mvp 78

Do you think Jimenez is closer to BOS than Munoz? I only mentioned Munoz because he was on the roster last season and will most likely be one of the first guys called up this year.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/05/scooter-gennett-free-agent-fine-not-playing.html You have to overpay for a guy who doesn't even feel as if he wants to play. Sounds like a plan?

Munoz is faster.

They’ll be picking the oak leaves out of their gear for the rest of the month.

Another very smart poster put this up here earlier.

Fingers crossed

The new ball will be reduced in weight by under one-tenth of an ounce, and will also be slightly less bouncy (as determined by the coefficient of restitution, or COR). While the end result of these changes won’t be entirely known until we see the baseball in action during the season, the changes seem to have been made in order to “increase consistency in the ball” and also deaden it to some extent. An independent lab cited in the league memo detailed a reduction by one or two feet of distance on fly balls hit beyond 375 feet, and an analyst who spoke with Sarris and Rosenthal believes “it’ll be like adding five feet of outfield walls to every wall in the big leagues.” The analyst believes an overall five percent reduction in home runs is possible, though it isn’t yet known how the newer ball will be affected by drag. Home run totals have soared over the last few seasons, which has led to criticism in both fan and league circles that the sport is becoming too homer-heavy and strikeout-heavy at the expense of more traditional and action-oriented station-to-station baseball. If the new ball is indeed successful at reducing home runs, Sarris and Rosenthal write that there is some risk “that it will leave the game with all those swings and misses and fewer big flies,” but it should also be noted that pitchers will surely also have to make some adjustments to how they grip and throw a slightly lighter ball. Who the hell was complaining about HR totals? Wasn't it a HR chase that brought fans back after the 94 strike? Station to station baseball is little league... Get out of here with that.

Problem with a guy like Dee getting older is that his main weapon (speed) is getting worse year over year. He once was 29.6 ft/sec, but is now at 28.3 ft/sec. That's a pretty substantial drop. That's like going from top 10 fastest player in the league to top 60. He basically went from Byron Buxton speed to Wil Myers. We dumped Jose Peraza last season and no one batted an eye. Dee is closer to Jose Peraza right now.

@redsoxstats A sentence in The Athletic today: “the Rays tried hard to beat Bloom to Pivetta; ‘we think he can be another Glasnow,’ said a Rays official.”

Truck is currently enroute to Jet Blue. Honk. Honk.

According to Eno Sarris and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, MLB is making changes to the baseball for the 2021 season which will reduce offense. Big news. In addition, five unidentified teams are adding humidors for storage of baseballs, bringing the total to 10 (the Rockies, Red Sox, Diamondbacks, Mets, and Mariners already use them) across the league. The Athletic obtained a memo which was sent to teams last Friday detailing the minor changes. The ball produced by Rawlings will be slightly less bouncy, but the overarching goal of these changes seem to be one of consistency. While this is being pitched as slight alterations, there will surely be some unintended consequences we can't possibly account for right now. Player evaluation was already going to be tough after the shortened 2020 campaign, but this makes it even more difficult. It's almost like they have no idea about GOOD changes they could make to the game!

You'd know better than any of us. I think I'm remembering too much of the 2014-17 version of Dee. He was ok in 2019, but his upside is probably 0 fWAR going forward. I also thought he played more OF than he actually has. Problem being, Dee would still be towards the top of the depth chart for the BOSOX just because of how in flux the 2B/OF positions are right now.

https://soxoutsider.substack.com/p/bostons-secret-centerfielder

Especially for that deal.

I think it makes more sense to float Kiké between two positions, but still give him 150 games. He believes he'll be starting at 2b mostly, but that really just leaves huge question marks for the OF.

Nothing too exciting.

A lot of the options I preferred are off the board. I guess I'd just sign Marisnik?

CFers still available: Jackie Bradley Jr. CF Jarrod Dyson CF Brett Gardner CF / LF Brian Goodwin CF / LF Billy Hamilton CF Jon Jay CF / LF Jake Marisnick CF Haruki Nishikawa CF Kevin Pillar CF / RF Danny Santana CF / 1B

Only guys still available are Logan Forsythe, Marwin Gonzalez, Kipnis, Jed Lowrie and Addison Russell. Seems like they aren't going to sign anyone else.

They need a $60M floor first and foremost. I'm not super worried about the luxury tax, but it should probably go away as it is artificially deflating salaries.

Yeah, he's just a platoon guy to help out in LF. Still need that CFer.

I'm sorry if you're buying AAA player jerseys. You can probably grab his game worn ST jersey at this year's Christmas at Fenway sidewalk sale.

Happy Truck Day.

Joe Buck giving on air fellatio to Michael Wacha during the 2013 WS made me pine to never hear that name again.

Wacha Wacha Wacha...