Congratulations Sox!

eddo31 · #1 10-29-04, 11:27 AM

i really hope that pedro is going to stick around, and fo rsome reason i think that he will, but if he doesnt i hope that his brilliance here doesntget lost.

as geoffm said, 117-37 is just absurd.

i dont think that atlanta will be on the list of suitors. they have had some serious cutbacks since ted turner got ousted and aol/time warner came in. i dont think that they can afford him. i could see pedro going back to the dodgers, unless he holds a grudge against them for trading them at te beginning of his career. they thought that there was no way that he could hold up for more than a couple of years, and while they were right in some regards, they were definitely wrong overall. the angels will also be suitors, but you have to wonder when the money is going to dry up out there. they have been spending like its going out of style, and they have a couple free agents they have to worry about themselves this offseason (glaus primarily).

as for the yankees, i am not sure that i see that as the best fit. pedro does not have many friends in their clubhouse, and sure everything would be water under the bridge once he joined the team (like it was for clemens), i am not sure that he has an interest in playing there. i believe that pedro is one of the smartest, most analytical athletes i have ever seen, and that he has continually dropped the possibility of going to the yankees as a scare tactic. i think it is just a bargaining chip, and that when the dust settles he will not sign with them.

when he told ortiz earlier in the year that boston was the best place for him to sign, i took that as a sign that pedro would also be back. that there woudl be a lot of posturing, but that in the end pedro would take some sort of hometown discount.

maybe i am just being naive because i dont want to see pedro in another uniform.

eddo31 · #2 10-29-04, 12:32 PM

i just caught gammons on sportscenter, and he said that he feels that pedro will be coming back to boston. i hope that his instincts are right in this situation.

GeoffM · #3 10-29-04, 02:29 PM

I just don't see Pedro being happy playing second fiddle to Schilling. Schilling is signed for 2 more years with an option for 2007, so he'll be doing that for at least 2 more years, when he is in the twilight of his career.

Everyone knows the Yankees need pitching, and have money, just seems like a logical fit to me.

eddo31 · #4 10-29-04, 09:47 PM

i think that one of pedros quotes earlier this postseason sheds light on the number one versus number two starter thing.

he said that on the day he is pitching, he is number one, and that he doesnt care about the other days. i know that he is an extremely proud man, and that pride can make you do dumb things (not that signing with the yankees would be dumb for him), but i dont think that he has to be the clear cut ace.

jimmytheg · #5 10-31-04, 12:25 PM

There's more to it than that....You think Pedro would fit in, in the Yankee clubhouse? I sure don't. Nevermind the fact that most Yankee players hate him, Pedro is a character,(as were most of the Sox this year) and the Yankee players are just plain dull. Steinbrenner wouldnt even let Pedro keep those soul-glow locks of his if he signed there.

And to say he wouldn't be happy being second fiddle, didnt he seem happy this year? The guy was having the time of his life during these last couple months...

junYUN · #6 10-31-04, 05:25 PM

i'm a cubs fan, so i don't know how to feel about the sox winning. a part of me wants to be happy for them, but another part loathes them for leaving us as the only cursed. oh well, next year?

eddo31 · #7 10-31-04, 05:39 PM

all three of my college roommates were cubs fans, so i understand what it feels lie for you guys. i am not sure the suffering is the same, as the cubs have basically been cellar dwellers and the sox have a history of getting close, but never going all the way.

i drove down to atlanta last year when the cubs were playing in the playoffs, and it was a very cool experience. one thing that is very similar about the two teams is that they have fans all over the place. for the game in atlanta there were at least 20k people in from all over the place who were there to cheer on the cubs.

junYUN · #8 11-01-04, 02:44 AM

i love my cubbies...hopefully they make some moves this off-season. i'm starting to enjoy this "contender" thing

GeoffM · #9 11-08-04, 04:36 PM

You know, I've always felt that if your best guy is on the mound, than you have to disregard the lefty-lefty or righty-righty matchups and just go with him. It makes no rational sense to bring in someone to pitch just because he is a lefty and there is a lefty at bat. Stick with your best until he is clearly ineffective, then make the move.

junYUN · #10 11-08-04, 06:47 PM

there is some merit to that argument, but, you have to make sure you also look at the numbers -- they don't lie. sometimes there is a decent hitter against a dominant pitcher, and that hitter just happens to have the pitchers number his entire career for whatever reason. that's what makes managing so tough and underated.

eddo31 · #11 11-09-04, 02:51 AM

i think that this strategy is for the most part ridiculously inefficient, and the only thing that it accomplishes is the need for 11 man pitching staffs. the platoon splits of some batters makes it a winning situation to make the pitching change at times, but for the most part the differences are unimportant, and all they do is burn through the bullpen.

look at a bullpen like the yankees this year. did anyone but yankees fans really fear felix heredia coming into the game? and yet he has a major league job only because he is a lefthander reliever. the same goes for john franco, mike myers, jesse orosco, etc. sometimes they are valuable to a team, but they are really only valuable to the very best teams, and even then their value is only maximized in the post season, where the short series give greater importance to every out.

Kidd7138 · #12 11-09-04, 05:08 PM

The matchups are beneficial if you have a lefty who is actually really tough on LHB. Mike Myers is pretty good, as was Scott Sauerbeck before he got injured, Eddie Guardado is another. But more often than not managers just throw the lefty out there because they want a lefty/lefty match up. Not all left handed pitchers are abnormally tough on lefties, just from watching the Red Sox I can tell you Alan Embree is equally as tough against lefties and righties. Felix Heredia is just plain bad, he's a terrible example of a LOOGY, the only reason he was in the majors this year was because he was under contract and knows how to throw a baseball in the general direction at home plate, which was enough to earn you a spot in the Yankee bullpen this year.