Red Sox: Off Season '23-'24

[moonslav59]

Yeah, Valdez has a horrible glove. The Sox tried moving him all over the place when he first got to WOO, but they decided to leave him at 2B because he was just terrible everywhere. His bat needs to carry that glove and it's a good bat, but not a great one.

 

It's hard to know, for sure, his bat cannot improve enough to be a DH.

 

He put up some pretty good numbers on the farm. Of course, not all farm numbers transfer over to the bigs, but he does have some good batting skills.

 

In 2022, only 2 players, in all of minor league baseball , had more PAs and an OPS higher than his .918 OPS. (Both were at lower levels.)

 

Soxprospects.com, basically says he's an "up and down," platoon utility guy. Not a resounding endorsement, but his bat could improve.

 

I do think an EValdez/Refsnyder platoon would yield an .800+ OPS, but we can't afford to use 2 of the 26 roster slots on DHs, when we already have Yoshi. Refsnyder is marginally better in LF as a back-up than Yoshi, and EValdez could be an emergency 2Bman, but their "depth added" would be limited.

 

This just doesn't look right:

 

DH: Yoshi

 

LF: Duran v RHPs/ Ref v LHP

2B: EValdez v RHPs/ Reyes v LHPs

 

The D at 2B would be awful.

[notin]

So why hasn’t he been taught?

 

Just because someone didn’t learn does not mean they were never taught…

[moonslav59]

Just because someone didn’t learn does not mean they were never taught…

 

BINGO!

 

These guys all know their weaknesses. They have been worked with for years to try and fix their weak areas.

 

There is not much a manager can do in a few short months.

 

Is there an expert manager or coach that gets all his players to improve focus and attention for every (needed) minute of every game?

 

I will guess that some might do better than others, but these players need to start taking responsibility for their short-comings.

 

I'm in the education business, and the shirking of responsibility and blaming everyone and everything but themselves is a major problem with recent generations.

 

Where do you think they get this from?

 

This board, obviously! (LOL)

 

[moonslav59]

Our school mantra is, "We own what we do, and grit gets us through."

[Larry Cook]

Blocked paths for prospects. We have many prospects whose path to Boston is blocked.

Dalbec, hickey, meidroth, rosier, a castro, etc.

 

Would Miami take verdugo and dalbec and lui for a pitcher like cabreara?

[moonslav59]

Blocked paths for prospects. We have many prospects whose path to Boston is blocked.

Dalbec, hickey, meidroth, rosier, a castro, etc.

 

Would Miami take verdugo and dalbec and lui for a pitcher like cabreara?

 

Dalbec has no trade value, if not, very little.

 

With Yoshi at DH, Duvall departing and Dugo one year from free agency, I think Rosier can win a job, if he does well enough.

 

Duran is no lock. Ref's numbers slipped.

 

Rafaela and Abreu have not earned a FT slot, yet.

 

Yes, there is a chance by mid season 2024, we see Rosier is squeezed, but we'll still need a 4th OF'er for 2025. (Castro is farther away.)

 

I wonder how much trade value Hickey, Meidroth and I'll add guys like Jordan, Paulino and DHam. Probably, not much, as many teams are trying to make room for Rule 5's and promoted prospects of free agents to be.

 

[notin]

Blocked paths for prospects. We have many prospects whose path to Boston is blocked.

Dalbec, hickey, meidroth, rosier, a castro, etc.

 

Would Miami take verdugo and dalbec and lui for a pitcher like cabreara?

 

Dalbec isn’t blocked. He isn’t worthy…

[illinoisredsox]

Blocked paths for prospects. We have many prospects whose path to Boston is blocked.

Dalbec, hickey, meidroth, rosier, a castro, etc.

 

Would Miami take verdugo and dalbec and lui for a pitcher like cabreara?

 

Dalbec is 28 and has had numerous opportunities to seize a job; he is not a prospect.

[moonslav59]

Dalbec is 28 and has had numerous opportunities to seize a job; he is not a prospect.

 

If the guy could just play half decent D, he might have gotten more or longer looks. The K's don't help.

 

He certainly got some long looks, though. He's had some pretty long stretches of hitting well, but some long ones were bad, too.

 

Seriously, though, if I told you a player started his career with 941 PAs and these numbers, in a vacuum, you might think he deserves another chance:

 

per 650 PAs:

.233 30 85

The .300 OBP sucks.

The .453 SLG is pretty good.

.752 is not good for a 1Bman, true, but many 1Bmen started with worse numbers and were given another chance. (Many did not, as well.)

 

That being said, I can't see how the Sox can afford to give him another long look.

 

Long stretches:

.959 first 92 PAs of career (2020)

.507 first 92 PAs of 2021

.866 last 361 PAs of 2021 (including 1.153 in 140 PAs)

.550 first 147 PAs of 2022

.724 last 206 PAs of 2022 (including .765 in 125 PAs)

 

 

Edited September 29, 2023 by moonslav59

[Randy Red Sox]

at least the Sox have done one thing right--they completely mailed it in and tanked these past few weeks and not hurt their draft position. Just a pathetic team to be honest--just pathetic

[illinoisredsox]

at least the Sox have done one thing right--they completely mailed it in and tanked these past few weeks and not hurt their draft position. Just a pathetic team to be honest--just pathetic

 

The Sox players don’t give a s*** about draft position; anyone picked won’t be there for years. They quit when the FO quit on them.

[notin]

The Sox players don’t give a s*** about draft position; anyone picked won’t be there for years. They quit when the FO quit on them.

 

Very true.

 

Bloom completely tanked it two years in a row.

 

Odd fact however. This month the Sox offense has been putting out hits at the same rate as the Starland Vocal Band, yet somehow this team is still in the top ten in MLB in runs scored…

Edited September 29, 2023 by notin

[notin]

Dalbec is 28 and has had numerous opportunities to seize a job; he is not a prospect.

 

Dalbec is very likely to be designated for assignment this off-season and likely granted his release. And that’s ok. Not every player who reaches AAA in the farm system but can’t land a job in Boston is going to get traded away…

[moonslav59]

Dalbec is very likely to be designated for assignment this off-season and likely granted his release. And that’s ok. Not every player who reaches AAA in the farm system but can’t land a job in Boston is going to get traded away…

 

I'm thinking Dalbec makes it through the first round of DFAs, as we add the Rule 5 guys, but once we get to signing FAs, he'll be DFA'd or part of a trade, if anyone wants him.

 

He does seem like the typical AAAA player who will put up good to great numbers at AAA but never do well enough to stick with a big club.

 

His defense is the final straw.

 

Some might say it's the K's.

[notin]

I'm thinking Dalbec makes it through the first round of DFAs, as we add the Rule 5 guys, but once we get to signing FAs, he'll be DFA'd or part of a trade, if anyone wants him.

 

He does seem like the typical AAAA player who will put up good to great numbers at AAA but never do well enough to stick with a big club.

 

His defense is the final straw.

 

Some might say it's the K's.

 

I honestly don’t see the point in having him on the team NOW, never mind when they’re sneaking Rule 5 names on to the list…

[moonslav59]

I honestly don’t see the point in having him on the team NOW, never mind when they’re sneaking Rule 5 names on to the list…

 

We have discussed how 6-7 are even worse.

 

I would not be surprised, if he is in the first batch.

 

I doubt anyone would trade for him, but maybe someone sees a tweak that might help. Of course, the most we might get is a far-away prospect with dubious hopes.

 

It's his first arb year, right?

[Randy Red Sox]

The Sox players don’t give a s*** about draft position; anyone picked won’t be there for years. They quit when the FO quit on them.

 

you do have a point there ut i do care where we draft much more than I care about wining MEANINHLESS games over the final 2-3 weeks.

[moonslav59]

you do have a point there ut i do care where we draft much more than I care about wining MEANINHLESS games over the final 2-3 weeks.

 

If our players quit because management didn't add strength to the team at the deadline, we had the wrong guys, anyway.

[Bellhorn04]

If our players quit because management didn't add strength to the team at the deadline, we had the wrong guys, anyway.

 

I don't think any players consciously quit, because for one thing, they care about their numbers.

 

But it's crazy how pitiful the offense has been in September.

[Old Red]

I don't think any players consciously quit, because for one thing, they care about their numbers.

 

But it's crazy how pitiful the offense has been in September.

 

It’s been slumber in the lumber for sometime now. Max named them the No Name offense earlier,but no hit offense would have been better.

[Hugh2]

I honestly don’t see the point in having him on the team NOW, never mind when they’re sneaking Rule 5 names on to the list…

 

40 man rosters are much more fungible during the offseason, I think we can get a PTBNL for him from someone.

[moonslav59]

I don't think any players consciously quit, because for one thing, they care about their numbers.

 

But it's crazy how pitiful the offense has been in September.

 

It's horrific.

 

The word I was hearing before the deadline was that the team believed in themselves and were hoping we didn't trade away anyone important.

 

We didn't, and the team fell apart.

 

The team was 56-47 on July 28th. Yes, other teams made trades to improve. I had hoped they would do more, but that confidence seemed to evaporate, starting around the deadline- losing 7 of 8 right before and after the deadline. It looked like they might be coming out of it by winning 5 of 6 from AUG0 to AUG 15 and then 5 of 7 at NYY and HOU in the middle of August, but that was the last glimmer of hope (68-60 on AUG 24 after that 17-1 romp.)

 

I find it hard to believe that on August 25th, the players subconsciously gave up, because management gave them no support 3 weeks earlier. We had a good offense. We should not have needed help, there, but POOF- presto- it was gone. If they quit because of Bloom, then they would have probably quit at some point, over something else, later on anyway.

[Bellhorn04]

It's horrific.

 

The word I was hearing before the deadline was that the team believed in themselves and were hoping we didn't trade away anyone important.

 

We didn't, and the team fell apart.

 

The team was 56-47 on July 28th. Yes, other teams made trades to improve. I had hoped they would do more, but that confidence seemed to evaporate, starting around the deadline- losing 7 of 8 right before and after the deadline. It looked like they might be coming out of it by winning 5 of 6 from AUG0 to AUG 15 and then 5 of 7 at NYY and HOU in the middle of August, but that was the last glimmer of hope (68-60 on AUG 24 after that 17-1 romp.)

 

I find it hard to believe that on August 25th, the players subconsciously gave up, because management gave them no support 3 weeks earlier. We had a good offense. We should not have needed help, there, but POOF- presto- it was gone. If they quit because of Bloom, then they would have probably quit at some point, over something else, later on anyway.

 

Like I say I don't think any players quit on purpose. But it could be the psychological thing of having nothing left to play for except your own numbers. I'm only guessing.

[mvp 78]

I don't think any players consciously quit, because for one thing, they care about their numbers.

 

But it's crazy how pitiful the offense has been in September.

 

Verdugo has turtled since the trade deadline (655 since ASB).

 

Turner is slowing down due to age/injuries (543 OPS in Sept).

 

Story has just been bad since coming back (543 OPS).

 

Masa 607 Sept.

 

Rafaela 697 Sept. Fine?

 

Duvall 479 Sept.

 

Wong 553 Sept.

 

Urias 658 Sept.

 

McGuire 478 Sept.

 

Reyes 431 Sept.

 

Valdez, Devers and Abreu are the only guys hitting.

[mvp 78]

Like I say I don't think any players quit on purpose. But it could be the psychological thing of having nothing left to play for except your own numbers. I'm only guessing.

 

I think it's a different mentality for sure. Some guys can probably keep going. Some guys probably need the additional playoff push. The 162 games are really a slog. I can see how the end of a non-playoff year is like letting the air out of a balloon.

[Bellhorn04]

I think it's a different mentality for sure. Some guys can probably keep going. Some guys probably need the additional playoff push. The 162 games are really a slog. I can see how the end of a non-playoff year is like letting the air out of a balloon.

 

Plus guys probably start thinking more about keeping themselves healthy.

[dgalehouse]

I think everyone is trying to win. It's just that some guys are not going to be 100 % into it when the situation is pretty much hopeless. Losing becomes a habit.

[moonslav59]

It does seem like a slump is contagious.

 

(Same with hot streaks.)

[Bellhorn04]

It does seem like a slump is contagious.

 

(Same with hot streaks.)

 

Lots of randomness in the game, that's for sure. Watch for a thread on that.

[moonslav59]

Lots of randomness in the game, that's for sure. Watch for a thread on that.

 

Indeed. I'm looking forward to that thread.