caulfield12

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/yermin-mercedes-homers-annoys-own-manager/ https://blogs.fangraphs.com/yermin-mercedes-homers-annoys-own-manager/ In La Russa’s very mild defense, he had tried to give Mercedes the take sign. Now, I’m not sure how Mercedes was supposed to see it. Nobody is looking for a sign in an 11-run game and Astudillo was doing his best to get on Rob Manfred’s good side by taking all of two seconds between pitches. Still, a missed sign is a missed sign, and La Russa wasn’t out of line to bring it up with Mercedes. That conversation should stay behind closed doors, though, particularly since it wasn’t just one isolated remark. La Russa wasn’t done when he called his rookie slugger “clueless,” adding: “There will be a consequence he has to endure here within our family,” the manager said. “It’s a learning experience.” Let’s pause to consider the inanity here. It’s weird enough that players are supposed to stop trying just because they’re ahead by a certain number of runs (the exact number, of course, remains ambiguous) or treat these at-bats like they don’t count; it’s not like the arbiter is going to toss out stats accumulated against position players come contract negotiation time. It’s just as puzzling that it’s entirely acceptable for a team to dispatch the backup catcher to lob lollipops but uncouth for a hitter to swing after working a 3-0 count. There’s an added wrinkle at play that I think gets overlooked in these situations. Minnesota was only throwing Astudillo to save the bullpen, which means that they were effectively surrendering early so as to be more competitive in the next game, a matchup against these very same White Sox. The burden placed on the hitter in this situation is just odd. The defensive team is transparently putting as little effort as possible into fulfilling their obligations, for the express purpose of saving their fire for the next game, and yet it’s the hitter’s job to help steer the inning to a close. I don’t have any problems with Minnesota employing such gamesmanship, but it seems that the least Chicago — or any other team in that situation — can do is swing for the fences. ...... I’m not a Chicago White Sock, so I can’t say definitively. But from a distance, it seems a clumsy fit so far, and the situation is only growing tenser. In an Instagram post from NBC Sports Chicago that highlighted Mercedes’ and La Russa’s comments, Anderson weighed in, writing “The game wasn’t over! Keep doing you big daddy,” which triggered a positive response from Mercedes. After last night’s game, Lance Lynn also defended his teammate, saying “If a position player is on the mound, there are no rules. Let’s get the damn game over with. And if you have a problem with whatever happened, then put a pitcher out there.” It’s not quite insubordination, but the episode makes one wonder about the relationship between La Russa and his players. Perhaps it doesn’t matter. Plenty of good teams have won with an out-to-lunch manager, or galvanized themselves around a collective dislike of the boss. Still, all things being equal, I’m sure most players would like to play for someone who has their back. https://blogs.fangraphs.com/yermin-mercedes-homers-annoys-own-manager/ Lost in all this is that Baldelli had FIVE (5) unused relievers on his bench when he inserted Astudillo and made a mockery of the game...

In 2020, he got a cup of coffee. And this season he got his first real shot — a 28-year-old catcher who isn’t defensively trusted to catch, and is thus totally dependent on his bat to justify his place on the roster. So far, so great. But Mercedes is still only making the league minimum ($570,500) and still lives in a precarious position, long-term. Despite the warm and fuzzy sheen of his trajectory right now, his presence (and Astudillo’s, for that matter) in the big leagues must be, in part, credited to cold roster calculations that make a hitter with any level of experience at catcher extra useful. It will be at least 2024 before Mercedes even has the chance to earn money based on his production through MLB’s byzantine arbitration system — at which point every home run and RBI will come with a very real cash value. Perhaps even more likely is the possibility he will also bounce around before then and need to point to his statistics as leverage for opportunities and marginally higher payment. That’s what makes La Russa’s pie-in-the-sky invocation of some universal sportsmanship code so openly out of touch. This is not analogous to similar running up the score controversies in other sports. A young NBA player with the chance to hit a three or dunk in the closing seconds of a blowout is ultimately not affecting his finances either way, and he’s certainly not forced to choose between a faux pas or a negative mark on his stats. Specifically because Mercedes plays Major League Baseball, as La Russa haughtily says, he has long known the difference between a hitless at-bat and a shot at a slugging percentage boost. It’s not killer instinct; it’s survival instinct. https://sports.yahoo.com/yermin-mercedes-home-run-swing-makes-far-more-sense-than-the-white-sox-hiring-tony-la-russa-171458168.html

Tony La Russa doesn't think there's a rift in the Chicago White Sox's clubhouse, but some players have indicated publicly that they disagree with the Hall of Fame manager's comments about rookie slugger Yermin Mercedes. La Russa said that when he walked around the clubhouse, no one was giving him "the Heisman." The manager was adamant that he's simply trying to teach good sportsmanship to a rookie. "If you're going to tell me that sportsmanship and the respect for the game of baseball and respect for your opponent is not an important priority, I can't disagree with you more," La Russa said. "... You think you need more [runs] to win, you keep pushing. If you think you have enough, respect the game and opposition. Sportsmanship." La Russa didn't expect the story to last several days. "I'm surprised I'm getting so many questions on this," La Russa said. "It's not much to-do about nothing. It's much to-do about a little bit." https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/31472069/chicago-white-sox-manager-tony-la-russa-says-respect-game-important-priority When you rewind the tape and consider the decision made in the moment, Mercedes’ reasons are obvious. And Chicago’s rationale for putting La Russa in charge of this team — currently the best in the AL despite him — is even harder to square. Swinging on 3-0 is increasingly common in MLB, nearly doubling in frequency over the past decade. There have only been seven 3-0 pitches thrown by position players pitching this year. There were only five in 2020 and 29 in the 2019 season. In the last season La Russa managed, 2011, there was precisely one all year. (For the record, then-White Sox catcher James McCann swung and singled on one of the 2019 pitches.) If the vibe is that the game is over, maybe Mercedes could be credited with trying to just end the Twins’ misery and get things over with. You’ll recall that Astudillo lobbed a 47.1 mph pitch up there. That made it extremely unlikely Mercedes was going to hit a home run! It’s the slowest pitch on record that has left the park.

https://nypost.com/2021/05/19/tony-larussa-losing-white-sox-after-ripping-yermin-mercedes/ “White Sox players nearing revolt against Tony La Russa” By Jeremy Layton

“I really didn’t have an issue with it,’’ Boone said Wednesday of Yermin Mercedes’ homer on a 3-0 pitch from Minnesota Twins position player Willians Astudillo late in a lopsided game on Monday. “The other night, you’ve got a position player throwing lobs,’’ Boone said of Astudillo. “Do you want [Mercedes] to sit there and take?” Boone added his stance might be different in a blowout if a pitcher were still on the mound, but “once a position player is in there, you can’t really fault anyone for anything.” ..... That brought Boone back to what he called the “run rule,” where if a team led by 10 or more runs after the seventh inning, the game would end. He mentioned it in 2019 after using Mike Ford and Austin Romine to pitch in games that season. If such a rule existed, Boone said, it might also eliminate some of the “unwritten rules” about swinging away at pitches or stealing a base in a blowout and risking angering the opposing team. “If everyone’s fighting to get to that 10-run [lead] by the seventh inning … then you don’t have to worry and we’re just playing,’’ Boone said. “I’m not saying I’m for it. I’m saying it’s worth discussing.” https://nypost.com/2021/05/19/aaron-boone-fine-with-tony-la-russas-player-breaking-unwritten-rule/

Six problems with how Tony La Russa handled the Yermín Mercedes situation The White Sox manager just can't stay out of his own way By Matt Snyder 17 hrs ago7 min read 6. He ignored Mercedes' situation There's this notion among some casual fans and those people who don't like baseball that every player is some pampered and greedy millionaire. It's a garbage line of thinking, but that's a discussion for a different day, other than to say it couldn't be further from the truth with Mercedes. Mercedes signed as an international free agent with the Nationals in 2011. His signing info is tough to find, but Baseball America has a top-30 list for that year and he's not on it (the lowest figure included is $570,000). After three seasons in the Dominican Summer League (Rookie Ball with low salaries), he was released. He then played independent ball in 2014 before signing a minor-league deal with the Orioles. By 2017, he finally made Double-A. The White Sox took him before 2018 in the minor-league portion of the Rule 5 Draft. He debuted last season with one at-bat, so it's safe to say he basically made nothing last season. This year, Mercedes is on the league minimum, which is $570,000. That's a big salary! In looking at his entire career from the beginning, he's not rich. This matters because of what was mentioned above about players getting paid based upon their stats. Mercedes is 28 years old and who knows how long he'll be a productive big-league player? There's no way La Russa considered this before making his comments, but maybe he should. He's the manager. Speaking of which, where would La Russa's team be without Mercedes? They lost Eloy Jimenez just before the season started and Mercedes has gobbled up those at-bats to the tune of (heading into Wednesday's day game) .368/.417/.571, good for a 178 OPS+ and the major-league lead in batting average. The White Sox are in first place and, by WAR, Mercedes has been their second-most valuable player. The bottom line: Do better than this, La Russa. https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/six-problems-with-how-tony-la-russa-handled-the-yermin-mercedes-situation/

The ankle is more related to sliding home to score the winning run on that wild pitch to end the game. No connection to Hunter Dozier collision.

Just shout at those youngsters in Lawrence, GET THE F---K OFF MY LAWN!!! with faux Clint Eastwood expression on your/one's face.

Voted for Cespedes. Just because Ron didn't include him. I didn't report Ron, however, to board administrators for that potential oversight. Also left off Micker Adolfo. Does Ron have a bias against Latin American players??

Like #metoo, but if the octogenarians of the U.S. Senate were setting and enforcing the rules, lol...well, it's an analogy.

DEFINITELY NOT. Colas or Cespedes it will be...maybe maybe just maybe Adolfo gets a cup of coffee.

Just wait until Robert and Jimenez are back and they do that!!! On second thought, better hope they don't, or we'll have even more key injuries to overcome. That said, we should send out Jimmy Buff Arms Cordero to intimidate/fight Tortuga and the Mutant Ninja Turtles. He can contribute in that meaningful/impactful way...saving or protecting his teammates and potential ring.

Didn't you get the memo....that it is actual highly strategic gamesmanship, preserving your key bullpen arms for the second half of the season while simultaneously providing comic moments for both dugouts.

I'm going to do like Ron and report Jerksticks/aka The Fun Police to the "Yermin's Team" Insta and see what bad things happen to those who mess with TA, Yermin and Lance Lynn.

NEVER FORGET.

Crickets. OPS at Leury Garcia level, 512. Going to have to start making some adjustments to how he's being attacked and focused upon by advance scouts. 1/3, up to 564 ops.

https://www.mlb.com/video/tatis-jr-s-four-hits-in-return?t=best-performer

This team would be at 4 games over .500 without him. Without LaRussa, we'd be at +14 or +16.

But they really DIDN'T want to...they just went through the motions, like Jon Garland back in the day being ordered by Ozzie to hit someone and MISSING the batter.

There has to be a video somewhere of him SUPPOSEDLY making some motions or shouting "TAKE TAKE TAKE" from the dugout....since he's emotive as the Corpse Bride so far this year, rarely venturing out of the dugout, just having a hard time believing he was suddenly so demonstrative about this of all things in a blowout victory...when there's been hundreds of bad umpiring calls on balls and strikes to at least make an occasional appearance about to stick up for your pitchers and hitters.

Even the Twins and Baldelli are not so obtuse as to realize that Yermin's having his 15 minutes of fan...maybe longer. They're not going to really try to hurt someone so "fun loving" as Mercedes or Eloy Jimenez that everyone loves to be around. He's just exuberant and excited to have an opportunity to be on a major league roster each and every day. It's probably surreal. This is a kid who went something like a decade putting his time in, and was THIS CLOSE to being out of the game a number of times, if not for the fact that teams (even INDY ones) always need catchers, if for nothing else than bullpen work. This isn't an established star like TA taking advantage to pad his stats. It's a rookie who still doesn't know what the limits ARE, because he's just enjoying being in the spotlight too much. That's why it's such a great (national) baseball story that can inspire kids all around the world who don't fit the mold of what a traditional baseball, basketball or soccer player looks like.

Tiger Woods in the 1997 Masters or one of those 1999-2000 Grand Slams he won by something like 8-10 strokes...he should have just let up on the gas and allowed all of his opponents back into the tourney in order to make it more exciting for the fans watching at home?

IN all of this, you're missing the point that TA and Yermin and Fernando Tatis (grand slam against Texas on a 3-0 count against Juan Nicasio last summer) are making. It's that baseball is a sport, its played for fun, and it's played for the fans, especially young kids...the next generation. Do you think those young fans would prefer that Yermin took 3 49 mph eephus strikes (which, in and of itself, was at least SOMEWHAT disrespectful to the game, and created a clown-ish sideshow environment in the first place) and sit down and "GRAB SOME BENCH" because of the lead or HAVE SOME FUN SWINGING AGAINST HIS FRIEND that just so happened to be pitching in that anomalous situation...a once in a lifetime opportunity? Will sitting down for three strikes or running out the clock when you're team's up 45-10 with the ball in the final minutes....or running the old North Carolina four corners offense to end the game excite anyone about playing the sport of baseball? PROBABLY NOT. Baseball increasingly is about ENTERTAINMENT. Entertaining the fans, who pay the bills to watch the product. The product is exciting players and their exploits, not crusty old school managers hanging on for historical wins as a manager records.

You're getting as spicy as the fried chicken down in Nashville these days...maybe need some Krystal/Waffle House instead? Zaxby's? Between Ray Ray, yourself and Chitownsports, things have been getting a bit chippy. Can't we all just get along (at least while we're in first place), haha?

Knights hold Wander Franco 0/5 but lose 5-4 in extras. Struggle of a game for Burger.