A Realistic View of 2024: Part II

[Nick]

Not sure calling Breslow an idiot at this stage gives you much credibility.

[moonslav59]

Was gaspar a bres-slow addition?

 

Bloom selected him in minor league rule 5 in’23.

[moonslav59]

Breslow in my opinion has been awful. I can't even blame JH because, although he has certainly placed limits on contracts, especially long and big contracts for starters, the Sox payroll this year is still $182M, 11th biggest in MLB. Breslow made things worse by dumping Sale, continuing to pay him $17M to star for the Braves, and acquiring Giolito for 2 years, one of which is shot, and $38M. Grissom has shown nothing, plus he seems to have bad hamstrings.

 

However, as I've said too many times, this year's Sox no-names have been terrific. Houck is a true ace and better than Sale, and Duran has the 4th highest WAR in MLB among lineup players. So the screw-ups have not hurt much.

 

Right now I think Cora is driving the train--he and his excellent pitching coach--which is why Cora has been saying the FO and the owner need to reinforce success by bringing in some help this month. Even an idiot like Breslow should be able to find a deal or two that will help the Sox.

 

The Sale trade looking bad after a half season should not make any GM bad.

 

Was he supposed to know Sale was going to be great at age 35 and Grissom would be out most of the time and suck the rest of the time?

 

Was he supposed to know Gio would get hurt?

[moonslav59]

Not sure calling Breslow an idiot at this stage gives you much credibility.

 

The Bailey hire, alone, cannot make Brez “awful.”

 

Then, there is Slateb, O’Niell, Weissert w Fitts, Criswell, Romy and others.

 

I will say, like Bloom, his bigger deals look the worst, so far: Gio and Sale>Grissom.

 

[Nick]

In mlb, can a dtarting pitcher play another position then return to the mound later?

[moonslav59]

In mlb, can a dtarting pitcher play another position then return to the mound later?

 

No pitcher can return to the mound once removed or moved to another position.

[moonslav59]

At some point???

 

Criswell> Horn

Grissom> Romy G

Casas> Smith

Hendriks > Anderson

 

Mata is out of options> DFA or trade or replace a new IL pitcher?

 

 

 

 

[Yaz Fan Since 67]

I sure have. Sox lost tonight because Duran couldn't throw to home plate to save his life.

 

Oh, wait. He ran hard to grab that single on the run and then made an absolutely perfect throw on one hop to beat the runner--from centerfield, yet.

 

I was working and watched the game on delay. I had a good laugh as I watched that throw hours after making my comment. But 1 throw does not offset what I have seen all season. What a great game that was last night, one of the best of the season.

[Dipre]

Breslow in my opinion has been awful. I can't even blame JH because, although he has certainly placed limits on contracts, especially long and big contracts for starters, the Sox payroll this year is still $182M, 11th biggest in MLB. Breslow made things worse by dumping Sale, continuing to pay him $17M to star for the Braves, and acquiring Giolito for 2 years, one of which is shot, and $38M. Grissom has shown nothing, plus he seems to have bad hamstrings.

 

However, as I've said too many times, this year's Sox no-names have been terrific. Houck is a true ace and better than Sale, and Duran has the 4th highest WAR in MLB among lineup players. So the screw-ups have not hurt much.

 

Right now I think Cora is driving the train--he and his excellent pitching coach--which is why Cora has been saying the FO and the owner need to reinforce success by bringing in some help this month. Even an idiot like Breslow should be able to find a deal or two that will help the Sox.

 

Sir, do you believe a GM's only job is to sign players and make trades?

 

This team is 6th in MLB in ERA with what many of us believed was a pitching staff comprised of spare parts. The team is 7th in OPS even though they have missed their second-best hitter (Casas), arguably third-best hitter (Abreu) and highly-paid SS (Story) for a large part of the season.

 

This team has made strides in both its offensive and pitching approach, coaching and general infrastructure. You can't gush about the baseball the Sox are playing with largely the same pieces as last year, then whine about the executive who built the current pitching and coaching infrastructure pretty much from the ground up. Here in the Dominican Republic we call that talking out of both sides of your mouth.

[Bellhorn04]

At some point???

Criswell> Horn

Grissom> Romy G

Casas> Smith

Hendriks > Anderson

 

Romy has of course played VASTLY better than Grissom...

[Bellhorn04]

Sir, do you believe a GM's only job is to sign players and make trades?

 

This team is 6th in MLB in ERA with what many of us believed was a pitching staff comprised of spare parts. The team is 7th in OPS even though they have missed their second-best hitter (Casas), arguably third-best hitter (Abreu) and highly-paid SS (Story) for a large part of the season.

 

This team has made strides in both its offensive and pitching approach, coaching and general infrastructure. You can't gush about the baseball the Sox are playing with largely the same pieces as last year, then whine about the executive who built the current pitching and coaching infrastructure pretty much from the ground up. Here in the Dominican Republic we call that talking out of both sides of your mouth.

 

Max does say some remarkably indefensible things.

[Bellhorn04]

In mlb, can a dtarting pitcher play another position then return to the mound later?

 

No pitcher can return to the mound once removed or moved to another position.

 

This is an interesting one - based on my cursory research it appears that at one time it could be done, and I can't find much clear info on when the rule was changed, if it was.

[Old Red]

When the Yankees left Boston on June 16 they had a 11 game lead over Boston in the loss column. Now 3 weeks leader that 11 game lead is down to 4. Big bounce back from the Houckster tonight to keep the Yankees reeling, and to do it at the Stadium would make it all the better. Full Throttle, or sham, sham, sham? Who will turn out to be right?

[Bellhorn04]

Absolutely incredible how the two teams have reversed course since the Verdugo Game.

[Nick]

It's a good thing YNkees picked up Soto. Their offense would have been horrendous without him.

 

How can they NOT sign him when he becomes a FA?

[Bellhorn04]

The Yankees have a lot of issues right now. But sometimes just when you think they're dead they get re-animated, so I never take anything for granted.

 

I'm sure they want to keep Soto, but they have other needs as well, and Hal already said they can't keep spending at this level. Will be interesting to watch.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

The Yankees have a lot of issues right now. But sometimes just when you think they're dead they get re-animated, so I never take anything for granted.

 

I'm sure they want to keep Soto, but they have other needs as well, and Hal already said they can't keep spending at this level. Will be interesting to watch.

 

Yanks definitely have star power, but their overall line-up on the field is awkward, while the Sox actually look more balanced. I said it a month ago: Yankees are going nowhere with Judge in centerfield. He has a negative dWAR, and doesn't make diving attempts for anything close (I suspect the club told him to stay on his feet -- and not to risk injury -- since his bat is the key to their season).

 

Soto also has a negative dWAR. Boston may have four outfield gloves better than NY's two starting All-Stars: Duran, Abreu, O'Neill and Rafaela -- who may not have the numbers of Duran, but makes a highlight catch in just about every game he plays CF. Any fan watching nightly already knows: Ceddanne is our best fly-chaser since JBJ.

[notin]

Yanks definitely have star power, but their overall line-up on the field is awkward, while the Sox actually look more balanced. I said it a month ago: Yankees are going nowhere with Judge in centerfield. He has a negative dWAR, and doesn't make diving attempts for anything close (I suspect the club told him to stay on his feet -- and not to risk injury -- since his bat is the key to their season).

 

Soto also has a negative dWAR. Boston may have four outfield gloves better than NY's two starting All-Stars: Duran, Abreu, O'Neill and Rafaela -- who may not have the numbers of Duran, but makes a highlight catch in just about every game he plays CF. Any fan watching nightly already knows: Ceddanne is our best fly-chaser since JBJ.

 

I said before the season they would move Verdugo. An outfield of Soto-Trent Grisham-Judge is far superior defensively to their current alignment, and barely a drop offensively. No idea why they are so dedicated to Veduho’s bat…

[Bellhorn04]

I said before the season they would move Verdugo. An outfield of Soto-Trent Grisham-Judge is far superior defensively to their current alignment, and barely a drop offensively. No idea why they are so dedicated to Veduho’s bat…

 

Judge has been DHing a lot, and Verdugo and Grisham have both been in the OF.

[notin]

Judge has been DHing a lot, and Verdugo and Grisham have both been in the OF.

 

 

Ah yes. The Annual Giancarlo Stanton Injury.

 

Verdugo is useful for covering that…

[Hugh2]

A baseball season is a marathon not a sprint.

 

A month ago everyone would have said we are playing for the 3rd wildcard spot and shoudn't even be concerned with catching the Yankees.

 

Well, if we were to sweep them we'd be only 2.5 games behind them. I think that will be hard, and will be very excited to take 2 out of 3. But this is what it's all about.....chipping away.

[Bellhorn04]

A baseball season is a marathon not a sprint.

 

A month ago everyone would have said we are playing for the 3rd wildcard spot and shoudn't even be concerned with catching the Yankees.

 

Well, if we were to sweep them we'd be only 2.5 games behind them. I think that will be hard, and will be very excited to take 2 out of 3. But this is what it's all about.....chipping away.

 

Yeah, 162 games is a lot of freakin' games. And it's why baseball is the best.

[Hugh2]

Yeah, 162 games is a lot of freakin' games. And it's why baseball is the best.

 

Yup 100% 162 games of highs and lows. Right now this team is trending up, at the very least my hopes are trending that way as well.

[Maxbialystock]

The Yankees have a lot of issues right now. But sometimes just when you think they're dead they get re-animated, so I never take anything for granted.

 

I'm sure they want to keep Soto, but they have other needs as well, and Hal already said they can't keep spending at this level. Will be interesting to watch.

 

Wise words--could not agree more. The Yankees still have the third best offense, runs scored, in MLB and the 7th best team ERA (which is 3.69, right behind our Sox 3.57).

 

The Sox team OPS, .741, is 7th best, but our runs scored are 12th. Sox have scored 402 runs to the Yankees 447. That's roughly 1/2 run per game less.

 

Caution notwithstanding, since June 4, the Sox are 17-8 and the Yankees 11-16.

[dgalehouse]

Have to like Cora's attitude. When asked about the wild card race , he said " Let's get greedy and win the division." Or something to that effect. That is what you want to hear from everyone in the organization. Especially now as they head into what is probably the biggest series of the season to date.

[Maxbialystock]

Yeah, 162 games is a lot of freakin' games. And it's why baseball is the best.

 

Nailed it. Again. The genius--if you want to give the Farrelly brothers that much credit--of Fever Pitch is that it captures the length and grandeur of an entire MLB season as well as the agony and ecstasy of the postseason, but especially the incredible ALCS vs the Yankees.

 

Worth noting, I think, is that just 3 years ago--not 300 years ago as the nattering nabobs of negativism would have us believe--the Sox did something similar when they got the wild card, beat Cone and the Yankees, and then beat the 100 win Rays, 3 games to 1, in the ALDS before going down to the Astros (4 games to 2) in the ALCS.

 

The Sox's Bogey, Kike, Devers, JDM, Renfro, Dugo, Arroyo, Vazquez, Schwarber (late acquisition), and Iggy (also late acquisition) all had pretty good seasons. Despite the absence of Mookie, the Sox offense was ranked 5th in runs scored.

 

But even with Eovaldi, Whitlock, Pivetta, ERod, Houck, et al, the 2021 Sox pitching was ranked 15th in MLB in team ERA. Plus Barnes as closer faded badly, and the Sox had no closer in the postseason.

 

Most of us voted the 2024 Sox would finish 81-81. I certainly thought so. But this bunch of no names (excluding Devers and Jansen) is playing pretty good ball, no thanks to Breslow, but many thanks to the Sox minor league system and especially to manager Alex Cora and his pitching coach. In fact, give some credit to the recently fired Chaim Bloom who acquired some of those no-names.

 

Right now both the Yankees and Sox are fighting for wild card slots. So maybe it helps that, when it comes to baserunning, the Sox are a whole lot wilder than the Yankees--86 SB's to 37.

[moonslav59]

Romy has of course played VASTLY better than Grissom...

 

Of course.

 

We may still see Grissom, instead.

[moonslav59]

Yanks definitely have star power, but their overall line-up on the field is awkward, while the Sox actually look more balanced. I said it a month ago: Yankees are going nowhere with Judge in centerfield. He has a negative dWAR, and doesn't make diving attempts for anything close (I suspect the club told him to stay on his feet -- and not to risk injury -- since his bat is the key to their season).

 

Soto also has a negative dWAR. Boston may have four outfield gloves better than NY's two starting All-Stars: Duran, Abreu, O'Neill and Rafaela -- who may not have the numbers of Duran, but makes a highlight catch in just about every game he plays CF. Any fan watching nightly already knows: Ceddanne is our best fly-chaser since JBJ.

 

Agreed. While we still seem to be lacking that extra RH’d bat, we have some flexibility and unsung players that have taken up the slack in a very balanced way. We’ve improved our D since April. We’ve added speed on top an already upper tier speed team. The pen has been taking up the slack as our rotation has come down from that great start.

 

The middle IF has 2 RHBs: Rafaela & Romy.

The middle IF has 2 LHBs: DHam & Valdez.

 

The OF has 2 LHBs: Duran & Abreu (Yoshida)

The OF has 2 RHBs: O’Niell & Rafaela

 

Not many teams have a L-R catcher set-up.

 

Our rotation is 8th in fWAR & our pen is 4th.

 

Pretty damn balanced.

[moonslav59]

You may disagree with this methodology, but here is one way to categorize our SPers by slots:

1-30 #1

31-60 #2

And so on… (by fWAR)

 

There are about 150 pitchers with 30+ IP as a SPer. Here are our slot rankings:

 

#1 Houck 3.3 ((T2nd)

#2 Crawford 1.7 (34th)

#3 Criswell 0.9 (79th)

#3 Pivetta 0.9 (79th)

#4 Bello 0.6 (101st)

 

 

 

[Duran Is The Man]

This is an interesting one - based on my cursory research it appears that at one time it could be done, and I can't find much clear info on when the rule was changed, if it was.

 

i always thought that was the rule, but i swear, i think i saw the Rays do it once and thought WTF? maybe i just dreamed it.