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#1
10-23-2007, 03:06 PM
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Re: One of my friends thinks Theo Epstein is an overated GM.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] He's apparently decent at assessing young talent but has been legitimately awful in the free agent market... [/ QUOTE ] [/ QUOTE ] ortiz okajima timlin mueller garden worm etc he's better at finding overlooked guys who can contribute than signing big ticket FA's. he's also been good about NOT overpaying for FA's on their way down - pedro, damon, etc. he lets guys walk at the right time for the most part. the guys he has signed who haven't worked out are still mostly young guys who projected pretty well, not 35 year old declining sluggers. 
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#3
10-23-2007, 03:09 PM
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Re: One of my friends thinks Theo Epstein is an overated GM.
didn't count him or dice since millar's contract was actually purchased from florida IIRC and dice-k was posted. but they were both pretty good deals imo.
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#4
10-23-2007, 02:40 PM
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Re: One of my friends thinks Theo Epstein is an overated GM.
there was no reason to expect crisp to underperform so badly. he seemed like a good fit for boston, got hurt and wasn't ever really the same. he projected much better than he has been. i was fine with that trade at the time. we got a crap prospect in marte but we flipped him before the indians had a chance to realize he was crap [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]
theo has made some dubious moves but he gets away with it because boston has a great scouting / farm system and a big payroll. the matsuzaka signing will pan out for us - dice did pretty well for his first year in the AL East. it took beckett a full year to adjust, now look at him. you also help yourself by putting up that money, because if the sox don't get the bid, there's a good chance he ends up on NYY. hence you hurt your opponent while helping yourself. the drew and lugo signings are pretty blah so far, but i think they learned from the renteria debacle - they won't give up on those guys right away, and they're both likely to bounce back next year. kason gabbard showing anything other than AAAA caliber stuff is baffling. the guy languished in pawtucket for a long time, never really seemed to have it together. we have a bunch of other guys with similar minor-league numbers (corey, hansack, etc) and a wealth of young pitching talent coming up through the lower minors. there really wasn't much room for gabbard or murphy on the sox in the next few years, and they are both pretty old for being marginal prospects. nothing wrong with giving these guys up while in GFIN mode, the problem was not figuring out that gagne was hurt. i think everyone had an inkling that he was hiding an injury (hell, how else did we get him so cheap?) but the sox decided to say [censored] it, let's see if he can help out. it's a gamble worth taking when you can deal guys who are blocked anyway or nearing the end of their window. none of these moves (other than bard/meredith, that was awful) are half as bad as your buddy thinks. theo isn't the genius he is heralded as, but he is a bold GM with the luxury of great job security who generally does a good job. i didn't hear your friend mention anything about how he has patched together the best bullpen in baseball from a couple of young farm system studs, some journeyman vets and a guy who was supposed to be dice-k's caddy when they brought him over. or about how the sox are loaded with young pitching talent and have more of it coming up through the minors as we speak. beckett's extension was a great deal for us and we already have maybe the best post-arb SP contract in baseball in timmy dubs. theo is overrated, but he does a good job nonetheless.
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#5
10-23-2007, 02:41 PM
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Re: One of my friends thinks Theo Epstein is an overated GM.
Or I could misread the market and put up an extra 12 million dollar posting fee for a japaneese pitcher, knowing full well that no Japaneese pitcher has performed to an all star level consistently in the U.S. [ QUOTE ]
[/ QUOTE ] dice k rules. i hate him for this comment alone!
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#6
10-23-2007, 02:43 PM
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Re: One of my friends thinks Theo Epstein is an overated GM.
Epstein is overrated in the same sense that Billy Beane is overated. They both get credited for others work.
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#7
10-23-2007, 02:46 PM
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Re: One of my friends thinks Theo Epstein is an overated GM.
[ QUOTE ]
Or I could trade an emerging #3/4 starter (Gabbard) and an emerging #3 OF (Murphy) for a closer who has not been dominant for the better part of 4 seasons, never pitched in the pressure of a large market, and ask him to perform in a role (Setup) that he has never performed in, and see how that works out (not well) [/ QUOTE ] Epstein is pretty bad, but I'd say the Gagne deal is going to work out just fine. They are likely going to get two first round picks for two players that are not worth first round picks. It was the irrational Red Sox fans that were expecting Gagne to be the savior.
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#8
10-23-2007, 02:48 PM
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Re: One of my friends thinks Theo Epstein is an overated GM.
[x] signed Big Papi for loose change in 2003
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#10
10-23-2007, 03:56 PM
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Re: One of my friends thinks Theo Epstein is an overated GM.
Whenever I see Theo I think of all those high stakes kids like sbrugby and Stox. Younger than me, smarter than me, more successful. But I love 'em anyways. Those guys learned me how to play some good. Theo arrived and the burden was lifted. Skill and his good karma, whatever balance of the two I don't care.
He had what it took for the club to hire him and combine sabermetric and big payroll. So his youth and smarts and whatever else got the Sox to make this gamble should be counted in his favor.
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Hybrid Mode
