* Watching the MLB postseason — something of a chore until the last few days, when the games suddenly became compelling — it would seem that, in the modern era, the two essential components for October success are power and strong defense.
Good teams convert balls in play into outs, or can score with one swing; great teams do both.
The Diamondbacks are perhaps the best defensive team in the game, while the Phillies were out-homering opponents in the postseason by nearly a 4-to-1 margin. In the AL, Texas and Houston each had a nice balance of strong glove work and pop.
The games also serve as a reminder of how much the Red Sox have to improve in both categories. The Sox’s defensive struggles have been well documented — they led the American League in errors and were 24th in MLB in DRS (defensive runs saved). But the Sox were also below-average in the power department, finishing 18th in baseball with 182 homers.
All of which serves as a reminder that whoever the Red Sox hire to run their baseball operations department has plenty of work to do.
The biggest area of need, of course, is starting pitching. But the list doesn’t stop there. A team doesn’t finish last two years in a row with just one obvious shortcoming. As such, the Red Sox have to make improvement in several areas.
* It’s not even November, and the Patriots’ season has devolved into discussions of tanking over the second half of the schedule, which quarterback they should target in next spring’s draft and whether Bill Belichick will return next season.
In other words, this is all very much uncharted territory for a franchise that, not long ago, could start focusing on clinching a first-round bye well before Thanksgiving.
And if I were coach Belichick, I would take the silence of Robert Kraft as a very ominous sign indeed.
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* What’s worse when it comes to DeVante Parker: his hands or his lack of accountability?
* There’s such a thing as too many voices in the mix I suppose, but the hiring of Jeff Van Gundy by the Celtics looks like a smart one. Why wouldn’t the Celts want to have the input of someone who has the reputation for being both insightful and honest?
* After the season, the Red Sox made the surprising announcement that Alex Cora would have some input into the search for a new lead baseball executive. The reasoning went like this: the Red Sox wanted to make sure Cora and the new hire would be able to forge a good working relationship. That raised eyebrows throughout the game, since it’s highly unusual for managers to have a hand in hiring their boss.
But according to a well-placed source, Cora has had very little involvement in the process to date.
* Is it just me, or does it seem like most of the top pass rushers in the NFL are trying out to become WWE villains? The wide-eyed stare, long hair flowing over the shoulders....It’s a look.
* At what point does Jake DeBrusk officially become more trouble than he’s worth? DeBrusk clashed frequently with former coach Bruce Cassidy, and his dissatisfaction with Cassidy led to a trade request. Later, in exit interviews with management following the 2021-22 season, DeBrusk’s criticism of Cassidy was said to be a factor in the Bruins moving on from Cassidy.
Now, DeBrusk finds himself in Jim Montgomery’s doghouse, too, after being late for a team meeting in LA. He was a healthy scratch for Saturday’s game vs. the Kings. That’s a lot of drama for a guy who’s never scored more than 50 points in a season. And after being held scoreless over the first three games, not the best way for DeBrusk to be headed into unrestricted free agency next summer.
* Put me down for 54 regular season wins for the Celtics.
* I can’t be the only one wondering how different things might be if the Red Sox had signed Marcus Semien over Trevor Story two offseason ago. Semien, a natural shortstop who’s shifted to second base in recent years to accommodate others, signed with Texas for seven years and $175 million, for an AAV of $25 million. Meanwhile, Story got six years and $140 million ($23.3 million AAV) from the Sox.
After a horrendous start to his Rangers career, Semien has proven to be a formidable offensive force over the last two years (.780 OPS, 55 homers to go with 39 steals) and his defense has been equally impressive, with 27 DRS over the last two seasons.
Then there’s durability: Semien has played in 323 of 324 games with the Rangers. And over his last five full-length seasons, he’s missed a grand total of four games. Story has played a grand total of 137 games in his first two seasons in Boston. What’s the old saying about “availability being the best ‘ability’?”
* Soundalikes: Fox’s Joe Davis and local play-by-play guy Jon Meterparel.
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* You probably weren’t shocked to witness the back-to-back meltdowns by the Phillies’ Craig Kimbrel in Games 3 and 4 of the NLCS. Kimbrel proved similarly untrustworthy for the Red Sox in the 2018 postseason (5.91 ERA, 19 baserunners allowed in 10.2 innings), to the point where the team turned to Chris Sale to close out Game 5 of the World Series in Dodger Stadium. Kimbrel’s postseason career (4.66 ERA) is starting to resemble Trevor Hoffman’s. But Hoffman had the benefit of 601 career saves — almost 200 more than Kimbrel — to balance out his October struggles and still get inducted into Cooperstown.
* There seems to be entirely too much focus on uniforms — alternates, throwbacks, commemorative, special occasion. I understand they translate into big business for teams, but do we have to get dragged to their fashion shows along the way?