A Realistic View at 2023: Part I

[notin]

The pen looks better, but I'm not sure Syndergaard & Bassitt out pitch what we got from Wacha and Hill, so maybe we call that a slight upgrade while dreaming Sale and Bello deliver in '23.

 

$30M to replace Bogey at SS and upgrade RF is really pushing it, and is basically projecting a decline in overall offense. Our catchers will not likely match Vaz on O. Our DH will likely fall short of .783, but may get close. It's easy to improve on our pathetic RF offense, but not so much the D. It's not easy to replace Bogey's O, but we may improve the D.

 

Overall, you plan looks like a slight improvement that heavily depends on Sale, Bello, our current catchers, 1Bmen and DHs to perform well.

 

It might be enough to keep us in playoff contention, depending on who we get for SS/CF and RF, and how well the 4 guys you named do.

 

I'd like to bring back Bogey or another top SS or sign Nimmo for CF or RF, but I doubt we can do that after the 4 you'd have us sign.

 

Syndergaard (2.2 fWAR) and Bassitt (2.7 fWAR) are not a marginal upgrade over Hill (1.8) and Wacha (1.5); they’rea 2 win upgrade based on last year. And if they can improve on their 300 IP ( likely as Thor only has 134), they could become a huge improvement.

 

Kodai Senga should also be on the Sox radar…

 

And that increase in IP only helps the bullpen as well…

Edited October 23, 2022 by notin

[notin]

The pen looks better, but I'm not sure Syndergaard & Bassitt out pitch what we got from Wacha and Hill, so maybe we call that a slight upgrade while dreaming Sale and Bello deliver in '23.

 

$30M to replace Bogey at SS and upgrade RF is really pushing it, and is basically projecting a decline in overall offense. Our catchers will not likely match Vaz on O. Our DH will likely fall short of .783, but may get close. It's easy to improve on our pathetic RF offense, but not so much the D. It's not easy to replace Bogey's O, but we may improve the D.

 

Overall, you plan looks like a slight improvement that heavily depends on Sale, Bello, our current catchers, 1Bmen and DHs to perform well.

 

It might be enough to keep us in playoff contention, depending on who we get for SS/CF and RF, and how well the 4 guys you named do.

 

I'd like to bring back Bogey or another top SS or sign Nimmo for CF or RF, but I doubt we can do that after the 4 you'd have us sign.

 

 

Why worry about offense?

 

With the shift being banned next year, defense is the premium. Hits, especially for LHH, will come much more readily just based on rule changes.

 

So maybe putting Kike at SS and grabbing, for example, Kiermaier and Gallo/Duvall for RF to maximize defense and then also get increase in offense every team will experience anyway…

Edited October 23, 2022 by notin

[Old Red]

Why worry about offense?

 

With the shift being banned next year, defense is the premium. Hits, especially for LHH, will come much more readily just based on rule changes.

 

So maybe putting Kike at SS and grabbing, for example, Kiermaier and Gallo/Duvall for RF to maximize defense and then also get increase in offense every team will experience anyway…

 

Your hooked on Gallo just like you were on JBJ. He’ll no!

[moonslav59]

Why worry about offense?

 

With the shift being banned next year, defense is the premium. Hits, especially for LHH, will come much more readily just based on rule changes.

 

So maybe putting Kike at SS and grabbing, for example, Kiermaier and Gallo/Duvall for RF to maximize defense and then also get increase in offense every team will experience anyway…

 

Newsflash: the shift goes away for everybody.

[moonslav59]

Syndergaard (2.2 fWAR) and Bassitt (2.7 fWAR) are not a marginal upgrade over Hill (1.8) and Wacha (1.5); they’rea 2 win upgrade based on last year. And if they can improve on their 300 IP ( likely as Thor only has 134), they could become a huge improvement.

 

Kodai Senga should also be on the Sox radar…

 

And that increase in IP only helps the bullpen as well…

 

bWAR disagrees:

 

3.3 Wacha

0.9 Hill

 

3.2 Bassitt

0.6 Syndergaard

 

Pretty close.

[notin]

Newsflash: the shift goes away for everybody.

 

Yes but the shift versus right-handed hitters is less common and far, far less effective. It’s the lefties who will benefit the most…

[notin]

Your hooked on Gallo just like you were on JBJ. He’ll no!

 

Not hooked on Gallo, but I can acknowledge his Gold Glove skillet absolutely has its usefulness. The Sox outfield defense got far, far worse when they let JBJ go. Didn’t Jarren Duran teach you anything about outfield defense? He literally cost them games with his poor play.

 

Next year, with no shift, defense will be at a premium. The best way now to stop the opposition is to supplement pitching with defense…

[Old Red]

Yes but the shift versus right-handed hitters is less common and far, far less effective. It’s the lefties who will benefit the most…

 

Are you still thinking that guarding the first, and third base lines is the same as the shift?

[Old Red]

Not hooked on Gallo, but I can acknowledge his Gold Glove skillet absolutely has its usefulness. The Sox outfield defense got far, far worse when they let JBJ go. Didn’t Jarren Duran teach you anything about outfield defense? He literally cost them games with his poor play.

 

Next year, with no shift, defense will be at a premium. The best way now to stop the opposition is to supplement pitching with defense…

Didn’t I comment many times on Duran Duran the Butterfly Man? I’m fully aware about outfield D, but can we at least get someone who can play good D, and also hit a little bit? That goes for Kike too.

[moonslav59]

Are you still thinking that guarding the first, and third base lines is the same as the shift?

 

It's obvious what he is saying. Maybe it's just your "interpretation that is wrong."

 

[Old Red]

It's obvious what he is saying. Maybe it's just your "interpretation that is wrong."

 

 

No! That was what it said. Of course you know all about misinterpreting things.

[moonslav59]

No! That was what it said. Of course you know all about misinterpreting things.

 

Still clueless, I see.

[Old Red]

Still clueless, I see.

You don’t even know what was said.

[moonslav59]

You don’t even know what was said.

 

You don't even know what you say.

[Old Red]

You don't even know what you say.

 

You wasn’t in the conversation it was said in.

[moonslav59]

You wasn’t in the conversation it was said in.

 

It's "You weren't," not "You wasn't," and I don't have to be "in the conversation" to understand what posts mean.

 

Man, your logic is twisted.

[Old Red]

It's "You weren't," not "You wasn't," and I don't have to be "in the conversation" to understand what posts mean.

 

Man, your logic is twisted.

The Candy Man can, but you can’t. More like the not so great OZ. Patting yourself on the back doesn’t add a thing, or make anything right, or true.

Edited October 23, 2022 by Old Red

[moonslav59]

The Candy Man can, but you can’t. More like the not so great OZ. Patting yourself on the back doesn’t add a thing, or make anything right, or true.

 

Admitting I was wrong is pasting myself on the back?

 

Rhetorical question. Look it up.

[Old Red]

Admitting I was wrong is pasting myself on the back?

 

Rhetorical question. Look it up.

 

Pasting yourself? That explains a lot. No saying you don’t have to be in a conversation to understand something. You’ve been in conversations before, and didn’t understand what something meant, so you probably should concentrate on getting that right first, before you venture out, and try to understand something others are doing.

Edited October 23, 2022 by Old Red

[notin]

Are you still thinking that guarding the first, and third base lines is the same as the shift?

 

I said I don’t like making rules to limit defensive alignments, and made a slippery slope point that guarding the lines shouldn’t be banned.

 

Are you telling me your brain cell decided that was saying guarding the lines is the same as the shift?

 

I was right; you’re first language really is Strawman…

[Old Red]

I said I don’t like making rules to limit defensive alignments, and made a slippery slope point that guarding the lines shouldn’t be banned.

 

Are you telling me your brain cell decided that was saying guarding the lines is the same as the shift?

 

I was right; you’re first language really is Strawman…

 

There wasn’t enough cheese in the world to go along with all your wine that you did about the shift. Hilarious!

[moonslav59]

I said I don’t like making rules to limit defensive alignments, and made a slippery slope point that guarding the lines shouldn’t be banned.

 

Are you telling me your brain cell decided that was saying guarding the lines is the same as the shift?

 

I was right; you’re first language really is Strawman…

 

Your point was clear.

[Old Red]

Your point was clear.

 

I can see clearly now the shift is GONE!

[moonslav59]

So, if banning the shift will make life easier for LH'd batters, one might think RH'd pitchers should suffer more. for it.

 

The bigger bases and pick-off limits should help speedsters and heads-up base runners.

 

This constant tinkering with the rules bugs me, but I guess it's the way it is going to be, for a while, anyway.

 

We can see the Sox have already moved towards increasing base-stealers in the minors, and perhaps higher OBP players. Let's see if they move in that direction for the big club in 2023. I'm pretty sure they won't be the only team looking in those directions, this winter.

Edited October 24, 2022 by moonslav59

[Old Red]

So, if banning the shift will make life easier for LH'd batters, one might think RH'd pitchers should suffer more. for it.

 

The bigger bases and pick-off limits should help speedsters and heads-up base runners.

 

This constant tinkering with the rules bugs me, but I guess it's the way it is going to be, for a while, anyway.

 

We can see the Sox have already moved towards increasing base-stealers in the minors, and perhaps higher OBP players. Let's see if they move in that direction for the big club in 2023. I'm pretty sure they won't be the only team looking in those directions, this winter.

Baseball the way it should be. A little bit of small ball, a couple of big boppers, starting pitchers going through the order 3, or 4 times, and games being played a little on either side of 2 hours, and NO Shifts on pretty much every batter, which was analytics driven all sounds good to me. Not tinkering to me just back to the way it should be. To me analytics has been the tinkering.

Edited October 24, 2022 by Old Red

[notin]

There wasn’t enough cheese in the world to go along with all your wine that you did about the shift. Hilarious!

 

And there isn’t a pencil sharpener in the world large enough to make a point that you can grasp…

[Nick]

Everything Must Be in Play https://nypost.com/2022/10/24/everything-must-be-in-play-as-yankees-prove-theyre-not-enough/

 

Where is my favorite Yankee poster?

 

Not piling on but we discussed horrible situation that Yankees find themselves in......winning AL East is just not enough. They have set a high bar for themselves. It was a failure. 0-4 in American League Championship.

 

They find themselves in similar situation with Judge as we do with Xander. It will cost us both more just to get same results in 2023 from their best players respectively.

Edited October 24, 2022 by Nick

[Nick]

It's about winning the World Series. Right now specifically, fielding a team good enough to beat the Astros.

 

It's about building the future around Bello, Casas and Devers.

 

And we're talking about bringing back slow white dude in Beni? Pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase. (yeah, it's a bait to stimulate discussion!)

Edited October 24, 2022 by Nick

[Old Red]

And there isn’t a pencil sharpener in the world large enough to make a point that you can grasp…

 

The point is not if I can grasp your point, but if I want to, and at any rate you are on the losing side when it comes to the shift, which I believe will be better for baseball. Can you taste it? Can you feel it? Can you touch it? No? Now you can see it when you watch it. Enjoy!

Edited October 24, 2022 by Old Red

[notin]

The point is not if I can grasp your point, but if I want to, and at any rate you are on the losing side when it comes to the shift, which I believe will be better for baseball. Can you taste it? Can you feel it? Can you touch it? No? Now you can see it when you watch it. Enjoy!

 

The point you clearly missed was I was never pro-shift. I was just against outlawing defensive alignments and strategies. The shift is annoying, but I’d rather it went away by teams beating it…