The Bitter Rivals Thread

[KenFougere]

I actually laughed out loud.

Ya, sarcasm is the lowest form of humor, so knew you'd get it . . .

[YankeeMan]

Ya, sarcasm is the lowest form of humor, so knew you'd get it . . .

Hey, that was literally laugh out loud funny too!

[YankeeMan]

Oh, almost forgot my question...

Has any team ever gone worst-to-first-to-worst before?

[KenFougere]

Yanks reinstate A-Rod from suspension!

Oh, almost forgot my question...

Has any team ever gone worst-to-first-to-worst before?

Not to my knowledge. -

Maybe one of the other members might be able to help you with your obscure trivia question . . .

NOTE: MLB, Yanks reinstate A-Rod from suspension. Now there's a really bright move.

[YankeeMan]

NOTE: MLB, Yanks reinstate A-Rod from suspension.

Ugh... :disgruntled:

[KenFougere]

Do you take door #!, 2, 3, or 4?

Ugh... :disgruntled:

Ok Yankee-fan-Man.

th.jpg

1. Will he receive a overwhelming ovation at his first at bat at Yankee Stadium?
   
2. Will he be unmercifully booed at his first at bat at Yankee Stadium?
   
3. Will he be released and bought out of his contract?
   
4. Will he be traded and the Yanks have to pay a large percentage of his remaining salary for any team to take him?

[KenFougere]

Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez gives Red Sox much needed offensive muscle . . .

---

-- Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez spent the past two seasons as NL West rivals. Now they're teammates, signing with the Boston Red Sox as free agents to try to boost Boston out of the cellar and back to the top of the AL East.

"It's exciting for me to be with Hanley and David Ortiz," Sandoval said Tuesday, adding that the trio has already been dubbed the "Three Amigos." -

Sandoval's deal -- a five-year pact for $95 million with a $17 million club option for a sixth year (or a $5 million buyout), a major league source told ESPNBoston.com -- was finalized Tuesday morning.

The Red Sox announced Ramirez's four-year deal later Tuesday.

"David, he's like my big brother," Ramirez said. "He's texting me pretty much every day and telling me what I've got to do, what I've got to change. I think he's part of my success in the big leagues ... I can't wait to be on the same team with him. It's going to be great."

Sandoval helped the Giants win three championships, earning the World Series MVP in 2012 and the nickname "Kung Fu Panda" that helped cement him as a fan favorite.

"I want a new challenge. I need a new challenge," he said Tuesday during a Fenway Park news conference. "I know that I had a great career in San Francisco. But I'm going to have a new one here."

Pablo.jpg

Ramirez's deal is worth $88 million and includes a fifth-year vesting for an additional $22 million, according to a source.

Ramirez will be paid a $3 million signing bonus, and $19 million in the first season of the deal and $22 million in each successive year.

"There's just not that many opportunities in this game to bring in a player of Hanley's ability overall, particularly on the offensive side," Cherington said. "He's a very good base runner also. When those opportunities come up you have to avoid being too stubborn about what the rest of the picture looks like."

Ramirez came up in the Red Sox's system before he was traded to the Florida Marlins in the deal that brought Josh Beckett and future World Series MVP Mike Lowell to Boston. The 30-year-old batted .300 with 13 homers and 71 RBIs for Los Angeles this year.

"It's been a while," Ramirez said. "I remember '05 when I got traded I was really upset. Like he said, it worked out for both of us -- you guys won a couple of world championships. I haven't won any but that's what I'm here for. I'm a new player, I'm a new person.

bos_a_hanleyintro_600x600.jpg

---

Now I'm 85% sure Lester is coming back. Which leaves one more top of the rotation pitcher (Cole Hamels?) and maybe one bullpen arm needed.

If these components come to fruition, I predict a worst to first to worst to first consecutive seasons finishes for a team for the first time in MLB history.

(Well, maybe November is a wee bit early for predictions.)

- :silent:

[KenFougere]

Winter Action Sparking Another Red Sox Resurrection

The smartest thing the Red Sox have done over the past few months is not the signing of Pablo Sandoval (though that was good). Or viewing Hanley Ramirez as a left fielder (he sure ain't a shortstop anymore). Or continuing to woo Jon Lester (decision time is looming).

No, the smartest thing the Red Sox have done was cut bait with last summer's lost cause of a club the millisecond they identified that the season had gotten away.

By dealing Lester, John Lackey and Jake Peavy at the trade deadline last July, the Red Sox got an enormous jump start on 2015.

By corralling Sandoval and Ramirez, on paper at least, the Sox instantly improved a weak-tea offense that ranked tied for 11th in the American League in runs scored last summer (634) and a woeful 14th in the AL with a .369 slugging percentage.

Now, give the Red Sox a couple of starting pitchers and look out. It's easy to envision Boston, which won it all in 2013, leaping aboard San Francisco's every-other-year plan and contending again in 2015

Clearly, general manager Ben Cherington has some texts to return, calls to make and emails to send. The light is still burning at his architect's table. Add Sandoval and Ramirez to Yoenis Cespedes, Allen Craig, Rusney Castillo, Shane Victorino, Daniel Nava and Jackie Bradley Jr., and what you've got is...enough grist to keep the hot stove chattering for a few more weeks.

"We always want to try to have center fielder-quality defense in both center field and right field at Fenway Park because right field is such a tough position in Fenway," Cherington told MLB Network Radio on Wednesday. "And we feel with that collection of guys, we'll have a good chance to do that."

The Red Sox's master plan, according to industry sources, is to add one starting pitcher via free agency and one via trade. And they have plenty of outfielders to deal. Of course, who knows how things will work out in the end?

The trade market is flooded with pitchers at the moment—Cole Hamels? Jordan Zimmermann? Johnny Cueto? Jeff Samardzija? Bartolo Colon? Ian Kennedy?—which benefits a club like the Sox. And with more extra outfielders than the Dodgers ever dreamed of, Cherington has plenty of directions he can go.

As for Lester (or James Shields or even Max Scherzer), Red Sox owner John Henry said last week that even spending $180 million for Sandoval and Ramirez doesn't mean more checks can't be written. Henry flat-out said that the Red Sox could spend their way past the $189 million luxury-tax threshold for the first time since 2011.

"The way it's structured, we can blow through one year," Henry told Boston reporters, per MLB.com's Ian Browne. "Again, for next year, we have tremendous flexibility, so we could go through for one year and have it not overly affect us."

That takes us from the debate over how much money the Red Sox are willing to spend to how they're spending it. So far so good, except for the Ramirez contract.

Yes, Sandoval at five years and $95 million could become a little weighty. But if Sandoval himself does, the Red Sox will be protected by the DH spot in a post-David Ortiz world.

Unquestionably, the lineup will be far more potent than last year's mix of Jackie Bradley Jr. (.198), Will Middlebrooks (.191) and Co.

Unquestionably, by Opening Day, whatever they do, their rotation will be far more potent than at present: Clay Buchholz, Joe Kelly and Rubby De La Rosa as a top three. The Red Sox will get their pitching, and they still need a catcher and bullpen tweaks as well.

All we know for sure at the moment is this:

The Red Sox could inject more soapy drama into the winter meetings next week than Shonda Rhimes into a prime-time Thursday night.

Look out, Yankees. Boston is back.

Scott Miller, Bleacher Report

[KenFougere]

---

I can't believe they let him get away. And to Theo & the Cubs. What fools . . . :dismay:

USATSI_8088644.jpg

[TonyK]

---

I can't belove they let him get away. And to Theo & the Cubs. What fools . . . :dismay:

[ATTACH]144150[/ATTACH]

Ken,

Today's Bovada odds of winning the World Series in 2015 hardly changed - Red Sox down from 8-1 to 9-1, Cubs up from 14-1 to 12-1. NYY are at 22-1. I never heard of Bovada so I don't know how they calculate the odds. Apparently Sandoval and Ramirez gave the Sox a great boost. But putting Boston in the second best odds spot behind LA (NL) 17-2 doesn't make a lot of sense.

Sherzer's signing will change the odds and my hunch is he will either become a Yankee or go out west to SF or LA.

[KenFougere]

Ken,

Today's Bovada odds of winning the World Series in 2015 hardly changed - Red Sox down from 8-1 to 9-1, Cubs up from 14-1 to 12-1. NYY is at 22-1. I never heard of Bovada so I don't know how they calculate the odds. Apparently Sandoval and Ramirez gave the Sox a great boost. But putting Boston in the second best odds spot behind LA (NL) 17-2 doesn't make a lot of sense.

Sherzer's signing will change the odds and my hunch is he will either become a Yankee or go out west to SF or LA.

OK, we're not getting Sherzer. but we still need TWO top of the rotation starters. So who's left?

[TonyK]

OK, we're not getting Sherzer. but we still need TWO top of the rotation starters. So who's left?

As of 1 pm today the staff is Porcello, Buchholz, Miley, Kelly, and Masterson. We still have enough prospects and money left to go after Shields, Hamels, or Chris Sales. Sales earns only 6.5 million per year so it will take two or three good prospects and a few position players to get Chicago to even consider it. The staff will all be between 26 and 31 years old, and are above-average ground ball pitchers. Lester will make the same amount of money as Porcello, Miley, and Masterson combined.

[KenFougere]

As of 1 pm today the staff is Porcello, Buchholz, Miley, Kelly, and Masterson. We still have enough prospects and money left to go after Shields, Hamels, or Chris Sales. Sales earns only 6.5 million per year so it will take two or three good prospects and a few position players to get Chicago to even consider it. The staff will all be between 26 and 31 years old, and are above-average ground ball pitchers. Lester will make the same amount of money as Porcello, Miley, and Masterson combined.

Wow, I must of been either sleeping or very busy lately.

When the hell did we get Masterson back and who did we give up for him? - - :stupidme: - :noidea

[TonyK]

Wow, I must of been either sleeping or very busy lately.

When the hell did we get Masterson back and who did we give up for him? - - :stupidme: - :noidea

We got him for 950 Salmon B. Chase $10,000 bills. I'll let you do the math.

Website www.mlbtraderumors.com has been reporting every deal made and I've lost count of the Red Sox signings. Cashman of the Yankees tells the press he is being patient right now. Translate that to mean he is going all in for Scherzer and Shields, and will sign them up until they can get Social Security.

[KenFougere]

...Cashman of the Yankees tells the press he is being patient right now. Translate that to mean he is going all in for Scherzer and Shields, and will sign them up until they can get Social Security.

I agree with you 100%. But since we lost Lester, why the hell can't we go hard after Scherzer? I think he's better than Lester and you and I both know the Sox can afford him. Shields would be a great #2 on our rotation... I just read we traded Cespedes to Detroit for starter Rich Porcello...