Trey Ball: Finally Some Reason for Optimism?

simplicio

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Apr 11, 2012
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He was a tall high school lefty with huge potential. He was never billed as a sure thing; it was an upside move.

(it was the 7th pick)
 

ponch73

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He was a tall high school lefty with huge potential. He was never billed as a sure thing; it was an upside move.

(it was the 7th pick)
Cherington seemed to have lots of upside moves post 2012 that were the exact opposite -- drafting Ball, trading a cost-controlled Lackey for Craig & Kelly, signing Panda, signing Hanley, signing Rusney Castillo, trading for Porcello and then giving him a huge contract early in the season, signing Masterson, etc.

No wonder the Mets are kicking the tires on him!
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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Mar 26, 2005
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Cherington seemed to have lots of upside moves post 2012 that were the exact opposite -- drafting Ball, trading a cost-controlled Lackey for Craig & Kelly, signing Panda, signing Hanley, signing Rusney Castillo, trading for Porcello and then giving him a huge contract early in the season, signing Masterson, etc.

No wonder the Mets are kicking the tires on him!
A very smart man with a lot of information at his disposal and the opinion of other smart people decided on a course of moves.

In 2013 - every one of them hit and his team won a World Series.

After 2013 - almost every one of them missed and he was fired.

What a life this is!???
 

soxhop411

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Dec 4, 2009
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He drove in the game winning RBI (RBI double) in his first professional AB. (
 

PaulinMyrBch

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MYRTLE BEACH!!!!
He pitched yesterday, DH’d today. Sending him anywhere to get a look at a few AB’s makes no sense. If this is the beginning of a real conversion, then I expect he’ll head to a winter league or AFL or something.
 

Savin Hillbilly

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Jul 10, 2007
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The wrong side of the bridge....
Cherington seemed to have lots of upside moves post 2012 that were the exact opposite -- drafting Ball, trading a cost-controlled Lackey for Craig & Kelly, signing Panda, signing Hanley, signing Rusney Castillo, trading for Porcello and then giving him a huge contract early in the season, signing Masterson, etc.
A "huge" contract (actually a pretty middling one) that has proved a good one so far. In fact, using Fangraphs' WAR and $/WAR numbers, Porcello is going to come remarkably close to earning all four years' worth of salary in the first three (total $82.5M; current earnings $77.2M). Even using BBref's less flattering WAR formula, he's keeping pace nicely: $62M worth of performance so far vs. $61.4M in salary.

I mean, it wasn't a steal, but it's certainly not the "opposite" of an upside move. It was a solid, conservative investment that has paid off as such.
 

joe dokes

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Jul 18, 2005
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A "huge" contract (actually a pretty middling one) that has proved a good one so far. In fact, using Fangraphs' WAR and $/WAR numbers, Porcello is going to come remarkably close to earning all four years' worth of salary in the first three (total $82.5M; current earnings $77.2M). Even using BBref's less flattering WAR formula, he's keeping pace nicely: $62M worth of performance so far vs. $61.4M in salary.

I mean, it wasn't a steal, but it's certainly not the "opposite" of an upside move. It was a solid, conservative investment that has paid off as such.

I think there's often a prevailing viewpoint that unless a player plays for free and has a hall of fame-type season every year, the contract is a bad one. Same with trades.
 

RoDaddy

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Looks like a reality check for Ball today, striking out 4 times during an 0-5. Nonetheless, the long overdue conversion to position (or DH) player seems to be officially underway
 

Plympton91

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Oct 19, 2008
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The Eric Van insurance policy kicks in.

Hopefully, someday.Ball can be as good at baseball as Tim Tebow or Michael Jordan.