Palodios

a700 mojo! Hell yes. New game thread please!

"He should forget where Rhode Island even is" -- Jerry. "Someone should get him a t-shirt. You know, an "I'm the Ace" t-shirt" -- Don.

This game is such a tease. This is what the Red Sox are capable of... but we probably won't see it again any time soon.

De Aza isn't a bad move. He plays respectable defense in CF, can platoon against RHP in a lineup that only has one LHH -- who happens to be on the DL. Not a starter, but if it is only money, he fits on the bench well enough.

Clay has been a pain in the ass here, but if he is looking like this in a month, that contract makes him interesting to many teams. With the Cubs in the hunt, and Theo in the hotseat, maybe there is something there.

Oh look, Fred's back. Hey Fred. Things have not exactly improved.

That being said, how was Wade Davis still available? He's been untouchable since converting to relief, and bound to take the reigns on a contender soon.

Its a fair offer, but can't do it right now.

Agreed. I have high hopes for the current group, but so far not much luck.

The recent drafts are stocked with first rounders who still many be successful... Swihart, Barnes, Owens, Brentz, Marrero, Ball and others. 2006-2009 were just awful draft years for the Sox.

Allen Craig was sent to the minors and outrighted off the 40 man roster. They probably used Craig's last option to get him down there, so my guess is he will be there a while or until someone gets hurt.

I am not as concerned about the new pitching coach. He hasn't had much nearly as much time with the team to look over tape, etc. As far as Chili Davis and John Farrell, they are working for their jobs, and don't seem to know it yet.

The Red Sox probably have an eye on Erod's eligibility. If he's as good as advertised, super two status could be expensive.

I'm almost always a fan of Ben Cherrington's moves, but the Lackey deal was awful. I was very outspoken about it, and was the one who started the thread here about it. 1) I look at this team's long term future more often than not. Allen Craig -- at best -- is a .800 OPS first baseman with ugly defense and poor speed. On his career years, he has put up a 2 WAR. Even if he lived up to those expectations, he would have provided only marginal value at the contract cost because lumbering first basemen are cheap. That's IF healthy and effective. Joe Kelly has one pitch. At best, we were probably looking at a 8th inning guy or mediocre starter unless he developed another. Maybe he'll provide value in the bullpen. 2) I am fine with trading players for elite prospects. I am not fine with trading high value pieces for low ceiling projects. 3) Kelly's success in St Louis came in the bullpen. His starter ERA is in the mid 4s. Most of the scouting reports at the time believed he was a reliever. 4) They had just traded Lester for Cespedes, who only wanted to play LF. Craig doesn't have the speed or armstrength for CF or RF. 6) None of those guys came in trades. Fliers are for free agents.

Keeping Lackey wasn't just bad in hindsight... the Red Sox traded him for a pair of underperforming players that were projects. A year and a half of a #2 starter at league minimum should have pulled in a top prospect, not junk. If the Red Sox were trading for someone of his quality, the other team would be asking for Mookie, Swihart or Xander.

Why rush the high ceiling guys when Brian Johnson is cruising? He seems almost guaranteed to pitch better than Kelly at this point.

Does Anibal Sanchez count? Otherwise, yeah, not many recently.

Anyone have a quality SS they are looking to move? I am willing to move Pineda, Big Papi, or a few others.

Time for a new hitting coach. Chili Davis has done jack s*** to help an offense that should be among the best in baseball.

The Red Sox are full of players from hot weather countries and states. The lineup is made up of guys from the DR, Hawaii, California, Texas, Florida, Aruba. Same for the rotation. Maybe they just need to warm up.

As long as the rules are consistent, I don't have an opinion. Umpires shouldn't penalize one team, and let another team slide.

Usually I rotate between fangraphs, yahoo, espn, and baseball reference. Fangraphs and Baseball reference have a lot of detailed statistics, yahoo has general statistics, game logs and split stats (v LHP, hitting stats in different parks). Baseball America has the minor league stats. BABIP by team: http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=1&season=2015&month=0&season1=2015&ind=0&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=12,d

I was asking the same question. I didn't look into Davis much, but I'm not impressed with his track record. He's been in the bat-less Oakland Athletics for a few years and Pawtucket. It seems like he was a "Our guy" pick, and hasn't really proved anything.

Just to be clear, the Red Sox are only 2.5 games out. The team needed to stay alive in the division long enough for reinforcements to come from Pawtucket or the trade market. They have survived a quarter of the season and have a bunch of easy opponents coming up. Wade Miley seems to be turning it around. Porcello has been solid, if non-spectacular. Add a Cueto or Hamels and let the offense warm up, and they're back in business.

Napoli has seen a much bigger decline against righties. His split against lefties seems okay: .206/.357/.382/.740 Nava probably goes first.