Dojji

Possibly, but couch-potato analytics did suggest a very favorable risk-reward ratio.

Sorry no. Yawkey Way is not about Tom Yawkey anymore. This is a thing that a lot of historical revisionists don't understand. Yawkey Way is probably more famous now for being Yawkey Way than for being named after Tom Yawkey. If you asked Red Sox fans as a group what Yawkey Way was named after I'd be willing to bet at least 75% of them would have no idea at all. The way is more famous than the man, and is not actually associated with Tom Yawkey in any meaningful way for most fans. If this is being done in some kind of reaction to the Emancipation Park incident... just don't, OK? The two things have nothing to do with each other. To me it would be like giving Fenway Park a corporate sponsored name. I mean there's no real reason they couldn't do it but... UGGH. Plz no thx. Sometimes it's just better to let an old controversy die.

I imagine it would, unless you could demonstrate that the guy was athletic enough to play professional baseball.

Dombrowski won a ring with the Marlins in 1997.

You're talking about Herb Washington. And I do think it was more than a PR move. Finley was a mad scientist type, he liked to try things. Sometimes they worked, a lot of times they didn't, but until you try a thing you never truly know if it's gonna work or not.

I narrowly disagree with you Kimmi, if only in the sense that you never take an option to improve the franchise entirely off the table. FA and big trades of prospects for stars can and has helped us. The trick is to choose the right people to take risks on. The Sale trade was a Godsend for us. We got our money and talent's worth out of that trade, absolutely. DD identified a chance to make a huge gain and moved on it, good for him. It was a high risk maneuver that netted us a high reward. Don't take that option off the table and expect the strongest big league roster you can have. The solution is to be accurate in your scouting and make sure you do all of your due dilligence.

I can't justify both the cost in talent and the financial cost. I think that we could use another big bat. I do not believe with the kind of dead money already weighing this franchise down that now is the time to make a move for one. We need to let the old mistakes pass through the system before we make new ones.

It was gorgeous, but rookies have put on a good 3 weeks before. Being excited is fine, but don't sell out. Not yet.

We simply don't know that yet. He ran into one against one of the best RP's in the business. That's not even a good sign, not yet. Anyone who throws that hard will get one ran into from time to time. I like that he did that, don't get me wrong, but in terms of moving the hit/bust needle, it's a baby step in the right direction.

The team handled it correctly. Rushing him any sooner was risky. they pushed him pretty hard as it is. Once they were satisfied that he'd learned what he could from AA, he is perfectly eligible according to the way the team operates, to try his luck in the big leagues. And so he did, and so far it's working. Let's not get ahead of ourselves though. As great as he looks it's been less than a month. Will Middlebrooks looked pretty flashy at this point in his career too. Things look promising but nothing us guaranteed. I'll relax a lot more when teams have seen Devers a few different times and he's still hitting their best pitching.,

Pomeranz has averaged 5 2/3 innings a start over the season. That means about 2/3 of his starts were 6 innings or more. That's not great, but it's not bad either, especially for a guy who went into the season on the bubble. The pitching on the whole has done moderately well for us this year. We had enough depth that we haven't had to rely on third rate talent for more than a handful of starts. If we can get everyone healthy by October we're in OK shape.

There's the organization and then there's the players. I doubt the organization is rallying around Price. I don't think anything Eckersley did offended the organization. When I talked about the fraternity, I meant the fraternity. The players may be meatheads, but they have a code, and they seem to feel that Eckersley broke the code. That's the only reason I can think of that Pedroia might rally behind Price. What seems to be a very little thing to a fan ranting on an internet forum can become a really big thing if the voice of NESN is sounding off on a player, especiually if the players have the sense (and they probably do, I would) that NESN speaks first and foremost for Red Sox management which is their paymaster. That magnifies little things into big things very quickly. It can turn a "yuck" into a "the bosses are not happy" and that will get anyone who's a bit media sensitive going just about every time.

Probably something that doesn't seem that bad to us, but for the guys on the front lines, it crossed a line. Thing is as a former player Eckersley should know where those lines are, and if he crossed them, he did it knowing he was taking his chances.

You trust the media entirely too much. They're laying the spin on about as thick as they can to protect their own. Don't fall for the smokescreen. Eckersley threw the first punch in that little spat. If price was on an island I'd feel differently, but a lot of players who should know better if the media reports were on the level were backing Price, I think that counts for something.

I will usually support a player over a critic who does nothing but wear out an office chair and say words. Eckersley is an analyist now, not a pitcher. He may be a former player but that was a long time ago now, and if he's going to step out of the professional mode to criticize players who are struggling, players have a right not to take that kindly. I think the key here is the actions of other players on the team. Pedroia in particular is a guy I'd expect to be above the kind of anger Price was displaying unless there was a reason. Him apparently being on Price's side means there WAS a reason, that Eck stepped over the line and offended the fraternity, and he's going to have to be the one to deal with that. The fact of the matter is that this looks an awful lot like even Farrell is inclined to take the player's side. Farrel saying "we're focused on winning baseball games" makes it clear that he feels Eckersley is owed nothing. Combine that with a guy like Price who's frustrated enough with his own performance without help from the deskmeat, and the sense that of all the NESN crew, Eckersley should have known better, I have to say that I'm much more understanding of Price right at the moment. Especially because we're seeing this spectacle mostly through an Eck-friendly filter since the NESN guys have his back. it's also worth noting that Eckersley is no longer travelling with the team while Price seems to have gotten the proverbial Stern Talking To and nothing more for his words to Eckersley. The fact is that Eck has gone native and is media now, media who want good rapport with the players need to stay professional, Eck didn't, Price rounded on him over it and it sound like a large group of the players agreed. The maverick here is Eck, not Price. Price is just the guy dumb enough to say something.

Once the Sox promoted Devers to AAA, it's a long held belief of the Red Sox organization that AAA is more of a waiting room for MLB callups than a developmental level in its own right. It's worked in the past for everyone from Jed Lowrie to Justin Masterson to Jacoby Ellsbury. Once they're comfortable stashing Devers in the Tuck, they think he's good to go and I'm OK with a callup to see what he has. It's still at least a bit aggressive, and may backfire. But who knows, it might even save the season.

Swap Montreal and Carolina. Think about it geographically. Your NL East is centered much further south than the AL East. If you put that NL east division on a map, Montreal sticks out like a sore thumb because it's so far north. Almost as much so as TB in the AL East which I think is in that division mostly because the AL wants to pretend its Eastern Division covers the whole coast despite the fact that the state hosting the second southernmost team in the AL East fought for the Union in the Civil War.. Think of it this way: Number of teams north of New York: AL East: 3 (DET, TOR, BOS, HM Brooklyn which is pretty much New York). NL East: 1 (hello, Montreal) Montreal is a much greater fit geographically for the American League with Boston, Toronto and New York. And the three powerful fanbases of the AL East titans will help buoy them up financially, as will the natural rivalry with Boston and Toronto. The new Brooklyn franchise would also be convenient, leaving Tampa Bay as the only true AL East outlier. Meanwhile Carolina is almost exactly central to the NL east geographically and potentially benefit from a natural rivalry with the Braves, so if you're moving a team to another league, the new Carolina franchise would be the one. the Braves and Marlins are about the same distance in one direction as the Nats and Phillies are, and if Montreal is in the AL, New York is the northernmost team. Granted, this would have been a better argument in the era of the train. But travel expenses still matter, especially if we're thinking about how far a fan will go to watch a game on the road. The bandwagons of BOS, TOR, and NYY are huge, and would absolutely go to Montreal to take in a game. Hell, it's less than a day to drive to Montreal from any of New York, Toronto or Boston. Only Tampa Bay in that division would be flight-only distances for a weekend trip to Montreal. That gives Montreal a large revenue advantage in in-division games which is a shot in the arm for a team that can struggle with attendance. I've thought almost since the Expos died that any new Montreal team should be in the AL, for very good regional, geographic and economic reasons.

Agreed. Pablo leaving is actually the best thing for both the team and the player. We don't need or want him, and he doesn't have to stick around to collect his money. Part ways and let bygones be bygones. Pablo was just another big FA bust in a decade full of them, and he wasn't the reason any of "his" Red Sox teams faltered, so what did we lose in the end?

I was all for giving Sandoval a chance when we could afford it. We're competing for a tough division title. We CANNOT afford playing time based on charity.

Love to have Beltre. Or we can let Chewy try to hold down the job until he proves he can't do it but if we're shooting for the postseason I think you want the professional if the price is reasonable, with Chewy as an injury reserve.

That's why I used the Leon comp. Sandy Leon isn't anything like the level he was producing at for a little while last year but he did clearly absorb some level of improvement over his previous career level. Basically I suspect that like Leon, Lin made an adjustment the league will eventually catch up to, but still yielded a net improvement. Someone on SoSH suggested that if you corrected for normal BABIP, Lin's line would be something in the .275/.320/.410 range. I'd take that over a punch in the face anyday. That version of Lin will do until Devers is ready or a professional can be secured. And it's more than good enough for bench service after that. If Lin can produce at that level he'll be better than the majority of reserve infielders, especially with a shortstop's athleticism to back it up

Lin is like Leon last year -- an illusion, but a very useful illusion. Ride it until you can't, that's the verdict I have.

*cough* http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/moustmi01.shtml

And I would rather throw this season into the dumpster than risk that asset. We do NOT have a good track record developing third basemen. Give him all the time he needs to get ready. This is not some college kid with multiple years of preprofessional experience. High school kids and IFA's have a VERY VERY spotty track record when rushed. And you can expect them to struggle a bit in their first year or so almost regardless. Very few high school guys come out of the box swinging, that's what you draft college prospects like Benintendi for. Leaving him in the minors reduces the amount of time his learning curve HURTS this team at the big league level. Promoting Devers because he has the long range potential to be a 30 HR bat doesn't mean he'll be one this year. All the history I ever read about this kind of prospect says that high school and DSL guys take time to warm up to big league play, Adrian Beltre did, Xander Bogaerts did, Middlebrooks who was a high school pick never managed the adjustment at all. Hell, Pedro Martinez, who was so naturally gifted he started pretty strong, didn't REALLY come into his own until his age 25 season, and by then of course, he'd been in the big leagues for 4+ years and the Montreal Expos could not capitalize on what they'd managed to create because he got expensive. With the example of Pedro to inform us, what that tells us is that all you'll be accomplishing pushing Devers into the limelight now is starting his service time clock before he's ready to produce a high level and by the time he is productive he's also expensive. Just like happened with Pedro. and exactly the opposite of good asset management with your prospects. And I remind you that that's the best case scenario. Oh, if he struggles he might not play over the stopgaps anyway, and then you're REALLY not helping by having rushed him to the bigs. Do not -- EVER -- make the mistake of trying to fill franchise needs by promotion. Promote kids when they're ready, bridge to them until they are. Franchise asset management 101. If you're not drafting for need (and you're not, because nobody's that dumb) then don't promote for need.

I think that would be a disastrous mistake. A guy like Benintendi who comes from the college ranks has a lot more reps under his belt at a semiprofessional level. He can abstract that into skills required to jump up a level of ball, after all he's already done so a few times. High school guys like Middlebrooks and IFA's like Devers I really do feel you can't be nearly as aggressive with because they don't have that semiprofessional experience. Thre are fundamental things they don't know about being full time baseball players that they have to learn in the minors, unlike college draftees who learned a lot of that stuff on their baseball scholarships. Rushing these high school kids and IFAs as if they'd had that college experience and already handled the transitions college players have to master to thrive in school, disrupts their schedule on learning skills that have nothing to do directly with the sport of baseball. I guess what I'm saying is you put Devers in the slow cooker and let him marinate until he's done, you're going to wind up with a far better product then if you take the same ingredients and literally throw them in the fire. you can't manage primary franchise assets like Devers as if this year is the only one that matters. He's here to save the franchise in 2020, not this year.