jacksonianmarch

Another thing nobody seems to be looking at is what Cespedes has done. He's a 2+ WAR player right now in Detroit on a cheap one year deal. Had you signed Lester and kept Cespedes, you'd have 4WAR between the two of them with a commitment of $150 mil including the year. With Hanley and Porcello, you have a combined 0WAR with $193 mil commitment including this year and not including Hanely's option

Also, Beane didn't get the credit he deserves for the Donaldson deal. Yes, he's killing it in Toronto. But Beane has had to retool that roster and years of financial commitments with losing aren't what his org can tolerate. Grave man and the rooks are the big get. Lawrie is the placeholder who is playing well, and in a year or two, he'll be dealt off for a nice haul as well. You didn't have a Lawrie. You had a K machine who had two good months in the bigs

Hanley is an offensive force. He always has been. The problem with his acquisition isn't when he's carrying the bat, it's when he is carrying the glove. Even with his 16HR and his solid offense, he's a minus WAR player because of his position change. And it isn't like he's a solid clubhouse guy either. He'll be worth less as long as he's in the OF. Porcello had been mediocre for practically his whole career until last year. The thought was her build on it. He's showing that he's not cut out to play in Boston and last year was the aberrancy rather than the new norm. It was a calculated risk with an attempt to limit financial exposure over the long term, and it has backfired. At the time it seemed like a smart move, but the armchair GMs aren't the ones making millions from the Sox corporation. You get held accountable by results and that signing looks terrible right now.

and as an aside, I would love to lock up Hamels in a deal. But I don't think Cashman wants to add to the rotation. I would love to add a durable ace.

I think making the playoffs is very realistic as we're a half game out in both the East and the WC. We aren't a great team, but one of the interesting things about this year is that there is no great team out there. The Royals and the Astros are the best teams in the AL (btw, who ever thought 2-3 years ago that those words would be uttered). Neither is an elite team, although I think Houston is a more complete team. Making the playoffs is all you have to do this yr to get a shot at the WS. I don't think any team is an impenetrable juggernaut. We also have Tanaka back and Pineda looking better plus Nova, who has looked pretty good. We should get Ellsbury back this week and Miller back likely right before the break. We should be dealing with a full team, something that is good enough to make the playoffs. But you are correct, we aren't an elite team. In years past, we probably would have been a bad team. But with the entire league up for grabs, we aren't a bad team in this setting. I am intrigued about what upgrades we have in store for us at the deadline. We have a bunch of solid minor leaguers and a lot of blossoming upper level talent, something we haven't had for awhile. We have the goods to go get anything available, but what do we need? With Tanaka, Pineda, and Nova all healthy (presumably), getting a top tier starter isn't likely to happen, especially since we just demoted a solid #3 in Warren to the pen in lieu of demoting old fat f*** or Juggs machine. I bet neither of those guys gets moved or demoted. SO our rotation is likely set. With Warren in the pen, we have a damn good pen, assuming Miller comes back healthy. Warren, Betances, and Miller with Shreve and Wilson is a pretty dominating pen. We wont need to add there. And while we have reinforcements for our weakest players, we don't seem to want to use them in the field. McCann, Headley, Tex, Ells, ARod and Gardner aren't moving. That leaves Didi, Beltran and Drew. I would absolutely love to upgrade at 2b, but we have that positional upgrade in system X2 and we haven't wanted to use them (Pirela and Refsnyder). Any upgrade at SS would probably require us to move Didi, which I am fine with. I would absolutely love to see an upgrade in RF, but Cashman likely to stick with his vets, even when they suck on both sided of the ball.

When we pitch, we don't hit, when we hit, we don't pitch. We are definitely flawed, but should be good enough to make the playoffs. Beltran's injury could be a blessing. He's an abysmal outfielder at this stage of his career. Regardless, we should be winning close games, not losing them. While our pitching is far from optimal, I'd like to see a bat added

And Meh, we have seen flashes. When he is on, he is untouchable. That's the difference. When CC is on, he still gives up 4 runs because if he misses even once in an outing, he's gonna get taken deep. CC was a great Yankee for 4 seasons and was singlehandedly responsible for our last title. He will always have a place in my heart. But he is done. Two years ago, he battled and looked done. Last year he had surgery that could have been career ending. This is the healthiest he has been since early season 2012. And he has been absolutely awful. It's time to move on.

This isn't protective of health as much as it is hoping for a return to glory that ain't coming. I understand leaving Eovaldi just due to the sheer stuff he has, but CC has sucked and his stuff sucks.

Adam Warren, probably our most consistent starter, has been moved to the pen. Instead we leave CC and Eovaldi in the rotation, even though both have been far outperformed by Warren. f***ing stupid

Gom and I did not agree on a lot of things. He was a moron and I am glad he is gone.

It depends on when he returns and what the sox think they're doing. If the sox think they're in it, you're gonna see Swihart in the minors and Hanigan starting. If the sox see themselves as preparing for next year, then Hanigan will back up Swihart. Blake will not be anyone's backup this yr. Either he's starting in AAA or the bigs

Severino has been everything we wanted him to be. If he dominates AAA this year, he is setting himself up for next season to enter the fray. His K rate in AA was insane. It has tailed off since he moved to AAA. He's 21 and his prior season high was 113IP last season. He should see around 150IP this year. As long as he stays healthy, he's an option for us next season to throw around 180IP. He is truly a special talent, we just need to make sure he stays healthy. Judge has done exactly what we had hoped coming into the season. He was a helium prospect coming off a solid 2014 campaign. What we have seen is the progression in his power game. 12HR in 257AB for his first season in AA is solid. His .506SLG is huge as well. What we haven't seen is the walk totals. An IsoPatience of .064 is still good, but last season he had 89 walks, while he's on pace for 55 this season. I agree with you Meh. We have depth in the OF to stem the loss of Ells for now. When Ells returns, there is no need. I want to see him in September as a callup and maybe allow him to experience the life. Then we give the kid a chance to park Beltran on the street corner on the way up from Florida next season. He has absolute light tower power. I want to see more progression in his contact game and in his batting eye. Sanchez is as tradeable as they come, IMO. He's playing good D and has above average power, but he is not going to be the game changer offensively that we thought he'd be. He's had discipline issues, work ethic issues and injury issues. He is definitely a starting catcher ceiling in the big leagues and most likely ends up as a decent C when he makes it up, but I doubt he reaches the ceiling he initially had of a top of the line offensive receiver. Mateo has as high of a ceiling as any SS in the system. He has top end speed with a quick bat and some power projection. Add to that the fact that he just turned 20 and is heating up as the season goes on, and I am excited for his progress. 50 steals by June 24th is impressive. That being said, I need to see improvement in the contact rate. Even with the best projection, he wont be a HR hitter. He's a speed first player who can hit line drives all over the field. I'd like to see more groundball capability and AB extending ability before I clear room. Jagielo is a beast. He's your prototypical big lefty power hitter. His defense will always be the thing that trips him up. He has light tower power with average or slightly above patience. I'd like to see him stay healthy and move full time to 1b where I think he belongs. When he comes back, I'd be quick to move him to AAA. Bird is still hurt. He's had some hand and arm issues that seem to always crop up as well as a back problem. He has always seemed to have comps to Nick Johnson, and now he gets hurt like him too Wade had a lot of helium early on, but his hitting has run cold. I see him as a backup in the bigs. His speed isn't blazing and his defense isn't out of this world. Kaprielian is a safe pick, a guy who I expect to rifle through the system with a ton of speed. His last month or so, he was throwing harder. If he maintains that velo throughout the minors, then we're looking at a potential ace. If he drops down to where his SR had him (88-92) then I think he's probably a mid tier to back end guy Refsnyder can play. His D has picked up. He can hit. He will be in the bigs soon enough Cave is a dirt dog. Everyone seems to love him. He works hard, but also lacks one exceptional tool aside from maybe speed. Reminds me a lot of Gardner

The sox need to play .650 ball to make the playoffs. They're not good enough

Rip

He's always been a more hits than IP guy. His problem this year is the homerball. Last year he averaged one a little more than every 2 starts. Now he's averaging 1HR/start. Add to that is career low ground ball rate and his still rather ordinary K rate and you have a recipe for disaster, especially in your park. No acquisition this offseason has worked. None

You're building a core around the middle of the field. I told you guys it would take a couple seasons. But with Swihart taking his licks and Vasquez getting healthy, you have the makings of a solid tandem for years to come. You have Pedroia who should be an AS and Bogaerts up the middle and Betts in CF. Come 2017, the sox will probably be the best team up the middle in baseball, assuming they don't deal them away. You win with production up the middle. You'll have it in spades, especially when these guys really establish themselves. The edges are more expendable and replaceable.

Happy he is doing well since we need an offensive force in our lineup. I don't like him, but we need him. He has taken incredibly well to being a DH, so much so that Girardi wouldn't put him in the field in NL games either. I think he has become our David Ortiz pre 2015, a guy who will pretty much not play the field at all. His bat looks quick, his pitch selection is good and his power is there. He has a .915OPS this year. Tex has a .924OPS. Those two guys have returned power to our middle and have taken the pressure off McCann, who is now hitting well also with an OPS 4 points shy of .800. Those three really have made the middle of our order dangerous again. Gardner has really taken to the leadoff spot for now, but will drop back to #2 when Ells returns. Gardy has a .810OPS to go along with 15 stolen bases. He already has a 2.5WAR for this season and we still have 90+ games to go. Ellsbury was also having a hell of a year, but we have the time to let him heal. He had an OBP of .412 when he sprained his knee. Beltran sucked donkey balls in April, but had a solid May and a torrid June. His bat in the 6 hole really has lengthened the lineup. The problem is that he is an awful fielder at this stage of his career. I remember in his prime how amazing a CFer he was. Now he can barely range in the Yankee Stadium RF. He is the DH in waiting should ARod need a rest, but he might find himself squeezed out if one of the kids gets hot. Didi is starting to hit and find that RF porch. His defense has been solid above average, something we haven't seen in YS in a decade or so. Drew has power, but has basically stayed in the lineup because he can play a slick 2b. We have 2 guys in the minors capable of handling the duties with the bat, but their gloves have been disappointing, and likely the entire reason why they aren't in the bigs right now. Headley has been a real disappointment. I thought he'd build on his solid half last yr in NY and become a YS type hitter from the left side. But he has a massive hole in his swing and he took some of his offensive issues in the field with him and has had a sub par defensive season as well. I hope he gets his act together, because I thought he'd be a major contributor to this team, but he's been a major lead balloon.

4 pages of posts for a game thread with most after the game. Definitely seeing apathy on this site. Merloni was talking about it on EEI. Even with the championship, the last thing the sox can do in this town is allow their fans to become apathetic towards them. A win tonight vs the Royals 7th starter is still a win, but if apathy sets in, expect more intense moves for the team.

Sabathia has quietly stayed healthy. His performance has been loudly below average, but the knee has been fine. Good to see Pineda come back and dominate. Skipping starts might be better for the long haul, but the stuff usually suffers in the first start back. Good to see his slider return. He and Tanaka make a formidable 1-2 as long as they stay healthy. Warren has the looks of a #3 with Sabathia the 4 and eovaldi, for now, the 5. I think nova pushed Eovaldi to the pen and becomes a pretty solid #3 for us. His stuff since he's returned has been electric

The sox are now the worst team in the AL

Tigers circa 03 were the worst I've ever seen.

We are slowly but surely getting passed in the AL East. We need Ells back and soon

The current ad is land of the bible. In that spot was a bunch of Arabic words when this post was made. That is certainly not my cpu

Spud, I know the common comparison here is Kelly, but prior to his start today, his ERA was 4.12 and his K:BB rate was solid. It is maddening that a guy with his stuff can get hit to his degree. He throws 98mph with a good slider and a developing splitter, and he has a .329BAA. I don't get it. We are running into a good problem to have with Nova looking as good as he has and the fact that we are actually short a righty reliever in the pen. Bringing Nova into the rotation and demoting Eovaldi could fix two problems without having to go outside the org. Also, our bats have gone sickly silent. We couldn't hit against a no name last night and we cannot hit against a guy who couldn't even make our final 5 this year before being traded FOR Eovaldi. These things come in waves, here's to hoping we could get them going at home tomorrow

Looks like Eovaldi is making a case to be moved to the pen. Great stuff, flashes amazing potential at times then has maddening inconsistency and blows up like this