Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
Stats show that Mike Aviles defense was just fine for the Red Sox. It was his offense that was the problem. His batting average was just .250 and his OBP was an anemic .282. You could get better defense from Jose Iglesias if you are willing to live with the 76 OPS+ that Aviles put up... If ESPN still did that "You got jacked up" segment then Vince Wilfork's hit against Buffalo would be shown 17 times straight. As Tom Curran pointed out - I think that's the last time you see any team try a middle screen against the Patriots this season.. If there was a Church of Bacon I'd be a parishioner - maybe even a priest... I think it would be funny to see a re-make of the musical Paint Your Wagon made with just on-air personalities from the NFL Network. Rich Eisen can play the Lee Marvin role... I have to think this is the end of the road for Jason Giambi. Not a Hall of Famer but considering he's made over $131 million in salary in baseball - I don't think we'll see him panhandling any time soon... I have to agree with this cartoon...
Chris Lynch's slanted view on sports, politics and entertainment. Please send thoughts or comments to chris.lynch@gmail.com
Showing posts with label Mike Aviles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mike Aviles. Show all posts
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Sunday, May 20, 2012
State of the Red Sox
For a guy who is down on the Red Sox - I sure do think about them a lot. That's what it's like to be a Red Sox fan these days. It's like having a blood relative cousin who seems to be doing OK on the surface but who you know is having all sorts of issues behind the scenes. You are concerned, you want to do something but it really isn't your place.
At one point you couldn't have been more proud of your cousin. You used to brag about him to all your out of state friends. But your cousin had a couple of rough months last year and now your cousin is getting over a tough divorce (Terry Francona and Theo Epstein) and you aren't so sure that the new flame(s) are good for him (Bobby Valentine and Ben Cherington). But who are you to say anything?
You also think your cousin is not hanging with the right sort of friends. One of the guys he's hanging with is much more concerned with finding snitches than being a good member of the community. You see this as a bad thing but the professional counselors (sports writers) think anyone who wants to get rid of that bad friend is stupid because the friend has had great success when he was younger and that's all that counts.
The thing about relatives who have issues and may not be all that likable when you take a good look - you lose interest in them and their problems after a while. Even if they have some success - it doesn't mean as much to you as it once did. That's the state of the Red Sox in a nutshell.
Warning to Red Sox front office types - once people stop caring it is very hard to get that passion back. Expect lower NESN ratings. And lower advertising revenues.
Three Points:
1. Perhaps the most heart warming team success story this year is that of the first place Cleveland Indians. It should be noted that the core players for the Indians Sin-Soo Choo, Asdubal Cabrera, and Carlos Santana were players Cleveland obtained in trades for veterans. Are we to believe that Josh Beckett and Kevin Youkilis would not have the sort of trade value the Indians found for Ben Broussard, Eduardo Perez, and Casey Blake? Kevin Youkilis and Casey Blake are almost the same player!
2. Not to rain on the accomplishments of very likable Mike Aviles this year for the Sox but look at this player comparison:
Mike Aviles - 25 R/ 7 HR/ 25 RBI/ .272 BA/ .300 OBP/ .781 OPS
Player B - 15 R/ 5 HR/ 16 RBI/ .274 BA/ .357 .OBP/ .801 OPS
Player B is Jed Lowrie who the Red Sox traded away. Would the Red Sox have been better off if they had just kept Lowrie? I think the answer to this question still hasn't been answered.
3. People are still talking about moving Daniel Bard back to the bullpen. Why? Despite a bad first inning the other day - Bard has been perhaps the most consistent Red Sox starter this year. Why mess with the guy? Especially when you have Mark Melancon (the guy Lowrie was traded for) tearing it up at AAA Pawtucket. Melancon has a 0.00 ERA in 13 games for the Pawsox but he hasn't been recalled because the Red Sox bullpen has been doing so well. But if they are doing so well - why do people want to chuck Bard back into the mix and out of the rotation?
At one point you couldn't have been more proud of your cousin. You used to brag about him to all your out of state friends. But your cousin had a couple of rough months last year and now your cousin is getting over a tough divorce (Terry Francona and Theo Epstein) and you aren't so sure that the new flame(s) are good for him (Bobby Valentine and Ben Cherington). But who are you to say anything?
You also think your cousin is not hanging with the right sort of friends. One of the guys he's hanging with is much more concerned with finding snitches than being a good member of the community. You see this as a bad thing but the professional counselors (sports writers) think anyone who wants to get rid of that bad friend is stupid because the friend has had great success when he was younger and that's all that counts.
The thing about relatives who have issues and may not be all that likable when you take a good look - you lose interest in them and their problems after a while. Even if they have some success - it doesn't mean as much to you as it once did. That's the state of the Red Sox in a nutshell.
Warning to Red Sox front office types - once people stop caring it is very hard to get that passion back. Expect lower NESN ratings. And lower advertising revenues.
Three Points:
1. Perhaps the most heart warming team success story this year is that of the first place Cleveland Indians. It should be noted that the core players for the Indians Sin-Soo Choo, Asdubal Cabrera, and Carlos Santana were players Cleveland obtained in trades for veterans. Are we to believe that Josh Beckett and Kevin Youkilis would not have the sort of trade value the Indians found for Ben Broussard, Eduardo Perez, and Casey Blake? Kevin Youkilis and Casey Blake are almost the same player!
2. Not to rain on the accomplishments of very likable Mike Aviles this year for the Sox but look at this player comparison:
Mike Aviles - 25 R/ 7 HR/ 25 RBI/ .272 BA/ .300 OBP/ .781 OPS
Player B - 15 R/ 5 HR/ 16 RBI/ .274 BA/ .357 .OBP/ .801 OPS
Player B is Jed Lowrie who the Red Sox traded away. Would the Red Sox have been better off if they had just kept Lowrie? I think the answer to this question still hasn't been answered.
3. People are still talking about moving Daniel Bard back to the bullpen. Why? Despite a bad first inning the other day - Bard has been perhaps the most consistent Red Sox starter this year. Why mess with the guy? Especially when you have Mark Melancon (the guy Lowrie was traded for) tearing it up at AAA Pawtucket. Melancon has a 0.00 ERA in 13 games for the Pawsox but he hasn't been recalled because the Red Sox bullpen has been doing so well. But if they are doing so well - why do people want to chuck Bard back into the mix and out of the rotation?
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Flotsam and Jetsam
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
It should be noted that Mike Aviles who ends up being the starting shortstop for one of baseball's richest teams was basically given up for nothing by the Royals. To get Aviles the Red Sox gave up Kendal Volz (flotsam) and Yamaico Navarro (jetsam)... Heh heh - the most accurate Jets passer... Could a guy who owns a landscaping business also be called a geostrategist?... All the talk about Etch-a-sketch reminds me of the Emerson quote, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines"... 15 Bizarre Portraits of Nude Politicians. I thought the JFK assassination was tastefully done... Last night the Boston Bruins honored team Captain Zdeno Chara who recently played his 1,000th game. Chara reminds me of what could have been if Gord Kluzak had healthy knees. Kluzak may have been (slightly) shorter but he was actually much more talented than Chara (which is not a knock on Chara just a reminder of how great Kluzak could have been)... Taking the phrase "a man's home is his castle" literally... If anyone snarks at you about Mitt Romney and "car elevators" remind that person that Mitt is mega rich and that his wife Ann has MS... Do you have an extra $35-70,000 laying around? The 1959 Masters Green Jacket is for sale... If Rick Santorum was elected President his first act would be to outlaw folk music in Catholic Churches. Acoustic guitars have no place near the altar in Santorum's America... Finally - a product that is just begging for a Ben Roethlisberger endorsement. Just begging for it... The have been a number of articles recently about the debate of the Red Sox using Daniel Bard as a starter or whether he should stay in the bullpen. If the article fails to mention Justin Masterson then the article was either lazy or biased towards Bard going back to the bullpen (looking at you Ken Rosenthal)... Wow - Matt Bush does not seem like a very good human being... I think a TV show called Rick Santorum - Vatican Spy would be awesome. You could have a West Wing meets Archer meets Get Smart type mash-up. Wouldn't you watch something like that?...
It should be noted that Mike Aviles who ends up being the starting shortstop for one of baseball's richest teams was basically given up for nothing by the Royals. To get Aviles the Red Sox gave up Kendal Volz (flotsam) and Yamaico Navarro (jetsam)... Heh heh - the most accurate Jets passer... Could a guy who owns a landscaping business also be called a geostrategist?... All the talk about Etch-a-sketch reminds me of the Emerson quote, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines"... 15 Bizarre Portraits of Nude Politicians. I thought the JFK assassination was tastefully done... Last night the Boston Bruins honored team Captain Zdeno Chara who recently played his 1,000th game. Chara reminds me of what could have been if Gord Kluzak had healthy knees. Kluzak may have been (slightly) shorter but he was actually much more talented than Chara (which is not a knock on Chara just a reminder of how great Kluzak could have been)... Taking the phrase "a man's home is his castle" literally... If anyone snarks at you about Mitt Romney and "car elevators" remind that person that Mitt is mega rich and that his wife Ann has MS... Do you have an extra $35-70,000 laying around? The 1959 Masters Green Jacket is for sale... If Rick Santorum was elected President his first act would be to outlaw folk music in Catholic Churches. Acoustic guitars have no place near the altar in Santorum's America... Finally - a product that is just begging for a Ben Roethlisberger endorsement. Just begging for it... The have been a number of articles recently about the debate of the Red Sox using Daniel Bard as a starter or whether he should stay in the bullpen. If the article fails to mention Justin Masterson then the article was either lazy or biased towards Bard going back to the bullpen (looking at you Ken Rosenthal)... Wow - Matt Bush does not seem like a very good human being... I think a TV show called Rick Santorum - Vatican Spy would be awesome. You could have a West Wing meets Archer meets Get Smart type mash-up. Wouldn't you watch something like that?...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)