1914 replies to this topic

[ifmanis5]

The Sunday Notes appear to be subscription only now.

As is Shank. Blessing in disguise at this point.

[pedros hairstylist]

They'll finally see there's no audience for these clowns and perhaps hasten their retirements.

[puffyme]

The Sunday Notes appear to be subscription only now.

Sad I have read them since Gammons started them back when I was a kid. There is zero chance I will pay for them. At least the NY Times let you read 10 articles a month for free. Oh well death of another tradition.

[Brianish]

Not to put too fine a point on it, but these asshats are probably my least favorite thing about this whole situation. If they didn't exist, and the Sox just sucked without me having to hear self-important columnists and tv personalities go on about it? I'd get annoyed, then shrug and enjoy low-stakes baseball with pretty decent ticket prices. (Seriously, check out Stubhub; the last six months have destroyed the secondary market). As it is, I have to see articles from CHB and Abraham doomsaying, Cafardo's smug self-satisfaction, hear talk radio hosts ranting, and Yankee reporters gloating. The longer I follow baseball, the more I wonder why they can't just let us enjoy our game.

Edited by Brianish, 22 April 2012 - 05:41 PM.

[joyofsox]

The nice thing about the writers is they are easily avoided. (Or you can read only the ones you like/respect.) It's up to each of us how much we want to be exposed to them, but 0% is possible.

[Brianish]

0% is possible.

I have never found that to be the case.

Edit - Not if you want to keep up with team news, I mean.

Edited by Brianish, 22 April 2012 - 07:25 PM.

[TheoShmeo]

At least he's not using the "we" bullshit, but I suppose he shifts to "I" when he particularly wants to take credit.

We note that he's back to that in today's column:

We understand it’s tough to fire the players. And that in the process of attempting to change the culture of the clubhouse, most of the same players were brought back in the hopes that the new manager could do that. And it’s true, Valentine needs to do that.

[MyDaughterLovesTomGordon]

We note that he's back to that in today's column:

For some reason, that makes my blood boil more than anything else that he does. That an editor allows it is mind-blowing.

I love this take down of fools who use it:

Consider another volatile personality, Roscoe Conkling, who served as senator from New York after the Civil War. In 1877, Conkling objected to how the new president, Rutherford B. Hayes, overused the word we, and The St. Louis Globe-Democrat reported his rejoinder: “Yes, I have noticed there are three classes of people who always say ‘we’ instead of ‘I.’ They are emperors, editors and men with a tapeworm.”

Cafardo is, of course, only the latter.

[rembrat]

I heard he did a great job with Don last night.

[E5 Yaz]

Now he's speaking for everybody

Bard has said his future is “not for me to decide. I feel I’ve done my job as a starter. They’re trying to address a need and whether or not I can completely turn everything around down there is to be determined.’’

And now that he’s made a successful return?

“I’m not reading too much into it right now,’’ he said. “I know I can start. I know my value to this team in throwing 150-200 innings a year rather than 65-70 out of the pen.’’

Not sure any of us agree.

[rembrat]

What if he's talking for all the voices in his head?

[E5 Yaz]

What if he's talking for all the voices in his head?

I considered that, but decided that he wouldn't agree with those

[FelixMantilla]

I heard he did a great job with Don last night.

You were misinformed.

[AMS25]

The Sunday Notes appear to be subscription only now.

You can open them up through a link on MLB Trade Rumors. But, be sure to transform them immediately into a single page.

Also, if you are lucky and have access to Lexis Nexis Academic, you can pretty much go behind any paywall.

BTW, the Sunday Notes is the only column I ever ready by Nick Cafardo, so I'm thankfully out-of-touch with his views of the team otherwise.

[E5 Yaz]

BTW, the Sunday Notes is the only column I ever ready by Nick Cafardo, so I'm thankfully out-of-touch

So is he

[Redkluzu]

I heard he did a great job with Don last night.

He mumbled, went on meaninglessly without taking much of a position on anything. In Chat we described listening to him as bad as choking down white bread without water.

[Harry Hooper]

Nick with a nice piece of pot calling the kettle black today, or is this his way of saying he's a knee-jerk, fair-weather fan?:

Suddenly, Valentine isn’t wearing a dunce cap. If he were doing this at Fenway, the knee-jerk, fair-weather fans who booed him would probably be keeping their yaps shut.


The Daniel Bard-to-closer talk has died down.


There’s no cry for Jose Iglesias’s defense over Mike Aviles’s offense.


You never hear about Ryan Lavarnway replacing Jarrod Saltalamacchia or Kelly Shoppach.


And although Carl Crawford might be out three months with an ulnar collateral ligament sprain, it feels less ominous to a team that’s already missing Jacoby Ellsbury, because Cody Ross, who knocked in two more runs Friday night and now has 17 RBIs on the season, is driving in big runs, and Ryan Sweeney is hitting .383.


The Marlon Byrd acquisition from the Cubs has created some energy.

Of course, he later writes:

Is it perfect? Surely not. There will likely be more tweaking since the Red Sox can’t possibly allow Aaron Cook to escape May 1 without bringing him up.

[riboflav]

Nick with a nice piece of pot calling the kettle black today, or is this his way of saying he's a knee-jerk, fair-weather fan?:







Of course, he later writes:

Wait... What? I thought Cafardo was the one who kept harping on Bard needs to close, Igelsias needs to start with the big club, etc. Maybe I'm missing the point.

[Byrdbrain]

Wait... What? I thought Cafardo was the one who kept harping on Bard needs to close, Igelsias needs to start with the big club, etc. Maybe I'm missing the point.

I believe that is the point.

[Sampo Gida]

Nick with a nice piece of pot calling the kettle black today, or is this his way of saying he's a knee-jerk, fair-weather fan?:







Of course, he later writes:

Downright Orwellian.

[riboflav]

I believe that is the point.

Ah! That's what having a newborn can do to the brain.

[Brianish]

Yeah, if he's being self-effacing and chiding his own reactionary ranting, I actually have to give some kudos. And frankly, he was beating those drums so hard, I'm not sure he can possibly be that un-self-aware.

Of course, most of the reports had Bobby wanting Iglesias over Aviles, so he may just be throwing out unconsidered statements. That wouldn't be completely out of the ordinary.

[Savin Hillbilly]

And this morning he can't resist a little hedging:

Mike Aviles has made everyone forget about Jose Iglesias....for now.

Very cute. He sorta kinda admits he was wrong, while keeping the I-told-ya-so door ajar.

Sunday Cafardo column (paywall)

[Kid T]

You can open them up through a link on MLB Trade Rumors. But, be sure to transform them immediately into a single page.

They don't have the single page option anymore, but I was able to open his column via MLB Trade Rumors and read each page.

[Humphrey]

Saturday night he had a 5 minute monologue on where Roy Oswalt would end up.

I hope it's not the Sox, at this point I'm utterly sick of hearing about this guy and all the ass kissing that's apparently required to retain his services.

Nick's paragraph about Joe Maddon/Rays w/regard to traveling lightly was kinda creepy.

[Humphrey]

And this morning he can't resist a little hedging:



Very cute. He sorta kinda admits he was wrong, while keeping the I-told-ya-so door ajar.

Sunday Cafardo column (paywall)

And this week he's back to pissing and moaning about Iglesias not being up!

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

What the hell was he talking about regarding the Bobby Jenks thing? Because what he's insinuating is that Jenks is a moron who doesn't know how to save his money.

BTW, Mike Aviles is arguably having the best season out of everyone on the Red Sox. What position is he playing? Right, the one that Cafardo is currently bitching about.

And Jakey Peavy is sad about Junior Seau, Nick? Way to delve into that piece of news. And it's actually a bit more topical than 500 words about the Red Sox grounds crew chief, which honestly could have been 2,000 words and could have run in the OFF-FUCKING-SEASON.

[E5 Yaz]

The Pirates could part with Joel Hanrahan, but you’d pay a steep price, because he is someone you can build a team around.

Hanrahan is pretty good, but do you really build a team around him?

[JohntheBaptist]

Sorry, E5, that's what popped up in Nick's "sports column sentence clause generator," found under the "Hey, This Guy is Pretty Good!" tab.

[dynomite]

If there's one person I'm going to build a team around, it's a 30 year old reliever with a 3.89 career ERA. When you're a superstar you're a superstar.

[Buzzkill Pauley]

If there's one person I'm going to build a team around, it's a 30 year old reliever with a 3.89 career ERA. When you're a superstar you're a superstar.

Step 1: Joel Hanrahan
Step 2: Adam Kennedy
Step 3: Jose Iglesias
Step 4: ???
Step 5: Profit!

[backpeddling]

Hanrahan has picked up close to 50 straight saves, so I'm sure that gets Nick's gold bond'd balls-a-tingling.

Unfortunately the time to pick him up was 3-4 seasons ago when he was emerging as a high quality arm. Just like the Angels picking up an under-the-radar arm like Frieri.

[joyofsox]

Cafardo actually offered something interesting today:

"3. Daisuke Matsuzaka has been using major league baseballs in his minor league starts. The minor league ball has more pronounced seams and can make it easier to throw a breaking pitch. But when you convert back to the major league ball, you lose the feel for that pitch. So Matsuzaka wants to stick with the ball he eventually will use."

http://bostonglobe.c...Cw6M/story.html

I guess all of the other pitchers in the game use the regular minor league balls.

[tims4wins]

That is interesting... it begs the question, however, why minor league balls are different from major league balls to begin with... but of course Cafardo couldn't take the time to explain to us why.

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

You will learn that Cafardo has a lot of good questions, but no good answers.

[Cousin Walter]

You will learn that Cafardo has a lot of good questions, but no good answers.

Such as...

How long will Carl Crawford and Jacoby Ellsbury be on their throwing programs? And after that, will their arms be as weak as they were before they were injured?

Nick threw that into the "Apropos of nothing" section but I think it's highly relevant since we're talking about two-thirds of the team's optimum starting outfield. No analysis, no attempts to talk to anyone who might shed some light on the matter, just throwaway rhetorical questions.

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

Exactly.

How long? Who knows? Will they have weak(er) arms? Beats me! All I know is that Johnny Damon and Andy Pettitte are back in the majors and Jeremy Kapstein said hello to me at the Fenway urinal!

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Jesus Tapdancing Christ is Cafardo dumb.

They can extend Ortiz for the next two seasons even as a goodwill payment.After all, they picked up Curt Schilling's $8 million option as a going-away gift when they knew he wouldn't be able to pitch.

It's like Nick has completely forgotten the whole "Sox want him to try rehab, Schilling wanted surgery" drama over the 07-08 offseason. Of course the Sox thought he might be able to pitch in 2008 if he carried out the rehab and the arm responded. To blithely state that everyone knew Schilling couldn't pitch and the Sox were just giving him $8 million for nothing is beyond asinine.

And this is in an article where's he's arguing for the Sox to give Ortiz a two year extension, which I agree with. But goddamn there's no need to simply make stuff up in support of the argument.

[lexrageorge]

Actually, they offered Schilling a contract before it was revealed or even known he needed shoulder rehab/surgery. And Schilling signed right away. Which makes Cafardo's point even more puzzling.

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

How do you expect Nick Cafardo to remember the in's and out's of the Boston Red Sox when he has to find homes for Johnny Damon, Andy Pettitte, Koby Clemens and JP Ricciardi.

That right there is a pretty tough job, so please lighten up!

[mt8thsw9th]

Actually, they offered Schilling a contract before it was revealed or even known he needed shoulder rehab/surgery. And Schilling signed right away.

And kind of makes you wonder why Schilling was so eager to sign a contract so quickly when it was a salary reduction from the prior season. I don't think the Red Sox were in on anything.

[wutang112878]

To blithely state that everyone knew Schilling couldn't pitch and the Sox were just giving him $8 million for nothing is beyond asinine.

Yes, especially considering that when he couldnt pitch the RedSox FO got very upset, and when it was evident that he wouldnt pitch Curt agreed to change the weight incentives in the contract to innings pitched or something like that, which basically indicated that he felt some remorse about the deal and maybe pulled a fast one on the RedSox. Unfortunately, these are details that Nick would have to take 10 minutes to research, think about or try to remember before he were to write his column and I guess that is too much to ask.

On a completely different topic, to summarize the article it seems his justification for an Ortiz 2 year extension is to pay for past performance, what Ortiz 'means' to the franchise and 'goodwill'? Doesnt that seem like a very foolish reason to justify a contract, when as Nick admitted Ortiz hit free agency and ultimately decided that the RedSox 1 year offer was the best option on the table for him? It seems foolish when writers suggest that a team should be 'loyal' or 'reward' a guy but then in their next article or breath they critique the teams performance with a payroll of however many million dollars, they just cant have it both ways.

[Humphrey]

Having it both ways has never stopped Nick.

Didn't the Sox get ripped off to some extent by Trot Nixon (oh, I hurt my back driving to Florida from Arizona before spring training) a couple of years prior? I can see them missing something in an exam, but that's the extent of what I would blame them for.

[backpeddling]

Xavier Nady, the man Nick Cafardo referred to as Mike Rizzo's best off-season move, has a cool .443 OPS for the Nationals.

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

On the plus side, old friend Tom Donohoe, who hasn't been doing much of anything since running the Buffalo Bills into nowhere with Bledsoe as QB, just got some sort of consulting or staffing gig with the Eagles. Nick must be ecstatic.

[Dick Pole Upside]

Nick in mid-season form today... pimping Johnny Damon and Buck Showalter, slagging Jacoby Ellsbury, and basically throwing the entire league under the bus on PEDs with no explanation or analysis. Top notch.

Then there was this item:

2. A lot of older players - Hideki Matsui, Vladimir Guerrero, Johnny Damon, etc. - have stayed in baseball. J.D. Drew isn't one of them.

Because he doesn't care, Nick.

[backpeddling]

In Arizona, Drew, a Boras client, hasn’t played for an eternity. He fractured his ankle last July and remains unable to play.

Stephen Drew (ankle) played nine innings in an extended spring training game Saturday.

The D'Backs had hoped that he'd be ready to begin a rehab assignment after one or two extended spring game, but it appears that he's not ready just yet. "He's getting better," manager Kirk Gibson said. "He's still not ready to go out yet (on a rehab assignment)." Drew should return sometime in June.

Source: Arizona Republic
May 27 - 8:36 AM

What a lazy bum.

[Van Everyman]

Pay wall experiment for Nick already given up on?

[Dick Pole Upside]

Pay wall experiment for Nick already given up on?

I live in Indiana, so it's not convenient to buy the paper at a newsstand. For the minimal charge, I find enough of value (as a native New Englander) in the rest of the paper to cancel out the idiocy that is Cafardo and the bile of Shank.

Nick sure does have some kind of petty vendetta against the Drew family, eh (amongst others)?

Edited by Dick Pole Upside, 27 May 2012 - 01:20 PM.

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

What a lazy bum.

Cafardo writes the Notes on a Friday. Do you really expect him to update it if something happens on Saturday? It's Memorial Day weekend, Hitler. Jeez.