Spring training

[Kimmi]

He should be out about 4-6 weeks. Betances slots into closer role. Chapman back for May. Lots of young depth in the pen will be tested early. Nova might carve out a pen role out there depending on how the kids do. Good test for the green arms out there

 

I seriously think that you need to create another chart, since I did not have the privilege of enjoying the first one.

 

BTW, one of your green arms may have a big toe problem.

[Dojji]

We have some pretty decent green arms ourselves, but of course they somehow don't count, right?

[Kimmi]

This.....is actually a very fair point.

 

The problem (in Spudboy's case) is that his argument isn't about Kelly himself, but rather Farrell's penchant to paint a peachy picture when a guy gets hammered (being ST or regular season). In the regular season, it's a fair gripe, in ST, it's just picking at nits. Also, saying Francona didn't do it is wearing rose colored hindsight glasses. He did it. Just not as much as Farrell.

 

Of course it's a fair point.

 

My middle name is "Fair".

[BigPapiEnFuego]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/03/red-sox-name-travis-shaw-as-starting-third-baseman-pablo-sandoval-to-bench.html

 

Travis Shaw has been named the 3rd base starter.

 

I wanted Pablo to work out so bad. What a joke that turned out to be

 

edit: oh wait this is already known and being discussed in another thread haha

[Kimmi]

The GM was Theo Epstein, the manager Terry Francona. Remember that most of the criticism is directed at the Cherington/Farrell tandem. Unfairly to Cherington for the most part, but Farrell is a whole other ballgame.

 

I realize that. But my point about having patience with players was not limited to just the Red Sox or any particular GM/manager. Teams across baseball have been rewarded for having patience in struggling players and have paid the price when being impatient or acting rashly.

[Kimmi]

Francona was an extremely patient manager and his patience and nerves of steel rewarded us with 2 rings. He generally avoided panic moves and tended to push back against a GM who wanted to make them, preferring to trust his players to work things out on the field. That bore fruit as often as not, I'll give you the example of Dustin Pedroia who started out very VERY cold before putting on the laser show in his rookie season. The panic move would have been to swap roles and ride Alex Cora, who was super hot at the time, and sit Pedey for a few weeks until Cora cooled down. Instead, Cora did get some extra playing time because he was murdering the baseball, but Pedroia was never out of the lineup for multiple days in a row.

 

It's one of the things I was actually very pleased with about Tito, his ability to judge how much adjustment is necessary and how much is overadjustment. A lot of our more panicky fans considered him to be asleep at the switch at times, and the "Francoma" nickname stuck, but that's because there's times when the smartest move is to make no move.

 

What I'm worried about right now, is that there are a few situations where the smartest move is no move right now, and leadership's already getting twitchy. I'll give the example of Rusney castillo in left field which has not had the time to gel or give any positive answer about whether it will or will not work longterm, and they're already talking about a Young-Holt platoon. It's way too early for that. Some things do need to be tried under live fire before you know whether they will or will not work -- Castillo in left being one of them. it's one thing to light a fire under a rookie and another to leave them in perennial doubt whether they'll be on the lineup card tomorrow. The latter just stresses them out for no good reason, especially while they're still figuring it out, and make no mistake, castillo is still figuring it out.

 

Give Castillo a good 2-3 week experiment this April, before rushing to judgment -- do have a plan on hand for what you're going to do if it fails but don't be a prat and make it public and add pressure to a guy who's still learning on the job how to play at the big league level..

 

Very well said Dojii. So well that I have nothing to add.

[mvp 78]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/03/red-sox-name-travis-shaw-as-starting-third-baseman-pablo-sandoval-to-bench.html

 

Travis Shaw has been named the 3rd base starter.

 

I wanted Pablo to work out so bad. What a joke that turned out to be

 

edit: oh wait this is already known and being discussed in another thread haha

 

DUMBrowski took over the team last year, watched them day in and day out and decided the only way to fix the mess was blow it up. Castillo and Pablo are both done in Boston. I wonder what he thinks about the long term prospects of Porcello.

 

The bullpen stunk last year and DUMBrowski did some work to fix that in the offseason. He still needs to remake the starting rotation, but that's harder to do than add in bullpen arms.

[Kimmi]

Except that they have seen him day in and day out for a year and a half. They clearly don't like what they see and are moving on. Sure, we can say "oh let's give him a shot," but ultimately we know .0001% of what those guys do. It seems like they are cutting bait and don't believe he'll ever figure it out. We're talking about a 29 year old, not some 24 year old who still has room for growth. Castillo is who he is and they don't seem to like it much.

 

The day in and day out for a year and a half statement is a little misleading in terms of the majors. He has played somewhat sporadically in 90 major league games, just a little more than half a season. He has dealt with injuries and adjusting to a new country/culture/team during all of that. The Sox owe it to themselves to give him a month or two to start this season.

[Bellhorn04]

The day in and day out for a year and a half statement is a little misleading in terms of the majors. He has played somewhat sporadically in 90 major league games, just a little more than half a season. He has dealt with injuries and adjusting to a new country/culture/team during all of that. The Sox owe it to themselves to give him a month or two to start this season.

 

For better or worse, this team is anxious to get off to a good start, to put it mildly.

[Kimmi]

DUMBrowski took over the team last year, watched them day in and day out and decided the only way to fix the mess was blow it up. Castillo and Pablo are both done in Boston. I wonder what he thinks about the long term prospects of Porcello.

 

The bullpen stunk last year and DUMBrowski did some work to fix that in the offseason. He still needs to remake the starting rotation, but that's harder to do than add in bullpen arms.

 

Personally, I think Dombrowski is a little insecure in himself.

 

He is exhibiting what I would call a baseball Napoleon complex.

[Station 13]

by now Castillo should have assimilated to MLB. Instead he had 1 extra base hit in 54 plate appearance this spring. Benching him is not the solution, get him to AAA to get regular PT.

[Kimmi]

For better or worse, this team is anxious to get off to a good start, to put it mildly.

 

Yes, they are. I am concerned that their sense of urgency is leading them to rash decisions. If the Sox get off to a good start and play consistently good baseball all season, all will be forgotten.

[Kimmi]

by now Castillo should have assimilated to MLB. Instead he had 1 extra base hit in 54 plate appearance this spring. Benching him is not the solution, get him to AAA to get regular PT.

 

If he's not starting, he absolutely needs to be in AAA.

 

And that being the case, releasing Murphy was a stupid thing to do.

[Bellhorn04]

Personally, I think Dombrowski is a little insecure in himself.

 

He is exhibiting what I would call a baseball Napoleon complex.

 

I think he's taking the approach Henry wanted him to.

[Station 13]

If he's not starting, he absolutely needs to be in AAA.

 

And that being the case, releasing Murphy was a stupid thing to do.

 

Exactly, keep Murphy on the bench, send Castillo back to AAA.

[Kimmi]

I think he's taking the approach Henry wanted him to.

 

I'm not so sure about that one Bell.

 

I think Henry likely gave Dombrowski the power to do what he sees fit, but I think the approach stems from Dombrowski.

[Bellhorn04]

I'm not so sure about that one Bell.

 

I think Henry likely gave Dombrowski the power to do what he sees fit, but I think the approach stems from Dombrowski.

 

But Henry knew Dombrowski's approach when he hired him, and obviously it was what he wanted.

[Dojji]

Sure, in general overview, but the devil's in the details. How that overview translates into taking the roster you have and trying to find ways to make the roster you want is going to vary, sometimes drastically, from any overview you might provide in the interview process -- or at least it had better, because the reality on the ground floor level is constantly evolving..

[Kimmi]

But Henry knew Dombrowski's approach when he hired him, and obviously it was what he wanted.

 

Sorry, but I can't believe that Henry envisioned both Castillo and Pablo being benched on Opening Day.

[Kimmi]

Sure, in general overview, but the devil's in the details. How that overview translates into taking the roster you have and trying to find ways to make the roster you want is going to vary, sometimes drastically, from any overview you might provide in the interview process -- or at least it had better, because the reality on the ground floor level is constantly evolving..

 

Correct. Henry knew that Dombrowski would be aggressive, but I don't believe he thought that aggressiveness would manifest itself this way.

[Bellhorn04]

Sorry, but I can't believe that Henry envisioned both Castillo and Pablo being benched on Opening Day.

 

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

[Dojji]

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

 

I hope you're wrong. Some of the very worst ideas that this franchise has implemented in recent years have come from executive dictation. Suggesting that the high executives are still meddling for all they're worth does not make me a happy person.

[mvp 78]

If he's not starting, he absolutely needs to be in AAA.

 

And that being the case, releasing Murphy was a stupid thing to do.

 

This is fairly solid reasoning. Maybe they were worried that a move to AAA would hurt future trade potential? Idk.

[Dojji]

They didn't release murphy. He chose to opt out. It was obvious the team was going to carry the extra pitcher and go with a 4 man bench, take advantage of Holt's flexibility to do without the 5th OF (which was the job Murphy was best qualified for) so there was no spot for him.

 

I do think he could have been an asset to the team as a 5th OF. The team just wasn't likely to be built to need one of those.

Edited March 31, 2016 by Dojji

[mvp 78]

I realize that. But my point about having patience with players was not limited to just the Red Sox or any particular GM/manager. Teams across baseball have been rewarded for having patience in struggling players and have paid the price when being impatient or acting rashly.

 

And some teams have been burned by sticking with veterans for too long.

[mvp 78]

They didn't release murphy. He chose to opt out.

 

Semantics. By not offering him an MLB deal, they pretty much released him.

[Dojji]

Yeah, but it's pretty easy to see why on both sides. The Red Sox are trying to capitalize on Holt's flexibility to allow them to take another pitcher. Murphy would be a perfectly acceptabler 5th OF, but the Sox weren't looking to invest a roster spot in one of those. I do wish we could have kept him though, our outfield depth behind the current big league roster is pretty bare. Edited March 31, 2016 by Dojji

[mvp 78]

The day in and day out for a year and a half statement is a little misleading in terms of the majors. He has played somewhat sporadically in 90 major league games, just a little more than half a season. He has dealt with injuries and adjusting to a new country/culture/team during all of that. The Sox owe it to themselves to give him a month or two to start this season.

 

Whether he was on the field or not, they saw his work ethic, how he performed in practice, etc.

[mvp 78]

Yeah, but it's pretty easy to see why on both sides. The Red Sox are trying to capitalize on Holt's flexibility to allow them to take another pitcher. Murphy would be a perfectly acceptabler 5th OF, but the Sox weren't looking to invest a roster spot in one of those. I do wish we could have kept him though, our outfield depth behind the current big league roster is pretty bare.

 

Considering the rotation and bullpen question marks, it's not indefensible to use an extra slot on an arm.

[Dojji]

Actually I wonder if there might be a window to pick up Jarrod Dyson. His spot on the Royals roster is being threatened by Paulo Orlando. Dyson could be a strong addition to the bench with his super speed, that might be enough to forego the extra pitcher. And the speed option might be just good enough to force his way into the lineup if there's the hole in left everyone is projecting. Dyson doesn't look like much if you use conventional numbers, but he was a 2 WAR player off the bench each of the last 2 years according to Baseball-Reference. it's a better idea than you think the first time you look at him. Edited March 31, 2016 by Dojji