mvp 78

NESN spent considerable effort that year painting Springs as a solution as a late inning arm. Speier and others regaled us about his spin rate on his changeup. Springs had a top 5% whiff rate in 2020. There was a lot of communication from the organization about Springs being a valuable arm, while you never heard about Osich, Mazza, Covey, et al. They seemed to really like the guy.

Let's see him get to 3.8 first.

If Xander goes and they can't re-sign Raffy, should they just trade him in the offseason?

Sano 2016: 0.6 fWAR That's a no for me dawg.

What if he struck out 500 times, but hit 100 HR's with 400 R'sBI? Would that be okay for you?

He was ok, but you didn't have to give him an extra 1 fangWIN. His defense was outstanding. His 100 wRC+ needs to be better for 20M+. I will not apologize for that saying.

I'm glad that there is a team finding success with a bunch of "lesser" guys who just put the ball in play.

Rafaela's issue is his 5% bb rate. His A+ numbers are bolstered by a 409 BABIP. His chase rate right now is pretty terrible and the Sox staff is working on it with him. If he can relax on swinging at pitches out of the zone and get the bb rate up, he's a surefire starting MLBer.

I can kind of see your point. However, Hernandez still isn't a very good catcher (part of the reason they claimed defensive minded Caleb Hamilton) and only OPS'd 748 at WOO last season as a bat first guy. He's 24 and next year is really make or break for him here. If he doesn't really mash next season, he's gone. He's the 32nd ranked prospect and seems to drop every time the Sox Prospects guys re-rank the system.

He's just not getting barreled and he's throwing his sinker more again. A lot of his other metrics are the same again. I think hitters will have a bounce back year against him next season.

Haven't heard the S.P. guys mention what Stephen Scott's defensive profile looks like behind the plate since the transition. They have him projected as the starting POR C next season.

@MLBPipeline On a big league field, Stephen Scott continued raking in the AFL. The #RedSox catching prospect raised his average to .417 with another multihit game He’s making the most of the opportunity, especially Saturday’s chance to play at Chase Field. “Awesome experience,” Scott said after his Scottsdale Scorpions beat the Peoria Javelinas, 10-6. “The field is pristine. You get a sense of what the game can be like. It’s exciting to see and I hope to be playing on these fields all the time one day.” The way Scott has played this fall points to him perhaps being able to do that. After going 2-for-2 with a walk on Saturday, he’s hitting .417/.440/.750 with a pair of homers and eight RBIs, with four multi-hit games in his six total games played. Yes, it’s a hitting-friendly league, but even with that caveat, it’s a vast improvement from his .219/.346/.377 line he put together between High-A and Double-A during the regular season Scott’s best chance at reaching the big leagues might come courtesy of his defensive home. The 25-year old became a full-time catcher in 2022 after having dabbled a little bit behind the plate as an amateur. He had played outfield almost exclusively for Vanderbilt as a senior and didn’t catch at all in his first summer of pro ball. He mixed in some catching in 2021 before making it his forever home by catching 67 games in 2022. “I had done a little bit of catching in high school and college and they approached me after the 2019 season and started talking to me about making that transition,” said Scott, who in addition to his two hits threw out a potential basestealer on Saturday. “After last year, we sat down and had some conversations about a full-time switch. It’s taken off from there. “It’s been a big transition and the Red Sox have worked a lot with me. Between Luke Montz, Mickey Jiang, Chad Epperson, those are the catching guys who have really helped me a lot in my career and helped me make that transition. I love it and I love being back there.” Being able to get more reps this fall has certainly aided his defensive development. He caught 34 games with Double-A Portland this year and handling the Scorpions staff has given him the opportunity to catch more advanced-level arms. “It’s helping a lot,” Scott said. “There are a lot of really good pitchers in this league and on this staff. To be able to come in and work with them and see a lot of different shapes, everything from big sinkers to rising fastballs. We even have a submariner in the bullpen. It’s fun, learning new guys and what they got, what makes them tick, that’s all part of being a catcher. I try to embrace that.”

I think people expected a little bit of regression, but Story had kind of a bad year. He shouldn't be a 100 wRC+ guy. He needs to be better than that for what he's paid regardless of his defense.

If his bat really came around, Sox would love to just plop him in CF for 6 years at low cost. For now, they rotate him between CF and SS just to let him keep refining his game at both positions if they just use him as a UTIL in 2024.

Niko Kavadas has picked things up at the plate as of late. After starting the season with just one hit in his first five at-bats, the right-handed hitting first baseman is now slashing .308/.609/.385 with one double, one RBI, three runs scored, nine walks, and six strikeouts across six games (23 plate appearances). He has drawn the third-most walks in the AFL thus far and owns the sixth-highest on-base percentage among all hitters in the league. 40% BB rate for Niko.

Rafaela's glove is MLB ready at SS and CF. He's a plus plus defender.

I guess? Sox better not eat any of that salary though. I think Story is valuable in so far as he can play multiple positions and has a lot of power. He's very good at 2b. I think next year he'll will be a better campaign for him.

And before you go "I didn't say SLG!!!" you can look that his SLG rate closely aligns with his swings in OBP. He needs all the help he can get now that he's away from Coors. Reducing his k's is just part of it.

SLG at Coors 2017: 654 (386 away) 2016: 693 (454 away) 2019: 662 (445 away) 2018: 678 (452 away) SLG at Fenway 2022: 517 (407 away) To be the real Trevor Story, he needs to bring the k's back down to about 25% because that SLG that we remember probably isn't coming back. He didn't get 20M to be a 100 wRC+ guy and at 30% k rate, that's where he'll be.

Romero can be moved to 2b. Story and Xander can be moved elsewhere as well. If these guys are really good enough, you can make room on the roster. Just because Xander has a contract for 6 years, doesn't mean he's the SS for 6 years. Rafaela has a viable glove, but his bat isn't there.

I think it depends on the prospect and depends on the guy they are bringing back. I don't believe in the whole "wasting a year" nonsense that people on here were talking about on Friday. Most of us thought the 2021 team was just an 86 win team. They made it to the ALCS. With one more high leverage starter, they could have gotten to the WS.

Hard to get your OBP up when your k rate is at 30%. If it's down to 23%, it's a little more doable, which kinda was my point. His production can be very good, but he will always strike out.

I'm concerned that they had this guy in house for months and then just let him go. Sure, they liked the metrics enough to bring him in, but the in house guys just didn't like what they saw while he was here? He ended up producing after the SSS of 2020. Seems like a big mistake by Bloom IMO.

With expanded playoffs, Sox should ALWAYS be close to WC contention at the very least. The rollercoaster we've had since 2011 needs to go away.

Story could stay healthy and the k's can get a little better, but he has always been a pretty big k guy. The OF was embarrassing this year. We'll see what it looks like going into 2023. Verdugo hasn't taken any big step forward nor should we expect him to at this point. Health from Kiké will be big. Probably need to grab a FA RFer. I don't see them getting a #1 SP in FA. It would be cost prohibitive and the names available all have certain question marks attached to them health/age/consistency.