Spring training

[Spudboy]

Spud, you in Florida now?

 

No. North Attleboro, Ma..

 

I've seen him play on TV now 2-3 times. What Ted says is what I have seen.

[SoxHop]

No. North Attleboro, Ma..

 

I've seen him play on TV now 2-3 times. What Ted says is what I have seen.

 

Cool. I thought you may be down in FL. No pre-season watching for me, so I'm living through you people that can view the games.

[Bellhorn04]

Shaw is already 25 and Travis is already 27. Seems like they are what they are going to be. I would think they should be playing someplace. The shame of it is that at their ages they really need to sink or swim meaning they should get a shot at real ML play. Hernandez looks more like a traditional prospect should look...young...but where to play him. Both Shaw and Travis could probably play here right now. They would not be stars but would likely contribute more than the slugs ahead of them.

 

Travis would have to skip AAA to make it up now. But another year in the minors means he would be 28 before seeing ML time.

 

Sam Travis is 22.

[User Name]

Sam Travis is 22.

 

Facts!

[mvp 78]

Facts!

 

Drafted in 2014 2nd round

[mvp 78]

Also, players typically peak around 29, so Shaw still has a lot of room for growth, esecially since he hasn't played a whole season.

[cp176]

Shaw is already 25 and Travis is already 27. Seems like they are what they are going to be. I would think they should be playing someplace. The shame of it is that at their ages they really need to sink or swim meaning they should get a shot at real ML play. Hernandez looks more like a traditional prospect should look...young...but where to play him. Both Shaw and Travis could probably play here right now. They would not be stars but would likely contribute more than the slugs ahead of them.

 

Travis would have to skip AAA to make it up now. But another year in the minors means he would be 28 before seeing ML time.

 

I wouldn't have brought up his name last year or talked about him ever since if Travis was that old. Check out his bio. I think that you will be impressed. He is just starting to prove what people have been saying about him for a while. No brainer for me and Sam Travis. He might even be a star before it's all over. Shaw - I don't know- but if he winds up as our starting third baseman in April, we won't be any worse off. Could even be an upgrade.

[Dojji]

Yeah Sam Travis is a very interesting prospect. I think he's under the radar a bit. The only reason I haven't been singing his praises on this forum is that I still think he's 12+ months away from being a full time contributor. He's been making a good start at suggesting otherwise!

 

The rule of thumb this team used to operate under under Epstein, which applied to the development of guys like Jacoby Ellsbury and Jed Lowrie who I believe both jumped to the big league roster from Portland based on needs, was that if you had succeeded in Portland you could be up for consideration if the big league roster had an opening. Pawtucket is kind of seen as a holding tank for prospects, while you can play your way out of consideration at AAA, any developmental landmarks tend to be minimal.

 

So yeah, Sam Travis is now on the radar, and a very interesting 1B prospect if he can sustain his success this year. If we have trouble at the corners, and we might, he could easily force his way onto the roster, maybe even as early as May or June.

Edited March 9, 2016 by Dojji

[jung]

Sort of makes Pawtucket a scary place unless you are already a MLer trying to play your way back from injury or something like that. If not then it sounds like about the only good thing that can happen to you is that you don't get hurt playing down there before you get up here. But that does seem to be how it is.

[cp176]

Pawtucket seems to look like a big holding tank on occasion. Rehabs for sure and then a roster with a bunch of guys who at one time or another either played at the ml level or were highly rated youngsters who didn't seem to be able to make the next step. Huge security blanket which isn't a bad thing. You never know when someone is going to be needed to help out.

[jung]

Except when it encourages management to warehouse players in favor of paying some stiff a fortune to do basically nothing.

 

We end up paying a fortune to said stiff while the guy that should get his shot runs the risk of injury basically marking time.

[cp176]

Except when it encourages management to warehouse players in favor of paying some stiff a fortune to do basically nothing.

 

We end up paying a fortune to said stiff while the guy that should get his shot runs the risk of injury basically marking time.

 

This is an issue I hope that we trend away from. Play your best most deserving players. That is the way it should work. Where they send the ones who shouldn't be on the roster is up to them.

[cp176]

Moncada getting the go today? Second base - like to see them sneak him right over to third.

[jung]

Does anybody know Sam's actual age. I have now seen 27 AND 22. I guess I would believe either. But one or the other must be an error.

[Dojji]

He's 22, turns 23 this year

 

Age: 22

Born: August 27, 1993

 

http://www.soxprospects.com/players/travis-sam.htm

http://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.cgi?id=travis000sam

[cp176]

He's 22, turns 23 this year

 

Age: 22

Born: August 27, 1993

 

http://www.soxprospects.com/players/travis-sam.htm

http://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.cgi?id=travis000sam

 

yup - just a kid - 22 going on 23

[Dojji]

And a very common age for a player to break out and come into his own as well.

 

i think we'd better be prepared to make room for Travis because he may force the issue, and I'd rather have him on our team than keep our sunk cost contracts and have him traded to some other team for some short term gain over the course of the season.

[cp176]

And a very common age for a player to break out and come into his own as well.

 

i think we'd better be prepared to make room for Travis because he may force the issue, and I'd rather have him on our team than keep our sunk cost contracts and have him traded to some other team for some short term gain over the course of the season.

 

Not much love from me for either Sandoval or Ramirez but I want the best players to be on the field for us. I think that this will be a very significant spring for a number of players. You have to think that probably S and R will get an opportunity when the team comes north in April. That being said it is possible that Shaw forces himself right into the starting lineup. If he has a solid spring he will deserve the opportunity to start and to show what he can do certainly as much as anyone else. He might earn it this spring. Not a Hater!- just want the best players on the field minus the ********.

[Dojji]

Shaw may make the roster to sit on the bench no matter what. He's got some versatility at the corners and had a good campaign last year, putting up very respectable numbers over a sample size that was not particularly small (over 250 PA, a third of a season or so).

 

look to see the team try Shaw in the outfield at some point this spring. If they do, it's because they're weighing the option of having him make the team in some capacity.

 

Of course, once on the bench, he could have opportunities to make a job his own if Hanley or Sandoval fail to deliver. The possibility of going into May with Holt manning third and Shaw manning first certainly exists, especially if the team is otherwise doing well and the chucklehead duo holds them back.

Edited March 9, 2016 by Dojji

[mvp 78]

Shaw has already been fielding practice in LF and Farrell has stated that he likes Shaw's flexibility. He's a virtual lock to be on the opening day 25 man roster.

[Dojji]

Good. He's valuable off the bench right now.

 

Hanigan-Shaw-Holt-Young is a pretty solid all around bench.

[mvp 78]

Murphy is definitely the odd man out at this point.

[BigPapiEnFuego]

So I haven't been able to see a lot of the games. How's Hanley been at first? How have some of the pitchers who struggled last year looked, like Kelly and Porcello?

[mvp 78]

Hanley has looked ok.

 

Porcello got hit hard, but he was only working on his fastball (i.e. not regular season pitch selection).

[Kimmi]

Except when it encourages management to warehouse players in favor of paying some stiff a fortune to do basically nothing.

 

We end up paying a fortune to said stiff while the guy that should get his shot runs the risk of injury basically marking time.

 

To those in the "I don't care, it's not my money" camp, this is why it's almost never a good idea to hand out large contracts. Inevitably, these guys will keep their spots on the roster at the expense of younger and better players due to their enormous salaries.

[mvp 78]

So Panda and Porcello were bad ideas then?

[a700hitter]

Hanley has looked ok.

 

Porcello got hit hard, but he was only working on his fastball (i.e. not regular season pitch selection).

I have seen him get the chance to pick only 2 throws out of the dirt, and he is 0 for 2.

[jung]

Sam made a play at 1st the other day that Hanely only makes if he lays down in front of the ball and lets it hit him.

 

Shaw for his part is doing just about everything he can do to make his case. Sure it is just ST. But the guy can only do what he can do and Shaw is doing it to the nth degree.

[Spudboy]

But Shaw is the odd man out because they owe Hanley so much money.

 

I'm sure that he will make an excellent defensive replacement and should Hanley completely s*** himself Shaw will be there to replace him.

 

We should be thankful that the Sox have org depth at this important position.

[jung]

Where I see a glimmer of hope here is that Farrell has already committed to Shaw for one game a week. Well that may not sound like much but physiologically, it is. If he is already committed to playing him one game a week, then it is not much of a jump from there to two games a week. Once you are up to two games a week, you are already playing in at least 30% to 35% of the games. If Shaw gets there and is just playing Hanley into the ground, then it will be hard to keep Shaw off the field no matter what they are paying Hanley.

 

While I am also not a believer in Hanley the DH, since that appears to still be the eventual plan for next year....forcing this 1st base thing in that context would seem stupid regardless of what they are paying him.