mvp 78

He's been lucky that the Sox have been such a rollercoaster franchise. At least it's helped him to be right once in a while.

Myers is a platoon guy. Backs up at RF/1B/DH. Super-SUB guy like Kiké!

Jake Reed is changing is arm slot... again. Could be interesting? IDK. Bazardo was what he was. Sometimes these arm slot guys can give a few good years out of nowhere. https://blogs.fangraphs.com/red-sox-acquisition-jake-reed-has-a-less-funky-arm-slot-in-mind/ “I’d pretty much always been low three-quarters. I was pitching pretty well in the minors, but in 2017 the Twins changed over their front office. Baseball was getting a lot more progressive, which sort of changed how guys are valued. I threw pretty hard — I was a mid-to-upper-90s kind of guy — but my stuff didn’t necessarily perform super well analytically. So about halfway through the 2019 season we had a long conversation and came to the idea of me dropping down sidearm and trying to create more movement on my sinker, and improve my slider. That was the first time I really made that transition from how I’d thrown my whole life. “I dropped about a foot, probably more. At my lowest, I was probably in the high threes as far as release height, whereas right now I’m closer to five. So I dropped down and things were going like we wanted them to — the movement improved on both of my pitches — but a couple months into it, I started wrestling with my command. I was kind of all over the place. My strikeouts were up, and stuff-wise it was a good year, but numbers-wise it wasn’t a good year. It was a strange year.” “I struggled early on this year. Now I’m sort of going back in the direction of how I used to throw, or at least I’m trying to; it’s something I can’t really do during the season, although my arm angle has already drifted up. That transition happened probably in mid-June. And then the other thing is — maybe you’ve noticed — my arm out of my glove goes really high. It’s swinging more like a normal arm swing. “Last offseason, my shoulder was kind of bothering me and without me even knowing it, I started throwing a certain way to where it didn’t hurt so much. By the time I started seeing video of myself, I was like, ‘I don’t remember doing that on purpose.’ People ask, ‘How long have you been throwing like this?’ I tell them, ‘I didn’t try to do this, it’s just kind of where my arm has drifted.’ The body is interesting in the way that it works.” “I think if you were to look at my release, it would probably be similar to some other low-slot sidearm righties. What makes it so different is the way in which I get there. It’s not like anything that anybody else is doing. And to be honest, it just doesn’t feel natural. That’s part of what is making me want to go back to how I used to throw. Sometimes it almost feels like what I’m doing is throwing with my other hand. It’s interesting. It’s a weird dynamic.”

And you were famously high on the 2013 Red Sox chances. And you even put your 7 year "I've been right everytime" call on the 2021 Sox to not be a contending team.

Kluber scares you, but you'd want Eovaldi or Wacha back?

I'll bold the moves I think the Sox should actually do: C - Vaz: 2/8 1B/DH - Mancini: 3/30 SS - Bogey: 6/150 OF - Myers: 2/20 OF - Beni: 4/50 SP - Bassitt: 3/60 SP - Kluber: 2/36 RP - Jansen: 1/16 RP - Montero: 1/12 RP - Fulmer: 1/10

SEA makes it to the playoffs once and he has delusions of grandeur.

Reset in 2024? IDK. Nick just asked for moves to move the meter.

That's a doubleheader for Niko.

C - Vaz: 2/8 1B/DH - Mancini: 3/30 SS - Bogey: 6/150 OF - Myers: 2/20 OF - Beni: 4/50 SP - Bassitt: 3/60 SP - Kluber: 2/36 RP - Jansen: 1/16 RP - Montero: 1/12 RP - Fulmer: 1/10 Bloom signs all those guys within a span of 10 minutes and then takes a long nap.

Ah, so you must be the muscle behind Kimmi's crew, eh?

The age is a huge factor here. If you look at Derek Jeter, he only had 3 seasons above 4 fWAR after he turned 31. Xander will surely be productive, but that production is going to start to drop.

The under the radar pitching All Star: Starting Pitcher: Brian Keller The Red Sox continue to get excellent innings by pillaging the Yankees in the Rule 5 draft. While less impactful than Garret Whitlock, Keller became a cornerstone of the Worcester pitching staff after Boston selected him in the minor league phase of Rule 5 in December. The right-hander slid between starting and bullpen roles as rotation spots were needed, performing admirably in both roles. He was at his most effective during a 13-appearance stretch from early June to mid-August, posting a 1.40 ERA .162/.264/.266 opponents slash, and striking out 63 in 51 1/3 innings. Keller was thrice awarded as the SoxProspects.com Pitcher of the Week, He finished the season with a 3.27 ERA, and his .200 opponents average ranked second in the organization behind only Bello among pitchers with over 70 innings.

On Sikes: The only player on this roster without a top-25 ranking pedigree, Sikes clawed his way to All-Star status with a strong season under the radar with Salem and Greenville. Hitting just .164 in mid-May, a run of injuries pushed Sikes into additional playing time, and the 23-year-old responded. He hit .357/.514/.768 in an 18-game stretch beginning on May 29 and found himself getting moved up to Greenville on July 4. Sikes continued his solid play at the higher level, hitting .248/.351/.446 in 44 games for the Drive. The 18th-round pick joins fellow 2021 draftees Mayer, Kavadas, and Hickey. Sikes is definitely an under the radar guy. Not one of the names that comes up very often. Good that he got some recognition.

SP's 2022 All Star Pitchers SP Bello SP Drohan SP Mata SP Keller SP Perales RP German RP Kelly RP Politi

No. It could just change who use assume is your best 3rd or 4th hitter.

The #9 hitter has to have ludicrous speed.

No, I'm pretty sure that's a kimmi thing.

Nobody is giving Xander 8 years. He's also not getting 30M AAV. I'm not sure I'd give Correa 30M either. Turner, yes. Per Statcast, Xander got a big bonus to fWAR from defensive shifting this year. When he was in his normal defensive positioning, he had a negative OAA. In fact, his 5 OAA comes solely from when he was positioned to the right of 2b. That has gone away for him.

rLrLr Not bad?

Is the Luxury Tax inflating at 10% too or no? 150/6

Well, Henry said he's calling Xander when he gets back from Aruba. We'll see if that materializes.

I agree 100%. For Kiké to stick there, he's going to need to get to .340 or so. It's doable, but his career line is closer to .315 which is too low IMO.

Step 1: Make Bogey a competitive offer. Step 2: Sign Jose Iglesias for a cheap one year deal. Step 3: Leave the door open and wait to see if the Bogey market ever materializes.

They aren't signing deGrom. They most likely aren't signing Nimmo either. Garcia is "cheaper" to acquire because he kinda stinks. This is a "spending money to save money move" thing? Is Beni going to get much more than $13M AAV? I'd rather have him than Garcia for sure. Bring him and Bogey back and it's an olive branch to the fans.