I figured there has been enough talk of him this year that he should be given his own thread.
When would you promote him to AA?
Would you want to move him to a new position since he's "blocked?"
I figured there has been enough talk of him this year that he should be given his own thread.
When would you promote him to AA?
Would you want to move him to a new position since he's "blocked?"
Originally Posted by Old Red
Now that he is in Portland, I think they will eventually have (key word here is eventually) to move him from second to somewhere else if they intend to keep him. Third and an outfield position look like the best bets.
It's a pretty substantial jump to AA (as we are seeing with Benintendi) so I'd prefer to just leave him at 2b until his bat adjusts. Even then, I'd probably just leave him at 2b for the rest of the season. If they want to move him off of 2b, the offseason is a great time to do it.
Benintendi has been in AA for a month now. He struggled his first couple weeks but has succeed in the last couple. Through his last 14 of 29 games in Portland he is batting .291/.333/.564 And his BABIP has actually been a decent amount lower throughout this time as well.
Although I do agree the jump to AA is one of the hardest, and I also agree that Moncada shouldn't be moved off of position until his bat is more MLB ready. However I think it looks like Benintendi has made the adjustment in Portland to date.
Benintendi is .350/.400/.675 in his last 10 games (small sample, but effectively the second half of his month there.
Obviously prospects take time and such, but if he puts something good out in the next month or so, moving him into Holt's position is still very much on the table.
They are being slower with Moncada just because of the comparative lack of experience. But yes, 3B or an outfield corner start to look likely for him.
Ultimately I don't think we should see Benintendi this year, but if he's still mashing his way through the system and LF is still a huge hole I think the kid will end up just forcing the issue.
just to confirm....Moncada has been moved up to AA, correct?
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Yup, he makes his debut tonight.
awesome. thanks hugh. looking forward to you updating us occasionally on how he is faring at that level.
other names i have posted under: none
It's pretty cool now with "Hugh" on board as well as cp176. Both of them follow the Sox minor leagues. Saves me a bunch of time. I'm lazy as fuck that way!
"Hating the Yankees like it's a religion since 94'" RIP Mike.
"It's also a simple and indisputable fact that WAR isn't the be-all end-all in valuations, especially in real life. Wanna know why? Because an ace in run-prevention for 120 innings means more often than not, a sub-standard pitcher covering for the rest of the IP that pitcher fails to provide. You can't see value in a vacuum when a player does not provide full-time production."
You're a good one. I'm looking forward to getting down to Portland to see them this weekend. Obviously Moncada and Benintendi get the headlines, but more often than not somebody else appears down there that no one talks much about.
I'm exactly the same. It's a treat when someone else does the legwork on the minor league guys LOL
Wonder if Moncada can translate over to 3B. Shaw did it naturally and there is an opening at 1B (for Shaw) with the decline of Ramirez.
Since he played SS in Cuba, I'd say yes. Indeed, he is so big that 3B makes more sense than 2B longer term.
Last off season was the right time to do it.
We're never trading Pedey, so 2B is just about as blocked as any position on any team in MLB can possibly be.
We keep being forced to play people "out of position" due to lack of insight and forethought. We should prepare ourselves for a great prospect to rise quicker than we anticipate or some major injury or falling off a cliff by a regular occurs. Here are some recent instances of lack of forethought by Sox management on preparing players for positional chances (some worked out okay- others did not):
Swihart in LF: It was obvious he would need to play other positions with the Sox once vaz got healthy, especially if he hit like he was projected to do. We knew e had potential weaknesses at LF, 3B and 1B. he should have been given a few reps there in the minors over the last year or two. (Note: I said this 2 years ago.)
Betts in the OF: he should have been given OF reps long before he did. He ended up adjusting amazingly well, but what if he didn't? Everybody knew he'd never play 2B in Boston unless Pedey got hurt.
HanRam at 1B. They should have given him a 1Bman's mitt last summer, when we were out of it.
Bogaerts at 3B: he played 10 games at 3B in the minors, then was playing 3B in the playoffs for us! Inexcusable. (Note: this is not hindsight bitching on my part, I was calling for him to be at 3B that whole minor league seaons.)
Now, it's Moncada.
I'd also start playing Benintendi in LF at least 30-40% of the games, so he gets used to it.
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