mvp 78

DET was 21st for RHB in park factors (24th in HR).

If his OPS goes to 850+ rather than 750+, then yes.

https://www.milb.com/player/stephen-gonsalves-624427

Rafaela looks good RIGHT NOW IN SPRING TRAINING and a lot of people are super excited about it (see: Lou Merloni). However, it's hard for me to extrapolate such a small sample against pitchers that are working on their stuff rather than trying to get guys out. He's also not always going against tippy top pitchers... I mean, I get that there are some good swing decisions that he's made so far, but I don't want to make too much out of it until we see it over a longer term during the regular season. It's good to be hopeful, but don't project him to cut his k rate in half and his bb rate to get to 10% or something silly.

I didn't understand your point because you didn't say where Rafaela was, you just said is Rafaela better than Campbell or Romy/Hamilton platoon. To me, I wondered if you meant Rafaela was in the mix at 2b. You didn't have him listed anywhere else in your post! Where else would I assume you had him? Sometimes you make people read a little too much in between the lines with your 90k posts. 🫠

I think that's basically how Campbell, Mayer and Anthony make their way onto the season early on anyway (performing bigly, MLB not performing bigly, MLB injuries).

If he has a big season, he's gone IMO.

He said GonSALVES, which is an entirely different name.

With Hickey, the glove was always a question and the likelihood of him having to move to 1B/LF was always in consideration. I don't believe there is desperation here, it's just the realization that C isn't working out.

I don't want Rafaela in the IF anymore unless he's a super UTIL guy that is just playing backup to everyone. If he's the 2b, it's a waste. He should be CF or RF.

Who? There is nobody by that name in the org.

This is a very high brown forum! 🧐

Mayer will be AAA to start, deservedly so since he has zero AB's in AAA due to constant injury issues that have slowed his progression. However, this doesn't really leave him out of the picture in the short or long term. In the short term, any number of guys are currently struggling with injuries or at least have a history of them (Devers, Story, Masa, Casas) and others have a history of less than ideal performance (Grissom, Hamilton, Romy). In the longer term, Bregman is not guaranteed to be here next season which could open up a roster spot at some position for him next season. He does have things to work on (offspeed pitches, platoon issues) and could just use a full healthy season at AAA. Honestly, I think too much is being made out of the small sample sizes we are currently seeing in Spring Training. We've had prospects that weren't really considered ready have good spring showings before (JBJ) come up and have to be quickly sent back down. I think it's good for Mayer to show well and just continue to show well after going straight to AAA. It is weird to say "he didn't spend much time at 2b in the previous season" when the majority of GS were at 2b (36%). He didn't play 2b at AAA because they needed him to play SS once the big 4 were called up and Mayer went down with an injury. If Mayer hadn't gone down with an injury, I'm sure his starts at 2b would have been dramatically higher.

10 XBH in 234 PA's for WOO last season. Not ideal! You think he'd at least be getting some doubles!

I'm sure it's mostly off RHP. I'm fine with him being a platoon UTIL guy with Romy for now, but I don't think it's a good long term solution for 2b.

People are talking up Vaughn Grissom as if he's earned a spot with his 301 OPS in ST. Dude missed most of last season and is still a big question mark.

All the moving parts and first year players are why I thought it was going to be a punt year a while ago. I really haven't changed my mind considering the state back of the bullpen and the dreaded term closer by committee that has been thrown around. I think they'll be better than last year, but this isn't a true "in contention" year. They may make the playoffs, but they aren't really going for it.

To me, if Campbell isn't ready, may as well throw Bregman out there in the short term and then move him back to 3b if you need to later on. We don't know if he'll be here in '26, so why move Devers off position now and not have a 3b next season (unless you believe Mayer/Story/Campbell are the solution next season)?

'22 937 OPS '23 858 OPS Can't completely write him off after one bad year.

He's not even a career AAA player yet.

I still wouldn't rule out Campbell and Bregman. I think Bregman and Campbell have both played elsewhere due to the health of Devers and Abreu. The strongest offensive lineup the Sox can put forward is with Bregman at 2B, Devers at 3B and Masa at DH. It also makes the defensive lineup stronger up the middle, which is more important than moving Devers off 3b IMO. With Story back fulltime, his range to his right should offset some of Devers' issues. If Hamilton is part of the solution, it's only as a platoon bat. The dude just can't hit LHP. Is it worth it holding onto Grissom as a weak side platoon that can only play 2b? I'd rather him get AB's in AAA than sit on the bench after missing most of last season.

Cursed meal. 5G, get in the kitchen and make some crabcake sandwiches with homemade chips STAT.

Ain't no way 5G cooks for the fam.

On Opening Day, you'll tell us that you knew that the Sox had decided on the 2b back in early March. Then they'll play hot potato with the position for 162 games.