mvp 78

Who would you have signed? http://www.espn.com/mlb/freeagents/_/position/rp Chapman? He makes more than Kimbrel and has lots of baggage. Melancon? He makes more than Kimbrel and couldn't pitch a lick in the AL. There's no shot the Dodger were letting Jansen go.

@jimcallisMLB 2nd-rder Cole Brannen signs w/@RedSox for $1.3 mil (pick 63 = $993,900). Georgia HS OF, well ab-avg speed, hit & CF instincts. @MLBDraft

Chart was trashed again...

@alexspeier As @jimcallisMLB reports, Red Sox 5th rounder Alex Scherff signs for $700K. Sox had considered him for 1st rd pick.

Beat this garbage team. Too bad for all the ticket holders who were hoping for a chance to see Trout.

It was an urgent need that they filled with an injured pitcher.

And that's the issue. The trade won't be worth it to me.

I think that's why people generally ignore pitcher W/L records. The more important stat for a pitcher is whether they pitched well, not if they pitched to the score like Jack Morris or whatever. A pitcher can only control what he does on the mound, not how the offense backs him up. This is how I see the Sox rotation: Sale - one of the best pitchers in the game ERod - injury history, inconsistent from start to start, can look like an ace in one game and struggle to get through 5 innings the next Price - probably going to be back on DL by the end of the season and having surgery in offseason, he has no command right now Porcello - ace ceiling, but gets rocked by the gopher ball as he is a pitch to contact guy and doesn't always locate well Pomeranz - couldn't pitch 7 innings if his life depended on it, his production is an average DiceK season Others: Wright - the great unknown, could have been great for this season if not for Farrell's dumb managing last year Velasquez - fine for a dumpster dive guy Johnson - a decent AAAA guy who can't pitch a full season for a multitude of reasons Owens - trade bait, can't throw strikes and doesn't have the stuff for long term success in the bigs

Which is why you don't bother trading for him. If you want him, just sign him in the offseason.

Thumbs down!!!

Yup, it's why I don't like deadline deals to begin with. I don't think they really needed Pomeranz last year enough to warrant moving Espinoza.

For me, it's not even about the results. I just think that if you have a guy that can pump it in at 100mph, that he should be the 8th inning guy, not the 7th inning guy.

It's not about winning trades. It's about making best use of the assets available. I believe Espinoza could have been saved for a trade to return a much better pitcher than Pomeranz.

He's in a throwing program, but hasn't seen in game action yet.

That's the only reason I think Maddon is a great manager. Everything else he does is awful, but his players are always ready to play.

Well, even the dumbest of managerial moves only affects the outcome .01% of the time. He also only has 12 holds out of those 22 times.

If they are using their 3 best relievers? Why is Barnes pitching the 8th?

He needs to check out the TB12 sport drink that fights concussions.

Holt may never play again. Waiting on him is foolish.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/2466501// Most people saw promise, not playoffs.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/TBR/2008.shtml Hard to see that team as a WS contender going into that year.

Working his way back from Tommy John surgery, Smith had hoped to begin a rehab assignment on Sunday, but he came down with a sore shoulder last week. It doesn't sound like a big setback, but it's unclear when he'll be game-ready. "When we sent Carson back (to Boston), we’re still in that five-day period where we’re going to let things settle down and continue to go through rehab and strengthening," Red Sox manager John Farrell said Monday. Jun 20 - 10:07 AM

I don't think Maddon is a great in game manager. He always gets his guys ready to play though. Rays always seemed to have a better record than they should have had and the Cubs smashed a 100 year old curse without issue.

Kelly should be the 8th inning guy. 7th inning can be a whatever guy is pitching well at the time. I just hope Carson Smith can contribute at some point.

@alexspeier As @SPChrisHatfield and @IanCundall note, Devers and Chavis had a timeshare at 3B in Greenville in '15. Both developed defensively during it Chavis is still getting over elbow inflammation which is causing him to be a part time DH. Maybe Chavis sees some time in LF? My guess is Chavis is 3B/DH this year and works on OF in the offseason. His glove is putrid right now.