FredLynn
-
Posts
10,405 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
9
Content Type
Profiles
Boston Red Sox Videos
2026 Boston Red Sox Top Prospects Ranking
Boston Red Sox Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits
Guides & Resources
2025 Boston Red Sox Draft Pick Tracker
News
Forums
Blogs
Events
Store
Downloads
Gallery
Everything posted by FredLynn
-
What will be the 2017 greatest weakness for the Sox?
FredLynn replied to mvp 78's topic in Boston Red Sox Talk
The most suspect depth area is SP after our #6. On the other hand, I do not think that many teams have serviceable #7 and 8 SP. They will be needed eventually. I just hope its not Owens and Johnson that we need to rely on. -
He isn't underestimating, he is engaging in wishful thinking: thinking that somehow the Mariners will be like the Red Sox one day. Sort of like putting someone down to elevate yourself. Sure we lost a lot of offensive production when we lost Papi, but essentially we replaced Buchholz with Sale. How many more wins is that alone going to produce? And while its possible that Price won't have a better year, odds are he will. Add in Thornburg and Smith to replace Uehara (ERA: 3.45 v 2.15 for Thornburg, similar WHIP) and Tazawa (4.17/1.228 v 2.31/1.014) and our pen is also much improved. Harmony will continue to point out why the Red Sox will not succeed-until they do.
-
Our RP was 5th in ERA in the AL last year. I would not call our pen a "weak point"; not if they are in the upper third in ERA. Maybe not as strong as other areas perhaps, but not weak. While you might argue that other measures are more important, ERA and ERA+ remains up there. While Koji did well after he returned, Tazawa did not have a good year, and Ziegler was only with us for a few months anyway. The addition of Thornburg and the return of Smith should make our pen stronger IMO than it was last year, at least on paper. But as everyone here knows, relief pitchers are a crapshoot.
-
Unless I am missing something the base salary our players are due so far is $165,506,400 and change+$14M in benefits=$179,500,000, roughly, If the LT is $195M we are still about $15.5M below the LT threshold. Thats a lot, and more than enough to get Joey Batts if thats who they want.
-
You answered a different question that the one that was asked. I agree with you that the odds of him hitting close to his average in the next 100 PAs is the best guess, but for a single AB, for a player in an 0 for 20 hole, I think its far less. That player is not going well, for whatever reason. Maybe his mechanics are screwed up. He certainly would lack his usual confidence. I don't know that the chances of him getting a hit are, but I would not bet its .333.
-
"It doesn't appear to be anything serious. He is expected back after the all star break"
-
Thats pretty much what we got. A bag of rocks. Buchholz was worth more than that. Bad trade.
-
He is only squatting 185. Real men squat two plates, 225.....
-
I thought he played 1B...am I mistaken? Furthermore, will he even be ready at the beginning of the season? He had a horrific injury.
-
What's the backup plan for 3B if Sandoval is unproductive? Holt is not the answer. I hope DD has a backup plan. As of right now, I don't see any alternatives, and there should be.
-
SSS, but in his last five games Buchholz had an ERA as a SP of 3.14. He is capable of doing that. I would not rule him out of being in the starting rotation when the season starts. Pom, Wright, and Buchholz should compete for the final opening day SP slot. It should not be handed to one of those guys.
-
Starting pitching, in particular. I haven't looked at other teams because my comments were mostly in reference to the acquisition of Sale for guys who are prospects. Maybe in comparison to other teams we have done OK; maybe not. It would take more time than I am willing to dedicate to it to find out. But when you look at a proven ace being traded for prospects who may or may not pan out (and as I have said, most of our prospects have not worked out, including some very highly rated ones) this has better than even odds of being a steal IMO. Not sure if I posted the link to Wilbur's article from today's Boston.com here yet, but here it is: http://www.boston.com/sports/boston-red-sox/2016/12/07/dombrowski-didnt-pay-too-much-sale.
-
Many of the guys on your list were either very marginal players or likely busts. Just to name a few, Webster, Owens, Shaw, Cecchini, Vasquez (is it too soon to call him a bust?)....Johnson etc etc Our whiff rate is pretty high. It remains to be seen about many many others, including Kopech and Moncada. Based on our track record, as Wilbur pointed out in his article today, its hard to have a lot of confidence in our ability to assess talent.
-
Yeah, but they are called "prospects" for a reason. They have yet to prove anything. I admit its possible that either or both of them will contribute in a major way to the WS rebuilding efforts. Like you said, we got a proven ace for cheap money and gave up no ML players to do it. Tell me the last time that happened in a trade.
-
I am not saying that our GMs NEVER made good decisions. There were many: Bogaerts, Betts...and yes, Rizzo. But they whiffed on many as well. Some of our top prospects simply didn't pan out, despite the hype. I remember I couldn't wait to see Ranaudo pitch for us. He had a 9.48 ERA in 9 games for the Rangers and WS. Too many of our top prospects ended up sucking. If Moncada and/or Kopech end up in that boat, then we essentially stole Sale. Time will tell.
-
I had reservations about this initially. But I am coming around to the wisdom of it. There was an article by Wilbur today reminding everyone of how badly overhyped several of our recent "can't miss" prospects were: Casey Kelly, Anthony Ranaudo, Henry Owens, Lars Anderson, Michael Bowden, Will Middlebrooks, and to a lesser extent, Daniel Bard. Maybe Moncada and Kopech will become stars at the ML level; maybe not. Meanwhile Sale cost us no ML players and we still have a semblance of a farm system.
-
You are not the only one. I am also ambivalent about it. I would have preferred other prospect than Moncada and Kopech.
-
To be fair, that is on Lucchino. He is the guy who made the insulting lowball offer to Lester. Not a fan of Cherington, but he wasn't the guy who blew the Lester deal.
-
Last year Moreland had a .799 OPS v LHP and .700 v RHP-as well as being the SI GG winner at 1B. And yes, we are going to keep Buchholz.
-
Apparently Moreland, the GG winner last year, will be the 1B and Hanley will be the new DH most of the time (according to Farrell).
-
By the way, we just signed Moreland to a one year deal as well. Not sure if someone else scooped me on this. Per Ken Rosenthal.
-
Generally you are going to need 8 SP during a season. Assuming Owens is not good for much, we now have 7 by my count, so we still need one more. Elias is a possibility. We gave up a lot for Sale...I have a little bit of angst about that. If we can win a ring or two in the next three years then it was worth it.
-
2016-2017 Offseason Trade Speculation Thread
FredLynn replied to Dojji's topic in Boston Red Sox Talk
I would rather have Holt on my 25 man roster than Iggy because of the flexibility he provides. Iggy is a SS; Holt is passable utility player with similar WAR value. -
From Fangraphs: Percentage of fastballs thrown: 52% (all of his fastballs-38.1% four seam, less than 10% two seam and cut fastballs) Percentage knucklecurve: 39.3% Percentage of changeups: less than 10% (8.8%) Not to discount the number of innings he has thrown this year, but essentially he throws fastballs and curves. He has no change and no slider to speak of that he can reliably throw. The addition of a reliable third pitch is essential to his future success IMHO. When the hitter knows its either a fastball or a curve, he is going to be right half the time. Even the addition of a splitter would help. Thats his assignment this offseason. Same with Rodriguez. Adding a third pitch would make both of them more effective if they can command it. For now, I think he is spent. I do not see a place for him on the immediate postseason roster.
-
You mean he really isn't a .350 hitter after all? I think he has hit a slump, thats all. And he will settle eventually in at maybe a .260 hitter with good defensive skills. I will take that.