jacksonianmarch

Yanks lineup again punishes the Astros. This time, we came back and bludgeoned one of the best relievers in the game in Pressly. Tanaka was really good. Holder couldn’t live up to his name, and he’s been pretty bad this year. Ottavino and Britton let some guys reach base, but we’re unscored upon and there’s the game. 8 in a row with the Sox and rays losing. Now 6 up on the Rays in the L column and 9 up on the Sox. Likely ends today vs Verlander, but stranger things have happened

Not what I said at all. If there’s no other way, a title clearly trumps draft position. If we are only going over by $1-$2 mil, I’d add some ancillary talent to get under the threshold in the deals at the deadline. Consider this, if the Yanks had a shot at Scherzer and getting him put us over the final hurdle, so be it. But if we get a 5th starter, platoon 1b and an infielder who isn’t very good, I’d ensure the sending team included money in the package to keep me under the final hurdle. It all depends on the acquisition. I read an article after the deadline and before the WS about the Sox passing the final hurdle and it sounded like an accident rather than a calculated move. Not sure if the article was valid or not

Man this BJ’s team sucks a bag of dicks. Wow

I don’t care about saving money. I do care about bringing in amateur talent

What I’m saying is the Sox could have easily gotten an extra $1 mil in salary relief without hurting their squad for Kinsler. They went over by $400K or so

The 2018 Sox aren’t back. The 2018 Sox had transcendent performances by two player who this year are simply good. These two performed at such a high level that the other spots benefited from Betts and JDM essentially being pitched around. This year, you can pitch to both of them. Granted, they’re still good, they’re just not in the “crush pitchers pitches” category this year. Now Vaz and Devers have taken a step forward. JBJ and Beni have taken steps back. Interestingly, the Sox have scored the same amount per game than last year. The thing your team was last year was consistent and I haven’t seen that to this point in the 2019 squad. They’ll drop 12 on the O’s then get shutdown vs TB or NY. The Sox are 5 games under vs .500+ teams at 17-22 (.435). They were 41-33 vs .500+ teams last year (.554). That’s the difference. The Sox were good vs good teams and excellent vs bad ones. The Sox are still excellent vs bad teams (not the same win percentage, but still great) but paper tigers vs the cream

It cost them 10 spots in the draft.

Renfroe is hitting HRs in a place where Hrs are far more rare. Imagine him in Fenway

And from the sounds of it, crossing the barrier was an accident. They went over by such a small amount that it wasn’t worth the price. I’m sure they could have gotten an extra mil out of the Angels in the Kinsler deal without adding much of co sequence and you’d still have won the title

His velocity was down last night. Listen, Sale is what he is. He’s a guy who’s had dominant stuff for his entire career who’s stuff is transitioning. He’s got the ability to locate and the movement to still be good at lower velocities, but because he still has his fastball 2/3 of the time this season, he still has to pitch like he’s got his stuff. Why not, when he’s pumping 95, he’s damn near unhittable. What happens at the lower velocities is you don’t challenge hitters up in the zone like Sale does. Sale is a master at changing eye levels. High fastball 95 followed by sweeping slider down at the ankles. You’ve got to cover the entire zone, top to bottom, in to out. When that fastball is 91, you cannot go up in the zone as much because those pitches are hit hard. This means he needs to locate better because the hitter can almost sit slider and adjust to 91 whereas for 95, you won’t hit that if you aren’t ready for it. If Sale is healthy, he will be fine in his transition. But while he still fights himself and fails to adjust when his fastball isn’t there, he’s going to have clunkers. We went through this with CC. It wasn’t until he drastically altered his approach that he found success. It was painful watching him sell out for 92 when before he could pump 96 whenever he wanted to.

You cannot “salary dump” and stay under the final number. I guarantee you DD isn’t going to intentionally cross the final barrier unless he absolutely has to. You’re not gonna cross that line without adding a significant piece. Also, the lineup for London looks like Erod vs Tanaka Porcello vs Happ Price and Sale will be used before the series and would be on short or no rest. Johnson’s spit would be due but because of the two days off before, ERod could throw on full rest. For us, Tanaka is our best pitcher currently. Paxton will be used on our travel day, so he’s out and probably won’t even travel with the team. It’s either Happ or CC, both are good plays vs the Sox who struggle vs lefties

Maybin done for awhile with a calf injury. Paxton was wild enough to be tough to hit. The pen picks him up. Sanchez and Gleyber go yard again. Yanks take game 2. My guess is tomorrow Chapman isn’t available after a long inning. Tanaka going for us after he had a CG SO of the Rays last time out. Big spot for him vs Miley. Likely gonna see Kahnle, Ottavino and Britton as the 7-8-9 guys if we have a lead.

Cashner is expensive and isn’t very good. My guess is you don’t spend on him Archer was acquired for two superstars. They won’t get rid of him when his value is down. Trevor Cahill sucks Estrada has sucked and is currently hurt with a back injury Hellickson has sucked and is on the IL with shoulder soreness Holland was demoted to the pen as he sucks Ivan Nova has sucked Roark is going to be in demand. Expiring contract, good production in a tough park. He’ll bring back something to the Reds, maybe more than what you’re willing to move Wheeler is getting moved, but he’s been awful in a pitchers park and keeps giving up big flies. While he’s the “bet on stuff” candidate, he’s a potential disaster waiting to happen. Wood has been shut down the whole year due to back issues Jason Vargas is interesting. Throws nothing but somehow gets outs. He’d probably be an easy acquisition. I’d focus here if I were the Sox. He won’t cost much. Will be at least somewhat reliable. Isn’t on a big contract Leblanc has been awful in a pitchers park

No he did not. He was to be a FA

Rays in Montreal doesn't make much sense, kinda like the Utah Jazz. This is an idea, but one they are using to push the Ybor city project to get out of the beast of a home ballpark. Where they should be looking is Las Vegas. I am absolutely shocked no team has moved there yet. I would anticipate Oakland could jump there if their stadium mess isn't fixed

He's a reliever to me. Stretch only, FB-slider, and let it fly. Lots of great relievers started out as starters with poor command.

Frazier has a much better minor league track record. Frazier has shown patience in the minors. He has shown good defense in the minors. He showed patience in the majors. Middlebrooks flamed out because he had a big hole in his swing and was so jumpy that he didn't work counts. Frazier can work counts. The other thing that separates the two is that Frazier has gotten better each time he came up to the bigs. Middlebrooks was a flash in the pan who fizzled out once the league got a book on him Frazier's OPS+ this season is 120, so far better in his third time up than Middlebrooks 3 years in

Cortes is no longer listed on the active roster. My guess is we try to retain Hale and Cessa, as both would end up on waivers and I would bet both would be taken. Hale's velocity bump will have dumpster diving teams bite. Cessa's pure stuff would as well. For tonight, we hope Paxton and tomorrow Tanaka could give us some length. All of our big relievers should be rested sans Chap who is still usable tonight after only throwing 7 pitches yesterday.

That’s at least intriguing, but his injury history and xFIP over 4 makes me worry about regression. Frazier doesn’t move unless we get a guy without much questions. Frazier is an annual 30HR hitter in the bigs if given the chance. He goes for an ace. Minor would be a good get, but he’s no ace

Frazier isn’t going for a rental. I’d love to get Minor. But Frazier is more than a prospect. He’s a bonafide big league power hitter. Estrada also hit well in his big league cameo. These guys don’t qualify as prospects anymore, but they’re big league players. If they want Loaisiga too, then they’ll get three guys who can go right to the bigs on day 1.

Yes, playoff appearances. You’re not better than the Yanks this year.

Wright will be back first. Eovaldi has played catch but hasn’t gone back on the mound since his arm started barking.

I wouldn’t deal Torres straight up for Scherzer. No way. I’m talking all minor league resources. Torres is on pace for 35HR and over 4WAR as a 22 yr old. He goes nowhere

For lux tax it’s all AAV of contract. He got a 7 year $210 mil contract. Real simple, it’s a $30 mil AAV

We are getting Luis Severino back, so there’s that. He’s also been nails the first four months of the last two seasons. Maybe this plan gets us vintage Luis for the POs?