Tag: Baseball

Yankees Prospect Asks Team to Un-Retire Mickey Mantle’s Number for Him

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Yahoo Sports – The number on the back of a baseball player’s jersey is more than just a number. In a game filled with superstition, having your lucky number could make a huge difference in your performance…But when that number is retired by the franchise, that player is out of luck. It’s time to find a new number. Well … unless you’re New York Yankees prospect Clint Frazier. The 22-year-old outfielder reportedly asked the team if it “un-retire” numbers, according to Yankees broadcaster Suzyn Waldman. Predictably, Frazier was denied. Teams don’t un-retire numbers. It doesn’t happen. It was an absurd request by Frazier. And yet, the whole thing gets even more ludicrous. Frazier wanted the Yankees to un-retire No. 7. Yes, he wanted to wear Mickey Mantle’s number!

Goddamnit you’re gonna make me like you Clint Frazier aren’t you? I’ve already written about my fascination with the up and coming Yankees prospect before because of his absolute mane of red hair that the NYY will ultimately make him chop off because they still think its 1920. But now this comes out that Frazier is legit asking to wear numbers the Yanks have already RETIRED and I’m starting to develop a man crush on a guy who will one day play for the team I despise. A juiced redhead who absolutely mashes the ball. He’s like the Neo of gingers. The one to reset the Matrix of abuse that redheads have taken for decades.

Now this same guy is just pissing on Yankees tradition and asking to wear Mickey Mantle’s number? Love it. Kid probably doesn’t even know who the Mick is. Guy banged Marilyn Monroe, have some respect.

Hilarious lack of self awareness and it probably just makes Yankees fans like the kid less, which I always enjoy. It’s like when A-Rod was hitting 40 dingers with 140 RBIs and all of New York just absolutely loathed the guy. “Still not better than our light hitting shortstop who’s defense should’ve forced him to left field years ago.” Oh Yankees fans, what a bunch of wacky loudmouths.

Remember Theo Epstein, the Guy the Red Sox Forced Out? Yea, He Was Just Named the World’s Greatest Leader

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ESPN – Theo Epstein is the world’s greatest leader. So said Fortune magazine, which published its annual list on Thursday morning. The Chicago Cubs’ president of baseball operations finished in the top spot, ahead of Alibaba founder Jack Ma. Pope Francis at No. 3, Melinda Gates at No. 4 and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos rounded out the top five.

Thank GOD the Red Sox won the World Series in 2013 because otherwise this shit would be straight up demoralizing. Not only has Theo Epstein taken a perennial dumpster fire of a team that used to routinely top 100 losses a season and turned them into the BEST team in baseball, but now he’s been crowned the World’s Greatest Leader by Fortune.

Dude beat out Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and the Pope. Theo Epstein beat out the motherfucking Pope. The Red Sox forced that guy out. All because Larry Lucchino, who has since been put out to pasture, wanted to have a dick measuring contest with the young blood. Because the guy who doesn’t even work here anymore wanted to feel important, we let legitimately the best baseball executive of our generation slip through our fingers.

Larry Lucchino calling all the shots because he helped build a cool ballpark down in Baltimore. Lucchino was a straight up real life version of Mugatu. “I INVENTED CAMDEN YARDS.”

Theo, a guy who grew up in BROOKLINE, who dreamed of working for the Red Sox did just that, then helped construct 2(!) championship teams and then was shown the door. How does that happen?

And now he’s the World’s. Greatest. Leader. Good. I hope that makes John Henry puke on his 50 fucking foot yacht.

The Red Sox did not immediately respond when asked to comment.

Holy shit imagine if the Sox did not have that miracle run to win the World Series in 2013? There was the absolutely epic collapse of 2011, the chicken and beer fiasco, the downright shameful smear campaign of Terry Francona, the Bobby Valentine abortion of an experiment, followed by 3 last place finishes in 4 years. That is a dark, dark period if not for that title they somehow shoehorned in there. And Theo is probably laughing like a bastard right now out in Wrigleyville counting his $10 million a year salary.

If one of the highest spending teams in baseball could only somehow get their hands on a young stud executive the Sox would be set for a generation.

God damnit.

 

Evan Drellich Says Chris Sale May Be Red Sox Most Electrifying Pitcher Since Pedro

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CSNNE – The newest lefty ace can succeed where David Price did not. Chris Sale might be the most electrifying pitcher the Red Sox have had since Pedro Martinez. Josh Beckett had his moments. Jon Lester was steadily excellent. But the stuff Sale brings is a step above.

I am HYPED for this season. Cannot wait to get it going. Despite my very real fear of 2/5 of the starters in our rotation going down with arm injuries, Chris Sale is gonna bring the juice. This guy is an incredibly talented pitcher and is hyper competitive, but he’s also a complete psycho. That is the full package for what it takes to be a legend in a town like Boston. You need a guy thats a little crazy to thrive in a pressure packed, often cynical market like this.  That was Pedro.

With Sale striking out 10 Yankees in a Spring Training game last night, it provided a glimpse into hopefully years of dominant performances against the Bombers. There was nothing better than the days where Pedro was so good he could legit toy with dudes or reach back and blow em away with his fastball.

David Price can be great, but he can also implode like he did in the playoffs last year. But either way, he’s a pretty laid back quiet guy. It’s hard to get fired up about a David Price start. Chris Sale seems to have that fire. He seems to be the guy who will bean a dude without hesitation. Sox haven’t had a guy like that really since Beckett and even Lackey, as short lived as that one was. But to describe a guy as the most anything since Pedro has me sweating for the season to start.

Red Sox Rotation Hanging by a Thread and Its Not Even April

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With injury scares already to David Price and now Drew Pomeranz I ask: Can the Red Sox trade a pitcher from their rotation without it blowing up in their face just once?

The last time the Sox traded a prominent starter due to overflowing depth was when they dealt Bronson Arroyo for Willy Mo Pena right before the 2006 season. And almost immediately there were injuries to the pitching staff that ended up screwing them. The Red Sox had FOURTEEN guys make starts that year including the immortal David Pauley. Remember him? How about Team Italy’s very own Lenny DiNardo? Yea he made 6 fucking starts that year. If you recall David Wells battled injuries that season, starting the year on the DL, before ultimately getting dealt to the Padres in August after the Sox were all but out of the playoff hunt. Only 2 guys topped 140 innings that season (Schilling and Beckett) as the Sox failed to make the playoffs.

But hey at least we had a 4th outfielder who couldn’t hit a curveball! So back to present day; after the Sox dealt Clay Buchholz we get a currently (read: publicly) minor, but possibly major injury to the $30 million dollar man David Price and now the same with Pomeranz. Price allegedly has no structural damage to his elbow because apparently he is the Donald of MLB:

Pomeranz has me even more concerned. This is the same guy that got a stem-cell injection just last winter for elbow/forearm stiffness. And now he’s got tricep stiffness a couple of months later? That doesn’t just happen to totally healthy guys.

And just so no one forgets, the Padres essentially tried to hose the Sox by not properly disclosing medical records. So much so that MLB stepped in and offered to RESCIND THE TRADE. That is bananas. Not to mention the guy has SUCKED. And what does Dave Dombrowski do? Politely declines. Top prospect shown the door for a guy who has essentially been reduced to a 5th starter/bullpen guy with injury issues. Fucking great. I swear to god Dave, if you turned down that Get Out of Jail Free card out of pride…

This season is starting to very much feel like one hanging by a thread and its not even goddamn April yet. One starter going down for an extended period of time would be bad. Two would be disastrous.

Where art thou Bronson Arroyo?

PS – Every single time Bronson Arroyo is brought up, it is required by law for any Red Sox fan to mention the time he beaned A-Rod and set off one of the greatest baseball fights of all time. Legend says as A-Rod is bitching to Arroyo for hitting him Varitek simply goes, “We don’t throw at .260 players.”

Former Red Sox Reliever Manny Delcarmen Making a Comeback Attempt with the Sox

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12Up– Manny Delcarmen, 35, is looking to earn a chance with the Boston Red Sox, mentioning that he is willing to pitch in the minor leagues in order to work his way back to the majors. And he better be. Delcarmen worked out with the Red Sox earlier Tuesday, hoping to earn that second chance.

Nostalgia Alert! Former Red Sox reliever Manny Delcarmen is making a comeback attempt with none other than the Red Sox themselves. The pride of Jamaica Plain. What a throwback. I think the reason I love Delcarmen so much is because he was one of the first top Sox prospects to come along and flourish (and flame out) right when the team was at its best in the mid 2000’s alongside Pedroia, Papelbon, Lester etc. In 2007 when the Sox won it all Delcarmen had a 2.05 ERA in 44 IP with 8.4 K/9. And in 08 when they got to Game 7 of the ALCS (god damnit) he had a 3.27 ERA in 74.1 IP with an 8.7 K/9. Not too shabby.

Obviously Delcarmen didn’t have quite the same staying power as those other guys. But he was at one time the setup-man of the future to the Red Sox closer of the future in Craig Hansen. REMEMBER HIM?!

But hey scouts say he’s hitting 92 mph on the gun and he still lives a half hour away from Pawtucket so why not. This is also great for me because my go-to awkward silence icebreaker at parties is “Hey, whatever happened to Manny Delcarmen?” Now we shall see.

PS – I’ll never forget being at the McDonalds in Kenmore Square before a game and seeing a guy rocking a *stitched* Craig Hansen jersey A WEEK after the kid got called up. He was supposed to be can’t miss. Well guess what, he did miss. A friend of mine from high school swears to this day it’s because the seams are lower on MLB baseballs than in college…

Adrian Gonzalez Flips Out on the WBC and I Cannot Blame Him

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Yahoo – “A few days later, Adrian Gonzalez obviously has not gotten over his anger at the way Mexico was eliminated from the World Baseball Classic — via a tiebreaker scenario based on runs allowed per defensive inning.”

Adrian Gonzalez is historically a top notch whiner, but I cannot get on him for this. The World Baseball Classic is a fake ass tournament contrived to try and replicate the World Cup. Hell even basketball’s FIBA cup is more exciting than this. And to get knocked out on a fucking COIN FLIP? What is this the Friday Night Lights playoff tie breaker between Midland High, Lee and Permian? Holy shit what a screw job. Vent away Adrian, vent away. Still doesn’t really matter though because its the WBC.

But getting screwed, regardless of how minor, is what develops life long grudges. You ever get hosed on a call from the refs in Madden? My God, I still have memories of those incidents in college. The amount of $50 clickers we went through as broke college kids is truly amazing. Saved just enough money to buy a 30 of Busch Light and replace the clicker my roommate Gronk spiked into a million pieces after I took a pick 6 back to the house to beat him in OT. So get your grudge on Adrian, rip that shit tournament to shreds.

Red Sox Finally Announce Porcello As Opening Day Starter

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ESPN – “For starters, the Boston Red Sox will go with Rick Porcello. Porcello is the choice to be the Red Sox’s Opening Day starting pitcher April 3 against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Fenway Park, manager John Farrell said Wednesday. The decision was made at the beginning of spring training, according to Farrell”

And thats a good thing. I say finally because the guy became your de facto ace last year when Price was imploding and was the AL Cy Young winner. Add in the fact they both melted in the playoffs and that measuring stick is a wash. Plus as much as I think Chris Sale is going to be an excellent addition to both the rotation and the clubhouse, he’s the new guy in town. You just cannot insert him as your Opening Day starter. John Farrell is lying through his teeth saying this decision was made weeks ago, not simply because the decision was made for him with Price’s elbow injury. As much as we all want him to be that alpha snarling ace, that just ain’t Price. Porcello might be that guy though.

And while you obviously don’t want to pay your No. 2 (or No. 3) guy in Price $30+ million a year, thats what you get for letting your ace Jon Lester walk out the door because you lowballed the shit out of him. You pay through the nose trying to replace him. But thats fine, we don’t need Price to be Josh Beckett or John Lackeys threatening to kill people’s families. We just need him to be an elite pitcher, which I think he’s probably more apt to be as a behind the scenes guy with less pressure. Don’t force it. Let the guy be a supporting character and maybe then he actually pitches well in the playoffs. They’re pro athletes John, manage them.

MLB Can Fuck Right Off With Putting a Team in Las Vegas

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CBS Sports – MLB commissioner Rob Manfred seems increasingly to have expansion on his mind. While the general sense of things is that Manfred and MLB will look to expand their international footprint in the next round of expansion, you should also consider Las Vegas to be in the mix of potential locations. In fact, Manfred himself said as much to Michael Kay on Tuesday.

MLB can fuck right off with putting a team in Las Vegas after sandbagging Pete Rose for all these years. The most sanctimonious, anti-gambling league in all of sports is now considering putting a team in the gambling capital of the world.

I applaud the Knights and potentially the Raiders for finally putting a team in Vegas, but holy hell MLB be more hypocritical. The guy with the most hits in the history of your sport isn’t even recognized by baseball because he was placing bets on his *own* team.

And now they’re gonna waltz into town and drop a team in the same spot that Pete Rose has basically been banished to. The guy signs autographs in Vegas every day for a living. Did you know he’s signed so many autographs that its basically worthless on the resale market now?

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That would be some fucked up irony if I ever saw it. One of the best players of all time banned by his sport for gambling, ironically takes up residence in a city that is known solely for gambling, and then years later that same sport puts a team in said gambling city, right in his backyard? Holy shit, Pete Rose might legitimately drop dead.

So put a pitching clock in, speed up the game, put a goddamn guy on second base to start extra innings, I don’t care, but get the hell outta my face with putting a team in Sin City.

Everyone’s Favorite Crazy Closer Brian Wilson Planning Comeback as a Knuckleballer

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ESPN – Former reliever Brian Wilson is planning a comeback — as a knuckleballer. Wilson hasn’t pitched professionally since 2014 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but he recently has thrown for at least two teams, Yahoo Sports reports.

If there is anyone who deserves to have a second career as a knuckleballer it’s Brian Wilson. That guy is batshit crazy in the mold of someone like Bill the Spaceman Lee. Coming off his second Tommy John surgery, the days of Wilson throwing triple digits are in the rear view mirror. So we need Wilson to get good at knuckleballs and fast. Knuckleballers are notoriously a little odd, probably just because its one of those positions that so few people can relate to. You’re basically on your own trying to figure out how to make this whiffle ball pitch good enough to strike out major league hitters while throwing 60 mph meatballs.

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There’s so few pitchers that have been good at consistently throwing knuckleballs that its almost impossible to groom in a player. I mean the Red Sox had one of the best knuckleball pitchers ever in Tim Wakefield so a guy like Steven Wright definitely had a huge advantage.

As a knuckleballer, Wilson likely would attempt to move from relief to a starting role. “I can already see myself out there,” he told Yahoo, “throwing up some waffles.”

But can you imagine a former flamethrower in Wilson, a guy who used to throw up some sort of UFC/MMA “X” with his arms after nailing down a save, a guy who legit painted his beard with shoe polish so it would be jet black, that guy coming back as a slow pitch softball player on the mound? Just lofting knuckles hoping they don’t get hit to the goddamn moon? Would be A+ viewing material. Plus he’s a New Hampshire guy, so he’s definitely already a little bit off. He was born for this.

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Red Sox Re-Sign Jackie Bradley Jr. for $3.6 Million to Avoid Arbitration

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ESPN – “The Boston Red Sox have avoided salary arbitration with Jackie Bradley Jr., agreeing to a $3.6 million deal with the All-Star outfielder, a source told ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick. Bradley made $546,500 last season and will be eligible for arbitration in each of the next three years. Bradley, 26, enjoyed a breakout season in 2016, batting .267 with career highs of 26 home runs, 87 RBIs and 94 runs scored. He was voted a starter for the American League in the All-Star Game and helped Boston win the AL East with a 93-69 record.”

Its a good thing the Red Sox stuck with it when guys like Jackie Bradley Jr were struggling because with all the $20 million pitchers on the roster, theres not really much money left for expensive outfielders. Now the Sox have one of the best outfielders in all of baseball and all 3 guys are on rookie contracts. As anti-Theo as Dombrowski is, that is exactly what Theo preaches. Build up your farm system to be the core of your team and then add in a few high priced vets to fill out the roster, especially pitching.

I’m sure JBJ’s number will continue to rise, but if he puts up numbers similar to last year then $3.6 million is an absolute bargain. Not a bad bump for him either, essentially getting paid 6x what he made last year. I’d take that deal every day of the week.

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