Swisher in the lineup
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on Sep 06, 2010 
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Thames in LF? that is a little scary
REPOST:
JS – some of it might have to do with that Boston’s front office and player development talks to Baseball America’s writing staff and has a good rapport – it is a you scratch my back I scratch your back by helping raise the profile of your farm system. The Yankees do not adhere to that policy – especially Damon Oppenheimer and his staff in charge of the U.S. domestic amateur draft. If you read Oppenheimer’s comments after he took Cito Culver this past year, they were quite revealing regarding his thoughts on BA.
Stoneburner September 6th, 2010 at 10:30 am
Essentially – Baseball America will almost write whatever the Boston front office wants them to say about their prospects b/c they have such access to their scouts and have networked and schmoozed with them. It is like working with a client.
From the last thread – I think it’s very possible that there’s some level of relationship between BA and the Red Sox. That sort of thing goes on in almost every industry, to some extent. I obviously don’t have insided information, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case.
Thames in LF? that is a little scary
**********************
Kate, a little scary? Love Thames’ bat, but his defense?!
We’ve seen this a couple of times before but maybe now that Nick knows there’s nothing structurally wrong he wants to play through it.
Swish was lumbering down the line yesterday.
Bronx Jeers,
Swisher said yesterday, now that he knows he is structurally sound in every way, he would play through the pain. He really is a good kid.
This would be an ideal spot for Kearns, to play against a lefty pitcher in the field. He must really be hurting for Joe not to go that route. As both Curtis’ are LH hitters, they’re not starting, but if they have a lead late, I would expect either to play.
and by having Thames play LF, you can get Posada in as DH, so hopefully it all works out.
Thames is becoming one of my favorite players, he works hard, does whatever he is asked to do and is always humble…still, he is an adventure in the field
The ‘relationship’ between BA and Sox seems to make sense from the outside. BA consistently ranks the Sox farm system and drafts high, and yet where are all the prospects in AA and AAA? Where did all their prospects go the last couple of years when they needed someone to play shortstop, fill in the bullpen, add depth to the outfield?
Nice looking lineup…maybe a B+ lineup…Thames in LF? We accepted his RF assignment on a windy day because he wouldn’t have to catch any thing…it would be out of the park anyway…need to score lots of runs today and help Arod with his curse of breaking the streak…
I love most of this lineup but I’m a little nervous about that LF spot. Of course, I like having both Jorgie’s and Thames’ bats in there.
Today’s lineup is reflective of Joe Girardi’s almost singular focus on the long haul and keeping players fresh. It would be a better lineup with Posada catching, Thames at DH, Granderson in center and Gardner in left. But today is rest Granderson day it appears and that is that.
I’m starting to like Thames too, but I don’t want him playing the field.
Stoneburner-
Agree 100%, but it’s not only BA. It’s Keith Law, etc.
Noreaster September 6th, 2010 at 10:55 am
The ‘relationship’ between BA and Sox seems to make sense from the outside. BA consistently ranks the Sox farm system and drafts high, and yet where are all the prospects in AA and AAA? Where did all their prospects go the last couple of years when they needed someone to play shortstop, fill in the bullpen, add depth to the outfield?
…………………………………..
Peter Gammons is also in the picture by overhyping prospects.
Laura he’s always a crap shoot out there but he played well in right field the other day. It’s also highly unlikely that he would still be in left in the later innings when/if the game is on the line.
Noreaster -
Excellent question that needs to be asked more and more of all the 2010 Red Sox injury apologists. If the Red Sox have such a vaunted/generationally great farm system – where were all of their supposed prospects stepping in this season when they needed? Why could not Lar Anderson (who every Sox fan was saying would be their future first baseman after Larry Lucchino messed up the Teixeira negotiations that fateful night in Dallas) step in for Youkillis at 1B? Anderson was in AAA this past season – he is in his early 20s – but is he not more now Eric Duncan 2.0 than Teixeira 2.0?
Why could not Luis Esposito step in for an injured Victor Martinez? Peter Abraham wrote a whole article about this kid and the Sox supposed catching prospects. Where are you now Pete to backup that article?
Why have Kalish and last year’s supposed sensation Reddick not able to fill in for Ellsbury? Kalish was absolutely awful in CF yesterday with those flares off the bat on the White Sox (remember what DiMaggio used to say about CF – if you have to dive for a ball – that means you misplayed it – and Yogi is on the record as never seeing DiMaggio dive for a ball).
“Death to Flying Things, Mk II” in left?
*Hiding under chair*
Gammons is such a big fan of the Red Sox that he cannot see beyond the uniform when it comes to the RS prospects. Flaws or faults get overlooked and pluses get elevated status with him.
He just doesn’t have it in him to be objective when it comes to his Sox.
DiMaggio was pretty unique though. He had such a good feel for the game, he knew pretty well where the ball would go right off the bat. He claimed to know by the sound of the hit where the ball was going.
I don’t think diving for the ball makes for a bad player, as sometimes its just beyond normal range. Some players, though, think it makes it look so much more spectacular and it gets them on Web Gems.
I bet if Joltin’ Joe were playing today there would be very few Web Gems of him.
Posada since 8/14:
.323 .432 .677 1.110
The ‘relationship’ between BA and Sox seems to make sense from the outside. BA consistently ranks the Sox farm system and drafts high, and yet where are all the prospects in AA and AAA? Where did all their prospects go the last couple of years when they needed someone to play shortstop, fill in the bullpen, add depth to the outfield?
===============================================
There really isn’t anything unethical or wrong by the close relationships that have been developing between the Red Sox and some of the baseball magazines/media regarding their minor league system. The downside risk is for the Red Sox minor leaguers (who are overhyped) who must try to live up to such a high expectations. There is also a downside risk for the Red Sox organization if they begin to believe these overhyped reports and then the prospects don’t develop. Also, the Red Sox fans are starting to realize that they have been a fed a line on these kids…and I think its one of the reasons their TV and radio ratings are down. In summary, if anyone is being a disservice by these relationships its the Red Sox, their prospects and their fans. I’m glad that the Yankees don’t choose to do the same thing to overhype their prospects.
I am not concerned about other organizations believing these reports about Boston’s minor league prospects and choosing to trade for these prospects because each organization has its own scouting staff and the organizations will do their own independant investigations if they intend to trade for them. Also, teams look into the track record of prospects who have been traded from a team before they make deals. If the “hit rate” on a given team’s traded prospects is low then the teams will probably shy away from trading with that team (or ask for more talent). In Boston’s case they haven’t had one of their traded prospects develop for another organization since Hanley Ramirez.
Thames in LF during a day game???? Gardner better be playing LF as well!!!
Why does anybody care who or where Baseball America or anybody ranks team farm sysytems? Does it give you bragging rights? Those rankings don’t allow Boston or another team to get better deals for Boston, unless some GM is stupid enogh to buy off on what is written and doesn’t scout prospective players themselves. Those rankings do nothing but get fans talking.
When I was (much) younger, I saw Joe D. play more than a few times. Even as a young teen, I was amazed how easily and quickly he took the proper route and was always there when the ball came down. I, also, have never seen him (or seen a photo of him) dive for a ball. Had a great arm early in his career also.
In retrospect, he was just a remarkable, 5 tool ball player.
Wednesday could be the biggest day of the year for the Yanks with Pettitte’s rehad assignment. Without Pettitte there’s little chance of repeating. Behind CC nobody’s pitching well and the playoffs are all about starting pitching. Among Javy, Hughes, AJ, and Nova one of these 4 guys needs to get sharp. Right now all 4 of them has serious weaknesses.
jnorris427 Thunder have received outfielder Taylor Grote for the playoffs
One day you’re playing Charleston, 3 days later you’re playing behind Andy Pettitte on the mound.
Grote replaces Christian who takes Curtis’ spot at SWB.
Hopefully, Pettitte only needs one rehab start. That puts him on target for a return next Monday.
The Red Sox are getting the benefit of the doubt with their farm in part because of Youkilis, Lester, Papelbon, Bard, Pedroia etc
They did do very well for a few years there – much better than NY.
As we all know, the tide has turned. The Sox farm is very questionable and the Yanks have built a strong system.
If the “expert” rankings don’t reflect this over the next year or two, those experts will be risking their credibility.
I remember being told once, by a much older fan who saw DiMaggio play, that Yankee-haters would complain about how lucky DiMaggio was, that the ball always came down right where he was standing.
pat, that makes no sense to bring Grote up. He’s been hurt most of the year. Wonder why Mesa wasn’t brought in from Tampa? I haven’t seen where he was hurt, though he hasn’t played in the last four games.
RE: Gammons
That guy is in love with any top prospect for any team.
I just think he creams his pants a little more for the Sawx.
Gammons is still in love with guys like Jeter and even Alex. He’s a fan of Cashman. so he’s not completely blind…
To bad I’ll be in D.C. on Wed. – Waterfront is my local ballpark!
Overhyped prospects abound in every organization.
We have people on here who overhype every Yankee prosect.
Part of it is because many fans, especially casual fans, don’t understand the prospct dynamic, the difference between levels, and how to correctly interpret minor league stats.
Frankly, they aren’t supposed to know that stuff. That’s what Baseball America, and other websites/publications are supposed to do.
Instead, too many of them get caught up in the game of pumping prospects from the teams that feed them the most info.
That’s what has happened to BA and their relationship with the Red Sox.
When you have guys like Jim Callis predicting future stardom for a marginal prospect like Josh Reddick, you know its gotten out of hand.
Teams don’t get caught up with that stuff.
They know the Red Sox system is overhyped. Which is why you don’t see them make deals for their prospects.
@ Joe…How true
“They know the Red Sox system is overhyped. Which is why you don’t see them make deals for their prospects.”
But they stole Victor Martinez with the overhyped Justin Masterson.
SJ44,
Hyping prospects has become a huge part of boosting MLB interest, no?
Prospects in the online world is now big business. If BA said “well, the Sox really don’t have anyone exciting in the system right now” subscriptions would go down.
It’s harder and harder to separate “news” from “entertainment.”
And MLB is in the business of entertainment, as is ESPN and others.
Unfortunate or not, It’s our job to separate fact from fiction, not theirs.
I’m the opposite of a prospect hugger. More of a prospect skeptic.
I’m still on the fence over this Rivera guy. 1 good pitch? We’ll just have to wait and see….
GB
Josh Norris tweeted with Brewer, Sublett and Krum on the roster, Grote is likely to be the 4th OFer and an extra lefty.
Maybe they wanted Mesa playing somewhere and not sitting on the bench?
Rich in NJ,
Nick Hagadone, a top prospect (i believe top 50), was just as big a piece for VMart as Masterson.
At the time I said the Indians should have demanded Buchholz, while his value was low, but most on here said I was a fool because Clay was a bum and VMart was a superstar. Oh well.
Today’s baseball prospectus playoff projections:
http://www.baseballprospectus......s_odds.php
They didn’t steal Victor Martinez.
That was a money deal and not a prospect deal.
Cleveland could no longer afford to pay Martinez.
Those deals are done all over baseball today and the returns are always light.
In the end, if they don’t sign Martinez, and signs point to that not happening, all that deal became was an expensive rental for the Sox yielding little return.
# Joe from Long Island September 6th, 2010 at 11:45 am
I remember being told once, by a much older fan who saw DiMaggio play, that Yankee-haters would complain about how lucky DiMaggio was, that the ball always came down right where he was standing.
———
This was a common meme from the Yankee haters of the day. DiMaggio had been such an incredible player, yet because he made it look so easy and effortless he wasn’t always valued to his worth.
DiMaggio was also very good at positioning himself for the various batters. His baseball knowledge reminds me of how Jeter seems to be in the right place at the right time. Just an instinct for how certain plays will play out that make them seem so lucky.
I read somewhere where DiMaggio, in discussing the famous Gionfriddo catch, called it lucky, and how Gionfriddo wasn’t really a good ballplayer because he wasn’t properly positioned.
I know other pitchers besides Yankees pitchers have their own personal catchers and things like that. But I don’t get how Cervelli has been really helping AJ that much. Be nice if Posada could catch him especially today and throw Thames in that DH spot. Jorge probably doesn’t want to deal with that Head Case.
SJ44,
Most Indians fans would probably be in favor of another salary dump – the front office.
That team is in shambles and it’s hard not to critique every move they make… it’s a huge surprise if they actually make a move that helps the team rather than hurts it.
UnKnown,
At this point, you could have a watermelon behind home plate if bad AJ is pitching and the ump would still make it through the game clean.
It ain’t the catcher…
“They didn’t steal Victor Martinez.
That was a money deal and not a prospect deal.”
Money was undeniably a factor, but you don’t think that the Indians expected far more than a 78 ERA+ this season from Masterson?
BD
Good point about Hagadone, who does have a good SO/9.
“They know the Red Sox system is overhyped. Which is why you don’t see them make deals for their prospects.”
But they stole Victor Martinez with the overhyped Justin Masterson.
===========================================
They didn’t steal Victor Martinez any more than the Yankees stole Kerry Wood. The Red Sox will have to pay to keep Martinez beyond this year and the Yankees (if they don’t exercise the option on Wood’s contract) will have to pay to keep Wood.