A Realistic View of 2024: Part II

[notin]

They called up DHam.

 

.167/.250/.500 (.750 OPS) is bolstered by the fact that 2 of his 3 hits for Worcester have been home runs…

[Larry Cook]

Our lineup is barely one deep! Injuries are going to be an issue all year

[moonslav59]

Our lineup is barely one deep! Injuries are going to be an issue all year

 

Our OF is covered, even without counting on Yoshida or Ref for much more than spot starts (Yoshi) or a platoon (Ref.)

 

1B and 3B have horrible depth (Dalbec)

 

Middle IF would be okay, if Grissom was healthy (Reyes, Valdez,) but he's not.

 

Catcher looks okay, but beyond the 2 (McGuire & Wong) it gets sketchy.

 

All in all, I agree: we are not deep with ML ready farm depth, and Dalbec looks like a mess.

[mvp 78]

.167/.250/.500 (.750 OPS) is bolstered by the fact that 2 of his 3 hits for Worcester have been home runs…

 

I’m no fan of the Ham.

[moonslav59]

I’m no fan of the Ham.

 

I'm not sure anyone thinks he can get much better.

[Larry Cook]

Our OF is covered, even without counting on Yoshida or Ref for much more than spot starts (Yoshi) or a platoon (Ref.)

 

1B and 3B have horrible depth (Dalbec)

 

Middle IF would be okay, if Grissom was healthy (Reyes, Valdez,) but he's not.

 

Catcher looks okay, but beyond the 2 (McGuire & Wong) it gets sketchy.

 

All in all, I agree: we are not deep with ML ready farm depth, and Dalbec looks like a mess.

 

 

We have incredible infield depth a year or two away!!! !

[iortiz]

Just saw Story interview and he sounds like he is done for the season.

 

Terrible news.

[moonslav59]

Just saw Story interview and he sounds like he is done for the season.

 

Terrible news.

 

This sucks, bigtime!

[notin]

Our OF is covered, even without counting on Yoshida or Ref for much more than spot starts (Yoshi) or a platoon (Ref.)

 

1B and 3B have horrible depth (Dalbec)

 

Middle IF would be okay, if Grissom was healthy (Reyes, Valdez,) but he's not.

 

Catcher looks okay, but beyond the 2 (McGuire & Wong) it gets sketchy.

 

All in all, I agree: we are not deep with ML ready farm depth, and Dalbec looks like a mess.

 

Dalbec has struck out 6 times in 8 plate appearances this year…

[notin]

I’m no fan of the Ham.

 

I’m a bigger fan of the Ham than I am of Dalbec…

[notin]

We have incredible infield depth a year or two away!!! !

 

We might get to see what Atlanta didn’t like about Vaughn Grissom..

[moonslav59]

I’m a bigger fan of the Ham than I am of Dalbec…

 

Agree, but both are super duper long shots.

[moonslav59]

We might get to see what Atlanta didn’t like about Vaughn Grissom..

 

We may go...

 

SS Reyes/DHam

 

2B Grissom

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

We may go...

 

SS Reyes/DHam

 

2B Grissom

 

If that's the plan, then the Sox are just trying to field a full nine so they can play the games and sell tickets.

 

If the Sox won't even spend on a Nick Ahmed-type -- who the Giants signed for one hundred grand over MLB minimum wage -- then the least they could do is find the best internal glove to help the club's strength, which is pitching this year.

 

The last thing to worry about is some young guy who can't hit big league pitching, because Story has always had a below-average bat since he came to Boston. There are lots of big whiffers in the Red Sox major league batting order.

 

Age and experience matter, but there are plenty of cases every season -- with mitigating factors like injuries -- where prospects are called up out of necessity. And not just Bogie and Raffy, who were 20 and ready, but plenty of others, like Willie Mays, who made it at 20, was 0fer his first week and wanted to be sent back down.

 

A few who didn't were Robin Yount, starting shortstop for the Brewers at age 18. And Al Kaline, who never played a single inning of minor league ball. If a guy can play, he can play.

[Old Red]

We may go...

 

SS Reyes/DHam

 

2B Grissom

 

Wow! Way to go way out on a limb. Obviously the Sox didn’t learn anything from last year, and have a good backup SS ready to go in case the often injured Story Land is down for repairs again, which he now is. You know a good backup utility IF whose main position is SS. Reyes, and Bobby D are cheap backup replacements in the IF, so you got what you paid for.

[notin]

Wow! Way to go way out on a limb. Obviously the Sox didn’t learn anything from last year, and have a good backup SS ready to go in case the often injured Story Land is down for repairs again, which he now is. You know a good backup utility IF whose main position is SS. Reyes, and Bobby D are cheap backup replacements in the IF, so you got what you paid for.

 

The Sox did get one last year.

 

They just grabbed a guy with bigger injury problems for some reason.

 

If Story is out for the year, filling the role with a utility infielder isn’t difficult at all. Those guys get DFAd weekly. Of course most of them probably aren’t a significant upgrade over Pablo Reyes and the other internal options.

 

If Story is out all season, at some point Marcelo Mayer might be an option. Or possibly other Worcester players like Romy Gonzalez or Chase Meidroth…

[Bellhorn04]

Wow! Way to go way out on a limb.

 

That was funny.

[notin]

If that's the plan, then the Sox are just trying to field a full nine so they can play the games and sell tickets.

 

If the Sox won't even spend on a Nick Ahmed-type -- who the Giants signed for one hundred grand over MLB minimum wage -- then the least they could do is find the best internal glove to help the club's strength, which is pitching this year.

 

The last thing to worry about is some young guy who can't hit big league pitching, because Story has always had a below-average bat since he came to Boston. There are lots of big whiffers in the Red Sox major league batting order.

 

Age and experience matter, but there are plenty of cases every season -- with mitigating factors like injuries -- where prospects are called up out of necessity. And not just Bogie and Raffy, who were 20 and ready, but plenty of others, like Willie Mays, who made it at 20, was 0fer his first week and wanted to be sent back down.

 

A few who didn't were Robin Yount, starting shortstop for the Brewers at age 18. And Al Kaline, who never played a single inning of minor league ball. If a guy can play, he can play.

 

 

Is Nick Ahmed, coming off a season of 0.1 fWAR in 210 PA, really a huge step up over Pablo Reyes?

 

Whoever plays SS this week is not required to hold the position all year. There may be other stopgaps between now and Mayer. But can the Sox let Mayer actually play a little before they call him up?

[Bellhorn04]

Bring back Iggy!

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Is Nick Ahmed, coming off a season of 0.1 fWAR in 210 PA, really a huge step up over Pablo Reyes?

 

Whoever plays SS this week is not required to hold the position all year. There may be other stopgaps between now and Mayer. But can the Sox let Mayer actually play a little before they call him up?

 

Since you asked: Nick Ahmed career dWAR: 12.6... Pablo Reyes career dWAR: NEGATIVE 0.6 (does a negative -- by definition of WAR -- mean Losses Below Replacement player?)

 

I don't know if Mayer gets a cup of coffee, but I do know many freshmen who made varsity -- based entirely on skill. Back in the day, rumor has it Jim Rice played high school varsity when he was in 8th grade...

[notin]

Since you asked: Nick Ahmed career dWAR: 12.6... Pablo Reyes career dWAR: NEGATIVE 0.6 (does a negative -- by definition of WAR -- mean Losses Below Replacement player?)

 

I don't know if Mayer gets a cup of coffee, but I do know many freshmen who made varsity -- based entirely on skill. Back in the day, rumor has it Jim Rice played high school varsity when he was in 8th grade...

 

I wouldn’t have minded grabbing Ahmed, or my perennially ask for Paul DeJong (who is NOT worth the attention I call to him), but backup SS types get DFAd a lot. The Marlins DFAd Jacob Amaya last week.

 

Hopefully Hamilton/Reyes isn’t the permanent solution, and is just a stopgap until Grissom returns. But even then, they might want to find a stopgap shortstop better than Reyes.

 

The Ahmed/DeJong types are easy to complain about NOW, but these guys also took deals that had them starting right away. And if the Sox signed some backup SS type, I’d doubt it would be anyone we really want to see starting 154 times? Do you really want 154 games of Nick Ahmed?

 

Mayer hasn’t played since August 2nd. He might be on the radar, but can he at least try to get back into it with a minor league game or two first? How many of those freshman varsity players didn’t play at all in 8th grade?

 

In the meantime, it’s probably Reyes, followed by Grissom at SS. And if that flops, then they look into trades and DFAs. The Sox did get Reyes after the season started last year, too.

 

(And a Grissom/Valdez combo up the middle sounds atrocious. Hopefully it’s very short-lived.)

[notin]

Bring back Iggy!

 

With the Mets posting a 1.128 OPS in AAA. I hope he has an upward mobility clause…

[Maxbialystock]

Fascinating discussion about SS, Story, possible replacements, etc.

 

I would, however, like to make the following points.

 

1. Yes, Story was acquired for his glove, but also for his bat. I think the idea was to get a better Bogaerts for less money. In any case, what the Sox are paying for is a good defensive SS, period, and one who has missed a lot of games. So, given what Story has been to date--good field, no hit, not much play--replacing him shouldn't be that hard.

 

2. Last year moonslav made a big deal about the importance of good defense because it's good for the pitching. This year it sure looked as though moonslav was/is prescient. Indeed, right now the Sox pitching is the best in MLB. They lead MLB in ERA (1.44 to 2d place Cleveland's 2.28) and WHIP (0.93).

 

3. However, in just 9 freaking games the defense, despite the good play of Story and a couple others, has been a disaster. Out of 22 runs scored against the Sox, 9 of them--that's 41%--have been unearned. At least three times the defense has done all it could to give away games, but only succeeded, finally, last night when both runs in a 2-1 loss were unfreakingearned. In the very first game (@ Seattle), the defense gave up 2 unearned runs.

 

4. Therefore to me all this discussion about replacing Story is just silly. Yes, absolutely, he is way better than Reyes or whoever, including anyone brought up (like Mayer). But the real problem--based on those 41% unearned runs--is the overall Sox defense.

 

5. And right after the defense continually giving up runs has to be the moribund Sox offense, and that begins with Devers, but includes Story (now gone), Casas, Yoshida, Rafaela, Reyes, Abreu, Valdez--in fact, everyone but O'Neill, Duran, and the two catchers.

 

6. Despite the gloom and doom of the first 5 points, the pitching should give all of us hope--to say nothing of the fact that the Sox are 6-3 and just 1 game back of the Yankees.

 

7. On the other hand, the fact that we are just 9 games into the season could mean that the pitching will collapse before the hitting and defense improve.

[Maxbialystock]

I wouldn’t have minded grabbing Ahmed, or my perennially ask for Paul DeJong (who is NOT worth the attention I call to him), but backup SS types get DFAd a lot. The Marlins DFAd Jacob Amaya last week.

 

Hopefully Hamilton/Reyes isn’t the permanent solution, and is just a stopgap until Grissom returns. But even then, they might want to find a stopgap shortstop better than Reyes.

 

The Ahmed/DeJong types are easy to complain about NOW, but these guys also took deals that had them starting right away. And if the Sox signed some backup SS type, I’d doubt it would be anyone we really want to see starting 154 times? Do you really want 154 games of Nick Ahmed?

 

Mayer hasn’t played since August 2nd. He might be on the radar, but can he at least try to get back into it with a minor league game or two first? How many of those freshman varsity players didn’t play at all in 8th grade?

 

In the meantime, it’s probably Reyes, followed by Grissom at SS. And if that flops, then they look into trades and DFAs. The Sox did get Reyes after the season started last year, too.

 

(And a Grissom/Valdez combo up the middle sounds atrocious. Hopefully it’s very short-lived.)

 

Hamilton has been called up. Here's what Sox Prospects say about him--

 

"Potential average hit tool against right-handed pitchers, but below-average against left-handers."

 

"Inconsistent footwork and fringy range at shortstop. Can make the routine play, but there are concerns about how he would adjust to the speed of the major league game there. Has shown a tendency to rush plays and has trouble fielding the ball on the run."

 

So I'd have to say I was dead wrong claiming it shouldn't be hard to find a good glove to fill in for Story. If Hamilton is the first choice, the Sox are in big trouble.

[notin]

Hamilton has been called up. Here's what Sox Prospects say about him--

 

"Potential average hit tool against right-handed pitchers, but below-average against left-handers."

 

"Inconsistent footwork and fringy range at shortstop. Can make the routine play, but there are concerns about how he would adjust to the speed of the major league game there. Has shown a tendency to rush plays and has trouble fielding the ball on the run."

 

So I'd have to say I was dead wrong claiming it shouldn't be hard to find a good glove to fill in for Story. If Hamilton is the first choice, the Sox are in big trouble.

 

 

Hamilton was the FAST choice. Unless he somehow shows something special, he’s just a stopgap…

[Bellhorn04]

The fact is our replacement options at SS all stink. Let's not be surprised if Breslow makes a move, once they know roughly how long Story is gone. Edited April 7, 2024 by Bellhorn04

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

The initial MRI performed on Story showed no bone or ligament damage, however a more thorough examination will be performed in Boston. Best case scenario 3 to 4 weeks if the initial MRI is correct. 2nd best scenario is 3 to 4 months if damage is more than initially found. Worst case is season ending surgery.

That Story wasn't wearing a shoulder harness yesterday may, at least, be a positive thing.

[Randy Red Sox]

howdy splinter--hey do you think the posters on the old fan forum will ever realize that I was right when i said that John Henry was cutting payroll and looking to build the team through the farm system and generally overalll BBB signings?

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

howdy splinter--hey do you think the posters on the old fan forum will ever realize that I was right when i said that John Henry was cutting payroll and looking to build the team through the farm system and generally overalll BBB signings?

 

I don't know what JH is thinking. I'm thinking that the SOX could now be considered a middle market team with big market ticket prices.

Edited April 7, 2024 by SPLENDIDSPLINTER

[Nick]

My guess is Story will miss significant time, even rest of the year. That said...

 

The question becomes which position defensively is more important? Center field or shortstop. I would say shortstop. Thus, I would prefer Rafaela (ss)/Duran (cf) combo over Reyes (ss)/ Rafaela combination. You can insert Hamilton/Valdez/Grissom at short but Rafaela/Duran combo trumps over anything else.

 

I'd much rather have say Abreu/Refsnyder offense over Hamilton any day. (By moving Rafaela to short, Abreu/Refsnyder will need to fill in for open outfield spot.)