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Post by MRPs_Missives on Jun 17, 2024 11:43:00 GMT -5
I'm not sold on Hamilton yet (where would he play once Mayer is here?) but Abreu and rafela seem legit and Duran seems to be past his mental issues of the past. It will be interesting what they do... they COULD be a wild card team with one more solid starter... but is that worth it? Will they trade Jansen and O'Neil for more prospects? Seems like Mayer, Keel and Anthony could all be ready next year...and of course the hope is Grissom won't suck at some point. They DO have a bit of a log jam for infield (IF the prospects all pan out) so trading Yorke or Hamilton for a starter doesn't seem too unreasonable... At this point, I'd prefer Hamilton over Grissom at 2B. And with the number of injuries the Sox have had not only this season but in past seasons (last season was mostly a lost season for Mayer as he tried to play though an injury early and made it worse), having infield depth is not a bad thing. I think Yoshida might be another potential trade candidate, and if they move him and O'Neil, that opens up the DH spot for some of those guys to get at bats in. They also need to consider bullpen depth if they move Jansen and Martin. Nothing about Hendricks is a given considering the injury he's coming back from. On paper he's a closer waiting in the wings, but who knows. They also need to figure out what they have with Bryan Mata when he's ready to come off the IL; he's out of options so they can't send him down to the minors without DFAing him and exposing him to waivers. They also have Story's contract to contend with next season in the infield mix as well, and not sure what trade value he might have coming off his injuries. There's still a lot of questions surrounding the team, and personally, I'm not sold on Yorke or Mayer yet, so I'm not willing to trade away players who are actually producing at the MLB level to make room for them yet. And Hamilton (like Duran) is one of the Sox prospects I was rooting for, though with David it was more of a rooting for the underdog to make it not rooting for a guy who dazzled in the minors to succeed at the MLB level. But I've always been a guy who thinks speed plays at the MLB level and speed doesn't slump. There's a lot of ways Hamilton can contribute at the MLB level with that speed even if he isn't an everyday starter. I'd like to see him stick around. Having him and other speed guys like Duran and Rafaela and Abreu gives the Sox a dynamic on offense, an ability to make things happen on the bases, that a lot of other teams don't have. Home runs are sexy (and fantasy baseball teams and baseball movies are built on them), but speed wins games, especially close games where one run where taking an extra base or getting into scoring position determines the outcome. -M
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Post by Prince Hal on Jun 17, 2024 13:50:05 GMT -5
MRPs_Missives and@wildfire2099, This past week has given me more hope that this will not be a tank job/ lost cause/ complete fustercluck. If this enthusiasm and steady improvement continue, I'll be a happy Sox fan, despite the constant message from the front office that Henry regards the Sox as a cash cow for his other interests. He would fit in nicely with the management of the New York Knights. He shouldn't be as happy as he is owning a tourist destination for visiting teams' fans instead of a tradition-rich ballclub. And PS, the Yanks, at basically full strength, did not look like the 1927 version by a long shot. And for whatever reason, Sox have owned Cole, so even when he comes back, the head-to-head match-ups won't be the blowouts we dreaded. Love the speed, love it. Forget how exciting it is to watch, it upsets timing, upsets defenses and add so many options ot the offense. Love the improvement in Duran, who continues to excel. He's hitting lefties, he's going the other way (talk about a way to make the most of your speed), he's not a slavish follower of all this launch angle/expected velo, etc. that become impediments to developing into a fully rounded ballplayer, and he has proved again just how exciting triples -- and the possibility of triples -- are. Certainly the first-half MVP for the Sox. I'm so sick of the emphasis on HRs; they are usually the only highlights shown except for strikeouts; the game has been distilled and dumbed down for the casual entertainment fan and the inveterate gamblers. And what's the f'in big deal about whether a blal is hit at a 109 mph velo or a 107 velo? As long as you hit a ball at 95 mph (the low end of "hard-hit" balls), it's going to go somewhere fast. Whether a homer leaves the park at 103 or 108 means nothing to me. Can't believe the improvement in Hamilton's approach and production at the plate. What a bonus they have been! He doesn't have as big an arm as he needs at SS, but he has improved, and that's meant that Rafaella can get back to center. Love the steady improvement, too, from Rafaella and Abreu at the plate. I had said earlier in the season that Abreu is a work in progress, and he is progressing, more at the plate perhaps than in the field, but he's improved there as well. Still does not run best routes to fly balls, like Rafaella, and both lean on their speed to overcome that kind of misjudgment. Many of Abreu's circus catches have come on balls he initially misjudged and then had to put on the jets to just reach. Typical of young players. But at least he hangs onto them, and he is learning a particualrly challenging position on the fly (Sorry.) Both have to become more technically skilled, but I believe they will. Abreu has a cannon, but he is always tempted to show it off. That kind of behavior made Hunter Renfroe and far less productive a player than he appeared. But I don't think Abreu is going to be like that. Pitching is up and down. Bello isn't a head case, perhaps, but he does need maturity; he can't be letting an error or a two-out hit mess with his focus (Houck seems to have made that leap, btw) and find a way to make the big pitch when he has to. Crawford showed a great deal of grit last night after some shakier outings had led to questions after his excellent start. I love the way the Sox are pushing starters to get into the late innings, too. It's working. Bullpen has been outstanding, but bullpens are prone to perplexing inconsistency year-to-year. Hope this one can keep on keeping on. Might make Sox reluctant to mess with anything by trading Jansen. Wong has improved so much at the bat. Not striking out nearly as much as he used too. Devers will never be an Ortiz-type; he is better suited to being the sidekick of a better hitter. Hard to find that kind of hitter, but a reliable right-handed power hitter would be a huge help to him. His defense is still up and down. Superb at times when it's up; miserable and inexplicable when it's down. To be honest, making the playoffs as a wild card would be a mixed blessing; you don't have to be a really good team to make it, so I wouldn't want everybody to get overly excited about it. If anything, this year so far enables to Sox not to rush any of the prospects. I have no problem with those "surefire" guys getting enough true seasoning before they are expected to step in up here. (Bello's a good example of what happens when you pull that trigger too early.) On the minus side, though, the infield defense needs to improve dramatically if a light-hitting group like this wants to stay in games. First base is always dissed as a defense-last position until you watch the likes of Cooper and Smith there. Dalbec is their best defensive first baseman, and I include Casas when I say that. Cooper has been released, bjut Smith is areal liability in the field and at the plate. His problem is one that I think plagues Hamilton: if the play happens quickly and they can field it on reaction and reflex only, they're usually okay. Give them a moment to think about what to do and everything goes kaboom. Valdez is another thing entirley. Does not ave soft hands, tries as hard a s he acn, but he just ain't an infielder, and he is limited b/c he can't move to another IF position as Hamilton and, to his credit, Dalbec can. Also, the team K's way too much. Most teams do these days, and you can play that game if you have a few boppers in the line-up, but Sox don't have the steady threat of a three-run homer coming to the plate and so have to put the ball in play. If they can trade Yoshida now, mid-season or in the off-season, Breslow deserves Exec of the Year Award. Grissom is a complete unknown still, but I still think Sale will be breaking down before the end of August. Go, Sawx!
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Post by Prince Hal on Jun 17, 2024 22:18:42 GMT -5
Boston’s long municipal nightmare is over.
At last, six-year-olds all over New England who have lived their entire lives without seeing a Boston team win a championship can rest easy, as the Celtics just won the NBA title for the 18th time.
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Post by commond on Jun 22, 2024 6:38:56 GMT -5
Super Rugby Final spoilers for berkley: {Spoiler: Click to show} My hometown Blues won their first title in 21 years with a commanding victory over the Chiefs. Most people were expecting a closer game, especially after the Chiefs upset the competition leading Hurricanes. But, as the great Tom Petty said, you take it on faith, you take it to the heart, the waiting is the hardest part.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jun 22, 2024 8:11:20 GMT -5
If I felt confident of Hamilton's defense I'd be on board for sure, but that has been a major weakness for the team. Overall though, the team has been far more fun than expected (honestly I was considering the MLB package this year) so that's been great. And even though I agree it was the right deal at the time and I can't fault management for it, I can't help but wonder where the team would be if they had Sale's 10 wins as the ace of the staff instead of all those bullpen days.
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Post by driver1980 on Jun 22, 2024 10:49:17 GMT -5
A great shot from the MLB’s Twitter account:
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Post by berkley on Jun 22, 2024 14:47:50 GMT -5
Thanks to Commond for using the spoiler tags - I can't quote his post because it uncovers the spoilers. I'm trying to download the super rugby final right now but it's very slow today, for some reason. I've found a site where I can stream it but the picture quality isn't as good as the downloads, I've found.
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Post by berkley on Jun 23, 2024 20:33:12 GMT -5
Super Rugby Final spoilers for berkley: {Spoiler: Click to show} My hometown Blues won their first title in 21 years with a commanding victory over the Chiefs. Most people were expecting a closer game, especially after the Chiefs upset the competition leading Hurricanes. But, as the great Tom Petty said, you take it on faith, you take it to the heart, the waiting is the hardest part. I was so disappointed with the Hurricanes' performance in the semi-final. Collectively and in many cases individually they had a terrible day. I wasn't too surprised that the Chiefs weren't able to replicate their semi-final success in the final. I think they came up with a specific game-plan to disrupt the Hurricanes' offence and it worked beyond their wildest dreams. The Canes were never able to gain the kind of ascendancy they would have needed to dig themselves out of the hole they put themselves in after the first 20. No doubt they tried to come up with an equally effective plan for the Blues but I don't think their more straightforward style of banging it up through the forwards is as easy to interfere with as the Hurricanes' intricate passing and off-loading game.
I hope this is just a step along the way for the Hurricanes and that they'll learn from it as the Blues have from the last few years of being one of the top 2 or 3 teams but not able to get it done at the end until now (barring the Covid season).
I'm very curious to see if these last few games will affect the All Blacks selection. Last week I saw one of the AB coaches saying they already had their team picked before the semi-finals so officially these play-off performances shouldn't make a difference, otherwise I'd suspect that a few of the Hurricanes guys might have played themselves off the team after that semi-final, especially amongst the backs.
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Post by commond on Jun 24, 2024 4:45:22 GMT -5
Scott Robertson's first All Blacks squad (uncapped in bold) Hookers: Asafo Aumua, Codie Taylor, George Bell. Props: Ethan de Groot, Tyrel Lomax, Fletcher Newell, Pasilio Tosi, Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Tamaiti Williams. Locks: Scott Barrett (capt), Tupou Vaa’i, Patrick Tuipulotu. Loose forwards: Ethan Blackadder, Samipeni Finau, Luke Jacobson, Dalton Papali’i, Ardie Savea, Wallace Sititi. Halfbacks: Finlay Christie, TJ Perenara, Cortez Ratima. First five-eighths: Beauden Barrett, Damian McKenzie. Midfielders: Jordie Barrett, Rieko Ioane, Anton Lienert-Brown, Billy Proctor.
Outside backs: Caleb Clarke, Emoni Narawa, Stephen Perofeta, Sevu Reece, Mark Tele’a. This article from the Herald breaks down the contentious selections better than I could -- All Blacks: Scott Robertson explains biggest selection decisions in first squad of 2024The thing that stands out the most to me is that they've gone with three locks when Tuipulotu made a miraculous recovery for the Super Rugby Final. It's also noticeable that they've gone with some Crusaders forwards like Bell when arguably more Blues forwards should have been included.
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Post by berkley on Jun 24, 2024 7:18:05 GMT -5
Have to leave in a minute but I'll just say quickly that as usual I think they're being way too conservative in bringing in the young guys. Surprised at the lack of Blues forwards and even Hurricanes. From the Canes, Lackai especially deserved a shot after his season and he was also one of the few to have a really good semi-final. But I'll go through it more closely later.
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Post by berkley on Jun 24, 2024 22:24:35 GMT -5
Have to leave in a minute but I'll just say quickly that as usual I think they're being way too conservative in bringing in the young guys. Surprised at the lack of Blues forwards and even Hurricanes. From the Canes, Lackai especially deserved a shot after his season and he was also one of the few to have a really good semi-final. But I'll go through it more closely later. Maybe I should amend that to not enough new guys in general rather than young players specifically - since I see that two of the most controversial picks were Bell and Sititi. Bell's inclusion over Riccitelli does make you wonder if Robertson has the Crusaders too much in his sights, as the Blues pack had a dominant year, both in the scrum and carrying the ball, while the Crusaders really did not. Sititi, like many of the Chiefs, had a great semifinal but wasn't able to make much of an impact in the final. Contradicting myself after complaining about not enough young blood, but I wonder if he and Bell could have used another year to mature before taking a spot away from more experienced and especially more consistent players this year who would still have provided a new look to the All Blacks - e.g. Brayden Iose at no. 8 .
I'm happy to see Tosi from the Hurricanes get named and also to see that Lakai and Reuben Love are on the extended squad. I thought the latter might have blown his chances in the semi-final because he was one of the guys who had a horrendous first 20 minutes.
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Post by berkley on Jun 25, 2024 22:18:05 GMT -5
Another disappointment last night as Edmonton lost to Florida in the 7th game of the Stanley Cup final. I'm not a fan of the tea, but it would have been nice to see a Canadian club win it for the first time since 1993 and also I'd like to see McDavid rewarded with a Cup victory after so many years of being probably the best player in the world. But the Oilers still have a chance in the next few years before he and Draisaitl start to age past their peak.
Tonight I watched the "United Rugby Championship" final - I put it in quotes because these northern hemisphere club competitions seem to change their names every few years: this is the one that used to be the Celtic League, with the top clubs from Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, then added teams from northern Italy and most recently four clubs from South Africa (which has of course really had a negative impact on the southern hemisphere's Super Rugby). It was the Glasgow Warriors travelling to Pretoria to play the Bulls, and winning in a slight upset. Great match that went down to the wire with the Bulls dominating the first half and Glasgow the 2nd but havig to make a last-ditch goal-line stand to hold off the Bulls from scoring a winning try at the end.
The northern hemisphere club rugby is high quality and very entertaining but there is just so much of it that I find it impossible to keep up with. The last few years I've limited myself to watching the European Champions competition, mostly just the playoffs, but this year I decided to have a go at seeing as many playoff games as I could manage from all three major competitions, the URC, the English Premiership, and the French Top 14. Whether it was just coincidence or what, I must say that for drama and close, competitive matches all three were more entertaining than the Super Rugby playoffs this year, which were mostly a bit lopsided for the winning team. The Top 14 final is this coming weekend and I haven't had a chance to watch the two semi-finals yet so I'll see if the trend holds.
BTW, Glasgow has a NZ fullback named Josh McKay who apparently played for the Crusaders in 2021 but I can't remember ever noticing him. Anyway, he has looked fantastic in the two games I've seen him in, last weeks semi against Munster and now the final vs the Bulls. I think the AB selectors should start keeping an eye on him because if he plays at this level consistently he will merit consideration. His ability to cut through defences is remarkable.
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Post by commond on Jul 4, 2024 5:00:18 GMT -5
Scott Robertson has named his first All Blacks' side:
All Blacks: Stephen Perofeta, Sevu Reece, Rieko Ioane, Jordie Barrett (vc), Mark Tele'a, Damian McKenzie, TJ Perenara, Ardie Savea (vc), Dalton Papali'i, Samipieni Finau, Patrick Tuipulotu, Scott Barrett (c), Tyrel Lomax, Codie Taylor, Ethan de Groot; Reserves: Asafo Aumua, Ofa Tu'ungafasi, Fletcher Newell, Tupou Vaa'i, Luke Jacobson, Finlay Christie, Anton Lienert-Brown, Beauden Barrett
Honestly, I'm not sure what to make of it. The All Blacks are in rebuilding mode and it wouldn't surprise me if there are some growing pains along the way. The coaches have said that they want to play a different style of rugby, but it may take time for that to take shape. I'm reminded of Henry & Co. taking over in 2004 and crashing and burning in the Tri-Nations that year before a successful end of year tour.
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Post by berkley on Jul 4, 2024 7:39:02 GMT -5
I thnk NZ has such a surplus of great players at every position, no two people are ever going to agree on the selections, but that also makes it fun to argue about. So here are a few of my immediate reactons:
Perofeta: never understood why he wasn't in the WC side a few months back. I don't think he's a great fullback, from what I've seen this year. But he's such a big talent, whatever it takes to get him in the team.
Reece: one of the few ABs I thought had a good series against Ireland in that loss - was it the fall of 2022? Haven't seen him that much since then but if he's held his form hard to argue against his inclusion.
R. Ioane: in contrast, I thought he was one of the stars that had a really bad showing against Ireland and I've probably been unfairly biased against him ever since. He looked good in the Blues playoff games this year.
J. Barrett: a Hurricane, so I've seen him play a lot. I'm a big fan , hard to judge him objectively, but for me no question he has to be there. Top level skill, decision-making, leadership, etc.
Tele'a: always looks dangerous, so can't argue too much. But I thnk the AB selectors go too much for specialist wings rather than some less spectacular but more all-round players.
Damian McKenzie: I've never been a huge fan, not sure why, Lots of talent and I like him better at 10 than at 15; and he looked good in the Super Rugby playoffs, both in victory ad in the one-sided defeat to the Blues.
Perenara: I used to think he should have been the starter at 9 for the ABs but I'm starting to wonder if his emotion and passion doesn't work against him sometimes. Maybe I'm over-reacting to the Hurricanes disappointing semi-final loss.
Ardie Savea: great to see him back. I think he's still in his prime so impossible to keep him out, in spite f all the other great players available at no. 8.
Papali'i: one of those guys that I've never quite seen why he's so highly rated, but he looked good for the Blues in this years play-offs, so maybe I'm finally getting it. Still not sure there aren't better options though.
Finau: is he at 6? No real arguments, except I thought there were a few other guys who deserved a look, especially Lakai.
Tuipulotu: is he really healthy? can't argue too much against any Blues forwards, they were so dominant as a pack this year in super rugby.
S. Barrett: the senior 2nd row guy left now, so has to be there. I hope he can get his own discipline under control and heighten his awareness of the strictness of the laws re head contact, etc.
Lomax: the Canes front row looked good all year, and Lomax was a big part of that.
Taylor: I think he's had a great come-back after being one of the many AB big names that looked bad in that Ireland series, so not worried about his play, though I think Aumua shpuld be the player of the future at this position. And not the distant future.
de Groot: I don't remember it being talked about much but the AB front row more than held their own against the Boks in the WC final, which was something no one else had been able to do the whole tournament, not even England (who I thought would). And I think it was these same three wasn't it?
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Post by commond on Jul 4, 2024 15:58:20 GMT -5
I'm extremely pleased that the NZ Under-20 team beat France for the first time since 2017. It's been a while since we've had success at that level with France dominating the past three tournaments. That 2017 champion side included Will Jordan, Asafo Aumua, Luke Jacobson, Dalton Papalii, Stephen Perofeta, Caleb Clarke, and Braydon Ennor. It would be great for our game if we produced another championship side.
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