Dojji

I think that rule may be changed at some point. This is the reason that offensive catchers don't DH very much, even though it's technically a way to use them while reducing wear on their knees and ankles. Being able to use both catchers in the lineup without having to fear losing the DH if the defensively-playing catcher gets hurt would make situations like the one we THOUGHT we had with Swihart and Vazquez at the start of the year much easier to deal with.

A Baseball Basics thread is reasonable new thread to add. I think this is fine. Maybe should have been put in MLB discussion instead.

That's true, but even though the scale is bigger, I don't think the logic changes. The simple fact of the matter is with the playoffs within reach, and a pitcher (Groome) we could add to our talent pool immediately to make up the gap, we needed a Drew Pomeranz more than we needed an Anderson Espinosa right now.

These sorts of trades -- the ones that build up your roster immediately, like the Pomeranz deal, like the Kimbrel deal -- are legitimate uses of farm assets. Not every talent we draft has to debut for this team -- in fact that's kind of impossible. Let's say I'm right and Mauricio Dubon is destined for a Starting SS/leadoff hitter gig. Can we give it to him? No, the best we can do is groom him to succeed Brock Holt and we already have Marco Hernandez, who I'm convinced is going to be a very nice backup infielder, waiting in the wings for when Holt moves on. He's excess baggage unless, God forbed, Bogaerts gets seriously hurt. Now let's say another team likes his numbers, sends a scout, likes that too, and wants Dubon to fill a hole they have at SS with an eye towards developing his potential as a top of the order hitter. Of course in that situation you name a reasonable price for Dubon, who's excess talent for us at the position, and see what you can get in the offer. You don't dither around because trading him for a big league player technically weakens our farm. It's always a legitimate use of the talent you have on a farm, which may or may not be a match for what your big league roster needs at the moment, to improve said roster. Especially when you're a big market and can also plug holes in other ways.

Pomeranz has spent the overwhelming majoority of his career in the American League. His half season in SD was his first, last and only NL experience. But with that said, why not use the expendable guy who actually happens to be reasonably fast? Buchholz was on the roster at the time I do believe.

You can build the best bullpen the world has ever seen, and if players start to underperform, you look like an idiot. You can assemble the most talent-free gaggle of jokers, and if someone starts pitching over their head, you look like a genius. I really feel that DD did everything that could reasonably be expected of a GM, to improve this roster.

If he hits .270, can put 15 a year over the fence, and defend like he's capable of, that *is* all star level for a catcher, and if he grades out at that level he'll make the all star team a few times. That's basically the career level Jason Varitek lived at, a couple standout years aside, except with a better defensive toolset. You're talking about a guy REGRESSING to the level of the best catcher we've ever had as a franchise who wasn't named Carlton Fisk. I can only hope Leon works out that well.

I would be surprised if he didn't finish out as an above average catcher on both sides of the ball. Remember folks -- we picked this guy up for zero talent. We got him from the Nats for STRAIGHT UP CASH. Leon may go down as Ben Cherington's single greatest move as Boston's GM.

I still think that Che-Hsuan Lin had a shot to establish himself on someone's bench as a defense guy, but it wound up that no one really had a reason to let him in and give him that shot. It happens that way some times where a guy has the talent but just never gets a chance to break in (see also: Dan Butler) I'm a sucker for the athletic speedy defensive CF types, guys like Joey Gathright, Jarrod Dyson, and Lin. I've seen them pay off enough in late innings to appreciate them in action. Most folks want an outfielder to be a guy who hits a ton though, so it's not hard to see why Lin couldn't break in. A lot of my guys who don't make it fit into that category -- guys that COULD have been useful, but really never got the chance to show one way or the other..

Alright then well at least this thread is here when we need it in a couple months. I feel silly.

Oh -- for the record -- one of the guys I'm keeping an eye on is Portland SS Mauricio Dubon. Soxprospects is talking about his potential as a utility man, but I see a mid-tier starting SS here -- the man has no power, but is very patient at the plate, and makes good contact. He's also 21 in Portland, so you have to think there's potential for gap power to develop. Combine a good OBP approach with what Soxprospects calls good defensive skills, and what looks like decent speed, and I could see Dubon finishing his career starting as a SS and leadoff man for some small market team.

Every now and again one of those guys comes up good and that's all the impetus I need to keep doing my little bit of research to try to spot the next one

Ahh I missed that. Sorry.

We're going to probably want one of these eventually, and I have a question that I think is related more to this than any of the current established topics. We know that Pedroia is probably going to swell his collection of gold gloves, and if Betts doesn't come home with a Silver Slugger, I'd be astonished. Porcello is in the running for the Cy but I think he's going to fall just a little short to Sale, but there's plenty of time for things to change on that front. My question for the moment is based on something I saw on the broadcast that kind of is worth talking about, do you see Sandy Leon bringing home Rookie of the Year? He just missed losing his eligibility last year, and I don't see any reason why he isn't a candidate, and since he plays catcher and has hit like a monster this year, he has to be one of the top candidates.

I'd agree except once upon a time, I was that stupid. In the 06 offseason I was arguing to make Josh Beckett the closer -- because he had good stuff and was struggling in the rotation. I'd also fallen in love with my first "Dojji type" -- Kason Gabbard -- and wanted to see him have a bigger role on the team. I managed to make a thorough ass of myself on both points. Turns out I was right about Gabbard, though not for the right reason, and I was dead dead wrong about Beckett. (I still think that Gabbard could have made it if he had managed to avoid the elbow injuries that destroyed his command and control -- he pitched very, very well for us that year until the deadline when he got traded to Texas)

I think our rotation is going to be in a much, MUCH better shape next year. We had to do a near-complete revolution in our rotation this year and none of our opening day projections actually worked out. We will be in a position to know a lot more about the pitching talent we bring to the table next year, especially if Clay Buchholz is not a part of the mix and we've brought in a nice professional swing man type or get some productivity out of Owens, Johnson or Elias to replace him

His stock fell so fast, one year he was a hero of the 2004 ALCS, the next, he was on the scrap heap and finished the year WITH the Yankees. Weird times...

Because we keep trying to rebuild our rotation from the ground up Count your blessings. The team stayed in contention while the rotation was sorting itself out.

And that almost matters. The Yankees are behind us in the standings and likely to remain so for the balance of the year. The teams to beat are Baltimore and Toronto. It's always nice to beat the Yankees, but there is literally no point in trying to stack the team against NYY at any time, but especially not when NYY is already worse than we are. This is not the last 2 decades when the only way to advance was to get through NYY. I don't care what this team does against New York right now as long as they hold their place in the standings.

I.... have no idea why this post exists.

Yes. It's a difference of an extra baserunner every 6 innings or so. That adds up over the course of 60-80 appearances. Besides, you haven't given us a single concrete reason why using the objectively inferior pitcher in the objectively most critical relief role is a good idea. In fact you seem to be struggling very badly to articulate any way in which it isn't a very, very bad idea. And certainly you're clearly demonstrating that you didn't think this through anywhere near long enough to create a whole new thread on a topic already being discussed in, and fully capable of being posted in, at least one other thread, in clear violation of forum rules.

*sigh* I remember when I was this naive, posting wild theories in complete disregard to the established and clearly posted forum rules. I also remember getting banned from 4 forums before I decided to play by the rules instead of doing my own wacky thing.

Could be a media issue. You know what our media is like if they have a story they think they can beat to death.

You consider every acquirable player. You don't give Papelbon special consideration but only an idiot rules out bringing in a player who would make the team better.

Left field is probably the place you can play where arm matters the least. If the worst thing you can say about Benintendi is that he doesn't have a strong throwing arm, I'll take that if the rest of the skillset is good.