it's not the giants. this is the 3rd straight series they've played like shit, and they just got through wasting a good opportunity to catch up with the nationals by losing 2/3 this week.
tbh, our starting pitching is paper thin right now. hanson and hudson are hurt and ben sheets seems to always be one little pop away from retirement. then you've got mccann and uggla shitting the bed. i don't think the braves have enough this year. :-q
Satan, those assholes McCann and Uggla are killing my fantasy team but I'm afraid to dump them because I think they are pretty streaky. Which one looks most likely that they might come out of it soon? It's not like I have studs at their positions, I have Doumit at catcher and Infante at 2nd base. But, keeping those two jags on my bench is keeping me from picking up other players that could help me in other positions doe. They are both completely unplayable right now. :-L
By Ian Browne and Evan Drellich / MLB.com 8/25/2012 5:17 PM ET
BOSTON -- If one of the most compelling trades in baseball history works as the Red Sox intend, it'll also go down as one of the most humbling.
The front office faced the reality Saturday when it traded the team's ace-turned-pariah, Josh Beckett, and two $100-million disappointments with five years left on their contracts, first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and outfielder Carl Crawford, to the Dodgers in a blockbuster.
Sox utility infielder Nick Punto was also a part of the nine-player deal, which netted Boston big-league first baseman James Loney and a package of prospects: infielder Ivan DeJesus, Jr., right hander Allen Webster, and two players to be named later.
"I think we recognized that we are not who we want to be right now," Red Sox GM Ben Cherington said. "It's been a large enough sample performance, going back to last year, that we felt like in order to be the team we want to be on the field, we need to make more than cosmetic changes. As we look forward to this offseason, we felt like the opportunity to build the team that we need, that the fans deserve, that we want -- required more of a bold move to give us an opportunity to really reshape the roster, reshape the team. It was a difficult thing to do to trade away four players like this."
Before the trade was officially announced, the players moving to Los Angeles were active on Twitter.
"Thanks to Red Sox nation for everything. You guys are great!" Gonzalez wrote on Twitter. "Excited to get back to Cali and be a part of Dodgertown!"
"Thanks to all the fans of Red Sox nation, also thank you to all my teammates, coach's and staff," Punto wrote on Twitter.
Punto also posted a grainy but still succinct picture of himself, Beckett, and Gonzalez on a plane with the caption, "dodgers doing it first class!"
The Sox sent cash to the Dodgers too to offset the approximately $270 million in contracts they shed, an amount of money that should allow them to again become significant free-agent hunters. The deal comes during the waiver period, a time when trading is usually toughest.
"We gave up a lot of talent, good guys," Cherington said. "Excited about the talent we got coming back and excited about the opportunity this gives us to build the next great Red Sox team."
An antagonizing name to fans since the team's 2011 beer-and-chicken collapse, Beckett waived his 10-5 rights to complete the deal. He was supposed to start Saturday in a night game against the Royals at Fenway Park, his would-be 195th start with Boston. Aaron Cook took his place.
The Red Sox, at 60-66 to start the day, are heading toward their first losing season since 1997. Cherington has now undone the last grand moves his tutor and predecessor Theo Epstein made before Epstein became the Cubs' president last offseason. It was Epstein who gave Beckett a four-year extension in 2010, and later that year, seven-year deals to Crawford and Gonzalez.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, and their new ownership showed how serious they are about winning the National League West and making the team a big-market powerhouse. They entered the day at 68-58, three games behind the division-leading Giants.
"The Dodgers have an opportunity," Cherington said. "They're in a pennant race and motivated to add talent, so they made a move that obviously they felt was in their best interest. We're focused on what we're doing here. We need to look at the entire roster and find ways to improve it. ... Pitching is one area."
In a rarity for a franchise like the Red Sox, whose fans demand winning every year, Cherington has close to a blank slate going forward. Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine, too, should have a different clubhouse atmosphere to work with for the remainder of the season.
Gonzalez and Carl Crawford were introduced at Fenway within six days of each other in December 2010. The former talked of his admiration for Ted Williams, of his readiness to beat the Yankees. Crawford said if the money were the same, the place he wanted to be most was Boston -- that he wanted to stay in the American League East.
"He's shocked like we are a little bit," David Ortiz said of Gonzalez. "Adrian wants to be here, that's why he came here -- to help this ball club win World Series. To sign long-term like he did and to be out the second year, it's kind of surprises you. But like I said, we don't know yet what's going to be better for our ball club."
In the end, Gonzalez's time here was far more productive than Crawford's, but neither fit as the Sox hoped. Crawford, who has a $142 million contract, leaves the Red Sox with a .260/.292/.419 line in 161 games. He struggled mightily in 2011, playing just 31 games and undergoing Tommy John surgery just two days ago.
Gonzalez, meanwhile, posted a .321/.382/.513 line with 42 home runs in 282 games here while playing excellent defense. On a $154 million deal, he was reportedly involved in calling a July meeting with ownership to discuss problems the team had with Valentine.
When the Sox signed Crawford, the Angels were heavily interested. Now he gets his chance to be in Southern California, which is where Gonzalez was raised and became a star in five seasons with the Padres.
Beckett's time here was highlighted by the 2007 World Series championship, but a drop in velocity and a perceived bad attitude dropped his stock. He went 89-58 with a 4.17 ERA with the Sox lifetime, but was 5-11 with a 5.23 ERA this season. The Sox had explored trading him previously, and he could've been a goner in the offseason had this deal not gone through.
A 28-year-old who's in his seventh season, Loney has a lifetime .284 average but little pop for a first baseman, with never more than 15 home runs in a season.
Webster was rated by MLB.com as the second-best pitcher in the Dodgers' farm system. The 22-year-old righty is known for a nasty sinker that can reach the mid-90s. In 27 games and 22 starts for Double-A Chattanooga this season, he went 6-8 with a 3.55 ERA.
You tryin to be a hero fool? You wanna see badass mother fucker?! I'll show ya a badass!!!
CINCINNATI -- Reds first baseman Joey Votto, who has been out since July 16 because of two left knee surgeries to repair damaged cartilage, was back on the field for batting practice on Saturday.
For Votto, who ran the full gamut of baseball activity on Friday, it might not be much longer before he is activated from the disabled list.
"He came out good so far," Baker said of Votto's Friday workout. "He's getting very, very close."
You tryin to be a hero fool? You wanna see badass mother fucker?! I'll show ya a badass!!!
So they take two castoffs who cost millions of dollars a year and a pitcher. Big woop. Bet neither Gonzalez or Crawford are playing for them in 2 years.
Comments
No one hits Vogelsong well.
tbh, our starting pitching is paper thin right now. hanson and hudson are hurt and ben sheets seems to always be one little pop away from retirement. then you've got mccann and uggla shitting the bed. i don't think the braves have enough this year. :-q
It's not like I have studs at their positions, I have Doumit at catcher and Infante at 2nd base. But, keeping those two jags on my bench is keeping me from picking up other players that could help me in other positions doe. They are both completely unplayable right now. :-L
8/25/2012 5:17 PM ET
BOSTON -- If one of the most compelling trades in baseball history works as the Red Sox intend, it'll also go down as one of the most humbling.
The front office faced the reality Saturday when it traded the team's ace-turned-pariah, Josh Beckett, and two $100-million disappointments with five years left on their contracts, first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and outfielder Carl Crawford, to the Dodgers in a blockbuster.
Sox utility infielder Nick Punto was also a part of the nine-player deal, which netted Boston big-league first baseman James Loney and a package of prospects: infielder Ivan DeJesus, Jr., right hander Allen Webster, and two players to be named later.
"I think we recognized that we are not who we want to be right now," Red Sox GM Ben Cherington said. "It's been a large enough sample performance, going back to last year, that we felt like in order to be the team we want to be on the field, we need to make more than cosmetic changes. As we look forward to this offseason, we felt like the opportunity to build the team that we need, that the fans deserve, that we want -- required more of a bold move to give us an opportunity to really reshape the roster, reshape the team. It was a difficult thing to do to trade away four players like this."
Before the trade was officially announced, the players moving to Los Angeles were active on Twitter.
"Thanks to Red Sox nation for everything. You guys are great!" Gonzalez wrote on Twitter. "Excited to get back to Cali and be a part of Dodgertown!"
"Thanks to all the fans of Red Sox nation, also thank you to all my teammates, coach's and staff," Punto wrote on Twitter.
Punto also posted a grainy but still succinct picture of himself, Beckett, and Gonzalez on a plane with the caption, "dodgers doing it first class!"
The Sox sent cash to the Dodgers too to offset the approximately $270 million in contracts they shed, an amount of money that should allow them to again become significant free-agent hunters. The deal comes during the waiver period, a time when trading is usually toughest.
"We gave up a lot of talent, good guys," Cherington said. "Excited about the talent we got coming back and excited about the opportunity this gives us to build the next great Red Sox team."
An antagonizing name to fans since the team's 2011 beer-and-chicken collapse, Beckett waived his 10-5 rights to complete the deal. He was supposed to start Saturday in a night game against the Royals at Fenway Park, his would-be 195th start with Boston. Aaron Cook took his place.
The Red Sox, at 60-66 to start the day, are heading toward their first losing season since 1997. Cherington has now undone the last grand moves his tutor and predecessor Theo Epstein made before Epstein became the Cubs' president last offseason. It was Epstein who gave Beckett a four-year extension in 2010, and later that year, seven-year deals to Crawford and Gonzalez.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, and their new ownership showed how serious they are about winning the National League West and making the team a big-market powerhouse. They entered the day at 68-58, three games behind the division-leading Giants.
"The Dodgers have an opportunity," Cherington said. "They're in a pennant race and motivated to add talent, so they made a move that obviously they felt was in their best interest. We're focused on what we're doing here. We need to look at the entire roster and find ways to improve it. ... Pitching is one area."
In a rarity for a franchise like the Red Sox, whose fans demand winning every year, Cherington has close to a blank slate going forward. Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine, too, should have a different clubhouse atmosphere to work with for the remainder of the season.
Gonzalez and Carl Crawford were introduced at Fenway within six days of each other in December 2010. The former talked of his admiration for Ted Williams, of his readiness to beat the Yankees. Crawford said if the money were the same, the place he wanted to be most was Boston -- that he wanted to stay in the American League East.
"He's shocked like we are a little bit," David Ortiz said of Gonzalez. "Adrian wants to be here, that's why he came here -- to help this ball club win World Series. To sign long-term like he did and to be out the second year, it's kind of surprises you. But like I said, we don't know yet what's going to be better for our ball club."
In the end, Gonzalez's time here was far more productive than Crawford's, but neither fit as the Sox hoped. Crawford, who has a $142 million contract, leaves the Red Sox with a .260/.292/.419 line in 161 games. He struggled mightily in 2011, playing just 31 games and undergoing Tommy John surgery just two days ago.
Gonzalez, meanwhile, posted a .321/.382/.513 line with 42 home runs in 282 games here while playing excellent defense. On a $154 million deal, he was reportedly involved in calling a July meeting with ownership to discuss problems the team had with Valentine.
When the Sox signed Crawford, the Angels were heavily interested. Now he gets his chance to be in Southern California, which is where Gonzalez was raised and became a star in five seasons with the Padres.
Beckett's time here was highlighted by the 2007 World Series championship, but a drop in velocity and a perceived bad attitude dropped his stock. He went 89-58 with a 4.17 ERA with the Sox lifetime, but was 5-11 with a 5.23 ERA this season. The Sox had explored trading him previously, and he could've been a goner in the offseason had this deal not gone through.
A 28-year-old who's in his seventh season, Loney has a lifetime .284 average but little pop for a first baseman, with never more than 15 home runs in a season.
Webster was rated by MLB.com as the second-best pitcher in the Dodgers' farm system. The 22-year-old righty is known for a nasty sinker that can reach the mid-90s. In 27 games and 22 starts for Double-A Chattanooga this season, he went 6-8 with a 3.55 ERA.
A movie about MLB starring clint eastwood
Edit: He's an ailing scout, so he takes his daughter on one last scouting trip, and he works for the Braves
Anyway I still want to see money ball
This movie looks good too.
By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com
8/25/2012 2:09 PM ET
CINCINNATI -- Reds first baseman Joey Votto, who has been out since July 16 because of two left knee surgeries to repair damaged cartilage, was back on the field for batting practice on Saturday.
For Votto, who ran the full gamut of baseball activity on Friday, it might not be much longer before he is activated from the disabled list.
"He came out good so far," Baker said of Votto's Friday workout. "He's getting very, very close."
Now if only the White Sox would stop pulling rabbits out of their hat.....