WEDGENIUS

Furthermore, JoBo has already stated clearly that he would be happy letting someone else close.

Also considering that JoBo leads the league in saves and succesfully saved the game last night he has no oligation to take himself.

Also according to your theory wedge also had an obligtion to not start byrd.

It's one of the very things that got Hargrove booted out of his job.

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I think the theme of this Shapiro/Wedge team is not repeating the same mistakes of the 90's.

My biggest concern is that Wedge does not seem to understand that what is required for a winning 162-game season is not the same as what is required to win a 7-game series.

We all wondered, going into the playoffs, if Wedge was the type of out-of-the-box thinker who would not be tied to convention; the kind of manager who could make a seemingly contrarian (but statistically correct) decision.

Last night we got the answer.  Wedge is not going to break any convention, and he's not going to alter anything he's done all year.  The reason, however, is not that he thinks conventional wisdom is always right -- it's that he feels a sense of loyalty to the hard-working players who got the team to this point.  He feels it's worth the risk to go with a lesser player in order to maintain the positive team atmosphere.

I've worried for a while that Wedge is loyal to a fault.  Turns out, he is.  But it also turns out that many players believe that obstinate loyalty is what keeps the team rolling along.

It's so hard for us to judge the effect; we're not there with these guys.  The implication is that if Wedge had let the obviously better pitcher (Raffy R) stay in the game last night, Borowski would be upset and the whole team dynamic would be thrown for a loop.

I can't believe that's true, but they're winning.  They seem to love their manager.

Well, I love this team.  I love JoBo and his torn up shoulder.  I love the over achievers that they are.  And I'm going to have to hope that this approach continues to work -- cause we're going to keep seeing it.

The one I watched featured Borowski looking up at the scoreboard, seeing a 3-run lead and getting thru Jeter, Abreu, A-Rod and Posada to finish the game.

He didn't let a bunch of runners on base.  He threw strikes.  He got the save.

Going to Borowski wasn't just the right call becuause of the results, it was the right call because at some point Wedge will need Borowski.

Sure every game could be a blow-out or an extra inning home game or a loss or whatever scenario that allows us to never have to be nervous about Borowski, but that ain't gonna happen all post season.

Say what you will about Borowski, but the man did save a ton of games and blew a few.  How about how he actually forces Wedge to maximize the time the other COT'ers pitch.  You'll never see Borowski come in in the 8th in a jamb.  You see him when we should win the game when he just needs to use his closerness to get a few outs.

I don't care how many games Borowski saved in ther regular season and for me his astronomical ERA for a closer is a huge red flag.

There's little room for error in the postseason and Borowski's knack for putting runners on based just won't fly in the ALCS.

I'm racking my brain here, and the only instance in sports I can think of is Charlie Conway giving up his spot in the lineup to Adam Banks. And may I remind you guys that the USA went on to win the gold medal of the Junior Goodwill Games. I'm just sayin.

Do you put him in the 6th inning setup role and push everyone else back?  It seems to me that you're just starting the bleeding earlier in this scenario.  Sure, you're giving the offense more time to make up a deficit if JoBo allows 2 or 3 runs, but you're also boosting your opponent's confidence.  Maybe it's a wash, but I kind of like slamming the door early so that by the time the 9th rolls around, the opposing team is more or less cooked.

Do you remove him from the circle of trust altogether and chain him to Mastny at the end of the bench?  Tempting for sure, but now you've limited yourself to 3 relievers to cover 3 or 4 innings every game you have a lead.  Call me crazy, but I like being able to sit part of the COT each night - not so much to keep them rested, but to prevent the opponent from becoming too familiar.  This isn't such a concern in a short series, but in a 7 game series it could be.

I am - and always will be - a strong supporter of riding the hot hand.  Raffy B should have been left in last night if only because he was effective and showed no signs of fatigue.  But closing out ballgames is what Borowski was brought in to do.  If he can't be trusted in this role, it's less a problem with Wedge and more an indictment of Shapiro.  The bullpen is what it is at this point, regardless of how Wedge manages it.  We can only hope that it's good enough to carry us to a WS championship.

In addition, the decision on Borowski closing in the playoffs was probably made months ago when the Front Office discussed trade possibilities and playoff scenarios after the Indians had proven competitive. I have no doubt Shap and Wedge (and Antonetti's magic computer) have already had the conversation we're having, probably a lot earlier in the season, and with more advanced analysis than we have.  This is not to stifle discussion, just to point out that it probably has been considered far more deeply than we might think and that it certainly is not the product of stubbornness or chemistry maintenance.

If they thought they needed to make the change, they would have done it long ago.

There seems to be a misunderstanding in this debate.  There are two scenarios in which Wedge can use Borowski, and they are very different:

1. The COT is spent and we have the lead in the ninth.

2. The COT has more in the tank, but hey, it's a save situation.

The problem, as I see it, is that Wedge does not differentiate.

The fact that Wedge or Shapiro trusts Borowski for whatever reason certainly doesn't make it right and could lead to a great lapse in judgment.

The stick to your guns approach with the idea that this roster got to this spot so we go with the season's closer no matter what is pure stubbornness at its worst.

In fact, I would argue that the closer's importance is higher during the regular season, but when you get into the playoffs the starters and middle relief become much more important.  Unlike the regular season when the final 2 innings take on the highest importance, all nine innings of each playoff game are important.  

The emotional swings and momentum are huge.  Think about it, the clamp down by Perez and Betencourt in the 7th and 8th innings did more to defeat the Yankees than Borowski in the 9th.  JoeBo was reduced to doing mop-up work.

Finally, here is a list of closers from the past 10 WS champs.  Some were great, but I would take JoeBo over a few...
Adam Wainwright
Bobby Jenks
Keith Foulke
Ugueth Urbina
Troy Percival
Byung-Hyun Kim
Mariano Rivera
Robb Nen