ashbury

Rule 5( c )( 1 )( C ): if the signing date of a player’s first Major or Minor League contract is between (i) the conclusion of the championship season for the Major or Minor League Club to which the player is assigned on such contract and (ii) the next Rule 5 Selection Meeting, then the player shall be deemed to have signed after the next Rule 5 Selection Meeting, for purposes of this Rule The term “championship season” shall refer to the full schedule of regular-season games that has been approved for a Major or Minor League Club in accordance with the provisions of Rule 32. The above excerpts are taken from THE OFFICIAL PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL RULES BOOK. I don't know which team he was assigned to, but in 2014 the DSL finished its regular season around August 21. So for Rule 5 purposes I take this to mean he counts as a 2015 signing, and thus he has one more year.

They get to protect additional players when the minor league phase begins, so I'm not worried about losing anyone promising.

Keep in mind, though, that you'll probably want some room to add quality free agents. Having a full 40-man means doing something later on to make room. Losing a player is a lot bigger risk when you try to remove him via waivers (just there for the taking, by any team with room on their own 40-man), versus risking the Rule 5 (where a team has to keep the player on their 25-man all season).

I've been trying to wrap my mind around this response from you, and I'm still not sure I've figured it out. See, I'm in favor of positional flexibility. Extremely so. Hugely so. Probably for at least as long as you have (I'm older, for one thing). Certainly for longer than the 4-23-16 date when you started the Club. When I play Out Of The Park (which makes no one an expert on being a GM, but hear me out), I force every decent infield prospect to become proficient at SS, 2B, and 3B. I force every decent outfield prospect to become proficient at CF, RF, and LF. If they have decent skills in both infield and outfield, I work to get them proficiency on all six. That way, the ones who reach the majors are ready for anything. The game makes it hard to develop catchers unless they already have the ability, and the game makes it quick to develop first basemen, so those are special cases. The game is just bits and bytes on the computer (and in particular it leaves out the human element of making players do all this), but whether I'm any good or not, what I'm saying is that I'm predisposed as GM to dictate players get good at a variety of roles, and then let the on-field manager choose whom to plug in where. I've done it that way for years. So I feel like you are disagreeing with a position I don't take. But, for some players, positional flexibility is (as an old boss of mine liked to say) "interesting, but irrelevant". Byron Buxton probably could become a quality first baseman, but that skill would rarely be called upon for the foreseeable future. Max Kepler is nowhere near that class, but still a good enough outfielder that I would personally not call upon the skill at 1B very much, in preference to just about anyone else on the current roster. What I'm saying here is, 1) I think Kepler is a very good outfielder, better by a lot than Cave in particular (even though Cave has some tools), 2) 1B defense pales in comparison to the importance of corner outfield defense (which of course pales in comparison to CF)., and 3) pretty much any athletic outfielder can master the necessary techniques at 1B such as scoops and foul pops without years of exclusive training. Those who disagree with me on any of the three points will put Kep at 1B far more than I would. That's defensible, but then the discussion shifts to those underlying opinions, and (except for point #1) away from Max himself. I don't remember exactly what I was responding to at the time, but it might have been the idea to move Kepler to 1B to make room for Cave in the outfield. But, positional flexibility applies to Jake Cave too. And I would use whatever skills he developed at 1B more frequently than Kepler's. You now bring up McCutchen. If we acquired him, you know what I'd want to do the first day of Spring Training if I were manager? I'd hand McCutchen a first-baseman's mitt, show him how it operates, and ask him to get proficient, along with his outfielding skills. I'd position it to him as in his own self-interest, as his career progresses into his 30s. But my real reason? I think Kepler is better than him in RF at the present moment. Positional flexibility applies to McCutchen too, and in my world it's even more important for him at this point in his career arc. Now, you didn't state it, but maybe your assumption is that McCutchen is too prideful to accept this assessment. That's quite possible. Putting Max at first base in that situation might be the right solution. McCutchen wasn't in the scenario I was discussing. Clubhouse chemistry factors into such decisions. I don't think anything I said before precludes that. OTOH, why doesn't Max get to have his pride hurt too? This is the manager's job, to sort out. In the meantime since I posted, someone else brought up the possibility of Pollock. That would be different. Pollock is better in the outfield than Kepler. In that case (Buxton being CF in all these scenarios) I'd be asking both Rosario and Kepler to increase their reps in the infield - Eddie at third moreso than first, Max at first base. I think I actually like Kepler in the third outfield spot better than Rosario, but it's a much closer decision than versus McCutchen, above. Someone else mentioned Adam Jones, who is also a rival to Kepler in skills, but with the additional age I'd still be inclined to hand Jones the funny looking mitt and tell him it's time to branch out some, if it comes down to him or Kepler in the outfield. Like I said, any lineup that has Max Kepler at first base almost certainly involves one heck of a defensive outfield. We do need to add a high-end talent to make that happen. That would be great. Injuries at 1B are a necessary part of the plan. But unless whoever is inserted in the lineup is a better defensive outfielder than Max, I start my thinking with the other guy being stationed at 1B - we're working on assuring that everyone is positionally flexible, right? Not just Maximilian? Finally, as for Travis Shaw, If we ever trade Kepler for him, I'll conduct my lineup analysis at that time. I'll say, though, that a good defensive third baseman who has never in his career been penciled into a lineup at SS is a less interesting guy to think about than a right fielder who sees some time in center field. I don't think it'll read the same at all. Shaw is less, dare I say, positionally-flexible.

i WiLl eNdeAVoR tO tYpE LesS nEaTLy GoInG fOrWaRd.

He might also combine an average propensity for random injuries (broken toe from a foul ball) with a propensity to hurt himself by going a little too much all-out (crashing into walls and other outfielders).

Fixed. You like?

Sid was 52 when Rocco Altobelli opened his first salon.

They never made any because they were too common.

Approves:

Be aware that the Series moves to LA next. But I'm sure the taverns in Boston will be jumping - moreso than in Hartford.

I guess Joe Espada was indeed a serious candidate, so nothing could be decided until the Astros' season was over. But apparently after talking to him the FO still liked Rocco better - or, Espada is leaning toward Toronto? And apparently there were no Red Sox or Dodgers candidates the Twins wanted to interview. So here we are. I'm glad they didn't drag this out. I have no independent opinion on the decision. Cautiously optimistic, because that's the way I roll.

Approves:

BTW, you may be interested in this LOL-worthy prank that was played upon Boston a few years ago. https://www.totalprosports.com/2010/04/07/yankee-symbol-lights-up-prudential-building-in-boston-wtf/

You're either ahead of the times, or behind them. 1961 College of Coaches

I'm a five-minute walk away from the east-west commuter train that also stops at Fenway Park. So with Game 1 of the World Series being held at Fenway, Tuesday night, despite not being a diehard Red Sox fan and despite the forecast of iffy weather I felt like I'd be a fool not to take advantage of the logistics. The title for this blog entry is deceptive because I didn't actually "attend" the game. I didn't have tickets, and of course no way was I going to pay scalper prices. But I thought I'd enjoy the atmosphere outside the ballpark. It's like Wrigley, and maybe a few others, with thriving neighborhoods that are worth enjoying even when the home team isn't playing. I decided to arrive early, in part because I wasn't sure whether the train might already be packed with fans from further out, if I left nearer to game time. My train wasn't too bad, but they only come once an hour, and who knows what the next one was like. So, at 5:15 I arrived at Yawkey station (still so-named even though nearby Yawkey Way has been renamed back to Jersey Street). David Ortiz Drive is a short block leading to Brookline Avenue which is one of the bordering streets for the ballpark. It has uniform-number monuments to some of their greats. Here you see the ones for Boggs and Ortiz, and to the left you can see the obscured number for Pedro (45). My general plan was to wander around, until game time (8:10 or so), and then take the next train back home assuming things had quieted down outside the park. I was prepared to stay later, if some kind of awesomeness broke out. The area was already busy with people milling around. Cars were double-parked in several places, apparently with official blessing, and the parking lots were advertising a pretty consistent $60 fee. The commuter rail station had a sign stating that the last train of the night would be held until 1:00 am, more than an hour later than its normal schedule; since the game lasted until about midnight, that wasn't really overkill. I took a long way around, heading south on Brookline and then heading back up on Van Ness. Boston isn't really laid out on a grid and you can get disoriented pretty easily, but I've learned my way around Fenway by now. I reached the intersection with Jersey Street where several street vendors are set up and some of the entry gates to the ballpark are. That part of Jersey Street is actually part of the team's venue - the metal detectors and turnstiles are outdoors and the street is just a ballpark concourse on game day - which is why I couldn't use Jersey as part of my circuit. I kept walking, to Ipswich Street and then Landsdowne Street. It all was pretty busy - here is Landsdowne at its junction with Brookline, basically the end of my circuit. All the bars or restaurants I would have considered trying had huge lines of people waiting to get in, to little surprise. Security was everywhere you looked. Dogs sniffed the trunks of cars entering the parking lot within Fenway Park itself, SWAT team humvees were stationed in various places, heavy city trucks were eventually parked to block key intersections, and of course you were never out of sight of police officers (uniformed and I'm sure plainclothes). There also was the expected swarm of media vehicles. I mentioned not being willing to pay scalper's prices, but actually I don't think I had an opportunity. There were plenty of scalpers, but they were always asking if I had tickets to sell, not if I wanted to buy. I think I had seen $400 for standing room tickets, on StubHub. Whatever few tickets changed hands on the street at game time were apparently already spoken for. I saw a couple of people who seemed more normal and less scuzzy than the typical scalper, with signs begging for cheap tickets because they were diehard Sox fans or whatever, but I have little doubt that they would have immediately forgotten their loyalty to the team and would have turned a quick profit had someone been suckered in by their pleas. It wasn't raining when I arrived, but around sundown there started to be drizzle, and pretty soon it rained hard and there was significant lightning a mile or two away. I had brought an umbrella and was walking in light hiking boots, but those who had decided to rely on their hooded jackets decided to cram into the already crowded bars and restaurants, or else (if they had tickets) make their way into the ballpark, because the streets were suddenly pretty sparse of pedestrians. I walked the perimeter of the ballpark again. For some reason I never get tired of photographing the Citgo sign. Somewhere along the perimeter, I spotted a window into which you could see a makeshift Media Room. Even aside from the rain, I have to say that the atmosphere somewhat disappointed me. I guess I was expecting something like a big block party. There was one guy playing makeshift drums on the bridge over I-90, and a couple of times I heard a "Let's Go Red Sox" chant or similar commotion from people lined up to get inside the park, but that's just like a normal game day. A couple of locations on my circuit had a very strong odor of weed, I think maybe from the broadcast media enclave behind a chain link fence within the Fenway Park premises. I believe the Mayor and the Police Commisioner had let it be known that no nonsense was going to be brooked, and maybe that accounts for what I saw on the streets. Certainly, I wasn't hoping for hooliganism, especially with the presence of a smattering of Dodger Blue jerseys and hats, and I'm not sure exactly what I was hoping for, but this was altogether too normal. So buttoned-down. I opted to cut my evening slightly short and take a train that departed shortly before first pitch. Still, I'm glad I went. After sundown, the Prudential Building had their lights on to urge on the Sox to victory, and I think any baseball fan would have felt some excitement, Sox fan or not. Game 1 of the World Series, baby!