After one of the greatest, wildest, sloppiest and most exciting games in baseball history, we're going to see a Game Seven tomorrow night. It will be the first seventh game in the Series since the Angels needed the maximum to beat the Giants in 2002.
As we prepare for the last game of 2011, here are some news items….
- In an interview with 620-WDAE radio (reported on by Joe Smith of the St. Petersburg Times), James Shields says he thinks the Rays will pick up his $7MM option for 2012 and he will pitch for the team next season. The Rays are a near-lock to pick up Shields' option but they could shop the right-hander for a trade this winter.
- Smith also notes that Shields' option could be worth as much as $8MM depending on an innings-pitched incentive clause and how Shields fares in AL Cy Young voting.
- Jason Giambi is considering declining his side of his $1MM mutual option for 2012, writes Troy Renck of the Denver Post. We heard last month that the Rockies were going to pick up their side of the option, so the decision appears to be up to Giambi.
- If Grady Sizemore had played his exact career with another team and the Indians had a chance to sign him, the Tribe wouldn't even consider the move, argues Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. That's how Pluto frames the Indians' decision about Sizemore's $9MM option for 2012.
- The Red Sox and Giants will both be contenders for Carlos Beltran this winter, reports Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated (Twitter link).
- The Angels should rehire former scouting director Eddie Bane, opines Mark Saxon of ESPN Los Angeles. Bane was fired by then-GM Tony Reagins last year but still has a good relationship with owner Arte Moreno and team president John Carpino.
- The week's minor league transactions are recapped by Matt Eddy of Baseball America.
- After getting burned on the Michael Gonzalez and Kevin Gregg signings, "it’s unlikely that the Orioles will spend big money on a closer" this winter, says Rich Dubroff of CSNBaltimore.com.
I love the smile on Ryan’s wife’s face even better. I have a feeling she enjoys it when his team loses. Funny as hell.
No chance whatsoever that the Sox commit the $18MM per season that would be required to sign Beltran. That would essentially mean we’d have $44MM committed to our outfield (assuming Ells gets $5.5MM or so in arbitration), which is a ridiculously large financial commitment. Right field will either go to Ryan Kalish or Michael Cuddyer, I predict. And the outfield salary will be no more than $31MM.
Exactly. Why would the Red Sox sign an aging outfielder who wants a lot of money & a lot of years when they have Kalish/Reddick and they can sign someone cheaper anyway? Especially with the money spent on Crawford.
If they do that, I lose all faith in this organization. He’d just be another over-paid washed up superstar who takes money away from positions they really need to help (pitching) & who block the younger guys from coming up.
Cameron didn’t work and I doubt Beltran would. Different players, but they give the same field — they are injured & older and Cameron was one of the more puzzling things that Epstein did, which is saying something.
“If they do that, I lose all faith in this organization.”
Then go root for someone else. Have faith or don’t. Don’t make it conditional on one player who hasn’t even suited up in a Red Sox uniform.
As for Beltran, no one is going to give him $18M a year and it he wouldn’t be a bad option on a shorter deal. I’d prefer the Sox sign Cuddyer for the flexibility so they can flip Reddick for pitching but right now, I put my faith in waiting to see what Cherington does.
What keep thinking on is that *if* they try and sign a FA SP, then plan on having Wake around at least in ST they might have ideas of packaging Lowrie and Reddick, or Kalsih for some kind of RF fix. Would prefer for them to hang onto the versitile Lowrie, but with Aviles he really is expendable if they could find a suitor with a fair OF to move him to.
cuddyer would be a better option than carlos
i was rooting for the rangers at the start, but i found myself rooting for the cardinals by the eighth inning
How do you pitch to Berkman in that situation. Dude already hit a home run. Is hitting like .500 I’m. Sorry but you dont walk Albert ” I have one hit in three games” pujols. At least you walk Albert and berk. You still save a run even with the basesloaded. I’m sorry I respect Tony and all he has done but he over manages like crazy. And Washington is a great cheer leader but he has not clue what he is doing.
Because if you don’t walk Pujols there and he hits a two-run homer, you should and would deserve to be fired. He’s the best hitter in baseball and you just let him beat you. But then if you walk Berkman as well, you have the winning run on second base, so a mere single loses you the game — and Allen Craig has been ridiculous this series. They were lucky not to lose it in the 10th. Oliver, who has been awesome all year, didn’t do his job against two so-so lefty hitters. There wasn’t much Washington could do about that.
Any manager making decisions because he’s scared of getting fired in the World Series deserves to get fired. Walking Pujols was the wrong decision.
walking pujols is never a wrong decision..
Despite that “one hit in three games” garbage, Pujols had a 1.109 OPS this series going into last night. Of his six hits in the series, four have been for extra bases and three of those home runs.
Small sample size aside, Pujols is the best hitter in the game right now and walking him when there’s a base open is going to be the right decision 99 times out of 100 and it will have been the smart decision the hundredth time.
Just curious.. Read the story and it did not mention this and would like to know. Is that the same Eddie “Wolfman” Bane perhaps who used to pitch for the Twins back in the 70’s??
Scratch that.. It is. LOL Looked it up on wikepidia page.
Its statements that Bane made like “I came here to see this guy hit, not take a walk” that has produced the hackers presently on the Angels, and he should have been fired a long time ago for his incompetence. Its not “the Wrath of Reagins”, it was the right thing to do.
This game is what makes baseball different from all the other sports, the drama of the game coming down to the last pitch twice, then the hometown kid wins the game. It was one of the best series games of all time.
Yes. Red Sox, please sign Beltran. Hahaha.
Seriously, after the whole bullpen fiasco, and now a win like this. Seems like a damn movie script! Cards win game 7.
Joe Carter all day…
I think more people like the great hitting games than the great pitching games. This one came down to the last pitch twice, not to many of those. I just hope the Rangers players can handle it if they lose, remember Donny Moore in with the Angels!
This season was great the biggest collapse of all time, and the best series game of all time!
I do agree with you on Game 7. In terms of the entirety of the game and the tension from the outset it was simply fantastic. But last night was great, even though I am pulling for the Rangers.