mvp 78

Yes. 9pm would be perfect.

Thursdays aren't great. I'd rather it be 8:30, but I can make it work if I have to.

I think one of our many mods deleted that post.

The 2003 offseason was interesting for sure for the Sox due to the crunch at DH/1B/3B. They had Millar, Giambi, Ortiz, Mueller and Hillenbrand all fighting for 3 spots. The opening day lineup was Millar 1B, Hillenbrand 3B and Giambi at DH. Hillenbrand had basically a fulltime role playing 50/50 1b/3b until he was moved in May. Ortiz was stuck in a timeshare with Giambi at DH until June.

Crickets.

I'm fine with that.

DD goes from "desperate" to "no plan" in the blink of an eye. Funny how that works around here.

Depleted farm? It was still top 10 according to Baseball America. 9. BOSTON RED SOX 2011 RANK: 17. 2010 RANK: 5. IMPACT TALENT: The most impressive Red Sox prospects are position players who haven't yet proven themselves at higher levels: 3B Will Middlebrooks, SS Xander Bogaerts and C Blake Swihart. Most of their top minor league pitchers regressed in 2011, though the organization was happy with the progress made by RHP Anthony Ranaudo. DEPTH: No large-revenue team has invested as much in the draft as Boston, which spent $44.1 million on bonuses from 2007-11. The new draft spending limitations that go into effect this year may hurt the Sox more than any other club, as almost all of their best prospects (Middlebrooks, Swihart, Ranaudo, OF Brandon Jacobs, 3B Garin Cecchini, RHP Matt Barnes, OF Jackie Bradley) were over-slot draft signings. 2012 ROOKIES: C Ryan Lavarnway has nothing left to prove offensively in Triple-A but no clear path to playing time in Boston. SS Jose Iglesias could take over as a starter as soon as he shows he can handle quality pitching, which he has yet to do. RHP Alex Wilson could give a reworked bullpen a boost.

I'm sure this will be revisited every year until JD is no longer a Red Sox and Hosmer is no longer a Padre.

Teams generally don't have an emergency catcher sitting on an MLB bench.

With year round conditioning, ST is basically a company retreat where you hang out with a bunch of younger people you won't see after you leave and you spend more time golfing than actually doing work.

I don't like "Porkchop" and I definitely didn't like when people were calling him "ham sandwich" (cuz his name looks like porchetta).

@nickcafardo Will Sox trade Leon to make room for Swihart? @alexspeier This is a question scouts following the Sox are mulling, at a time when Swihart has looked excellent. Sox are thin at catcher behind Vazquez/Leon/Swihart, which might encourage Sox to keep all 3. But, Sox have multiple 1Bs, LFs, and Cs in front of Swihart, making role unclear. Either Nick Cafardo reads all my posts or others clearly agree with me.

For Porcello, location is far more important than velo. If he can stop leaving pitches in the "hit me" zone, he'll be better than 2017 easily.

I don't like that bench. I'd rather Sandy's spot be utilized by another super utility guy like Lin or Holt. It just gives you more options.

The single most maddening thing about watching the 2017 Sox...

It does when there are only 25 people on a roster.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2018/02/27/red-sox-planning-more-aggressive-approach-plate/IvhnEH6O9BE6UFYuRI58oM/story.html The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier runs through some troubling numbers for the Red Sox’ offense from 2017, observing that the team’s lineup was startlingly ineffective in hitters’ counts. Boston took an abnormally passive approach at the plate last season, per Speier, and while they were among the game’s more productive clubs in 0-2, 1-2 and 2-2 counts, they ranked in the bottom third of baseball in 3-1, 2-0, 2-1, 1-0, 0-0, 1-1 and 0-1 counts (by measure of OPS). The Red Sox ranked last in the American League in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage in 0-0 counts, he adds. Speier spoke at length with principal owner John Henry about the trends, which did not go unnoticed by ownership or the front office and may have played a notable role in the organization’s coaching overhaul. Notably, Speier adds that new skipper Alex Cora saw his Astros pounce on the first pitch with regularity and with great success in 2017.

@jcmccaffrey In his fifth Grapefruit League game, Swihart is now 6-for-13 with four doubles and a homer. Bye Sandy.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/juiced-baseballs/ Dingers for everyone!

At this point, the Yanks are really no different than the Rays or Orioles to me. There is only one X factor in this "rivalry". https://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=12161&position=SS

People take this place seriously?

It would have came with the qualifier that JD and Stanton are injury risks and can't be counted on.

Sox players that can hit 20 HRs: Mitch Xander Devers Betts JBJ Beni JD Hanley (could hit 20 off the bench)

Moving Betts to 2b and putting Beni in RF is legitimately a nightmare scenario. Betts can move to 2b when he hits his mid 30's.