Would you move Rafaela into the infield to make room for Anthony?

[notin]

4 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

Even more of a reason to do it right now. 

Unless they plan on trading Duran, or sitting someone for Anthony. 

Move Duran to 1b.

He’s the worst defensive OF of the 4 and the only one (besides C Note) with infielder experience.  Granted that was in college, but it’s still more than Abreu and Anthony have…

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

They could load up on prospects and make moves at the deadline.  

Looking ahead, I'd want target pitchers with more than .5 years of control.  Get a guy to help you down the stretch this year and next.  

Prior to the Bregman signing, I thought they were punting on this year. With the injury, I think they will definitely punt on this season. Anthony will get up at some point. They will get their guys in the positions they want them to play. If Campbell isn't looking great at 1b, they won't force it. 

Sandlin gets called up to AAA in the next month or so. Maybe even see him in the bullpen down the stretch? 

Probably trade Blaze Jordan at the deadline. 

Duran, Buehler, Chapman and Wilson dealt at the deadline.

[mvp 78]

4 minutes ago, notin said:

Move Duran to 1b.

He’s the worst defensive OF of the 4 and the only one (besides C Note) with infielder experience.  Granted that was in college, but it’s still more than Abreu and Anthony have…

He had a really good defensive year last year too. Very weird what has happened this season.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

2 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

The youth can either get the team going, or get experience to be better suited to get going next year. 

If we know this, then the front office does, too.

I just think in May it's about the PR; if they promote all the Big Three now and play them every game (which young guys have to do somewhere for development) -- even when the kids are taking their lumps -- it reveals what most of us know.

This club isn't good enough this year, but if Brez and Co. admit that reality before summer even begins, it will badly affect ticket sales through September. But if management can still pretend the Sox have what it takes, they can wait to bring up Anthony by say, July, and he can be called a reinforcement...

... instead of what he really is: a guy who is ready to be a big leaguer now, and hopefully a star in future years.

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

If we know this, then the front office does, too.

I just think in May it's about the PR; if they promote all the Big Three now and play them every game (which young guys have to do somewhere for development) -- even when the kids are taking their lumps -- it reveals what most of us know.

This club isn't good enough this year, but if Brez and Co. admit that reality before summer even begins, it will badly affect ticket sales through September. But if management can still pretend the Sox have what it takes, they can wait to bring up Anthony by say, July, and he can be called a reinforcement...

... instead of what he really is: a guy who is ready to be a big leaguer now, and hopefully a star in future years.

Aren't the tickets already sold? Any tickets still available are through 3rd parties at this point, right? 

[Nick]

With all due respect to all the nay sayers content with leaving Anthony in the minors should think what this is doing to Anthony.

Do you think he wants to be a Red Sox? No freakin' way he's signing extension. Many here think the outfield is just fine. And maybe it is but you're ignoring the fact that it can be better. The odd man out can play another position (eg Rafaela) or be traded to acquire additional pitching help.

Our lineup overall is pathetic. You can't recoup sunken costs. We made a big mistake acquiring both Yoshida and Story. Why is Story in a slump? Well hell, he wasted his prime years injured. He's unable to recover what little magic he has left in his bat.

If I'm Anthony, I'm stewing playing AAA while my buddies are getting promotion. 

Cora and Brez are worried about hurting the feelings of grown up such as Devers, Story, etc. 

They should be more concerned about Anthony. Quit telling us why you can't bring up Anthony. What's going to change? Are you seriously hoping that an outfielder gets hurt as one of the options as your plan going forward?

If you can't find a way to bring up Anthony, then the organization is more incompetent that I ever imagined.

Why don't you use your stinking analysists to find a way to bring up Anthony. Hell he's in everyone's top 3 prospects in the majors.

Very disappointing.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

8 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Aren't the tickets already sold? Any tickets still available are through 3rd parties at this point, right? 

Available soon for pennies on the dollar. Then the stands will be blue when the Dodgers and Jays are in town, and orange when the Cheetos are in town, and purple when the Rockies -- nah... but green when the so-Athletics are here -- and the Red Sox are supposed to be the new TEAM GREEN!

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

1 minute ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Available soon for pennies on the dollar. Then the stands will be blue when the Dodgers and Jays are in town, and orange when the Cheetos are in town, and purple when the Rockies -- nah... but green when the so-Athletics are here -- and the Red Sox are supposed to be the new TEAM GREEN!

Bottom line is they can't admit they're punting until the trade deadline. Too many media heads commiserating daily with cranky callers for two months.

But then maybe they can get something good by trading Chapman to a contender. How about it Royals? Chappy for Cole Ragans? You made that swap once already...

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

5 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Available soon for pennies on the dollar. Then the stands will be blue when the Dodgers and Jays are in town, and orange when the Cheetos are in town, and purple when the Rockies -- nah... but green when the so-Athletics are here -- and the Red Sox are supposed to be the new TEAM GREEN!

Nah, we hear the same fantasies every year and it never happens.

[drewski6]

22 hours ago, Old Red said:

Everyone just assumes that RAF Man is going to be the odd man out, and either gets benched, moves to the IF, or is platooned, and that may be how it ends up. It sounds simple enough, but I think if the Red Sox were going to go that route they would have done it already. 

Its based on Durans overall importance to team and Abreus strong rookie year + continued success this year.

[drewski6]

21 hours ago, notin said:

Anthony is a top tier defensive outfit fielder with no infield experience.  Why move him to first, especially with Casas as an unknown for the future?

Why not Duran to the infield?  He played their all through college, which makes him the most experienced of the four outfielders.  Also,despite his speed, Hes clearly the worst defensive outfielder on the team not named Refsnyder…

Either are fine with me.

[drewski6]

2 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Campbell is already working on 1B. Why move Anthony there? It makes no sense. 

Campbell has been really rough at 2B and there are questions on if he can stay in the IF. Maybe 1B works out for him? 

Because 4 of this teams best 7 players are outfielders.

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

2 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Campbell is already working on 1B. Why move Anthony there? It makes no sense. 

Campbell has been really rough at 2B and there are questions on if he can stay in the IF. Maybe 1B works out for him? 

I think campbell's bat is more of a liability right now than his glove.

[TedYazPapiMookie]

2 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Campbell is already working on 1B. Why move Anthony there? It makes no sense. 

Campbell has been really rough at 2B and there are questions on if he can stay in the IF. Maybe 1B works out for him? 

Campbell has been really rough at 2B?  That's just not true.  His .981 fielding percentage is league average.  Mayer is the one with fielding issues as he proved in his first game at 3B.  Campbell is a SS asked to play 2B and is league average at 2B and perfect in CF and LF.  Why cheap shot him?

Anthony either plays 1B or Abreu/Refsnyder need to sit because you can't give up Rafaela's exceptional play in CF.  Abreu hits RH pitchers well so the team is better off with Anthony up playing 1B and not having to bench Abreu/Refsnyder platoon.  When Bregman gets back they could try to force Mayer into 1B unless his defense improves, then they can consider sitting the $70 Million dollar man.

[Old Red]

1 hour ago, notin said:

Are you positive it’s not a legitimate gripe for Cora?  Are you saying Cora prefers obstinate players who put him in difficult positions?  

Id bet Cora would prefer Devers be willing to go to 1b, even if he never actually had to play there.  You know, like how Mookie Betts practiced infield for years despite never playing there, but he wanted to be prepared just in case the team needed him to move, if only for an inning…

Not positive at all, but I think I have more to go on than you do. I’m saying I don’t think Raffy would be a good 1B, and I’ve been saying that for the last two years, and I think Cora agrees, so you can throw out obstinate players all you want. I disagree 100% that Cora would prefer Devers be willing to go to 1B. I’m going on what Cora has said, and done, or not done. He hasn’t talked to Raffy about it, and he said he wasn’t going to. JH showed in KC to talk with Raffy in my view to soothe things over, so Raffy wouldn’t ask for a trade, and not to talk to Raffy about 1B. JH came, and went, and there is still no movement from Raffy towards 1B except when he runs the bases.  No bet, because your money wouldn’t be any good any.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

4 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Not positive at all, but I think I have more to go on than you do. I’m saying I don’t think Raffy would be a good 1B, and I’ve been saying that for the last two years, and I think Cora agrees, so you can throw out obstinate players all you want. I disagree 100% that Cora would prefer Devers be willing to go to 1B. I’m going on what Cora has said, and done, or not done. He hasn’t talked to Raffy about it, and he said he wasn’t going to. JH showed in KC to talk with Raffy in my view to soothe things over, so Raffy wouldn’t ask for a trade, and not to talk to Raffy about 1B. JH came, and went, and there is still no movement from Raffy towards 1B except when he runs the bases.  No bet, because your money wouldn’t be any good any.

None of this post is outrageous, and I can see at the time the front office hoping Raffy wouldn't ask for a trade...

... not because they didn't want to be done with him, but because it would've been an even bigger distraction that the media would never let go of until Raffy was finally gone. Plus, they knew with Devers' mega-contract, they'd be lucky to get back just one Jeter Downs.

Now Raffy is so hot, everyone's thankful it didn't happen -- lest there be a new bleacher section in Dodger Stadium called Raffywood (or the Raffters?).

[mvp 78]

1 hour ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Available soon for pennies on the dollar. Then the stands will be blue when the Dodgers and Jays are in town, and orange when the Cheetos are in town, and purple when the Rockies -- nah... but green when the so-Athletics are here -- and the Red Sox are supposed to be the new TEAM GREEN!

They'd be blue for the Dodgers no matter what because of how great the fans travel. The other teams? Eh... Last year, there were A LOT of Padres fans at Fenway when I was there. It was very annoying as Machado was tearing the cover off the ball. 

[mvp 78]

49 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Because 4 of this teams best 7 players are outfielders.

When Duran/Abreu play LHP, they aren't helping anyone. Easy enough to swap them for Rafaela/Refsnyder and plant Anthony as the every day LFer. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

They'd be blue for the Dodgers no matter what because of how great the fans travel. The other teams? Eh... Last year, there were A LOT of Padres fans at Fenway when I was there. It was very annoying as Machado was tearing the cover off the ball. 

Cardinal red was all over the park, and Jay blue, and Cubbies. The color-clashing Mets tried to take the city the weekend before their boys dropped two out of three to the hosts.

[mvp 78]

47 minutes ago, TedYazPapiMookie said:

Campbell has been really rough at 2B?  That's just not true.  His .981 fielding percentage is league average.  Mayer is the one with fielding issues as he proved in his first game at 3B.  Campbell is a SS asked to play 2B and is league average at 2B and perfect in CF and LF.  Why cheap shot him?

Anthony either plays 1B or Abreu/Refsnyder need to sit because you can't give up Rafaela's exceptional play in CF.  Abreu hits RH pitchers well so the team is better off with Anthony up playing 1B and not having to bench Abreu/Refsnyder platoon.  When Bregman gets back they could try to force Mayer into 1B unless his defense improves, then they can consider sitting the $70 Million dollar man.

Out of the 47 players who have 100 innings at 2b, Campbell's fielding percentage is 32nd. If you raise the innings limit to 200, he's 23rd out of 28. There's nothing about his glove that is major league average (-8 DRS, -3 ORS, -2 FRV). Campbell is NOT an MLB caliber SS even if he played it in HS like almost every other MLB IFer. 

Marcelo Mayer fielding percentage at 3B is 1.000. He has a 0 DRS, 0 OAA overall. 

Rafaela has a 602 OPS. No matter how good his defense is, that's not keeping him in a fulltime position. 

[mvp 78]

8 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Cardinal red was all over the park, and Jay blue, and Cubbies. The color-clashing Mets tried to take the city the weekend before their boys dropped two out of three to the hosts.

I was specifically thinking about the teams you mentioned like the A's... I know there are other fanbases that can fill the stadium like the Dodgers and nearby teams that can travel.

[dgalehouse]

4 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

You have no interest in learning about how it's calculated, Denny, you just want to crap on it, and that's never going to change, I fully realize that.

I just don't understand why people put so much faith in a small numerical rating, with a decimal, for a player when they don't even know who is calculating it or how it is done. What do they put into the blender that makes it spit out a 1.7 WAR for one guy and a 1.4 WAR for another guy? And how does Rafaela have a higher WAR than Duran when any fan knows that Duran is more valuable? (There are many other examples) I read that they value defense highly and actually watch every play of every game and factor in everything they can think of to evaluate defense. Can this be true?  It seems insane.  Maybe I will come up with my own simplified system.  gWAR. A rating of 1 through 10 with no decimal point. Maybe I can convince MLB to subsidize it by convincing them that it can be used as a tool to control player salaries. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

7 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I was specifically thinking about the teams you mentioned like the A's... I know there are other fanbases that can fill the stadium like the Dodgers and nearby teams that can travel.

Right -- it just seems like a recent phenomenon in Fenway in this decade of the Walking Dregs.

[drewski6]

38 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

When Duran/Abreu play LHP, they aren't helping anyone. Easy enough to swap them for Rafaela/Refsnyder and plant Anthony as the every day LFer. 

Sure, but Duran vs L / Rafaela vs R, I dont think are not Toro bad in my opinion. Could be wrong

[mvp 78]

15 minutes ago, dgalehouse said:

gWAR. 

 

[cp176]

My opinion is that arguably their best player - Duran - isn’t going anywhere until he wants too.  He is going to play everyday because that is who is and what old school ballplayers expected to do.  He is the type of player that fans want to see.  He isn’t going to be platooned.  Eventually they will be forced to bring up the guy that should be in that outfield.  He would be my left fielder and maybe do a little mix and match with Abreau.  Rafaela would still get his opportunities just not that many.  He could see some infield action as well I guess.  Tough decisions are going to have to be made.  They aren’t easy to make and this team’s management doesn’t really like to make them.  

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Sure, but Duran vs L / Rafaela vs R, I dont think are not Toro bad in my opinion. Could be wrong

Toro somehow has an 889 OPS vs RHP. 

[notin]

1 hour ago, Old Red said:

Not positive at all, but I think I have more to go on than you do. I’m saying I don’t think Raffy would be a good 1B, and I’ve been saying that for the last two years, and I think Cora agrees, so you can throw out obstinate players all you want. I disagree 100% that Cora would prefer Devers be willing to go to 1B. I’m going on what Cora has said, and done, or not done. He hasn’t talked to Raffy about it, and he said he wasn’t going to. JH showed in KC to talk with Raffy in my view to soothe things over, so Raffy wouldn’t ask for a trade, and not to talk to Raffy about 1B. JH came, and went, and there is still no movement from Raffy towards 1B except when he runs the bases.  No bet, because your money wouldn’t be any good any.

The fact that Henry had to get involved at all - despite no one actually knowing what they talked about - speaks volumes about how difficult Devers was.  It was never about whether or not he COULD play 1b but rather his outright refusal.  And it would be one thing if Devers or Cora said there were questions about his ability. That’s never come up.  The whole issue was Devers pouting and basically saying in more words “if they’re not going to let me play where I want, I’m not going to play where they want.”   I can’t condone that attitude like you can. And just because he is mashing didn’t make it acceptable.  I might be more sympathetic if the request was done on a whim, but it was made necessary by an injury to another player.  I’d even understand if Devers was in the midst of contract negotiations, as 1b money is less than 3b money.  But he’s already signed a mammoth deal that won’t change if he changes roles.  And the attitude that Breslow should just do his job and go get a 1b is just unrealistic blame shifting.  And Devers knows this; he’s been in MLB long enough to know no one is selling this time of year.  He’s aware the only players Breslow would be able to get are borderline MLB players like Noda who may or may not represent an upgrade, or players flat out struggling to maintain an MLB job and subsequently have hit the waiver wire.  Sure, Breslow passed in Seth Brown this week.  But was that really a bad move?

And Cora has been reluctant all along.  He didn’t want Bregman for 3b at all and wanted him at 2nd.  To me, this looks like him being well aware Devers would be difficult.  
 

Well, Devers got his wish.  Hopefully he can keep producing enough to cover for Abraham Toro…

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, cp176 said:

My opinion is that arguably their best player - Duran - isn’t going anywhere until he wants too. 

Wilyer, Rafaela, Raffy and Narvaez all have more bWAR than he does. 

[drewski6]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Toro somehow has an 889 OPS vs RHP. 

Well , ride him when he's hot 100%