Article: David Hamilton's Demotion to Triple-A Should End His Time in Boston Permanently

[mvp 78]

13 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

Before Bregman returned in mid July, right before the ASG, I figured he would play 3b again, Story stay at SS, and Mayer would move to 2b with his good glove and hopefully good bat.  That lasted exactly 5 games until his injury on July 23 when he actually played 3b for Bregman. 

I guess my point is that the Sox have played Campbell, Gonzalez, Hamilton, Mayer, Rafaela, and I think Toro at 2b.  Of those 6, onlyh Campbell had the negative overall WAR, -0.9.  All others have positive WAR's.  

I feel like we have had this conversation about 2b almost every season since Pedroia got injured.

[Bellhorn04]

34 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I feel like we have had this conversation about 2b almost every season since Pedroia got injured.

And if you had your way, we'd have even less Pedroia to talk about! 😉

[moonslav59]

29 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

Thanks.  Better than my laydown. 

And a devastating stat on Rafaela.  He plays 2b against righty starters so Anthony, Duran, and Abreu can play in the outfield and Yoshida can DH.  

Hence my plea to trade from strength (our OF) and add to a weak area (P, 2B, 1B.)

Rafaela needs to play CF FT, unless there is an in game emergency situation or until we call -up someone for an injury replacement. This should not happen, often.

I love all our OF'ers, and all have some great strengths and very few weaknesses. It's hard to know which one to trade, but IMO, it has to be done, this winter, and that is even if we had no Jh Garcia, Campbell or Refsnyder/Yoshida in the 2026 OF mix.

Simply put, our 4th OF'er is worth way more to another team as a 1-2-3 OF'er than he is to us as a DH, 2Bman or bench guy.

Weak areas of our 4 OF'ers:

Anthony: none that I see

Duran: not a great arm, but fine for LF and some CF

Abreu: has not shown he can hit LHPs well enough to play FT, yet.

Rafaela: plate discipline and questionable batting skills, going forward.

Yoshida: should only DH or play short corner OF in emergencies.

Refsnyder: may retire. Not great on D, but okay in short corner OFs.

Jh Garcia: untested but pretty good on D at all 3 slots. 

Campbell: batting is questionable, defense in CF might be okay. Maybe can learn to play LF at a plus level.

[TedYazPapiMookie]

2 hours ago, Jasonbay44 said:

For his career he’s a .185 hitter with 0 career homers and has been dumped by 7 other teams. He isn’t improving and likely gets dumped within a few days. Carrying 3 catchers is dumb, especially when one is 28 year old Ali Sanchez. 

Completely agree.  What about Maldonado who just got released?

[mvp 78]

20 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

And if you had your way, we'd have even less Pedroia to talk about! 😉

He could have turned into almost anything! 

[mvp 78]

20 minutes ago, TedYazPapiMookie said:

Completely agree.  What about Maldonado who just got released?

His defense ain't what it used to be. Wong is better even with his inept bat. 

 

[TedYazPapiMookie]

Sure would be nice to have Teel!!!!!!!  Great to get Crochet but Teel was the key piece that should have been another player like an injury prone Mayer or Abreu.

[notin]

1 hour ago, Bellhorn04 said:

And if you had your way, we'd have even less Pedroia to talk about! 😉

Less of one of only two players in MLB history to win ROY, MVP, a Silver Slugger, a Gold Glove, and an All Star selection in his first two seasons?  Sign me up!

[notin]

27 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

His defense ain't what it used to be. Wong is better even with his inept bat. 

 

Plus Maldonado is the slowest player in MLB.  Word has it after being released by the Padres over a week ago, Martin still hasn’t made it all the way out of the clubhouse yet…

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

6 minutes ago, TedYazPapiMookie said:

Sure would be nice to have Teel!!!!!!!  Great to get Crochet but Teel was the key piece that should have been another player like an injury prone Mayer or Abreu.

White Sox don't make that deal without getting Meidroth. First of the four to make the majors, and has been a positive middle infielder all year. 

But Pale Hose knew they could afford to lose Crochet, since they had a second deal in the works with Boston to acquire Cam Booser.

[moonslav59]

As much as we thought Meidroth could have been our 1B solution (and 3B when Bregman was out,) he's just batting .650, now. He has just 15 XBHs in 350 PAs.

Teel could end up being a great catcher, but so many top catching prospects have floundered.

To me, Montgomery will end up being the prize of the trade for the CWS, someday.

Who know who we might have been able to sub out for Teel and or Meidroth. Maybe they did not want Mayer or Abreu/Duran.

I'm glad they did not insist on Anthony.

[notin]

7 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

As much as we thought Meidroth could have been our 1B solution (and 3B when Bregman was out,) he's just batting .650, now. He has just 15 XBHs in 350 PAs.

Teel could end up being a great catcher, but so many top catching prospects have floundered.

To me, Montgomery will end up being the prize of the trade for the CWS, someday.

Who know who we might have been able to sub out for Teel and or Meidroth. Maybe they did not want Mayer or Abreu/Duran.

I'm glad they did not insist on Anthony.

Safe bet Roman’s name came up…

[notin]

14 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

White Sox don't make that deal without getting Meidroth. First of the four to make the majors, and has been a positive middle infielder all year. 

But Pale Hose knew they could afford to lose Crochet, since they had a second deal in the works with Boston to acquire Cam Booser.

Meidroth was at best the third guy on their radar in that deal…

[notin]

3 hours ago, Jasonbay44 said:

For his career he’s a .185 hitter with 0 career homers and has been dumped by 7 other teams. He isn’t improving and likely gets dumped within a few days. Carrying 3 catchers is dumb, especially when one is 28 year old Ali Sanchez. 

If you count Willson Contreras, the Cardinals are carrying FOUR catchers…

[mvp 78]

20 minutes ago, notin said:

Meidroth was at best the third guy on their radar in that deal…

Sox could have swapped a different guy out for Meidroth. He was not a deal breaker for sure. Zero concerns about that trade though. Sox have an ace and now find themselves in a playoff race. Without one, they wouldn't be anywhere near the playoffs IMO.

[moonslav59]

It was the best Sox trade since Sale, and might end up being better than that one.

[TedYazPapiMookie]

52 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Sox could have swapped a different guy out for Meidroth. He was not a deal breaker for sure. Zero concerns about that trade though. Sox have an ace and now find themselves in a playoff race. Without one, they wouldn't be anywhere near the playoffs IMO.

The White Sox front office is much better than they have been in the past.  Meidroth was a no name who put up comparable numbers to Mayer in the minors and wasn't injured like Mayers.  Great move on their part to include our #1 pick, a no name instead of Mayer and a potential Fisk/Varitek catcher.  A mediocre front office would have wanted Mayer who was over-rated, Blaze Jordan who was over-rated and Bello who appeared to be over-rated until he finally stepped up this year.  If we could swap Teel, Montgomery and Meidroth for Mayer, Jordan and Bello, I'd do it in a heart beat.  We have no long-term solution at catcher so Teel is by far the most valuable player lost, Meidroth is outperforming Mayer in the MLB already, Bello has looked outstanding this season but will it continue compared to the upside potential of Montgomery?  Hard to say.  

Like I said before, give the CWS front office so credit, they picked the right prospects for the quality of Crochet.  We needed Crochet so the deal was necessary but it sure would have been nice if Chicago used a more normal ranking system to request prospects from BOS.

[mvp 78]

I like Meidroth, but he's been pretty bad the past two months. 

Since 6/6:

547 OPS - 3rd worst in MLB

201 AVG - 9th worst in MLB

269 OBP - 9th worst in MLB

54 wRC+ - 4th worst in MLB

7 RBI - worst in MLB

 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Shirley, someone saw the Cam Booser clue to sarcasm in my post about Meidroth being the key to the Crochet deal.

 

[moonslav59]

46 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Shirley, someone saw the Cam Booser clue to sarcasm in my post about Meidroth being the key to the Crochet deal.

 

I took it as sarcasm, but don't call me Surely.

[Duran Is The Man]

Hamilton can't hit for s*** with the Red Sox, but hits a lead off home run tonite at Des Moines.   Campbell, Password, Eaton & Thompson go yard as well. Criswell looked like s*** throwing 52 pitches in his two innings of work, giving up 2 runs off 4 hits, 2 walks and a balk.

[moonslav59]

DHam cranked one, tonight, with Woo.

Call him back up!!!

[TedYazPapiMookie]

9 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

I like Meidroth, but he's been pretty bad the past two months. 

Since 6/6:

547 OPS - 3rd worst in MLB

201 AVG - 9th worst in MLB

269 OBP - 9th worst in MLB

54 wRC+ - 4th worst in MLB

7 RBI - worst in MLB

 

Cherry picking.

Meidroth in 2025

84 games, 349 PA, 310 AB, 78 Hits (.252) DBL 12 TRP 0 HR 3 RUNS 36 RBIS 15 SBS 11/14

Mayer in 2025

44 games (injured), 136 PA, 127 AB, 29 Hits (.228) DBL 8 TRP 1 HR 4 RUNS 20 RBIS 10 SBS 0/2

Meidroth .252/.330/.319/.650  OPS+ 85   Mayer .228/.272/.402/.674  OPS+ 85

The reason people don't bias numbers by cherry picking specific small segments is because it's a completely bogus way to do analysis.  Put the players head to head and compare the longest time period possible and in this case it's the 2025 season.  Same is true if you compare their performances in the minors.  Selecting the ONLY time Mayer was good and claiming it makes him better has been a very, very weak analysis done by very, very weak fans who prefer to cherry pick.  That's why Meidroth was completely under estimated as a player and Mayer was completely over estimated.  Throw in Mayers series of injuries year after year and I have preferred Meidroth since 2024 and the numbers support that one should have not been unranked as a prospect while the other was in the top 25.  Only Anthony and Campbell earned their spots in the top 25 of the prospect rankings.

[Jasonbay44]

I personally am not losing any sleep over involving a second basemen with a .650 OPS for Garrett Crotchet 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Based on WAR, Chase Meidroth is the White Sox greatest player in the history of this year from the Crochet trade.

[moonslav59]

Avoid the trolls.

[mvp 78]

9 hours ago, TedYazPapiMookie said:

Cherry picking.

Meidroth in 2025

84 games, 349 PA, 310 AB, 78 Hits (.252) DBL 12 TRP 0 HR 3 RUNS 36 RBIS 15 SBS 11/14

Mayer in 2025

44 games (injured), 136 PA, 127 AB, 29 Hits (.228) DBL 8 TRP 1 HR 4 RUNS 20 RBIS 10 SBS 0/2

Meidroth .252/.330/.319/.650  OPS+ 85   Mayer .228/.272/.402/.674  OPS+ 85

The reason people don't bias numbers by cherry picking specific small segments is because it's a completely bogus way to do analysis.  Put the players head to head and compare the longest time period possible and in this case it's the 2025 season.  Same is true if you compare their performances in the minors.  Selecting the ONLY time Mayer was good and claiming it makes him better has been a very, very weak analysis done by very, very weak fans who prefer to cherry pick.  That's why Meidroth was completely under estimated as a player and Mayer was completely over estimated.  Throw in Mayers series of injuries year after year and I have preferred Meidroth since 2024 and the numbers support that one should have not been unranked as a prospect while the other was in the top 25.  Only Anthony and Campbell earned their spots in the top 25 of the prospect rankings.

All I said was "I like Meidroth, but he's been bad the past few months" and showed that he's been bad the past few months. It's not cherry picking. We've complained about Toro on here endlessly and he's as bad as Toro in the same timeframe that Toro has nosedived. I was a big fan of Meidroth, but am aware of his faults as a player (low EV, low barrel rates, bad arm strength). It's ok to like players and still be realistic about who they are. I would have still liked him in the org, but it's not the end of the world that he was traded. 

I spent all last offseason saying to trade Mayer, so...

[Hugh2]

Permanently? He’s 27, has 4 more years of team control left and 2 option years.  He’s absolutely fine as a depth option. Permanently seems a bit extreme