SoxFanForsyth

I talked about this a little in the Trade Deadline board and there have been a few responses, just FYI if you're interested. I didn't know whether to post here or there.

Danny Knobler reporting that "the Red Sox are telling teams they definitely intend on trading Youkilis". Just kind of confirmation of what we already suspected. Teams where he would be a good fit: 1. White Sox: Leading the AL Central. Their 3B are hitting a combined .162 with a .439 OPS this season. Pathetic. I gotta think they would be the front runners. Adding Youk would really fill in a huge weak spot in their lineup. 2. Angels: Surging team. Have a combined .564 OPS from their 3B this season. The Trumbo at 3B experiment didn't work out (defensively), and last I checked, they were playing Maicer Izturis over there. Yikes. 3. Guardians: Another AL Central team who is trying to stay in the race (2nd place right now, 2nd WC leader right now). Getting a combined .590 OPS from their first basemen this year. Youk would be a big upgrade, and a lot of teams may see him as a 1B first, 3B second. 4. LA Dodgers: After losing Matt Kemp for a month, they need a middle of the order bat. They're not getting it from their corner infielders (1B combined .670 OPS, 3B combined .664 OPS). Youk would be a big help over there. The question is - What do you get back from Youkilis? The only way you're going to get anything back that could come in and make an impact right now is with a RP, since teams can't get compensation picks for RP (I believe, correct me if I'm wrong). So maybe a guy like Joe Smith from CLE, realistically speaking.

Yeah I was really, really hopeful that Middlebrooks would be able to be just a below average (meaning not horrendous) SS for a couple games while Pedroia gets back in shape, but it appears that won't be the case. Pretty big bummer, but can't do anything about it. Pedroia should be back early next week thankfully.

Yes. My math was off by a zero. To quote Office Space, probably by a decimal or something. I hate mundane details.

What choice does he have, though? Managers in short term deals, especially in Boston, are in a "win now" situation. He's not going to have much of a chance to win now if he doesn't put Gonzo in RF. It's a risk, sure, but I don't blame him for rolling the dice.

But you're assuming that Bailey wouldn't have a blown save. That's what I'm getting at. You can't guarantee that Bailey would have been flawless. I agree, if we had Miller and Bailey against the Yankees, the Sox probably win. As far as the others, Ellsbury is a major injury, but he was here for the first few games when the Sox were still losing. Crawford's replacement in Sweeney is playing very well. By no means am I saying that they wouldn't be better off with their regulars, that would be ridiculous. But at the same time, the Rays lost Farnsworth before the season. The Yankees lost Mo about 12-15 games in, etc.

It would likely have more practical application if the players games were multiplied by the players prior year WAR/GP. So, for Pedroia (2011 WAR of 8.0/162 = 0.49 WAR/game), he's missed 2 games, that's 0.98 WAR. It's just a way of weighting the players on a talent scale rather than assuming that an injury to Mike Cameron is the same as an injury to Jacoby Ellsbury (2012 version). Just an opinion, though. I see where you're going with it and it seems like a good exercise.

This is impossible to determine. You can look at the games vs DET and NYY where they blew the leads late, and say "Those 2 are definite wins", but then how do we know if Bailey was going to be perfect in other games? You can't just look at the losses and say "We win this game if we have Bailey" and then look at the wins and say "He saves each of these as well". Ultimately, Aceves has blown 3 games. Would he have blown those 3 pitching in the 8th? Would Bailey have even come in? And if the Sox do win those 3 games, how does the team react? Are they playing better now because they hit rock bottom and have a bit of a chip on their shoulder? Would a couple early wins have turned the entire early season around? It's just impossible to know.

Well I was saying no Pedey for Toronto.

Hearing he's going to try to swing on the off day on Monday and go from there. So probably no Pedroia until Tuesday unfortunately.

That's makes no sense. 50 games * 9 players per game = 450 total games. You can't say "We lose 7 games per day for each OF" because not all 7 of them would be playing.

The Rays and the Orioles square off this weekend, while the Sox play the Jays. If the Sox can take 2/3 from the Jays, they can pick up a game or two on the Rays/O's.

I don't even know how to respond to this. It's almost as if you just spotted the word "fortunate" and assume I was saying they are an overall fortunate team, specifically health wise. Dear Lord. Please read my comments. I said they are fortunate that the AL is down, i.e. nobody is pulling away and started on a tear and started something crazy like 35-15 or something.

Yup. I have a feeling the Yanks and Rays are going to regret not putting the Sox away while they could. And you're so obsessed with Abreu :harhar:

I would say that this team is fortunate that a lot of the AL East is banged up, but it's not just the AL East. The entire AL is down it seems this year.

Thank God. That change was a perfect pitch. Nice job Aceves!! And after all of that bad baseball to start the season, this team is 2.5 out of 1st place. 2 out in the L column, and 1 game out of the 2nd WC.

Can someone please remind Aceves that you don't beat Cabrera with fastballs?

Lets go Ace. Strikes, no walks.

PUNTO!!! Nice foul ball man!! Good contact!

Increased velocity out of the bullpen, going from stretch rather than windup makes it so much easier to repeat his delivery, and then Valentine/McClure are letting him get back to some of his quirky delivery (not all), but going for comfort rather than mechanical perfection. Also, control issues with SP are often times lessened out of the bullpen. Those are the biggest things. The fact that BobbyV is throwing Miller as more-or-less a lefty specialist is also helpful. Lefties are vulnerable to chase pitches off the plate when there is a guy busting you with 97 on the hands and a filthy slider.

Insurance!!!

Thank you!!! I was really hoping someone would remember, because I do not want to have to go back and find it.

I have been saying this since early ST. Come on!