Comments on: Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Larger Than They Are

By: jjmerlock

jjmerlock — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 03:30:44 +0000

[175] And further, it’s not just “these are three people I’ve had in my kitchen” with Rapada. He’s been ok, at best, this year, he’s been terrible pretty much every season before this one, and he’s 31/32. Meaning, pretty much word for word “he’s been a bit better than I expected, but I have every reason not to be confident in him in any given situation.”

By: jjmerlock

jjmerlock — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 03:25:32 +0000

[184] I was always a bigger believer in Marte than most folks here, so I didn’t get as upset when he was brought in. I had said all season that he had the potential to be a lefty arm we needed, if he could get right.

Of course, I’ve also liked Boone more than most until this season. I kind of gave up on him early on, and haven’t liked him much since.

By: cult of basebaal

cult of basebaal — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 03:01:48 +0000

Before last year, I liked what I knew about Valentine from a distance. I didn’t really remember him from his Mets’ days, and like [187] says, I respected what he did in Japan.

But … he was a bag of dicks on ESPN broadcasts last year and that completely soured me on him. Frankly, his behavior up in Boston hasn;t been much different, or surprising …

By: monkeypants

monkeypants — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 02:51:59 +0000

[181] I always liked Showalter, too. Yeah, he’s humorless, but I think he’s a pretty god manager.

By: Mr OK Jazz Tokyo

Mr OK Jazz Tokyo — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 02:48:31 +0000

[186] I’ll always give respect though as coming over here and winning whiel putting up with Japanese ownership..really impressive.

By: Mattpat11

Mattpat11 — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 02:46:10 +0000

[185] Maddon has some smarminess, but he’s still pretty likeable.

Bobby is an asshole.

By: cult of basebaal

cult of basebaal — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 02:44:53 +0000

[181] I honestly can say that from I’ve seen of them both on that particular point, Valentine and Maddon seem complete, 180 degree opposites.

Maddon never strikes me as self-centered and ego-possessed, just as a king-hell, over-sized, overgrown-baseball-dork.

By: Mattpat11

Mattpat11 — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 02:42:10 +0000

[182] Actually, my line is after that disaster game, he calmed way the fuck down and for the most part just let the team play, except for using Marte to get Howard.

By: jjmerlock

jjmerlock — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 02:39:52 +0000

[179] I’m sorry, I think he was effective in 9 of the last 16, actually.

Alright, I’m watching the convention.

By: jjmerlock

jjmerlock — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 02:36:43 +0000

[178] I know your line is that they won despite of him, but I’m having a hard time looking back on anything in 2009 in any way but fondly.

By: Mr OK Jazz Tokyo

Mr OK Jazz Tokyo — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 02:36:16 +0000

[177] I can see that. He’s got a bit of Bobby V smugness to him though.

JoeyJoeJoe – uptight, fussy and tinker-y with the pen
Bobby V – egotistical and possibly a bit unbalanced (unpublished stories from this side of the water)
Buck – humorless Niedermeyer
Farrell – by-the-book “baseball man”.

Davey Johnson seems like a great manager..wonder what Nats fans complain about him though.

By: monkeypants

monkeypants — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 02:35:50 +0000

[177] I like him too, overall.

By: jjmerlock

jjmerlock — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 02:35:01 +0000

[175} Really? Look at his game logs. I think he's been effective in 8 out of his last 16 appearances. That's fucking outstanding!

By: Mattpat11

Mattpat11 — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 02:32:08 +0000

[172] Someone needs to watch those 09 playoffs again. There was the infamous game where he used seven relievers to pitch 4.1 innings.

[173] I think for the most part, the pitching has been just bad enough and/or giving up a crucial run late.

By: cult of basebaal

cult of basebaal — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 02:31:41 +0000

I suppose this might be just me, but I like Joe Maddon.

A lot.

Everytime I hear him interviewed, I’m impressed with what he’s willing to actually say, without resorting to the standard-issue-bullshit that most managers spew.

Given his willingness to experiment tactically on top of that?

I’d much rather have him than Girardi …

By: jjmerlock

jjmerlock — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 02:30:47 +0000

Well, I’ll see you all in a bit.

If Clay Rapada is the guy you’re looking to in hopes of bumping the number of reliable relievers in the pen up to 3, I think it’s not likely that you’re a playoff team.

By: RIYank

RIYank — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 02:29:51 +0000

[174] No, I mean, he’s been a good relief pitcher. I wasn’t actually speaking about you, your expectation, or your confidence!

By: jjmerlock

jjmerlock — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 02:27:53 +0000

[168] He may have been better than I expected him to be. I don’t have any sort of confidence in him in a big spot, whatsoever.

By: RIYank

RIYank — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 02:27:49 +0000

[169] I’m sure the OPS is below replacement level. I think the runs/game are about replacement level.
That does surprise me, because their pitching has seemed worse than that. Maybe I’m biased by the more recent failures.

By: jjmerlock

jjmerlock — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 02:26:47 +0000

[170] Confuse them with a variety of crap?

I think it’s pretty arguable that if you have anyone worth a damn in the bullpen, it’s a lot easier to use them for full innings.

Girardi didn’t do all that mixing and matching when he had Hughes blowing people away out of the pen.