Protecting the Shields -- The Nick Cafardo Thread

[BS_SoxFan]

QUOTE (John Marzano Olympic Hero @ Apr 18 2010, 09:35 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2907235
Today's column was a real piece of shit. Probably one of the worst that he's written during the last six months.

I don't have the strength to go through and say why it sucks, but it just does.

If you want to read it for yourself, go here.


Speak for yourself, I'm thrilled that the Bill/Billy Hall question has FINALLY been answered.

 

[wutang112878]

The update section has to go: Alex Gonalez started off hot, because as an NL Scout said 'sometimes the light goes on', so insightful. Eventually Jermaine Dye because teams need corner OFs with power, but no mention that Dye is really just a DH at this point.

Granted this is pure fantasy, but is there any chance they globe might try to get Gammons to take the Sunday baseball notes column back? Gammons could write this with little effort and have so much more valuable information than Cafardo. But most likely I would imagine that the MLB.com deal he signed made that his exclusive written outlet, anyone have any idea?

 

[Granite Sox]

Maybe the sloppiest, laziest, and weakest column he's written in the last 3-4 years. It's the second week of the season, with all kinds of interesting things happening around the game (no-hitters, marathon games, new managers, fascinating rookies, stars on new teams, etc.) and we get a hypothetical Manny HOF column and a retired Tommy Glavine job update? That's almost unbelieveable, if it wasn't Cafardo we were talking about.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

The worst part is that half of the column, he's arguing with himself. Than there is a paragraph when he's talking to Manny directly. Then the rest of the column are half-points that he immediately contradicts. (The paragraph where he talks to Manny cracked me up. I imagine Manny reading this in Los Angeles and shedding a tear in his cornflakes.)

Then he brings up both Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens and doesn't address whether those two will be elected, only that they would be sure fire HOFers before they took PEDs, but doesn't really address how he knows when the duo took PEDs and how he knows when Manny took them. And Manny's first few years were monster years too.

And I'm not sure why this column had to be written about today. Manny is doing pretty well for the Dodgers and I don't think anyone has talked about him all season. I mean, if he has a hard on to write about Manny why doesn't he put this column in his back pocket until later in the season when the Dodgers visit Boston? The thing is, I think that when sportswriters have nothing to write about, they go to hot-button chestnuts like this. Its literally the second week of the season and he has nothing to write about?

This is what happens when senility sets in.

 

[PedroKsBambino]

Agreed, today was truly a new level of incomprehensible idiocy for Cafardo. It's truly amazing the Globe keeps him around.

 

[TheRooster]

At hatchet job that would have made Will the Shill proud. I'm going to laugh when Manny gets in.

 

[Buffalo Head]

QUOTE (Dick Pole Upside @ Apr 18 2010, 01:28 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2907400
Maybe the sloppiest, laziest, and weakest column he's written in the last 3-4 years. It's the second week of the season, with all kinds of interesting things happening around the game (no-hitters, marathon games, new managers, fascinating rookies, stars on new teams, etc.) and we get a hypothetical Manny HOF column and a retired Tommy Glavine job update? That's almost unbelieveable, if it wasn't Cafardo we were talking about.

Just offering a point of clarification. By no means am I discounting the overall message. But Sunday notes columns are always due to the copy desk by early Saturday afternoon, at the latest. Most times, editors want them filed on Fridays. So things like the no-hitter and the 20-inning game Saturday night wouldn't have been in play for this week.

Carry on.

 

[Billy R Ford]

I can't believe anyone would suggest demoting Jon Lester to Pawtucket after three starts, but that seems to be what he's doing today:

QUOTE
Teams have sent young starters — even those with track records such as Lester's — back to the minors before. The Indians did it with Cliff Lee in 2007, and he came back the following year and won 22 games and the American League Cy Young award. The Sox likely would not consider something that drastic, but it would send a strong message.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

It would send a strong message alright, Nick...that the FO has no idea how to handle SSS results.

Who in their right minds would argue that the Sox should send Lester down? At this point I'm convinced Cafardo eats paste.

 

[AquaNarc]

And another lazy, ignorant media member takes the UZR shot. Will someone please broadcast the fact that the Red Sox don't use UZR. And you might say, well, no they don't, but they use something similar. Yes, and according to Theo it told them that Ellsbury was a good center fielder last year, and he's the player people get in such a tizzy about over UZR.

 

[lexrageorge]

QUOTE (AquaNarc @ Apr 20 2010, 05:53 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2912449
And another lazy, ignorant media member takes the UZR shot. Will someone please broadcast the fact that the Red Sox don't use UZR. And you might say, well, no they don't, but they use something similar. Yes, and according to Theo it told them that Ellsbury was a good center fielder last year, and he's the player people get in such a tizzy about over UZR.



On top of that, Cafardo makes that assessment based on all of 2 weeks, a period of which Cameron was hurt for at least part, if not all. A torn stomach muscle will definitely affect one's fielding ability, both as shown by Cafardo's eyes and by UZR (or the facsimile thereof used by the Sox).

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

So he uses Cliff Lee in 2007 as his "prime" example of how a trip to the minors might send a message. But did he actually look to see the circumstances in which Lee was demoted?

He started the season on the DL, returned in May and ran off a record of 5-8, 6.38 ERA, 1.53 WHIP in 16 starts. His next to last start before the demotion, he plunked Sammy Sosa in the head and had a heated confrontation over it with his own catcher (VMart). He had a shit start the next time out, and the team shipped him to Buffalo to get his head straight. It may have been an addition by subtraction thing as much as anything, for a team in a pennant race, seeing as it came at the end of July.

Lester's had three bad starts. No real need for a "wake up call" of any kind after three starts. Any way the Globe can send Cafardo down to the Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise for a wake up call?

 

[Mueller's Twin Grannies]

QUOTE (Red(s)HawksFan @ Apr 20 2010, 06:58 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2912514
Any way the Globe can send Cafardo down to the Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise for a wake up call?


What did the people of the greater Fitchburg-Leominster area do to you?

 

[Titoschew]

I would have thought Cafardo would save this golden tidbit for Sunday's notes.

QUOTE
Where does this hate come from?

According to a story in the Wall Street Journal, the Sox are the second-most hated team in baseball according to a formula developed by Nielsen. Second to the Cleveland Indians? Didn't know anyone even cared about the Indians, let alone hate them.

The Yankees, with 27 championships, were ranked fourth on the hate list and in front of the Yankees and behind the Red Sox were the Reds at No. 3 and Brad Mills' Astros at No. 4.

The formula determines whether consumers have positive, negative or neutral reactions to brands in their online messages. Neilsen's "Sentiment Rankings" range from 5 to minus-5. No team finished with a negative number. But six teams finished with a number lower than 2.

Also in the top 10 were the Chicago White Sox (No. 7), Baltimore Orioles (No. 8), New York Mets (No. 9) and Los Angeles Dodgers (No. 10).

The most popular teams were the Bay Area San Francisco Giants and Oakland A's.

Never had that positive of a reaction to the Giants and A's.

 

[wutang112878]

Wonderful editing in this one:

The Yankees, with 27 championships, were ranked fourth on the hate list and in front of the Yankees and behind the Red Sox were the Reds at No. 3 and Brad Mills' Astros at No. 4.

Actually, Yankees were 5th allowing the Astros to be in front of them. Honestly, whoever edits Cafardo needs to take some blame too

 

[JohntheBaptist]

I don't know, if I were editing his work and operating under the assumption that, for whatever reason, I couldn't just get up and drill him in the skull with a battery- I'd mail it in constantly too. What's the difference?

 

[BellhornsBiatch]

I've mentioned it in this thread before, but on Fridays I don't have to work until 2 o'clock, so I'll drop by the mall in Kingston on my way to work. If you time it just right, you can catch him doing his old-person mall walk. You could pop by Borders and pick him up a copy of Strunk & White's Elements of Style while you're there.

 

[Buffalo Head]

Who has the better Mall Walk, you or him?

 

[joyofsox]

QUOTE (Titoschew @ Apr 29 2010, 01:35 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2935268
I would have thought Cafardo would save this golden tidbit for Sunday's notes.

Looks like that was only a post in Extra Bases. It might still included in his Notes.

 

[Hendu for Kutch]

Pregame Show Today:

"James Shields is the one guy in that Tampa rotation that has the potential to be a #1." Really? I'd put him no better than 4th.

Also...

"He's not trying to strike everyone out this year, which is in turn leading to more strikeouts." Baffling.

 

[CoolPapaBellhorn]

QUOTE (Hendu for Kutch @ May 5 2010, 06:45 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2948513
Pregame Show Today:

"James Shields is the one guy in that Tampa rotation that has the potential to be a #1."

Not Matt Garza, who's pitching like a Cy Young candidate this season. Not David Price, the #1 overall pick. No, James Shields. Nick is just impressed just knows who Shields is because he has a (stupid) nickname.

EDIT: fixed formatting

 

[Wilco's Last Fan]

I used to feel the same way about Cafardo as everyone ("drill him the in the skull with a battery" is an effective metaphor). That changed a couple of weeks ago when I sent him a drunken angry e-mail, in which I pretty much just yelled at him for being so paralyzingly incompetent, and went through his most recent article and picked it apart bit-by-bit.

He responded in the way I imagine an abused puppy would if it had the capacity to e-mail, short and sad. Now I just feel bad.

 

[Blacken]

QUOTE (Wilco's Last Fan @ May 6 2010, 12:59 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2949767
I used to feel the same way about Cafardo as everyone ("drill him the in the skull with a battery" is an effective metaphor). That changed a couple of weeks ago when I sent him a drunken angry e-mail, in which I pretty much just yelled at him for being so paralyzingly incompetent, and went through his most recent article and picked it apart bit-by-bit.

He responded in the way I imagine an abused puppy would if it had the capacity to e-mail, short and sad. Now I just feel bad.
Paste it. I'm begging you.

 

[Wilco's Last Fan]

QUOTE (Blacken @ May 6 2010, 04:49 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2949828
Paste it. I'm begging you.


A lot of the stuff I said has been largely addressed here (I have to admit I stole the Cliff Lee stats straight off Red(s)HawksFan's post, which is lame and I apologize), but here it is. It's in reference to his entry called "High Anxiety", which was the subject of the e-mail I sent:

"Dear Mr. Cafardo,

There comes a time in every young man's life when he must exercise his right to be a pretentious jerk for the good of all mankind. Tonight, that time has come for me. Let's begin with the Jon Lester/Cliff Lee comparison you made. Cliff Lee in 2007 started the season on the DL, went 5-8 with a 6.38 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP in 16 starts, then went beserk on Sammy Sosa and our very own Victor Martinez. They sent him to Buffalo as much to fix his headcased-ness [interjection: I understand the hypocrisy of using a neologism in an e-mail to a sportswriter that includes a criticism of his grammar. but PBR is cheap, even for college kids] as his mechanics. Meanwhile, Lester has had three bad starts. Three. In what has historically been his worst part of the season (April-May). So on the subject of strong messages, perhaps the Globe should send you a "strong message" and fire your sorry ass given your much longer period of suckitude [there's another one].

Oh, and adorable potshot at UZR. You do realize a) The RedSox don't USE UZR, b) you're looking at a sample size of about ten games, and c) Cameron was hurt for some if not all those games (you try doing anything with a torn stomach muscle, let alone play Center in Fenway).

I've come to the conclusion that it's in the best interests of everyone (yourself included, considering how joyless you must be to do such a terrible job) that you should absolutely quit writing. You're not only a horrifically untalented writer (as evidenced by this Chirnoble of a sentence: Jacoby Ellsbury probably need a couple more games off, according to Francona, but Ellsbury said he could be ready as early as Wednesday. Now that's an optimistic viewpoint since Ellsbury said there was much difference between how he felt after his collision with Bill Hall Sunday in KC and now.) you also lean on the same two or three sources (really? Nobody cares about Gary freaking Sheffield, it is NOT NEWS when you report that he may consider signing with some team in some league at some point in the future) and write stupid uninformative fluff about Manny's HOF prospects and Tom Glavine's office jobs in the second week of the season (you have NOTHING better to write about than that?)

Please, stop. You're a hack. I'm aware this comes off as incredibly mean, but somebody needs to say this to you. And if you think I'm being a coward by e-mailing this to you, then I'll be happy to come by the office and tell it to your face when I get home from school.

Best,
Jim"


And his response was simply "Thanks for your input, James. I would never be as disrespectful to you." So now, I feel kinda badly about the whole situation.

Course, I'll feel much worse once the realization that I've shared this letter with a hundred other people arrives.

 

[Byrdbrain]

Wow that is quite an email.
You really made some great points, I assume Nick is too far gone for saving but maybe with your email in mind he might give a tiny but more effort and not suck quite so much. Nah


And James Shields isn't remotely close to the best pitcher on that staff and likely has about reached his peak while Price is just getting started.

 

[Gambler7]

QUOTE
And his response was simply "Thanks for your input, James. I would never be as disrespectful to you." So now, I feel kinda badly about the whole situation.

He may suck at his job (or maybe it's a lack of effort) but I've met him a couple different times, both at the Winter Meetings, and he was a very nice guy. Always willing to talk, very amicable.

Not sure what you expect to get back with an e-mail like that.

 

[Wilco's Last Fan]

QUOTE (Gambler7 @ May 6 2010, 07:47 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2949857
He may suck at his job (or maybe it's a lack of effort) but I've met him a couple different times, both at the Winter Meetings, and he was a very nice guy. Always willing to talk, very amicable.

Not sure what you expect to get back with an e-mail like that.


exactly. the quintessential bad decision on my part. this kind of shit should should be warranted for people who do actual evil, like Tucker Carlson.

 

[johnmd20]

QUOTE (Wilco's Last Fan @ May 6 2010, 07:19 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2949848
And his response was simply "Thanks for your input, James. I would never be as disrespectful to you." So now, I feel kinda badly about the whole situation.

Course, I'll feel much worse once the realization that I've shared this letter with a hundred other people arrives.

Too many parentheses and you spelled Chernobyl incorrectly. When mocking someone's Chernobyl of a sentence, you just have to spell the word correctly.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

QUOTE (Gambler7 @ May 6 2010, 07:47 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2949857
He may suck at his job (or maybe it's a lack of effort) but I've met him a couple different times, both at the Winter Meetings, and he was a very nice guy. Always willing to talk, very amicable.

Not sure what you expect to get back with an e-mail like that.

All of my criticisms of Nick over the years (and there have been a great many) have come with the caveat that everything I've heard about the guy is that he's a helluva nice guy personally.

Doesn't help his writing any, of course, and his expiration date has been passed long ago, but this isn't CHB or Borges or Mariotti we're talking about.

 

[Hendu for Kutch]

I don't care how nice he is, he's a lazy writer. He can donate his kidneys to African orphans and give mouth-to-mouth to dying baby sea otters. That's great. But if he sucks at his job, that's the only exposure I have to the guy. And he certainly does suck at his job. Why does he deserve respect when he doesn't respect the audience enough to put in the required effort to do a good job?

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

QUOTE (Hendu for Kutch @ May 6 2010, 09:13 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2949934
I don't care how nice he is, he's a lazy writer. He can donate his kidneys to African orphans and give mouth-to-mouth to dying baby sea otters. That's great. But if he sucks at his job, that's the only exposure I have to the guy. And he certainly does suck at his job. Why does he deserve respect when he doesn't respect the audience enough to put in the required effort to do a good job?

I don't disagree at all; as a writer he's awful, uninformed, and so old school as to be a living dinosaur.

Just wanted to add the data point. As I said I've been extremely critical of his work.

 

[Fratboy]

Your email had zero impact on him. You went off on him and offered nothing constructive. It was as useless as his daily meanderings.

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

QUOTE (Smiling Joe Hesketh @ May 6 2010, 10:30 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2950031
I don't disagree at all; as a writer he's awful, uninformed, and so old school as to be a living dinosaur.

Just wanted to add the data point. As I said I've been extremely critical of his work.


Thanks for clearing that up


Who posted in: Nick Cafardo: take the buyout, please
Poster Posts
John Marzano Olympic Hero 50
MyDaughterLovesTomGordon 39
Smiling Joe Hesketh 31

 

[Wilco's Last Fan]

QUOTE (johnmd20 @ May 6 2010, 08:06 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2949864
Too many parentheses and you spelled Chernobyl incorrectly. When mocking someone's Chernobyl of a sentence, you just have to spell the word correctly.


Lousy Ukraine. Stupid drunken syntax.

Yeah, everyone's right, it was no good and pointless- but like i said, i was angry and inebriated. one of those bad days where you feel like taking it out on some peripheral character in your life. i only put it up because Blacken asked me to, I have no intent of being praised or considered a "hero." it's something i feel guilty about but i felt was relevant to this thread. carry on

 

[MyDaughterLovesTomGordon]

QUOTE (Lose Remerswaal @ May 6 2010, 11:16 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2950111
Who posted in: Nick Cafardo: take the buyout, please
Poster Posts
John Marzano Olympic Hero 50
MyDaughterLovesTomGordon 39
Smiling Joe Hesketh 31


Damn, JMOH is kicking my ass.

To add my two cents, as someone who's been even more critical than Smiling Joe, I'll agree that I don't believe Nick is a malicious dick like plenty of other willfully ignorant and incendiary sports writers. I just think he a: doesn't really like or care about baseball that much, but does care about the people who play the sport, which leads to sentimental pap; b: sees the world through a really simplistic, black-and-white moral lens; c: isn't mentally capable of doing the kind of analysis that would lead us to enjoy his writing from an intellectual point of view; d: isn't a good enough reporter or outgoing enough to gather the kinds of sources that would lead us to enjoy his reporting from an intellectual point of view; and e: just isn't the kind of natural writer for whom writing comes easy and leads to us enjoying his writing from an artistic point of view.

Thus, he's particularly ill-suited to a job that most of us would like to be filled by someone who is more suited because we like and care about baseball and want to be educated by one of the legacy sports sections that many of us have learned from in the past.

And, as I've said in the past, much of his suckitude falls on the shoulders of his editor, who should be helping Nick elevate his game, and either clearly isn't or Nick's raw copy is so bad there's not much the person can do other than to get it to a place that's readable.

 

[Dummy Hoy]

Opening section of this morning's notes column summed up why Cafardo is bad. He suggests that there is a certain buzz lacking around Fenway this season, and it's because the Red Sox lack sexy sexy star power. (So there's Nick's prospensity for not understanding how to win games) And at the end of the piece he praises Theo for chasing Felix Hernandez last season, saying that Hernandez "is an event." (There appears to be Nick's inability to follow baseball- sure doesn't seem like he knew Hernandez signed an extension, does it?)

Oh- the now obligatory "but I've heard he's a nice guy"

 

[David Laurila]

QUOTE (Dummy Hoy @ May 9 2010, 04:07 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2956296
Opening section of this morning's notes column summed up why Cafardo is bad. He suggests that there is a certain buzz lacking around Fenway this season, and it's because the Red Sox lack sexy sexy star power. (So there's Nick's prospensity for not understanding how to win games) And at the end of the piece he praises Theo for chasing Felix Hernandez last season, saying that Hernandez "is an event." (There appears to be Nick's inability to follow baseball- sure doesn't seem like he knew Hernandez signed an extension, does it?)

Oh- the now obligatory "but I've heard he's a nice guy"


Do you really feel that Cafardo is wrong in saying that the team lacks a big-time gate attraction or that Felix Hernandez is "an event" like the players he cited: Clemens, Pedro, Ortiz in his prime, etc? I think he is totally spot on. The team obviously has some very good players, but Lester, Pedroia and Youkilis aren't in the same star-power category [at least not yet].

Also, what does Hernandez signing an extension have to do with Theo having targeted him at last year's trading deadline and prior to this season?

 

[Dummy Hoy]

QUOTE (David Laurila @ May 9 2010, 11:39 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2956307
Do you really feel that Cafardo is wrong in saying that the team lacks a big-time gate attraction or that Felix Hernandez is "an event" like the players he cited: Clemens, Pedro, Ortiz in his prime, etc? I think he is totally spot on. The team obviously has some very good players, but Lester, Pedroia and Youkilis aren't in the same star-power category [at least not yet].

Also, what does Hernandez signing an extension have to do with Theo having targeted him at last year's trading deadline and prior to this season?


I don't think having a "star attraction" player means a goddamn thing. Look at all star voting every year, the "stars" are picked, while often a better player doesn't get selected. I don't see why we need a "big time gate attraction" to be a successful baseball team. Of course it's great to go see Pedro pitch, or Manny hit, but that's a treat and a rarity, not something that every team has all the time. And if he was just beating the drum about how we failed in this offseason to get a big bat "name" player, then that's even worse as far as I'm concerned.

If you read that whole piece, it sure sounds like he is suggesting that Hernandez is a guy the Sox could get to fix the "problem" they have of a lack of sexiness. Maybe I misread that, which is why I suggested that "it appears" that's what he thought.

 

[Commander Shears]

I'm just thrilled to get my Koby Clemens fix. According to one scout, "To think he could make it to the big leagues is a legitimate possibility" so clearly he merits weekly status updates in a different market. Heck, his father played here less than two decades ago! I wonder what Marty Barrrett's pet cat is up to this week.

 

[David Laurila]

QUOTE (Dummy Hoy @ May 9 2010, 04:44 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2956342
I don't see why we need a "big time gate attraction" to be a successful baseball team.

If you read that whole piece...


I did read the whole piece, which includes:

"It doesn’t mean you’re not a good team if you don’t have this. The Sox could very well end up being a very good team in 2010, but if so, they’ll do it without the marquee player."

 

[Dummy Hoy]

QUOTE (David Laurila @ May 9 2010, 01:59 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2956383
I did read the whole piece, which includes:

"It doesn’t mean you’re not a good team if you don’t have this. The Sox could very well end up being a very good team in 2010, but if so, they’ll do it without the marquee player."


Fair enough, although you just did a nice job of using one quote of mine to address a different point. Very clever Mr. Laurila.

 

[MyDaughterLovesTomGordon]

I thought the "Sox don't have sex appeal" angle was fine - at some level baseball is entertainment. But I still thought he was wrong. He dismisses Pedroia pretty quickly for a rookie of the year/MVP and a guy who was featured prominently in a major video game campaign. He's entertaining as hell, and a helluva ballplayer, in old timer's parlance. He throws his body all over the place, hits the ball hard all the time and runs like his ass is on fire.

And what does Youkilis have to do to get mentioned with the big-name stars? The last three years he's won a gold glove, then finished 3 and 6 in the MVP voting. He's put up OPS+ of 143 and 145 in the last two years. He's been third and fifth in slugging, the power stat, so he's not just an OBP guy by any means.

I'd much rather watch Kevin Youkilis play than Wade Boggs. Like every one of his at bats was an event? I think the Jon Lester story is a pretty damn good one, too.

Do the Yankees have MORE star power? Absolutely. A-Rod, Jeter, and Mariano are all complete-lock hall of famers (assuming the resentment toward PEDs has died down by the time A-Rod's eligible). But most of the lack of star-power-ness in the Sox clubhouse comes from the shit attitude they're all carrying around because of the shit way they're playing. (And it may be that those guys aren't really stars if they can't rally their team, blah, blah, it's true.)

So, I think it's an interesting discussion, and it's the type of human interesty thing Cafardo is good at. He likes people and gossipy type stuff like the Koby Clemens bit which was, you'll note, an update on an A-ball player. He doesn't even write about Sox players in A-ball. No one at the Globe does.

But - and it took me a long time to get around to this - the worst of the column was a throwaway line about all of Boras' one-year deals paying off because they're all having "very good years."

This is why I figure Cafardo doesn't actually watch the games: Adrian Beltre is having a "very good year?" On what planet? Sure, he's at .801 OPS, which is a bit above average overall, but his value is in his glove. You don't pay $9 million a year for an OPS+ of 112. You pay that for an OPS+ of 112 and GREAT DEFENSE. But Beltre has been terrible - and I don't just mean the errors, though they've been terrible. I mean this guy's head is up his ass. Doesn't come home when he's supposed to, isn't covering the bag properly, is erratic with his throws, and looks lost out there. Where have you gone Shea Hillenbrand?

Does Cafardo think Beltre has increased his value and likelihood of getting a multi-year deal at more than $9 million per? I absolutely don't think so. I think his value is eroding daily right now, despite his empty .327 batting average. He has nine extra base hits in 30 games. Nine. David Ortiz also has nine. JD Drew has 12 and has 30 points more of OPS, but he's been struggling, right Nick?

It's a tossaway comment, I understand, but it's so dead wrong it makes me question everything else.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

This was a terrible column. So, the Sox' roster is made up of players that were a part of the 2007 World Champions (Beckett, Lester, Youkilis, Pedroia, Ortiz, Lowell, Drew, Ellsbury and Papelbon to name a few), I don't remember anyone being upset that the team was without any "star power". Of course, Manny was still with the team, but was Manny the only star? No. The team was the star.

This year, the team sucks. Even if Manny or any other "star" was on this team would that make this year's Red Sox more interesting to watch? Probably not. And aside from Teixeira, the Yankees have had the same stars on their team and they haven't won anything until last year. Ask a Yankee fan if they liked all of the star power on teams from 2001-2008.

And the way that he just slufs off Pedroia, Youkilis, Papelbon, Lester and Beckett is pretty lame. Sure these are all all-stars, but they don't make me wet my pants like the Yankees do.

The Clemens updates are garbage too. He might be a major leaguer, he might not--but he's the son of my binkie!

 

[joyofsox]

QUOTE
You’ll note that at last season’s trading deadline and again during the offseason, one of the pitchers Epstein targeted was Felix Hernandez. Now there’s an event.
Is Nick saying Theo should make another push for Felix?

Considering Hernandez signed an extension with the Mariners to take him thru 2014, Theo is unlikely to swing a deal this summer.

 

[bd11]

QUOTE (MyDaughterLovesTomGordon @ May 9 2010, 03:04 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2956432
But - and it took me a long time to get around to this - the worst of the column was a throwaway line about all of Boras' one-year deals paying off because they're all having "very good years."

This is why I figure Cafardo doesn't actually watch the games: Adrian Beltre is having a "very good year?" On what planet? Sure, he's at .801 OPS, which is a bit above average overall, but his value is in his glove. You don't pay $9 million a year for an OPS+ of 112. You pay that for an OPS+ of 112 and GREAT DEFENSE. But Beltre has been terrible - and I don't just mean the errors, though they've been terrible. I mean this guy's head is up his ass. Doesn't come home when he's supposed to, isn't covering the bag properly, is erratic with his throws, and looks lost out there. Where have you gone Shea Hillenbrand?

Does Cafardo think Beltre has increased his value and likelihood of getting a multi-year deal at more than $9 million per? I absolutely don't think so. I think his value is eroding daily right now, despite his empty .327 batting average. He has nine extra base hits in 30 games. Nine. David Ortiz also has nine. JD Drew has 12 and has 30 points more of OPS, but he's been struggling, right Nick?

It's a tossaway comment, I understand, but it's so dead wrong it makes me question everything else.


Agreed. Those of us who watch the games also know that an amazing number of Beltre's hits have been of the cheap variety where he has one handed soft liners after being fooled by offspeed stuff. Obviously those hits are not sustainable and lead one to expect the law of averages to come into play and lessen his "very good year."

I do think Nick's star power angle is something that has occurred to a number of people and a fair point, though I do consider Pedroia a star and in the category to which he refers.

The Felix point? No clue.

 

[BannedbyNYYFans.com]

QUOTE (MyDaughterLovesTomGordon @ May 9 2010, 11:04 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2956432
This is why I figure Cafardo doesn't actually watch the games: Adrian Beltre is having a "very good year?" On what planet? Sure, he's at .801 OPS, which is a bit above average overall, but his value is in his glove. You don't pay $9 million a year for an OPS+ of 112. You pay that for an OPS+ of 112 and GREAT DEFENSE. But Beltre has been terrible - and I don't just mean the errors, though they've been terrible. I mean this guy's head is up his ass. Doesn't come home when he's supposed to, isn't covering the bag properly, is erratic with his throws, and looks lost out there. Where have you gone Shea Hillenbrand?

Does Cafardo think Beltre has increased his value and likelihood of getting a multi-year deal at more than $9 million per? I absolutely don't think so. I think his value is eroding daily right now, despite his empty .327 batting average. He has nine extra base hits in 30 games. Nine. David Ortiz also has nine. JD Drew has 12 and has 30 points more of OPS, but he's been struggling, right Nick?


Great post, especially the Beltre part. But I wanted to point out that Clueless Nick isn't alone. I heard both Tony Mazz (on 98.5) say and Steve Buckley (on The Baseball Show) say the same thing this week - that Beltre will surely opt out of his contract if he continues to hit at his current rate because there will be a much better contract waiting for him...really? Like you stated, do they even watch these fucking games?

 

[E5 Yaz]

This is not written in defense of Cafardo, (even though it will sound like it) but from the viewpoint of (against my better judgment) reading this thread every week.

Instead of picking apart his column every week, how about those of you spending so much time posting your reactions give us a weekly taste of your own thoughts about the state of the Red Sox and issues in and around baseball? We could call it something like "Instead of reading Nick Cafardo this week, read this."

Now, obviously, Cafardo's critics here aren't likely to have the sources he does (unnamed or otherwise), so your weekly pieces will have to rely on what you gather from other media, presented from your own points of view. That's fine; many of us would like to read what you have to say.

So, how about it? Instead of measuring who's been more critical of the guy than other posters have, show us what you have to offer.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

E5, why should we do this? I have a real 40-hour-a-week job, a two-year-old and a wife and furthermore, I don't have the contacts that Nick Cafardo does. This is not only Nick Cafardo's job, it's his profession. Plus, the purpose of the baseball notes isn't to offer a weekly round-up of what we already know, it's to provide his expert analysis and to unearth stories that we don't already know about (and this isn't being snarky, it's true).

I mean if it's as easy as you say, the Globe should just fire Cafardo and replace him with an intern that can compile the best from Prosportsdaily, Rotoworld, ESPN Insider or myriad other sites. Most of us check out sites like that daily, why would we want to read the same thing on Sunday?

Shifting the focus to us, to do Cafardo's work, is a pretty dumb suggestion.

 

[JimD]

If a Jon Lester start is not yet considered an 'event', it soon will be.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

You know what else is pretty messed up, I was thinking about this last night, the Yankees do have a ton of "stars" but they're still in second place in the American League East behind the Rays. Tampa Bay has one (maybe two if count Carl Crawford) recognizable stars and that's Evan Longoria. Yet, they probably have the best team in the majors.

In closing; the sun rises in the east, ice cream tastes best when cold and Nick Cafardo just completely sucks.