Beni's workload this coming off-season....

[dgalehouse]

That would be as absurd as bringing them up too early. But thanks for pointing out where the other end of the spectrum is since neither end of the spectrum makes a lick of baseball sense.

 

Right. Bring them up at just precisely the right time. Good idea.

[moonslav59]

Right. Bring them up at just precisely the right time. Good idea.

 

The thing is, the timing seems pretty subjective, except in hindsight.

[Bellhorn04]

Dombrowski has no idea what he's doing - isn't that obvious this year?

[Dojji]

The thing is, the timing seems pretty subjective, except in hindsight.

 

Even in hindsight, really. Just because a given timing worked doesn't mean it was the best idea.

 

That said, the only one of our top players who might have been rushed a bit was Bogaerts, and that was unavoidable because the incumbent just absolutely fell apart.

[dgalehouse]

Dombrowski has no idea what he's doing - isn't that obvious this year?

 

Some say that D.D. mortgaged our future trying to win now. But if the prospects he dealt represented our future , the future was , perhaps, rather mediocre.

[Nick]

That's certainly a big part of it, but when these kiddos fail, it's not helping the rating, except for a little boost in interest until the kid flops.

 

I still think the "win now at all costs and we'll deal with tomorrow when tomorrow comes" philosophy is also a significant factor- not just in baseball, but in other areas of society, too.

 

DD might be gone when Devers and Beni reach their end of team control. Winning this year might change those odds.

 

(BTW, I felt both Beni and Devers were ML ready. I knew Devers needed on-the-job training on defense, but the kid coulda hit ML pitching from his crib!)

 

Looking at 'Sox' developed players and their first major league season, determined by "significant" plate appearance.

 

Year Name Pos Age HR RBI OPS (# of AB)

 

2018 Devers 3B 21 21 66 .731 (450 AB)

2017 Beni LF 23 20 90 .776 (573 AB)

2016

2015 Betts RF 23 18 77 .820 (597 AB)

2014 Xander SS 22 12 46 .660 (538 AB)

2014 JBJ CF 24 1 30 .531 (384 AB)

2014 Holt Uti 26 4 29 .711 (449 AB)

2007 Pedroia 2B 24 8 50 .823 (520 AB)

 

I just don't see any evidence to indicate that Devers and Beni were brought up too quickly. Betts probably had to best debut. Others will go through normal 'rookie' struggles. Moral of the story is obviously you can't have nine rookies starting but as an organization you have to break the kids in at some point.

Edited October 26, 2018 by Nick

[oldtimer]

Pretty...the most useless term ever applied to a swing. Its too big and his hands get outside the ball too much which is why he is so successful going opposite field instead of employing that "pretty" hero swing which tends to yield warning track power, that is if he hits the ball at all. More often than not he creates a rustle of the air with that thing or pops up!

 

Devers was also brought up too soon, both of them caught in the blizzard of MLB players brought up too soon. The question we should really be asking is why are so many of these guys being brought up too soon. Why are teams willing to trade off years of control on the back end of their rookie contracts, something they have rarely done in the past and only for very special players? What will be the consequences of exposing them this early to the Bataan Death March of the 162?

 

Have you played ball or are you a coach to be able to evaluate his swing? I am 77 and still playing 3 days a week. Players in my league learned to go with the pitch to be effective hitters. I stand by my comment that Beni has a pretty swing and one of the best swings on the club. My only suggestion for him is to pull more often when the pitch is on the inside part of the plate.

[moonslav59]

Even in hindsight, really. Just because a given timing worked doesn't mean it was the best idea.

 

That said, the only one of our top players who might have been rushed a bit was Bogaerts, and that was unavoidable because the incumbent just absolutely fell apart.

 

Agreed, and what bugged me the most about that situation was that they only gave Bogey 10 games at 3B in the minors before thrusting him into a new role right in the middle of a charged pennant race.

 

(This wasn't hindsight bickering by me, either. I had been calling for him getting work at 3B all season long.)

[Hitch]

Some folks are absolute geniuses at finding stuff to bitch about.

 

Haha! Never a truer word!

 

Even on this team they see the bad. Incredible.

[Maxbialystock]

IMO if Beni just continues to mature he will be fine. Beni was simply one of the latest of these diaper dandies that we have brought up too soon to be filling a ML uni. This year, he finally showed signs of becoming not a mature but a maturing player, giving up more often on his hero swing and instead going oppo yielding him a very solid season for his efforts. Ended up with more oppo field hits than any other AL player. The more he gives up the hero swing (he is not a HR hitter of any consequence) the more he will succeed against the curve.

 

Meh. Hardly too soon because he definitely helped his first year and his rookie year. Plus, the longer you leave him in the minors, the later will be his acclimatization to MLB pitching.

[notin]

Some say that D.D. mortgaged our future trying to win now. But if the prospects he dealt represented our future , the future was , perhaps, rather mediocre.

 

Maybe. Also maybe all those prospects did not peak by age 23...