I don't know about the Strawberry thing. In his AS years, he averaged 32 HR, 95 RBI, 86 R, 23 SB, 4.7 bWAR each year. He was really good in his 20's. His age 30 season just saw him fall off a cliff, but he never saw an All Star Game at that age.
Right, but they weren't buying and selling at the deadline. They sold at the deadline, got hot afterwards and made the postseason.
It proof that the Sox could deal Chapman, Duran and someone else, but still get hot enough to make the playoffs anyway. So why not just sell?
I could see pinch hitting against a tougher lefty matchup, but I don't think it should be an automatic switch they way Cora treats some of these other LHBs.
If I got a vote:
Carlos Narvaez
Kristian Campbell (stuffing the box so that the Sox get a PIP)
Jacob Wilson
Shane Smith
Mayer (I think he could make a run at it actually)
Is O'Neill Cruz a classic leadoff hitter? Ian Happ? There are lots of guys hitting leadoff that aren't your classic leadoff type guys. I think that was my point, not that I was ranking the leadoff hitters better than Duran.
Duran and Abreu are close enough that I wouldn't be frustrated if they traded one over the other. I just believe there's more long term value in keeping Abreu.
When ownership turned on Tito and Theo after they left, it was so low. I think that really turned me off forever on them. I'll be happy for more championships, but I'll never be a John Henry fan because of what they put in the Globe.