jacksonianmarch

ERod scratched from opening day due to “dead arm”

It’s one year longer and $5 mil shorter. Not remotely close

Wilson’s MRI was clean. He will resume his throwing program next week. If he comes through it well, he could be an option mid April. Shoulders are notoriously tricky, so until he’s firing mid 90s again, I’m going to be skeptical. Yanks are looking to deal Tauchman. With Gardy back, there’s not much of a role. Apparently the market for his services is strong. We shall see what they get, but they’re running out of time to move him.

Take a look at his velocity charts and his production. Sale's best 3 seasons had fastball velocities over 94. The rest were below that. I am not saying Sale is trash or garbage, but the guy I saw throwing in 2019 was trying to hump the ball up in velo and was not hitting spots and still couldnt get past 94 on average. The issue with Sale is less elbow and more shoulder. If the rest helps the shoulder then great. If he comes back with 92-93 mph heat, he will still be effective, but his CY level days will be behind him.

I don't doubt that Sale's elbow will be better, but the shoulder injury sapped his power and that hasnt been addressed. Maybe the extended layoff will heal that up. I am also a bit intrigued as to why he hasnt hit a mound yet. He is throwing off solid ground, but no mound work. He is behind Severino yet Sevy is expected back late summer. Not sure how Sale is gonna be ready for June if he hasnt even taken a mound yet. When the fierce competitors' bodies fail it is excruciating to watch. I honestly hope Sale can come back to some semblance of usefulness for you guys for two reasons. A. I don't want Bloom to have another top 10 pick to shorten the cliff duration. B. I like Sale's fire and I don't like to see great players' bodies fail early in life.

That’s an erroneous assumption. He’s gained velo since he got to Boston and suddenly he lost it and there’s nothing to see here? You know how dumb that sounds?

Cora shed some light on Beni’s struggles. He bulked up against the will of the team for 2019 and he got slower. He was more muscular, not out of shape. But his bat slowed due to extra bulk.

26 players, I think 14 pitchers is too many. I get having super utility guys on the roster, but you need to have the bodies there to rest your regulars, especially early. This is the first full season these guys are gonna face since 19, so everyone's endurance will be a bit off

It is semantics. Finishing above the Orioles isnt something to be proud of. I openly predicted 72 wins for the sox. Their upside to me is around 80-82 wins, but this division is gonna be a buzz saw. If absolutely everything goes right, they're a .500 team, maybe a tick higher. They will not be in contention at the deadline and will be sellers

Yes they are, but Sale had WAY more miles on his tires than Cole at the time of signing their deals. Cole also has a prototypical build and a repeatable delivery. Sale is built like a string bean and his delivery screams elbow strain. I think any Yankee fan will admit that Cole will likely be a liability at the end of the deal, but getting him now in window was the right move. Signing Sale at the time they did with the cliff looming was a major error for JH to allow. He had to see what was coming

The crazy thing about the MLB draft is that there is no possible way to see if the talent will hold up against professional competition. Nothing simulates it. The Cape Cod league, maybe, but that's an intro to wood bat for the hitters and typically turns into a pitcher's league. It is crazy stupid that D1 baseball isn't using wood (I get the costs, but we made the move in our D2 league back in 03). If D1 made the move, then you could actually see what these hitters are made of. I am also not a big fan of grabbing toolsy guys whose bats are behind the rest of their package. The hardest thing to do in sports is to hit a baseball, and if their hitting skill is behind, then they arent likely to catch up. Yorke very well may end up being good, but with his lack of competition and his inclusion only at the alternate site, you are getting spin from the sox, as they're the only ones who have seen him. I am seeing the same drivel from the Yanks on Austin Wells. He's so advanced, great hitter, strong as an ox, looks like he can stay behind the dish. Blah, blah blah. No scouts have seen him and he hasnt been playing against pro competition. I will believe it when I see it

Arbitrary cutoff since we owned the last 5 years of the 20th century and missed the POs once in the first 12 years of this century. A dynasty was rebuilt and now we’ve been PO bound for the last 4 years and looking to be WS contenders now. Sox made it to the mountain top more times, yet they’ve also been basement dwellers way more times, like you will be this year

You keep showing “data” that shows a drop yet you rationalize it by saying it was within career norms. I’m telling you that he saw a velo increase prior to his injury and when he returned, his velo was down. Avg fastball 2017 94.4 2018 94.7 2019 93.2 And the kicker here was the playoffs in 2018. When he came back and threw in the POs, he was throwing low velo, just came back from a shoulder ailment and then they lavished a contract on him. Also, fangraphs disagrees with you too https://blogs.fangraphs.com/chris-sale-has-hit-another-bump-in-the-road/

Says the guy rooting for the team with the #4 pick in the draft and making a strong effort to be top 10 for next year?

Sale had a velo drop and missed time with a shoulder ailment. That’s not the time to lock in a player at $29 mil a season

Are you still going to post when you’re 20 games back? Or are you gonna hide?

Did you just insinuate that Cordero, Renfroe, and Verdugo could be a “plus” outfield or that you could get a plus outfield with Kike out there? You talking defense or overall? Cause Renfroe has had one season where he’s been good offensively, Cordero has had zero, and Kike can barely hit.

Taillon has been good, but he’s still a tick off his FB from pre TJS days. I hope he gets that back. He’s still got a live FB, but I was hoping to see him topping out at 99 again. Yanks pen seeing some injuries. Britton is down for the next 3 months and now Wilson is down and getting an MRI. Not sure if it’s dead arm or if there is something structural, but he’s expected to have a big role with Britton down for a bit. In their stead, the Yanks still have a solid pen. Green slides into setup role. Chapman still closes. O’Day becomes a big middle innings guy as well. Loaisiga and Cessa are going to be key cogs out there now. The wild cards here are the two veterans who were pitching well until their last outings in Luetge and Barraclough. With both setup lefties down, Luetge looks like a lock to make the squad. I also wonder if this opens up a spot for Michael King as a swing reliever.

Figured I’d start this early. With the Sox picking at 4, you’ve got a chance at a top end talent. Looks like Leiter and Rocker will be off the board. They’re both so damn dynamic. Both of them have ERA’s under 0.5

Or maybe he’s lost some bat speed. Like it or not, but he’s at the age where for some players, performance start to drop. The different between elite bat speed and average bat speed is far, far closer than you think

If you sign ERod to an extension now, it’ll be market rate. Bloom isn’t going to lock him up at market rate without seeing how he does this year post myocarditis. If he’s on the team and healthy at the deadline, you deal him and just tell him before hand that you’ll see him on the open market. Pull a Chapman with the Yanks. Got us Gleyber

Prospecting is an in exact science. Montero was the top prospect in baseball, so there’s no shame in thinking he’d be better than he was. Although Cash did sell high on him, now didn’t he? I do not think Durran ends up as a big league starter. He’s not a good defender at this juncture, so you can’t say he offsets his offensive inefficiencies with his glove. His power is nil right now. He doesn’t work counts or take walks and also K’s more than a slap hitter should. So he is a BABIP dependent hitter with limited defensive prowess and doesn’t walk enough. Can’t steal 1b. Downs I like. Downs, I also surmise, will spend most of not all of 21 in the minors. He saw a handful of games at AA in 19 and is only 22 years old. But I love the package. Power is there, eye is there, contact is above average, reasonable speed with SB instincts, and soft hands. He’s a real prospect, not like Durran who seems to be a hyped up pretender, IMO. In order for Downs to come up, the Sox would need to either have an injury to Bogaerts or no production at all from Marwin, Chavis and Kike. If it gets that far down the line, then you’ve lost some games due to that lack of production

And who, pray tell, are these “younger studs”?

They’ll finish in the 70s. If they weren’t in a division with three legit playoff contenders, I’d say 80, but even with the worst team in baseball in the division, they’ll have 57 games vs NYY, TB, and TOR. The pen is bad. The rotation isn’t much better. As time matches on, they’ll get worse and worse, especially if they sell off pieces.

Justin Wilson down with a shoulder strain. Damn