mvp 78

That's wild since Roman is going to be the #1 MiLB prospect in the next few days. Campbell is really great and I'm here for the rocket that has been strapped to him.

Eddie Alvarez was traded to the Mets.

Toddlers bite and punch below the belt. It could be entertaining.

@Bryce Whitlow this was really great. If this is going to be an ongoing thing, that's fantastic!

Flaherty throws a straight 4 seamer a lot of the time and it was really bad the last 2 seasons. That's probably a big reason Breslow wasn't in on him last offseason.

Are there any workhorses anymore?

He's never been that guy before. Why would it change now? It's just bad expectations IMO. They can be mad, but they spent 300M on a guy that hasn't been known to talk to the media and/or isn't good at it. Unless they are going to work on it with him, being passive aggressive is only going to make the situation untenable. Another swing and miss by ownership if this is the direction they are going. Blame every but themselves and don't put people in the best position to succeed.

Who said that Devers was going to talk to the media? How often does Devers even talk to the media? I don't think I even remember any memorable quotes from him. It just seems like such a made up scenario to be mad about. Devers is hurt and struggling and they just had a tough loss in a bad series. What were they expecting out of an interview?

The injuries are still a little concerning and may limit his upside. He's not the greatest SS and probably is a better 2b. Is he a Jed Lowrie who can have a long MLB career with a few big seasons? His bat has really played up. SoxProspects ranked the SS defense as follows: Romero<Campbell<Mayer<Rafaela (if Rafaela was left at SS fulltime and never went back to CF) Romero has ok, but a weak arm. Campbell is athletic and can get to everything, but his arm is only marginally better than Romero's. Mayer is solid. Rafaela is athletic, but needs the time to relearn the position and play there everyday for a few years to reach his potential.

When you watch Penrod, you'll see an inning where he'll absolutely mow the hitters down. The next, he'll be all over the place. He just may be better suited as a one inning guy. He's basically a poor man's Andrew Miller. There's a lot of growing pains right now and the Sox need to see if they can figure him out because there is considerable upside with a lefty with his stuff. If you just look at the boxscore, the picture is uglier.

I wouldn't want Gasper or Heineman as the backup. Neither is a very good option even just for two months. Unsure if Refsnyder is going to retire or not. If he does, they may have to re-sign O'Neilll or someone similar.

Fitts pitched better than meh, but what do I know?

Manny was paid a truckload of money and it was never expected that he was a team leader or someone the media was going to rely on for quotes. Raffy had never been that guy before. I have no idea with Cotillo and others are whining about it now. To me, it's just a media driven thing about something that doesn't really matter. I care about what happens on the field, not about what happens between players and beat guys. If Raffy is a good teammate, great! If Raffy isn't good at talking to the media, it doesn't matter at all! That the media had to wait one whole hour? OMG! Can you imagine?!?!? One whole hour!!! I've waited longer for delivery pizza before. I've waited far longer for stuff as an auditor while sitting at the client. C'mon. An hour is nothing. Being put out about an hour is embarrassing. It used to be longer to wait for a table at the Cheesecake Factory at the Cambridgeside Galleria.

If it’s a minority, it’s not a small one.

Yeah, I put Campbell 2 because of Mayer’s injury status. Wikelman might not be top 30 for me TBH.

Verdugo too.

The waffling was a big problem to Henry per what I’ve said going back to before he was fired. He half assed two straight trade deadlines and ownership was very passive aggressive about it at the time.

Matt Collins and Marc Normandin were really good when they would write about the Sox, but I think they’ve moved onto bigger things. Matthew Kory has a substack twitter@mattymatty2000.

The TEX trade had the Sox eating ZERO salary.

To make the postseason, they would need to go on a run that they haven’t done all year. Pitching is too tired. Devers is injured. Others are struggling. Less than 1% chance at this point IMO.

Seems like nobody had Castro ranked higher than 19th. I think SoxProspects is too high on him TBH. They are probably too high on Penrod as well. I like how our rankings shook out.

Roman Anthony Highest ceiling of any prospect that has come through the org since Mookie Betts. Kristian Campbell At some point, in game production means something as he tears through the minors. Unsure what his overall ceiling is at the moment and they need to find a defensive home for him.Marcelo Mayer The prospect with the best toolset across the board except for health, which is why he isn't in the top 2. Missed significant time in '22, '23 and '24. Kyle Teel Solid floor. Should be an everyday catcher in the bigs. Braden Montgomery Honestly, just a shot in the dark. Scouts like him, but we won't see him until next year. Luis Perales If he didn't get injured this year, he'd be higher. High powered arm that has been on a little bit of a rollercoaster ride the past 18 months. Most likely a top 100 guy when healthy.Franklin Arias Solid defensive SS that hit well in FCL.Miguel Bleis Potential 5 tool guy whose tools are bigger than his stats. At some point, his performance on the field will need to play up to the tools. Yoeilin Cespedes Big bat. Glove is a question mark at this point. Not a SS. Potential 2B/3B. May even be pushed to corner OF. Chase Meidroth Just gets on base. Minimal power. Could get exposed at MLB due to his extremely low exit velo. Plays adequate 2B/SS/3B.Jhostynxon Garcia I may be a little high on him because of his performance at High A. Richard Fitts Solid org arm that could spot start. May be a back end starter. Unsure if his arm would play up in a pen role. Mikey Romero Has bounced back this season. Has struggled massively with injuries in his short career. Could stick up the middle. Still only 20!Johanfran Garcia Defense could wind up average-ish, but there are questions about his body. Put on additional weight last offseason. Can hit the ball a ton, but may not be a great fit at 1B if he needs to move off the position.David Sandlin On an innings restriction. High octane arm. Needs to refine his secondary pitches.Yordanny Monegro Could be the most fun pitcher to watch in the system. Has not given up a run in 34 innings. Payton Tolle Another shot in the dark. Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz Lanky righthander. Has a lot of decent offerings, but nothing that will knock your socks off. Juan Valera Young. Raw. Has been virtually unhittable as an 18 year old in FCL and Salem. Hunter Dobbins Really turned a corner this season. Potential backend starter. Could be used as a spot starter as early as 2025.

Per SP podcast, Meidroth is dinged up. DHing and not running normally at the moment. Probably not getting called up.

Chris Hatfield said that Penrod didn’t really jump, but the others around him fell. Also, Meidroth leaped Cespedes due to proximity to MLB, missing dev time for Cespedes and ceiling vs floor debate.