All in a Day's Work.

So I sat down today with the intention of writing something about how Rich Hill really ought to have Brian Bannister on his Christmas card list.

And then it turned out that Dave Dombrowski had gone and traded for Tyler Thornburg. In general, trading for relievers makes me nervous. Given his history of doing a really really bad job building a bullpen, Dave Dombrowski trading for a reliever is terrifying. So I did a little putter around the Internet looking for reassurance? something good to say? And Thornburg was very good last year and while it was the NL Central, (as was pointed out) there's a difference between being very good in the NL Central while playing for, say, the Cubs and playing for the Brewers.

I like Travis Shaw. He seems like a good guy. I hope that he can find his first half success in Milwaukee.

Pretty sure, though, that we can pencil Thornburg in for his lower arm to separate from his body by mid-June. That's just the way things work.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Dombrowski goes and trades Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech, et al for Chris Sale. Chris. Sale. Chris Sale improves the rotation. Chris Sale improves the team. Chris Sale is, possibly, a spoiled brat. Chris Sale is an injury waiting to happen.

Moncada is a huge ball of potential and if he learns to hit a breaking ball, the kid could be serious news. He's a big loss. But I suppose having a farm system is not something that one values, if one hires Dave Dombrowski.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Dombrowski has gone and signed Mitch Moreland. Meh. Whatever.

Feeling Philosophical.

A baseball game can be an amusing, albeit expensive, afternoon of entertainment. There are good guys and there are bad guys and if the good guys don't win? Well, it's a shame.

If, however, we agree to engage with the game on a deeper level, the drama of a baseball game or a baseball season can show us who we are. It can reflect back to us what we value (and what we're willing is discard) in a way, perhaps, that might not be readily apparent in our hectic daily lives. In the way of all good drama, it can force us to examine ourselves and why we feel the way we do. If we can take those lessons that we've learned from the game, we can apply them to the wider world.

And so today, of all days, we attempt to embrace Lou Groman's philosophy: "The sun will rise. The sun will set. And I'll eat lunch."  

Ya Betts Believe.

Well done to Mookie Betts, who has won the gold glove for right field. He's really a fun player to watch. Here's hoping he can be here for a long time.

Missing Baseball.

I have no idea what this show is or what it's about but David Price will be a character on a show called Uncle Grandpa on the Cartoon Network on October 22. I love that they made Jose Altuve so tiny.

David Deserved Better.

There are things to talk about: things worth remembering and things worth forgetting, things to celebrate and things to tear your hair out over, things to fill you with joy and things to break your heart.

But right now I'm sad. And right now I feel like being sad.

And anyway, as much as I can't stand Maddon and think Theo is a jerk, it's the Cubs' year. It's inevitable.

Sorry David.

It may be time to consider re-calibrating our expectations for this series. David Price was supposed to be able to suck because Rick wasn't supposed to suck. But Rick did suck and so this team is probably looking at an early exit.

Win Tonight.

October. The time of year I try to figure out where the heck TBS is on the dial.

I honestly don't recall what I thought during Spring Training about how this team was going to turn out. But they've played well and they've had fun and one can hope that they'll continue to do so deep into the playoffs.

And if you don't want to win it for fun and you don't want to win it for David, win it for moral superiority. Andrew Miller is a jackass. Don't let Andrew Miller win. And while Cleveland has experienced a renaissance, the baseball team in this, supposedly, modern city continues to let a racist moron beat his tom tom during the game. Don't let racist morons win.

Play ball.

Cheers.

Mr. Kimbrel is currently melting into a puddle of goo on the mound but it doesn't really matter, the Boston Red Sox have won the AL East. Who would have guessed that in the spring? Not me.

Here's a Thought.

New York does you a solid and you go and turn your nose up at it like, "We don't want to win the division and you can't make us. In fact, we can lose all by ourselves. Just watch."

Maybe you should bring the Oakland A's on tour with you, like your own Washington Generals. (Though not the ones from last night or the A's that are playing today.) You could go to all the cities your supposed to go to but instead of playing poorly against the home team, just sneak the A's into their uniforms.

Stupid Baseball.

I won't call it nostalgia but there's a certain sweetness (innocence, maybe) to National League baseball. "Awww. He's a pitcher and he's got a bad in his hand. Isn't that cute?"

But then your team needs a hit and the pitcher is coming up to bat and it's not so cute anymore.

Dumb people will claim that that's where strategy comes into the game. Hey, dumb people! What strategy? Will it be the exciting question of, Will he bunt? Yes, yes he will and in all likelihood, it will not help. Will they pinch hit? Oooh. Thrilling. There's no mystery there.

And then you've got the lovely phenomenon of pitchers switching leagues from the AL to the NL and having their career revived, as in the case of one Mr. Jake Peavy. (He can insist that it wasn't switching back to the NL that fixed him but it doesn't make it true.) Or our very own Mr. Pomeranz, who is a serviceable, maybe even a very good pitcher in the NL, but not so good when he has to face actual hitters.

Or it could just be that this team isn't very good. They are being shut out by Edwin Jackson.

Tough Luck Eddie.

Yes, this particular version of the Oakland Athletics are not world beaters (and that should be taken into account) but it's still a shame because Eduardo was pitching so well. It's too bad his offense decided to take the afternoon off. And then, of course, there's dear old Craig.

Not that you can really complain all that much.

It's Different Than It Was.

"Ever meet a fella by the name of Hill?"
"Hill?"
"Hill?"
"Hill?"
"Hill?"
"Hill?"
"Hill?"
"Hill?"
"No!"
"Just a minute, just a minute, just a minute!"
"Never heard of any salesman Hill"
(Because he's an infielder)
"Now he doesn't know the territory"
(He used to play for Toronto) 
"What's the fella's line?"
(.283/.359/.380)
"Never worries 'bout his line."
"Never worries 'bout his line?"
"Or a doggone thing. He's just a bang-beat, bell-ringing, big-haul, great-go, neck-or-nothin', rip-roarin', every-time-a-bull's-eye ballplayer. That's Professor Aaron Hill. Aaron Hill."

That last part probably makes it seem like I'm much more excited about Aaron Hill than I actually am but he does seem like a nice complementary piece for this club.

Need a pitcher or eleven, though.

Second Time Was a Blast.

If a pitcher is fundamentally unable to pitch in adverse weather conditions, can he still be a major league starter? Do you skip his turn if the weather might be bad and run the risk of messing up the rest of your rotation? Do you have a second starter/long man on notice as insurance?

Even though I sort of expected John Farrell to be fired yesterday, I don't think that you can hold the decision to leave Wright in against him. Yeah, a poor outcome was almost guaranteed but, given the make up of the rest of this team, what was he going to do? He was going to pull him? For whom? This is a flawed team. Steven Wright is your only decent starter and, depending on the day of the week, maybe the only decent pitcher on the staff. Steven Wright in the rain is terrible but you know what else is terrible? Trying to get four innings from this bullpen without them giving up six runs.

I think that you have to stick with Wright. Neither situation is likely to have a positive outcome but trying to get more out of Wright at least, theoretically, results in the least amount of chaos.

Wow.

I'm stunned.

There is something important to say though:
(I do apologize for the appearance of John Travolta)

A Hundred Million Miracles.

Hold the phone! You're allowed to get a hit before the sixth or seventh inning? Why did no one tell them that a couple of days ago?

Never Mind.

Chris Young! Your turn at bat, sir!

Rain on My Parade.

Whatever jerks. C'mon rain!

Everyone's Pretty Cheap in Kansas City.

(From David's Twitter)

I may have mentioned how much I hate the idea of a retirement tour and apparently, I'm not alone because here comes cheap-o David Glass with ta-dah! an aluminum folding chair.

It's like some PR person said, 'Oh crap! That was today? Give him one of those, we've got lots of them. But tell him not to sit on it because it's got a wonky leg and nobody else wanted it.' 

Never change, KC.

A Thought on Craig Kimbrel.

The man looks like a gnome. And that's all I'll say about that.

Also, good for Heath Hembree.

A Disappointing Outcome.

Way to ruin the evening gentlemen.

In the first six games of this season, they've never really been out of it and that's all well and good but I've got to think that playing for this team is exhausting. Struggling to make up ground, game after game, inning after inning, seems like it would wear you out. It wears me out and I'm only watching.

The offense is clicking and Hanley has played a mean first base but the pitching has turned out to be woeful. When Steven Wright, no offense to Steven Wright, is the best starter on your team, you've done an extremely poor of filling out your roster.

Tomorrow is Clay. Joy.

A Companion Piece.

Since I wouldn't want the world to think that I had gone off this team, here are the things that I do like:

1. David Price. He was absolutely an ass when he was in Tampa but in the interest of moving forward, we forgive and forget. Now he hasn't pitched that awesomely but that was to be expected and he doesn't seem like that bad of a guy.

2. Mssrs. Betts and Bradley, Jr. They are great fun to watch.

3. Hanley. It might just be because it's spring training and the grind hasn't gotten to him yet but he appears to have taken to first base. He's gone back to hitting like he's supposed to and I think that I spot joie de vivre.

4. David. I love David and I want him to be happy. If being tacky makes him happy, then I'll just deal.
  

Harumph.

Spring training is almost over and I've got to say that I haven't felt particularly inspired by this team. So I figure, I'll dump my complaints here in the hopes of being able to move on.

1. This David Ortiz retirement tour is going to annoy me. It's so tacky. Hasn't David been accused by certain people in the past of thinking that he is 'bigger than the game'? Shouldn't these individuals be deeply offended by the idea of a I'm-David-Ortiz-look-at-me parade? And what about poor San Diego? They haven't played at Petco in almost ten years, do the Padres have to pretend that David means anything to them and does David have to pretend that the Padres mean anything to him? And how much bric-a-brac does one man need? I'm embarrassed for him, even if he doesn't have the good sense to be embarrassed for himself.

2. Angry Dustin Pedroia isn't doing it for me. I used to love the kid but either I've moved on (Mookie Betts is both quippier and so much prettier) or bitter isn't a good look for him. Today he told Rob Bradford: "It's hard around here because people's expectations are results based" as if that's different from almost any other profession out there or even remotely true. You're a coder who's code is consistently buggy, that'll get you fired. You're a doctor who kills nine out of ten patients, that'll get you fired. You're an accountant who gets caught misstating expenses, that'll get you fired. You're a fast food worker who enters customers orders wrong, that'll get you fired. You're a journo and you dig up a big story but then it turns out that it was all lies, that'll get you fi-- wait...no...that one'll get you hired at 'EEI. Major league baseball player, sports writer, and meteorologist, pretty much the only professions where the results from how you do your job don't actually matter.

I feel better.

Owing to the Agency of Some Ill-Natured Fairy.

There will be baseball on television today. Not real baseball but if you squint it kind of looks like baseball. It'll have to do, though. Also, it's bizarre to see Dave O'Brien.

Of Great Social and Political Import.

There's a story in the New York Times about a custom car dealership in Miami wherein baseball players buy and improve expensive vehicles. It's not, I don't think, very interesting. But there's a picture of Pablo and maybe it's just because he's slouching in his seat next to an emaciated car salesman but he does look thinner.

Old News.

Dustin Pedroia is old. Nine seasons of enthusiastically throwing himself on the ground to stop a baseball has taken a toll on his body. He's lost his power. He's lost a step. He's just not as capable anymore. Realistically, it's time to start thinking about transitioning him to a lesser role, something easier and gentler on his body.

Nuh-Uh, says Pedroia.  (I think. Trying to parse what he says is very difficult.)

He doesn't understand defensive metrics so he has no use for them. Now, defense is difficult to quantify and, therefore, difficult to measure but refusing to even consider them is stupid. It doesn't matter anyway because he is training to be an athlete--or at least as much of an athlete as a baseball player can be--this year. (NOTE: Baseball players are not athletes. Swimmers are athletes. Gymnasts are athletes. Runners are athletes. Hell, Dancers are athletes. Baseball players are players.) I am amused that he's practicing getting up, it sounds like such an old man thing to do.

Regardless, you can go sit in the corner and grump about the good old days because the rest of us have moved on. There's a new amusing young thing in town, goes by Betts. He's delicious.

Strike.

I don't really know all that much about bowling but I do know that Mookie Betts, despite his apparent desire to have fun by killing a moose, is adorable. And the kid has chutzpah, saying about David Price:

"He could be really good with some time. I hope he'll bowl with us, but pitchers usually play golf on their off days."

 And he hangs out with Jackie Bradley Jr. who also seems like a well-grounded, super individual. The kid is something else.

Happy New Year!

The 2015 season started off with a lot of pizzazz for the Boston Red Sox only to fizzle into another last place finish. While I'm finding it difficult to muster up enthusiasm for the 2016 season, we can certainly hope for healthier, more productive season, leading to a happier ending.