SoxFanForsyth

I think they will start filtering in the youth over the next few years. This year it was Bogaerts, Bradley, RDLR, Vazquez, and probably Betts. If the Sox trade for Joc Pederson, he'll be in the outfield this year too. Next year it will be Owens, Swihart, Marrero, Ranaudo, Webster. They will compliment these guys with veterans like Pedroia, Ortiz, Napoli, Lackey, Buchholz, etc etc. But have no doubt, what the Sox are doing right now is building a new core of players.

It's almost as if the Sox didn't win the world series last year.

And Heath Hembree, the Giants "future closer". Guy has a career 11.2 K/9 in the minors and 12 K in 7.2 IP at the MLB level. Low BB numbers to (around 3-3.5 per 9) Plain and simple, the Sox won this deal, no doubt.

Sox got Heath Hembree (12 K in 7.2 IP last year in MLB) and Edwin Escobar (BA #56), both pitchers, for Peavy. That's an absolute steal for the Sox.

What the Sox should do is trade Lester to the Dodgers for Joc Pederson, trade a mid level guy to the Phillies and get Cliff Lee for 2 years @ 25mm/year, so they stay with the short term, high dollar deals, get an elite prospect, and have their ace for the next 2 years while the prospects develop. Hell, Lester said he'd be open to coming back even if he was traded so pull a Phillies, trade Lester, then resign him after the year is over too. If it was up to me and I said "Ok, I can either 1) sign Lester and get a small discount, or 2) pay market and also get an elite prospect back, I choose 2 every single time.

i just. i can't even.

Don't forget about Travis Shaw. He's been overlooked all season. In Portland, he hit .305/.406/.548, 11 HR In Pawtucket, he started out miserably but is now hitting .291/.348/.481, 8 HR. He's hit .312/.385/.576, 7 HR in his last 33 games in AAA.

the fact that it's pitchers (plural) makes me laugh.

Daily JBJ update: Since 6/19, he's now hitting .321/.369/.397. This is certainly the best 85 PA stretch he's ever been on at the MLB level, and is consistent with the stretches he put together in AAA. If his numbers from AAA (.275/.364/.469) begin to translate, this could be an exciting time for the Sox.

One could argue that guys who hit a lot of homeruns K a lot because they have an aggressive approach and don't swing to make contact, but rather swing to hit the ball out of the park.

Lets cool it on the total strikeouts. He's made an adjustment that allows him to see the ball better, and his K numbers have been sliced in half since making that change.

To be fair, this isn't just some arbitrary endpoint. It's when he changed his stance. If you want to get really excited, JBJ has hit .375/.432/.425 in July. But that would be an arbitrary endpoint. My mind isn't changed, either, though. But these are absolutely encouraging signs that shouldn't be ignored. Hopefully he keeps it up because he's got potential to be a very very good player. If he hits even to a 120 wRC+ (he had a 137 wRC+ in AAA), he's a 5 win player.

Since changing his stance, he's now hitting .315/.367/.370. Can't argue with that production at all and it's now been a month. Again, his K rate has dropped from 30.3% from 4/1/13 - 6/18/14 down to 15.2% from 6/19/14 - 7/20/14.

Not true at all. C, CF, SS, 2B don't have to hit. Corners hit, middle plays D. And for what it's worth, a league average CF is hitting .265/.326/.399, so it's not like I'm saying that you take a no bat CF.

Another good win. At this point, the goal should be to get within striking distance by September. Have a good month and a half, and go into September looking to cause some damage. If the A's hold on, Sox could be within 7.5 games of the East. 13 straight games w the AL East coming up. Need to go at least 10-3 or maybe 9-4. Do that and you're right back in this, probably only 4-5 games out

His K% has dropped from 30.3% from 4/1/13 - 6/18/14 to 15% from 6/19/14 to today. And it's not just an arbitrary endpoint, he switched his stance to allow him to see the ball better. And a K:HR ratio is useless when he's an OBP and doubles guy. His value comes from his glove and his arm. If he is just a league average hitter, he can easily be a 4-5 win player thanks to his D.

I think the first instance of games without AJP has been the positive experience.

Can't worry about it. Just put your head down and win games. Next 13 games are against AL East teams, though.

Here comes JBJ. Average up to .232 now.

It's not without cause. He changed his stance on 6/19 back to his comfortable stance he had his entire career. When he was getting beat inside on fastballs, he squared up to try to catch up to the inside fastball but left him very vulnerable to the outside pitch. So, in G1 of the Oakland series @OAK, he changed back. The results have been strong. Since then he's hit .300/.347/.357. The power hasn't come around, but that'll come as he continues to make solid contact. The biggest thing is that his K% has fallen to 14.7% during that span. Prior to the change, his K% was 30.9%, so he's more than cut it in half.

This is the guy who Keith Law said was the absolute centerpiece of the Punto trade, and that he has potential to be an ace. Also, beginning with his outing before last night (7 IP, 1 ER), he was strung all kinds of around. He pitched on 6/21 (this was his 7, 1 ER start), then all that crap with Buch coming back and Peavy still in the rotation, and he didn't get sent down to AAA for another start until basically 7/1, so that's 10 days off between starts. Threw on 7/1, then made his next start on 7/6 and pitched 1 inning. Then threw on essentially 2 days rest on 7/9, then went into the ASB and threw again last night (7/19), another 10 days of rest. So he hasn't had a chance to get settled in at all. Not sure it's affected his K/9, but prior to his And yet he still has a 2.64 ERA. He should go into next season as the #3 man in the rotation behind only Lester and Lackey (assuming we resign Lester), and he'll be a damn good #3. The thing that has stuck out to me so much is his command this year has been elite. Also, before he got strung around like that, he had an 8.35 K/9, so maybe once he gets settled in and starts throwing on a regular basis, his stuff will be a bit sharper.

Organizational depth, I would say. Probably going to fill in for Owens in AA when he gets promoted.

I understand that. But why would you trade Bogaerts for just 2 years of Stanton when you can just go pay for Stanton beginning in 2017? That's the question. You want to trade Bogaerts for Tulo? I'm on board. But not for a guy who is hitting FA in only 2 years.

Lee has a 3rd year option on his contract. And yeah, you limit the years on the deal, you see what you have, and then you reassess. By the time Lee is through his 2nd or 3rd year, Lester will likely be beginning the downward spiral on his career, too, so now you don't have to eat those last 3-4 years and you can go get a younger kid, or let someone like Owens take over.

the downside is trading Bogaerts for 2 years of Stanton. Two years, that's it. Otherwise just sign him when he hits FA.