A Realistic View at 2017 Part II

[Nick]

Per Sox Prospects

 

Player of the Night: A grand slam from Bryce Brentz is the latest chapter in the outfielder's scorching June. Brentz now has nine home runs over his last 23 games, with 14 walks and 14 strikeouts over his last 80 at-bats. Brentz is hitting .345 in June as he continued to lead the PawSox offense.

Can he become the cheap replacement for Young in 2018?

[Bellhorn04]

Per Sox Prospects

 

Player of the Night: A grand slam from Bryce Brentz is the latest chapter in the outfielder's scorching June. Brentz now has nine home runs over his last 23 games, with 14 walks and 14 strikeouts over his last 80 at-bats. Brentz is hitting .345 in June as he continued to lead the PawSox offense.

Can he become the cheap replacement for Young in 2018?

 

That would be good.

[moonslav59]

Hanley had 610 or so plate appearances in 2016. He needs 1050 combined for 2017/2018 seasons to force Sox into picking up his option for 2019. He SHOULD be motivated to see the field every chance he gets. He just seems injury prone these days. I'm at a point I'm praying he fails to reach 1050 plate apperances.

 

Ben really f***ed up with Pablo/Hanley (remember for him to play left field?) signings. What we can do with $40M right now. How many of us get to keep our jobs for royal screw up?

 

So, HRam needs 440 this year.

 

Should the Sox actively try to keep him from reaching that mark?

[moonslav59]

Per Sox Prospects

 

Player of the Night: A grand slam from Bryce Brentz is the latest chapter in the outfielder's scorching June. Brentz now has nine home runs over his last 23 games, with 14 walks and 14 strikeouts over his last 80 at-bats. Brentz is hitting .345 in June as he continued to lead the PawSox offense.

 

Can he become the cheap replacement for Young in 2018?

 

I thought we would have DFA'd Brentz had it not been for such a striking lack of OF depth on our 40 man roster. Once Holt went on the DL, Young, Selsky and Brentz are it.

 

I still doubt Brentz wins a slot on the 25 man roster next year. If Holt retires, he might have a better chance.

 

My guess is we sign someone who can play corner IF and LF....nothing too expensive and rely on Devers and Travis to replace Young and Moreland.

[Bellhorn04]

So, HRam needs 440 this year.

 

No, the 2 years are 2017/2018.

[moonslav59]

No, the 2 years are 2017/2018.

 

Right. My bad.

 

Still, limiting his PAs this year might help us get out of that extra year of 2019.

[notin]

Right. My bad.

 

Still, limiting his PAs this year might help us get out of that extra year of 2019.

 

 

And get a grievance from Hanley's agent.

 

Of course that really means the Sox likely settle with Hanley for cash only. But the long term effects are the potential willingness of other players being more reluctant to sign deals with options on the Red Sox.

 

I'd hate to see Betts or Benintendi refuse to sign such an extension because Dombrowski wanted to prevent Hanley's option from being vested...

[moonslav59]

And get a grievance from Hanley's agent.

 

Of course that really means the Sox likely settle with Hanley for cash only. But the long term effects are the potential willingness of other players being more reluctant to sign deals with options on the Red Sox.

 

I'd hate to see Betts or Benintendi refuse to sign such an extension because Dombrowski wanted to prevent Hanley's option from being vested...

 

It might not take a concerted effort to limit HRam's PAs. He gets hurt enough- all by himself.

[Nick]

It might not take a concerted effort to limit HRam's PAs. He gets hurt enough- all by himself.

 

this

[moonslav59]

We took 2 out of 3 on the road vs the best record team.

 

We were outscored in the series and still won: that doesn't happen often for us.

 

Bogey finally showed some power.

 

Price got hit hard but kept us in the game.

 

Nice game.

 

Nice win.

 

Tied for first.

[oldtimer]

We took 2 out of 3 on the road vs the best record team.

 

We were outscored in the series and still won: that doesn't happen often for us.

 

Bogey finally showed some power.

 

Price got hit hard but kept us in the game.

 

Nice game.

 

Nice win.

 

Tied for first.

 

Agreed. Houston was the test that I had been waiting to see. Beating them on the road was a big step, even though their pitching has been weakened due to injury, they still feature a strong hitting game and our pitching and defense was just good enough. But we shouldn't stand on our laurels. We should make an effort to cure our main problems ASAP.

[Nick]

Agreed. Houston was the test that I had been waiting to see. Beating them on the road was a big step, even though their pitching has been weakened due to injury, they still feature a strong hitting game and our pitching and defense was just good enough. But we shouldn't stand on our laurels. We should make an effort to cure our main problems ASAP.

 

I agree. Let's not wait until we're falling in standings to do something about it. Do something now. 3B is a definite problem. Quit wasting time on Pablo. Don't be a nice guy. We're here to win.

 

I always go back to the theory that you have 25 MEN using up one of their precious seasons. You can't simply derail that because you want to be a nice guy for ONE player. You owe it to other 24. I would give Devers a quick look before doing anything else. If he fails and if he can't handle that, then he's not a major league material. Find out what he's made of .

 

Anyone here think Moncada is FINISHED as a major leaguer because what happened when he was called up?

[Jack Flap]

I would give Devers a quick look before doing anything else. If he fails and if he can't handle that, then he's not a major league material. ...

 

Anyone here think Moncada is FINISHED as a major leaguer because what happened when he was called up?

 

Maybe I'm misreading your point here, but the list of successful players who flopped in their first exposure to the major leagues is a long one. Our own Dustin Pedroia and Jackie Bradley obviously fit that description...some guy named Mike Trout comes to mind as well. I see no reason why Moncada should be defined by his first handful of plate appearances in MLB, and the same would go for Devers (who at 20 is already age-advanced for AA ball, let alone the majors) when he eventually joins us.

Edited June 19, 2017 by Jack Flap

[mvp 78]

Per Sox Prospects

 

Player of the Night: A grand slam from Bryce Brentz is the latest chapter in the outfielder's scorching June. Brentz now has nine home runs over his last 23 games, with 14 walks and 14 strikeouts over his last 80 at-bats. Brentz is hitting .345 in June as he continued to lead the PawSox offense.

Can he become the cheap replacement for Young in 2018?

 

I thought he was decent enough when he got playing time last year. The only issue is he's really a LF only guy whereas Young can play all 3 spots.

[Jack Flap]

If Brentz had been healthy and hitting like he is now 2-3 seasons ago when we had all the outfield injuries, he might have actually gotten a decent shot with the major league club...I don't know if he fits on our team at this point, but it's nice to see him doing well and maybe he can build up a little bit of trade value.

[Kimmi]

I agree. Let's not wait until we're falling in standings to do something about it. Do something now. 3B is a definite problem. Quit wasting time on Pablo. Don't be a nice guy. We're here to win.

 

I always go back to the theory that you have 25 MEN using up one of their precious seasons. You can't simply derail that because you want to be a nice guy for ONE player. You owe it to other 24. I would give Devers a quick look before doing anything else. If he fails and if he can't handle that, then he's not a major league material. Find out what he's made of .

 

Anyone here think Moncada is FINISHED as a major leaguer because what happened when he was called up?

 

I highly doubt that anyone is keeping Pablo on the team out of niceness. At the moment, they have no other options. I think Devers will likely be called up a little later, but I think the FO will try to exhaust all other realistic trade options first. The problem is, not a lot of trades happen in the 3rd week of June.

[Emp9]

One thing I'm noticing about this Red Sox team is that they've kept their losing streak to a minimum. A streak by definition is 3 games or more and they've only had one 3-game losing streak. Yanks are on a 6 game skid, and the O's had a 7 game skid some time ago. Jays had a horrible start and their longest losing streak is 7. TB's longest is 4 games, but has had four separate, additional 3-game losing streaks.

 

Sox are pretty close to their Pythagorean W-L record (37-32, 322 R, 293 RA).

[moonslav59]

I agree. Let's not wait until we're falling in standings to do something about it. Do something now. 3B is a definite problem. Quit wasting time on Pablo. Don't be a nice guy. We're here to win.

 

I always go back to the theory that you have 25 MEN using up one of their precious seasons. You can't simply derail that because you want to be a nice guy for ONE player. You owe it to other 24. I would give Devers a quick look before doing anything else. If he fails and if he can't handle that, then he's not a major league material. Find out what he's made of .

 

Anyone here think Moncada is FINISHED as a major leaguer because what happened when he was called up?

 

I don't think keeping Pablo around is about "being a nice guy."

 

It's about making a long-lasting financial decision on paying a guy $19M to play elsewhere. If there is a sliver of hope he can regain some sort of value to this team, even if it is as a platoon DH and back-up corner IF'er in 2018, it might be worth keeping him around a while longer to see if some sort of revitalization occurs.

 

I doubt it happens.

 

I'm pretty keeping a roster spot for a platoon DH is not the best way to fill out a 25 man roster.

 

But, $19M is a lot of money.

 

We payed Young $6.5M and Moreland $5.5M to be platoon players. They both ended up taking on a role vs off-handed pitchers.

 

Imagine this, we DFA Pablo, and we go with Devers, Travis and Swihart/Hernandez as replacements for Moreland, Young and Holt. We make HRam the DH, Travis the FT firstbaseman and Devers the FT 3Bman. What if any of these guys struggle or get hurt, we might end up having to sign a guy to play 3B, 1B or DH-- all positions Pablo could conceivably play-- and be paying $19M for Pablo + whatever we have to pay the next Moreland/Young type. Now, we're up to $25M combined cost.

 

I truly think that if Sox management was 100% sure Pablo was toast, he'd be gone, and Marrero would still be on the 25 man roster giving us the added depth we need.

 

They must still have some sliver of hope, or they don't see Marrero as an upgrade over Pablo, even if it does not seem well founded right now.

[Slasher9]

if we take over first place and extend it out i can see sticking with Panda until sept callups and Sox seeing if Rafi can duplicate 2013 X-Bo.....

[Kimmi]

if we take over first place and extend it out i can see sticking with Panda until sept callups and Sox seeing if Rafi can duplicate 2013 X-Bo.....

 

The team is not in a dire situation right now in terms of playoff standings. While I'm sure Dombrowski is kicking the tires on every possibility, he doesn't have to act rashly. He can let the Panda issue play out a little longer.

[oldtimer]

The team is not in a dire situation right now in terms of playoff standings. While I'm sure Dombrowski is kicking the tires on every possibility, he doesn't have to act rashly. He can let the Panda issue play out a little longer.

 

The report on Pedroia sounds like he will be out of two or three games with the contusion on his ribs. That will mean that Rutledge will play second and Panda third but that leaves no one to substitute in the infield should a player get injured or ejected. I haven't heard of any temporaty call up. Has anyone got further information?

[moonslav59]

The report on Pedroia sounds like he will be out of two or three games with the contusion on his ribs. That will mean that Rutledge will play second and Panda third but that leaves no one to substitute in the infield should a player get injured or ejected. I haven't heard of any temporaty call up. Has anyone got further information?

 

Unless Pedey goes on the 10-day DL, which I doubt happens, we'd have to send down a pitcher to make room for Marrero.

 

Now, might be Pablo's chance to shine.

[Spudboy]

The report on Pedroia sounds like he will be out of two or three games with the contusion on his ribs. That will mean that Rutledge will play second and Panda third but that leaves no one to substitute in the infield should a player get injured or ejected. I haven't heard of any temporaty call up. Has anyone got further information?

 

Chris Sale looks pretty athletic and swift with the bat.

 

My guess is Farrell will use him as a reserve infielder if needed.

 

Am I right?

[moonslav59]

Chris Sale looks pretty athletic and swift with the bat.

 

My guess is Farrell will use him as a reserve infielder if needed.

 

Am I right?

 

Maybe as a pinch runner?

[Spudboy]

Maybe as a pinch runner?

 

Yes. Something really important like that.

[moonslav59]

Yes. Something really important like that.

 

We need to give all of our starters a significant chance at making the DL.

[Spudboy]

We need to give all of our starters a significant chance at making the DL.

 

It's always good to set goals!

[cp176]

Chris Sale looks pretty athletic and swift with the bat.

 

My guess is Farrell will use him as a reserve infielder if needed.

 

Am I right?

 

You might be right. He looks at least just as athletic as anyone else on the roster. Tall, lanky, good arm = first base when not pitching. I wonder if Kimbrel could play third on the occasional day he is not scheduled to throw?

As an aside - Sale looked about twice as fast on the base paths as Wright did which means that anything could happen with JF at the helm. lol

[oldtimer]

You might be right. He looks at least just as athletic as anyone else on the roster. Tall, lanky, good arm = first base when not pitching. I wonder if Kimbrel could play third on the occasional day he is not scheduled to throw?

As an aside - Sale looked about twice as fast on the base paths as Wright did which means that anything could happen with JF at the helm. lol

 

Lets not get one of our key pitchers hurt on the base paths or hit with a pitched ball. Last night according to the box score, Vazquez was the substitute at 3rd base. I didn't notice it at the time so am not sure. The hitting was good last night, with loud outs when we couldn't get the key hits we needed. Clearly, an extra quality bat with power at the disposal of JF would make him a better manager.

[Nick]

Lets not get one of our key pitchers hurt on the base paths or hit with a pitched ball. Last night according to the box score, Vazquez was the substitute at 3rd base. I didn't notice it at the time so am not sure. The hitting was good last night, with loud outs when we couldn't get the key hits we needed. Clearly, an extra quality bat with power at the disposal of JF would make him a better manager.

 

We think so much of Pablo that we're willing to let Vazquez play 3B? Sure let's do something about 3B when we get down by 10 games.