2014 Offseason Thread

[mvp 78]

RIP Wendell Kim

 

Hope he's sending some in from the pearly gates.

[a700hitter]

RIP Wendell Kim

 

Hope he's sending some in from the pearly gates.

RIP Send'em in Kim.

[iortiz]

Good for you Elk and once more you beat me to the punch. I'm now out on a limb myself and predicting the Red Sox will the AL East, something I've been mulling over the past two weeks, but apparently lacked a little courage of my convictions and needed someone to lead the charge. This prediction will shock the hell out of Kimmi, befuddle mvp, made User scream, make 700 hitter desert me as a friend and make iortiz call me a traitor. But there you have it.....The Red Sox go 89-73 and win the East by two games.

Traitor? Not at all my friend. Hopefully you are right in your predictions, and regardless my opinion about the team I always will want they win.

[Ogden]

Beware of "first posts" as a lot of new posters are actually older posters coming back from the dead. Take it from a guy who's been there, lol

 

 

So you are a zombie fan? If zombies weren't so ugly, I'd post a pic, but I'll take the high road.

 

 

http://m7k.org/forums/Smileys/express2/fonz.gif

[Kimmi]

Good read at Fangraphs today on Bogaerts' slump.

 

To me, this indicates that his slump was due to growing pains - his inability to adjust to the pitchers' adjuments, rather than being a result of his unhappiness at being moved to 3rd base, for anyone who blamed his slump on that.

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/community/why-did-xander-bogaerts-stop-walking/

[mvp 78]

I don't think people thought "he's sulking at 3rd." I think people thought he just spend too much energy adapting to a new position.

[sk7326]

Good read at Fangraphs today on Bogaerts' slump.

 

To me, this indicates that his slump was due to growing pains - his inability to adjust to the pitchers' adjuments, rather than being a result of his unhappiness at being moved to 3rd base, for anyone who blamed his slump on that.

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/community/why-did-xander-bogaerts-stop-walking/

 

I think his work in the World Series showed that the maturity thing (at least from an off-field perspective if that makes sense) is a non-issue. The maturation at the plate and on the field is a different deal. I don't think he sulked at the move to 3rd, but if he took it as a dig I would not blame him either. Really the view for his future can only be gleaned from how he as dealt with adversity in the past. What is unique so far in his career is that the adjustment period at the bigs is the longest so far - but he has shown an ability to take coaching and conquer challenges at each level. That makeup, and being able to have a full offseason, gives me optimism.

[Elktonnick]

Yogi Berra is alleged to have said that "ninety per cent of this game is half mental" It may be tortured syntax but it does express a fundamental truth about this game. Attitude that immeasurable quality for which there is no established metric accounts for much of the difference between success and failure.

[Kimmi]

I don't think people thought "he's sulking at 3rd." I think people thought he just spend too much energy adapting to a new position.

 

 

Fair enough. The point remains though that his move to 3rd is not to be blamed for his slump.

[Spudboy]

Good read at Fangraphs today on Bogaerts' slump.

 

To me, this indicates that his slump was due to growing pains - his inability to adjust to the pitchers' adjuments, rather than being a result of his unhappiness at being moved to 3rd base, for anyone who blamed his slump on that.

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/community/why-did-xander-bogaerts-stop-walking/

 

I never bought into the idea that the move to third effected his hitting.

 

He is just young and has a lot to learn about knowing which pitch will be thrown and reading balls out of a pitcher's hand.

 

I wonder if his change in approach was something coaches instilled in him or if he just started swinging recklessly?

 

I don't expect him to flip a switch and become all world at the plate this year. I just hope he has learned from the experiences of 2014 and continues to get better.

[Kimmi]

I think his work in the World Series showed that the maturity thing (at least from an off-field perspective if that makes sense) is a non-issue. The maturation at the plate and on the field is a different deal. I don't think he sulked at the move to 3rd, but if he took it as a dig I would not blame him either. Really the view for his future can only be gleaned from how he as dealt with adversity in the past. What is unique so far in his career is that the adjustment period at the bigs is the longest so far - but he has shown an ability to take coaching and conquer challenges at each level. That makeup, and being able to have a full offseason, gives me optimism.

 

 

I'm not sure why he would have taken the move to 3rd as a dig. They moved him to 3rd, not because of what he was doing at SS, but because of Middlebrooks' injury and underperformance at 3B. I didn't look at it as a slight toward Bogaerts, but rather as a vote of confidence in him that he could handle it, since he showed some success there the previous year.

 

He showed some signs of breaking out of the slump towards the end of the season. The Sox FO seems to be really high on him. I am optimistic about seeing some big things from him this season.

[Kimmi]

I never bought into the idea that the move to third effected his hitting.

 

He is just young and has a lot to learn about knowing which pitch will be thrown and reading balls out of a pitcher's hand.

 

I wonder if his change in approach was something coaches instilled in him or if he just started swinging recklessly?

 

I don't expect him to flip a switch and become all world at the plate this year. I just hope he has learned from the experiences of 2014 and continues to get better.

 

 

I agree Spud. I don't think that the coaches would have him change an approach that had been so successful for him, but your guess is as good as mine. I'm guessing maybe he just starting pressing a little and became overanxious. The more he struggled, the more he pressed.

 

As you said, he is still very young. IMO, it's normal growing pains for a youngster, and he will continue to learn and improve.

[Spudboy]

I just watched some video clips from Ft. Myers.

 

JBJ was taking some cuts.

 

I'm certainly no expert on batting mechanics. However, his swing looks terrible. It's all his shoulders.

 

I wonder what he did in the off season to get better with the bat?

[mvp 78]

Fair enough. The point remains though that his move to 3rd is not to be blamed for his slump.

 

Why not? Just coincidence? It's not the first time a ballplayer struggled with the bat when moved to a new position.

[Bellhorn04]

I think it's pretty plausible that a position switch can affect a player's hitting. It's just very hard to measure some of this stuff.

 

sk7326 just commented a few days ago about Lavarnway's hitting suffering when he tried to concentrate more on his defense.

[Spudboy]

Well he sucked at the plate long after the switch to third so whatever the cause it sure was significant.

 

I hope he shows better plate discipline this year.

 

I don't agree that this team can carry his bat if weak. Not a safe bet when so many questions remain with this line up.

 

Remind me I said this if or when Castillo, Betts, or one of the MASH players come up short with the stick.

 

You know. So I don't have to say I told you so.

[seabeachfred]

Why not? Just coincidence? It's not the first time a ballplayer struggled with the bat when moved to a new position.

 

You know, that brings back a memory.....a very bad one. Before your time in 1951, the old Brooklyn Dodgers were romping through the National League with a lead going from ten to thirteen games back and forth to the end of the second week of August. The Giants were getting skewered by the Dodgers, losing 12 of 15 games to them when Leo Durocher moved Bobby Thomson from the outfield to third base. The guy took off like a bat out of hell, hitting for power, average and fielding well enough to help lead his team into a sudden death three game playoff that he won with that dramatic three run homer in the ninth inning that October 3. I don't think I got over it until I found the Red Sox almost 15 years ago.

 

The moral mvp? Sometimes it can work the other way.

[Spudboy]

Enlightening.

[Ogden]

I'm not trying to resurrect bad memories, Fred, but this is my favorite baseball call of all time.

 

 

My favorite old dump of a ball park.

[Spudboy]

I'm not trying to resurrect bad memories, Fred, but this is my favorite baseball call of all time.

 

 

My favorite old dump of a ball park.

 

It's strange seeing nothing but white faces.

[Ogden]

It's strange seeing nothing but white faces.

 

 

Yeah, there is such a plethora of non-whites at Fenway.

[Kimmi]

Why not? Just coincidence? It's not the first time a ballplayer struggled with the bat when moved to a new position.

 

 

Yes, I think it was just coincidence that his struggles began at about the same time that he moved to 3B. Those struggles also coincide with opposing pitchers attacking him differently (more sliders down and away), resulting in Bogaerts becoming less patient at the plate.

[Kimmi]

Well he sucked at the plate long after the switch to third so whatever the cause it sure was significant.

 

I hope he shows better plate discipline this year.

 

I don't agree that this team can carry his bat if weak. Not a safe bet when so many questions remain with this line up.

 

Remind me I said this if or when Castillo, Betts, or one of the MASH players come up short with the stick.

 

You know. So I don't have to say I told you so.

 

 

I don't think we can carry his weak bat either. The team already has Vazquez, who could show improvement, but will still likely be considered a weak bat. If we had a stronger starting rotation, it might be possible. But as of now, this team is depending on its offense to carry it through many of the games.

[Palodios]

Hopefully the top of the order will wear down the opposing pitcher before it gets to Bogaerts.

[SeanJohn93]

I still can't understand why the Sox decided to extend Miley 3 years without having seen him throw one inning for them

[User Name]

Because he was under team control either ways, and they got a discount by going the extension route instead of year to year. High IP totals pretty much guarantee big arb raises.

[jacksonianmarch]

They got an innings eater on a cheap contract. Should he implode in Fenway in 2015 (which I am predicting, btw), his contract would probably be seen as a benefit rather than a curse. I think his contract was good business, going after him IMO was bad baseball. He likely will not be a Red Sock in 2016

[Bellhorn04]

Hopefully the top of the order will wear down the opposing pitcher before it gets to Bogaerts.

 

He'll be the X Factor.

[Bellhorn04]

They got an innings eater on a cheap contract. Should he implode in Fenway in 2015 (which I am predicting, btw), his contract would probably be seen as a benefit rather than a curse. I think his contract was good business, going after him IMO was bad baseball. He likely will not be a Red Sock in 2016

 

Sounds like your analysis of him came up with much different results from the Sox brain trust's.

[User Name]

Are you surprised?