ptatc

The OBP does surprise me with some of the players.

I think the analytics department has determined they enough data to be confident in making changes.

This is part of the reason the Bears are good against man defense but poorer against zone defense. They really need Ginn to bust a few long passes to loosen up the zones.

You forgot to finish the sentence. just because.......it is not his decision alone to make.

These are not the decisions made by the manager alone, if at all.

It is the answer to life the universe and everything. It's not a coincidence that Jackie Robinson wore that number.

This is the furthest thing from the truth in team sports. They are people and they need to be managed from egos, to training, to injuries and so on.

No one is talking about team chemistry. We are talking about people and ego management. At least I am.

The same applies for Mazara. People were freaking out the other day when Renteria let him face that lefty from Detroit when they had a 3 or 4 run lead. The obvious choice for the isolated at bat would be to pinch hit Engel. However, in the larger scheme with that lead, the team wanted to see how Mazara would do against a tough lefty. In last night's game when it mattered in a tie game Engel got the at bat.

I think this is what most fans miss. It may be that you need to spend time in the clubhouse to see the actual dynamics. There is a lot of downtime in baseball and players spend a lot of time together on the road. There are more important aspects of a baseball managers job. Baseball managers have little control over the game compared to most other sports. They really don't mean much in the way of strategy, especially with analytics departments taking over lineup construction. where the managers matter the most is with the players.

Maybe they are playing well BECAUSE of the manager but winning in spite of his bad in game decisions. There is more to being a manger than in game decisions. In fact I still contend that those decisions are the least important part of a baseball manager's job.

And it made no difference last night. Even if they would have given him the in the park HR, the Sox still win 3-2 not 3-1.

Got it. I thought I remembered some celebration in Minnesota. I'm not totally senile yet!

Didn't the Sox clinch in 2005 in Minnesota? I seem to remember Paulie popping a beer and sliding into home during the celebration.

That's better than my wife. She asks "what to the Sox nerds" say about that.

Very cool. Thanks for the heads up.

The defense is what concerns me more than Mitch after that game. They gave up another lead late in the 4th quarter. That last TD pass by Mitch wouldn't have been needed if the defense doesn't give up a TD. They had a tendency to give up 4th quarter TDs last year and this year is started out the same.

That's interesting. The Sox definitely like the veterans in the pen. They lean on Cordero and Marshall pretty heavily. I'm not sure if they would add another rookie for the playoffs but I guess it depends on how he looks.

You're missing the fact that he went through spring training this year and was on track to be a starter this year. So he hasn't just sat around doing nothing for 2 years. He should be up sometime next year.

Bauer would be the only one that makes sense if it is a one year deal. Other than that it would be a middle tier pitcher who would accept a one year deal.

Next year the will have the addition of kopech. If stiever looks good enough to be a valuable trade piece, they will have Giolito, keuchal, cease, dunning, kopech and stiever all on cost controlled contracts.

I highly doubt, bordering on guarantee, that they will not acquire a starting pitcher for next year. They have 5 cost controlled starters already. Barring an injury of course.

Didn't mention that.

Renteria just said that Steiver is starting tomorrow.

Renteria just said Steiver is starting tomorrow.