[BostonCard]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/daltonj_johnson/status/1448878498982940675?s=21[/tweet]

BC

[BostonCard]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/daltonj_johnson/status/1448878498982940675?s=21[/tweet]

BC

[Sam Leopold]

I didn't want to see Dodgers-Braves in the NLCS again, and thought it would be kind of nice if that ridiculous commercial with Kershaw shilling for Hankook Tires got jammed back in ESPN's craw.  I was rooting for you guys, if ever so slightly.

This was more than a blown call to end a playoff series between two archrivals -- this was a h.u.g.e middle finger to baseball fans all up and down the West Coast.  The state of California should not take this lying down.  And I'm not talking about a few thousand irate Giants fans burning down Twitter, that wouldn't accomplish anything.  The wikipedia edit that BC just linked to is a good start. Kapler should make some public statement that'll get him fined like $50,000 or something. One of the Silicon Valley social media serpents like Zuckerberg can pay him back under the table.

[Sam Leopold]

I didn't want to see Dodgers-Braves in the NLCS again, and thought it would be kind of nice if that ridiculous commercial with Kershaw shilling for Hankook Tires got jammed back in ESPN's craw.  I was rooting for you guys, if ever so slightly.

This was more than a blown call to end a playoff series between two archrivals -- this was a h.u.g.e middle finger to baseball fans all up and down the West Coast.  The state of California should not take this lying down.  And I'm not talking about a few thousand irate Giants fans burning down Twitter, that wouldn't accomplish anything.  The wikipedia edit that BC just linked to is a good start. Kapler should make some public statement that'll get him fined like $50,000 or something. One of the Silicon Valley social media serpents like Zuckerberg can pay him back under the table.

[pefloresjr]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/daltonj_johnson/status/1448878498982940675?s=21[/tweet]

BC

 
I was at the game.  I would say "legally blind and morally corrupt."  

Cheers,
Pete F.

[pefloresjr]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/daltonj_johnson/status/1448878498982940675?s=21[/tweet]

BC

 
I was at the game.  I would say "legally blind and morally corrupt."  

Cheers,
Pete F.

[newguy]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/daltonj_johnson/status/1448878498982940675?s=21[/tweet]

BC

if Wikipedia says that Morales is legally blind, then it must be so.

[newguy]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/daltonj_johnson/status/1448878498982940675?s=21[/tweet]

BC

if Wikipedia says that Morales is legally blind, then it must be so.

[Mick]

Count was 0-2. You can’t make that call. Flores probably wasn’t going to make contact but you can’t end the series on an obvious non swing.

I am now a devoted Braves/Red Sox/Astros fan.

And Dickerson needs to be released.

One of the many, many, many things I like about Kruk and Kuip versus...well, any national announcing crew is that they will replay and dissect checked swings.  TBS failed to do that all week.

The major leagues needs to eliminate their umpires.  They're a joke.  Also a joke is not re-seeding during the playoffs, and if a division winner has a worse record than a wild card team, well, you start on the road, buddy.

Loved the season, even loved the playoffs.  When will two 109-win teams ever meet again?

[Mick]

Count was 0-2. You can’t make that call. Flores probably wasn’t going to make contact but you can’t end the series on an obvious non swing.

I am now a devoted Braves/Red Sox/Astros fan.

And Dickerson needs to be released.

One of the many, many, many things I like about Kruk and Kuip versus...well, any national announcing crew is that they will replay and dissect checked swings.  TBS failed to do that all week.

The major leagues needs to eliminate their umpires.  They're a joke.  Also a joke is not re-seeding during the playoffs, and if a division winner has a worse record than a wild card team, well, you start on the road, buddy.

Loved the season, even loved the playoffs.  When will two 109-win teams ever meet again?

[Phogge]

As well as this team played in three years the cast will be quite different especially in the rotation.

Immediately dump Dickerson, Littell and see if somebody will give a second tier prospect for Yaz. Start to taper Longoria’s at bats. Install Estrada at second and keep him there. P or get off the pot with Bart. Find a #5 starter among your young guys.

Figure out who to sign. Can’t keep all of: Bryant, Gausman, Scalopini, Belt, etc while signing as big a bat as they can.

Hire a shrink to work with Corry who has the best arm in the organization but who needs a roadmap to find the plate.

Great job Coconuts but sometimes you have to play Little Ball.

[Phogge]

As well as this team played in three years the cast will be quite different especially in the rotation.

Immediately dump Dickerson, Littell and see if somebody will give a second tier prospect for Yaz. Start to taper Longoria’s at bats. Install Estrada at second and keep him there. P or get off the pot with Bart. Find a #5 starter among your young guys.

Figure out who to sign. Can’t keep all of: Bryant, Gausman, Scalopini, Belt, etc while signing as big a bat as they can.

Hire a shrink to work with Corry who has the best arm in the organization but who needs a roadmap to find the plate.

Great job Coconuts but sometimes you have to play Little Ball.

[teejers1]

Count was 0-2. You can’t make that call. Flores probably wasn’t going to make contact but you can’t end the series on an obvious non swing.

I am now a devoted Braves/Red Sox/Astros fan.

And Dickerson needs to be released.

One of the many, many, many things I like about Kruk and Kuip versus...well, any national announcing crew is that they will replay and dissect checked swings.  TBS failed to do that all week.

The major leagues needs to eliminate their umpires.  They're a joke.  Also a joke is not re-seeding during the playoffs, and if a division winner has a worse record than a wild card team, well, you start on the road, buddy.

Loved the season, even loved the playoffs.  When will two 109-win teams ever meet again?

Well, I listened to post game, and in immediate aftermath, Kruk said the umpire made the correct call on the check swing.  It was only in the regular post-game format that he backtracked to questionable/dubious call.  I don't know how anyone - let alone a trained umpire - would call that a swing.  More fundamentally, you need more clarity on the check  swing rule.  IMO, you can't measure intent, so you should go with angle of bat over home plate.

The Giants' hitting abandoned them in the post season, and they were never any good at small ball.  Bad bad combo.  We'll never know, but it's hard not to think the Giants missed Belt more than the Dodgers missed Muncy.

Dodgers are a very good team (obviously), so no shame in losing to them in 5.  It just sucks that season is over.

P.S.  Was hoping Kapler would let Slater bat - he has real Kaboom in his bat - and bring in Wade, if he felt he needed to, in Wilmer's slot.

[teejers1]

Count was 0-2. You can’t make that call. Flores probably wasn’t going to make contact but you can’t end the series on an obvious non swing.

I am now a devoted Braves/Red Sox/Astros fan.

And Dickerson needs to be released.

One of the many, many, many things I like about Kruk and Kuip versus...well, any national announcing crew is that they will replay and dissect checked swings.  TBS failed to do that all week.

The major leagues needs to eliminate their umpires.  They're a joke.  Also a joke is not re-seeding during the playoffs, and if a division winner has a worse record than a wild card team, well, you start on the road, buddy.

Loved the season, even loved the playoffs.  When will two 109-win teams ever meet again?

Well, I listened to post game, and in immediate aftermath, Kruk said the umpire made the correct call on the check swing.  It was only in the regular post-game format that he backtracked to questionable/dubious call.  I don't know how anyone - let alone a trained umpire - would call that a swing.  More fundamentally, you need more clarity on the check  swing rule.  IMO, you can't measure intent, so you should go with angle of bat over home plate.

The Giants' hitting abandoned them in the post season, and they were never any good at small ball.  Bad bad combo.  We'll never know, but it's hard not to think the Giants missed Belt more than the Dodgers missed Muncy.

Dodgers are a very good team (obviously), so no shame in losing to them in 5.  It just sucks that season is over.

P.S.  Was hoping Kapler would let Slater bat - he has real Kaboom in his bat - and bring in Wade, if he felt he needed to, in Wilmer's slot.

[DC 86]

I don't know how anyone - let alone a trained umpire - would call that a swing.  More fundamentally, you need more clarity on the check  swing rule.  IMO, you can't measure intent, so you should go with angle of bat over home plate.

It would be better for the rule book to be more explicit, but for several decades umpires have based checked swing calls on whether 1) the bat crossed the front of the plate, or 2) the batter broke his wrists. Precedent is abundantly clear.

After the game Morales (and the crew chief) essentially admitted that they blew the call. Morales said that in real time umpires don't have access to replay and multiple angles and said that "when it happened live I thought he went." When reporters asked if he had changed his mind after seeing a replay he hesitated and the crew chief interjected and said "he doesn't want to answer that." So there you have it.

[DC 86]

I don't know how anyone - let alone a trained umpire - would call that a swing.  More fundamentally, you need more clarity on the check  swing rule.  IMO, you can't measure intent, so you should go with angle of bat over home plate.

It would be better for the rule book to be more explicit, but for several decades umpires have based checked swing calls on whether 1) the bat crossed the front of the plate, or 2) the batter broke his wrists. Precedent is abundantly clear.

After the game Morales (and the crew chief) essentially admitted that they blew the call. Morales said that in real time umpires don't have access to replay and multiple angles and said that "when it happened live I thought he went." When reporters asked if he had changed his mind after seeing a replay he hesitated and the crew chief interjected and said "he doesn't want to answer that." So there you have it.

[lex24]

Count was 0-2. You can’t make that call. Flores probably wasn’t going to make contact but you can’t end the series on an obvious non swing.

I am now a devoted Braves/Red Sox/Astros fan.

And Dickerson needs to be released.

One of the many, many, many things I like about Kruk and Kuip versus...well, any national announcing crew is that they will replay and dissect checked swings.  TBS failed to do that all week.

The major leagues needs to eliminate their umpires.  They're a joke.  Also a joke is not re-seeding during the playoffs, and if a division winner has a worse record than a wild card team, well, you start on the road, buddy.

Loved the season, even loved the playoffs.  When will two 109-win teams ever meet again?

Well, I listened to post game, and in immediate aftermath, Kruk said the umpire made the correct call on the check swing.  It was only in the regular post-game format that he backtracked to questionable/dubious call.  I don't know how anyone - let alone a trained umpire - would call that a swing.  More fundamentally, you need more clarity on the check  swing rule.  IMO, you can't measure intent, so you should go with angle of bat over home plate.

The Giants' hitting abandoned them in the post season, and they were never any good at small ball.  Bad bad combo.  We'll never know, but it's hard not to think the Giants missed Belt more than the Dodgers missed Muncy.

Dodgers are a very good team (obviously), so no shame in losing to them in 5.  It just sucks that season is over.

P.S.  Was hoping Kapler would let Slater bat - he has real Kaboom in his bat - and bring in Wade, if he felt he needed to, in Wilmer's slot.

Slaters splits are enormous.  He can’t hit righthanders. Here are the three things that will haunt me a while from game 5

1. Bryant’s AB in 4th. On Tuesday when it was obvious there would be a game 5, Flemming said Eddings was going to be the home plate ump and that he had BY FAR the biggest strike zone in MLB. He said Eddings “will be a factor.”  Go Back to Bryant’s AB.  Crawford has singled.  Urias falls behind 2-0. Next pitch is about 4 inches off the plate.  Should be 3-0. Instead it’s called a strike.  2-1 pitch isn’t close 3-1. Then Urias throws an off speed pitch misses low.  By a few inches.  Strike 2.  As Miller said - that’s 5 and 0.  Would have liked to see first and second no outs with Slater, Flores and Longoria against Urias. Who at that point wasn’t particularly sharp.

2. The check swing.  First, it wasn’t close.  Second, I wonder the mind set of an Ump that decides on that check swing that he’s gonna be THE MAN.  And decide it.  He now is assured of a place in history.  I didn’t watch replays last night.  Turned it off immediately.  I wasn’t going to watch the celebration.  But I’ve seen it this morning.  Unreal.  Odds are about 82% Scherzer gets him anyway.  But be nice to let the players decide it.

3.  Bellinger gets the hit.  Can’t stand the guy.  Didn’t want it to be him.

In the end, you can’t win when you can’t hit.  Posey, Crawford and Bryant were the only guys that did much.  Longo and Ruf hit HR’s but were about 1-20 otherwise.  All year long it was the contributions across the board. Didn’t happen.  Unfair in a way, but to me Yaz was the most disappointing.  And I wonder where it leaves him next year. He needs to adjust. Can he?

Dodgers will roll through the rest.  Giants are the one team not cowed by them. Maybe Astros can hang.  But they may have lost McCullers.

On umpires in general - I don’t remember zones being quite as “individual “ as today.  But of course we didn’t have the box and the ability to chart each pitch.  Also - how do they decide on the crews for playoffs?  Cause this was a bad one.  I say that not just based on the outcome. One member of this crew - Holberg - scored above average this year as a plate ump.  And, of course,  that Angel Hernandez is on it tells me merit has nothing to do with it.  He’s been one of baseball’s worst for a long time now.

This one stings a bit.  But as I said, it was quite a year.  Now we will go into what will be a fascinating offseason.  Tons of decisions to make.  And unfortunately, labor issues. You can count on Manfred screwing up the latter. He’s incompetent. So I’m thinking a strike is imminent. Hope I’m wrong.

As for the Giants - assuming FA happens, I want them to go big. Dodgers outspent Giants by over $100,000,000. Giants have the resources to match. DO IT. Seeger would look good in a Giants uniform. He’s an average SS defensively. But a good enough athlete to move to second or OF. I’d make a run at Bryant. And also Starlin Marte. I restructure Posey to a two year deal. I think they can get a team friendly deal. Buster has made big money. And he wants to play his whole career here. Belt, I’d try for a 2 year deal with a third year option. He may be tougher. Freeman is an FA. But he will command brobdingnagian dollars. And the smart money says he resigns.

Gausman won’t come cheap. But I go after him. I try to resign Wood or DeSclafani.

Giants will need to sign one or two FA starting pitchers. Probably talking lower end guys that they think they can work with. Not sure who fits the bill.

22 is the year money came off the books. So they have tons to spend. Let’s see if they do. If they insist on being a mid level spender - they can forget being consistent contenders. You can’t do what they did this year - cobbling together cast offs etc - and win consistently. What they did this year is truly remarkable. But not sustainable.

Man, I’m not ready for this season to be over. But all I left is …..Go Dusty.

[lex24]

Count was 0-2. You can’t make that call. Flores probably wasn’t going to make contact but you can’t end the series on an obvious non swing.

I am now a devoted Braves/Red Sox/Astros fan.

And Dickerson needs to be released.

One of the many, many, many things I like about Kruk and Kuip versus...well, any national announcing crew is that they will replay and dissect checked swings.  TBS failed to do that all week.

The major leagues needs to eliminate their umpires.  They're a joke.  Also a joke is not re-seeding during the playoffs, and if a division winner has a worse record than a wild card team, well, you start on the road, buddy.

Loved the season, even loved the playoffs.  When will two 109-win teams ever meet again?

Well, I listened to post game, and in immediate aftermath, Kruk said the umpire made the correct call on the check swing.  It was only in the regular post-game format that he backtracked to questionable/dubious call.  I don't know how anyone - let alone a trained umpire - would call that a swing.  More fundamentally, you need more clarity on the check  swing rule.  IMO, you can't measure intent, so you should go with angle of bat over home plate.

The Giants' hitting abandoned them in the post season, and they were never any good at small ball.  Bad bad combo.  We'll never know, but it's hard not to think the Giants missed Belt more than the Dodgers missed Muncy.

Dodgers are a very good team (obviously), so no shame in losing to them in 5.  It just sucks that season is over.

P.S.  Was hoping Kapler would let Slater bat - he has real Kaboom in his bat - and bring in Wade, if he felt he needed to, in Wilmer's slot.

Slaters splits are enormous.  He can’t hit righthanders. Here are the three things that will haunt me a while from game 5

1. Bryant’s AB in 4th. On Tuesday when it was obvious there would be a game 5, Flemming said Eddings was going to be the home plate ump and that he had BY FAR the biggest strike zone in MLB. He said Eddings “will be a factor.”  Go Back to Bryant’s AB.  Crawford has singled.  Urias falls behind 2-0. Next pitch is about 4 inches off the plate.  Should be 3-0. Instead it’s called a strike.  2-1 pitch isn’t close 3-1. Then Urias throws an off speed pitch misses low.  By a few inches.  Strike 2.  As Miller said - that’s 5 and 0.  Would have liked to see first and second no outs with Slater, Flores and Longoria against Urias. Who at that point wasn’t particularly sharp.

2. The check swing.  First, it wasn’t close.  Second, I wonder the mind set of an Ump that decides on that check swing that he’s gonna be THE MAN.  And decide it.  He now is assured of a place in history.  I didn’t watch replays last night.  Turned it off immediately.  I wasn’t going to watch the celebration.  But I’ve seen it this morning.  Unreal.  Odds are about 82% Scherzer gets him anyway.  But be nice to let the players decide it.

3.  Bellinger gets the hit.  Can’t stand the guy.  Didn’t want it to be him.

In the end, you can’t win when you can’t hit.  Posey, Crawford and Bryant were the only guys that did much.  Longo and Ruf hit HR’s but were about 1-20 otherwise.  All year long it was the contributions across the board. Didn’t happen.  Unfair in a way, but to me Yaz was the most disappointing.  And I wonder where it leaves him next year. He needs to adjust. Can he?

Dodgers will roll through the rest.  Giants are the one team not cowed by them. Maybe Astros can hang.  But they may have lost McCullers.

On umpires in general - I don’t remember zones being quite as “individual “ as today.  But of course we didn’t have the box and the ability to chart each pitch.  Also - how do they decide on the crews for playoffs?  Cause this was a bad one.  I say that not just based on the outcome. One member of this crew - Holberg - scored above average this year as a plate ump.  And, of course,  that Angel Hernandez is on it tells me merit has nothing to do with it.  He’s been one of baseball’s worst for a long time now.

This one stings a bit.  But as I said, it was quite a year.  Now we will go into what will be a fascinating offseason.  Tons of decisions to make.  And unfortunately, labor issues. You can count on Manfred screwing up the latter. He’s incompetent. So I’m thinking a strike is imminent. Hope I’m wrong.

As for the Giants - assuming FA happens, I want them to go big. Dodgers outspent Giants by over $100,000,000. Giants have the resources to match. DO IT. Seeger would look good in a Giants uniform. He’s an average SS defensively. But a good enough athlete to move to second or OF. I’d make a run at Bryant. And also Starlin Marte. I restructure Posey to a two year deal. I think they can get a team friendly deal. Buster has made big money. And he wants to play his whole career here. Belt, I’d try for a 2 year deal with a third year option. He may be tougher. Freeman is an FA. But he will command brobdingnagian dollars. And the smart money says he resigns.

Gausman won’t come cheap. But I go after him. I try to resign Wood or DeSclafani.

Giants will need to sign one or two FA starting pitchers. Probably talking lower end guys that they think they can work with. Not sure who fits the bill.

22 is the year money came off the books. So they have tons to spend. Let’s see if they do. If they insist on being a mid level spender - they can forget being consistent contenders. You can’t do what they did this year - cobbling together cast offs etc - and win consistently. What they did this year is truly remarkable. But not sustainable.

Man, I’m not ready for this season to be over. But all I left is …..Go Dusty.

[teejers1]

Count was 0-2. You can’t make that call. Flores probably wasn’t going to make contact but you can’t end the series on an obvious non swing.

I am now a devoted Braves/Red Sox/Astros fan.

And Dickerson needs to be released.

One of the many, many, many things I like about Kruk and Kuip versus...well, any national announcing crew is that they will replay and dissect checked swings.  TBS failed to do that all week.

The major leagues needs to eliminate their umpires.  They're a joke.  Also a joke is not re-seeding during the playoffs, and if a division winner has a worse record than a wild card team, well, you start on the road, buddy.

Loved the season, even loved the playoffs.  When will two 109-win teams ever meet again?

Well, I listened to post game, and in immediate aftermath, Kruk said the umpire made the correct call on the check swing.  It was only in the regular post-game format that he backtracked to questionable/dubious call.  I don't know how anyone - let alone a trained umpire - would call that a swing.  More fundamentally, you need more clarity on the check  swing rule.  IMO, you can't measure intent, so you should go with angle of bat over home plate.

The Giants' hitting abandoned them in the post season, and they were never any good at small ball.  Bad bad combo.  We'll never know, but it's hard not to think the Giants missed Belt more than the Dodgers missed Muncy.

Dodgers are a very good team (obviously), so no shame in losing to them in 5.  It just sucks that season is over.

P.S.  Was hoping Kapler would let Slater bat - he has real Kaboom in his bat - and bring in Wade, if he felt he needed to, in Wilmer's slot.

Slaters splits are enormous.  He can’t hit righthanders. Here are the three things that will haunt me a while from game 5

1. Bryant’s AB in 4th. On Tuesday when it was obvious there would be a game 5, Flemming said Eddings was going to be the home plate ump and that he had BY FAR the biggest strike zone in MLB. He said Eddings “will be a factor.”  Go Back to Bryant’s AB.  Crawford has singled.  Urias falls behind 2-0. Next pitch is about 4 inches off the plate.  Should be 3-0. Instead it’s called a strike.  2-1 pitch isn’t close 3-1. Then Urias throws an off speed pitch misses low.  By a few inches.  Strike 2.  As Miller said - that’s 5 and 0.  Would have liked to see first and second no outs with Slater, Flores and Longoria against Urias. Who at that point wasn’t particularly sharp.

2. The check swing.  First, it wasn’t close.  Second, I wonder the mind set of an Ump that decides on that check swing that he’s gonna be THE MAN.  And decide it.  He now is assured of a place in history.  I didn’t watch replays last night.  Turned it off immediately.  I wasn’t going to watch the celebration.  But I’ve seen it this morning.  Unreal.  Odds are about 82% Scherzer gets him anyway.  But be nice to let the players decide it.

3.  Bellinger gets the hit.  Can’t stand the guy.  Didn’t want it to be him.

In the end, you can’t win when you can’t hit.  Posey, Crawford and Bryant were the only guys that did much.  Longo and Ruf hit HR’s but we’re about 1-20 otherwise.  All year long it was the contributions across the board. Didn’t happen.  Unfair in a way, but to me Yaz was the most disappointing.  

Dodgers will roll through the rest.  Giants are the one team not cowed by them. Maybe Astros can hang.  But they may have lost McCullers.

On umpires in general - I don’t remember zones being quite as “individual “ as today.  But of course we didn’t have the box and the ability to chart each pitch.  Also - how do they decide on the crews for playoffs?  Cause this was a bad one.  I say that not just based on the outcome. One member of this crew - Holberg scored above average this year as a plate ump.  And, of course,  that Angel Hernandez is on it tells me merit has nothing to do with it.  He’s been one of baseball’s worst for a long time now.

This one stings a bit.  But as I said, it was quite a year.  Now we will go into what will be a fascinating offseason.  Tons of decisions to make.  And unfortunately, labor issues. You can count on Manfred screwing up the latter. He’s incompetent. So I’m thinking a strike is imminent.

Go Dusty…..

Abject devotion to splits and analytics is no way to manage.  Sometimes you gotta go with what you're seeing.  And Wade, as great as his season was, had an awful hitting post-season.  Wilmer wasn't a lot better.  Both had lots of Ks.  Slater was 2-5 at the time and had made contact the first two ABs (though both grounders).  I don't know, my sense was Slater was a slightly better option than either of those guys (who both ended up striking out, though Wilmer was hosed).  But who knows, maybe Slater Ks, too.

I would add Longo failing to get runner in from 3B with one out in Game 2.  You never know how flavor of games change in single at-bats, and that could have been what the Giants needed in Game 2.  But again, the Giants were generally poor at getting runners home without a hit.

[teejers1]

Count was 0-2. You can’t make that call. Flores probably wasn’t going to make contact but you can’t end the series on an obvious non swing.

I am now a devoted Braves/Red Sox/Astros fan.

And Dickerson needs to be released.

One of the many, many, many things I like about Kruk and Kuip versus...well, any national announcing crew is that they will replay and dissect checked swings.  TBS failed to do that all week.

The major leagues needs to eliminate their umpires.  They're a joke.  Also a joke is not re-seeding during the playoffs, and if a division winner has a worse record than a wild card team, well, you start on the road, buddy.

Loved the season, even loved the playoffs.  When will two 109-win teams ever meet again?

Well, I listened to post game, and in immediate aftermath, Kruk said the umpire made the correct call on the check swing.  It was only in the regular post-game format that he backtracked to questionable/dubious call.  I don't know how anyone - let alone a trained umpire - would call that a swing.  More fundamentally, you need more clarity on the check  swing rule.  IMO, you can't measure intent, so you should go with angle of bat over home plate.

The Giants' hitting abandoned them in the post season, and they were never any good at small ball.  Bad bad combo.  We'll never know, but it's hard not to think the Giants missed Belt more than the Dodgers missed Muncy.

Dodgers are a very good team (obviously), so no shame in losing to them in 5.  It just sucks that season is over.

P.S.  Was hoping Kapler would let Slater bat - he has real Kaboom in his bat - and bring in Wade, if he felt he needed to, in Wilmer's slot.

Slaters splits are enormous.  He can’t hit righthanders. Here are the three things that will haunt me a while from game 5

1. Bryant’s AB in 4th. On Tuesday when it was obvious there would be a game 5, Flemming said Eddings was going to be the home plate ump and that he had BY FAR the biggest strike zone in MLB. He said Eddings “will be a factor.”  Go Back to Bryant’s AB.  Crawford has singled.  Urias falls behind 2-0. Next pitch is about 4 inches off the plate.  Should be 3-0. Instead it’s called a strike.  2-1 pitch isn’t close 3-1. Then Urias throws an off speed pitch misses low.  By a few inches.  Strike 2.  As Miller said - that’s 5 and 0.  Would have liked to see first and second no outs with Slater, Flores and Longoria against Urias. Who at that point wasn’t particularly sharp.

2. The check swing.  First, it wasn’t close.  Second, I wonder the mind set of an Ump that decides on that check swing that he’s gonna be THE MAN.  And decide it.  He now is assured of a place in history.  I didn’t watch replays last night.  Turned it off immediately.  I wasn’t going to watch the celebration.  But I’ve seen it this morning.  Unreal.  Odds are about 82% Scherzer gets him anyway.  But be nice to let the players decide it.

3.  Bellinger gets the hit.  Can’t stand the guy.  Didn’t want it to be him.

In the end, you can’t win when you can’t hit.  Posey, Crawford and Bryant were the only guys that did much.  Longo and Ruf hit HR’s but we’re about 1-20 otherwise.  All year long it was the contributions across the board. Didn’t happen.  Unfair in a way, but to me Yaz was the most disappointing.  

Dodgers will roll through the rest.  Giants are the one team not cowed by them. Maybe Astros can hang.  But they may have lost McCullers.

On umpires in general - I don’t remember zones being quite as “individual “ as today.  But of course we didn’t have the box and the ability to chart each pitch.  Also - how do they decide on the crews for playoffs?  Cause this was a bad one.  I say that not just based on the outcome. One member of this crew - Holberg scored above average this year as a plate ump.  And, of course,  that Angel Hernandez is on it tells me merit has nothing to do with it.  He’s been one of baseball’s worst for a long time now.

This one stings a bit.  But as I said, it was quite a year.  Now we will go into what will be a fascinating offseason.  Tons of decisions to make.  And unfortunately, labor issues. You can count on Manfred screwing up the latter. He’s incompetent. So I’m thinking a strike is imminent.

Go Dusty…..

Abject devotion to splits and analytics is no way to manage.  Sometimes you gotta go with what you're seeing.  And Wade, as great as his season was, had an awful hitting post-season.  Wilmer wasn't a lot better.  Both had lots of Ks.  Slater was 2-5 at the time and had made contact the first two ABs (though both grounders).  I don't know, my sense was Slater was a slightly better option than either of those guys (who both ended up striking out, though Wilmer was hosed).  But who knows, maybe Slater Ks, too.

I would add Longo failing to get runner in from 3B with one out in Game 2.  You never know how flavor of games change in single at-bats, and that could have been what the Giants needed in Game 2.  But again, the Giants were generally poor at getting runners home without a hit.

[DC 86]

Odds are about 82% Scherzer gets him anyway.  But be nice to let the players decide it.

That's a conservative estimate. Wilmer is 0-17 lifetime against Scherzer and he still has two strikes if the check swing is called correctly, but the point stands that it's sick for a crucial game to end on a bad call and not be decided by the players themselves.

[DC 86]

Odds are about 82% Scherzer gets him anyway.  But be nice to let the players decide it.

That's a conservative estimate. Wilmer is 0-17 lifetime against Scherzer and he still has two strikes if the check swing is called correctly, but the point stands that it's sick for a crucial game to end on a bad call and not be decided by the players themselves.

[teejers1]

Odds are about 82% Scherzer gets him anyway.  But be nice to let the players decide it.

That's a conservative estimate. Wilmer is 0-17 lifetime against Scherzer and he still has two strikes if the check swing is called correctly, but the point stands that it's sick for a crucial game to end on a bad call and not be decided by the players themselves.

Yikes!  Yet another reason to bat Wade for Wilmer (not Slater). But maybe Kap was worried about Slater hitting into DP and Wade not batting.  

Did I mention that it sucks that the season is over?

P.S.  Lex, you're right that it was a tremendous and enjoyable season for the G-men.  And Mick, I don't know if we'll see 109 v 109 anytime soon.  But I am pretty confident MLB will change the rules - either let Best Record pick playoff opponent or reinstitute rule precluding Division winner from playing WC in same division until league championship series.  (The home advantage going to better record, even if a WC team, doesn't move me that much, but it would be okay if that was implemented, too).

[teejers1]

Odds are about 82% Scherzer gets him anyway.  But be nice to let the players decide it.

That's a conservative estimate. Wilmer is 0-17 lifetime against Scherzer and he still has two strikes if the check swing is called correctly, but the point stands that it's sick for a crucial game to end on a bad call and not be decided by the players themselves.

Yikes!  Yet another reason to bat Wade for Wilmer (not Slater). But maybe Kap was worried about Slater hitting into DP and Wade not batting.  

Did I mention that it sucks that the season is over?

P.S.  Lex, you're right that it was a tremendous and enjoyable season for the G-men.  And Mick, I don't know if we'll see 109 v 109 anytime soon.  But I am pretty confident MLB will change the rules - either let Best Record pick playoff opponent or reinstitute rule precluding Division winner from playing WC in same division until league championship series.  (The home advantage going to better record, even if a WC team, doesn't move me that much, but it would be okay if that was implemented, too).

[terry]

Odds are about 82% Scherzer gets him anyway.  But be nice to let the players decide it.

That's a conservative estimate. Wilmer is 0-17 lifetime against Scherzer and he still has two strikes if the check swing is called correctly, but the point stands that it's sick for a crucial game to end on a bad call and not be decided by the players themselves.

Yes, good point. 

It was a bad call. 

But the Giants were in a deep hole before that pitch, with 2 outs, an 0-2 count, and Scherzer on the mound. If that pitch had been called a ball, the Giants still would have been in a deep hole, with 2 outs, a 1-2 count, facing Scherzer. Chances are slim that the bad call made any difference in the outcome.

[terry]

Odds are about 82% Scherzer gets him anyway.  But be nice to let the players decide it.

That's a conservative estimate. Wilmer is 0-17 lifetime against Scherzer and he still has two strikes if the check swing is called correctly, but the point stands that it's sick for a crucial game to end on a bad call and not be decided by the players themselves.

Yes, good point. 

It was a bad call. 

But the Giants were in a deep hole before that pitch, with 2 outs, an 0-2 count, and Scherzer on the mound. If that pitch had been called a ball, the Giants still would have been in a deep hole, with 2 outs, a 1-2 count, facing Scherzer. Chances are slim that the bad call made any difference in the outcome.

[lex24]

Odds are about 82% Scherzer gets him anyway.  But be nice to let the players decide it.

That's a conservative estimate. Wilmer is 0-17 lifetime against Scherzer and he still has two strikes if the check swing is called correctly, but the point stands that it's sick for a crucial game to end on a bad call and not be decided by the players themselves.

Yes, good point. 

It was a bad call. 

But the Giants were in a deep hole before that pitch, with 2 outs, an 0-2 count, and Scherzer on the mound. If that pitch had been called a ball, the Giants still would have been in a deep hole, with 2 outs, a 1-2 count, facing Scherzer. Chances are slim that the bad call made any difference in the outcome.

But the chances are somewhat higher that the Bryant AB in 4th in which Urias threw 5 straight balls, only to get 2 gifts made a difference.  2 on no one out in 4th - sure would have liked to see what that led to.

---

Count was 0-2. You can’t make that call. Flores probably wasn’t going to make contact but you can’t end the series on an obvious non swing.

I am now a devoted Braves/Red Sox/Astros fan.

And Dickerson needs to be released.

One of the many, many, many things I like about Kruk and Kuip versus...well, any national announcing crew is that they will replay and dissect checked swings.  TBS failed to do that all week.

The major leagues needs to eliminate their umpires.  They're a joke.  Also a joke is not re-seeding during the playoffs, and if a division winner has a worse record than a wild card team, well, you start on the road, buddy.

Loved the season, even loved the playoffs.  When will two 109-win teams ever meet again?

Well, I listened to post game, and in immediate aftermath, Kruk said the umpire made the correct call on the check swing.  It was only in the regular post-game format that he backtracked to questionable/dubious call.  I don't know how anyone - let alone a trained umpire - would call that a swing.  More fundamentally, you need more clarity on the check  swing rule.  IMO, you can't measure intent, so you should go with angle of bat over home plate.

The Giants' hitting abandoned them in the post season, and they were never any good at small ball.  Bad bad combo.  We'll never know, but it's hard not to think the Giants missed Belt more than the Dodgers missed Muncy.

Dodgers are a very good team (obviously), so no shame in losing to them in 5.  It just sucks that season is over.

P.S.  Was hoping Kapler would let Slater bat - he has real Kaboom in his bat - and bring in Wade, if he felt he needed to, in Wilmer's slot.

Slaters splits are enormous.  He can’t hit righthanders. Here are the three things that will haunt me a while from game 5

1. Bryant’s AB in 4th. On Tuesday when it was obvious there would be a game 5, Flemming said Eddings was going to be the home plate ump and that he had BY FAR the biggest strike zone in MLB. He said Eddings “will be a factor.”  Go Back to Bryant’s AB.  Crawford has singled.  Urias falls behind 2-0. Next pitch is about 4 inches off the plate.  Should be 3-0. Instead it’s called a strike.  2-1 pitch isn’t close 3-1. Then Urias throws an off speed pitch misses low.  By a few inches.  Strike 2.  As Miller said - that’s 5 and 0.  Would have liked to see first and second no outs with Slater, Flores and Longoria against Urias. Who at that point wasn’t particularly sharp.

2. The check swing.  First, it wasn’t close.  Second, I wonder the mind set of an Ump that decides on that check swing that he’s gonna be THE MAN.  And decide it.  He now is assured of a place in history.  I didn’t watch replays last night.  Turned it off immediately.  I wasn’t going to watch the celebration.  But I’ve seen it this morning.  Unreal.  Odds are about 82% Scherzer gets him anyway.  But be nice to let the players decide it.

3.  Bellinger gets the hit.  Can’t stand the guy.  Didn’t want it to be him.

In the end, you can’t win when you can’t hit.  Posey, Crawford and Bryant were the only guys that did much.  Longo and Ruf hit HR’s but we’re about 1-20 otherwise.  All year long it was the contributions across the board. Didn’t happen.  Unfair in a way, but to me Yaz was the most disappointing.  

Dodgers will roll through the rest.  Giants are the one team not cowed by them. Maybe Astros can hang.  But they may have lost McCullers.

On umpires in general - I don’t remember zones being quite as “individual “ as today.  But of course we didn’t have the box and the ability to chart each pitch.  Also - how do they decide on the crews for playoffs?  Cause this was a bad one.  I say that not just based on the outcome. One member of this crew - Holberg scored above average this year as a plate ump.  And, of course,  that Angel Hernandez is on it tells me merit has nothing to do with it.  He’s been one of baseball’s worst for a long time now.

This one stings a bit.  But as I said, it was quite a year.  Now we will go into what will be a fascinating offseason.  Tons of decisions to make.  And unfortunately, labor issues. You can count on Manfred screwing up the latter. He’s incompetent. So I’m thinking a strike is imminent.

Go Dusty…..

Abject devotion to splits and analytics is no way to manage.  Sometimes you gotta go with what you're seeing.  And Wade, as great as his season was, had an awful hitting post-season.  Wilmer wasn't a lot better.  Both had lots of Ks.  Slater was 2-5 at the time and had made contact the first two ABs (though both grounders).  I don't know, my sense was Slater was a slightly better option than either of those guys (who both ended up striking out, though Wilmer was hosed).  But who knows, maybe Slater Ks, too.

I would add Longo failing to get runner in from 3B with one out in Game 2.  You never know how flavor of games change in single at-bats, and that could have been what the Giants needed in Game 2.  But again, the Giants were generally poor at getting runners home without a hit.

I’m not an analytics guy. But please tell me the last time you saw Slater have a good AB vs a right hander.  Not to mention one of Scherzer’s caliber.  No way I let him hit in that situation with Wade available.  Hell, that was the situation Kapler wanted for Wade.  He’d been THE guy late.

[lex24]

Odds are about 82% Scherzer gets him anyway.  But be nice to let the players decide it.

That's a conservative estimate. Wilmer is 0-17 lifetime against Scherzer and he still has two strikes if the check swing is called correctly, but the point stands that it's sick for a crucial game to end on a bad call and not be decided by the players themselves.

Yes, good point. 

It was a bad call. 

But the Giants were in a deep hole before that pitch, with 2 outs, an 0-2 count, and Scherzer on the mound. If that pitch had been called a ball, the Giants still would have been in a deep hole, with 2 outs, a 1-2 count, facing Scherzer. Chances are slim that the bad call made any difference in the outcome.

But the chances are somewhat higher that the Bryant AB in 4th in which Urias threw 5 straight balls, only to get 2 gifts made a difference.  2 on no one out in 4th - sure would have liked to see what that led to.

---

Count was 0-2. You can’t make that call. Flores probably wasn’t going to make contact but you can’t end the series on an obvious non swing.

I am now a devoted Braves/Red Sox/Astros fan.

And Dickerson needs to be released.

One of the many, many, many things I like about Kruk and Kuip versus...well, any national announcing crew is that they will replay and dissect checked swings.  TBS failed to do that all week.

The major leagues needs to eliminate their umpires.  They're a joke.  Also a joke is not re-seeding during the playoffs, and if a division winner has a worse record than a wild card team, well, you start on the road, buddy.

Loved the season, even loved the playoffs.  When will two 109-win teams ever meet again?

Well, I listened to post game, and in immediate aftermath, Kruk said the umpire made the correct call on the check swing.  It was only in the regular post-game format that he backtracked to questionable/dubious call.  I don't know how anyone - let alone a trained umpire - would call that a swing.  More fundamentally, you need more clarity on the check  swing rule.  IMO, you can't measure intent, so you should go with angle of bat over home plate.

The Giants' hitting abandoned them in the post season, and they were never any good at small ball.  Bad bad combo.  We'll never know, but it's hard not to think the Giants missed Belt more than the Dodgers missed Muncy.

Dodgers are a very good team (obviously), so no shame in losing to them in 5.  It just sucks that season is over.

P.S.  Was hoping Kapler would let Slater bat - he has real Kaboom in his bat - and bring in Wade, if he felt he needed to, in Wilmer's slot.

Slaters splits are enormous.  He can’t hit righthanders. Here are the three things that will haunt me a while from game 5

1. Bryant’s AB in 4th. On Tuesday when it was obvious there would be a game 5, Flemming said Eddings was going to be the home plate ump and that he had BY FAR the biggest strike zone in MLB. He said Eddings “will be a factor.”  Go Back to Bryant’s AB.  Crawford has singled.  Urias falls behind 2-0. Next pitch is about 4 inches off the plate.  Should be 3-0. Instead it’s called a strike.  2-1 pitch isn’t close 3-1. Then Urias throws an off speed pitch misses low.  By a few inches.  Strike 2.  As Miller said - that’s 5 and 0.  Would have liked to see first and second no outs with Slater, Flores and Longoria against Urias. Who at that point wasn’t particularly sharp.

2. The check swing.  First, it wasn’t close.  Second, I wonder the mind set of an Ump that decides on that check swing that he’s gonna be THE MAN.  And decide it.  He now is assured of a place in history.  I didn’t watch replays last night.  Turned it off immediately.  I wasn’t going to watch the celebration.  But I’ve seen it this morning.  Unreal.  Odds are about 82% Scherzer gets him anyway.  But be nice to let the players decide it.

3.  Bellinger gets the hit.  Can’t stand the guy.  Didn’t want it to be him.

In the end, you can’t win when you can’t hit.  Posey, Crawford and Bryant were the only guys that did much.  Longo and Ruf hit HR’s but we’re about 1-20 otherwise.  All year long it was the contributions across the board. Didn’t happen.  Unfair in a way, but to me Yaz was the most disappointing.  

Dodgers will roll through the rest.  Giants are the one team not cowed by them. Maybe Astros can hang.  But they may have lost McCullers.

On umpires in general - I don’t remember zones being quite as “individual “ as today.  But of course we didn’t have the box and the ability to chart each pitch.  Also - how do they decide on the crews for playoffs?  Cause this was a bad one.  I say that not just based on the outcome. One member of this crew - Holberg scored above average this year as a plate ump.  And, of course,  that Angel Hernandez is on it tells me merit has nothing to do with it.  He’s been one of baseball’s worst for a long time now.

This one stings a bit.  But as I said, it was quite a year.  Now we will go into what will be a fascinating offseason.  Tons of decisions to make.  And unfortunately, labor issues. You can count on Manfred screwing up the latter. He’s incompetent. So I’m thinking a strike is imminent.

Go Dusty…..

Abject devotion to splits and analytics is no way to manage.  Sometimes you gotta go with what you're seeing.  And Wade, as great as his season was, had an awful hitting post-season.  Wilmer wasn't a lot better.  Both had lots of Ks.  Slater was 2-5 at the time and had made contact the first two ABs (though both grounders).  I don't know, my sense was Slater was a slightly better option than either of those guys (who both ended up striking out, though Wilmer was hosed).  But who knows, maybe Slater Ks, too.

I would add Longo failing to get runner in from 3B with one out in Game 2.  You never know how flavor of games change in single at-bats, and that could have been what the Giants needed in Game 2.  But again, the Giants were generally poor at getting runners home without a hit.

I’m not an analytics guy. But please tell me the last time you saw Slater have a good AB vs a right hander.  Not to mention one of Scherzer’s caliber.  No way I let him hit in that situation with Wade available.  Hell, that was the situation Kapler wanted for Wade.  He’d been THE guy late.

[Mick]

I’m not an analytics guy. But please tell me the last time you saw Slater have a good AB vs a right hander.  Not to mention one of Scherzer’s caliber.  No way I let him hit in that situation with Wade available.  Hell, that was the situation Kapler wanted for Wade.  He’d been THE guy late.

I'd modify the assessment on Slater's inability to hit righties to right handed relievers.  Slater hits RH starters .247/.337/.384/.720 and left handed starters .258/.339/.416/.755 for his career, albeit slightly worse in 2021.  He can't hit right handed relievers AT ALL.  But he hit .394 vs. the Dodgers this year, best against any opponent except the Diamondbacks.

He's a perfect pinch hitter against left handed relievers. As a starter this season, Slater was .226/.294/.364/.658.  As a sub, he was .278/.380/.570/.950.

Slater  got tired in past seasons, but in Sept/Oct of this year, his hitting was torrid .400/.438/.767/1.204.

---

I don't want to offer a whole lot of advice to a team that won 109 games.  Generally speaking, I'd get rid of Casali, Tauchman, Vosler, Tromp, Davis, DeSclefani, Cueto, Long, Wisler, Jackson, menez< Sherfy, Quintana, Chatwood, Santos, Beebe, Selman, Brebbia, Peralta, Yastrzemski and Dickerson.  I'd keep the rest, and not renew Longoria after his contract runs out.

---

I don't want to offer a whole lot of advice to a team that won 109 games.  Generally speaking, I'd get rid of Casali, Tauchman, Vosler, Tromp, Davis, DeSclefani, Cueto, Long, Wisler, Jackson, menez< Sherfy, Quintana, Chatwood, Santos, Beebe, Selman, Brebbia, Peralta, Yastrzemski and Dickerson.  I'd keep the rest, and not renew Longoria after his contract runs out.

[Mick]

I’m not an analytics guy. But please tell me the last time you saw Slater have a good AB vs a right hander.  Not to mention one of Scherzer’s caliber.  No way I let him hit in that situation with Wade available.  Hell, that was the situation Kapler wanted for Wade.  He’d been THE guy late.

I'd modify the assessment on Slater's inability to hit righties to right handed relievers.  Slater hits RH starters .247/.337/.384/.720 and left handed starters .258/.339/.416/.755 for his career, albeit slightly worse in 2021.  He can't hit right handed relievers AT ALL.  But he hit .394 vs. the Dodgers this year, best against any opponent except the Diamondbacks.

He's a perfect pinch hitter against left handed relievers. As a starter this season, Slater was .226/.294/.364/.658.  As a sub, he was .278/.380/.570/.950.

Slater  got tired in past seasons, but in Sept/Oct of this year, his hitting was torrid .400/.438/.767/1.204.

---

I don't want to offer a whole lot of advice to a team that won 109 games.  Generally speaking, I'd get rid of Casali, Tauchman, Vosler, Tromp, Davis, DeSclefani, Cueto, Long, Wisler, Jackson, menez< Sherfy, Quintana, Chatwood, Santos, Beebe, Selman, Brebbia, Peralta, Yastrzemski and Dickerson.  I'd keep the rest, and not renew Longoria after his contract runs out.

---

I don't want to offer a whole lot of advice to a team that won 109 games.  Generally speaking, I'd get rid of Casali, Tauchman, Vosler, Tromp, Davis, DeSclefani, Cueto, Long, Wisler, Jackson, menez< Sherfy, Quintana, Chatwood, Santos, Beebe, Selman, Brebbia, Peralta, Yastrzemski and Dickerson.  I'd keep the rest, and not renew Longoria after his contract runs out.

[lex24]

I’m not an analytics guy. But please tell me the last time you saw Slater have a good AB vs a right hander.  Not to mention one of Scherzer’s caliber.  No way I let him hit in that situation with Wade available.  Hell, that was the situation Kapler wanted for Wade.  He’d been THE guy late.

I'd modify the assessment on Slater's inability to hit righties to right handed relievers.  Slater hits RH starters .247/.337/.384/.720 and left handed starters .258/.339/.416/.755 for his career, albeit slightly worse in 2021.  He can't hit right handed relievers AT ALL.  But he hit .394 vs. the Dodgers this year, best against any opponent except the Diamondbacks.

He's a perfect pinch hitter against left handed relievers. As a starter this season, Slater was .226/.294/.364/.658.  As a sub, he was .278/.380/.570/.950.

Slater  got tired in past seasons, but in Sept/Oct of this year, his hitting was torrid .400/.438/.767/1.204.

---

I don't want to offer a whole lot of advice to a team that won 109 games.  Generally speaking, I'd get rid of Casali, Tauchman, Vosler, Tromp, Davis, DeSclefani, Cueto, Long, Wisler, Jackson, menez< Sherfy, Quintana, Chatwood, Santos, Beebe, Selman, Brebbia, Peralta, Yastrzemski and Dickerson.  I'd keep the rest, and not renew Longoria after his contract runs out.

---

I don't want to offer a whole lot of advice to a team that won 109 games.  Generally speaking, I'd get rid of Casali, Tauchman, Vosler, Tromp, Davis, DeSclefani, Cueto, Long, Wisler, Jackson, menez< Sherfy, Quintana, Chatwood, Santos, Beebe, Selman, Brebbia, Peralta, Yastrzemski and Dickerson.  I'd keep the rest, and not renew Longoria after his contract runs out.

Tromp Wisler Sherfy Quintana Peralta and I believe Selman are already gone. 

Long has the potential to be a back end starter. Jackson Menez can be signed to minor league contracts. Yaz is under team control. Won’t be expensive. No way I let him go.  Let’s see if he can make some adjustments.  Beede is not going anywhere. He’s another guy they can keep cheap.  He will get a chance in spring. If he still has no command, they can release him.  

Casali a very valuable backup.  Especially if they trade Bart. Which I believe is a distinct possibility.

Bigger issue is what will they do with Buster, Belt, Gausman, Bryant and to a lesser extent, Wood and /or DeSclafani. I’m sure they will try hard to restructure Buster. Belt may be more difficult.

On the FA market, please get Starlin Marte.  I’d take him over Bryant.  I think he’s a better cost-benefit pick. He’d will not get as many years, nor as much per year. If they can get both, better still.

I’d also like to see them go hard after Seeger. He can play second base or outfield.  He’s a good athlete.

[lex24]

I’m not an analytics guy. But please tell me the last time you saw Slater have a good AB vs a right hander.  Not to mention one of Scherzer’s caliber.  No way I let him hit in that situation with Wade available.  Hell, that was the situation Kapler wanted for Wade.  He’d been THE guy late.

I'd modify the assessment on Slater's inability to hit righties to right handed relievers.  Slater hits RH starters .247/.337/.384/.720 and left handed starters .258/.339/.416/.755 for his career, albeit slightly worse in 2021.  He can't hit right handed relievers AT ALL.  But he hit .394 vs. the Dodgers this year, best against any opponent except the Diamondbacks.

He's a perfect pinch hitter against left handed relievers. As a starter this season, Slater was .226/.294/.364/.658.  As a sub, he was .278/.380/.570/.950.

Slater  got tired in past seasons, but in Sept/Oct of this year, his hitting was torrid .400/.438/.767/1.204.

---

I don't want to offer a whole lot of advice to a team that won 109 games.  Generally speaking, I'd get rid of Casali, Tauchman, Vosler, Tromp, Davis, DeSclefani, Cueto, Long, Wisler, Jackson, menez< Sherfy, Quintana, Chatwood, Santos, Beebe, Selman, Brebbia, Peralta, Yastrzemski and Dickerson.  I'd keep the rest, and not renew Longoria after his contract runs out.

---

I don't want to offer a whole lot of advice to a team that won 109 games.  Generally speaking, I'd get rid of Casali, Tauchman, Vosler, Tromp, Davis, DeSclefani, Cueto, Long, Wisler, Jackson, menez< Sherfy, Quintana, Chatwood, Santos, Beebe, Selman, Brebbia, Peralta, Yastrzemski and Dickerson.  I'd keep the rest, and not renew Longoria after his contract runs out.

Tromp Wisler Sherfy Quintana Peralta and I believe Selman are already gone. 

Long has the potential to be a back end starter. Jackson Menez can be signed to minor league contracts. Yaz is under team control. Won’t be expensive. No way I let him go.  Let’s see if he can make some adjustments.  Beede is not going anywhere. He’s another guy they can keep cheap.  He will get a chance in spring. If he still has no command, they can release him.  

Casali a very valuable backup.  Especially if they trade Bart. Which I believe is a distinct possibility.

Bigger issue is what will they do with Buster, Belt, Gausman, Bryant and to a lesser extent, Wood and /or DeSclafani. I’m sure they will try hard to restructure Buster. Belt may be more difficult.

On the FA market, please get Starlin Marte.  I’d take him over Bryant.  I think he’s a better cost-benefit pick. He’d will not get as many years, nor as much per year. If they can get both, better still.

I’d also like to see them go hard after Seeger. He can play second base or outfield.  He’s a good athlete.

[BostonCard]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/chrislhayes/status/1450664591533477891?s=20[/tweet]

I like the hashtag of #freepeterose.

BC

[BostonCard]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/chrislhayes/status/1450664591533477891?s=20[/tweet]

I like the hashtag of #freepeterose.

BC

[qwerty49]

ATL had the Dodgers on the ropes until they gave up 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th to lose 6-5. 

Bellinger with the big hit, a 3-run HR but his excitement rounding first was the type that in the old days would have invited a brushback pitch the next time up. I wonder if the umps look out for those types of things these days.

[qwerty49]

ATL had the Dodgers on the ropes until they gave up 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th to lose 6-5. 

Bellinger with the big hit, a 3-run HR but his excitement rounding first was the type that in the old days would have invited a brushback pitch the next time up. I wonder if the umps look out for those types of things these days.

[Phogge]

Bryant, Seeger and Marte will cost a bundle. I’d go after Chris Taylor. Can play the outfield, second base and probably first. Clutch. The Dodgers realize how valuable he is so will probably throw lots of cash at him. May come down to how much they will pay The Schnozz.

[Phogge]

Bryant, Seeger and Marte will cost a bundle. I’d go after Chris Taylor. Can play the outfield, second base and probably first. Clutch. The Dodgers realize how valuable he is so will probably throw lots of cash at him. May come down to how much they will pay The Schnozz.

[lex24]

Bryant, Seeger and Marte will cost a bundle. I’d go after Chris Taylor. Can play the outfield, second base and probably first. Clutch. The Dodgers realize how valuable he is so will probably throw lots of cash at him. May come down to how much they will pay The Schnozz.

Giants have a ton of money to spend. Taylor is a nice complimentary piece.  But not at the level of a Bryant, Seager or Marte. And, I wonder how much his bat will play without all those stars hitting around him.  

What’s the payroll going to be. Zaidi is smart. That’s great. Friedman is smart with at unlimited budget. That’s better. I don’t want to hear that the Giants don’t get X cause they don’t want their payroll to exceed Y.  You want to compete consistently with the Dodgers (in a division with the free spending Pads) you better open the vault.  Giants were around $160,000,000 this year.  They should be well over $200,000,000 next year. They have the resources.  And if they talk about “losing money” that’s simply bull.  The worth of the Franchise is over 3 Billion (3.17) (According to Forbes, 5th most valuable in baseball behind Yankees (over 5 billion) Dodgers (3.57) Red Sox (3.46) Cubs (3.36). Next after Giants is Mets at 2.4.) 

Giants ownership group paid $100,000,000 in ‘93. Plus the Stadiun cost of around $350,000,000.So, not a bad return on the investment. 

So, I simply don’t want to hear that moves aren’t made due to budget constraints.  That doesn’t mean you sign people to bad long term contracts.  We’ve seen that.  Bryant is supposedly going to get somewhere in $25 a year range for about 6.  I wouldn’t pay that.

 Marte will be a shorter contract (3-4  I suspect) for probably around 20 a year.  He’s a terrific outfielder. He hit around .320 with a high OBP and doubles power. Plus he stole 47 bases in 50 attempts.  The Giants are slow.  Injecting speed with a high OBP guy is, IMO, a very good play. Plus an everyday CF is a good thing.

Seager will cost a bundle. But he’s 27.  So I’d be much more willing to go 6 years or so at about 25-30.  If that’s the market. He may not be obtainable if he insists on playing SS.

[lex24]

Bryant, Seeger and Marte will cost a bundle. I’d go after Chris Taylor. Can play the outfield, second base and probably first. Clutch. The Dodgers realize how valuable he is so will probably throw lots of cash at him. May come down to how much they will pay The Schnozz.

Giants have a ton of money to spend. Taylor is a nice complimentary piece.  But not at the level of a Bryant, Seager or Marte. And, I wonder how much his bat will play without all those stars hitting around him.  

What’s the payroll going to be. Zaidi is smart. That’s great. Friedman is smart with at unlimited budget. That’s better. I don’t want to hear that the Giants don’t get X cause they don’t want their payroll to exceed Y.  You want to compete consistently with the Dodgers (in a division with the free spending Pads) you better open the vault.  Giants were around $160,000,000 this year.  They should be well over $200,000,000 next year. They have the resources.  And if they talk about “losing money” that’s simply bull.  The worth of the Franchise is over 3 Billion (3.17) (According to Forbes, 5th most valuable in baseball behind Yankees (over 5 billion) Dodgers (3.57) Red Sox (3.46) Cubs (3.36). Next after Giants is Mets at 2.4.) 

Giants ownership group paid $100,000,000 in ‘93. Plus the Stadiun cost of around $350,000,000.So, not a bad return on the investment. 

So, I simply don’t want to hear that moves aren’t made due to budget constraints.  That doesn’t mean you sign people to bad long term contracts.  We’ve seen that.  Bryant is supposedly going to get somewhere in $25 a year range for about 6.  I wouldn’t pay that.

 Marte will be a shorter contract (3-4  I suspect) for probably around 20 a year.  He’s a terrific outfielder. He hit around .320 with a high OBP and doubles power. Plus he stole 47 bases in 50 attempts.  The Giants are slow.  Injecting speed with a high OBP guy is, IMO, a very good play. Plus an everyday CF is a good thing.

Seager will cost a bundle. But he’s 27.  So I’d be much more willing to go 6 years or so at about 25-30.  If that’s the market. He may not be obtainable if he insists on playing SS.