I'm not even sure what an argument for it would look like. If you've got a few guys dealing, wouldn't you rather see them every fifth game than every sixth game?
The 6 man rotation seems like a bit of a white whale.
I mean, can anyone name the most successful teams that utilized one? In fact, can anyone name any teams at all that have used one for an extended time?
I think Cora explained it well. If Crawford and Bello were healthy it'd be a conversation. As it is multi-inning relievers are what they really need.
At the rates pitchers are getting injured at, a 6 man rotation might be a pipe dream.
I'd say no. Because like Devers, his best position is DH. You can only have one DH. The Sox arguably have 3 of them already in Devers, Casas and Yoshida.
I think the numbers show they can't possibly hit .800 or anywhere close to it as a tandem. Cora probably did his utmost to get them off-hand matchups last year.
DHam and Romy were both utterly horrific against pitchers of their own hand - both .500ish OPS - we're talking helpless. (This was a huge problem for Sox hitters in general last year.)
Platoons can be counterproductive when the hitters are that one-dimensional and we have as many pitching changes as we do now.
It's understandable that he's not happy about the prospect of not playing third base any more. But his latest comments indicate he has no desire to cause any problems for the team, which is the main thing.
Yeah, it's unfortunate but he's really putting himself behind the eight ball. If he won't back down on his refusal to DH or play 1B, he's going to look like a major malcontent, like Manny in '08. And we know how that ended.