Ken Rosenthal Watch

KR at the bus stop

2010-03-29T11:12:00.000-07:00

Does he not ever write anything good about the Red Sox? Instead of titling his latest post "The Red Sox are good but still needy," he could have put a positive spin and titled it, "The Red Sox have some needs but still are good."

KR backpeddles on race issue he posted about in 2008

2010-02-10T10:51:00.000-08:00

In 2008, Rosenthal was taken out behind the woodshed for a column he wrote about the racial make up of the Red Sox. That piece has been removed from the Fox sports web site.

Erik Gallant of MassLive.com examines Rosenthal's column that was posted yesterday where he revisited his controversial piece and performed a virtual u-turn on his position since 2008.

KR quoted Mike Cameron extensively in this piece, but it appears that he was not the one who was interviewing him. He notes that Cameron and Adrian Beltre actually chose to sign with the Red Sox despite Rosenthal's 2008 asssertion that the Sox are a racist team. Cameron was quoted rattling off a list of black players that spent time in Boston. Cameron also spoke with Red Sox Hall of Fame star Jim Rice about playing in Boston. Rice told him, "It was a great place to play baseball."

This is just one more reason not to take stock in anything KR says or writes.

Agent: Bay turns down offer from Red Sox

2009-12-12T13:20:00.000-08:00

Me thinketh KR speaketh too soon. Absolutely nothing new in this redundant post:

Agent: Bay turns down offer from Red Sox

Jason Bay's tenure with the Red Sox appears over.

The free agent-left fielder Jason Bay has rejected the team's latest offer and is entertaining better proposals from other clubs, according to his agent, Joe Urbon. "We don't agree with their evaluation of the player," Bay's agent, Joe Urbon said. "Frankly, we have other offers on the table that are of greater interest to Jason."

Urbon left open the possibility that the Red Sox could circle back in the negotiations, but did not sound optimistic that it would happen, saying Bay was prepared to "move on."

The Red Sox reportedly offered Bay a four-year, $60 million contract.

The Mets reportedly offered a four-year, $65 million deal, and the Angels and Mariners are among the other clubs showing interest.

Jason Bay scores winning run ALDS 2008

"Jason Bay has rejected the team's latest offer..."

Uh, Kenny boy, I do believe that the Sox to date have made only 1 offer, so please tell the world how he could reject a 'latest offer.'

So I guess Pedro didn't get shelled

2009-10-30T10:00:00.000-07:00

Kenny Boy had this nugget in his post yesterday:

Of course, the other, perhaps more realistic, possibility is that the Yankees will simply crush Martinez and his diminished, 87-90 mph fastball.

Didn't seem like a whole lot of crushing in the Bronx last night.

NY Daily News Calls Out Kenny Boy

2009-10-20T08:18:00.000-07:00

Ken Rosenthal can't wait for the Yankees to play in the World Series:

"It's like aura and mystique have made a comeback. Teams are falling apart at the sight of the Yankees," Rosenthal proclaimed. "We saw it in the division series and we're seeing it here in the ALCS.

The only problem was that the Yankees fell apart in last night's game, not the Angels.

Kenny boy wastes no time throwing Pap under a bus

2009-10-11T17:37:00.000-07:00

More garbage from Kenny Boy. He blames it all on Pap.

Rosenthal: Postseason rants and rumblings

2009-10-11T11:46:00.000-07:00

Blaah, blaah, blaah, blaah, blaah, blaah, blaah, blaah.

As usual, KR has nothing to say.

KR: Yankees are no cinch when postseason begins

2009-09-29T12:49:00.000-07:00

Kenny Boy might just have gotten this one right:

The 2009 Yankees are not much different statistically from the 2005, '06 and '07 Joe Torre teams that got knocked out in the first round.

Those clubs all ranked first or second in the American League in runs, pitched average to slightly below-average and defended with minimal proficiency.

These Yankees, true to form, rank first in the league runs and eighth in ERA. They play better defense, thanks in large part to the addition of first baseman Mark Teixeira, improvement of shortstop Derek Jeter and use of Brett Gardner in center field. But if the Yankees go deep into the postseason, it might be due more to inferior first-round competition than actual superiority.

That is not a knock — the Yankees, who host the Red Sox this weekend (Saturday, MLB on FOX, 4 p.m.) would earn the right to play the AL Central "champion" by holding off the Sox for the division title.

Securing the top seed would give the Yankees a clear advantage. Neither the Tigers nor Twins is close to the same level as the '05 Angels, '06 Tigers and '07 Indians, all of which won at least 95 games in the regular season before defeating the Yankees in the first round.

The prevailing theory is that the Tigers would stand a puncher's chance with right-hander Justin Verlander pitching Game 1. Verlander, though, would face a powerhouse lineup while Yankees lefty CC Sabathia — a pitcher of similar merit — would face the feeble Tigers.

A doomsday scenario with Sabathia losing Game 1 and right-hander A.J. Burnett botching Game 2 is not out of the question. But more likely, the Yankees will win the series easily enough to set up their rotation for the ALCS, while the Red Sox and Angels stage a more spirited struggle that leaves the winner depleted for the next round.

Then again, this is the postseason.

Anything is possible. Nothing is guaranteed.

"We've gone in with 100-win teams and gotten knocked out in the first round," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman says, referring specifically to the 2002 club that won 103 games and lost to the Angels.

How will A.J. Burnett handle the postseason? (Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)

"Those teams felt comfortable and confident. We were the favorites, the odds-on favorites in Vegas. We had good teams and got knocked out early.

"When you're in that position, you dissect yourself — 'this is where we weren't good enough' and all that. But I can tell you being part of it: Our players were prepared. Our players were confident. And we got beat."

The biggest difference with these Yankees, one rival GM says, is the power at the top of their rotation, the swing-and-miss stuff of Sabathia and Burnett.

Burnett ranks fourth in the league in strikeout rate, Sabathia 10th and Andy Pettitte 16th. While no pitcher on the '07 Yankees ranked in the top 20, the two teams before that were not exactly helpless. Mike Mussina and Randy Johnson ranked in the top 11 in strikeout rate in '06, Johnson and Mussina in the top seven in '05.

Sabathia, though, is something different — a Yankees ace in his prime. Burnett — the good Burnett — arguably is the Yankees' best No. 2 starter in years. The Yankees spent a combined $243.5 million on the two free agents last offseason in large part to improve their postseason chances. If Sabathia and Burnett fail ... don't even ask.

Cashman attributes Burnett's turnaround in his last two starts to improved mechanics, and perhaps now A.J. Enigma will get on a roll. Still, Burnett has never pitched in the postseason. Until proven otherwise, he is a coin flip.

Sabathia is quite the opposite; never mind his 7.92 ERA in five postseason starts. He was geeked up and worn down in 2007, his first postseason with the Indians. A year ago, his one start for the Brewers in the playoffs was his fourth straight on three days' rest — and he was utterly masterful down the stretch, pitching in the near-equivalent of postseason games.

Sabathia will enter the playoffs having thrown fewer innings in the regular season than he did in '07 and '08. He is 3-0 with a 1.61 ERA in four September starts, his best month as a Yankee. He should be the least of the club's problems.

The Yankees' real challenge, one way or another, figures to come in the ALCS.

The Red Sox have torched Burnett for 20 runs in 20 1/3 innings this season, an 8.85 ERA. Sabathia has pitched well against the Sox, Pettitte decently. Right-hander Joba Chamberlain, the expected Game 4 starter, has posted a 5.06 ERA in three starts against the Sox, failing to complete six innings in any of them.

Granted, the sample sizes are small, but the Yankees' starters' ERAs against the Angels are even more disturbing: Burnett 4.26, Chamberlain 5.40, Sabathia 6.08, Pettitte 7.88.

Good as the Yankees' offense is, the team's recent postseason history only reinforces the importance of dominant starting pitching. The Yankees this season average 5.67 runs per game. From '05 to '07, they averaged 5.47, 5.74 and 5.98, respectively — and a lot of good it did them in October.

Another first-round knockout would be even more deflating than the past three, considering how much money the Yankees spent last offseason, how much better they are than the Tigers and Twins. Each postseason is different. Billy Beane was correct to call it a "crapshoot." But this time, the Yankees' first-round opponent will be close to a gimme.

The Yankees can't lose, can they?

Kenny Boy Can't Read Standings

2009-09-12T09:26:00.000-07:00

Today Ken Rosenthal put up a post entitled; "Setting the roations for the eight playoff teams." Last time we checked the playoff teams have not been determined. There are no X's or Y's next to any team's name in the standings but this doesn't stop Kenny Boy from leaving the Rangers off his list even though they are only two games back in the wild-card standings because:

Three weeks remain, and the pennant races are close to decided. Not a good development for fans who relish drama in late September, but a terrific one for clubs trying to set up their rotations for October.

I'm sure Ranger fans are happy to know that Rosenthal has taken their team out of the wild-card race.

Two D-Bags In One Interview

2009-09-10T14:30:00.000-07:00

Kenny Boy has a new post up with an interview of MLB Commish Bud Selig but somehow no questions on steroids make it into the interview.

Rosenthal starts his post off with:

Here we go again.
The rich are getting richer. The poor are getting poorer. Or at leastthat is what some believe when they look at the current baseballstandings.

But the interview does not prove any of Kenny Boy's points...not that Selig is a stand up guy but what did you expect the guy to say?

Red Sox's chances of signing Wagner in doubt

2009-08-23T22:44:00.000-07:00

Ken Rosenthal chimes in on the topic of the Sox placing a waiver claim on former Met's closer Billy Wagner. Wagner, one of the great closers of all time, pitched in his 1st game in over a year and a half, after undergoing Tommy John surgery. After pitching 1 scoreless inning and registering 2 K's against Atlanta on August 20th, he was promptly placed up for grabs. Mets fans know this is not the first time that one of their players has been hung out just to see how much he's worth, and so should Kenny boy. While everything in this post of his may appear to be true, reading him does to my eyes and brain what fingernails on a chalkboard do to my ears.

Beanballs are a part of the game, but senseless

2009-08-16T10:50:00.000-07:00

KR gets it right about beanballs in this piece, but he uses Red Sox incidents more than any other team in his post.

The ugliest brawl I ever saw was a 20-minute donnybrook between the Orioles and Mariners on June 6, 1993. The benches emptied after Mike Mussina hit Bill Haselman in the left shoulder and Haselman charged the mound. That night, writing for The Baltimore Sun, I praised the Orioles, saying they had shown admirable fight.

Maybe the dumbest thing I have ever written.

KR, almost everything you write is the dumbest thing you have ever written. How about this gem:

All of the parties involved need injections of common sense, the way players once needed injections of ... well, you know.

No, Kenny-boy, we don't know. What injections did players once need?

Ken Rosenthal Wastes No Time Tying Papi & RSN to the Whipping Post

2009-07-30T15:36:00.000-07:00

Pseudo-journalist for Fox wasted no time at all to lash out at David Ortiz and all of Red Sox fans with harsh words before Ortiz even had a chance to respond to the allegations that his is on 'the list.'

Rosenthal: Black cloud over Boston

Well, Were Waiting

2009-06-25T10:59:00.000-07:00

So what will happen first: Kenny Boy will use his standards to go after a mainstream media guy for PED speculation or Manny Acta will get fired? Looks like neither:

Since Ken Rosenthal (among many others) is the mortal enemy of unfounded speculation, everyone is eagerly awaiting his takedown of L.A. Times columnist's Jerry Crowe's suspicious wonderings over Albert Pujols' power. It should be arriving any minute now.

Kenny Boy Botches Acta Story, Tries to Blame Nats

2009-06-19T11:00:00.000-07:00

Hey, guess what? Manny Acta is still manager of the Washington Nationals even though Ken Rosenthal reported that he was going to get fired. So what does Kenny Boy do to try to cover his ass for the screw-up? He blames the Nationals for not listening to him:

If my story had "no basis," as Nationals acting general manager Mike Rizzo said, then the team should end the uncertainty over Acta's status and announce that he will remain manager for the rest of the season.
But if my story was correct, then the Nationals should make the change sooner rather than later. Acta, who has handled himself with grace and dignity throughout a trying season, deserves a resolution one way or another.

So now the Nats must tell Acta that he will be the manager for the remainder of the season because Ken Rosenthal wrongly said he was going to get fired this week? The Nats can do what they please with Acta without having to check in with Kenny Boy first. The team said the story had no basis, there is your answer Kenny Boy, you messed up not the Nats.

Ken Rosenthal Admits He is Wrong!

2009-06-16T13:39:00.001-07:00

Kenny Boy admitted he made a mistake in picking the Rays to win the World Series this year and said he is wrong every year in his champion pick.

Ken Rosenthal, Fox Sports

Shared via AddThis

Kenny Boy Reports What Didn't Happen

2009-06-16T13:02:00.000-07:00

In today's column Ken Rosenthal breaks the news of a trade that didn't happen a few weeks ago when the Rangers and Red Sox discussed swapping Hank Blalock for Saito. It is nice that a baseball "insider" can break news that didn't happen two weeks after the fact. The article says that "several" teams are expressing interest in Saito but he doesn't mention any team but the Rangers. Keep up the good work Kenny Boy.

And don't think we forgot that Manny Acta is still managing the Nats.

Preparing to Suck

2009-06-13T12:33:00.001-07:00

Rosenthal at Yankee Stadium before today's game:

Mets Players Refute Kenny Boy's Claim

2009-06-13T11:40:00.001-07:00

David Wright of the NY Mets disagreed with what Kenny Boy had to say yesterday:

"I like playing for Jerry," Wright said. "I'd say that [report of Manuel's style wearing on the players] is false. I think Jerry brings a nice dynamic to this team. He keeps us loose, he jokes around, but it doesn't matter who you are or what you've done, he'll get on you if you need to be gotten on.

"So I have zero problems with Jerry. I think he's done a phenomenal job with the injuries and dealing with those and getting the most out of his players."

Sheff also stuck it to Kenny Boy:

"Who said that?" Sheffield asked testily.

Told it was Rosenthal, Sheffield said, "I never knew we had a Ken Rosenthal on our team so I don't know nothing about that."

Admiration and respect for Manuel in the clubhouse is not an issue, Sheffield said.

"I think [the Mets] love playing for him," he said. "I think I can speak for everybody in here."

Manuel did not address the column in his pregame meeting with the media, but Wright said there wasn't any need for the manager to respond to speculation and anonymous gripes.

"Speaking for me, I don't think he's ever really thrown me under the bus," Wright said. "If I play bad, I expect him to say I played bad. If I played good, I expect him to say I played good."

As for the idea that the players might not like playing for Manuel, Wright laughed.

"I think all these guys really enjoy playing for him," Wright said. "Again, that's kind of me speaking on behalf on the team. But you can ask everybody individually. I've never heard any whispers about guys not liking playing for him."

Once again Kenny Boy is wrong in his reporting.

Ken Rosenthal is an ass. Manny's OK by me (so far.)

2009-06-12T21:42:00.000-07:00

NOTE: I wrote this last year for FenwayWest.com about 2 weeks before Manny was traded. Reposting here because I don't like KR much, either.

Ken Rosenthal is an ass. That he opines for Fox is more proof of his mediocrity as a journalist or sportscaster. I'm sure the NY Daily Fish Wrap will snap him up once his tenure at Fox is over. This is not the first time I've read some of his garbage and said, 'wtf?'

That article of his serves absolutely no purpose at all other than to stir up shit in Boston. (Is he from NY?) There is no new information in that article, there are no new revelations about what Manny said or what could happen to him. Nothing. Nada. Zippo. Zilch. Zito.

Rosenthal writes, "It's mostly pointless to analyze the comments of a player who demonstrates the maturity and attention span of a 12-year-old." So why is he even writing this?

As for having "the maturity and attention span of a 12-year-old", we already know that Manny marches to the beat of a different drummer. Manny is one of those guys, to quote Jimmy Buffett, who is "growing older, but not up." I know. I'm also one of those guys. As for growing older, Manny is doing it, but at a much, much slower pace than the rest of us, that's for sure. Thirty-six is not that old anymore for a well-conditioned ball player. (At 36, I was still going on 30 mile, 2500' elevation gain mountain bike rides, and skiing down double black diamonds at Tahoe. At 46, I was still playing drums in 6 hour jam sessions.) His work ethic and conditioning have been well documented. His production at the plate has been well documented. His performance on the field is much better than most realize. He is virtually guaranteed a spot in Cooperstown. Yes, he is a clown and a buffoon at times, but ask me if there is a stronger 3-4 combination in MLB. He's had his transgressions, but he has also apologized and paid for them.

Baseball fans all over the country love to dump on Manny, as they did to Barry, but I know their feelings would be much different if either had been clubbing all those taters at their team's park.

As for his most recent comments that po'd John Henry, how about letting the dust settle so you can see exactly what is happening before starting to spew?

I read what Manny said, but I have not heard a recording of it. (Much can be lost or changed from spoken word to printed word.)

I think this could be another photo of Rosenthal when he was taking a break from writing that hit-piece.

Kenny Boy Contradicts His Own Point

2009-06-12T09:22:00.000-07:00

Today Ken Rosenthal took Mets manager Jerry Manuel to task for speaking candidly about his players:

Manuel, in baseball parlance, "throws guys under the bus." His candor appeals to fans who are tired of hearing excuses for overpaid, underperforming players. But such an approach rarely works long-term.

He goes on with a long list of times he believes Manuel wronged his players by speaking out to the media. Kenny Boy then throws in this nugget:

Some of Manuel's comments probably are more harmless than they appear in print. Some Mets players are not even aware of them.

So what then is the point of his article? Seems like Rosenthal just wanted to throw Jerry Manuel under the bus.

Kenny Boy: MOTO

2009-06-11T21:28:00.000-07:00

The Master of the Obvious strikes again with his most recent post. According to Kenny Boy:

The Yankees, in dire need of a setup man, eventually will target the best available late-inning relievers — the Rockies' Huston Street, Diamondbacks' Chad Qualls and Astros' Jose Valverde. In fact, they already have expressed interest in Street, according to major-league sources.

Really, the Yankees need some help in the bullpen? No shit. Maybe if Kenny Boy read some blogs like this one he would have known the Yankees were interested in Street and wouldn't be giving us old news.

Deadspin Sticks it to Kenny Boy

2009-06-11T14:24:00.000-07:00

Deadspin threw in its 2 cents on the whole Raul Ibanez/OTL story and Kenny Boy caught some of the shrapnel:

Ken Rosenthal doesn't have a fucking clue. Not in life, or in his baseball knowledge, but in the execution of his whole pointless attack, going borderline Albom-esque ("I DRIVE A DODGE STRATUS!") on poor Jerod over a perfectly reasonable post that didn't deserve to get the national lambasting that it did.

What Kind Of Guy Doesn't Like Any Team?

2009-06-11T13:43:00.000-07:00

Kenny Boy tweeted about his favorite baseball team today:

Rosenthal: Grew up a NYM fan on LI Back then, NYM played NYY in Mayor's Trophy Game. Inter-league’s better! No, not a fan of any team now.

How can you not be a fan of any team? It is one thing to be neutral in your reporting but to not like any team?

Kenny Apologizes for Manny

2009-06-11T11:07:00.000-07:00

Today Ken Rosenthal posted a video where he said that the public has little interest in a Manny Ramirez press conference on his steroids bust because they have moved on. What? I would pay big bucks to watch Manny try to reason his way out of this one without the help of Scott Boras' press team. A press conference like that would give us a treasure trove of memorable quotes. Kenny Boy doesn't want Manny to have a press conference because he might have to ask him a tough question about his steroid use which is something that Kenny Boy seems to be incapable of juding by this quote from the video:

"I'm not even going to be critical of Manny for his first public comments since his suspension."

Those comments were against league rules because Manny is not allowed in the clubhouse before games while he is suspended. Way to take a stand Kenny Boy.

Kenny Boy is a Hypocrite

2009-06-10T13:16:00.000-07:00

Today on ESPN's OTL Ken Rosenthal took on a blogger for speculating that Raul Ibanez might have been using PED's to improve his performance this year. In Rosenthal's thinking, the blogger could not speculate anything in his blog because it did not adhere to a "simple standard of decency." When asked about what the standard of deceny was he said, “Would you want this written about yourself?”

This is coming from the guy who wrote this about the Red Sox:

Yet, fairly or not, Ramirez's messy divorce with the Red Sox could raise suspicions that the team prefers a certain type of player — unassuming, conformist, white. The current makeup of the team's roster might create similar notions

There you have it: Mr. Hypocritical, DB of the Year: Ken Rosenthal