Hey. Listen. The Sox are gonna win the World Series this season so I'm pretty happy with how things are turning out
I had never seen that one. Makes this deke from a couple of days ago even better.
I had never seen that one. Makes this deke from a couple of days ago even better.
http://www.sportingnews.com/au/mlb/news/melky-cabrera-catch-aaron-judge-home-run-video-troll-watch-yankees-white-sox/169hw9nhg5ph01vuetst24l15u
Well, it wasn't much of a secret that Theo coveted Gonzalez. That deal got done on December 6, 2010 and Beltre didn't sign in Texas until January 5, 2011. I don't remember much in the way of talk about Beltre and Theo doing much negotiating in the meantime, so it sure seemed like Beltre was going to at least test the market, even if returning was his preference. Ultimately though, whether Beltre wanted to re-sign or not, the decision was taken out of his hands so the obvious conclusion is that it was the Sox who didn't want him rather than he rejected them.Is it well established that Beltre's departure was the Sox' idea, and not his?
I believe that Adrian Beltre became JBJ so it's not a bad deal in that sense. But I think the biggest mistake was not considering what Anthony Rizzo could do, and that Youks could hold the fort at 1st in the meantime while staying with Beltre long term.The Sox stayed the course on their master plan and obviously placed high value on the draft picks to restock post trade for AG.
Given the season AB had you'd think they'd re-evaluate, which they probably did and still decided to stay the course. I think the mistake was not placing a higher value on AB's performance while actually playing for the team. Answering yes to 'can this player deal with Boston and thrive?' probably should have been given more consideration in the process.
This is a really interesting time to look back on given what followed.
There's also Beltre's role in causing some of the injury bug: https://www.sbnation.com/2010/6/11/2316361/adrian-beltre-sends-another-red-sox-outfielder-to-dl-as-jeremyThe one mitigating factor I would also consider in Theo's favor over letting Beltre walk is that the Sox had been killed by the injury bug in 2010 and missed the playoffs. In some respects this was one of Tito's best years given the injuries to Pedey, Youk and the performances he got out of the likes of guys like Bill Hall. So ownership may likely have been looking to make something of a splash that winter as well.
Beltre put up an OPS+ of 141 with Boston in his age 31 season. There was also reason to believe that park effects suppressed his age 26-30 performance in Seattle whereas Fenway seemed tailor-made for his swing (49 doubles).IIRC, one of the major concerns was that Beltre was coming off of a really bad year in 2009 and had his 2nd best career season in 2010 (141 OPS+) with his career best in 2004. He wanted premium money and he was a guy coming off of his 27-31 years with OPS+s (going backwards) of 141, 83. 109, 112, 105. How good was he really? And would he be worth premium money (he ended up with a 5 year, $80M deal with a 2016 option for $16M that was voidable if he didn't reach certain PA levels)? At the time, he ended up being the 39th highest paid player in baseball for 2011 (and that would have been his lowest salary in the contract) and would have been the 4th highest paid player on the Sox (behind Beckett, Lackey and Crawford).
He wasn't, really, other than 2009 when he was hurt. He played in Seattle back when Safeco was consistently one of the two or three worst offensive parks in baseball. His home/road wOBA split for his five years in Seattle was .311/.341; for his six-plus years in Texas it's been .405/.340. He didn't become a better hitter; he just left hitter's hell. He's the poster child for park effects creating deceptive overall stat lines.Giving him the $96 million he got from Texas was viewed as quite risky. He was awful in Seattle for 5 straight years; Texas was essentially betting on the idea that his one year in Boston was more indicative of his ability than the previous 5 in Seattle. They were right, but that's not a bet teams should be making on a regular basis.
And I recall him as an outstanding defender for the M's.He wasn't, really, other than 2009 when he was hurt. He played in Seattle back when Safeco was consistently one of the two or three worst offensive parks in baseball. His home/road wOBA split for his five years in Seattle was .311/.341; for his six-plus years in Texas it's been .405/.340. He didn't become a better hitter; he just left hitter's hell. He's the poster child for park effects creating deceptive overall stat lines.