Thursday night links, as the Rangers and Yankees move one win closer to meeting in the ALCS….
- The Mets will interview three GM candidates in the coming week, tweets Andy Martino of the New York Daily News: Rick Hahn, Allard Baird, and Josh Byrnes.
- Terry Francona hinted in a WEEI interview that Jason Varitek's time as a Red Sox may be nearing an end, says Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe.
- When asked about the possibility of returning to Tampa Bay next year, Carl Crawford replied, "You always keep that little ounce of hope," according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter).
- Danny Knobler of CBS Sports (Twitter link) thinks former Pirates manager and current Tigers hitting coach Lloyd McClendon should be getting consideration for managerial openings around the league.
McClendon is still in baseball?
Nah, McClendon left baseball when he took the Pirates managing job.
I don’t see how any team would seriously consider Lloyd McClendon as their manager. Lloyd was not given a real competitive team when he managed in Pittsburgh, but he did not really establish himself in any component of being a “field general”. Yes, his talent was not great, but teaching and effective game strategy were never consistent with the teams he managed. To top this off, he did not establish himself as a better hitting coach,as Detroit hitters have greatly underperformed under his tutelage. At one point, he was close to be fired in Detroit…. I just cannot see him bringing too much to the managerial table
As a Tigers fan, I couldn’t agree more. THe Tigers manage to hit well in the beginning of every season, but by the All Star break need help….. Lloyd Mclendon has shown an inability to teach, or improve hitters (eg. Brandon Inge). The only good thing about him being looked at as a Manager elsewhere is that it would mean that he would be leaving Detroit. Maybe Leyland won’t be too far behind.
I think Crawford is overrated, is good but not the great player who many teams want , he´s not Braun or Carlos Gonzalez, not deserve 20 M per year…
Braun plays a completely different game than Crawford, same with Gonzalez so I don’t understand how you can compare those 2 with him.
And he is deserving of at least 18 million. Won’t be the same thing in 4-5 years but he is definitely worth that right now, if not more.
no Sandy Alderson ?
figures Jeff would be too scared
So, what the $%# is up with Joe Maddons lineups? I seriously do not understand the way that mans mind works. Check swing or not, getting shut out 2-0 isn’t much better than 6-0
I’m more annoyed by his overuse of the bullpen, I get that it’s the playoffs and everything, but pulling Shields after 4 1/3 because he gave up a whole 2 runs? All that accomplishes is to expose the bullpen to too many extra innings of strain.
But the Rays bullpen has been pretty dominant. I don’t think the Rangers have scored a single run after the 6th inning. Pitching James Shields over Garza? Shields could have EASILY picked off Elvis, and faked to third instead. Zobrist at first? In the post season? Batting Shoppach over Jaso? Putting Baldelli on the roster despite having 47 at bats? It’s puzzling to say the least.
Oh, not saying Maddon is acting like a genius. Just as someone who doesn’t really follow the Rays that closely, I get to stick more to general complaints.
I mean how about him charging the field today to moan about Young’s homerun? Do you really think they’re going to overturn a clear homerun because of a bad call the pitch before? And what does it really accomplish anyway, all it did was get him booted and the team even more frustrated (evidenced by Shoppach’s little hissy fit when he got k’d and didn’t realize it.).
Both Shields and Garza pitch better at home but my guess is that Madden felt that Shields needed the home field advantage more than Garza. Plus I think an arguement can be made that Madden overreacted by taking Shields out after 68 pitches down 2-0 w/ 2 runners on.
You’re right, the decision to pitch Shields over Garza is totally overblown…even I placed too much emphasis on it. But you can’t argue that the lineups/defense configuration doesn’t make the least bit of sense
Shields shouldn’t have even been on the post season roster. Nieman was better down the stretch (or Hellickson)..that being said, Seaver or Palmer pitching in there primes wouldn’t have made a difference if you cant score…
McLendon? He’s not even a good hitting coach! Leyland made him the bullpen coach, with no credentials for that job, and then he went from being a pitching expert to being a hitting expert over night when Don Slaught left the staff after the 2006 season. McLendon’s credentials are 1) he’s Leyland’s buddy and 2) see No. 1. He’d surely satisfy the requirement for clubs to do a token interview with a minority candidate if Juan Samuel isn’t available, though.
Allard Baird….as much as I dislike him for his Royals years, it could be an interesting hire for the Mets…but then again, the main problem during his tenure in KC was a meddlesome owner, which the Mets seem to have. Still, I’m kind of glad to see him get a chance again.
Tek had a good run in Boston. He’ll be back as part of the coaching staff one day if he does not return as a player.
I wonder if there’s any chance Varitek would consider joinging the coaching staff as a player/coach..meaning he would have a chance (if he wanted to) to sub in as a 3rd stringer if ever needed? Didn’t Baldeli play on the Rays even while he was a coach?
Baldelli was playing for the Rays A ball team here in Florida most of the summer getting himself back into shape and before that just working with the team, though maybe he was instructing the players some before the games in a uniform. I don’t think he was ever a part of the official coaching staff however.
I wonder if Boston would be planning on offering up Tek arbitration this season again, counting on Boras to refuse if as he always does? it is awfully hard to argue “intangibles” in an arbitration case when the statistics that tek has put up, both offensive and defensive over the last 2 years are as lousy as his are. Can’t hit/has not hit after May and unable to throw out the slowest of baserunners, hard to spin that into anything and he only made 3M last season.
Not that want him back at all next year, Salty would be a better backup.
Rocco started the season as a roving Minor League instructor in the Rays system after getting no bites as a player, but was working out the whole time. In July he signed a Minor League deal and began playing for the Charlotte Stone Crabs.
So, yes, he was officially a coach.
Thx. watched some games here on TV and remembered seeing him, couldn’t even remember which A ball team it was.
Always liked the guy and hope he can continue to play some for them.
Crawford is not overrated he is on the team he came up with and when they were getting tossed under the bus every season he didn’t cry he played his butt off
NOW the team ( well sans the poor play this post season THUS far) he is still a high end free agent at 26 he is worth upwards of 13+ mill year for 5 years with an option of two
I am not a big fan of 10 yr deals anything can happen in that amount of time but the contracts re hard to dump if they are high and the players ends up being a bust, and the GM needs to dump
5 years with options seems sensible, We all have seen Crawfords at bats, his OPS his Batting Av. his ability to be the thief of the day, and runs scored is amongst the highest
and His glove is awesome as well, Carl knows he is about to get offers that will blow his mind but in the end it is up to him his family and his agent, I do not think that the Angels will be strong in interviewing him, Morenos squad is weak
ny might have a chance just for the heck of it might offer him a 10 yr deal for like 14 a year ( when don’t they?)
yet it all comes down to who offers the best contract, where is the location AND for how long
maybe I am misreading what you’re saying, but crawford isn’t 26 he’s 28, so yeah makes a difference, as you have less years of him in his “prime” or where people notice people in their prime…not going to guess how crawford will age, but looking at this arbitrarily,that age difference can make a difference in $$ and years received
I like how he says he has that little ounce of hope. Well, since the decision is ultimately up to Crawford, he can choose to take less money and stay in Tampa, if that’s what he really wants. They can’t afford to spend on par with the Yankees, Sox or Angels, but I can’t stand the little comments the players make to appease the fans when they know they’re going to take the money and run.
Can’t blame the players… You make absurd amounts of money when you’re playing for an MLB team
Can’t blame the players… You make absurd amounts of money when you’re playing for an MLB team