Riverbrian

What kind of pizza are you eating?

I'm not sure why Rocco turned to Gibby? My only assumption is after nearly every bullpen arm throwing the day before... he looked at his options and said "I trust Gibby the most". Future questions to be answered. Is Gibby still in the rotation? With his illness.. Are they going to try to manage his innings? Do we still have a rotation?

I was just thinking about the difference between last year and this year.

Schoop stats this year would have been our third best hitter last year. It's an illustration of progress when a player producing an OPS+ of 108 becomes our biggest disappointment.

Not to my knowledge.

I'd prefer that they don't hand a job to anyone and call them a placeholder. We will need 8 starters at least throughout the year. I'd like to see all 8 competing for the 5 spots and I think it would be wise for Pineda to be one of those 8. If the front office views it from your standpoint. If they plan to sign Pineda and use Player X until Pineda returns, knowing Player X is going to be a sub par pitcher. Already knowing that they will send Player X away when Pineda returns, neat and clean like a Hollywood script. Then it would be a horrible idea. In that Scenerio... They should still sign Pineda and find a better player than player X. Signing Pineda should not prevent them from finding a legitimate arm for that 5th spot in the rotation.

I think it's a good article with a legitimate question.

I agree with everything you've said. I would only add: "Umm, We gotta sign someone".

To answer your original post. If I was on the Red Sox Search Committee. Falvey would be on my short list. I would be looking for progressive front offices moving in new directions. I'd be looking at the Dodgers, Astros, Rays, Cubs and Brewers leadership along with the Twins. Just imagine... the Rays sensibility and combine that with Red Sox resources. The combination of those two things would produce... what the Dodgers are right now. If I'm Falvey... I take the job. Because the combination of the Rays sensibility and the Red Sox resources is a tactical advantage that the Twins or even the Astros can't fully match.

If Taylor Rogers is our best pitcher. (I Believe he is... Starters included). You will need more innings out of him. Come playoff time... the walls are down... the 162 game structure of rotations, closer, set up, long relief... no longer apply. Meaning... if they need Rogers to throw... He will have to throw, especially if he is our best pitcher. Saving him for save situations and thereby limiting the innings that he can throw is an incredible waste of talent. The data that states that Rogers struggles with no rest is a small sample size but if it is a direct cause and effect. They got to throw him on multiple days to get him used it or better at it. Because we will need him to do such things in the playoffs. Many people look at data and say... :Uff Da we got to turn this down... it isn't working". Sometimes that same data is really saying. We got to turn this up.

My response was based on the often stated concern that his all out style of play is the cause of his injuries. I'm merely pointing out that not all of his injuries are the result of him running 100 mph into the fence. If you are trying to point out that he is "injury prone". That is obvious based on the number of days he has spent on the Disabled list but that is a different discussion.

It hasn't resulted in 115 games in two seasons. Migraines are not a product of his play... A foul ball of his toe is not a product of his play.

You slow him down... He isn't the same player. Yes... he has been injury prone but not all of the injuries were fearless reckless baseball injuries.

This is probably what we need to do. I'm not sure they will do it... But, yeah we need information in double time.

I don't know and I don't believe the front office knows either. Martin Perez had a 5.08 ERA in June, 5.32 ERA in July and a 6.75 ERA in August. Perez should be the replacement for Pineda because Perez's performance should have already been upgraded by now. We have sufficiant data on what Perez brings to the table. The front office has already confirmed "through action" that they believe that Martin Perez is better than all of the available options we are looking at to replace Pineda. By sticking with Perez and not allowing Smeltzer, Thorpe or Dobnak the opportunity to show they are better, they have forced us into the position of pinning the tail on the donkey blindfolded with Smeltzer, Thorpe or Dobnak. I've been warning anyone who would listen about this upcoming issue since June. We are talking about small sample sizes here. Smeltzer has been better than Perez and Gibson through 36 innings. Dobnak has been better than everybody through 9 innings. Smeltzer should have thrown his 37th inning by now and Dobnak should have thrown his 10th inning by now and we should have a pretty good idea if Smeltzer or Dobnak can improve the rotation by now. I don't trust the small sample size and I don't trust any assumption that Perez can't be improved upon and I have never trusted the possibility that the cemented 5 man rotation would be intact come playoff time. This isn't the offense where we have a roster full of guys who can get the job done, leaving no room for discovery. Even with the offense being plump full with no room for discovery, we still managed to find Arraez by letting him continue doing what he was doing. On the mound, we have protected Perez in the rotation when performance suggests he is easily replaceable. We have rostered players in the bullpen who have been under utilized and eventually released so this has never been a 25 man roster space issue. We have done nothing to prepare for this moment. I'm am extremely disappointed in Pineda and the consequences that followed his actions but if it wasn't a suspension, it was going to be an injury to one of the 5 starters or exhaustion from one of the 5 starters or just plain ole' poor performance (like we have received from Perez for 3 months) from one of the 5 starters. It's too late. We have no choice but to close our eyes and choose. I hope the choice works out. It's possible but the risk of choosing blind was unnecessary.

Stewart, Thorpe, Smeltzer, and don't forget Dobnak. I have always been in full support of giving any of these guys a shot. However... It's September 7th. It's probably too late. So, who do you choose? Do they have a sufficient sample of MLB performance data to aid the front office in the selection? Are you going to get enough data before the month is up to hand one of them a playoff roster spot? How many starts does Smeltzer get to prove he is the one? How many starts does Dobnak or Thorpe get... if Smeltzer uses some starts up and fails to prove he is the one? I can certainly understand the anger and disappointment directed toward Pineda. I have that same disappointment but Pineda isn't where my eyeballs are focused.

We didn’t play well defensively in the fateful inning. I’m not blaming anyone but if that double play ball gets turned instead of Arraez bailing out Cron to get a single out. The commentary afterwards is different. I’m not going to single out Cron either. It’s baseball these things happen. The pitching did their job. Baldelli did his job.

We all saw the match-up of Perez vs. Eovaldi and assumed it would be a pitchers duel. That's why I love baseball, it can't be played on paper. I love that Perez stepped up big, I love that Cave made a big catch, I love Astudillo pinch hitting and unexpectedly took 4 pitches before coming up big and I love the nice play he made at 2B. And of course "The Throw" coming from a guy who has made his share of throwing gaffes this year. This is baseball... Strap it on and do something between the lines. Tomorrow is a new day. However, I do want to look back at something and I hate being this guy after a fantastic win. It is not my intention for this to spin off a side topic in this thread because it was good news last night but it is relevant from a compare and contrast moment. Keep in mind... I have forgiven Tony Diaz for August 12th against the Indians but I do want to illustrate that Rosario was fielding a ball off the LF wall, quite a distance from home plate. When Rosario threw the ball, Devers was touching 3B. He made a perfect professional throw with two outs and got him by plenty. On the play August 12th... Adrianza was in similar position to where Devers was, either about to touch 3B or just touching third when LIndor was receiving the ball as the cut, not far from the infield. Much much shorter distance and a much easier throw for a professional... and of course there was 1 out. I think the Boston 3B coach made a sensible send with two outs. Rosario just got it done. I'm not doing this to bash Diaz one more time. I just think it was a compare and contrast moment. I've made mistakes in my life. I've forgiven Tony Diaz. On to Cleveland.

Be careful what you wish for because it may happen. When the baseball gods wish to punish us... they answer our prayers.

After assessment of the sampling. I'd say the Yankees are within the margin of error.

Maybe sometime we will set the MLB singles record. But Today... This is what we get and nobody has done it before.

Sabir, You have my attention. I'll be looking for more of your articles.

It would have sucked for Stashak personally but... Cody could have been a little 10 day playoff gift to the Blue Wahoos.

Service time is accrued when he is wearing a major league uniform. It stops ticking when he sent back to Rochester. The only concern that you would have is a possible need to take him off the 40 man roster. This would expose him to other teams. That's why adding a guy to the 40 man early is something that must be done carefully and why teams are not in a big rush with young players.

I agree... I'm scratching my head over this. I'm sure they can maneuver if necessary but as you say... why maneuver? We had an extra 40 man spot to begin with plus Poppen to the 60 day. It seems intentional but for the life of me... I don't know why this was intended.