Orange Juiced

You're welcome. Enjoy!

To quench your Red Sox thirst now that they're done for the season. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1642939889?pf_rd_r=HZSENVVK0E0SZ2NJXZ31&pf_rd_p=8fe9b1d0-f378-4356-8bb8-cada7525eadd&pd_rd_r=69da3a57-93bd-432c-b38b-8519fa5bebc3&pd_rd_w=qduWX&pd_rd_wg=1gITT&ref_=pd_gw_unk

He has traded quite a few prospects for: - Chris Sale, one of the best SP in all of baseball, who is 27 years old and has 3 years left on a GREAT contract; - Craig Kimbrel, one of the best closers in this HISTORY of baseball, who is 28 years old; - Tyler Thornburg, one of the best 7th-8th inning guys in baseball last year, who is 28 years old; - Drew Pomeranz, an all-star starting pitcher last year. Yes they gave up a lot of prospect talent, and the Sox' system is no longer elite. But it still has some good players in it - Devers, Groome, Travis, Dalbec, and maybe Ball (who seems to be improving). So it's not totally gutted.

Last year the Red Sox' top two starting pitchers performed this way: (A) 22-4, 3.15 era, 145 era+ ( 17-9, 3.99 era, 114 era+ I just thought that (A) would be Price and ( would be Porcello. Ha! As for Pomeranz, he's been a very good major league pitcher for the past 3 seasons: 2014: 2.35 era, 1.12 whip, 8.3 k/9 2015: 3.66 era, 1.19 whip, 8.6 k/9 2016: 3.32 era, 1.18 whip, 9.8 k/9 It's just that 2014 and 2015 were out of the bullpen. I think he'll be fine, and will be one of the best 4th or 5th starters in all of baseball. I didn't like the Pomeranz deal when it happened, but he's a solid pitcher.

With the Sox picking up Rutledge, I think they are fairly set for position players, assuming a 12-man pitching staff. Catchers - Leon - Vazquez Infielders - Ramirez - Pedroia - Bogaerts - Sandoval - Rutledge - Moreland Outfielders - Benintendi - Bradley - Betts - Young - Holt Here's how I see it, assuming health... Vs. RHP C - Leon 1b - Moreland 2b - Pedroia 3b - Sandoval SS - Bogaerts LF - Benintendi CF - Bradley RF - Betts DH - Ramirez Lineup: 1. Pedroia 2. Benintendi 3. Betts 4. Ramirez 5. Moreland 6. Bogaerts 7. Bradley 8. Sandoval 9. Leon Vs. LHP C - Vazquez 1b - Ramirez 2b - Pedroia 3b - Sandoval SS - Bogaerts LF - Benintendi CF - Bradley RF - Betts DH - Young Lineup: 1. Pedroia 2. Benintendi 3. Betts 4. Ramirez 5. Bogaerts 6. Young 7. Bradley 8. Sandoval 9. Vazquez Notes: Obviously, Vazquez and Leon share duties at C. One may have "personal catcher" duties with a particular pitcher, regardless of who the opposing pitcher is, who knows. Rutledge spells any of the IF on any given day. Young can spell an OF or play DH against lefties. Holt can spell anybody, pretty much anywhere on the field. Moreland, if he's not starting, can be a defensive replacement for Hanley at 1b in the late innings. Good versatility on the bench, then, in Vazquez, Moreland, Young, Holt, and Rutledge. Not a ton of power there, but Moreland has some pop and Young has decent power, given limited at-bats. Good mix of lefty and righty bats there as well. That lineup lacks the one monster bat, but let's keep in mind that here was the biggest thumper in each of the 2016 playoff teams' lineups (I'm taking Papi out of the mix, for obvious reasons): Boston: Betts - 31 hr, 113 rbi, 131 ops+ Toronto: Donaldson - 37 hr, 99 rbi, 152 ops+ Baltimore: Machado - 37 hr, 96 rbi, 128 ops+ (could have gone with either Trumbo or Davis too) Cleveland: Santana - 34 hr, 87 rbi, 121 ops+ Texas: Beltre - 32 hr, 104 rbi, 128 ops+ Chicago: Bryant - 39 hr, 102 rbi, 149 ops+ Los Angeles: Seager - 26 hr, 72 rbi, 137 ops+ San Francisco: Belt - 17 hr, 82 rbi, 132 ops+ Washington: Murphy - 25 hr, 104 rbi, 157 ops+ NY Mets: Cespedes - 31 hr, 86 rbi, 133 ops+ The point is that Betts (and Hanley, also) is right there with most of these guys, and these teams mostly succeeded without having a David Ortiz 162 ops+ figure. A Sox lineup featuring Betts, Bradley, Bogaerts, Pedroia, Ramirez, and an emerging Benintendi is going to be pretty good. Maybe not the top scoring lineup in baseball, but it'll be pretty good.

2016 numbers: Hanley: 30 hr, .286/.361/.505/.866, 124 ops+ Bautista: 22 hr, .234/.366/.452/.817, 117 ops+ Young: 9 hr (just 203 ab), .276/.352/.498/.850, 120 ops+ Vs. LHP Hanley: .346/.420/.677/1.097 Bautista: .220/.324/.429/.752 Young: .329/.410/.589/.999 Here's how they're currently constructed: Vs. RHP 1b Moreland DH Hanley Vs. LHP 1b Hanley DH Young Young's splits are better vs. LHP than Bautista's are. Bautista could only DH or play LF/RF, but they're set in the OF with Benintendi, Bradley, and Betts. Bautista wouldn't DH against righties because Hanley is, at present, a better hitter than Joey Bats is. So where, exactly, would the 36 year old and declining Bautista play? And for all that wondering, you'd have to pay $$ *and* give up a first-round pick for the privilege? Long story short, no, I don't think there's any way that DD goes after him.

If the Sox want to go this route, their rotation could be: 1. Chris Sale - last 4 years, top 5 CYA candidate; over the last 5 years, #1 in AL in ERA, IP, WHIP, Ks, 5-time all-star 2. David Price - former CYA winner, 3-time top 3 CYA finisher, 5-time all-star 3. Rick Porcello - reigning CYA winner 4. Drew Pomeranz - 2016 all-star 5. Stephen Wright - 2016 all-star That's 3 CYA caliber starters, plus two guys who were on this past year's all-star team. And that doesn't even factor in Eduardo Rodriguez or Clay Buchholz, of course. The optimist in me is....excited. (I'll not bother with the pessimist's perspective, because there's no doubt that someone else here will post that...)

The offense loses Ortiz, but it gains another full year (with experience) from Betts, Bradley, Bogaerts, and - most importantly - Benintendi. We shall see if that helps offset the loss of Papi. The pitching staff should be MUCH better. Sale, Price, and Porcello pitched 226, 230, and 223 innings, respectively, last year, and that will take an enormous strain off the bullpen.

Last year: - Needed a top-of-the-rotation starter. David Price - check - Needed a top-of-the-line closer. Craig Kimbrel - check This year: - Needed a really good 7th-8th inning reliever. Tyler Thornburg - check - Needed a useful lefty bat to help with 1b/DH. Mitch Moreland - check - Didn't exactly *need*, but sure could have used, an upgrade in the SP. Chris Sale - checkcheckcheck This isn't like the 80s Yankees, who kept trading away youth to add mid 30's veterans. Thornburg is 28. Sale is 27. Price was 30 when they signed him. Kimbrel is 28. They still have Benintendi (21), Bogaerts (23), Betts (23), Bradley (26), Leon (27), Vazquez (25), Swihart (24), Hernandez (23), Rodriguez (23), plus Devers, Groome, Travis, Johnson, Chavis, Longhi, and yes, even Trey Ball (AFL all star, baby!) on the farm. And of the veterans, it's not like the Sox are trotting out anyone "old". It's Pedroia (32), Hanley (32), Holt (28), Young (32), Pablo (29), Porcello (29), Pomeranz (27), etc. So this isn't just a play to "win now". It's a play to win now but also over the next X number of years too.

Pomeranz or Buchholz likely to be traded for a bat. Too much starting pitching now, with no guy having options, really. Sale, Price, Porcello, Rodriguez, Pomeranz, Clay, Wright. You can put Pomeranz in the bullpen, which might be helpful, but you gotta deal one of those starters. EDIT: Maybe they trade either of those guys for prospects. Need to restock, even though they still have some very good players in the system.

If the Yankees made this deal we'd all be complaining about it because we wouldn't care what prospects the Yankees gave up; we'd just see this CYA caliber starter they got on a wicked cheap contract.

Must wait and see who the other prospects are, but totally have mixed reactions to this. Of course, Sale is phenomenal. A rotation of Sale, Price, Porcello, Rodriguez, and... whomever (Pomeranz, Buchholz, Wright) is just sick. And add to that the nice bullpen pickup they got and they have tons of pitching. But losing both Moncada and Kopech...ugh. And if Devers is included too....then I'd hate the deal. Granted, none of those guys are on the MLB roster, but still. Moncada is going to be a great, great player, and Kopech has big-time potential. Huge deals like this always leave me feeling excited and worried.

Guys in the Sox' system that can play 1b or 3b: Hanley (3b) Holt (3b/1b) Panda (3b) Hernandez (3b) Devers (3b) Travis (1b) Moncada (3b) And rumors are that the Sox are looking to add Mitch Moreland (LHH, can play 1b/RF, hit 22 hr last year), hopefully for not a big price. Obviously Devers, Travis, and Moncada are not yet ready, but they're in the pipeline. I think a 1b/3b/DH situation of Hanley/Panda/Moreland, with Holt and Hernandez there to back it all up, with those three guys waiting in the wings, isn't the worst situation.

Because Joe Kelly the starter isn't very good, but Joe Kelly the reliever is pretty awesome. Career splits: - as starter: 4.13 era, 6.4 k/9, 1.44 whip - as reliever: 2.69 era, 9.0 k/9, 1.27 whip 2016 splits: - as starter: 8.46 era, 10.9 k/9, 2.24 whip - as reliever: 1.02 era, 10.7 k/9, 1.02 whip So it's not just "hope" that Kelly is good out of the bullpen. He's been really, really good out of the bullpen. Of course he might stink it up, but smart money is that he's pretty effective in 2017 in a bullpen role.

Mid 90s fastball and good movement on his curve. Absolutely lights out last year. Under control for 3 years, but history of elbow issues. So a mixed bag. If he holds up, and if Carson Smith comes back healthy, that's a dynamic four guys in Kimbrel, Smith, Thornburg, and Kelly. Lots of power there.