A Realistic View at 2018: Part II

[oldtimer]

Where will he play? Maybe for Nunez? Give Devers a day off after the Yanks?

 

He is the backup second baseman, 3rd and short. When Pedey comes back, now about 2 weeks away, who do we send down or trade?

[mvp 78]

He is the backup second baseman, 3rd and short. When Pedey comes back, now about 2 weeks away, who do we send down or trade?

 

Swihart.

[Maxbialystock]

Where will he play? Maybe for Nunez? Give Devers a day off after the Yanks?

 

CF. A perfect fit defensively, plus he is a .900 OPS hitter.

[mvp 78]

CF. A perfect fit defensively, plus he is a .900 OPS hitter.

 

Brock Holt in CF? My eyes tell me his defense isn't very good. The stats tell me that his UZR/150 in CF is the worst for any position he plays. SSS, but he never looks very good in the OF.

[moonslav59]

He is the backup second baseman, 3rd and short. When Pedey comes back, now about 2 weeks away, who do we send down or trade?

 

Swihart's time will be up.

[mvp 78]

Swihart's time will be up.

 

Only other obvious option would seem to be Nunez to the DL.

[harmony]

Swihart.

I suspect the Red Sox lost a potential suitor when the New York Mets traded for Devin Mesoraco.

[mvp 78]

I suspect the Red Sox lost a potential suitor when the New York Mets traded for Devin Mesoraco.

 

He should go to the Marlins. Then they can trade JT and move on with their season.

[harmony]

He should go to the Marlins. Then they can trade JT and move on with their season.

What return could the Red Sox expect in a trade of Blake Swihart to the Marlins?

[mvp 78]

What return could the Red Sox expect in a trade of Blake Swihart to the Marlins?

 

A reliever like Merandy Gonzalez and a minor leaguer like Edward Cabrera.

[moonslav59]

Only other obvious option would seem to be Nunez to the DL.

 

That might actually help him get to top form.

[cp176]

Brock Holt in CF? My eyes tell me his defense isn't very good. The stats tell me that his UZR/150 in CF is the worst for any position he plays. SSS, but he never looks very good in the OF.

 

Never trust those eyes! You know better than that. Your tv could be tilted.

[Station 13]

CF. A perfect fit defensively, plus he is a .900 OPS hitter.

 

Holt is a .900 OPS hitter?

[notin]

I suspect the Red Sox lost a potential suitor when the New York Mets traded for Devin Mesoraco.

 

No.

 

Mesoraco was acquired to fill the DL slot normally occupied by Matt Harvey...

[harmony]

No.

 

Mesoraco was acquired to fill the DL slot normally occupied by Matt Harvey...

What return could the Red Sox expect in a trade of Blake Swihart to the New York Mets?

 

FWIW, I prefer Met catcher Kevin Plawecki to Swihart.

 

Swihart and Plawecki, who is out with a hairline hand fracture until at least the end of May, entered the season with the same duration of MLB service.

[MADSTORK]

Swihart has zero value

Should have been traded out of the gate for another Reliever

 

8 9 last 17 games with the three stooges in the pen giving it up

 

Zero prospects to deal for any significant return now or at the deadline

 

ERod is the trade chip and or Pomeranz for a RHSP but again your Tax strapped with all the bad deals

[Natick to NC]

I'd trade both Vaz and Sandy well before I traded Swihart ....those two suck and have proven so ...Swihart is a superior Athelete .

[harmony]

I'd trade both Vaz and Sandy well before I traded Swihart ....those two suck and have proven so ...Swihart is a superior Athelete .

ZiPS, Steamer and FanGraphs Depth Charts project Blake Swihart with rest-of-season WAR of a negative 0.7, a negative 0.1 and a negative 0.2 in 60, 18 and 17 games, respectively.

 

ZiPS, Steamer and FanGraphs Depth Charts project Christian Vazquez with rest-of-season WAR of 0.5, 0.8 and 0.7 in 77, 78 and 84 games, respectively.

 

ZiPS, Steamer and FanGraphs Depth Charts project Sandy Leon with rest-of-season WAR of 0.6, 0.2 and 0.3 in 66, 33 and 33 games, respectively.

https://www.fangraphs.com/statss.asp...176&position=C

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/statss.asp...774&position=C

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/statss.asp...273&position=C

[notin]

I'd trade both Vaz and Sandy well before I traded Swihart ....those two suck and have proven so ...Swihart is a superior Athelete .

 

Based pn the premise that athleticism can be measured by potential bating average?

[Bellhorn04]

All of our best pitchers, Sale, Price, Porcello and Kimbrel, have a shaky track record when it comes to big games, big moments. Kimbrel let us down in the playoffs last year and he did it again last night. It's rather discouraging.

[Fan_since_Boggs]

All of our best pitchers, Sale, Price, Porcello and Kimbrel, have a shaky track record when it comes to big games, big moments. Kimbrel let us down in the playoffs last year and he did it again last night. It's rather discouraging.

 

Sale let the Red Sox down too in last year's playoffs.

[Slasher9]

All of our best pitchers, Sale, Price, Porcello and Kimbrel, have a shaky track record when it comes to big games, big moments. Kimbrel let us down in the playoffs last year and he did it again last night. It's rather discouraging.

dammit HFX. this post is spot on. and it has really bummed me out.

[Fan_since_Boggs]

Based on what we are seeing from the Yankees -- all-stars at pretty much every position -- the Red Sox are going to be second rate citizens in the AL East. The Red Sox are limited in their ability to add value to the major league team through the minor leagues. Maybe the only way the Red Sox can reach another level is to sign Harper next season, move Mookie Betts to CF. How else do you add value to this team? You can't do it through the minor leagues. Dombrowski has surrendered significant talent in all of his asinine trades. Thus, you aren't going to add value through trades. That leaves free agency as the only avenue to significantly improve the team and Harper is going to be the best free agent. Edited May 10, 2018 by Fan_since_Boggs

[notin]

All of our best pitchers, Sale, Price, Porcello and Kimbrel, have a shaky track record when it comes to big games, big moments. Kimbrel let us down in the playoffs last year and he did it again last night. It's rather discouraging.

 

Kimbrel has been a little rocky lately.

 

In his last 8 outings, he has an ERA of 4.91 (which doesn't count 2 inherited runners scoring last night) and given up 3 home runs.

 

The ERA looks unimpressive, but it does only span 7.1 IP. However, the 3 home runs is somewhat alarming for a pitcher who has never given up more than 6 in a season. Right now, he is on pace to double that number...

[notin]

Swihart has zero value

Should have been traded out of the gate for another Reliever

 

8 9 last 17 games with the three stooges in the pen giving it up

 

Zero prospects to deal for any significant return now or at the deadline

 

ERod is the trade chip and or Pomeranz for a RHSP but again your Tax strapped with all the bad deals

 

Pomeranz isn't exactly making himself a great trade chip. He is doing his best, but he may not be 100%.

 

ERod isn't exactly a bastion of health either.

 

Really, the off-season plan of adding no pitching to the entire organization still looks beyond questionable to me. On the bright side, there are still pitchers available on the free agent market, but the Sox would have to allow them to get in some sort of shape...

Edited May 10, 2018 by notin

[illinoisredsox]

Based pn the premise that athleticism can be measured by potential bating average?

 

Notin, Natick makes so many idiotic comments he's not even worth responding to any more.

[Nick]

I will never be convinced that Barnes can handle high leverage situations. He just looks soft out there. I'm still not there with Kelly, although I'm pleased that he's mixing up his pitches.

 

We just need to see if Thornburg can be that 8th inning guy for us. I still think Carson Smith can handle 7th inning.

 

We've really f***ed up Swihart situation. I also will NEVER be convinced that Holt is better for Sox than Swihart, long term.

[Maxbialystock]

All of our best pitchers, Sale, Price, Porcello and Kimbrel, have a shaky track record when it comes to big games, big moments. Kimbrel let us down in the playoffs last year and he did it again last night. It's rather discouraging.

 

I was really mad at Kimbrel last night, but not so much today. What killed him was throwing all fastballs and no knuckle curves to Gardner, who hit the 7th one to deep centerfield for a triple which basically won the game. All seven of those fastballs were called for by the bench. Kimbrel was just doing what he was told to do.

 

As for Price, Sale, and Porcello, you could be right that they aren't big in big games. I think Sale is the exception and that last year his problems in August and September were from too many innings in the first four months.

 

The funny thing is that I don't like Pom at all and never have, but he was darn effective in game one--2 runs in 6 innings, a quality start against a very good lineup. That tells me that Porcello simply choked last night.

[oldtimer]

So many negative comments. Sure Barnes and Hembree have looked bad the last two days. That is their bugaboo. Relief pitchers generally only have a couple of good pitches they can use and those two are like that. Both seem to have difficulty in high leverage situations. Kelly is an exception in that he has at least 4 quality pitches he can make and after the first game disaster, he has been solid.

 

Putting Kimbrel in a situation with a man on first and third and a one run lead made it hard for him to throw the Knuckle curve and he tried to paint the corner with his fast ball and that was unsuccessful. He also couldn't get ahead so he couldn't use his high fastball slightly out of the zone to get a strike. He had to come over and Garner was waiting for it. then with another man on third, he tried again to go with the fastball to get Judge. Tough to bring him into a situation he was unsuited for but who else was there?

 

The Sox offense looked solid last night and the defense was good with the exception of Devers who continues to flounder. No time for thinking the Sox are dead meat when compared to the Yankees. I agree Thornburg might help out situation goiing forward and JBJ needs to work hard on his hitting or be a bench player. The team still is formidable and should be in it with the Yankees to the end. A win today puts them in a tie with the Yankees.

[Maxbialystock]

I will never be convinced that Barnes can handle high leverage situations. He just looks soft out there. I'm still not there with Kelly, although I'm pleased that he's mixing up his pitches.

 

We just need to see if Thornburg can be that 8th inning guy for us. I still think Carson Smith can handle 7th inning.

 

We've really f***ed up Swihart situation. I also will NEVER be convinced that Holt is better for Sox than Swihart, long term.

 

Swihart maybe has the right bat, but not the right defensive skill set. He has caught enough games to convince two different managers and coaching staffs that he doesn't have the skills needed to catch at the MLB level. As for LF and 3B and even 1B, the Sox already have someone better. He is a good all around athlete, but not a good fit for the Sox. Like you, I don't like Holt, but he does have the right defensive skillset because he is so versatile.