Dave Roberts has to be gone now right? I think he is more to blame for this loss tonight then Kershaw who will get most of the blame because he once again struggled in the postseason. Roberts stuck with him too long and they paid the price for it. Kershaw ran out of gas imo and with the offense not doing their job it put more pressure on him to be just about perfect which is hard for any pitcher let alone Kershaw. So I feel like if you want to point fingers it has to start and end with Roberts.
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Mariners outfielder Mallex Smith and right-handers Bryan Shaw and Jimmy Yacabonis have elected free agency, Greg Johns of MLB.com tweets. The Mariners outrighted all three players in September.
Seattle had high hopes for Smith when it acquired him from Tampa Bay before 2019 in a deal that also involved catcher Mike Zunino, among others. The Mariners seemed right to be bullish on Smith, who was coming off a 3.5-fWAR, 40-steal season at the time. Smith has continued as a stolen base threat since then (he swiped 40 bags in 2019), but the 27-year-old has otherwise struggled. He finished his M’s tenure with 613 plate appearances of .220/.290/.323 hitting and six home runs.
It was also an awful 2020 for Shaw, continuing a downward trend for the once-effective Cleveland reliever. After a woeful two-year stint in Colorado, Shaw joined the Mariners on a big league contract in July, but the deal didn’t work out for either side. The 32-year-old wound up tossing six frames, yielding 12 earned runs on 13 hits and issuing six walks in Seattle.
Yacabonis joined the Mariners in a minor trade with the Padres in August, but he also didn’t establish himself in the M’s bullpen. The 28-year-old gave up one earned runs on two hits and three walks in 2 1/3 innings.Comment -
Astros hanging tough, pressure on Rays now to close it out to avoid a Game 7.
Dodgers in deep trouble.Comment -
I can't believe Dodgers lost...Comment -
All is right with the world againComment -
Let’s go Braves, one more tonight plz.Comment -
Damn Astros might complete the epic comeback, sad.Comment -
Rays hitting has let them down big time but really that's been their achilles heel all season long so we should have seen this coming. The Astros pitching has been exceptional but really its the Rays lack of hitting that has them reeling. I think the Astros not only win the next game but take the World Series as well. Crazy that they were left for dead by most people hoping they would just go away but the Astros are proving that they deserve some respect after all for coming back in this series.Comment -
Astros playing loose. I'll take em tomorrow.Comment -
I often criticized Dusty Baker for his managing decisions when he was in San Francisco but the Astros are playing loose because he is their manager. His strongest suit is that he never panics and he's always calm no matter what. The Astros were playing like they had nothing to lose even down 3-0 and that's why they came back in this series. I think they ride the wave of momentum and take game 7 over a tight Tampa Bay team.Comment -
The Astros are one win away from pulling off one of the greatest postseason comebacks in Major League Baseball history. After dropping the first three games of the American League Championship Series against the Rays, they have won three in a row to force a Game 7 on Saturday. The Astros will use right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. as their starter then, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic tweets. The Rays, hoping to stave off a collapse, will turn to righty Charlie Morton, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
McCullers, who debuted with the Astros in 2015, has been through the postseason wringer with the perennial contenders. He made his first playoff outing as a rookie and has since contributed 43 frames of 2.93 ERA pitching with 9.6 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 in the postseason, including closing out the Yankees in the Astros’ 2017 ALCS victory in Game 7. As for this fall’s playoffs, the 27-year-old has tossed 11 innings of five-earned run ball, and he last took the mound for the Astros in their Game 2 loss in this series on Monday. McCullers totaled seven innings with four runs (only one earned) on four hits and no walks in that game, and he put up 11 strikeouts.
Morton got the better of McCullers in the pair’s previous matchup, during which he fired five scoreless frames. The 36-year-old Morton helped lead the Astros to a championship in 2017 with his excellent playoff performance, but he could now end their season with his current club. Not only has Morton largely been a tremendous regular-season pitcher since he broke out as an Astro during their title-winning campaign, but he has been as good or better in the fall, evidenced by his lifetime 3.16 ERA with 9.6 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 51 1/3 playoff innings. Based on the success he has had in the postseason, Morton seems well equipped to handle a do-or-die matchup.Comment -
I might have to start drinking again if I get a Houston/LAD World Series.Comment -
All hands on deck for a game 7, should be fun. I think Morton will be the difference for the Rays.Comment -
I think Mobile’s going to have a baseball orgasm if LA holds on.
I respect loyalty so if LA does this I’ll be happy for him.
Doesnt mean I have to like it.Comment -
Glad the Rays got it done to punch their ticket to the World Series.Comment -
Kershaw going to get another chance in the World SeriesComment -
Go home cheaters, nice work Rays!Comment -
The Padres have a relatively small decision to make on trade deadline acquisition Mitch Moreland, whose contract contains a reasonable $3MM club option for the 2021 season. San Diego can buy out that option for $500K and send Moreland back into free agency, but general manager A.J. Preller told reporters yesterday that no decision has been made (link via Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune). The dilemma isn’t so much a financial one, it seems, but rather a quandary as the Padres — and all other NL clubs — will still have a designated hitter slot in 2021.
“The DH question is definitely a question all the teams are asking about,” Preller said. “It does affect your team planning. … We felt that option was something we’d consider. It would help a little bit having a sense of if there is a DH or not.”
At face value, keeping Moreland at a net $2.5MM even if he’s primarily a bench bat seems perfectly defensible, although there’s some reason to be a bit bearish on his outlook. Moreland posted an outrageous .328/.430/.746 slash in 22 games with the Sox before cratering with a .203/.247/.362 line in 20 games with the Padres. Those were samples of 79 and 73 plate appearances, respectively, however — rather small sets of data from which to glean much. Moreland’s overall .265/.342/.551 slash was still terrific, and the composite .251/.329/.479 output he’s put together over the past three seasons reflects that he’s an above-average hitter when properly shielded from facing too many left-handed opponents.
At the same time, the Padres have Eric Hosmer entrenched at first base thanks to the eight-year, $144MM deal he inked three seasons ago. Hosmer had his best year with the Friars in 2020, hitting .287/.333/.517 with nine homers in just 158 plate appearances. Barring an injury, he’d stand in the way of everyday at-bats for Moreland, and the Padres may not want to commit $2.5MM right out of the gate this winter when they already have $90.5MM on next year’s books and are faced with a notable arbitration class; Tommy Pham, Zach Davies, Mike Clevinger, Matt Strahm, Dinelson Lamet and Emilio Pagan are among the club’s more notable cases, and there’s also talk of a potential Fernando Tatis extension.
Preller clearly knows Moreland well, as he was an assistant GM in Texas when Moreland was drafted, developed and broke into the Majors with the Rangers. San Diego parted with some legitimate minor league talent to acquire Moreland, so one would expect that they hoped to get more than one month of production. Whether that’ll be the case may well be tied to measures beyond their control, however.
From a broader perspective, the Padres aren’t the only club that would strongly like to have clarity on this front headed into the offseason. Each NL club’s roster construction plans would vary considerably from universal DH to conventional NL rules structure. Players and agents, similarly, would benefit from a definitive decision on next year’s DH situation being made. A player like Nelson Cruz, for instance, would surely like to know if he can plausibly market himself to NL clubs. At the moment, however, there’s no clear indication as to when anything will be set in stone. The league and MLBPA would need to agree on a change of this nature, but the previous agreement only implemented universal DH status for the 2020 eason.Comment -
Love to see the Rays win it all .
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I would too since I got them at +2800 in the SBR sportsbook prior to the season and +690 at Bookmaker with a future bet I placed the day before the playoffs started. Wish I put money on Tampa Bay before the season started because I would have gotten a nice price on them but I'll happily take the betpoints and money I hopefully make on them at Bookmaker.Comment -
Tampa Bay Rays thank god.Comment -
Twitter is blowing up this morning with all the Astro hate.
Even Phil Hughes got in the act.Comment -
Astros are hated.Comment -
Looks like I'm a winner after allComment
