Comments on FIRE JOE MORGAN: JoeChat, Sports Emmy Edition

Damn it all to hell, I had to edit this post again...

2006-05-03T13:37:00.000-04:00

Damn it all to hell, I had to edit this post again. I wrote that Pujols was second to Ichiro in BA among actives, even though I linked the damn page and he's actually second to Helton.

Say...What if I told you all that these errors on my part were actually intentional, and were meant as a...fact-checking exercise for our readership? And that you all did very well in pointing them out to me? So...congratulations!

Again, I do think reasonable people can disagree o...

2006-05-03T03:12:00.000-04:00

Again, I do think reasonable people can disagree on that. Obviously, Joe has a point when he says that a good pitcher should pitch as many innings as possible. And long-term, I am definitely in favor of Papelbon starting, especially in light of other closer options in the minors (Hansen esp., though there is talk of him starting as well). However. Given what this team went through with Foulke last year, and given that Clement's early-season stats are marred by one bad inning and one other bad start, and given that healthy Schilling/Beckett/Wake/Clement is way better than anything they had last year when they won 95 games, and given that Papelbon is throwing so well in the relief ace role...right now I think he may be best served as the closer. It's really a win-win for them, since he did well as a starter in limited IP last year.

Anyway. I think sometimes, and I know I'll get slammed for this, there can be value in the "ain't broke" philosophy. Assuming what ain't broke is something that is adding tangible value to the team's performance, like Papelbon being lights-out, and not something that simply gives the illusion of helping a team but actually hurts it, like having Podsednik lead off for the ChiSox.

(Because in that scenario, your team will be screwed to the tune of a World Series championship. But you know what I mean.)

In the interest of illustrating that not all FJM e...

2006-05-03T01:29:00.000-04:00

In the interest of illustrating that not all FJM editors agree on everything, I just want to say that I'm actually siding with JM on the Papelbon issue. I think he should start and Foulke should be closing.

"If it ain't broke"? Really Ken? I hate to say it, but that sounds more Morgan than Tremendous.

I also think that of all Morgan's foibles, the fact that he lives in 1995 is his most charming.

So, agree to disagree, I guess.

I have now further edited the post to change the w...

2006-05-03T01:11:00.000-04:00

I have now further edited the post to change the word "contradictions" to the word "buts," after one particularly feisty reader laid into me about that (admittedly sloppy writing on my part) and my statement that Ken Griffey Jr. was not the key to the 2006 Reds. Which I stand by. Reasonable people can disagree, especially when said feisty reader busts out Griffey's 2005 team-leading VORP and his 2006 BP projections as examples of his value. (A worthy adversary, this one. But I stand by the comments.)

I edited the post to change Papelbon's save total ...

2006-05-02T21:09:00.000-04:00

I edited the post to change Papelbon's save total from 11-11 to the correct 10-10, after some monsters FJM has created e-mailed me within seconds of posting the incorrect total to rub my nose in the error w/r/t the title of my last post about Rick Sutcliffe. God bless you all.