You are a wise man Cereal.  As long as he comes out of the gate strong, this will work out well for the Sox.  That said, and though there is only 3 years to go on, he has hit better post all start game so far, so......?

There is no way I would let him pitch today.  Now, if there is a game tomorrow, I would find a few innings for him if he/they were needed.

Here are the lineups for Game 6 of the World Series, in Kansas City:

Giants:
CF Gregor Blanco
2B Joe Panik
C Buster Posey
3B Pablo Sandoval
RF Hunter Pence
1B Brandon Belt
DH Michael Morse
LF Travis Ishikawa
SS Brandon Crawford

SP Jake Peavy

Royals:
SS Alcides Escobar
RF Norichika Aoki
CF Lorenzo Cain
1B Eric Hosmer
DH Billy Butler
LF Alex Gordon
C Salvador Perez
3B Mike Moustakas
2B Omar Infante

SP Yordano Ventura

Reading and getting more from the "Sox coaches hate Cespedes" story, there seems to be at least one kernal of truth to the whole thing. That being, that at least the fielding coach/coaches were not at all happy with his lack of interest in putting in extra time to best learn how to play near and play off the Green Monster.

To me, that upset is very understandable, as pretty much all the LF guys there before him knew they were in for extra challenges, and, they spent more time practicing and learning there because of it.

If there is anything else going on, it's news to me.

Royals win this one, 6-2

Big Game 7 coming up... Who wins?

Pretty sly for a young guy......

When he ascended the pitcher's mound for warmup tosses before the first inning began, Yordano Ventura appeared anything but ready for the San Francisco Giants. He misfired several times at catcher Salvador Perez, throwing several balls in the dirt and, at least twice, sending them to the backstop.

Ventura looked overwhelmed. Faced with his team's elimination, and trying to keep his mind on his work despite Taveras's body being buried back home in the Dominican Republic earlier in the day, the 23-year-old with bottomless composure was cracking. It was not going to be his night.

Would you believe that was Ventura's idea? That's what he said, with the help of translator and teammate Christian Colon after Kansas City's 10-0 victory at Kauffman Stadium that forced Game 7 on Wednesday.

"I came from the bullpen with that plan," Ventura said. "I throw a lot of fastballs and [the Giants] are looking for fastballs. So I just came in and started throwing a bunch of balls everywhere. I was trying to trick them a little bit and make them think I was kind of rattled."

This is some kind of tale of Yor. It sounds like the scene from "Bull Durham" when Kevin Costner told Tim Robbins to hit the mascot with a wild pitch.
Thankfully, Ventura never plunked Sluggerrr.

And, just after the umpire shouted "play ball," Ventura was able to turn off the act and throw strikes. Pretty much.

"After the first hitter, I settled in," Ventura said.

By now you're well aware that former Journey frontman Steve Perry is an avid Giants fan. The singer has been a, um, vocal force in the stands at AT&T Park, leading the crowd in a rendition of Journey's iconic hit "Don't Stop Believin'" throughout the postseason.

With the World Series coming down to the wire, Perry made the trip to Kansas City in hopes of watching the Giants earn a third championship in five years with a Game 6 victory. Instead, he got trolled by a group of Royals fans as the home team put the rout on, blanking the Giants, 10-0.

See, back in 2004, country music superstar Garth Brooks was a non-roster invitee to Royals Spring Training. He played mostly left field and didn't make the team, obviously, but Royals fans still have a soft spot in their hearts for Brooks. Which led to this scene at Game 6 of this year's World Series:

Yup, that's Perry sitting a section over from signs that say, "Garth Brooks > Journey." We'd be a little more concerned about Perry's feelings being hurt if former frontman for an '80s rock band didn't rank behind only former president and backup quarterback for the Chargers on the list of most covetable jobs.

The Royals have had some funky juju going on this postseason. They stole seven bases to come back against the A's in the AL Wild Card Game. They've won four games in extra-innings and five in one-run affairs.

With Kansas City facing elimination on Tuesday night, the team was going to need all of that magic to show up if it wanted a shot at a Game 7. In the top of the second, the conjuring paid off.

How do we know it was magic? Just look at the evidence:

5. The Royals scored on Yusmeiro Petit
After the Royals scored two runs and had the bases loaded against Jake Peavy, Bruce Bochy called on his soothing bullpen balm: Yusmeiro Petit. It seemed like a good idea -- after all, Petit hadn't allowed a run in 12 postseason innings.

Three hits later, five runs had scored (two charged to Petit) and the Royals had a 7-0 lead. No one, not even Petit, could stop them.

4. Every ground ball found a hole
Getting base hits is hard. Even when you square up the ball and hit it well, there's a good chance that it will wind up in someone's glove. Not so for the Royals in the second inning. Nearly everything they hit found its way into a hole.

Alex Gordon started it off with a soft single to center field. Salvador Perez dropped a line drive to right. Mike Moustakas hit a ground-ball double down the line. Alcides Escobar beat out an infield single. Nori Aoki singled through the third base hole. Lorenzo Cain singled on a soft fly ball to center. Eric Hosmer singled and doubled in one at-bat (more on this later). Billy Butler doubled to center.

3. Royals mesmerize Brandon Belt
When Escobar softly grounded to Brandon Belt, the Giants first baseman had two options:

1. Try to get the runner at the plate

2. Flip to Joe Panik covering first to get the out.

But Perez held at third and, thanks to Escobar's speed and/or the Royals hoodoo, Belt hesitated a second too long and tried to beat Escobar to the bag. While Belt has many skills on the diamond, speed isn't one of them.

2. Eric 'Time-Stopper' Hosmer
The Royals even managed to stop time without using Adam Sandler's special time-remote. With Lorenzo Cain on first and Nori Aoki on third, Eric Hosmer asked for time out during his at-bat against Petit. That in itself isn't weird. But after he was granted it, he still swung and laced the ball up the middle for a single. After it was called back, Hosmer decided to be even more impressive and double instead.

1. The Royals scored seven runs and didn't steal a base or lay down a bunt
If that doesn't say October magic, nothing does.

If you have the time and interest, then this should be a worthy read. It is a piece by esteemed baseball writer Joe Posnanski, profiling baseball stats guru Bill James, where he sheds a lot of light on who the man really is, and what he is really all about.

sportsworld.nbcsports.com/bill-james-statistical-revolution/

To those of us watching, it would probably surprise nobody when I start that the Royals were rated to be the fastest team in MLB. But, this is not what you think, as it has nothing to do with running. It turns out that there is someone out there with too much time on their hands, and have calculated every pitch thrown by every team that was 97 m.p.h or better.

As the list is led, and led by a lot by the Royals, one may want to look into this in a speed = winning sort of way. However, that does not seem to be the case. And, how bad does this make Twins pitchers? Trick question. Twins pitchers don't need any stinking list for them to know they suck.

My feeling? Keep Ramirez, and punt the rest.

OS ANGELES -- With the World Series over after Wednesday's Game 7, seven Dodgers will officially become free agents at 6 a.m. PT on Thursday morning, with shortstop Hanley Ramirez chief among them.

With Ramirez, Josh Beckett, Kevin Correia, Roberto Hernandez, Paul Maholm, Chris Perez and Jamey Wright headed to free agency, there will be 37 players on the Dodgers' 40-man roster.

The is a quiet period through 9 p.m. PT on Monday, during which time teams cannot sign contracts with new players, though teams and players are allowed to talk. A team is allowed to sign any of its own free agents at any time during the quiet period.

The Dodgers have until 2 p.m. PT on Monday to offer a qualifying offer to Ramirez, a one-year, $15.3 million contract that if he declines would give the Dodgers a supplemental 2015 draft pick in between the first and second rounds.

Ramirez battled through a myriad of injuries to hit .283/.369/.448 with 35 doubles and 13 home runs in 128 games. Ramirez, who turns 31 in December, was the second-best offensive shortstop in the game in 2014 but his defense was subpar and he was replaced on defense late in games, including in 24 of his final 30 games.

Ramirez made $16 million in 2014, and will be one of the most coveted players on the market this winter.

Asked about the possibility of offering Ramirez a qualifying offer, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman simply smiled on Oct. 17 and said, "We will let you know over time."

If the Dodgers do give Ramirez a qualifying offer, Ramirez will have until 2 p.m. PT on Nov. 10 to accept or decline the offer. In two years of this qualifying offer system, all 22 free agents extended a qualifying offer have declined it.

Beckett, needing surgery to repair a torn labrum in his hip, announced plans to retire after the Dodgers were eliminated in the NLDS. The 34-year-old went out with a 6-6 record and a 2.88 ERA in 20 starts, with 107 strikeouts and 39 walks in 115⅓ innings.

Maholm, 32, signed a one-year deal with the Dodgers for a $1.5 million base salary, and was 1-5 with a 4.84 ERA in 30 games, including eight starts. Maholm had several performance bonuses worth up to $5 million depending on a point system based on his appearances. I don't have the actual breakdown of the incentives, but Maholm earned 41½ of a possible 60 points.

Hernandez, 34, was acquired from the Phillies on Aug. 7 — for a pair of minor leaguers, infielder Jesmuel Valentin and pitcher Victor Arano — to fill in for Beckett, and was 2-3 with a 4.74 ERA in nine starts. After allowing 11 home runs in 27 starts through August, Hernandez imploded in September allowing five homers, leading to 17 runs allowed in 20⅔ innings. On the season Hernandez was 8-11 with a 4.10 ERA in 164⅔ innings.

Correia was even worse. The 33-year-old was acquired from the Twins on Aug. 9 for a player to be named later or cash — to date, I have not received confirmation that the trade has been completed — and was expected to fill the dual role of Maholm but couldn't even match that. Correia was 2-4 with an 8.03 ERA in nine games, including three starts with the Dodgers, and on the season was 7-17 with a 5.44 ERA in 154 innings.

Perez, 29, singed a one-year, $2.3 million contract with the Dodgers with incentives, and was 1-3 with a 4.27 ERA, one save, 39 strikeouts, 25 walks and six home runs allowed in 46⅓ innings. He appeared in 49 games, but was held out of the final six games to avoid reaching another $500,000 bonus for pitching in 50 games. When told he didn't make the Dodgers' NLDS roster, Perez chose to go home rather than remain with the team. Perez did earn $1.5 million in bonuses during the season for a total of $3.8 million in 2014.

Wright, 39, signed a one-year, $1.8 million contract with the Dodgers for 2014, snapping a string of eight straight seasons making a team in spring training as a non-guaranteed non-roster invitee. Wright was 5-4 with a save and a 4.35 ERA in a variety of roles in the bullpen in his 19th season, striking out 54 with 27 walks in 70⅓ innings.

These seven will likely be joined in free agency in the next few days by Chad Billingsley, who has a 2015 club option worth $14 million, with a $3 million buyout. A pair of pitchers — Dan Haren and Brian Wilson — have player options and theoretically could also become free agents, but both are expected to exercise the options.

The last nine World Series Game 7s have ended with the home team winning.

Joe maddon talking to cubs. Rick renteria must be happy