2014 Offseason Thread

[SoxFanForsyth]

Dojji - you have to understand, Ted wants immediate results. He doesn't want to sift through growing pains. Either you're Mike Trout or you're a bust.

 

I would bet that in 06, Ted was crushing Lester and his 4.76 era. And probably griping about the Sox not trading him for Johan, too!!

 

Prospects take time to adjust, Ted. You have to just compliment them with enough veterans that the lumps they absorb aren't going to result in a 71 win team. That's where the Sox went wrong last year. Needed a veteran at 3B and also a veteran not named AJP at C

[a700hitter]

Dojji - you have to understand, Ted wants immediate results. He doesn't want to sift through growing pains. Either you're Mike Trout or you're a bust.

 

I would bet that in 06, Ted was crushing Lester and his 4.76 era. And probably griping about the Sox not trading him for Johan, too!!

 

Prospects take time to adjust, Ted. You have to just compliment them with enough veterans that the lumps they absorb aren't going to result in a 71 win team. That's where the Sox went wrong last year. Needed a veteran at 3B and also a veteran not named AJP at C

I do want immediate results, but not from the prospects. I understand that they take time to reach their potential. They have to be worked into a lineup with supporting veteran players to carry the load while the kids develop. This past season too many young players were thrown into a sink or swim situation with not enough solid veteran help and they all sank. An organization needs to mix these guys in as they are ready, but not like we are the Montreal Expos fielding 8 rookies. Some guys will have to wait their turn or be traded. I have been a Red Sox fan for 48 years. Patience is not a shortcoming of mine. Edited October 31, 2014 by a700hitter

[a700hitter]

Manny? Which Manny?

Maybe Manny Trillo. He did have a 17 year career.

[sk7326]

I do want immediate results, but not from the prospects. I understand that they take time to reach their potential. They have to be worked into a lineup with supporting veteran players to carry the load while the kids develop. This past season too many young players were thrown into a sink or swim situation with not enough solid veteran help and they all sank. An organization needs to mix these guys in as they are ready, but not like we are the Montreal Expos fielding 8 rookies. Some guys will have to wait their turn or be traded. I have been a Red Sox fan for 48 years. Patience is not a shortcoming of mine.

 

I'd actually go a bit the other way - the Red Sox dithered with their rookies this year, and that caused issues of their own. Obviously Bradley is accountable for his horrid season, but what vote of confidence is it when the Red Sox were willing to give a starting position to somebody based on 30 days of watching Grady Sizemore's entrails at the Spring Training complex. I defended the Drew signing because of what a sinkhole 3B was, but it made sense for it to hamper Bogaerts' development - and it was even worse when Drew turned out to be the worst everyday player in the bigs last year.

 

I wonder if it is systemic or not. This team in 2012 acted rashly with Middlebrooks too. I wonder if it is a symptom of the current regime. This is a contrast to 2006-2007 where Tito and Epstein let Pedroia play through his issues - few callups looked more hopeless than Pedroia did in his 2006 incarnation. I get a sense that management heard the talk show callers as the Red Sox slogged out of the gate and overreacted to the kids not being amazing immediately.

[seabeachfred]

If you can't get top homegrown players, then you're stuck with high risk gambles in FA, and it's hard to stockpile enough depth to go on a playoff run that way.

 

In that environment going after them for bad FA signings is like treating flu victims by giving them a mask. FA need to be a supplement to a strong farm system. It CANNOT be a primary source of talent, if FA is your primary talent source you have bigger problems than whether the FA themselves are good or bad deals.

 

Besides, the more you homegrow your talent the more you can devote massive resources to key positions and points of need. If you have FA at every position, affording that one more guy to put you over the top is far harder. you can't build a whole team that way, too much has to go right for that to be a reasonable possibility, even for a huge market team.

 

Doj, no one is arguing against your logic on this---at least I'm not, but the fact is you need an ace to win a World Series and we've proven that axiom three times over the past 11 seasons, and this season the Giants proved it with Madison Bumgarner. I have some deep suspicions about the instructors and teachers in our farm system because there is no excuse for not developing some good solid pitchers the past decade or so. Either our scouts suck in evaluating pitchers or our instructors suck in teaching and developing good throwing habits. Until that is rectified we may have to go more to the trade and FA route for an ace and co ace. Right now it seems to be the nature of the beast.

[seabeachfred]

So the Red Sox have Betts, Bogaerts, & Vazquez all starting for their offense. They have Nava and Holt on the bench. All making league min.

 

They have Kelly and likely Webster as 2 of the 5 SP. Buchholz, who makes pennies, is another SP.

 

They have tons of young cheap talent. I have no idea what you're talking about.

 

Kelly is at best a No. 3 and that's that. He will most likely win more games than he loses but he will never carry a team on his back. Buchholz is a disaster waiting to happen, either by sleeping wrong of falling on this way to the dugout (think 2013). Webster has that deer in the headlights look about him and for the most part he sucked this season. That is a rotation?????

 

As for the position players, Betts looks like the real thing. We will have to see how he pans out over the course of the season but I think he's going to be just fine. Vazquez, however, is simply a weak hitter who has no power and is not a threat at the plate. Yes, defensively he is solid but he is a pretty much one trick pony. As for Bogaerts the guy was a total choker this season, and he didn't field well, wasn't too swift upstairs on the bases, showed immaturity and a near collapse when he was supplanted by that ridiculous signing of Stephen Drew. Even though he had reason to be disappointed by that he had no reason to go deep into the tank. And he still had trouble hitting with men on base even at the end of the season. So your evaluation of that "Dirty Half-Dozen" shows me little save for one or maybe two of them.

[seabeachfred]

Not really. A 20-30 HR bat at SS? Not exactly an overstatement. Scouts have comped him to Manny, given his absurd pop to the opposite field (don't believe me? Go read the BA Prospect Chat with Alex Speier).

 

The prospect report on Bogaerts will be a lot different this winter. Please face it, the guy stunk this season. His average was fine until Drew was signed but there was little power and practically no runs batted in because the guy was close to being the worst clutch hitter in the league. He stunk to high heaven in those situations and right now he is far from a 30 homer fan at shortstop. In addition SFF if he does next year what he did this year and doesn't show a 100% improvement in hitting with RISP we will have certified dud on our hands.

Edited October 31, 2014 by seabeachfred

[Spudboy]

A Cetified Dud. I like that.

 

Still Fred, the kid did look significantly better in September garbage time. I still have not seen the 'Can't miss" in this guy that so many had exclaimed.

 

I think that he should have been finishing up at AA and moving onto Pawtucket this past year. Or maybe just spending the entire year in AAA. He was not ready for a steady died of MLB pitching. Even his skills at SS are far from ready.

 

The Sox are forcing him to learn on a steeper curve. For better or for worse.

[sk7326]

The prospect report on Bogaerts will be a lot different this winter. Please face it, the guy stunk this season. His average was fine until Drew was signed but there was little power and practically no runs batted in because the guy was close to being the worst clutch hitter in the league. He stunk to high heaven in those situations and right now he is far from a 30 homer fan at shortstop. In addition SFF if he does next year what he did this year and doesn't show a 100% improvement in hitting with RISP we will have certified dud on our hands.

 

It won't - there are questions about playing SS ... but that has existed throughout. He is ahead of Troy Tulowitzki on the career path. He had 4 good months around 2 horrific months. Hitting with base runners on is not a skill (hitting is a skill). Betts has moved ahead of him in terms of superstar projection, but that says more about Betts than it does about Bogaerts. The kid conquered every level after some adjustment - this year's adjustment was delayed by the Red Sox management. That sort of thing happens - keeping him at AA would have taught him nothing. AAA might have helped a bit but his approach held up in October baseball, so the hypothesis of him being in Fenway was sound. I think the industry thinking from what I've read has more to do with how the Red Sox handled him than his own projection. The Red Sox on some level managed scared of fan bleating.

[seabeachfred]

It won't - there are questions about playing SS ... but that has existed throughout. He is ahead of Troy Tulowitzki on the career path. He had 4 good months around 2 horrific months. Hitting with base runners on is not a skill (hitting is a skill). Betts has moved ahead of him in terms of superstar projection, but that says more about Betts than it does about Bogaerts. The kid conquered every level after some adjustment - this year's adjustment was delayed by the Red Sox management. That sort of thing happens - keeping him at AA would have taught him nothing. AAA might have helped a bit but his approach held up in October baseball, so the hypothesis of him being in Fenway was sound. I think the industry thinking from what I've read has more to do with how the Red Sox handled him than his own projection. The Red Sox on some level managed scared of fan bleating.

 

Because our young rookie players, Bogie and Bradley, did so poorly this season, my concern is that the front office may be gun shy in giving our other young prospects a solid chance to crack the lineup the next couple of years......I'm talking Cecchini, Swihart and especially Betts. It's too bad the B and B were so bad this year. I expect Bradley gone by next season either to the minors or out of town. As for Bogaerts, I still have problems with the way he was so miserable hitting with RISP. If he doesn't improve in that category next season he will become a full fledged dud.

[Dojji]

Hard for me to credit that for a kid who's still younger than Nomar Garciaparra when he debuted.

[SoxFanForsyth]

Because our young rookie players, Bogie and Bradley, did so poorly this season, my concern is that the front office may be gun shy in giving our other young prospects a solid chance to crack the lineup the next couple of years......I'm talking Cecchini, Swihart and especially Betts. It's too bad the B and B were so bad this year. I expect Bradley gone by next season either to the minors or out of town. As for Bogaerts, I still have problems with the way he was so miserable hitting with RISP. If he doesn't improve in that category next season he will become a full fledged dud.

 

First off, Betts is already the leadoff hitter. He was the best player on the team last year when he was up outside of maybe Pedroia. When hitting leadoff, he hit .310/.388/.448. That's an elite hitter, particularly with his speed.

 

Second off, you have to remember that Bogaerts was 21 years old. That's the average age for high A players. He would have still been one of the younger players in DOUBLE A, so he's still got a ton of development time left. The problem is that the development he needed was something he couldn't get in AA or AAA. The development he needed was seeing major league pitchers adjust to him, and then making his adjustments back. He finally figured that out toward the end of the season. What you want to see from a young player is the ability to come out of a struggle. It took Bogaerts a while, but after his concussion, he showed the ability to drive the ball and drive in runners. After his concission, he hit .311/.315/.485 with 4 HR and 16 RBI in 26 games. Over 162 games, that's a 25 HR, 100 RBI season. He made the adjustments needed and his struggles and adjustments should translate to a much better season next year. Like it or not, he's your starting SS for the next 5 seasons at least.

[a700hitter]

After his concission, he hit .311/.315/.485 with 4 HR and 16 RBI in 26 games. Over 162 games, that's a 25 HR, 100 RBI season. He made the adjustments needed and his struggles and adjustments should translate to a much better season next year. Like it or not, he's your starting SS for the next 5 seasons at least.

What makes you think it is valid to extrapolate and project XB s future performance when in almost 600 plate appearances he OPS'd .660 had an OBP of .297 and a whopping 46 RBI? Let me remind you that you were making similar projections about Automatic Out Jr when he changed his stance and had about 10 good games. That didn't turn out to be even close to accurate as he got even worse. These projections based on a guy's best segment of the season are worthless and completely invalid. Most of his production was in garbage time in September after the team had been out of the race for at least a month. The rap against him is that he chokes when it matters. It remains to be seen if that criticism is valid. Let's see how he does when they come out of the gate in April. Edited November 1, 2014 by a700hitter

[Bellhorn04]

Let's compare Bogaerts's rookie season with Dwight Evans's 1973 rookie season. Dewey also struggled out of the gate. He was better than Bogaerts but not by a big margin.

 

Bogaerts

 

PA 594

240/297/362

660 OPS

85 OPS+

12 HR

46 RBI

 

For Fred, numbers with RISP

PA 143

153/211/218

 

Evans

 

PA 328

223/320/383

703 OPS

93 OPS+

10 HR

32 RBI

 

Numbers with RISP

PA 106

184/305/287

[a700hitter]

Let's compare Bogaerts's rookie season with Dwight Evans's 1973 rookie season. Dewey also struggled out of the gate. He was better than Bogaerts but not by a big margin.

 

Bogaerts

 

PA 594

240/297/362

660 OPS

85 OPS+

12 HR

46 RBI

 

For Fred, numbers with RISP

PA 143

153/211/218

 

Evans

 

PA 328

223/320/383

703 OPS

93 OPS+

10 HR

32 RBI

 

Numbers with RISP

PA 106

184/305/287

And this translates as proof that XB will likely have a career similar to Dewey? Or is it anecdotal evidence of what is possible? It is far more probable that he will not have have a Dewey like career.

[SoxFanForsyth]

What makes you think it is valid to extrapolate and project XB s future performance when in almost 600 plate appearances he OPS'd .660 had an OBP of .297 and a whopping 46 RBI? Let me remind you that you were making similar projections about Automatic Out Jr when he changed his stance and had about 10 good games. That didn't turn out to be even close to accurate as he got even worse. These projections based on a guy's best segment of the season are worthless and completely invalid. Most of his production was in garbage time in September after the team had been out of the race for at least a month. The rap against him is that he chokes when it matters. It remains to be seen if that criticism is valid. Let's see how he does when they come out of the gate in April.

 

Nobody is projecting anything. I extrapolated the data not for projection but to put into terms that are more easily understood. If I say "Player X had 4 HR and 17 RBI in 34 games", you have to really think about it to determine if that's really good or just ok, or whatever. So you put it over a full season to say "Ok, that's the kind of production that would extrapolate to 25 HR and 100 RBI, ok that's really good particularly for a SS".

 

It's not projection at all, it's just putting something into more easily understood data.

 

It's like if I told you gas is 0.14 cents per ounce. Is that cheap or expensive? You don't know without looking up or making a calculation to put it into gallons (or in this example, a full season).

[a700hitter]

Nobody is projecting anything. I extrapolated the data not for projection but to put into terms that are more easily understood. If I say "Player X had 4 HR and 17 RBI in 34 games", you have to really think about it to determine if that's really good or just ok, or whatever. So you put it over a full season to say "Ok, that's the kind of production that would extrapolate to 25 HR and 100 RBI, ok that's really good particularly for a SS".

 

It's not projection at all, it's just putting something into more easily understood data.

 

It's like if I told you gas is 0.14 cents per ounce. Is that cheap or expensive? You don't know without looking up or making a calculation to put it into gallons (or in this example, a full season).

I think most of us can understand a hot streak. We also know that hot streaks don't translate over a full season.

[SoxFanForsyth]

And this translates as proof that XB will likely have a career similar to Dewey? Or is it anecdotal evidence of what is possible? It is far more probable that he will not have have a Dewey like career.

 

No, it's just proof that rookies, particularly 21 year old rookies, take a little time to make their adjustments.

 

In their rookie year:

Carlos Gonzalez hit .242/.273/.361.

Jean Segura hit .258/.315/.325

Aramis Ramirez hit .235/.296/.351

Carl Crawford hit .259/.290/.371

Matt Kemp hit .253/.289/.448

JJ Hardy hit .247/.327/.384

 

Xander Bogaerts hit .240/.297/.362

 

Rookies. Often. Struggle.

 

That's all there is to it. They struggle.

 

And just to be clear, while playing SS (i.e. when he was comfortable), Bogaerts hit .266/.333/.391 (102 wRC+).

Jeter had a 106 wRC+.

Bernie Williams: 94.

Andruw Jones: 96

Jose Reyes: 102

Robbie Cano: 105

Miguel Cabrera: 106

Brandon Phillips? 44 wRC+.

 

Brett Lawrie had a 157 wRC+. Kyle Blanks a 137. Logan Morrison? 129. Will Middlebrooks (maybe you've heard of him?) had a 122 wRC+.

 

So lets get off the freaking Bogaerts hate train for a while and see what he does when he's not hooked around between SS and 3B all season. He's made the adjustments. History shows there are endless examples of players who struggled in their first season and went on to be all star players.

 

In fact, there are MORE examples of players who struggled and then went on than there are of players who blasted their first season. Stop making bogus assumptions based on a rookies first season. Period. I'm freaking sick of it.

[SoxFanForsyth]

I think most of us can understand a hot streak. We also know that hot streaks don't translate over a full season.

 

Adjustments DO translate over a full season. Bogaerts sandwiched his struggles with three excellent months. You can look April, May, and September. Or you can look at June, July, and August. As a Red Sox pessimist, I certainly expect you to look at the middle months.

[a700hitter]

No, it's just proof that rookies, particularly 21 year old rookies, take a little time to make their adjustments.

 

In their rookie year:

Carlos Gonzalez hit .242/.273/.361.

Jean Segura hit .258/.315/.325

Aramis Ramirez hit .235/.296/.351

Carl Crawford hit .259/.290/.371

Matt Kemp hit .253/.289/.448

JJ Hardy hit .247/.327/.384

 

Xander Bogaerts hit .240/.297/.362

 

Rookies. Often. Struggle.

 

That's all there is to it. They struggle.

 

And just to be clear, while playing SS (i.e. when he was comfortable), Bogaerts hit .266/.333/.391 (102 wRC+).

Jeter had a 106 wRC+.

Bernie Williams: 94.

Andruw Jones: 96

Jose Reyes: 102

Robbie Cano: 105

Miguel Cabrera: 106

Brandon Phillips? 44 wRC+.

 

Brett Lawrie had a 157 wRC+. Kyle Blanks a 137. Logan Morrison? 129. Will Middlebrooks (maybe you've heard of him?) had a 122 wRC+.

 

So lets get off the freaking Bogaerts hate train for a while and see what he does when he's not hooked around between SS and 3B all season. He's made the adjustments. History shows there are endless examples of players who struggled in their first season and went on to be all star players.

 

In fact, there are MORE examples of players who struggled and then went on than there are of players who blasted their first season. Stop making bogus assumptions based on a rookies first season. Period. I'm freaking sick of it.

I like looking at numbers, but they mean nothing as they are merely anecdotal. There's no hate of XB from me. I haven't even come up with a good derogatory nickname for him yet, because it is too early to close the book on him. What we do know are the facts. The facts are that he did not cover himself in glory in 2014. His hitting was not good and neither was his fielding. He needs to improve both aspects of his game a lot to be our long term SS. Not a fact but my opinion is that he was not ready for MLB in 2014. He should have been working on his game at AAA.

 

I also think it is unwarranted to expect or put any validity in these reports that he has a ceiling of Manny (unless they mean Manny Trillo) or reports of his massive potential. None of that means anything to me, because those people need stuff to write. Writing that he might only be meh isn't good copy. His "potential" means nothing now. He has had a full season in the majors. The only question now is how much he can develop and improve his game from what we witnessed in 2014. What he did in 2014 will not be acceptable going forward. We will know soon enough whether he is moving in the right direction. Predictions and scouting reports are useless at this point. He has a lot of work to do on his game.

[a700hitter]

BTW, the book can be closed on Bradley and Middlebrooks.

[Spudboy]

First off, Betts is already the leadoff hitter. He was the best player on the team last year when he was up outside of maybe Pedroia. When hitting leadoff, he hit .310/.388/.448. That's an elite hitter, particularly with his speed.

 

Second off, you have to remember that Bogaerts was 21 years old. That's the average age for high A players. He would have still been one of the younger players in DOUBLE A, so he's still got a ton of development time left. The problem is that the development he needed was something he couldn't get in AA or AAA. The development he needed was seeing major league pitchers adjust to him, and then making his adjustments back. He finally figured that out toward the end of the season. What you want to see from a young player is the ability to come out of a struggle. It took Bogaerts a while, but after his concussion, he showed the ability to drive the ball and drive in runners. After his concission, he hit .311/.315/.485 with 4 HR and 16 RBI in 26 games. Over 162 games, that's a 25 HR, 100 RBI season. He made the adjustments needed and his struggles and adjustments should translate to a much better season next year. Like it or not, he's your starting SS for the next 5 seasons at least.

 

SSF while I generally agree with your observations and optimism about XB, I believe he would have been better off with a full year of seasoning in AAA. I realize that he would not have consistently seen the quality breaking balls and overall mastery that most MLB pitchers have. As you have said, and this is THE salient point when discussing him, XB is very young. He was pushed through the system out of need, not because he was raking at each level. The same holds true for his fielding. He was not ready with that skill set either.

 

I look forward to seeing him play in 2015. I hope that your assumptions regarding him having made THE adjustments are accurate. If so, the Sox will have an above average SS offensively. And one whose defense should become average.

 

As I have said many times, I have yet to see the "can't miss" aspects of his game. The 2013 post season was too small of a sample and he hardly overwhelmed at any point in 2014.

 

But, I am very hopeful that he becomes at least most of what has been projected for him. That would be wonderful because this franchise has not developed a very good two way SS since Nomar broke.

 

Time will tell, of course.

[Spudboy]

BTW, the book can be closed on Bradley and Middlebrooks.

 

Call me blind but I have not given up on Bradley the hitter just yet. I'm not sure where he will be playing in the near future. I do hope that he learns how to hit and can become a full time MLB CF.

 

WMB is another story. Maybe he has been cursed by injury but he has not made progress in the last two years. I say unload him in a trade for pitching.

[a700hitter]

Call me blind but I have not given up on Bradley the hitter just yet. I'm not sure where he will be playing in the near future. I do hope that he learns how to hit and can become a full time MLB CF.

 

WMB is another story. Maybe he has been cursed by injury but he has not made progress in the last two years. I say unload him in a trade for pitching.

 

You have always had a soft spot/blind spot for the underdogs.

[Spudboy]

You have always had a soft spot/blind spot for the underdogs.

 

Yeah, maybe it's true.

 

I do like the kid. Other than the suffix to his name. The "Jr." thing I just do not get! He ain't Ken Griffey Jr.!!!!

 

What I do like about him is his defense. You and I have rarely seen that type of defense in the Sox outfield. Yaz, Lynn, Evans. That's about it!

[SoxFanForsyth]

SSF while I generally agree with your observations and optimism about XB, I believe he would have been better off with a full year of seasoning in AAA. I realize that he would not have consistently seen the quality breaking balls and overall mastery that most MLB pitchers have. As you have said, and this is THE salient point when discussing him, XB is very young. He was pushed through the system out of need, not because he was raking at each level. The same holds true for his fielding. He was not ready with that skill set either.

 

I look forward to seeing him play in 2015. I hope that your assumptions regarding him having made THE adjustments are accurate. If so, the Sox will have an above average SS offensively. And one whose defense should become average.

 

As I have said many times, I have yet to see the "can't miss" aspects of his game. The 2013 post season was too small of a sample and he hardly overwhelmed at any point in 2014.

 

But, I am very hopeful that he becomes at least most of what has been projected for him. That would be wonderful because this franchise has not developed a very good two way SS since Nomar broke.

 

Time will tell, of course.

 

Yup. I think we just have two different views on it, which is no problem. I have the opinion that, if we let Bogaerts start out in AAA this year, let him rake there for 3 months, bring him up, he would have probably had a really strong showing because pitchers wouldn't have gotten a chance to get the book on him and make their adjustments. Next year, however, he would be going through the same adjustment period that he went through this year.

 

In terms of him not raking in AAA, I think he did, but he wasn't down there long enough to allow his numbers to catch up to his little adjustment period. He was in AAA for around 60 games. His first 9, he played very poorly. But around his 10th game, he started to really heat up (he hit .307/.388/.476 from his 10th game on in AAA). So I think that's why the Red Sox FO thought that he had done enough down there that he was showing a consistent ability to drive the ball and was ready for the next challenge.

 

To be honest, it certainly looked like he was ready, given his 2013 postseason and his first 55 games in the MLB, when he hit .304/.395/.464 (though those 55 games he posted a .392 BABIP so regression was imminent).

 

More than anything, pitchers exploited Bogaerts' overagressiveness and it just kind of snowballed on him. I think that's actually why the concussion DL stint helped him, kind of hit the reset button for him a little bit. You make so many changes trying to adjust that you get away from what got you to the bigs to begin with.

[Dojji]

He's Jackie Bradley Jr because his father is names Jackie Bradley. Why is this a problem?

[sk7326]

And this translates as proof that XB will likely have a career similar to Dewey? Or is it anecdotal evidence of what is possible? It is far more probable that he will not have have a Dewey like career.

 

It is a datapoint. But it is evidence of what folks observe in college, high school, minor league baseball. Players who are competitive (not great, just competitive) at very young ages are excellent bets to have good careers, and also where your extra-special careers come from. I wish Bogaerts were more like a 4-win player than a "somewhat above replacement level" - that would make the projection much much more confident. But he was a competitive big leaguer - better than 2006 Pedroia, better than 2012 Iglesias. When you are his age and able to belong in the big leagues in any reasonable capacity, that is a VERY strong harbinger for a long career playing baseball for a living, with good odds of being a hell of a lot more.

 

For Fred, the 2013 Cardinals made the world series with .330/.402/.463 with RISP. This year, with very similar human beings it was .254/.336/.365. Did those players become dumb or stupid, or have what happened to those dudes in the beginning of "Space Jam"?

[Spudboy]

He's Jackie Bradley Jr because his father is names Jackie Bradley. Why is this a problem?

 

Because it's superfluous. His Father is not a household name and so there is no confusion when using just Jackie Bradley to refer to him.

 

It's not really a problem. I just believe that it is dumb and unnecessary.

[Spudboy]

It is a datapoint. But it is evidence of what folks observe in college, high school, minor league baseball. Players who are competitive (not great, just competitive) at very young ages are excellent bets to have good careers, and also where your extra-special careers come from. I wish Bogaerts were more like a 4-win player than a "somewhat above replacement level" - that would make the projection much much more confident. But he was a competitive big leaguer - better than 2006 Pedroia, better than 2012 Iglesias. When you are his age and able to belong in the big leagues in any reasonable capacity, that is a VERY strong harbinger for a long career playing baseball for a living, with good odds of being a hell of a lot more.

For Fred, the 2013 Cardinals made the world series with .330/.402/.463 with RISP. This year, with very similar human beings it was .254/.336/.365. Did those players become dumb or stupid, or have what happened to those dudes in the beginning of "Space Jam"?

 

 

That is a staggering drop off. Maybe increase of shifts had something to do with it? Maybe. But there had to have been other factors as well.