Rafael Devers

[moonslav59]

Has anyone else noticed Dever's odd gait while running? He runs like Boog Powell with his chest all distended.

 

It's no big deal, really.

 

He just looks funky to me.

 

Don't get me started on those chipmunk cheeks.

 

Yes, I have noticed!

 

It does look funny, especially with his HR trot.

[oldtimer]

Maybe not much, but that $11M a year has probably restricted spending a little bit, IMO.

 

Probably made the FO more gunshy of getting into these deals.

[Spudboy]

He's one of the fastest guys on the team.

 

Elephants are fast as well.

 

They look goofy as f*** running.

 

On the other hand Johnny Damon looked violently fast, JE looked like a gazelle, Coco Crisp looked like a cheetah, etc.

 

I realize Devers is your Binky so give it a rest big guy.

[Spudboy]

Yes, I have noticed!

 

It does look funny, especially with his HR trot.

 

He looks like the dweeb in Animal House trying to walk out of the grocery store with all the meat stuffed into his sweater.

[Spudboy]

Maybe not much, but that $11M a year has probably restricted spending a little bit, IMO.

 

Yeah just because he does not count towards the cap he does remain a noticeable chunk of the budget for player salaries.

[Spudboy]

Probably made the FO more gunshy of getting into these deals.

 

Not sure about that. They dropped a few pennies on Moncada and now are looking to grab another stiff from Japan.

[Nick]

Yeah just because he does not count towards the cap he does remain a noticeable chunk of the budget for player salaries.

 

It's a sunken cost just like signing bonus and peanlty for Moncada. Did that impact sox signing Price? I don't think so.

 

You do know that our gross revenue is around $380M?

 

New CBA was a gift for all the $$$$ teams. Teams can now use that as an excuse to stay within 'budget'. More money for Henry.

Edited September 9, 2017 by Nick

[moonslav59]

It's a sunken cost just like signing bonus and peanlty for Moncada. Did that impact sox signing Price? I don't think so.

 

Did it impact the signing of Moreland instead of EE?

 

Maybe. Maybe a little.

[Nick]

It's a sunken cost just like signing bonus and peanlty for Moncada. Did that impact sox signing Price? I don't think so.

 

Did it impact the signing of Moreland instead of EE?

 

Maybe. Maybe a little.

 

EE signing had to do with resetting the penalty rate. Castillo's salary was no way going to get lumped in with current year's salary and penalty. I also think there was a hope of playing Hanley more at 1B and Young at DH, but that did not come to fruition.

 

It's a tricky business trying to guess Sox management.

 

You can only go by track record.

 

Henry still wants to win.

 

DD WILL sacrifice SOME prospects for immediate gain.

 

Right now, DD I think is enamored with Groome and Matta. Everyone else is trade bait.

[moonslav59]

EE signing had to do with resetting the penalty rate. Castillo's salary was no way going to get lumped in with current year's salary and penalty. I also think there was a hope of playing Hanley more at 1B and Young at DH, but that did not come to fruition.

 

It's a tricky business trying to guess Sox management.

 

You can only go by track record.

 

Henry still wants to win.

 

DD WILL sacrifice SOME prospects for immediate gain.

 

Right now, DD I think is enamored with Groome and Matta. Everyone else is trade bait.

 

As it turned out, we probably could have signed EE and stayed under the limit had we not signed Moreland, let Abad walk and not brought in Nunez and Reed.

 

At worst, we could have traded Young to clear space.

 

I'm not saying we should have, but the Castillo money costs more than the tax would have been even if we went over the next 3 years.

[Nick]

I'm just glad to be a Sox fan. We have the resources to acquire talent.

[moonslav59]

I'm just glad to be a Sox fan. We have the resources to acquire talent.

 

Where would we be without a big budget?

 

Hard to tell, but I'm with you. I'm glad Henry is our owner.

 

It's interesting to llok back at our player payroll budget over the years....

 

02 110M

03 100M

04 127M Big rise- ring

05 124M

06 120M

07 143M Big rise- ring

08 133M

09 122M (I didn't realize we went down so much that year)

10 168M Huge rise- no ring

11 164M

12 175M

13 155M Down $20M yet ring

-- (one could argue our big spending from '10-'12 helped in 2013.)--

14 156M

15 184M Big rise- no ring

16 198M

17 197M

 

[cp176]

Has anyone else noticed Dever's odd gait while running? He runs like Boog Powell with his chest all distended.

 

It's no big deal, really.

 

He just looks funky to me.

 

Don't get me started on those chipmunk cheeks.

 

yes I have noticed this as well. he really looks like he should be slower than hell but he isn't. It's who he is and so far so good. I would not consider moving him off third base at all. He has good quickness and a gun for an arm. Leave him alone I say.

[moonslav59]

yes I have noticed this as well. he really looks like he should be slower than hell but he isn't. It's who he is and so far so good. I would not consider moving him off third base at all. He has good quickness and a gun for an arm. Leave him alone I say.

 

I do too, but if it comes down to signing Hosmer or Moustakas or even Machado next year, I'll go with the 3Bman and then wonder what Devers might have done at 3B while watching him play 1B.

[cp176]

I understand how you feel but I'm still not sure that I would do it.

[moonslav59]

I understand how you feel but I'm still not sure that I would do it.

 

I'm not either.

 

We may just punt the ball and sign a not so great 1Bman (Duda, Alonso, Morrison) for a year, give Devers another year at 3B to show growth and then see about Machado or another big bat from another position next winter.

 

I'd be okay with Hosmer, but I think we'd need more offense than that. Maybe we could trade HRam and sign Hosmer and JD Martinez and keep Devers at 3B, but I would do it just so we can keep him there.

 

[oldtimer]

I do too, but if it comes down to signing Hosmer or Moustakas or even Machado next year, I'll go with the 3Bman and then wonder what Devers might have done at 3B while watching him play 1B.

 

Machado could possibly play short. Then you could Devers at 3rd, Machado at short and still have room for a good player at first, assuming Hanley is no longer with the club for the 2019 season. Means some hard decisions.

[moonslav59]

Machado could possibly play short. Then you could Devers at 3rd, Machado at short and still have room for a good player at first, assuming Hanley is no longer with the club for the 2019 season. Means some hard decisions.

 

Machado has won 2 GGs at 3B. There's no way we sign him and move him to SS or anywhere else, unless he gets hurt and has to DH.

 

He has played some SS (like 50 games career), but why move a vet GG 3Bman for a shaky rookie?

[Nick]

From practical standpoint, we have 6 and 5 more years of team control for Devers and Beni. As attractive as Machado is, I rather look for reinforcement in other areas. Obviously if we sign Machado, we'd move Devers to 1B. It would be stupid not to take advantage of a gold glover. Especially when he will be making $30M or more.

[mvp 78]

Machado has won 2 GGs at 3B. There's no way we sign him and move him to SS or anywhere else, unless he gets hurt and has to DH.

 

He has played some SS (like 50 games career), but why move a vet GG 3Bman for a shaky rookie?

 

His d isn't shaky according to metrics. Not sure why you keep banging this drum.

[cp176]

His d isn't shaky according to metrics. Not sure why you keep banging this drum.

 

After having posted here for a few years now, i would absolutely expect that someone could come up with some type of statistic to indicate that he has fielding deficiencies. I use my eyes and he looks ok to me. I love his arm and his quickness which I am a little surprised at.

[OH FOY]

I was the one who was down on his Defense, not anymore I see vast improvement. Good job, Mr. Butterfield. He'll only get better.

Throw out the hitting, who would you rather have at 3rd base, Sandoval or Devers?

Which is why I don't understand the Machado talk. You move one kid to another position, he's never played, to me is Counter-productive. Hurts team and player.

Just get a good 1st Baseman, and go with it. Keep it simple. Money saved, might be used this year for a guy like Nunez. You combine say Hosmer and Nunez, wont reach what Machado will be asking, in a year.

Thing about Nunez is he is a Tradeable commodity, that might bring you something back for the Farm, Holt will bring you a Pitcher from the Pelicans, that in a year will be working at McDonalds.

Nunez is exactly the kind of resign you want, helps the team in many ways. Providing salary and years are fair.

Edited September 10, 2017 by OH FOY!

[oldtimer]

Machado has won 2 GGs at 3B. There's no way we sign him and move him to SS or anywhere else, unless he gets hurt and has to DH.

 

He has played some SS (like 50 games career), but why move a vet GG 3Bman for a shaky rookie?

 

Funny thing that other teams are considering Machado as a possible short stop as he has tremendous fielding ability. The point is he probably can do both.

[OH FOY]

I notice on TV Devers and Nunez are together many times in Dugout talking, I bet Nunez is a good mentor.

All I know this year at time of Trade and Call-up, without these 2 this team would be in big Doo-doo.

Edited September 10, 2017 by OH FOY!

[Spudboy]

His d isn't shaky according to metrics. Not sure why you keep banging this drum.

 

Maybe because he has seen a bunch of wild throws and errors in a short period of time?

[Spudboy]

After having posted here for a few years now, i would absolutely expect that someone could come up with some type of statistic to indicate that he has fielding deficiencies. I use my eyes and he looks ok to me. I love his arm and his quickness which I am a little surprised at.

 

I like what I see but I am not blind to the fact that the kid needs to work on his footwork and throws to 1st.

 

Unless Macholo is signed I say leave him at 3rd and watch him get better.

[Spudboy]

I was the one who was down on his Defense, not anymore I see vast improvement. Good job, Mr. Butterfield. He'll only get better.

Throw out the hitting, who would you rather have at 3rd base, Sandoval or Devers?

Which is why I don't understand the Machado talk. You move one kid to another position, he's never played, to me is Counter-productive. Hurts team and player.

Just get a good 1st Baseman, and go with it. Keep it simple. Money saved, might be used this year for a guy like Nunez. You combine say Hosmer and Nunez, wont reach what Machado will be asking, in a year.

Thing about Nunez is he is a Tradeable commodity, that might bring you something back for the Farm, Holt will bring you a Pitcher from the Pelicans, that in a year will be working at McDonalds.

Nunez is exactly the kind of resign you want, helps the team in many ways. Providing salary and years are fair.

 

Yup.

[notin]

His d isn't shaky according to metrics. Not sure why you keep banging this drum.

 

 

Sure it is. A -5.1 UZR/150 isn't good.

 

However he hss 39 games under his belt, roughly 10% of what you need for an accurate statistical assessment. His defense could easily end up measuring out quite well even if he doesn't improve as a player.

 

Conversely his offense over time may not stay at tjis elite statistical level as well...

[Emp9]

I do too, but if it comes down to signing Hosmer or Moustakas or even Machado next year, I'll go with the 3Bman and then wonder what Devers might have done at 3B while watching him play 1B.

 

For me, since it was already in the ether when he was in the minors, that it was conceivable that Devers could eventually move to 1B (which wasn't that long ago), I don't think I'd overly mind. His hitting is what i've always been excited about.

[Maxbialystock]

Sure it is. A -5.1 UZR/150 isn't good.

 

However he hss 39 games under his belt, roughly 10% of what you need for an accurate statistical assessment. His defense could easily end up measuring out quite well even if he doesn't improve as a player.

 

Conversely his offense over time may not stay at tjis elite statistical level as well...

 

Agree it's too early to be sure about his defense. But his offense, despite the very, very small sample, was predicted based on what he did in the minors.

 

Moreover, he will be 21 in October, and I'll bet his numbers so far are the best of any other Sox in at least 20 years at the same age. They're definitely better than Betts's at the same age and better than Beni last year when he was a year older than Devers is now. They're better than Yaz's first year when he was a year older (but was playing a full season). Ted Williams was a lot better at the same age, also his first year, and he too played a full season. But, heck, he was one of the greatest hitters of all time.

 

Machado was actually a year younger when he had his first intro to MLB, and his numbers in 51 games were appreciably lower than Devers. Ditto the next year, his first full year.

 

I completely agree it is wrong to project greatness for a 20 year old (until Oct) with just 40 games. But, if we are going to get silly over one guy, he's the right guy to do it over.

Edited September 10, 2017 by Maxbialystock