As we all continue to age in dog years, things that were once clowned on (i.e. fannypacks) or were 90s staples have come back in full force, which is why I am psyched to pull back the curtain on The 300s Dad Hats. Buy Now
Oh and we got snapbacks too. Buy Now
The #RedSox today traded OF Andrew Benintendi and cash considerations to the KC Royals, in exchange for OF Franchy Cordero & 2 players to be named later.
— Red Sox (@RedSox) February 11, 2021
Additionally, the Red Sox received minor league RHP Josh Winckowski & a player to be named later from the New York Mets.
I know using “former top prospect” to describe a 26-year-old that just got dumped by his current team is a tale as old as time, but I’m pretty down on this move considering the return. Just a year after signing Andrew Benintendi to a relatively inexpensive 2-year $10M extension, the Sox decided to part ways with the former No. 7 overall pick. Granted, I have not been studying my Baseball Prospectus manual so I know nothing about the guys they got in return except that they are also underperforming castoffs from their previous teams.
In return for Benintendi the Red Sox received OF Franchy Cordero and pitcher Josh Winckowski, both of whom I’m not too familiar with. It kiiiind of seems like the Sox are just throwing shit against the wall though hoping they can catch lightning in a bottle with another team’s failed projects.
“I guess you never know, but the odds seem slim that the tools will ever come together. Maybe the Red Sox see something they believe they can fix, but the scouting reports on Cordero have always mentioned that he simply scores low in his natural baseball instincts.” – David Schoenfield, ESPN
Tony Mazz was not very fond of the return either.
“In fairness to the Red Sox, Winckowski sounds like he has a chance. And let me emphasize – a CHANCE. He won’t be 23 until June. He’s 6-foot-4 and 202 pounds. In 54 career minor-league games – 53 starts – he has a 3.35 ERA with 237 strikeouts and 86 walks in 263 innings. But he’s also been traded twice already…Cordero doesn’t sound like much of a baseball player. When I read his profile, the first name I thought of was Wily Mo Pena, a physically imposing power hitter whom the Red Sox acquired in 2006. He basically lasted a year here before they became the second team to give up on his “potential,” which is a dirty word in sports. It’s a euphemism for “underachiever.” There’s nothing worse than a great athlete who doesn’t have the skills to play baseball. And Cordero doesn’t feel like much of a ball player.“
Not to mention this deal happened one year to the day of the Mookie Betts trade. This franchise really should just teach a PR masterclass because there’s always drama surrounding every single move they make.
Maybe it’s elite foresight from Chaim Bloom and he’s seeing what nobody else sees…which is exactly why John Henry hired him. BUT, Benintendi is literally less than a full season removed from being a pretty good and promising young player. In fairness that was two years ago, but with a Covid shortened 2020 season shortened even further due to injuries + the 2019 season Benintendi is only 152 games removed from finishing 2018 hitting .290/.366/.465 with 16 HR, 41 doubles, and 21 Stolen Bases. You can’t tell me that guy just forgot how to play ball.
To make matters worse the Sox are even paying a little over $2M of Benintendi’s salary just for the Royals to take him. Making a little over $6 million this season, Benintendi would be arbitration eligible in 2022 and become a free agent in 2023. It would appear Bloom saw no future for Benny with the Sox so decided to get something in return while he still could.
If you’re feeling a bit, well, underwhelmed by this offseason then you my friend are not alone. When the biggest moves of the offseason are signing OF Hunter Renfroe to a 1-year $3M deal, Kike Hernandez (a nice utility player) to a 2-year $14M deal and RHP Garrett Richards (who is always hurt) to a one year $10M deal, fans have a right to be less than enthused. With Chris Sale out until at least mid-season while he recovers from Tommy John, the Sox have done almost nothing to improve the roster that finished with one of the worst records in team history last season.
Obviously the Red Sox are looking at 2021 as a bridge year while they try to get as far under the luxury tax as possible. Even Dustin Pedroia’s $13.75M AAV still counts against the luxury tax despite retiring so Bloom appears to be resetting the roster before hopefully jumping back into free agency next offseason. This is the kind of stuff that Theo Epstein used to preach, you can’t compete for a World Series and spend big in free agency, and trade prospects every year. It’s just not sustainable. So I understand that, but this franchise does feel a little rudderless. Especially for a franchise that changes its organizational philosophy every 2 years. I can take a down year or two if the team has a legitimate plan in place, but that blueprint remains to be seen if we’re being honest. At the start of next season the Sox will have their two best players in Xander Bogaerts entering his age-29 season and Rafael Devers entering his age-25 season so both guys will be in their prime. Now all Bloom has to do is build an entire roster of players around them in the next 15 months. No pressure.
Say what you want about Benintendi, but he still has the potential to be an All-Star and let us never forget him saving the ALCS for the Red Sox against Houston en route to the 2018 championship. Best of luck to ya in KC, Benny.
BENNY BALLGAME. #ALCS pic.twitter.com/IBYXxykAls
— MLB (@MLB) October 18, 2018
ESPN – The kneecapping of the Houston Astros went off Monday in exquisite fashion. Big names were fired. Draft picks were revoked. A record fine was levied. Pounds of flesh were exacted from egregious cheaters. The optics worked. The Astros’ comeuppance was here, and it was severe. Major League Baseball was righting an obvious wrong.
As the day rolled on and people around baseball pondered exactly what had happened, a less obvious version of the story emerged. It was all so tidy, all so clean, so carefully orchestrated and meticulously calibrated — like something the Astros, ever lauded for their efficiency and ruthlessness, might concoct…As much as MLB played the big, bad monolith in delivering the ruinous news from on high, this was not some unilateral punishment for the Astros. It was a sneak peek inside the sausage factory of power and the anger that Crane’s relative acquittal caused across the league…Multiple ownership-level sources told ESPN that dissatisfaction with the penalties had emerged following a conference call with Manfred, in which he explained how the Astros would be disciplined, then told teams to keep their thoughts to themselves..”Crane won,” he said. “The entire thing was programmed to protect the future of the franchise. He got his championship. He keeps his team. His fine is nothing. The sport lost, but Crane won.”
It’s a long read, but I definitely recommend you check out Jeff Passan’s whole story because it is a pretty fascinating peak behind the curtain. My first reaction to the Astros news yesterday was that they got absolutely HAMMERED by the league. The other owners don’t seem to agree. While I completely understand owners around the league still being bullshit at the Astros, this Passan story just shows how out of touch these team owners have become. What the hell do you want Manfred to do? He fined the Astros the largest team penalty in league history at $5M (and the maximum allowed under MLB rules), banned the GM and the manager for a year and took 1st and 2nd round picks from the team for the next two years. I know, I know the Astros will recoup most of that $5M, if not more in money saved from not having to pay those four draft picks.
With all things considered, thats still pretty, pretty savage. Especially for an organization like MLB that is basically setup like a franchise model thats comprised of franchisees operating their own businesses. For all his faults, Manfred is working with what he’s got here and a lot of that is playing politics amongst 30 billionaires. These owners have no idea what it takes to appease a boss, let alone 30 bosses that make 100x what you make annually, so to bitch and moan about the punishment rings hollow.
“Manfred’s report named Beltran as one of the players involved in the scheme, though the league did not discipline him because it gave players immunity in exchange for their testimony.
That choice registered publicly as another curious part of Manfred’s ultimate decision. What sort of disciplinary action clears players for a “player-driven” scheme? The answer is a practical one. Between the well-defined lines that held GMs and managers responsible and the fear of the Major League Baseball Players Association defending any discipline against active players and sending the cases into grievance hell, Manfred’s pragmatism here, though not satisfying, is understandable.”
Have these guys never watched a cop movie in their lives? Or an episode of The Sopranos? You gotta let some of the small time guys off the hook if you want to get anyone to talk about the Capos. This ain’t the NBA in the 70s where David Stern could just tell some bum owners what was going to happen and they had to accept it.
Now its just a matter of time until Alex Cora gets absolutely roasted himself. Passan cited two sources saying “the end of Cora’s time in Boston could be coming” Alex Cora got the axe from John Henry on Tuesday night. During the middle of the Jeopardy GOAT Tournament no less, which is about as big of a news dump as I can remember.
This came as no surprise because of the optics of the situation. There was no way the Sox were going to take that heat for a guy who in all likelihood won’t be able to work for *at least* the next year. AJ Hinch already completely threw Cora under the bus in the statement he released
“While the evidence consistently showed I didn’t organize or participate in the sign stealing practices, I failed to stop them”
Alex Cora, meet the wheels underneath this bus. #Astros #RedSox #MLB https://t.co/UpJIfvGAFL
— The 300s (@The300sBoston) January 14, 2020
Although Shaugnessy did a nice job playing both sides of the fence on this one and reported on Tuesday that the Sox may not actually fire Cora.
I think any reasonable person understands sign stealing happens in baseball and the more technology you add the more sophisticated the sign stealing is going to become. Granted it’s my favorite baseball team that is embroiled in this, but as former Marlins slugger Logan Morrison has said, he knows first hand of several teams that do the same type of stuff.
Some more detailed accusations from Logan Morrison on Instagram, calling out the Astros as far back as 2014, as well as the Yankees, Dodgers, and Red Sox for using technology to aid sign-stealing. pic.twitter.com/h7TySzpO1W
— John Trupin (@JohnTrupin) January 13, 2020
Manfred’s report directly references how teams like the Yankees were fined for doing the same exact thing in 2017. I mean Cora even joked about Carlos Beltran and how much he’s “helped” the Yankees after the Sox got bludgeoned by them in the London Series last season.
Here’s video of the Alex Cora soundbite we just played on @WFANmornings. This was following the Yankees’ sweep of Boston in the 2019 London Series. Check out the wink after he brings up Carlos Beltran’s name around :27 and unprovoked usage of the word “devices.” (h/t @Pacmangrig) pic.twitter.com/HgkglIoB7O
— Chris Lopresti (@CLoprestiWFAN) January 15, 2020
So lets not all start acting like this is someone stealing a $20 out of the Sunday School collection basket. This is a bunch of guys getting bagged doing something they should not have been doing and they knew it. This is not the 1918 Black Sox throwing a game and ruining the integrity of baseball.
Just take a look at the response Passan got when he asked an unnamed team president if he would take that hit for a World Series title:
“I don’t know that I would,” one team president said, “but I don’t know that I wouldn’t.” It was an honest answer.”
So everybody just pump the breaks on the hysteria train before you hurt yourselves.
Hideki Okajima https://t.co/0g1b1teyTE
— The 300s (@The300sBoston) October 2, 2019
I think to classify as a “random” shirt or jersey it has to be a guy that was elite for a short period of time, a cult hero in no way due to their actual athletic prowess ( I was *this* close to buying a Gabe Kapler Yomiuri Giants jersey in 2005), a player that was only on a team for a hot minute (I’ve seen two John Lynch Patriots jerseys in Allston over the years), or a jersey that is so obscure that it should not realistically belong to you.
I am an unabashed jersey guy so I have a closet full of obscure pieces beyond just the Boston teams. The Priest Holmes jersey I bought in a Connecticut Marshalls in 2007, Byron Dafoe, Antoine Walker (shirt and jersey), Tim Tebow Patriots shirt, Sergei Samsonov shirt, banana yellow Marcus Mariota Oregon jersey, JR Redmond Patriots jersey, Pedro Mets shirt, a literal blank Athletics jersey, the list goes on and on.
Ya know, now that I think about it, this $12 purchase at the downtown Minneapolis Marshalls may have to take the cake.
So I pose the question, whats the most random sports shirt or jersey you own?
Managers yelling at reporters, big money free agents injured yet again, and just general dysfunction at all levels. The Circus is in town!
Buy The 300s Circus t-shirt now!
Papa Giorgio rightfully brought to my attention that The 300s didn’t have any swag for our miserable fans in New York. I’ve always kind of rooted for the Mets solely because Yankees fans hate them too so the enemy of my enemy is my friend I guess. Where my Mets fans at??
Get the custom Circus design on t-shirts, tank tops, stickers, iPhone cases and whatever else your heart desires. Hell, we put it on shower curtains just in case you really want to bathe in it. Buy The 300s Circus gear now!
These are some Grade-A, sarcastic, bullshit tweets right here. It would seem everyone in America is in agreement that Tim Tebow has no business being at Mets spring training, but people love them some Tebow. I love Tebow, the dude just fascinates me. I don’t know if I would watch a Tebow reality show because it would just consist of him working out, going to church, and holding hands with his Miss Universe girlfriend. Not exactly Party Down South material, but hey people are interested in the guy despite his lack of real, sustained success as a professional. So SNY says alright you dummies you want more Tebow coverage well here’s the Daily Tim Tebow Moment. Chewing his fingernails in the outfield, walking around the warning track, drinking water. Just a ridiculous place we’ve reached as a society. Snake it til you make it Tim, I respect that game.
Here it is, your daily Tim Tebow moment pic.twitter.com/sEvOvd0Si0
— SNY (@SNYtv) February 25, 2019
Here it is, your daily Tim Tebow moment pic.twitter.com/W1K9XUjpf2
— SNY (@SNYtv) February 21, 2019
Here it is, your daily Tim Tebow moment pic.twitter.com/cQ8Jnis5Hl
— SNY (@SNYtv) February 19, 2019
Here it is, your daily Tim Tebow moment pic.twitter.com/SBZ08gBbCz
— SNY (@SNYtv) February 17, 2019
PS – If you’ve never seen Party Down South, you must stop whatever you’re doing and go watch it right now. It’s basically the south’s version of Jersey Shore and it used to be on the Country Music TV network. Just good, wholesome, salt of the earth southerners getting blackout drunk every day on TV for our enjoyment.
“You’re always going to have critics and naysayers and people that are going to tell you that you won’t, that you can’t, that you shouldn’t. Most of those people are the people that didn’t, that wouldn’t, that couldn’t.”
Baseball aside, there’s no doubt he’s an inspirational guy pic.twitter.com/FDTwUuKXI2
— Steve Gelbs (@SteveGelbs) February 16, 2019
Love him or hate him you can’t deny the guy can give one hell of a motivational speech. He’s right too. It doesn’t matter if people think he’s getting special treatment or if people think he sucks at baseball. What matters is it’s something he wants to do, believes he can do, so why the hell not at least try? There’s nothing worse in life than regret so don’t just sit there and let your life tick away because you’re afraid of failure or what others might say. It does not mater. Do your thing.
Let me just put this and Billy Bob Thornton’s Friday Night Lights speech on rotation and I could run through a brick wall.
The transcription of Tebow’s full quote is below, courtesy of Yahoo.
“It’s really about keeping perspective and not letting other people define you because they sure want to. Shoot, I try to encourage young people all the time to not let the world or outside sources define you because you are always going to have critics and naysayers and people that are going to tell you that you won’t, that you can’t, that you shouldn’t. Most of those people are the people that didn’t, that wouldn’t, that couldn’t.
“Don’t be defined by the outside sources. You go after your dreams. Succeeding or failing is not making it to the bigs or it’s not necessarily fulfilling that. It’s having to not live with regret because I didn’t try. I just feel for all the young people who don’t go after something because they are so afraid of failing that you are going to live with a lot more regret than if you would’ve and you failed. I’m very passionate about that.
“I think the reason people don’t go after things is because how much you will be criticized. What if I fall flat on my face? Fear and doubt and all these things creep in. I just don’t believe that is the healthiest way to live. I don’t want to have to live with fear or doubt every day, regardless of what everybody here says about me. It doesn’t define me.
“I’m grateful that doesn’t define me. There is one thing that defines me and that’s what God says about me. Besides that, I get to go live out my dreams and help as many people along the way as possible.”
Yahoo – Tim Tebow, the former Heisman Trophy-winning college and NFL quarterback, is happily ensconced in the New York Mets minor league system, and eyeing a possible promotion to the majors in 2019. But there’s always that lingering question: could he ever return to football?
While we don’t know the final, definitive answer to that question, we do know that Tebow is so committed to baseball right now that he turned down an offer from Steve Spurrier, the coach of the Orlando Apollos of the Alliance of American Football, to join his team.
Spurrier, the former Florida and South Carolina football coach, confirmed to “PFT Live” that he reached out to Tebow in 2018 about playing for the AAF, but Tebow passed. And Spurrier understood why.
“No, and I don’t blame Tim,” Spurrier said. “Tim’s got a chance to go to Major League Baseball. I think Tim’s probably headed in the baseball direction. I don’t blame him. If I were in his situation I’d probably do the same thing.”
At least we’ll always have that Fantasy Football championship you won me in 2011, Tim. But hey in all seriousness if I had the opportunity to maybe get called up and play for the New York Mets (warranted or not) vs the opportunity to play in the illustrious AAF? Ummmm probably sticking with the Mets, even if they are run by dopes in the Wilpons.
I really do hope to see Tim Tebow playing Major League Baseball, even if it is a sham so the Mets can sell tickets. I mean whats Tebow supposed to do? Say no? Build that brand baby. While he has a career .244 batting average in the minors, in true Tebow fashion, he’s actually gotten better the closer he’s gotten to the big time. After hitting .220 in A ball, he then somehow got promoted and proceeded to rake with a .273 avg in AA. Now he’s been invited to spring training by the Mets and as we all know, AA is where all the prime prospects come from. Granted you don’t see a lot of successful players making their MLB debut at 30-years-old, but I’ll never doubt a guy that has Jesus in his corner.
PS – I still wear my Tebow Patriots t-shirt jersey with pride. Top 5 piece of obscure memorabilia that I own.
Another week, another chance to check in and see who’s doing great and who’s doing shit.
Trending Up:
Tom Cruise
Mission Impossible 6 is getting glowing reviews across the board and if you bet me 10 years ago that we’d be getting a sixth installment starring this couch jumping lunatic, well I would have joined Scientology. This franchise has been getting better and better with each release and it just goes to show you that there are still quality action films out there to be made that don’t involve Tony Stark.
Star Wars Fandom
Episode 9 officially started filming Wednesday with J.J. Abrams back in the Director’s chair. Confirmed to return are Mark Hamill, Back-From-The-Dead Carrie Fisher, and everybody’s favorite space pimp, Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian. I’m hoping for a satisfying conclusion to the sequel trilogy as the last chapter left a lot to be desired for me personally. More Adam Driver is always welcomed though.
Jose Reyes
Reyes made his pitching debut this week and it could have honestly gone a lot worse. Mets got completely blown out for the worst loss in franchise history and we’re at the point where I’m just here to see how low and hilarious this can get. Reyes gave up two homers and followed it up the next day by hitting two homers, which is the first time anyone’s done that since 1876. Hard to believe this team was in the World Series in 2015. Amazing Mets indeed.
Trending Down:
The NFL
Are we really so petty against Colin Kaepernick that we’re editing his name out of songs for a video game? If this was a problem, why did you even use the song in the first place? Regardless of your actual stance on the matter, it’s hard for an organization to be more unaware of their own bullshit. Talk about not being able to get out of your own way.
Chipotle
At this point it is rarer to go into this chain and come out healthy than it is to get sick. 683 people have now claimed to have gotten sick eating at an Ohio location which is absolutely believable. Are we cooking chicken in Easy Bake Ovens or something? Guac remains extra, but diarrhea is free of charge.
The Wilpons
Two years ago, the New York Mets were in the World Series. They lost, but they were good enough to get there. Between countless injuries, mishandling of players, and constant penny pinching, it’s time Major League Baseball stepped in and did something about the worst ownership in professional sports. This team is a piggy bank to Wilpon family (a piggy bank that Bernie Madoff enjoyed dipping his hand into over a decade ago, but ownership would like you to think happened last week). Mets fans are tired of the nonsense, and these two frauds will not see another dime of my money til something is done.
By now it’s no secret that i’ve been chipping away at my goal of seeing a game at every major league ballpark. Now that the 2018 season is upon us, I thought it would be the perfect time to update you on my quest and ask you the readers what I should tackle next?
Coming into this MLB season I’ve been to 12 ballparks all while experiencing some amazing highs (Pirates, Padres) and some spectacular lows (Yankee Stadium 2.0). My list is as follows, ranked according to my level of enjoyment:
It’s kind of hard to do a ranking, especially when the middle of the list doesn’t really have any faults, it’s just that it didn’t have any memorable moments. I rank the Pirates so high because of the views from PNC. Situated perfectly on the river, it’s an incredible sight with the skyline and bridges in the distance. I also managed to snag a beautiful Pirates cowboy hat from the gift shop and free beer from a broken keg, dumping gallons of free suds into the concourse (and into my cup).
Wrigley was a bachelor party so good times were had, Petco Park was a beautiful summer night the weekend of 4th of July, and Citi Field is the home of my team the Mets, so I have a bit of a bias there.
Yankee Stadium did absolutely nothing for me. It felt like a place you’d go watch gladiators fight lions, let alone a game of baseball. It was too sterile, too corporate, all things that have been said time and time again.
2018 will bring my total to 15, as I will be adding the White Sox, Nationals, and Angels to the list.
Is there anything else I should hit? Would you guys like to see some video reviews of some of these places? Let us know in the comments and we will bring you the A+ content.
The 300s 