Orange Juiced

Well THAT is the wild card in all this. Lots of pitchers have TJ surgery and come out of it very well. But TWO of those surgeries? Not sure anyone has come back from that. So he's a major risk that should dampen his trade value a little.

You're probably right. Would you trade either Betts or Bogaerts for Harvey? Or more to the point, what package would you offer that you think the Mets would take, if such a package exists?

WFAN right now is talking about the Mets possibly (probably?) trading Matt Harvey in the offseason, and they said that the Red Sox would likely be at the top of the list, given the Sox' need and what they could offer. Now, you gotta give something to get something. Harvey is an absolute stud. Just 25, big-time pitcher, still relatively inexpensive, because he'll not be a FA, but will enter his arbitration years. What is a package that you'd be willing to offer for Harvey, one that is the offer the Mets would take (because there would be other suitors), but that you'd be ok giving up? Please let's not say Hanley + Panda for Harvey. Obviously that won't work. It may mean parting with Betts or Bradley or Bogaerts or Swihart, but maybe not. Who knows? Here's an offer I think might work and I'd be willing to do: Castillo/Holt/Owens/Margot Young, up-and-coming OF, an all-star jack-of-all-trades, a stud pitching prospect, and a dynamic OF prospect. That's four pieces for one. It might not be enough.

If Shaw continues to show he belongs, then Hanley truly is expendable. The Sox would likely have to eat a sizeable portion of his contract, but not all of it. If they're a better team without him, then they should be willing to eat 75% of his contract. It will be a sunk cost, but it will still be cheaper than paying him ALL of his salary. And by eating that money, they get something useful back in return, most likely. Then they will have inexpensive (i.e., league minimum) players at: C - Swihart/Hanigan/Vazquez 1b - Shaw SS - Bogaerts CF - Betts RF - Bradley With reasonable contracts for 2b (Pedroia), LF (Castillo), and even DH (Ortiz). Sandoval is a bad contract, but they can afford a couple of those. They then have the money to go splurge for Price. Use Barnes, Workman (who should be back healthy next year), Taz, Uehara, and Wright in the bullpen. Need to add 2 lefties - go get some good ones, because what they have now isn't very good. And that would be a pretty good bullpen. And then you have Holt and Rutledge as backups. Add a RH-hitting 1b type to platoon with Shaw, and this team should be good to go.

JBJ: It's getting ridiculous. Not only is he providing highlight-reel defense on a daily basis, he's just crushing the ball every single day. 4-4 today, a double and a homer, and 4 rbi Unbelievable.

Me too! But it's not easy to watch them when they stink and have very little going on. They are a very fun team to watch right now.

Worrying about which OF plays which position is a great problem to have. The reality is, someone's tools are going to be a bit "wasted" in Fenway's short LF, be it JBJ's range and arm, Betts' speed, or Castillo's arm. But the reality is, all three players are excellent fielders, and JBJ is otherworldly. So no matter where they play, they're going to be great.

The Sox aren't trading Pedroia. But if they were going to put him on the market in the offseason, they could get a lot for him. Not a Bryce Harper or Matt Harvey or anything like that. But they could get a lot. He's on a good, below-market contract, is a tremendous fielder, and still a very good hitter. Former MVP, two-time WS champ, brings toughness and leadership to a team. Yes, he'd be a very nice piece to deal if the Sox were so inclined.

Yes, the Sox are in last place. For the 3rd time in 4 years. But this team is well worth watching at this point, through the end of the year. Why? 1. The insanely great outfield defense of Castillo, Betts, and JBJ. They make one or two highlight reel catches among them every game. It's astounding. 2. Though they have no shot at the playoffs, they very much could climb to 3rd place. They are 14 back. Baltimore is 13 back. Tampa is 11 back. Since August 17 they are 12-6 and playing excellent baseball. The starting pitching is really performing well. The offense, as hard as it is to believe, is 3rd in MLB in runs scored this year. 3. Ortiz' chase for 500. Just three away. He got off to a horrid start, but since July 7, he's put up this line: .337/.402/.721/1.123, with 17 hr and 45 rbi in just 48 games. The man is incredible. 4. Blake Swihart. Solid defensively. Can run (a catcher hitting an inside-the-park homer (yes I know it technically was out of the park, but still). And he's now hitting .288/.337/.393/.730. Outstanding talent that is just beginning to emerge. 5. The thunderous bat of JBJ. .292/.369/.591/.961. Leads the team with an ops+ of 154. 6. Eduardo Rodriguez. Goodness, he's a treat to watch pitch. Electric. 7. Xander Bogaerts and Mookie Betts. Betts is a 4.9 bWAR player so far. Bogaerts is a 3.8 bWAR player. All for a little over $1 million combined. That's incredible. Both guys are just 22. It's so fun watching this team play these days. They stay in games. They have exciting players playing well. Their pitching is really coming around - Rodriguez, Miley, Porcello, and Kelly are all pitching well. Obviously they have no chance at the playoffs, but there are still many great reasons to watch this team closely the rest of the way.

Don't look now, but Porcello has been pretty darned good recently. Last 2 starts: 7.0 ip, 5 h, 0 r, 0 er, 0 bb, 5 k 8.0 ip, 5 h, 3 r, 1 er, 1 bb, 13 k TOT: 15.0 ip, 10 h, 3 r, 1 er, 1 bb, 18 k, 0.60 era, 0.73 whip, 12.5 k/9 And then going back to his last 6 starts. One was awful (July 29), but the other 5 were all good to excellent. Even with that awful stinker, over the last 6 games, his numbers have been: 35.0 ip, 2.83 era, 1.23 whip, 9.0 k/9 So he's getting it done. Porcello is improving. Kelly is pitching very well. Owens and Rodriguez have been pretty good. Miley has been solid. The rotation has been pretty good recently. I still want an 'ace' but these guys are doing alright.

I'm with you in that there are tons of questions. Miley probably isn't one of them, now that he's adjusted to the AL. His FIP numbers the past four years (including 2015) are: 3.15, 3.98, 3.98, and 3.92. A pitcher who gives you 200 innings and gives you that kind of quality is a solid, solid pitcher. He's not a staff ace or anything like that. But he's not a #5 either. The big question for him is whether his actual results (ERA) can match how he's actually pitched (FIP). They absolutely need an ace. I want to deal Buchholz and maybe even Owens and get a better #2, and sign Price to be the #1. Then you slot Miley, Rodriguez, and Kelly behind those two. That would be a pretty darned good rotation. The bullpen, however, needs a complete overhaul. Good lord what a mess.

A couple of encouraging signs: Miley, last 21 games: 131.0 ip (6.1 ip per game), 4.05 era, 1.36 whip - that's a useful, middle of the rotation starter Kelly, last 5 games: 32.0 ip (6.1 ip per game), 1.69 era, 1.13 whip - he won't keep this up, but it's a good sign that he has perhaps turned a corner Kelly may be putting it together, FINALLY. Miley has been pretty steady for a long stretch this season now. If these guys can perform like this next year, that's huge for the rotation.

All sorts of work is being done studying the various dangers (I don't mean physical) of our current electronic/technological age. They are numerous. But whatever...clearly we've hijacked the thread here. Let's go back to lamenting about Orsillo.

Rodriguez throws 95-96. Owens is more like 90-92. Rodriguez is the best power lefty on the team.

I think you couldn't be more wrong about this. I agree with this part.

That's all true, but that's not at all what I'm talking about. I've been working on college campuses for 25 years and have watched the evolution of student interaction. Quick story: 20 years ago, in the student union of the university where I then, and currently work, you'd go into the main lobby area and students would be sitting at tables talking to each other. At the end of last semester, I walked into that same area and counted roughly 50 people total. And *every single one of them*, without exception, was quiet, sitting there staring at his or her smart phone. Not a single one of them was engaged in conversation with another live human being. None of them were even talking on the phone with someone else. 20 years ago the lobby had that rich sound of humans talking. Now, the same lobby is quiet except for the sound of the occasional keyboard tapping. Technology and the internet are giving us many, many great things. There is much to gain from it. But in the process, we are losing something dramatic as well. Something significant.

I'm with you. I know it will leave a hole in the rotation, but he's proven to be too inconsistent in both performance and health to rely on year-in and year-out. When he's healthy and on, he's incredible. But that's not something you can count on. So I'd look to deal him. Heck, I was saying they should have dealt him this year before he got hurt. He was pitching very well and his contract was looking good. And then......boom. Down again.

The internet is great for keeping people connected over vast distances, and for archiving and accessing a ridiculous amount of information. But it is most definitely NOT good for human interpersonal relationship and communication skills.

Betts is a terrific centerfielder. JBJ is otherworldly. But....JBJ also has a much better arm, and Fenway's RF is cavernous, so playing Betts in CF and JBJ in RF is probably the best overall use of their respective skill sets. On the road, you could put Betts in LF, JBJ in CF, and Castillo (who also has a good arm) in RF. The nice thing is that all three guys can cover all three spots from a fielding standpoint pretty well. That allows them tremendous flexibility should they need it.

Guys, I like Orsillo as much as anyone else. But I'm old enough to remember McDonough, Ned Martin, and even Dick Stockton. Others here go back even further than that. It's a bummer that Orsillo is getting the boot. It really is. But Dave O'Brien is one of the very best play-by-play guys in the nation, and obviously he's a Red Sox guy (been doing the radio side of things for a while now). So watching the Sox on NESN will (if they are any good) continue to be a very enjoyable thing. I feel bad for Orsillo, I really do. But from a fan's perspective, O'Brien is absolutely awesome.

This is true. Let's say that Mike Trout were magically available in the offseason and the Sox could land him for an 8-year, $250 million deal. By WAR, he's WAY worth that kind of money. At $7 million per 1 WAR, and about 9 WAR a season, he's "worth" about $60-65 million a season. Obviously nobody would pay THAT kind of money, but still, $30+ million a year is reasonable for a guy like Trout. If the Sox signed him for 8/250, how would people here feel about that? As sure a bet in the game to be great. He hasn't even reached his age 27 season yet (still 4 years away!) so you'd be getting all his pre-prime and prime years. He's always been healthy, etc. Let's say the Sox did it and then for whatever reason Trout declined and ended up being worth about 3 WAR per year. Not a bad player by any stretch, but not remotely what the Sox paid for him. Would we eviscerate the front office for such a move? Calculated gambles are what front offices must make. Lots of times they don't work out. The best front offices gamble successfully more times than they fail, but none of them get a tremendously high percentage right.

They gathered as much information as possible and made an educated guess. NOBODY knew exactly how Hanley would fare in LF. He has always been a pretty good athlete, and he seemed to embrace the move to the OF. Those two things suggest that there's a reasonable chance he could at least be close to replacement level on defense in the OF. They probably figured that, as a calculated gamble, his offense would more than make up for it if his defense was subpar. The problem is twofold: (1) His defense was WAY worse than pretty much anyone thought it would be, and (2) his offense hasn't come CLOSE to making up for it. If he was at .880 ops, 30 hr, 110 rbi, etc., then maybe yeah. But his injuries and lack of hitting have really enhanced (is that the right word? you know what I mean) his terrible defense.

Well the Sox, in the configuration I suggest, would have a TON of homegrown talent. Adding a premier FA starter (like Price) and then a secondary guy wouldn't really change the "this team is loaded with homegrown players" theme.

First thought: Totally agree, 700. It's an outrageous thing to speculate about with zero evidence. Second thought: JBJ's emergence (is it real?) and Hanley's pending move to 1b (yes!) really solves virtually all the Red Sox' position player issues in one fell swoop. Castillo/Betts/JBJ in the OF, Hanley/Pedroia/Bogaerts/Panda in the IF, Vazquez/Swihart/Hanigan combo at C. Tons of flexibility and athleticism. Hugely improved defense. And, frankly, improved offense as well. The team is now 3rd in MLB in runs scored (112 behind MLB leader Toronto), and 3rd in MLB in runs scored post-all star break (just 2 behind MLB leader Toronto). 2016 Player Positions C - Swihart, Vazquez IF - Hanley (1b), Pedroia (2b), Bogaerts (SS), Sandoval (3b), Holt (IF), Shaw (1b/3b) OF - Castillo (LF), Betts (CF), Bradley (RF) DH - Ortiz All you need is a backup OF. After all, all three OF guys can play any of the three OF positions, so there's tons of flexibility there. Holt can play anywhere. Shaw can play either corner position (and perhaps LF in a pinch). There's power (Ortiz, Hanley can hit 25+; Shaw, Pedroia, Betts, Bradley can hit perhaps 15+). There's speed (Betts, Castillo, JBJ, Pedroia, even Holt and Swihart). There's outstanding defense (Swihart, Vazquez, Betts, Bradley, Bogaerts, Pedroia). This allows them to invest their offseason resources on pitching, pitching, and more pitching.

Whither Buchholz?