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Chat: Joe Sheehan

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Welcome to Baseball Prospectus' Tuesday October 20, 2009 2:00 PM ET chat session with Joe Sheehan.

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With the LCS round well underway, you'll want to talk with Joe Sheehan about the action in the books, and the action to come. Joe's chat has been moved to 2 p.m. ET.

Joe Sheehan: "The thing about Joe Sheehan's chats," said McCarver, "is that they start on time."

Steve (DC): Are, as you have proclaimed in this space, the Red Sox still the best-run organization in baseball?

Joe Sheehan: Yup. I'n curious to see how they play this winter out, as the right move for any organization is to avoid this market and wait for next year. Holliday, Bay and Lackey, in order of danger, are likely to require too much committment of years and money to be worth it.

Will (Michigan): Not sure why it as "clearly the right move at the time" to remove Pedro. 87 pitches. Pinch hit with one out and a runner on first. Bad bullpen. Would you have pinch hit with nobody on and two out? Would you have relieved if Pedro had not been due up that inning?

Joe Sheehan: This is about Game Two of the NLDS. You absolutely want to play for the additional run there, in all cases. Going from +1 to +2 in the late innings is huge, much larger than the gap between Pedro+90 pitches and even that bullpen.

Eric (Denver): I know he's not a free agent this offseason, but what do you see happening with Albert Pujols? Can the Cards sign him to an A-Rod-type deal and still have the money to field a perennial contender that can not only capture the NL Central title, but go deep into the playoffs?

Joe Sheehan: The Cardinals' problem isn't going to be money, but talent. They haven't done a real good job of integrating young players into their roster, and they've been drafting so low in the first round that they haven't had the shot at high-impact talent at the top of the draft. They can afford to pay Pujols $25-30MM/year, and still have $80-90 million for everyone else; the question is can they distribute that $80-90 million optimally, with a number of low-paid producers supporting a few other high-dollar players.

Mountainhawk (Salem, MA): Is it just me, or has this postseason had a crazy number of 1 run games?

Joe Sheehan: Not sure if today's column is up yet...in 14 of 21 games so far, counting Twins/Tigers, the tying run has come to the plate in the ninth inning or later.

Hawkeye (Grafton, ND): Thanks for the orange sherbet memory in yesterday's article. Biggest managerial blunder(s) in the LCS thus far??

Joe Sheehan: Probably Girardi using Marte and Coke for four pitches across consecutive batters. Robertson/Aceves gets more attention because of what followed, but the first move was even less explicable.

Flynnbot (DC): Do you still love Girardi's bullpen management?

Joe Sheehan: He had an awful day yesterday, but even in there, you see him going to Rivera in a critical situation, which was a good move. He went to Chamberlain at an appropriate spot. Starting the 11th with Robertson was smart. He made good and bad decisions--more of the latter.

jschmeagol (college park, md): Joe Girardi...why?

Joe Sheehan: To follow up, and I was just talking about this with a friend, I would have liked to see Girardi provide a specific explanation for the decisions, especially the last one. If he comes in and says, "I chose Aceves for this specific reason," I can work with that. For him to cite "matchups" and "information" is a cop-out. Have the courage of your convictions. I don't think there's any justification for swapping comparable righthanded pitchers with two outs, no one on, and your pitcher in the lineup in the 11th inning when you're faced Kendrick/Mathis/Aybar, but if you have one, spit it out.

oira61 (San Francisco): Before Joba "Neville" Chamberlain, who was the player with the highest ratio of hype to accomplishment? I nominate Bo Jackson. Your thoughts?

Joe Sheehan: 24 years old, 280 innings, 3.60 ERA, K per innings, better than 2/1 K/BB. At baseball-age 23, he was more or less a league-average starter in short innings while being mishandled.

Oh, could everyone stop saying that Chamberlain was "converted" to starting? HE WAS ALWAYS A STARTER.

Richie (Washington): Regarding your 'Playoff Odds Report', Bill James once wrote that a process which leads to an obviously wrong conclusion is an obviously wrong process. I get it that you have a logical and internally consistent process which spits out the conclusion that the Yankees' chance of winning it all is @ 9 times greater than the Angels' chance. How 'bout some evidence that that process actually explains past results, and how well it does so? I don't need any more blahblah but how logically it processes.

Joe Sheehan: It was a coding error. See Unfiltered for more information.

bflaff (Phila., PA): Re: Aceves over Robertson, some people speculated on fangraphs that it was because Girardi wanted a guy with good off speed stuff to face Kendrick, who is much better hitting fastballs. The theory being that Girardi liked Alceves' off-speed stuff more than Robertson's.

Joe Sheehan: I think that's exactly what it was. The problems are 1) Girardi didn't cop to it and 2) you don't make that move in that situation. It's overmanaging to chase a skill-set matchup at that point in the inning and at that point in the game against a guy who has maybe a 2% chance of a HR that you're reducing to 1.5%.

SteveJeltzPhanClub (Santa Barbara, CA): Who is your favorite player on the Phillies?

Joe Sheehan: Chase Utley.

jimspivey8 (Cincinnati): Do you think Lidge has shown any actual improvement in the playoffs as compared to the regular season, or do small-sample rules apply?

Joe Sheehan: I thought he looked much better last night than he had in his three prior appearances. He was in the strike zone and his slider had that sharp break out of the zone it has at its best. It was really the first time I'd been impressed by him this postseason. I have no idea whether it will continue; I don't think anyone does. The one thing I'd say is that I'm pretty comfortable using him against righties at this point.

David (Sonoma State University, CA): For the Dodgers to win the next three games, they're going to have to improve their _____________

Joe Sheehan: Offense. They've got 12 runs in four games, six in the last three. Furcal has a .167 OBP. He's hurting them a lot.

Jacob348 (Pittsburgh): Joe, Can you give Pirates fans some optimism? Also, is Garett Jones for real and does he start everyday next year (where)?

Joe Sheehan: The current Pirates front office is the best the team has had since they won three straight NL East titles. The thing is, they have to be given time; the talent base isn't there for success, won't be until at least '11. Jones is a fluke, and will be a .260/.315/.440 guy with much less success on the bases next year, playing a lot of first base and a little left field.

Mark (CT): Joe, is there any manager in the game that would start the bottom of the 11th with a right hander to face Arod with a one run lead, then go to his closer for the remaining outs?

Joe Sheehan: Charlie Manuel sort of did this already, once, but "closer" on his team was ill-defined at that point. As I've written, one of the biggest problems with the closer myth is that it involved suspending the belief in gaining tactical advantages that drives bullpen usage and roster management for all the innings prior. With rare exception, you should still want to think about those things in a save situation.

Greg (San Diego): Joe, let's assume the Dodgers are knocked out. If you are GM what do you do this off-season?

Joe Sheehan: I'm not sure, but there's no difference in my answer based on whether they get knocked out in the NLCS, in the World Series, or win at all. Making roster decisions based on the postseason is announcing to the world that you suck at your job.

smell my mule (Lawrence, KS): So is Ryan Howard still a "platoon" player?

Joe Sheehan: He's getting worse, not better, against lefties. Mitigating against that is somewhat improved defense (though throwing remains a problem) and baserunning. Six of one...

Richie (Washington): It WAS/HAD BEEN a coding error that produced the earlier strange-looking odds. But the Yankees are again a 9/1 favorite over the Angels with respect to winning the whole enchilada. Assuming 2 equal teams, they ought to be 11/5. Instead, they're 4 times that. Intuitively this just seems to correlate badly with past playoff results.

Joe Sheehan: It's 83/16 to win the series. That seems high to me, but a lot of little factors that matter in the postseason swing the Yankees way, which is what is showing up in the odds.

With that said, I think if you gave me Angels +500 right now, which is what these odds reflect, I'd take it.

Trevor (Miami): Joe, If you're the Marlins do you move Coughlin back to 2nd and move (3B/LF) or trade Uggla this off-season?

Joe Sheehan: I put him at third, keep Uggla, play Maybin, trade Cantu. If I can trade Uggla for an OF with upside, I do it. Otherwise, I keep him.

e (new jersey): Lost in the hullaballoo is that Ruiz has to be off with the crack of the bat, or Perlozzo has a really tough decision sending the winning run to die at the plate. Where some teams have lost, or nearly lost, games because of awful baserunning, I believe the Phillies are winning games with some great baserunning.

Joe Sheehan: Well, he'd have no reason to not be, with two outs, and because there was a runner on second he was getting a big lead. Your overall point--that the Phillies are doing well on the bases--is well taken, however. Victorino tripled to left field by taking advantage of Manny being slow to the ball, and I think it was him who later took a base on a WP that didn't get away very far. He, Utley, Howard, Ruiz...these guys are good baserunners.

Fred (Burnaby, BC): Is the discrepancy between the popular notion of the playoffs (heros and clutchiness) vs. the randomness of baseball in short series (i.e., A-Rod's "unclutchiness" or the question on the Dodgers here in this chat) something that drives you nuts, too?

Joe Sheehan: It did. Now I just try and put as much good information into the world as I can, and hope that over time it makes a difference.

There *is* something to the idea of heroes and goats, but those are based on actions, not character. Jimmy Rollins and Jeff Mathis were clutch last night, and deserve all the credit in the world for that. They gave use great moments. As long as you don't leap from "wow" to "they must be superior people," we're cool.

Rick (State College): Dodgers in 6 still? I mean, if I'm wrong it's because the number is too high.

Joe Sheehan: Love you guys.

Just because something happened doesn't mean that's the only way it could have happened. I think this postseason, with so many games that could have gone either way but for specific players doing specific things, or umpire calls, or managerial decisions, has been a fantastic example of that.

This applies when I'm *right*, too. Yankees in three was technically correct, but might well have been Twins in four but for three plays.

Joe (Washington, DC): Joe: I think that both Eiland and Girardi indicated that they didn't want to get more specific on the rationale for removing Robertson because they still had games to play against Anaheim. And I'm fine with that explanation.

Joe Sheehan: Maybe. I seriously doubt they have any information that the Angels don't have. This isn't 1973.

scott (chicago): is Ryan Howard gonna be Travis Hafner in < 2 years?

Joe Sheehan: The change in his body type and improved defense make that less likely than it looked a year ago. I'm not entirely sure how he'll develop offensively.

ekanenh (Capitol City): Does the so-called "track record of starters going on short rest in the post season" mean anything with regards to Sabathia?

Joe Sheehan: I'm convinced it doesn't mean anything, that adding all the different individual data points together for such a variety of pitchers isn't indicative of what a specific starter might do on a given day. Call it the Beckett Axiom. In any case, Sabathia over Gaudin is the correct call. If he pitches poorly, which happened three weeks ago against the Rays on full rest and a few other times this year on full rest, it will be blamed on the short rest. "Post hoc ergo propter hoc," which I'm pretty sure is painted on a mural in the LA Times offices, in full view of their sports department.

Michael (NYC): Do you think that facing Stairs just totally threw Broxton off his game? Did he not seem like he bacame a 99 MPH nibbler?

Joe Sheehan: No. He hit Ruiz with a good fastball, just got it in too far, and he was 0-1 on Dobbs and 1-1 on Rollins. He just put the fastball to Rollins in the guy's happy zone.

ashitaka (long beach, ca): Would McCarver refer to you as a professional chatter?

Joe Sheehan: I hope not. I'm trying to keep my eligibility for London in 2012.

gjgross (Philly): When Torre let Wolf hit with two men on in the sixth, was that just to let his friend Charlie off the hook for letting Blanton hit with a man on in the bottom of the fifth? Wasn't getting five decent innings out of these guys the goal with the very solid LA bullpen and JA Happ ready to take over?

Joe Sheehan: This is the most prominent thing I didn't get to in today's column. There's an alternate path to that game where Orlando Hudson bats for Wolf, the switch-hitter making the move reliever-proof, then stays in to play second with Kuo batting in Belliard's slot. You can move the pitcher up because Kuo is a one-inning guy by design, and will either be hit for in the seventh or double-switched upward into Manny's slot, with Pierre in for defense.

I don't know how the game would have played out from there, but I really think that the win-maximizing move was to hit for Wolf, try and add runs and then put the game in the hands of the bullpen with an improved defense on the field.

I can't kill Torre for it, but I do think he missed a chance.

sblonder (DC): I think Torre made a key mistake in not hitting Thome for Belliard with a runner on first and one out in the 8th against Madson. Agree?

Joe Sheehan: Just join us? Torre looks at Belliard and sees Joe Morgan with braids.

RayDiPerna (NYC): Damon or Gardner makes that catch on the Mathis ball. Agree? Hairston seemed timid/unsure/inexperienced going back on that ball, and he couldn't have been playing as deep as the situation warranted.

Joe Sheehan: No. That ball was crushed. No one gets to it given reasonable positioning.

Mountainhawk (Salem, MA): Why are the Yankees using Sabathia here up 2-1? Just so he can pitch game 7 or normal rest if it comes to that?

Joe Sheehan: That's part of the reason. You can get three starts from him if needed with just one being on short rest because of idiotic scheduling. That Sabathia on three days' rest > Gaudin is the primary reason.

Jon F. (New York): Joe: If Anaheim wins tonight, do you think they'll take the series?

Joe Sheehan: No. I think it's a necessary step, clearly, but it'd be best of three, without home-field, against a slightly better team. They'd still be underdogs.

dtwhite (Toronto): Which team should want Matt Holliday the most?

Joe Sheehan: Any AL Central team except the Royals, because the marginal value of Holliday might be enough to make any of them the division favorite, and he'd play for all four teams.

spf31 (Ill.): Curtis Granderson hit 30 homers but struggled this season, esp. against lefties. What do you see in his future?

Joe Sheehan: His last three seasons pretty much span his range, and he'll keep flitting among them for the next three. He's a good player, not a star.

ashitaka (long beach, ca): Scioscia has now pinch-hit for Mike Napoli twice, once with Sarge Jr. and last night with Maicer Izturis. Sure, Izturis got a sac-fly and eventually Mathis had the walk-off hit, but that still doesn't justify taking the bat out of Napoli's hands in either situation, especially for those two hitters. Why does Scioscia keep doing this?

Joe Sheehan: The Izturis move actually *was* sensible. With one out and a runner on third, contact matters a lot, and with Chamberlain pitching and Izturis available, there was a good matchup to be had.

The repeated use of Matthews for Napoli is just wrong and should be stopped immediately. I can probably come up with degenerate cases where it makes sense, but most of those involve pitchers not in this series.

Neal (Joliet, IL): You said avoid the "market" and I agree about the free agent market, but I do think you are going to see a VERY interesting trade market in light of the weak economy coupled with a weak free agent market. I expect to see some interesting big bats on the move

Joe Sheehan: We all said this last year, too. And this summer. As fans, I think we wishcast this stuff. Fact is, with payrolls stagnant and massive revenue sharing, all teams can afford their players, and that's without getting into how wealthy the individual owners are. (IOW, the Indians didn't "need" to trade Cliff Lee.)

Jim Clancy (Exhibition Stadium): Well, this is it: proof that Sheehan's really from Tokyo. He's just voided his lucrative BP contract, taken his bat & ball, & headed for home. Re. Suzuki: is this the most $ you can think of being just left on the table? I can think of guys passing down coin in new contracts (Latrell Sprewell anyone?), but not just punting on a current one.

Joe Sheehan: There have also been guys who've walked away when they would clearly be able to get a lot of money, such as Will Clark, Larry Walker and Mike Mussina. Johjima's decision is surprising, and a fantastic gift for the Mariners.

John (New Jersey): Do you think it's going to take the Dodgers more than 6 to win this thing? Seriously though, do you think they have a realistic chance to run off three in a row, or is falling behind 3-1 to this Phillies team too much?

Joe Sheehan: They'd have to beat both Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee. It's certainly not impossible, but that double by Rollins was probably the biggest play of the postseason in terms of swinging an individual series.

Tom (Chicago): When will Mike Scioscia commit to Howie Kendrick? He is the Dusty Baker of the AL, in love with middling infielders. Good thing Neifi Perez is gone.

Joe Sheehan: Problem is that while Kendrick was failing to grab hold of the job, Maicer Izturis became quite a little player, especially from the left side of the plate. I'm not sure I can go after Scioscia for playing Izturis.

Brian (Philly): If the Phillies repeat this year, will you give them any credit? You've already written how its just "everything for them goes right"....so are they just the luckiest team ever?

Joe Sheehan: There wasn't anything lucky about that ball Rollins hit last night. Or Howard's, for that matter.

Brian Sabean (San Fransisco, CA): Is there any chance that I actually improve the Giants' offense for next season without giving a bajillion dollars to Holliday or Bay?

Joe Sheehan: It would be virtually impossible to run a worse offense out there. I would *love* to have that job, because the path to winning 100 games is almost criminally easy given the talent base in place and the room for upgrades.

bowie (santa cruz): Jeter's contract expires in a year. Assuming he re-signs with the Yanks, what position will he be playing in 2011?

Joe Sheehan: There's an unwritten piece that I probably won't ever get to...basically, this is going to be a massive story next season. Derek Jeter is the biggest star in New York, and if the Yankees don't sign him to an extension that allows them to have him under contract DURING a move off of shortstop, they run the risk of spending next season with this being the only story going. Derek Jeter's Last Season? will be the theme of EVERYTHING Yankee, all year long. And if you let him become a FA next winter, you have the position issue as part of that discussion.

They have to get him an extension this winter, even if it means overpaying in money and time. They do not want him playing through '10 as a free-agent-to-be. It will ruin the year.

BL (Bozeman): You've been vocal about wanting baseball to place more emphasis on the regular season, a stance I agree with generally. You've also writtent eloquently about this post-season. Has the last few weeks changed your views? Sorry if you addressed this in Prospectus Today, I haven't had a chance to read today's yet.

Joe Sheehan: Oh, no...baseball should be about the regular season. The playoffs can be a fantastic ride, and the reason I write about them in the detail that I do is that it's easier to write like this when everyone's watching the same games. I actually prefer this approach to others, but if I write Braves/Phillies this way in June, I'm almost shutting out 85-90% of the audience.

As a writer, I love October. As a fan, give me Septembers with meaning ahead of it.

David (Sonoma State University, CA): Thanks for taking the questions. I'm surprised that the decision to play Belliard over Hudson hasn't been getting as much heat as some of the other managerial decisions.

Joe Sheehan: It was a bigger story in the Division Series. To some extent, it's been accepted that Torre's making a mistake and we've moved on.

bronnerea (Boston): Joe, could the Mariners have incentivized Johjima to go back to Japan? Maybe by agreeing to pay for the difference in salary between what he will make in Japan vs. what he would have made here? Or do you think this was entirely a personal decision?

Joe Sheehan: It's obviously possible, but I'm not sure what Johjima would gain in that scenario by voluntarily leaving versus making the Mariners release him. And it's not like the Ms have luxury-tax considerations. It's an odd situation, and while there might be some kind of side deal, I have no information on one.

bowie (santa cruz): So what position SHOULD Jeter be playing in 2011 (age 37) or 2012 (38)? Nowhere but CF is available, right?

Joe Sheehan: Left field.

Kyle2099 (Washington): Joe, What kind of immediate impact, if any, do you think Stephen Strasburg will have for the Nats?

Joe Sheehan: He makes them a serious threat to win 73 games.

Slugsrbad (Philadelphia): How does Jimmy Rollins walk-off double stack up in memorable postseason walk-offs?

Joe Sheehan: Pretty high. Plus points for turning a loss into a win and for coming with two outs, as well as for coming off a great reliever. Minus for not being a clincher or a World Series game. It's in the team picture.

jimspivey8 (Cincinnati): Is it just me, or have strike zones been particularly ridiculous and/or variable this offseason? Maybe it just seems that way because each pitch matters so much, but it has really been tough to watch.

Joe Sheehan: They seem to be worse in this round than in the first round. This is also an effect of everyone watching the same games. The umpiring is just as bad in the regular season, but if you watch Tim McClelland screw up a Brewers/Astros game, you don't have as many people to complain about it to. In October, we all can share in Ted Barrett's failure together.

David (Sonoma State University, CA): Looks like Colletti signed long-term. Thoughts? http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2009/10/dodgers-colletti-agree-to-longterm-contract.html

Joe Sheehan: The argument for him is that he became a better general manager during his tenure and the team had so much success with him in the job that it's hard to just let him go. Kenny Williams, to name one example, learned on the job. With that said, I don't think Colletti came so far as Williams did, nor do I think he's that responsible for the Dodgers' success.

ekanenh (Capitol City): This isn't meant to sound as snarky as it does, but what makes you so sure that Jeter *can* play LF?

Joe Sheehan: He's still got pretty good raw speed and he's always tracked balls in the air well. Jeter moves forward and backward very well, always has done that better than he's moved laterally (even in his improved state). That skill is of greater use in the outfield.

pinkshirtguy (white room): Black taco?

Joe Sheehan: You know what's strange? That's like the LEAST annoying commercial this postseason. It's not just that there's one aggravating one; there's a half-dozen, and they're all in high rotation because TBS has like four sponsors, total. Shorten the damned commercial breaks if you can't find enough inventory to keep me from going crazy over Chevy Chase and Ray Romano singing "All You Need Is Love" while chugging Captain Morgan. Please.

(The girl worried about her dad, though...she's gorgeous.)

collins (greenville nc): Joe, the talk in MN now is about extending Mauer. What do you think would be a reasonable figure/length to offer? Something like Miggy Cabrera's? More?

Joe Sheehan: An ownership stake. I'm not kidding. Mauer is worth more to the Twins than any player in sports is worth to their franchise, with the possible exception of LeBron James and the Cavs.

TGisriel (Baltimore): Local chatter is that the Orioles need to sign/acquire a corner infielder who bats right handed, can bat clean-up and hit 30 home runs a year. I don't think this player exists, or is realistically available. At 3B should the Orioles shoot for a free agent / trade or should they plan on bringing up Josh Bell mid-season, and put a space filler at 3B at the beginning of the season?

Joe Sheehan: Doesn't that player usually cost $15 million a season, make a bunch of All-Star teams and probably want no part of playing for the Orioles? There's no change they can make that changes their 2010 outlook, so invite some NRIs in and worry about it in 2011.

Joe Lefko (NJ): Jeter should play LF, ok. But do you really see the Yankees having the nerve to tell him that? Does Jeter have the humility to go along with it? How do you actually see this playing out. I'm worried this is going to get very ugly.

Joe Sheehan: This is why you need to take his impending free agency out of the equation. Sign him to a four-year extension so that the inevitable position change isn't taking money out of his pocket.

Eddie (Palo Alto): Will the Baskeball Prospectus pro version ever be available in brick and mortars?

Joe Sheehan: No. Sorry.

buffum (Austin TX): Acta or Valentine?

Joe Sheehan: Acta. He's the next Terry Francona.

Richie (Washington): And doggone it, don't tell us about gorgeous girls without including a link. Or at least enough info to give it a try on Youtube.

Joe Sheehan: I've been told she looks too young. I didn't think so, but suffice to say given that, I'm not running a link.

Can't believe it's 4 already. Lightning round!

Dexter Fishmore (Hollywood, CA): What odds would you need to bet on the Dodgers to win the NLCS at this point?

Joe Sheehan: Three coin flips would be 7-1, and I think they're a little worse than that because of the pitching matchups, so I'd need +800 to think about it.

Bud Selig (New York): Should I expand the playoffs to 12 teams?

Joe Sheehan: Depends how badly you want me to change careers.

Mike C. (Milwaukee, WI): Is Boston a good spot for me?

Joe Sheehan: For lots of guys. I'm not sure the Sox are helped by signing another CF who will just mean they don't get enough offense from CF/LF combined, especially when great range is wasted in left field 81 games a year.

David (Sonoma State University, CA): Mauer is more important to the Twins than Pujos for the Cards?

Joe Sheehan: Yes, because of the local connections, the less-established connection between franchise and market, and Mauer's age.

Ron (Vancouver): 2010 Blue Jays: 74.5 wins. Over or under?

Joe Sheehan: Boy, you picked a good number. I'll say under, but without conviction.

ddrezner ((Newton, MA)): Given the Rays' financial constraints, could/should the Orioles try to trade for Carlos Pena?

Joe Sheehan: If the Orioles trade anything for a player older than 27 they're making a mistake.

Tony ((Conshohocken, PA)): Manuel has been managing each of these playoff games like it's game 7 of the World Series. Some might call this overmanaging. Is this a good stategy or should you treat it more like a regular season game and not use as many relievers? I think you should use these guys as close to their regular season roles as possible. Blanton and Happ out of the pen isn't my cup of tea.

Joe Sheehan: Charlie Manuel is absolutely killing it right now. He's having a fantastic postseason. He's adjusted beautifully to the personnel challenges.

Zebs335 (Boston): Given the exodus of top BP analysts, which Major League team will you be joining, and how soon?

Joe Sheehan: I'm flattered, but I'm not nearly as smart as Woolner, Click or Fox. As someone who's far too competitive for his own good, I wouldn't mind having a role with a team some day, but it's not on my radar at the moment.

bowie (santa cruz): Better career value: Joba or Hughes?

Joe Sheehan: Hughes, and that's always been the case.

SteveO (Philadelphia): Black taco is lame, but that sausage fest one for Captain Morgan was funny, doncha think? Well, at least the first and second times they showed it. My daughter asked what a sausage fest was, though. I had to lie and say it's a festival where they make sausage. When the Captain is pouring, no one is carding! (At least at the Captain Morgan tent outside Eagles games, where I once saw clearly a teenager drink about 6 Captain Morgan slushies.)

Joe Sheehan: Steroids are bad for bodies, but rum is good. As are drugs that enable men to have sex.

We live in strange times.

billb09 (VT): Hey Joe, what are your predictions for game 4 tonight? If the Yankees drop this one, it seems the odds will be in the Angel's favor given the pitching matchups.

Joe Sheehan: CC Sabathia is a lot better than Scott Kazmir is, so you have to like the Yankees off of that fact. What I keep waiting for, though, is the 9-8 game these teams have in them. I could see that coming tonight.

Joe Sheehan: Thanks for all the great questions, folks, and for reading BP throughout the year. I should be back before the World Series .(Also, Twitter: @joe_sheehan)


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