Introducing the newest General Manager of the Boston Red Sox

On behalf of the Boston Red Sox, Owner John Henry and the rest of the front office, we would like to introduce to you, the newest—and youngest to ever hold the position—general manager of the Boston Red Sox, Adam Lewis.

Ever since I was a little kid, it has been my dream to be the general manager of the Boston Red Sox. When I was no older than seven years old, with a closet full of Red Sox shirseys, the team's schedule memorized and notebooks full of team stats, I told people just that, that I wanted to be the general manager of the Boston Red Sox.
Now my dream can finally come true.
Starting today, I will be taking over the Boston Red Sox using one of my favorite computer grames, Out of the Park Baseball (OOTP).
I've been playing OOTP for about for years. Without sounding like a walking advertisement for the game, which is hard for me because I love playing the game, OOTP is the most realistic sports simulation game I have ever come across. It just so happens to be a simulation of my favorite sport as well.
The simulation amazes me and it's something my words can't do justice. It uses an engine so realistic that the feels just as hard, rewarding, fun and stressful that must come with running an actual baseball team. It tracks advanced stats such as Wins Above Replacement, Adjusted ERA, Fielding Independent Pitching, Isolated Power and more. I dare you to ask me what each of those mean.
As I embark on this task of taking over the Boston Red Sox, I wanted to share this alternated sports reality with you, the reader, because a community of OOTPers is better than a single player, plus I think it is entertaining to read about alternate sports realities, something I've taken part in in my spare time. So, on Fridays, I will publish an article taking you through one month of game play, which is not long in OOTP game play time. I'm hoping to write something funny, entertaining and whatever happens to catch my eye and deliver it in an insightful and sometimes irrational way of thinking. I want to create a story that everyone will join. Why else would anyone tune in?
With each post, I'll give a play-by-play of what interesting things happen (In other play throughs, I've had owners pass away, expansion teams enter the league, players go down for falling in the bathtub, and more). I've been known to win championships, having won three championships and making the playoffs an innumerable amount of times. I've also been known to have a short leash with my manager. I tend to go through managers like crazy, once fire Mike Matheny from my Red Sox team after just two months of one particular season.
So as the new General Manager of the Boston Red Sox, I hope to bring many championships to this sports city. We all love our Boston Red Sox and my ultimate goal is to bring the team and fans as many championships as I can.
And if you want to play along, and I encourage you to do so, you can purchase the game here.

OOTP dawg, get it

Game one reaction: Is Alex Cora really committed to his word? 8th inning problems and Bogaerts

The Red Sox are on pace to go 0-162 right now. It’s almost statistically impossible to lose 162 games, especially with David Price on the mound today, but here things are. The Red Sox are in last place in the AL East and are on pace to lose 162 games.

I hope that was enough to get most fans riled up about the infancy of the season and how ridiculous it is to make those type of comments after game one. Now onto the real analysis.

Yesterday’s 2018 opening day loss felt just as bad as 2003’s opening day loss to the then Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The year that Theo Epstein said “we don’t need a closer, we’ll go with the best available arm for the situation.” Pedro Martinez cruised through the seventh inning and when things were given to the bullpen, the whole project fell apart, letting up five runs in the bottom of the ninth inning at the mercy of Chad Fox throwing a fastball to Carl Crawford, who took it yard for the win. That game was actually decided by the same final score, 6-4.

Outside of just pure fandom hatred following yesterday’s loss, there are several talking points though I think are real concerns moving forward. First and foremost, who will be trusted in the eighth inning? It’s easy to ridicule Joe Kelly, the initial culprit of the bullpen’s meltdown. But Carson Smith wasn’t much better. The two combined for 49 pitches, three hits, six runs and four walks. Absolutely abysmal. After the extended usage of the two, one would expect both Kelly and Smith to not be used today. Taking that one step farther, say Kelly and Smith cannot be trusted in that situation at all going forward too. So, in the event that the Red Sox are up anywhere from one to three runs going into the eighth inning today, who do they throw? Does Barnes move into that role? Heath Hembree? The next time the Red Sox are in line for a save opportunity, it will be very telling of who manager Alex Cora brings in for the eighth inning. If neither Kelly or Smith come in, they’ve effectively lost the trust of Cora in that situation, and as far as the season goes, the Red Sox are in trouble if they have no one that can take on the eighth inning.

Also, it’s fair to point out if Cora’s bullpen usage of “using the best guy in the right situation,” was just lip service or not. When Kelly imploded, the highest leverage situation was right when Smith entered the game. All offseason, Cora talked about using closer Craig Kimbrel for situations outside of the ninth inning. He wanted to use Kimbrel in the highest leverage situation and if that meant it’s the seventh inning with guys on base, then so be it. Cora had the opportunity to prove that yesterday and elected for Smith instead. He explained it by saying,

“I’m not going to put him in that spot right now. We feel he’s ready, but I don’t think it’s fair for him to come into a situation. It’s not a clean inning. It’s something that we mapped out, we talked about it and we stuck to it. We decided he’s not coming in, as of now.”

Pair that with how Kimbrel talked about how he only wanted to come in the ninth inning and it seems as if Cora will not actually pull the trigger on using Kimbrel in the highest leverage situation. It sounds like Kimbrel told him no. Pay attention to what Cora said here too "We feel he's ready." So is there a problem between how Cora wants to use Kimbrel and Kimbrel's unwillingness to do so? The rest of what Cora said is player protection. He's taking the edge off of everything else he said. I understand too, it's not usual for a team to use their closer for more than three outs in the opening parts of the schedule, especially on opening day. I guess it’s best to wait 15 days and see how Cora uses the bullpen before we can fully commit to an answer or not, but if Cora was really into highest leverage situation possible, yesterday was his first chance to prove it.

Another note too, Xander Bogaerts looked as if he set the tone for the season during yesterday’s game. He hit too long doubles, going 3-4 at the plate with his only out being another long ball to the outfield. (Video here)
Bogaerts expressed that he feels he will be better this season, that he will continue to get better and that last year was a down year. If yesterday’s game was any indicator, I’m excited to watch Bogaerts this season. After yesterday’s game, I’m feeling Bogaerts might turn in a .300-30-100 season this year after seeing what he did yesterday. A sure sign of what’s to come.

As for today, I think David Price shows semblance of his former dominant self. Even after all the complaints from Red Sox fans and troubles Price has gone through, in his worst season, he still pitched over 200 innings, struck out over 200 batters and won 17 games. I think Price still has it in him and I think he shows some of it today.

Should UMass hire Rick Pitino?

Rick Pitino

Alas. It was only a matter of time that Rick Pitino, a man that loves the game of basketball, declare that he wants to coach again and will do so at any level of college or professional basketball.

Pitino’s program at Louisville did some regrettable things, such as illegally paying players and hosting parties that consisted of strippers. And because it’s Pitino’s program, he deserves every bit of the blame. Whether he was the person that handed out the money or his people that he put in charge of recruiting handed out the money, it ultimately doesn’t matter.

But does Pitino deserve a second chance? Pitino still knows how to run a program, winning 629 total career games as a coach, maintains a .732 winning percentage, and led Boston University to it’s first NCAA tournament birth in 24 years back in 1978, Providence College to the final four in the 80s and won a National Title with Kentucky. He consistently turned in positive seasons at Louisville when it comes to the team’s record (some wins have been vacated from Pitino’s record too). He knows how to find talent, coaching Patrick Ewing and Antoine Walker, while drafting Chauncey Billups and Paul Pierce during his time with the Boston Celtics. Essentially, Pitino knows how to turn around college programs.

So, why doesn’t UMass give Pitino a chance? He played for the college and has ties to the area in the fact that he coached at BU and not so far away Providence College. The team has been failing ever since the John Calipari days and has no real dedication to Matt McCall, who was the team’s second choice at coach after Pat Kelsey accepted the job and then turned it down. The team didn’t have any success under McCall, who went 13-20 this season.

What Pitino could bring to the table as well is connections to alumni. With college sports, the real dedicated fans are the alumni. They’re the ones that will follow no matter what, unlike the average fan, who stops paying attention when things go sour. Alumni will get randy at the fact that they can meet him at events, take a quick picture, and watch a former player and superstar coach, at the helm the team. In return, I can see a lot of alumni donating to the school because of all the fun they had at these alumni events meeting Rick Pitino. Isn’t that what it’s all about for a college, getting people to donate to the school?

If I were at the helm of UMass, I’m sure as hell calling Pitino’s people. It’s a perfect fit, a desperate coach with a track record of turning around college programs and a team that has done nothing but go down athletically in the last 20 years.

Matching the Giants: What it would take for the Red Sox to get Giancarlo Stanton

Giancarlo Stanton

On Thursday, John Paul Morosi reported that the Miami Marlins would accept a dealfrom the San Francisco Giants that included second baseman Joe Panik,hitting-prospect Chris Shaw and pitching prospect Tyler Beede if the Giants were to take on at least $250 million of the $295 million left on Stanton’s contract.

At first glance, the pool of players seems rather short for the price of Stanton. Panik provides a decent major-leaguer under good contract terms. Panik made only $600,000 last season and under arbitration through 2021, a steal for a former all-star and gold glove winner. Shaw ranks as the second best prospect in the Giants farm system according to MLB.com while Beede ranks third. The Giants’ system as a whole ranks sixth worst in the league according to MLB.com’s 2017 midseason rankings.

            The Red Sox can take on the entirety of Stanton’s contract if ownership allowed. The only thing that stops the Red Sox is ownership’s want to stay below the luxury tax threshold. With the threshold slated for $195 million, the Red Sox are pressed right up against that following assigning arbitration eligible contracts. The prospect pool seems match-able for the Red Sox as well. So lets take a look at it and see if the Red Sox were to match the Giants, what would they need to offer?

            Player No. 1: Center fielder Andrew Benintendi

            Benintendi is younger than Panik by three years and out-produced Panik offensively, but the Red Sox don’t have any other major league talent of similar caliber, similar age and similar pay grade. Benintendi made $549,000 last season, is under team control for six more years and has good potential. Benintendi came in second in Rookie of the Year voting this past season while Panik came in sixth his rookie year. Benintendi provides logical MLB-talent the Marlins seek.

            Player No. 2: third baseman Michael Chavis

            Chavis ranks as the 92^nd prospect in baseball according to MLB.com, making him another slight overpayment by the Red Sox. But again, the Red Sox don’t have another exact similarity to Shaw and outside of Chavis’ ranking, the two match up well. Both were selected in the first round of the draft, Chavis in 2014 and Shaw in 2015. Both expect to have plus power with good size but below average defense. Both have similar potential to become a big-league starter if they work on their defense along with progressing their power hitting. Both prospects rank second in their respective farm systems. That’s a pretty close comparison in value.

            Player No. 3: RHP Tanner Houck

            Houck is a farther away from reaching the Major Leagues than Beede, but fills out the talent pool well. At 21 years old, Houck ranks fourth in the Red Sox farm system and hits the low-to-mid 90s with his fastball, reaching 98 at times, making him not too far away from Beede talent-wise. He’s projected to become a starter/reliever in the Major Leagues, meaning he fill the role of fourth or fifth starter or the later innings depending on his team’s preferences. The profile seems similar to Justin Masterson when Masterson was part of the Red Sox farm system. Beede’s probably projected for a little more success than Houck, but the Red Sox would have to give up a little more in Benintendi and Chavis, evening out the offer.

            The Red Sox have what it takes to match the Giants; it just comes down to money and Benintendi. Would the Red Sox give up six controllable years of a player they really like? I would have to think hard about that, but for Stanton, I would do it. Stanton just won the NL MVP award, can hit 50 home runs in any given season and has all the similar tools of Manny Ramirez plus more. I would take Ramirez in his prime over Benintendi and I would take Stanton over Benintendi as well.

Should and will Assumption College's Bob Chesney take the open Holy Cross position?

For a small, liberal arts, Catholic college based in Worcester, Mass., the Assumption College football team surely has made a name for themselves. This season alone the team finished with an 11-1 record, won its first two games in the NCAA Division II National playoffs and will take on the No. 1 Indiana (Pa.) Crimson Hawks. The Crimson Hawks are 12-0 on the season and are 18-2 in their last 20 games spanning across the last two seasons. A win for the Greyhounds on Saturday would be a huge statement.

            Behind all of the top athletes such as Deonte Harris, Ashton Grant, Ray Sarkodieh and everyone else on the team’s roster is one man, a common name on the college’s campus: head coach Bob Chesney. Chesney is in his fifth year coaching the team and has a 56-23 overall record (a .710 winning percentage).  His teams have ranked nationally among Division II programs in multiple seasons, have made the national tournament three years in a row and won one playoff game.

I once wrote about coach Chesney while at the school on his team and how they use film for preparation and recruiting. I’ve talked to many people close to the team who I trust. One piece of information stood out greatly.

People close to Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly, an Assumption College alumni, told me that Kelly believes the school doesn’t know how good of a coach they have in Chesney. Multiple people close to the situation say that Kelly would add Chesney to his staff "in a heartbeat" if Chesney wanted, but does not want to take him away from the college. Notre Dame football. That’s telling of Chesney’s ability.

Back on Oct. 16, The College of the Holy Cross fired head football coach Tom Gilmore after a terrible 32-0 loss to Yale. Stationed out of Worcester as well, the opportunity seems like a great opportunity for Chesney.
And according to sources linked closely to Holy Cross athletics and alumni, Chesney is the favorite candidate.

Chesney has had success at the Division II level and it seems natural to move on to a Division I program. UCLA was not going to be knocking on any doors. But a good fit for Chesney is a program the likes of Holy Cross, or UMass Amherst, Yale those types of programs. What many believe would stop Chesney is moving his family. His father is on the sidelines for games, has littlel children and is in no danger of losing his job. Many believe Chesney has power within Assumption athletics. I have been told the main reason why Chesney would not accept the position is because he doesn’t want to move his family.

Insert Holy Cross.

Holy Cross is an ideal situation for Chesney. He doesn’t have to move. He takes over a Division I school and will have full reign to rebuild the program. Former Assumption College athletic director Nick Smith, who has a good relationship with Chesney, now works for Holy Cross athletics. Rebuilding would not be an easy task for Chesney. Assumption is in the same position however. They graduate their two quarterbacks, three receivers, their top running back and top players on the defensive line. Why rebuild at the DII level when you can rebuild at the DI level?

What would stop Holy Cross from making Chesney the next head football coach? I have been told they want to see him win playoff games. Prior to this season, Chesney's teams have only made the playoffs twice. Some believe Holy Cross feels his playoffs appearances indicate Chesney is a good coach but not quite there yet when it comes to the winning department. 

If Chesney is offered to become the next head coach of Holy Cross football but declines, expect Chesney to stay at Assumption College for many years to come.

How telling was last night's game about the Celtics and Brown?

What a Celtics game last night.

I watched all of it last night, a rare accomplishment with all the high school sporting events just begging my attendance. But with some time off from reporting, there was no better way to drown my sorrows with some more sports. For real though.

 I went into the game believing the Celtics would lose, it would be by how much, in which I decided the Celtics would lose by eight points. Just an arbitrary number I picked because I thought they would lose by less than 10 points but more than two.

At points, it seemed like the Celtics would lose by 20, 10 at other points. Frankly, the Warriors controlled the entirety of that game up until the Celtics’ four minute run where they went on a 19-0 run to pull ahead 68-66. The win is basically owed to Jaylen Brown and his control of the game during that span, netting 10 points with a total confidence look to him. In the following clip, notice Brown’s poise.

Jaylen Brown is getting it done for the C's! 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/tLadQgBPVQ

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) November 17, 2017

The first basket comes from a legitimate basketball move. He catches Shaun Livingston leaning in, ready to defend the shot. Brown fakes it, and then crosses over, completely distancing himself from Livingston. Plays like that solidify the argument that Brown can compete against the best in the NBA. He’s no overhyped prospect, raw talent. He has legitimate ball handling skills, awareness and a good sense of the game. Remember Brown against the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals? The sky is the limit for the kid.

On a similar note, Kyrie Irving did not have a good first three quarters, I think largely due to the kind of coverage that was on him. But it’s hard to say that Irving cannot lead a team after watching that one. Irving forced himself to the free throw line in the fourth quarter, netting seven of eight free throws in the final five minutes. Irving knew what it took to win that game during the fourth quarter and executed it.

The last thing about the game too, I see both sides of it. I understand how someone can believe that it means nothing. Regular season games are not the postseason and with a healthy team turning it up during the playoffs, I understand that the Warriors would most likely beat the Celtics. But I find myself agreeing with the other side. The flip to this argument is that this indeed shows the potency of the Celtics. They entered the game with a 13 game win streak and the best record in the NBA. It was the perfect test. After losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers on opening night handedly, if the Celtics lost to the Warriors in similar fashion, the game would become telling just how far away the Celtics are from the top tier teams. So with the win, I feel as if this Celtics team can in fact give the Warriors a run. Last year, the championship was no match between the Cavaliers and the Warriors. It took the Cavs a historic performance just to beat the Warriors once. Can the Celtics win in a seven game series? I wouldn’t bet a whole lot of money. But can the Celtics make a series out of it? I absolutely believe so after last night’s performance.

'These kids aren't cheap anymore'

“These kids aren’t cheap anymore.”

Those were the words that Boston Red Sox beat writer said over the airwaves on Tuesday night on 98.5’s the Adam Jones’ show.

It’s true though. Between Xander Bogaerts, Drew Pomeranz, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Mookie Betts, the team is expected to pay out $30.8 million between the quartet and $48 million among all arbitration eligible players. That accounts for about 25% of the team’s payroll, which doesn’t seem like a lot, but becomes a problem when the rest of the team sits on dead money and overpaid contracts from Hanley Ramirez, Rick Porcello, Pablo Sandoval, Rusney Castillo, David Price, etc. And for a core that has had its ups-and-downs in the production department along with character flaws, well…

The Red Sox are rather strapped with the cash this offseason. Their entire payroll is expected to hit upwards of $190 million without any free agent signings and although general manager Dave Dombrowski said that the team is willing to go over the luxury tax threshold and owner John Henry backed that statement, but let’s not get silly here. I don’t think it’s wise for the Red Sox to spend crazy money on free agents, creating a payroll north of $230 million for this team. There are flaws and strengths alike but it just wouldn’t be a good business move.

Because of that, how likely are the Red Sox to spend on top free agents J.D. Martinez and Eric Hosmer. Yes, they need power in their current lineup. Yes, J.D. Martinez would fill that role with his career high 45 homers although finding a place for him between DH and first base would be inopportune.  Remember what happened with Ramirez, giving a big contract to a player that doesn’t really have a spot on the team outside of his bat? And the 25 homers and .318 batting average produced by Hosmer last season seems grossly undervalued for the type of contract he wants, six or seven years at $20 million annually.

It’s why I advocate and believe the Red Sox will sign Logan Morrison instead.

Morrison hit 38 home runs for the Tampa Bay Rays last season. He hit only .246 but you give a little to get a little. His walk rates were up, sporting a .353 on-base percentage and 38 homers is no small dosage. He’s also cheap. MLBtraderumors.com projects Morrison to sign for three years at a $9 million average annual value (They actually predict that the Red Sox will sign Morrison too). Morrison has been linked to the Red Sox in the past for how well his swing would match up with the left field wall in Fenway Park. Signing Morrison would be every reason why the team signed Mitch Moreland last season.

With a team full of highly paid players and personalities, the team needs to look for guys that will perform above their annual value, much like Moreland did last season. At $5 million paid out to him, Moreland produced at almost the same levels as Ramirez, who was dished out over $20 million. Morrison out produced both of them. That’s what makes the $9 million AAV so enticing.

I’ve always been a fan of creating a team around paying your top of the line players, surrounding them with quality talent and production at affordable, short-term deals, surrounded by cheap talent brought up through the farm system. Paying $20 million per year for six years plus for guys like Martinez and Hosmer seem like overpayments. They’re guys that produced above their average rates in a walk-year. I’ve never been a fan of signing those players. So I tend to favor a guy like Morrison, someone who produces, is a small investment and actually fills a role naturally instead of forcing a guy into a role like they would have to with Martinez. But we all have our own philosophies, including Dombrowski and co. The Red Sox have a lot of options this offseason. This could get interesting…