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Tag: Joe Maddon

Blogs • Email Exchanges • Yankees

Apr 17, 2015

Evan Longoria Is the Rays’ Derek Jeter

The Rays lose players to big-market teams seemingly every year, but Evan Longoria has been the exception and is the one true icon in the team’s short 18-year history.

Derek Jeter and Evan Longoria

The Yankees are in trouble. With three straight series losses to open the season, the Yankees have to get back on track before their remaining seven-game road trip ends. If they don’t, the season could be lost before it even begins.

With the Yankees into Tampa Bay for their first series against the Rays, Daniel Russell of DRaysBay joined me to talk about losing Andrew Friedman to the Dodgers, having a rookie manager in Kevin Cash take over for Joe Maddon and the frustration of watching the roster turn over due to finances.

Keefe: This offseason you lost general manager Andrew Friedman to the Dodgers and manager Joe Maddon to the Rays. Both men played an integral part in the success of the Rays from shedding their Devil Rays image to becoming a consistent winning and postseason team.

What were your feelings on the two leaving for big-market teams?

Russell: There’s so much I could say about each of these men, in appreciation, in admiration, and in heartfelt sorrow that they are gone. The Rays only had a few faces of the franchise, and these two were the primary names on that list.

Andrew Friedman’s departure was at some level expected, far back in my mind I thought he’d leave one day. His interviews and dinners about town had come and gone in the past, but after 10 years with the franchise (nine as de facto GM), his leaving didn’t add pain the the surprise.

Friedman is gone but the franchise is in a great place. The brain trust he built stayed in tact when he left for L.A., and his departure freed up the staff to make some moves that other wise might not have happened, like getting value for Joel Peralta or Wil Myers, who both looked pretty busted last season, despite their pedigrees.

Joe Maddon was different, just a week prior he was adamant about his commitment to the franchise, and once he was gone the front office was legitimately stunned. As were the players, and the coaching staff. The Rays believe some tampering occurred on the part of the Cubs, who hired him seven days later, and that investigation is still ongoing, even though Manfred said it would conclude by Opening Day. So there’s something fishy to the situation.

I don’t blame Joe Maddon for leaving, the opportunity to become a legend with the Cubs is something I think I would have pursued if I were in his position. It just happened in the wrong way.

Keefe: With Maddon leaving, Kevin Cash became a rookie manager and sort of under-the-radar selection for the Rays as their new manager. Just four years removed from the league, Cash, who had a short stint with the Yankees in 2009, was suddenly a manager in the majors after serving as part of Terry Francona’s Cleveland staff for two years.

Who did you want to be the Rays manager after Maddon left?

Russell: I’m not sure I had an opinion on who the manager would be among the list of first round finalists, but once it was narrowed down to Don Wakamatsu and Kevin Cash, I’m glad it was the latter.

Cash is a feel good story, a local kid who played Little League and went to high school in Tampa, then played in multiple College World Series at Florida State before becoming a Devil Ray. Coming back is a welcome home.

He scrapped his way into a major league career, transitioning to catcher in Cape Cod ball before joining the Blue Jays, and he won World Series rings with Boston (2007) and New York (2009) as the third catcher. He’s got the right mind and is super relatable in the clubhouse. He’s ridden those busses and he’s also found success.

Cash was an advanced scout for the Blue Jays, then the bullpen coach for the Indians, his second turn under Terry Francona (the guy who beat Joe Maddon for the job in Boston). He identified Yan Gomes for them, and helped turn around the careers of guys like Carlos Carrasco and Corey Kluber. He’s the kind of guy who destined to be a manager, and his hiring (while the youngest in the game with no true managerial experience) lends itself to the underdog role this Rays team needed to embrace.

Keefe: Tampa Bay was my favorite non-Yankees team before 2008, which is before they got good, and I don’t have a favorite non-Yankees team. Maybe it was because they were an easy win for the Yankees and a standings-padding opponent, which helped the Yankees to the division title year after year. But I enjoyed watching the Rays’ young talent and Lou Piniella manage that young talent even if it seemed like they would never put it together.

In 2008 they did it put it together. The Yankees missed the playoffs for the first time since 1993 and I rooted for the Rays in the postseason, mainly because I knew they could beat the Red Sox. Whn you look at the 2008 Rays roster, the only player left is Evan Longoria, who has been the face of the franchise and is the one true face of the franchise since the team’s inception.

Seven years ago when you thought about the Rays’ future, did you think Longoria would be the only player still with the organization from that World Series team?

Russell: I’m glad we’ve been able to fall out of your good graces, because the Yankee fan presence in Tampa can be quite unbearable.

Roster turnover is an expectation, and seven years later who could I have reasonably expected to remain? David Price and James Shields might be the only clear answers, maybe Carlos Pena if he’d kept his career in tact.

James Shields was the only type who had the talent and mindset to take on a second contract extension like Longoria, and David Price’s control ran through this season. Perhaps starter Matt Garza could have remained, but he was volatile and valuable to the market, so his departure was a bit more expected.

It’s worth mentioning that Ben Zobrist was a part of that 2008 team’s bench, but using a 2008 mindset I don’t think he was expected to become one of the five most valuable hitters in the game, so his mention would be unfair. As for other big ticket names, Upton and Crawford were destined to leave after long turns with the franchise far before 2015 rolled around.

If I may, this is probably a good moment to say kudos to Longoria for signing two team-friendly deals with Tampa Bay.

Speaking to a fanbase that has enjoyed several long Yankee careers, you need to understand he’s all we’ve got. Our franchise is only nearly 20 years old, that’s not a long time to retire the same numbers you all have in that cemetery or whatever that garden at Yankee Stadium is called.

Longoria knew he wanted to be a one-franchise man. He’ll be the first bronze statue one day as well. I’m looking forward to it.

Keefe: After Longoria, David Price was the second face of the team (at least from an outsider’s perspective). His trade was inevitable and now he is doing for the Tigers what he did for the Rays.

Is it hard to watch Price pitch for another team after being a homegrown player for the Rays, or are you used to the idea of superstars leaving because of finances?

Russell: It’s an unfortunate reality, truly it is. Your perception isn’t wrong, he really was the hearbeat of the team in a lot of ways. He’s still texting the Rays starters before they take the mound and offering encouragements. Losing him was hard.

The Rays don’t have the money to lock down many players, and the farm system has not been well stocked through the draft lately, so trading players has been the best avenue to bring the future to bear without going into an Astros re-build, or having to constantly trade away what remains like the Athletics.

So here we are in 2015 without David Price. I’m used to the idea, yes, but it’s no less frustrating. That excitement to watch him take the mound never really goes away. You always knew he was likely to give you something special.

Keefe: The Rays entered the season with an over/under win total of 79 after a 77-85 season in 2014. The turnover on the roster since last season has been immense and the 2015 Opening Day Rays are basically unrecognizable from the 2014 Opening Day Rays.

However, the Rays have gotten off to a strong 6-4 start despite some tough first-week opponents to once again prove that no matter who the Rays lose, they seem to find a way to stay competitive.

What are your expectations for this season?

Russell: Always take the over on the Tampa Bay Rays. This team has pressed into the playoffs in all but two seasons since 2008.

That said, injuries are a bear, and this year we might have 10 players on the disabled list before the week is out. The Rays starting depth is limited to the No. 2, No. 4, No. 7 and No. 9 starters from the depth chart, if we’re counting Matt Moore (recovering from Tommy John – returning in June) as the No. 5. The current fifth starter is the long man, and he’s laid an egg in both of his outings thus far.

Meanwhile, the Rays are going through an AL East bloodbath – only one series (already played against the Marlins) from Opening Day to May 6 is against a team outside the division. Right now the Rays just need to tread water, without their 1B, 2B, DH and maybe even without Longoria for one or two games after a hit-by-pitch last night.

It’s not going to be easy, but if this team can break even through April, I think they stand a decent chance of remaining competitive in the division, and following the projections from Baseball Prospectus to place second in the division around 85 wins.

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Blogs • MLB

Jul 14, 2014

The 2014 All-Animosity Team

With Major League Baseball ready for the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game, It’s time to announce the 2014 All-Animosity Team.

John Lackey

The Midsummer Classic is this week and that means it’s time for the four longest days of summer: the four days without baseball. I mean real baseball and not the Home Run Derby or the All-Star Game because without real baseball to watch and talk about, the baseball world becomes talking heads spending Monday and Tuesday debating who should and who shouldn’t have made the All-Star Team and how the All-Star Game can be fixed. And then those same talking heads will spend Wednesday and Thursday spewing meaningless “second-half” predictions and giving us their “midseason” awards for Cy Young and MVP.

Instead of complaining about the Home Run Derby format or Chris Berman’s broadcasting techniques and instead of debating if the Home Run Derby messes up a hitter’s swing or if the All-Star Game should determine home-field advantage, I thought now would be the best time to announce the one midsummer roster that matters: the 2014 All-Animosity Team.

It’s the Fifth Annual All-Animosity Team and once again the team consists of one player at each position, along with a starting pitcher, a closer and a manager from around the league. The standards to be considered for the team are simple and only one of the following three requirements needs to be met.

1. The person is a Yankee killer.

2. The person plays for the Red Sox.

3. I don’t like the person. (When I say, “I don’t like the person” or if I say, “I hate someone” I mean I don’t like the person who wears a uniform and plays or manages for a Major League Baseball team and not the actual person away from the game. I’m sure some of the people on this list are nice people. I’m glad we got that out of the way since I can already see Player X’s fan base in an uproar about me hating someone who does so much for the community.)

So, here is the 2014 All-Animosity Team with the winners from the previous years also listed.

C – Mike Napoli
(2013 – Jarrod Saltalamacchia, 2012 – Matt Wieters, 2011 – Jarrod Saltalamacchia, 2010 – Jason Varitek)

Jason Varitek hasn’t played baseball in four years, Jarrod Saltalamacchia is in Miami and Matt Wieters had Tommy John surgery. Usually if I’m having trouble, I can always turn to the Red Sox, but A.J. Pierzynski just got cut and David Ross isn’t worth giving the time of the day to. With a limited number of unlikeable catchers, it was hard for me to not break my own rule of not putting any Yankees on the team and put Brian McCann in this spot. So while Napoli has never caught in any of the 214  games he has played for the Red Sox and hasn’t been a catcher since 2012, I’m penciling him in here.

Even with David Ortiz saving the Red Sox’ season against the Tigers in the ALCS and then hitting .688 in the World Series, Napoli was the face of the 2013 Red Sox. With his Duck Dynasty beard, he became the face of a team built on the notion of “We can win a championship if every single thing goes our way” and every single thing did go their way for the whole season as they got bounce-back seasons from their entire roster and overachieving seasons from several players who had become perennial underachievers.

After agreeing to a three-year, $39 million deal and then having that deal voided because of a failed physical, Napoli was almost not even part of the 2013 Red Sox. He signed a one-year, $5 million contract with $8 million of incentives and then went on to hit .259/.360/.482 with 23 home runs and 92 RBIs, which isn’t very impressive, but what is are his 2013 numbers against the Yankees: .375/.453/.804 with seven home runs and 20 RBIs. This year, Napoli has cooled off a little against the Yankees (.306/.405/.667), but he still has three home runs against them and one game-changing home run against them when he got a two-strike fastball from Masahiro Tanaka in the ninth inning at Yankee Stadium a few weeks back before calling Tanaka “an idiot.”

1B – Chris Davis
(2013 – Chris Davis, 2012 – Adrian Gonzalez, 2011 – Adrian Gonzalez, 2010 – Kevin Youkilis)

I wasn’t going to put Chris Davis here with a .199 average at the break, but after his two-run home run against the Yankees in the bottom of the fourth inning on Sunday Night Baseball gave the Orioles a 2-1 lead in an eventual 3-1, rain-shortened win, I had to. Eff you, Chris Davis. And eff you, rain-shortened losses in a huge division game that is the difference between being three games back or five.

2B – Dustin Pedroia
(2013 – Dustin Pedroia, 2012 – Dustin Pedroia, 2011 – Dustin Pedroia, 2010 – Dustin Pedroia)

For as long as I have an All-Animosity Team and for as long as Dustin Pedroia is the second baseman of the Red Sox, he will be in this spot. So as I have done the last few years, I will just put down what I have about Pedroia.

Pedroia is like Tom Brady for me. He has that winning instinct that you just don’t see all the time these days, he plays hard and he’s the type of guy you want on your team. But if I didn’t put him here again it would just be weird.

3B – David Wright
(2013 – David Wright, 2012 – Robert Andino, 2011 – Kevin Youkilis, 2010 – Chone Figgins)

David Wright is the face of the Mets. And for that alone, he gets this spot.

SS – Jose Reyes
(2013 – Jose Reyes, 2012 – Jose Reyes, 2011 – Jose Reyes, 2010 – Jose Reyes)

Sometimes I miss the days of the Jose Reyes being the Mets shortstop when Mets fans would try to engage me in fights about Reyes being better than Derek Jeter. And sometimes I miss the days when Mets fans would call WFAN and talk about how Reyes is “the most exciting player in baseball” as if there were any true way to measure a statement like that. But I always miss the days when Mets fans would call and say the team has to re-sign Reyes before he hit free agency after the 2011 season. Since Reyes left the Mets for free agency and signed a six-year, $106 million deal with the Marlins (and was then traded to the Blue Jays), he has played in 332 of a possible 420 games and has become a shell of his former self offensively, even playing for an offensive power like the Blue Jays.

I can only dream about the state the Mets would be in right now if they had Reyes playing shortstop a $16 million per year for an under-.500 team trying to rebuild and can only imagine the types of calls that would be flooding the sports radio phone lines with the trade deadline looming and Mets fans waiting on hold for hours to share their fantasy trades for Reyes. I miss the days of the Jeter-Reyes debates, even if they were one-sided and ended the same way as all the Jeter-Nomar debates, and I miss Reyes being a Met and giving that fan base years of false hope.

LF – Wil Myers
(2013 – Carl Crawford, 2012 – Delmon Young, 2011 – Manny Ramirez, 2010 – Manny Ramirez)

Here is what Wil Myers has done this season: .227/.313/.354 with five home runs and 25 RBIs.

Here is what Wil Myers has done against the Yankees this season: .375/.429/.813 with four home runs and 14 RBIs.

That means 12 of Myers’ 45 hits (27 percent), four of his five home runs (80 percent) and 14 of his 25 RBIs (56 percent) have come against the Yankees. Excuse me while I throw up.

I watched Myers round the bases on his inside-the-park home run from Section 203 at the Stadium on May 4 and watched him encourage all of 203 to continue to taunt him as he continued to beat the Yankees. Unfortunately, he is 23 years and will likely taunt me for years to come.

CF – Adam Jones
(2013 – Ben Zobrist, 2012 – Josh Hamilton, 2011 – B.J. Upton, 2010 – Vernon Wells)

I was shocked to realize Jones hadn’t been been part of the All-Animosity Team before, given his knack for killing the Yankees offensively and defensively. This year Jones is hitting .324/.359/.514 with two home runs against the Yankees and it’s usually Jones in the middle of any Orioles rally against the Yankees or the one killing a rally with a Web Gem. I miss the days of a young Adam Jones, who hadn’t realized his power yet and could easily be struck out in a big spot.

RF – Nick Swisher
(2013 – Nick Swisher, 2012 – Jose Bautista, 2011 – Magglio Ordonez, 2010 – Magglio Ordonez)

Before the Yankees started a four-game series in Cleveland last week, Nick Swisher was hitting .197/.287/.317 with five home runs and 39 RBIs in what was becoming a disastrous season for the Indians’ highest-paid player making $15 million this season. Swisher’s struggles this season brought a smile to my face the same way I was smiling when he went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in the one-game playoff last season.

But during the four-game series against the Yankees, Swisher went 5-for-18 with two home runs and five RBIs, including the two-strike home run against Tanaka in his last start before he hit the disabled list. And since the start of the Yankees series, Swisher is 9-for-10 with three home runs and seven RBIs. There’s nothing quite like the Yankees letting a sub-.200 hitter in July get hot and start to turn his season around againts them, especially when it’s the hated Nick Swisher. OK, maybe “hated” is the wrong word to use when talking about Swisher since he is extra sensitive.

SP – John Lackey
(2013 – Josh Beckett, 2012 – Josh Beckett, 2011 – Josh Beckett, 2010 – Josh Beckett)

I never thought any pitcher other than Josh Beckett would earn this spot, but Lackey had been knocking on the door for a few years and finally busted it open this season.

Let’s put aside his personal life issues and even his double-fisting beers in the clubhouse and even his belittling of the media, who do sometimes need to be belittled, and let’s talk about Lackey’s contract status.

Lackey signed a five-year, $82.5 million deal with the Red Sox from 2010-2014 with a club option for 2015 at the league minimum is Lackey misses significant time with surgery between 2010-2014 for a pre-exisitng elbow injury. Lackey did miss time because of surgery and missed the entire 2012 season and is now saying he will never pitch for the league minimum ($500,000) and will retire before doing so.

John Lackey is pure scum on top of scum and I’m not sure how he has a single fan. He signed a five-year, $82.5 million A.J. Burnett deal before 2010 and in the first two years he went 26-23 with a 5.26 ERA. Then he missed the entire 2012 season. Last year he went 10-13 with a 3.52 ERA on a division-winning and World Series-winning team. It doesn’t surprise me one bit that he is upset that he would only make $500,000 next year, but it’s a little ironic that he didn’t think he should only be making $500,000 when he had a 1.619 WHIP in 2011 or when he threw zero pitches in 2012. Poor John Lackey.

CL – Fernando Rodney
(2013 – Fernando Rodney, 2012 – Jose Valverde, 2011 – Jonathan Papelbon, 2010 – Jonathan Papelbon)

It was actually hard to fill the closer role this season, but watching Rodney celebrate saves over the years and then turn in an ugly line (1.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 1 HBP) in two appearances against the Red Sox in the ALDS en route to their third championship in 10 years was enough to put him back on the team.

Manager – Mike Scioscia
(2013 – Mike Scioscia, 2012 – Bobby Valentine, 2011 – Mike Scioscia, 2010 – Joe Maddon)

I really wanted to put Mike Matheny here for his managerial decisions in the World Series, especially his decision to bring in Seth Maness and his awesome pitch-to-contact stuff to face Jonny Gomes in Game 4. Thanks, Mike! But I don’t care enough about Matheny or the Cardinals for this spot considering how many choices there are from the American League.

This spot has gone to Joe Maddon and Mike Scioscia and the legendary Bobby Valentine (whose Stamford, Conn. restaurant I ate at on Saturday and it was actually good) in the past and once again it goes to Scioscia, whose Angels are finally playing up to their payroll for the first time since 2009. And because the Angels are looking like a lock for either the West or the first wild card, that means we are going to have to hear about how great of a job Scioscia did in 2014 despite having Mike Trout, Josh Hamilton and Albert Pujols in his lineup. Don’t forget, no team goes first to third and plays fundamentally-sound baseball better than Mike Scioscia’s team!

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Blogs • Email Exchanges • Yankees

Jun 30, 2014

David Price to Make Last Pitch to Yankees

If I get my wish, the next time David Price pitches in Yankee Stadium after this week will be as a member of the Yankees.

David Price

The Yankees desperately need to start putting wins together consistently and after winning eight of 10, they have now lost six of eight and the only thing that has been consistent about the 2014 Yankees is that they are inconsistent. I would like to think that could change this week at the Stadium against the Rays, but the Rays, despite having the worst record in the majors are 4-3 against the Yankees this season.

With the Yankees and Rays playing the final series in the Bronx before the All-Star break, Daniel Russell of DRaysBay joined me to talk about what’s gone for the Rays this season, what will happen with David Price and if the Rays could make a managerial change after this season.

Keefe: The last time we talked was on May 2. Back then, the Rays were 13-16 and part of the mix in an AL East that no one wanted to run away with after a month of baseball. But since then, the Rays have gone 22-33 and have buried themselves in the division, 10 games out after three months of baseball.

It’s been a while since the Rays found themselves in this sort of position at this point in the season. Here are their records after 84 games since 2008 when they first made the playoffs.

2013: 45-39
2012: 44-40
2011: 47-37
2010: 51-33
2009: 45-39
2008: 52-32

There is still half a season left to play and given the Rays’ recent history of going on remarkable runs, it’s hard to truly count them out yet, especially since neither the Yankees, Blue Jays or Orioles really want to take over the East and put a firm grip on it this summer.

Have you given up on the 2014 Rays or are you holding out hope that the remaining 78 games can be something special?

Russell: Play this season all over again, and I’d still think this team could win it all.

Not much unlike the lost 2009 season, the quality of the athletes assembled by Andrew Friedman this season was the best the Rays had ever fielded. This is not a horrible team by any stretch of the imagination, and Baseball Prospectus continues to project the Rays to the best performance through the remaining half season. But that’s all on paper. Everything should have gone right, but it all went wrong.

Part of the blame is on the starting rotation’s injuries, part of the blame is on sleepy bats, part of the blame is on uncharacteristic defensive miscues.

That said, I don’t foresee the Rays coming back from a 35-49 record. It’s just been a horrible year for what I would still consider a top-tier talent in baseball. Last place hurts, and this team is dejected. They’re still a formidable team to play (just ask the Orioles), but unless we start sweeping every division series, this team is bottom dwelling the rest of the season.

Keefe: The more the Rays lose, the more David Price’s inevitable departure from Tampa Bay becomes more and more imminent. I wish the Rays would find some worthy package from the Yankees and trade the left-handed ace within the division, but I recognize that is a pipe dream and Price will end up somewhere other than the Bronx when he is finally moved. My one fear is that he will be traded to the Dodgers where they will be sure to lock him up long-term and he will never hit free agency.

What is the mood with Rays fans knowing that at this point any David Price start could be his last with the organization? Where do you think he will end up?

Russell: David Price’s departure might as well be written in stone. The Rays were over budget heading into the season, and if Price were headed out the door either way, they might as well send him off now.

I would venture to say Price hasn’t been traded thus far because the expected return has been too far above the market, and I don’t think the front office is lowering their demands. It’s for that reason an inter-division trade isn’t happening. How much would the Yankees need to outbid the Rays’ expectations for them to send their ace to a rival?

The Rays have no interest in facing Price on a regular basis for years to come if it can be helped. Even if they were willing, though, who do the Yankees have to offer? James Shields brought back Wil Myers — and while that trade was robust, in a drastically different environment, it’s still the plumb line.

The mood for fans at this point is “what’s taking so long?” more than anything else. The Rays even granted Price’s request to play in Sunday Columbia blue jerseys on his Wednesday matinee last week. If that’s not a signal he’s going out the door…

Keefe: When I looked at the pitching matchups for this series and saw Chris Archer, David Price and Jake Odorizzi, I laughed to myself and thought, “Of course it’s those three.” Archer is 4-0 with a 1.29 ERA in four career starts against the Yankees, David Price is David Price and the Yankees as a team are 5-for-24 (.208) against Odorizzi and have basically never seen him and I know all too well how the Yankees do against pitchers with which they have no history.

I think the fact that I feel most confident about the Yankees’ chance in the middle game of this series against the 2012 Cy Young winner and current AL strikeout leader shows how deep the Rays’ pitching is, even in a year when Erik Bedard is in the rotation and Matt Moore is out for the season and Alex Cobb has missed significant time.

This must make you feel confident knowing everything will be fine pitching-wise even once Price has been traded?

Russell: Absolutely. The Rays are built on pitching; they live and die by the rotation. There’s some quality names en route to the majors in Enny Romero, Nathan Karns, and a few projects like grondballer Matt Andriese, scary but injured Alex Colome, and former bluechip prospect Mike Montgomery, not to mention a rehabbing Jeremy Hellickson. Trading Price will hurt, no doubt about it, but the Rays will survive as other roll players step up to the next level.

Keefe: If the Rays are willing to trade Price and accept that 2014 isn’t going to happen for them, I would think they would be willing to move some other players in order to retool and rebuild for 2015 and beyond when the injury bug isn’t decimating the entire team. Ben Zobrist’s name has been mentioned as a potential trade piece between now and July 31, but is there anyone else that could be leaving Tampa Bay in July?

Russell: I’d say it’s open season on anyone not under contract for an extended period of time. In fact, it’s easier to point out who is not being traded. The outfield is locked up in Desmond Jennings, Wil Myers, and Kevin Kiermaier. The infield locks are likely Evan Longoria and Yunel Escobar. Ryan Hanigan will remain at catcher, Alex Cobb, Matt Moore, and Chris Archer remain in the rotation. Literally everyone else I would put on the block, but given the lofty expectations of the front office, who knows who could go out the door?

Veteran role players are probably the ones worth watching. Erik Bedard, David DeJesus, James Loney, and Jose Molina’s glove are all under-discussed as trade targets. Matt Joyce, Grant Balfour, and Ben Zobrist rightfully so. It’s not a fire sale, but the Rays could be persuaded with a large enough offer.

Keefe: I have heard people bring up the idea that the Rays could move on from Joe Maddon and look for a managerial change. Not that Maddon has done a bad job (he hasn’t), but because it’s just time a for a change, which happens in baseball. I don’t agree with the idea to make a change for the sake of a change because a manager’s ways become stale within an organization, but then again, I have never played or managed in the majors, so maybe it can be needed.

If the Rays were going to make a change and let Maddon go after this season as a way of shaking things up if this disastrous season continues, then they would be doing exactly that and making a change just to make a change, discounting what Maddon has done in his tenure there. And if Maddon were let go, the over/under on when he would have another managerial job would be 17 minutes.

Is it time for the Rays to think about a new manager or is that the craziest thing you have heard this year?

Russell: I have heard a lot of crazy theories about what the Rays could do to fix the mess, but changing managers is brand new to my ears. I can’t imagine it in any scenario. The Rays know the incredible asset they have in Maddon, and he’s incredibly happy with the club. The same could be said for pitching coach Jim Hickey.

There might be a case to switch up the hitting coach some time in the next six month, but how much is he to blame for this year’s 100 wRC+, compared to last year’s 108 wRC+? Coaching changes are not so clear cut as a Bobby Valentine disaster. The Rays have no reason to dictate a change in management. It’s just crazy talk!

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Blogs • MLB

Jun 26, 2013

The 2013 All-Animosity Team

It’s time for the Fourth Annual All-Animosity Team, which consists of one player at each position, along with a starting pitcher, a closer and a manager from around the league.

It’s time for the Fourth Annual All-Animosity Team. Once again the team consists of one player at each position, along with a starting pitcher, a closer and a manager from around the league. The standards to be considered for the team are simple and only one of the following three requirements needs to be met.

1. The person is a Yankee killer.

2. The person plays for the Red Sox.

3. I don’t like the person. (When I say, “I don’t like the person” or if I say, “I hate someone” I mean I don’t like the person who wears a uniform and plays or manages for a Major League Baseball team and not the actual person away from the game. I’m sure some of the people on this list are nice people. I’m glad we got that out of the way since I can already see Player X’s fan base in an uproar about me hating someone who does so much for the community.)

So, here is the 2013 All-Animosity Team with the winners from the previous years also listed.

C – Jarrod Saltalamacchia (2012 – Matt Wieters, 2011 – Jarrod Saltalamacchia, 2010 – Jason Varitek)
Matt Wieters has been so bad this year (even against the Yankees) that I couldn’t justify putting him in the lineup. So I gave the nod to the one they call “Salty” in Boston even if I don’t have any real animosity toward him since I welcome his at-bats against the Yankees.

Congratulations on making the team, Salty! Even if you don’t deserve to be here. We’ll just consider it the same as when Jason Varitek made the 2008 All-Star Team because Terry Francona was the manager despite Varitek hitting .218 with seven home runs and 28 RBIs at the break.

1B – Chris Davis (2012 – Adrian Gonzalez, 2011 – Adrian Gonzalez, 2010 – Kevin Youkilis)
You have to be good to make this list and Chris Davis isn’t finally good, he’s unbelievable. Not unbelievable in the sense that he is getting help like Melky Cabrera did, but unbelievable like Jose Bautista became between his age 28 season and his age 29 season.

Davis has 28 home runs and 72 RBIs in 77 games this season and is hitting .333/.409/.716. If Miguel Cabrera didn’t exist, Davis would be a potential Triple Crown winner, but Cabrera does exist and has him beat in RBIs (77) and average (.368).

Last season he hit only .220 with three home runs and nine RBIs against the Yankees in 15 games. But this season Davis is hitting .409 with two home runs and three RBIs in just six games against the Yankees with 13 still left to be played.

2B – Dustin Pedroia (2012 – Dustin Pedroia, 2011 – Dustin Pedroia, 2010 – Dustin Pedroia)
There isn’t much left to be said about Dustin Pedroia that I haven’t already said about him over the last three years here. So I will just put down what I put for him the last two years.

Pedroia is like Tom Brady for me. He has that winning instinct that you just don’t see all the time these days, he plays hard and he’s the type of guy you want on your team. But if I didn’t put him here again it would just be weird.

3B – David Wright (2012 – Robert Andino, 2011 – Kevin Youkilis, 2010 – Chone Figgins)
Another change at third base where we have had a different player each season. This year I’m going with David Wright and the only reason I didn’t go with him in the past was because he plays in the National League and only sees the Yankees in the Subway Series. But it’s David Wright: the face of the Mets. He deserves to be on this team. He has deserved it all along. Sorry for the delay, David.

SS – Jose Reyes – (2012 – Jose Reyes, 2011 – Jose Reyes, 2010 – Jose Reyes)
Is anyone still debating whether Derek Jeter or Jose Reyes is the better shortstop? No? I didn’t think so.

It’s no surprise that the Blue Jays tied a franchise record with 11 straight wins and briefly climbed over .500 and people are wondering if it’s a good idea to insert Reyes into the lineup when he returns from a high ankle sprain. If it were any other player of Reyes’ supposed caliber, it would be a no-brainer, but when you’re talking about a player like Reyes, who brings with him nine years of Mets stink and a year of miserable failure with the Marlins, well it’s a little more complicated.

Obviously the Blue Jays are going to put the guy they owe at least $96 million between this season and 2017 back at shortstop since chemistry in baseball is overrated and unnecessary. But hopefully Reyes’ return sends the Blue Jays back to where they were two weeks ago.

LF – Carl Crawford (2012 – Delmon Young, 2011 – Delmon Young, 2010 – Manny Ramirez)
It’s unusual for me to put a National League player on the team if they aren’t a Met, but Crawford is a former Red Sox. However it’s surprising for me to put Crawford on the team because prior to joining the Red Sox, he was (along with Ichiro) my favorite non-Yankee in the league.

Crawford signed his seven-year, $142 million deal with the Red Sox and then hit .255/.289/.405 in 2011 before playing just 31 games for the Red Sox in 2012 prior to being traded to the Dodgers. He complained about the media coverage in Boston while still playing there and whined even more about it after leaving. He didn’t like the fact that he was criticized for hitting 41 points below his career average in his first season as a newly-signed free agent. So Crawford made sure everyone knew his feelings were hurt on his blog on ESPN Boston and then with reporters because it’s no fun playing baseball when you’re due $142 million over the next seven years and people are mean to you.

CF – Ben Zobrist (2012 – Josh Hamilton, 2011 – B.J. Upton, 2010 – Vernon Wells)
With Dustin Pedroia having a stranglehold on second base for as long as this team exists, I needed to find a way to get Ben Zobrist into the lineup. And the only way to do that was to put him in left field or move Crawford to center and put Zobrist in left, but that would mean putting two people out of position. And I don’t want to take Crawford out of his comfort zone since we all know how much he doesn’t like hitting leadoff or playing center field.

Why is Zobrist on this list when he’s a career .261 hitter and the most overrated fantasy baseball player ever because he has played every position in his career other than pitcher and catcher? Because he’s the most feared hitter against Mariano Rivera since Edgar Martinez. Zobrist is 3-for-3 lifetime against Number 42. Those hits? Two doubles and a triple.

RF – Nick Swisher (2012 – Jose Bautista, 2011 – Magglio Ordonez, 2010 – Magglio Ordonez)
I started doing the All-Animosity Team in 2010 and I have waited since then to put Nick Swisher in right field, but because he was on the Yankees, I couldn’t. (The same way I couldn’t include Nick Johnson in 2010 or A.J. Burnett in 2010 or 2011.)

My feelings on Swisher are well documented (especially here) about his time as Yankee and how badly I wanted him out of New York. I’m happy with the way he went out by turning his back on the fans, who put up with his nonsense and clown act for four seasons, but I’m unhappy about the way he was greeted like he had something while playing here when he returned with the Indians.

SP – Josh Beckett (2012 – Josh Beckett, 2011 – Josh Beckett, 2010 – Josh Beckett)
The face of the franchise keeps his spot as the ace of the All-Animosity rotation despite moving to Los Angeles. And if you haven’t kept track of Beckett now that he is in the NL West, let me fill you in.

Beckett is 0-5 with a 5.19 ERA in eight starts. He has a 1.500 WHIP and has made it past the sixth inning once. He’s been on the disabled list with a groin strain, but is also experiencing numbness in his pitching hand and hasn’t started a game since May 13.

Back in December before his first full season with the Dodgers (or what would have been his first full season with the Dodgers if he hadn’t landed on the DL again), this picture surfaced from TMZ showing Beckett riding a surf board that his wife was paddling. I want to know if he had to use one of his 18 off days to enjoy this activity? Oh, no, that’s right. I forgot that he doesn’t just get 18 days off between April and September. He also gets the six months off when he isn’t “working” or pitching 33 times a year. Then again, he hasn’t made 33 starts since 2006.

Can someone remind me again why the Dodgers bailed the Red Sox out?

CL – Fernando Rodney (2012 – Jose Valverde, 2011 – Jonathan Papelbon, 2010 – Jonathan Papelbon)
Rodney earned himself this spot on Sunday after his theatrics following the Rays’ 3-1 at Yankee Stadium as his charades rivaled Jose Valverde’s (a former All-Animosity Team member).

Rodney wears his hat to the side in a way that hasn’t been seen since Abe Alvarez did so for the Red Sox in four games between 2004 and 2006 and on top of it all, people think Rodney is good to great when he really isn’t.

Last season at the age of 35, Rodney saved 48 games for the Rays with a 0.60 ERA and 0.777 WHIP in 74 2/3 innings. But prior to 2012, Rodney had a 4.29 career ERA and 1.367 WHIP with the Tigers (2002-09) and Angels (2010-11). This season, Rodney is back to being his old self with a 4.83 ERA and 1.453 WHIP and I’m happy to have the old Rodney back even if he did embarrass the bottom of the Yankees order on Sunday.

Manager – Mike Scioscia (2012 – Bobby Valentine, 2011 – Mike Scioscia, 2010 – Joe Maddon)
With Valentine out of the league and serving as the athletic director at Scared Heart University in Connecticut (how is he qualified for that job?), the managerial job goes back to Mike Scoiscia.

Scioscia is widely regarded as a baseball genius, and to some the best manager in baseball, who teaches the game the right way and has the most fundamentally sound team in the league. (What? You didn’t know that they go first to third better than any team in the league?). As of Wednesday, the Angels are 34-43 (.442) and 10 games back in the AL West. The only team with less wins than them in the American League is the Houston Astros, a team with a payroll of $26,105,600, which is $1,894,400 less than A-Rod is making this season and he has played zero games and written one newsworthy tweet this season to earn his paycheck.

The Angels haven’t been to the playoffs since 2009 when they lost in six games to the Yankees in the ALCS. In 2010, they went 80-82 to finish 10 games back and in third place in the AL West and 14 games out of a playoff spot. In 2011, they went 86-76 to finish 10 games back and in second place in the AL West and five games out of a playoff spot. In 2012, they went 89-73 to finish five games back and in third place in the AL West and four games out of a playoff spot.

Scioscia’s teams have one postseason series win (2009 ALDS vs. Boston) since reaching the 2005 ALCS and have five postseason appearances in the 10 years since winning the 2002 World Series. It might be time for Mike Scioscia to stop being given unnecessary praise.

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Blogs • MLB

Jun 6, 2012

The All-Animosity Team

It’s time for the Third Annual All-Animosity Team, which consists of one player at each position, along with a starting pitcher, a closer and a manager from around the league.

Your team is up by one run in the eighth inning and the bases are loaded with two outs. Who is the last person you want to see coming to the plate?

Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton and Miguel Cabrera would be normal answers for non-Yankees fans, but ask a Yankees fan, and you might get Robert Andino, Carlos Pena or Howie Kendrick. Certain fans fear certain players differently, especially players on rival teams. I don’t feel confident when A-Rod is up against the Red Sox, but I have had Red Sox fans tell me they are scared when A-Rod is up. I could understand Derek Jeter or Robinson Cano (the most common answers), but A-Rod? If I ever get Mark Teixeira as an answer I might pass out.

Players that fan bases are scared of are usually also players that those fan bases hate. They are connected because usually hate players because of something they did to your team though there are times when you just hate a certain player because of who they are.

This brings us to the Third Annual All-Animosity Team, which consists of one player at each position, along with a starting pitcher, a closer and a manager from around the league. The standards to be considered for the team are simple and only one of the following three requirements needs to be met.

1. The person is a Yankee killer.

2. The person plays for the Red Sox.

3. I don’t like the person. (When I say, “I don’t like the person” or if I say, “I hate someone” I mean I don’t like the person who wears a uniform and plays or manages for a Major League Baseball team and not the actual person away from the game. I’m sure some of the people on this list are nice people. I’m glad we got that out of the way since I can already see Player X’s fan base in an uproar about me hating someone who does so much for the community.)

So, here is the 2012 All-Animosity Team with the winners from the previous years also listed.

C – Matt Wieters (2011 – Jarrod Saltalamacchia, 2010 – Jason Varitek)
Here are Wieters’ numbers against the Yankees this season.

14-for-30 (.467), 3 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBIs, .543 OBP, .767 SLG

The bad news is that the Orioles and Yankees still have to play 10 more games against each other this year. The worse news is that Wieters just turned 26 at the end of May. I have many, many, many more seasons of Wieters ruining summer nights for me.

1B – Adrian Gonzalez (2011 – Adrian Gonzalez, 2010 – Kevin Youkilis)
I really wanted to put Justin Morneau in this spot. Why? Well because Morneau is hitting .455/.571/1.273 against the Yankees this season with three home runs and four RBIs in just three games and 11 at-bats and he seems to hit three home runs in every series the Twins play at the Stadium. But Morneau never really stood a chance at making the team over Adrian Gonzalez.

Here are some quotes from Adrian Gonzalez following Game 162 of the 2011 season.

“We didn’t do a better job with the lead. I’m a firm believer that God has a plan and it wasn’t in his plan for us to move forward.”

“God didn’t have it in the cards for us.”

“We play too many night games on getaway days and get into places at 4 in the morning. This has been my toughest season physical because of that. We play a lot of night games on Sunday for television and those things take a lot out of you.”

“They can put the Padres on ESPN, too. The schedule really hurt us. Nobody is really reporting that.”

Forget that Gonzalez plays for the Red Sox. If you like the person who gave those excuses for the reason his team failed to make the playoffs then maybe you need to be on the All-Animosity Team of Life. If a Yankee had blamed the ALDS loss to the Tigers on anyone but themselves I would have turned into Nicolas Cage from any of these scenes.

2B – Dustin Pedroia (2011 – Dustin Pedroia, 2010 – Dustin Pedroia)
I hate to reuse what I wrote about Pedroia in this spot last year, but it still fits perfectly.

Pedroia is like Tom Brady for me. He has that winning instinct that you just don’t see all the time these days, he plays hard and he’s the type of guy you want on your team. But if I didn’t put him here again it would just be weird.

Even though I have a love/hate relationship with Pedroia and wish there was a way to get him on the Yankees while maintaining the same roster (Pedroia at second, Cano to third, A-Rod to DH, anyone?), if I didn’t put him on here people would think I like him, and that’s not the case.

3B – Robert Andino (2011 – Kevin Youkilis, 2010 – Chone Figgins)
(Note: Kevin Youkilis is the only player to make the All-Animosity Team at two different positions. This will likely be written on his All-Animosity Hall of Fame plaque.)

This is probably the only time Robert Andino will be viewed as a scarier hitter than Miguel Cabrera. Actually I know it will be the only time.

Andino is 10-for-27 against the Yankees in 2012, and it has a lot do with the fact that he crushes CC Sabathia (8-for-20, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBIs). Even though I don’t like Andino I will always have a special place for him in my heart for putting the dagger into the Red Sox’ 2011 season (or should I say the 1927 Yankees’ season?).

SS – Jose Reyes (2011 – Jose Reyes, 2010 – Jose Reyes)
I always look to the Red Sox roster before considering anyone else for any of the positions on this team, but when you have a shortstop platoon of Mike Aviles and Nick Punto, it’s hard to really hold any animosity toward them. In fact, I love the Red Sox’ idea of a shortstop platoon to create the superpower that is Mick Avunto. If I’m Ben Cherington, I give them both five-years deals. Why break up a good thing?

Mets fans were worried about Jose Reyes going to the Phillies and he ended up with another division rival in the Marlins. Do you remember hearing things like “The Mets have to re-sign Reyes!” and “I won’t watch a Mets game next year if Reyes leaves” from Mets fans last year? I do. But what happened when Reyes left the Mets for the Marlins and $106 million? The Mets became a likable team. They became a fun team to watch, even for someone like me who hates the Mets.

Jose Reyes was the face of what has gone wrong with the Mets since Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS and he needed to go despite Mets fans thinking he was part of the franchise’s solution rather than part of the problem. But I guess it’s hard to let go of a player Mets fans deemed “The Most Exciting Players in Baseball” even when that player requests to come out of the lineup to protect his batting title.

The season is a third of the way through and Reyes has no home runs and 12 RBIs in 247 plate appearances this season. But hey, Reyes was going to be the future of the Mets!

LF – Delmon Young (2011 – Delmon Young, 2010 – Manny Ramirez)
Delmon Young probably would have been taken off this list, but then he went and hit home runs in Games 1, 3 and 5 of the ALDS. I will never forget John Smoltz’s comment about watching out for a first-pitch fastball from Rafael Soriano to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning after the Yankees had just come back to tie the game with two runs off Verlander. That first-pitch fastball changed the series. I’m just glad David Robertson was sitting in the bullpen after not pitching in Games 1 or 2 and after being rested for the final two weeks of the regular season by Joe Girardi. Now that’s good managing.

CF – Josh Hamilton (2011 – B.J. Upton, 2010 – Vernon Wells)
I think I’m one of the only people that isn’t a Josh Hamilton fan. I get his whole “comeback” story, but if you’re a Yankees fan and you root for Hamilton maybe you forgot about these numbers from the 2010 ALCS.

7-for-20 (.350), 6 R, 1 2B, 4 HR, 7 RBIs, 3 SB, 8 BB, .536 OBP, 1.000 SLG

Do you still like him?

It’s insane that it’s June 6 and Hamilton has 21 HR and 58 RBIs after homering just 25 times in 121 games last year and 32 times in 133 games in his MVP year in 2010.

RF – Jose Bautista (2011 – Magglio Ordonez, 2010 – Magglio Ordonez)
The only way Magglio Ordonez wasn’t going to win this award was if he retired, and that’s what he did. On Sunday the Tigers had Magglio Ordonez Day and everyone was respectful and cheering and some of the Yankees took part in the pregame ceremony by sitting in the dugout and acknowledging the career. I watched the game from the couch and booed as if Ordonez was 50 feet from me in right field.

I have yet to find a Yankees fan that was sad to see A.J. Burnett get traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates, but I’m pretty sure Jose Bautista wasn’t happy about Burnett’s departure from the AL East.

I don’t like Bautista because of what he does against the Yankees and what he does to any wager I place for or against the Blue Jays. If the Blue Jays are somehow in the race for the division down the stretch, I will have no choice but to bet on them every game to ensure that Jose Bautista does absolutely nothing.

SP – Josh Beckett (2011 – Josh Beckett, 2010 – Josh Beckett)
There’s no one who will ever take this award from Josh Beckett. If Jered Weaver drilled Derek Jeter and forced him to miss a significant amount of time he still wouldn’t be in the conversation even when you combine such a terrible act with his relation to Jeff Weaver. Now if Jered Weaver injured Jeter for a lengthy period of time and then upon Jeter’s return he injured him again for another lengthy period of time, then maybe we can talk about replacing Josh Beckett here.

The thing that takes the fun out of Beckett being my No. 1 Most Hated Athlete To Look At (which is completely separate from being on the All-Animosity Team) is that the city he plays for hates him. The same city he won a World Series for in 2007. Red Sox fans obviously want him to pitch well so the team wins when he starts, but at the same time they aren’t upset when he loses. It’s a beautiful thing.

CL – Jose Valverde (2011 – Jonathan Papelbon, 2010 – Jonathan Papelbon)
Goodbye, Jonathan Papelbon. It was fun (not really). Now it’s time to say “Hello” to Jose Valverde.

I don’t know if I will ever get over the fact that the Yankees faced him three times in the ALDS and didn’t get him to blow any of the three games. This ultimately led to the Yankees’ demise, well this along with the heart of the order’s inability to hit with runners in scoring position and failure to get the big hit, and CC Sabathia coming up short twice and Joe Girardi using Luis Ayala more than David Robertson.

There can’t be any fan base that likes Valverde aside from Tigers fans. There just can’t be. No one wants to see Valverde succeed with the amount of time he takes between pitches and his version of the Electric Slide that he does after successfully converting a save. But maybe other fan bases don’t hate him as much as Yankees fans because we’re used to seeing Mariano Rivera walk toward home plate and shake the catcher’s hand after a save rather than moonwalk across the mound or dance like your wild uncle at a wedding who hung out at the bar for the first three hours and is hearing “Call Me Maybe” for the first time.

Valverde’s perfect season of going 49-for-49 in save opportunities was hard to watch, but I’m glad he has come back to his old self in 2012 with a 4.64 ERA and 1.594 WHIP.

Manager – Bobby Valentine (2011 – Mike Scioscia, 2010 – Joe Maddon)
Did any other manager have a chance? In a league that boasts hipster Joe Maddon, the genius Mike Scioscia and Fidel Castro supporter Ozzie Guillen, it’s Bobby Valentine who stands alone.

Whether it’s Bobby V taking shots at the Yankees during spring training or having stories written about him building a fence in the offseason (I helped my dad build a deck last summer and no one wrote a story about me), or doing weekly spots on 1050 ESPN Radio in New York, or calling out Kevin Youkilis for really no reason or supporting Josh Beckett playing golf after missing a start due to a back problem, there’s always a reason to dislike Bobby.

I just want to take this time to thank the Red Sox ownership group for not letting their new general manager do his job and for going over his head and making Bobby Valentine their manager. Thank you.

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