'll be in his forties by the end of that contract. This also happens in other sports such as hockey, which is why Bobby Luongo is still with Vancouver.

Many are still shocked to see Cano signing with the Mariners. Many believed he'd be a Yankee for life, and that the difference in money shouldn't have been a deal-breaker between him staying in the Big Apple or going into exile in Seattle.

p.s. I'm crossing my fingers that the baseball fans of this board will start acting like adults in order for this thread not to suffer the same fate as the other one.

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

First, i wasn't 'sneaking' baseball back in.

I was kidding.

going into exile in Seattle.

I don't see this as going into exile. There is a path to relevance for the Mariners and they have the money to make it work. The Mariners could well be a better team than the Yankees for the next couple of years. One thing is for certain: the Yankees are a worse team now than they were at the end of 2013, the losses greater than the gains. And they've done nothing, zero, nada, to fix their pitching staff and they have very little money with which to accomplish the task.

Gains: Ellsbury, McCann
Losses: Cano, Granderson, Rivera, Pettitte, Hughes

 

[Doc Holliday]

Kuroda re-signs with the Yankees for 1-year/$16 million

Another good move by the Yankees. Have they finally learned? I'm still surprised they didn't bite on the Cano contract demands. Good for them.

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

I'm still surprised they didn't bite on the Cano contract demands.

If they're really serious about staying under the $189 level, they couldn't sign all these guys. Someone will do an analysis in the next couple of days of what they have left, but it can't be much and certainly not enough to sign Cano.

The big unknown is what's going to happen with A-Rod. Will he be suspended? If so, the Yanks will have that money as well. Since he's likely to appeal any suspension, it might not even be decided by Opening Day.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I do believe that A-Rod will be suspended. However, i'm betting in the range of 50 games. Suspending him for more games would be shocking, considering what others (e.g. Ryan Braun) got.

As for Cano, if history repeats itself, Seattle will want to unload him in a couple of years or so if they're not contending for a championship. It wouldn't surprise me to see him returning to the Yankees once the Yankees are free of A-Rod's big contract. But stranger things have happened.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I just learned that Cano also got a full no-trade clause from the Mariners. Unbelievable!!

 

[kirkjonas]

I just learned that Cano also got a full no-trade clause from the Mariners. Unbelievable!!

Horrible deal for that much time. By the end of the contract he'll be 41, know a lot of 2nd basemen that old in any league? Which means he'll have to DH or learn a new position I just don't like deal for Seattle, he's not a franchise player u can build around.

In other news , u want to talk about class Roy Halladay retired today. Guy took a one day contract with the Jays just so he could retire as one. I really have so much respect for these guys especially at their retirement pressers when you see the emotion of how much they care.

 

[smuler]

u want to talk about class Roy Halladay retired today. Guy took a one day contract with the Jays just so he could retire as one

Really was a great pitcher..perhaps some BlueJay fans can tell us their feelings

How quickly the injuries ended his career so quickly

Best Regards

Smuler

 

[EagerBeaver]

He led his league in complete games 7 times. So there was heavy mileage on his body.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Roy 'Doc' Halladay is the Toronto Blue Jays best pitcher ever, ahead of former Jays hurlers Dave Stieb, Roger Clemens, David Wells, Pat Hentgen, Jack Morris, David Wells, Jimmy Key and Chris Carpenter.

He could always be counted on to pitch into the 8th and 9th innings on a regular basis, and you never heard a peep from him.

He always faced the opposing team's best pitcher & i often remember him not getting much run support from his team whenever he'd be pitching.

A class act, he & his wife loved living in Toronto and i remember them taking out a full page add in the Toronto Star to thank the city of Toronto after learning of the trade to Philly.

The fans loved him and knowing ahead of time that Halladay would be pitching would be reason enough for fans to head to Toronto to watch him pitch.

It's good to see that he'll end his playing career with the Jays on a one-day contract. Personally, i think it would have been enjoyable to see him spend one more week or so with the team, just for ol' times sake.

In my eyes, Roy "Doc" Halladay belongs in Cooperstown.