Chad Finn: Underrated

FelixMantilla

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Bruce Allen does a Boston Sports Media Mock Draft:
 
http://www.bostonsportsmedia.com/2014/05/the-2014-boston-sports-media-mock-draft-non-nfl-edition
 
 
 
11) Chad Finn, Boston.com/Boston Globe
Strengths: Underrated prospect. Rare gift of actually enjoying sports. Can write about all four sports, though baseball is his best. Uses humor, can be critical of but doesn’t needlessly bash local squads. As media columnist, he wields a certain amount in influence.
Weaknesses: Because he enjoy sports, Joe Sullivan will continue to bury him on Boston.com and never give him more than the sports media column in the paper Globe
 
 
 

MyDaughterLovesTomGordon

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I hate to think I'm defending Haggerty, but if he filed that column to an editor, and then the editor just pushed it through to the web, he has every right to wonder why his editor didn't save his ass. 
 
Pushing that column to public consideration without editing out the insanity is just sort of mean. 
 
BUT, if he filed that to the web directly, and then just assumed an editor would catch it before anyone read it, then that's some shitty reporting and he carries full blame. It's hard to know what the process is nowadays. 
 
It's a weird world journalists live in - I sure as hell wouldn't want to publish directly without someone reading it first. That's walking the tightrope without a net. Sure, people do it all the time - that doesn't mean it makes for good journalism that people actually want to read.
 

nattysez

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I thought his article today was generally good, but this section killed me:
 
Center field has been a disappointment. Jackie Bradley Jr. accounts for plenty of outs at the plate and defensively, and Grady Sizemore, sadly, offers infrequent flashes of what he was. (Note: He does have Derek Jeter by .001 in OPS. So he's got that going for him.)
 
But the Red Sox' approach to the position was the intelligent one -- actually, it was the model for how player development is supposed to work. When the Yankees gave Jacoby Ellsbury $153 million Steinbrenner Bucks, they had a promising young player waiting in the wings.
 
It hasn't worked so far with Bradley -- he just can't catch up to a good fastball right now, and maybe he never will -- but believing in a Gold Glove-caliber outfielder who had an .840 OPS in his first season in Triple A and showed a knack for making adjustments is nothing to regret. Any dismissal of the state of their farm system is downright ignorant, perhaps willfully.
 
 
How can you ignore the impact that rolling the dice on Sizemore instead of acquiring a safer back-up CF/RF has had on the team?  Again, Rajai Davis was out there, or a trade (a la Oakland's Craig Gentry deal) could've been made.  Having NO viable CF replacement for JBJ is not "intelligent" by any stretch, and they KNEW that Shane Vic was an injury risk, so there's really no excuse for not having a viable back-up around.  
 
 
 

JimD

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nattysez said:
I thought his article today was generally good, but this section killed me:
 
 
How can you ignore the impact that rolling the dice on Sizemore instead of acquiring a safer back-up CF/RF has had on the team?  Again, Rajai Davis was out there, or a trade (a la Oakland's Craig Gentry deal) could've been made.  Having NO viable CF replacement for JBJ is not "intelligent" by any stretch, and they KNEW that Shane Vic was an injury risk, so there's really no excuse for not having a viable back-up around.  
 
 
 
It's defensible if Ben Cherington regards the season the same way that Billy Beane does - i.e, you spend April and May to see what you've got and June and July to fill the holes. 
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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JimD said:
 
It's defensible if Ben Cherington regards the season the same way that Billy Beane does - i.e, you spend April and May to see what you've got and June and July to fill the holes. 
 
It's also defensible if Cherington was simply trying to avoid going multiple years or greatly overpaying for a one-year deal just to have "JBJ insurance".  Davis signed with Detroit for two years.  Chris Young, another favorite of the "they need more JBJ insurance" club, signed for over 7 million for one year.
 
Such a commitment (multi-years or a large one-year payment) really elevates the player from "insurance/backup" to "he probably should get first crack at being the starter".  If that was what they wanted to do, they'd have done it.  But they clearly were prepared to hand the job to JBJ and let him run with it.  And here we are, for better or worse, with JBJ doing exactly that (obviously he's stumbling more than running at this point).
 

Reverend

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I've seen the argument that the Red Sox were not strong enough in CF depth and see some merit. I've seen the argument they should have signed Ellsbury and understand why they did not and think that decision was valid.
 
I have seen very little in the way of what they could have done beyond the point that they have lots of prospects, so it is posited that they could have made some kind of trade. That seems a bit vague as a criticism to me. Just because Sizemore hasn't panned out, as a low cost gamble, if there weren't any other good options around, then that's not necessarily unintelligent.
 

nattysez

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Reverend said:
I've seen the argument that the Red Sox were not strong enough in CF depth and see some merit. I've seen the argument they should have signed Ellsbury and understand why they did not and think that decision was valid.
 
I have seen very little in the way of what they could have done beyond the point that they have lots of prospects, so it is posited that they could have made some kind of trade. That seems a bit vague as a criticism to me. Just because Sizemore hasn't panned out, as a low cost gamble, if there weren't any other good options around, then that's not necessarily unintelligent.
 
I mentioned FA Rajai Davis and the available-for-acquisition Craig Gentry as two options two posts above yours.  Chris Young was another option.  Justin Ruggiano was another option.  There were plenty of options, nearly all of whom are hitting better than Sizemore and all of whom play a competent CF, available.
 
Red(s)HawksFan said:
 
It's also defensible if Cherington was simply trying to avoid going multiple years or greatly overpaying for a one-year deal just to have "JBJ insurance".  Davis signed with Detroit for two years.  Chris Young, another favorite of the "they need more JBJ insurance" club, signed for over 7 million for one year.
 
Such a commitment (multi-years or a large one-year payment) really elevates the player from "insurance/backup" to "he probably should get first crack at being the starter".  If that was what they wanted to do, they'd have done it.  But they clearly were prepared to hand the job to JBJ and let him run with it.  And here we are, for better or worse, with JBJ doing exactly that (obviously he's stumbling more than running at this point).
 
If Cherington feels that spending $7mm for a competent $7mm is too much, this team has larger issues than I thought.  The idea that they didn't want to sign someone who might start over JBJ is belied by the fact that if not for injury, JBJ likely would've started the year in the minors because they committed the cardinal sin of falling in love with Sizemore in ST.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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nattysez said:
 
If Cherington feels that spending $7mm for a competent $7mm is too much, this team has larger issues than I thought.  The idea that they didn't want to sign someone who might start over JBJ is belied by the fact that if not for injury, JBJ likely would've started the year in the minors because they committed the cardinal sin of falling in love with Sizemore in ST.
 
Let's be clear that there's a world of difference between making a commitment to a Chris Young type in December or January and the decision to initially option JBJ at the end of March.
 
When they would have had to commit to a more expensive free agent or trade acquisition, they were committed to JBJ getting a fair and clean shot at starting the season as the everyday CF.  Committing $7.5M+ on a free agent or spending assets to acquire someone by trade would be relegating JBJ to the minors before spring training even began.  They clearly didn't want to do that.
 
But by the end of March, they found themselves in a use him or lose him crunch with regard to Sizemore because he was too healthy to DL and leave in extended spring training.  The simplest and easiest thing to do to keep all their assets at that point was to option JBJ.  It didn't hurt that JBJ didn't exactly wow everyone in spring training the way he did last year.
 

DJnVa

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nattysez said:
 
I mentioned FA Rajai Davis and the available-for-acquisition Craig Gentry as two options two posts above yours.  Chris Young was another option.  Justin Ruggiano was another option.  There were plenty of options, nearly all of whom are hitting better than Sizemore and all of whom play a competent CF, available.
 
 
Eh, I mean Chris Young was coming off 375 PAs of a .280 OBP. Ruggiano was coming off 470 PAs of a sub-.300 OBP. And they may play competent defense, neither are JBJ out there.
 

joe dokes

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Red(s)HawksFan said:
 
Let's be clear that there's a world of difference between making a commitment to a Chris Young type in December or January and the decision to initially option JBJ at the end of March.
 
When they would have had to commit to a more expensive free agent or trade acquisition, they were committed to JBJ getting a fair and clean shot at starting the season as the everyday CF.  Committing $7.5M+ on a free agent or spending assets to acquire someone by trade would be relegating JBJ to the minors before spring training even began.  They clearly didn't want to do that.
 
But by the end of March, they found themselves in a use him or lose him crunch with regard to Sizemore because he was too healthy to DL and leave in extended spring training.  The simplest and easiest thing to do to keep all their assets at that point was to option JBJ.  It didn't hurt that JBJ didn't exactly wow everyone in spring training the way he did last year.
 
And sometimes in order to keep turning a team over, you have to take a chance on rookies.  Bogaerts is working out. JBJ is only a glove at this point. History is filled with guys who struggled at first, and then didn't.  From Keith Hernandez to Mike Trout and hundreds in between.
 

nattysez

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Red(s)HawksFan said:
When they would have had to commit to a more expensive free agent or trade acquisition, they were committed to JBJ getting a fair and clean shot at starting the season as the everyday CF.  Committing $7.5M+ on a free agent or spending assets to acquire someone by trade would be relegating JBJ to the minors before spring training even began.  They clearly didn't want to do that.
 
No, it wouldn't.  Shane Victorino was coming into the year hurt and JBJ was a question mark.  It was incredibly likely that their back-up OF was going to see a lot of playing time.  Whether JBJ became the backup or the  acquiisition did is irrelevant -- they were both very likely going to play a lot.  This argument that they "couldn't sign a $7mm OF because how could he and JBJ both get playing time" smacks of the "what would we do with Willie McGee" line of thinking.  It's pretty much the opposite of the "deep depth" approach that this team allegedly has been trying to go with.
 

Lose Remerswaal

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I didn't get the "something afoot" feeling from the article, just surprise that Orsillo is accepting a vacation, like they give to all the producers, camera people, etc, every year.
 
It's noteworthy, but not meaningfull.
 

riboflav

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Lose Remerswaal said:
I didn't get the "something afoot" feeling from the article, just surprise that Orsillo is accepting a vacation, like they give to all the producers, camera people, etc, every year.
 
It's noteworthy, but not meaningfull.
 
He says it's strange and then closes with there are rumors that Orsillo's contract renewal negotiations are not going smoothly. Thus, "something afoot" and "suggests something" as opposed to "argues [something specific]" are entirely appropriate. 
 
IOW, there may be nothing to the "vacation" and the rumors of the negotiations but there also might be.
 

Kenny F'ing Powers

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riboflav said:
 
He says it's strange and then closes with there are rumors that Orsillo's contract renewal negotiations are not going smoothly. Thus, "something afoot" and "suggests something" as opposed to "argues [something specific]" are entirely appropriate. 
 
IOW, there may be nothing to the "vacation" and the rumors of the negotiations but there also might be.
 
 
I know that the first several years that Don was with the Sox, he worked on the cheap. He's had some pretty good success (local emmy's, national games, etc), and it wouldn't surprise me if he feels that he has some leverage with the other turmoil going on in the booth (Jerrys kid, Jerrys cancer, etc).  I'm not a huge Orsillo fan, but I think he's more then serviceable at his job. I would assume this works out.
 
Then again, if they decide to not bring him back, there's a possibility they try to start fresh in the booth and don't bring Jerry back either. Can't make omelettes without cracking eggs. Sorry, Don.
 

Chad Finn

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riboflav said:
 
He says it's strange and then closes with there are rumors that Orsillo's contract renewal negotiations are not going smoothly. Thus, "something afoot" and "suggests something" as opposed to "argues [something specific]" are entirely appropriate. 
 
IOW, there may be nothing to the "vacation" and the rumors of the negotiations but there also might be.
 
You read it right.
 

riboflav

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Kenny F'ing Powers said:
 
 
I know that the first several years that Don was with the Sox, he worked on the cheap. He's had some pretty good success (local emmy's, national games, etc), and it wouldn't surprise me if he feels that he has some leverage with the other turmoil going on in the booth (Jerrys kid, Jerrys cancer, etc).  I'm not a huge Orsillo fan, but I think he's more then serviceable at his job. I would assume this works out.
 
Then again, if they decide to not bring him back, there's a possibility they try to start fresh in the booth and don't bring Jerry back either. Can't make omelettes without cracking eggs. Sorry, Don.
 
I agree with your assessment. He's a pro and very competent at his job, but certainly lacks flavor and can be banal and redundant. Yet, if he leaves, I fear the NESN brass would choose some bozo to replace him. 
 

touchstone033

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Chad, Ellis Burks an "ex-Indian"? Really? I realize that the late 80s-early 90s Sox squads were too circus-like too be likable and memorable, but Burks will always be an "ex-Sox" to me. He was an oasis of class in those years, and with such a beautiful, high swing he was easily my favorite player back then...
 

dcmissle

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Thanks for the thoughtful and quite sensible quick take on the Mankins trade. Fresh air.
 

MakMan44

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“But let’s face it,’’ he added, “accuracy is a natural casualty when you’re dealing with 140-character reporting. I do think there are a lot more mistakes made because it’s fire first, ask questions later.”
 
I think this is key. There's such a rush to be the one to get the story out, because Twitter allows the news to travel instantly and spread quickly. I'm actually surprised there hasn't been more false reports when I think about it. 
 
Really great article Yaz, thanks for sharing. 
 

joe dokes

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MakMan44 said:
 
I think this is key. There's such a rush to be the one to get the story out, because Twitter allows the news to travel instantly and spread quickly. I'm actually surprised there hasn't been more false reports when I think about it. 
 
Really great article Yaz, thanks for sharing. 
 
Competition has always resulted in stupidity, if not always inaccuracy. The speed is  faster, though. Some of you might remember the World Airways crash at Logan.   After the initial reports and pictures, all local stations broke into their network coverage.  Every so often they went "live to the airport: where often nothing was really happening.  As an assignment for a journalism class, I spoke with Dennis Kauff, then of Channel 4 (years later killed by a drunk driver)/.  When I asked him about that night, he said that when he saw the other reporters lights go on, he felt compelled to do the same, regardless of what he had to say. He traced it to the fact that station execs all had multiple TVs, often with the sound off, and when they saw another station go live, they wondered why he wasn't doing the same.
 

dcmissle

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Outstanding piece by Chad.
 
A shining point of light in clown town.
 

doldmoose34

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joe dokes said:
 
Competition has always resulted in stupidity, if not always inaccuracy. The speed is  faster, though. Some of you might remember the World Airways crash at Logan.   After the initial reports and pictures, all local stations broke into their network coverage.  Every so often they went "live to the airport: where often nothing was really happening.  As an assignment for a journalism class, I spoke with Dennis Kauff, then of Channel 4 (years later killed by a drunk driver)/.  When I asked him about that night, he said that when he saw the other reporters lights go on, he felt compelled to do the same, regardless of what he had to say. He traced it to the fact that station execs all had multiple TVs, often with the sound off, and when they saw another station go live, they wondered why he wasn't doing the same.
Great call, I remember the World Airways crash and the surreal sight of a 747 with the nose broken off where the Father and son and disappeared into the harbor. I believe that the worst thing that has happened to the local tv stations is the satellite truck, that they own several of and have to justify their cost by 545am 'LIVE' reports in front of empty buildings
 

kieckeredinthehead

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MakMan44 said:
 
I think this is key. There's such a rush to be the one to get the story out, because Twitter allows the news to travel instantly and spread quickly. I'm actually surprised there hasn't been more false reports when I think about it. 
 
Really great article Yaz, thanks for sharing. 
Except I think fans are incredibly adaptable in how they evaluate Twitter evidence. The Sandoval and Ramirez deals are good examples.. We got the news a little earlier from some unknowns, but most people still wanted to have it confirmed by a real reporter. Note that Finn actually credits Rosenthal with the Ramirez scoop. The Cespedes non trade tonight is another good example. Kid gets his own thread because he was right before, but we still wait for confirmation. And it's quickly debunked. It's actually amazing how flexible folks have become in evaluating evidence.
 

Lose Remerswaal

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doldmoose34 said:
Great call, I remember the World Airways crash and the surreal sight of a 747 with the nose broken off where the Father and son and disappeared into the harbor. I believe that the worst thing that has happened to the local tv stations is the satellite truck, that they own several of and have to justify their cost by 545am 'LIVE' reports in front of empty buildings
 
That plane sat there for weeks (or months).  I remember seeing it from the South Boston waterfront well after the accident. 
 
We both know that Walter and Leo Metcalf are alive and living in South America somewhere
 

doldmoose34

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Lose Remerswaal said:
 
That plane sat there for weeks (or months).  I remember seeing it from the South Boston waterfront well after the accident. 
 
We both know that Walter and Leo Metcalf are alive and living in South America somewhere
That's what I ment, driving by Logan seeing the 747 out with no nose

I knew the name was Metcalf but couldn't remember the first names
 

Andy Merchant

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A week without a Chad Finn chat at boston.com is a sorry thing indeed. I selfishly propose that Chad should be sentenced to spend the weekend with John Dennis for each missed Friday chat.
 

Andy Merchant

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Chad Finn said:
Wow, now that would be cruel and unusual punishment. Took a few days off post-Super Bowl ... which I spent re-watching the Super Bowl about 50 times. Back at it Monday.
Ah, the audacity of wanting a personal life! :p

Seriously though, the snark, factoids, and insider media talk from all particpants make it a fun read. It's refreshing to see there is still a wisenheimer my age in the sports media after Bill Simmons went Hollywood.
 

Patriot_Reign

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I think the Big Jab sports station is heard up and down the coast of Maine.  I listen to bosox games in the summer on it, up in Rockland.