A Realistic View at 2016

[moonslav59]

What I don't understand is that somehow questioning or speculating the timeline of a position change in the minors is out-right blasphemy. We question management about everything else don't we? Why is this off-limits? No doubt, every team has a typical baseline procedure of doing things, but it's not written in stone. Moncada & Benintendi aren't your typical minor leaguers either. I thought the most conservative approach was to wait until AAA, with the worst approach being to wait until they were brought up to the Majors (because we've seen this far too often). I like the proactive approach they're going with w/ these two right now. Sooner than later for these two. The signs have been glowing in neon and pointing to this for a while now. Yes, even 2 months ago.

 

...and all I said was that I felt Moncada should start practicing 3B soon. I never pretended to be a know it all- they were. Not every player has to follow normal protocol for changing positions after promotions. First, the tried to claim I didn't know what the protocol was, then they switched to trying to say I was acting like I knew more than Sox management. That was false as well. I gave my opinion that since Moncada was nearly ML ready and blocked by Pedey, we should start giving him reps at 3B or possibly LF soon. I wasn't calling for an immediate change.

You'd think I was proposing anarchy!

 

Call me a blind squirrel if you wish, but don't say I was wrong on this one.

[DirtDog7]

This notion "Moncada is near MLB ready" is absurd. His bat, yes, his defense...hell no. I watched error after error in Greenville last season. His defense is maturing but again, that whole position change thing. If he's going to switch than it needs to be now and its going to take the remainder of the current season. And we're foolish to assume the switch can be made. One would think a superb athlete like Moncada can move positions but again, there's so much we just don't know.

 

I'll never understand why we discuss moving fielding prospects up so early when it's our pitching that is garbage.

[moonslav59]

This notion "Moncada is near MLB ready" is absurd. His bat, yes, his defense...hell no. I watched error after error in Greenville last season. His defense is maturing but again, that whole position change thing. If he's going to switch than it needs to be now and its going to take the remainder of the current season. And we're foolish to assume the switch can be made. One would think a superb athlete like Moncada can move positions but again, there's so much we just don't know.

 

I'll never understand why we discuss moving fielding prospects up so early when it's our pitching that is garbage.

One point I tried to make was that if we have to wait for Momcada to master 2B before thinking about moving him to the position we need him, it may take years, and we lose his ML bat waiting the extra time. Then I caught flack for suggesting we might have to DH him next year until he becomes good enough at 3B or LF. Getting him started at new position sooner rather than later made sense to me.

Maybe he never gets good enough at any position to make DHing him less appealing, despite his physical attributes.

[mvp 78]

Moncada went 0-5 today with 5 K's.

 

Call him up!

[Nick]

Moncada went 0-5 today with 5 K's.

 

Call him up!

 

Trade for the kid that struck him out 5 times.

[Spudboy]

Trade for the kid that struck him out 5 times.

 

lol. yes.

[Nick]

I don't believe anyone is pushing for Moncada this year. But I am pushing for Benintendi. If he's not called up by September, I'd be disappointed.

 

Lousy infielders can really screw up a game. Outfield not as much but we've seen the last two games and what a bad outfield looks like.

[Dojji]

benintendi's recent performance is not screaming "promote me!" For the moment, he's showing evidence that he still has plenty to learn in AA.

[moonslav59]

I don't believe anyone is pushing for Moncada this year.

 

Agreed. I just don't think a couple dozen games in the fall league is enough time for Moncada to learn 3B (and/or LF). That's why I think he should begin working out at another position soon, so when he is ready, he has more time at his likely position already under his belt.

 

I think he may be a September call-up as a PH'er/PR'er, and may play a tiny bit at 2B, if Pedey needs a breather.

 

But I am pushing for Benintendi. If he's not called up by September, I'd be disappointed.

 

I'm not sure when he'll be "ready". I trust Sox management to know, and out injury situation in the OF may force the issue a little. In my opinion, and it's just my opinion, Beni is already better than Brentz. That may not mean he should be called up tomorrow, but I feel he'd be better for the big club right now over Brentz.

[moonslav59]

benintendi's recent performance is not screaming "promote me!" For the moment, he's showing evidence that he still has plenty to learn in AA.

 

Small sample size.

[mvp 78]

Small sample size.

 

The same sample size that people were drooling over when he started to hit in AA! I was told he'd be hitting .300 by July! Nope!

[moonslav59]

The same sample size that people were drooling over when he started to hit in AA! I was told he'd be hitting .300 by July! Nope!

 

Maybe some people were, but I never drool or get critical over small sample sizes. I rarely make definitive judgments based on even a half season or full season (like with JBJ, Napoli and my failure to drool over T Shaw yet.)

[moonslav59]

The same sample size that people were drooling over when he started to hit in AA! I was told he'd be hitting .300 by July! Nope!

 

He still has a pretty good OPS of .808 for a first 214 ABs at the AA level.

 

Moncada is at .921 after just 102 ABs.

[mvp 78]

He still has a pretty good OPS of .808 for a first 214 ABs at the AA level.

 

Moncada is at .921 after just 102 ABs.

 

Mookie's was .994 in AA. After that, they moved him to AAA for 45 games. I don't see why people want to rush Benintendi. He's not really knocking the door down right now.

[a700hitter]

Mookie's was .994 in AA. After that, they moved him to AAA for 45 games. I don't see why people want to rush Benintendi. He's not really knocking the door down right now.

He was at least 2 years younger than Benintendi.

[mvp 78]

He was at least 2 years younger than Benintendi.

 

Benintendi just turned 22. Betts turned 22 the offseason after, so he was about 6 months younger than Benintendi.

[a700hitter]

Benintendi just turned 22. Betts turned 22 the offseason after, so he was about 6 months younger than Benintendi.

oh. I thought he was younger. Maybe I mixed him up with Bogey.

[mvp 78]

oh. I thought he was younger. Maybe I mixed him up with Bogey.

 

Probably. Xander was 19 in AA the first season.

[moonslav59]

Mookie's was .994 in AA. After that, they moved him to AAA for 45 games. I don't see why people want to rush Benintendi. He's not really knocking the door down right now.

 

I'm not for rushing Beni.

 

I just said, I think he's better than Brentz right now. That's more a statement about Brentz than Beni.

[Nick]

I'm not for rushing Beni.

 

I just said, I think he's better than Brentz right now. That's more a statement about Brentz than Beni.

 

this

[mvp 78]

Brentz's career MLB average > Benintendi at AA

[Nick]

Brentz's career MLB average > Benintendi at AA

 

You mean all of 74 at bats? You call that a career?

[moonslav59]

You mean all of 74 at bats? You call that a career?

 

I call it a glimpse of a portion of a small part of a viable sample size.

[mvp 78]

You mean all of 74 at bats? You call that a career?

 

More meaningful at bats in regards to MLB production than fantastical thoughts about Benintendi.

[Spudboy]

More meaningful at bats in regards to MLB production than fantastical thoughts about Benintendi.

 

this

[moonslav59]

This from MLBTR...

 

Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski suggested today that the action is heating up, but that his team isn’t close to striking any major new deals, as Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe reports (Twitter links.) Boston’s chief baseball decisionmaker said that he has fielded five new trade proposals today alone, with other organizations seemingly looking to make off with some of the team’s prime prospect assets. But while ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark cited rivals as suggesting that the Sox were aiming to do “something big,” via Twitter, Dombrowski said that the team doesn’t feel pressure to pull off another move.

 

Meanwhile, though Red Sox righty Clay Buchholz isn’t filling much of a present role, Dombrowski says that he’s still an important part of the team’s rotation depth, as Jen McCaffrey of MassLive.com reports. With Dombrowski also saying he is impressed with the way Buchholz is throwing the ball, it doesn’t seem as if there’s any momentum towards a deal involving the veteran.

[moonslav59]

team control numbers (not counting this year):

Years

6 (or 2 with opt out) Price

5 Pedroia

4 Betts, JBJ, Vazquez, Wright, Smith, Sandoval & Layne, Elias

3 Bogey, Porcello, HanRam (or 2), Leon, Holt, Rutledge, O'Sullivan, Workman, M Martinez

2 Kimbrel (or 1), Pomeranz, Kelly, Ross

1 Young, Ortiz (option/retire?) Buch (option), Hanigan (option)

0 Ziegler, Uehara, Tazawa

 

Unknown/TBD: ERod, Swihart, Shaw, Barnes, Hernandez, Hembree, N Ramirez, B Brentz, Johnson, Owens, Marrero, Light, LaMarreCuevas, Jerez

 

 

[moonslav59]

Losing Ortiz is going to be very tough.

Losing Ziegler, Uehara and Tazawa all at once won't be easy to replace either.

 

Losing Young, Hanigan and Buch this year or next should not be a major issue.

 

Our core players of Betts, Bogey, JBJ, Price, Pedey, ERod, Swihart and others are all under team control for 3 or more years, as are HanRam, Sandy and others.

[moonslav59]

soxprospects.com ( http://www.soxprospects.com/future.htm )has this for the 2019 projected roster:

 

Rotation: Price, Porcello, ERod, Kopech & Wright

Relief: C Smith, Barnes, Owens, Johnson, T Ball, Workman, Light

 

C: Vazquez, Swihart

1B: Ramirez, S Travis

2B: Pedroia, Holt

3B: Moncada, Devers

SS: Bogaerts, Hernandez

LF: Benintendi

CF: JBJ

RF: Betts

DH: Shaw (Sandoval?)

 

[Nick]

More meaningful at bats in regards to MLB production than fantastical thoughts about Benintendi.

 

Lets keep underutilizing College Player of the Year. That was a professional 75th at bat striking out with bases loaded by Bryce. Great defender in LF too. And I suppose that too was a mirage.