I liked the Young signing at the time that it happened. I felt like he would provide insurance in case Castillo did not pan out. To be honest though, at the time, I did not consider the lack of left handed starters in the AL East.Originally Posted by Youk Of The Nation
IMO, our bench as a whole leaves a lot to be desired, Hanigan aside.
I can't argue with that. Luckily, bench guys are a lot easier to find, especially when the deadline rolls around.
- From the 2004 ALCS Game 4 Gamethread. A reminder that no game is over until the final out is recorded, and things will always get better. Misspellings unchanged as a reminder that Yankees fans are just terrible.
That's true.
What's odd about the bench situation is that going into ST, I thought our bench was going to be a strength. Holt really needs to be a supersub, where he provides more value to the team.
I wonder if a deal could be made for Colby Rasmus. He'd be an ideal LHH platoon partner with Young.
If history tells us anything, the path to redeption for any bad baseball team is marked with a deep rotation of durable starters, a world class defense in both infield and outfield, a lineup that can generate runs in more than one way, a bullpen that won't steal defeat from the jaws of victory, and a top end catcher to hold the whole package together. These are the conditions by which victory is achieved, anything that does not accomplish these objectives is a waste of resources.
Rasmus is killing it in Houston. I doubt they trade unless they really tank all thhe way to the ASB.
We miss you Mike.
Atleast Young gets 22 ABs, Castillo didn't get any. Look, castillo could very well be sunk costs compared to his contract. All I'm saying is that he's probably more valuable than Young in LF. Defensively by a lot, offensively maybe just slightly. But You play the better player that could help the team win. I personally think that better player is Castillo over Young.
Castillo had a lousy spring. I have said this A LOT......PLAY (*&^%'N CASTILLO!!!!!!!! What do you have to lose. Pretty sure the drop-off from Yound/Holt would not be more than Young/Castillo......... Holt should be the IF bench player. Young should be OF and Castillo the starter...... (I would rather have Castillo/Holt.......but the Sox committed to Young for decent $$$ for 2 years.......)
Rasmus is in the last year of his contract and if I'm not mistaken Houston is in mid rebuild. Rasmus will be raded, it's only a question of to whom and how much they can milk a team for.
If history tells us anything, the path to redeption for any bad baseball team is marked with a deep rotation of durable starters, a world class defense in both infield and outfield, a lineup that can generate runs in more than one way, a bullpen that won't steal defeat from the jaws of victory, and a top end catcher to hold the whole package together. These are the conditions by which victory is achieved, anything that does not accomplish these objectives is a waste of resources.
What are you talking about? Rasmus was a FA, they offered him a QO, he took it, and they made no effort to trade him afterwards. In fact, they were working on a multi-year deal before he accepted the QO.
We miss you Mike.
Sox faced LHP 28% of the time last year. That is definitely a low number, I think the average is around 32%.
Just have to hope Young makes it pay off with some AB's against lefties in big moments - which will come, hopefully.
You know things are going pretty well when one of the biggest quibbles on the team right now is the usage of the 4th OF.
If history tells us anything, the path to redeption for any bad baseball team is marked with a deep rotation of durable starters, a world class defense in both infield and outfield, a lineup that can generate runs in more than one way, a bullpen that won't steal defeat from the jaws of victory, and a top end catcher to hold the whole package together. These are the conditions by which victory is achieved, anything that does not accomplish these objectives is a waste of resources.
Yup, it's like complaining that the 12th pitcher isn't reliable.
I agree that I'd rather see Castillo getting time over Young... but I do like Holt as an everyday player. Holt can still be moved to the infield when needed then our 4th outfielder can come off the bench.
The question for me is when a bench fill in is not needed for the infield (the majority of the time) who do you want sitting on the bench not contributing...Young, Castillo, or Holt? No brainer.
Young has shut a lot of people up. This is why we don't DFA a proven solid player after 20 AB
A lot of the early criticism of Young was really silly...he is raking against LHP as expected (1.175 OPS) and even holding his own against RHP (.807). I was ripping Farrell earlier in the year for playing him against righthanders so much, but so far that has worked out better than we had any right to expect.
I'd still like to find him a lefthanded platoon partner, though.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote