southsider2k5

If Hagen Smith has control, he is already the Sox (at least 2nd) best pitcher. If Shane Smith returns to form, #1 would be debatable.

It's a weird solution to none of his futures though. If you want him being a premier closer, you want him dealing with closing situations, complete with late game pressure. Walking into a game with full warm ups, ritual and routine does him no good if you want him available on a moments notice, or just in the 9th. It doesn't replicate the randomness of the game already happening, and the sense that you can't give up anything if you want to win If you want him as a high leverage reliever for the toughest spots in the 7th through the 9th innings, coming in clean with a zero to zero game, with 8 other innings to worry about also doesn't replicate the sense of immediacy to needing to get out of a situation to win a game. It goes back to some guys aren't built to close. There are Guys who are really, really good in the 7th and 8th, but can't handle the 9th. It goes to show that it isn't just WHO you face, it is also WHEN you face them that adds to a situation. This gets Taylor innings, and it gets him facing certain hitters. It does not get him the mental challenge of overcoming situations and being prepared at a moments notice. It doesn't prepare him for facing a guy with the bases loaded and 1 out needing to allow nothing to hold a game where it is, late in a game. Honestly, this is better if he want to make him a starter long term than anything else, because he is getting more of those types of advantages than anything else.

AND not only can you choose to deploy him against the best hitters, you can also do it in key leverage situations instead of potentially wasting him in a game that was never going to be won.

The Sox are last in MLB by 20 percentage points in MLB in revenue. They have one of the smaller fan bases in MLB. The numbers are right there in front of you. You might not LIKE it, but Sox fans are among the least "loyal" in baseball in terms of showing up and spending.

No one is taking loans to own the Forbes article.

They literally never led. They didn't score until 1 out before the end of the game. They wasted his outing tonight for a game They couldn't win. If he had been held on to until later, they would have KNOWN they were losing and held him out so he was available for the next game where he could make a difference. N9w they have an L, plus an inferior pitchers for the highest leverage situations in their next game. This could end up with 2 Ls instead of one.

Except the Sox just got sold because of operations debt, meaning there is some decent accuracy here.

Agreed. You NEED Taylor late way more.

I won't call this stupid, but if this flipped around: -Fedde starts normally, gets hit around, Taylor never gets used. -Same thing happens, just pitchers get moved up an inning, Taylor doesn't get used late losing 2-0. Either way, he is available tomorrow if needed. Now with 3 appearances in 4 days, he probably isn't and you are back to Leasure and Seranthony as you high leverage guys only.

And for the record, this is my problem with Taylor as an opener. We used him in a game where we didn't score until one out left in the bottom of the 9th and lost. We used him in a game we effectively had zero chance of winning in the end.

Not today Beavis, not today dumbass.

Don't confuse stats for the tools to succeed at the next level. It's easy to equate guys at lower levels, but you need the tools to succeed at the top level.

My life on the (free agent) D list.

To me it is like starting off a battle by dropping all your nukes, because you might need them. With knowledge of situations you can respond appropriately instead.

They did it back to back "starts"

But if the starter comes in and doesn't get rocked, you now have inferior pitchers in the highest pressure situations. If the starter gets rocked after Taylor, you have now used him up, and might not be able to use him in a subsequent game because he was wasted in a meaningless game or two. Heck looking backwards, maybe if you run into high leverage and letting Burke start, you now have Taylor for late innings and you don’t go to extras, instead of the BS.

When it comes to using your BEST pitchers in situations that may not require them, it is absolutely a waste. Yes. It also means inferior pitchers get used in the highest pressure situations when they happen. You are also gambling on everyone behind you doing their jobs, where if you are in the 8th or 9th inning, you are either the last, or second to last one to take the ball. You have full knowledge that this IS a high leverage situation instead of hoping you don't need someone inferior in one. You are putting two guys into unfamiliar situations with Taylor starting, but not extending, and the starter not getting the familiar routine of his entire life of starting a game. You want "ifs", but you are creating a whole new list of them here.

This right here. Churn the waiver wire for marginal lefties like the rest of baseball. '

Except you have 6 to 7 innings to figure it out that you don't have with an opener. It's why it's called high leverage. If Taylor goes out and strikes out three in the first inning, but the "starter" comes in and gets bombed, it was a waste. If you reverse Taylor and the starter, you don't use Taylor in that game, and he is more available for the next day, where he might not be in the first scenario. If he is pitching the 8th or 9th inning, the chances of a pitcher blowing it AFTER him is reduced by a very large percentage. The odds of using him in a blow out game are WAY increased in the opener situation. I get the idea OF the opener, but when you basically have two, MAYBE three high leverage relievers, it doesn't make nearly as much sense. Your chances of optimizing Taylors usage are massively increased by the more game that has been played.

I don't know if I see the NBA approving two different brothers owning teams at the same time in the NBA.

I would be curious if you have any examples of someone who has been predicted to go from punch and judy to 30 homer power annually based on these metrics? I am curious what I am missing here.

Keep churning this crappy bullpen until guys are ready. This is the way.

Come on guys. How you can't ask around about this stuff BEFORE you start printing it, is beyond me. Hell ask the dude you wrote a $40 million check for.

There's no time like the present...

That's what I don't get. You have a massive lack of leverage relievers, and now you have one less if you are going waste Taylor as a starter in games that you have no idea if he was a good usage inside of, until the game is over.