sk7326

Manny was comically bad and Stanton is average-ish defensively. Now I do expect Stanton's numbers to suck defensively in LF if he played for Boston, because Boston seems to do that to left fielders.

Because he is good - and because cost controlled starters are innately valuable

Depends on obviously Jeter's desires and the quality and quantity of offers. I don't think he is simply given away to a team that can take the entire contract. BUT, the ability to eat the whole contract is something very few teams have, and thus should have innate value as a bargaining chip.

oh if Martinez is doing anything but DHing (maybe 1B) it is a bad idea

Since it's Sunday morning ... using bWAR 2010s managers 2011: Tony LaRussa -0.7 WAR 2012,2014: Bruce Bochy 2.4 WAR 2013: John Farrell 7.4 WAR 2015: Ned Yost -3.7 WAR 2016: Joe Maddon (no ML) 2017: AJ Hinch 0.1 WAR 2000s 2000: Joe Torre 57.6 WAR 2001: Bob Brenly 12.7 WAR 2002: Mike Scioscia 26.0 WAR 2003: Jack McKeon (no ML) 2004, 2007: Terry Francona -2.9 WAR 2005: Ozzie Guillen 20.9 WAR 2008: Charlie Manuel -2.3 WAR 2009: Joe Girardi 5.7 WAR 1990s: 1990: Lou Piniella 12.5 WAR 1991: Tom Kelly -0.5 WAR 1992, 1993: Cito Gaston -0.8 WAR 1995: Bobby Cox 0.9 WAR 1997: Jim Leyland (no ML) 1980s 1980: Dallas Green 2.2 WAR 1981: Tommy Lasorda -1.3 WAR 1982: Whitey Herzog 2.9 WAR 1983: Joe Altobelli -0.9 WAR 1984: Sparky Anderson -1.2 WAR 1985: Dick Howser 9.6 WAR 1986: Davey Johnson 27.5 WAR 1970s: 1970: Earl Weaver (no ML) 1971: Danny Murtaugh 6.4 WAR 1972, 1973: Dick Williams 3.4 WAR 1974: Al Dark 43.0 WAR 1977: Billy Martin 3.0 WAR 1978: Bob Lemon 48.8 WAR 1979: Chuck Tanner -0.2 WAR 1960s 1961-1962: Ralph Houk 0.1 WAR 1963: Walter Alston 0.0 WAR 1964: Johnny Keane (no ML) 1966: Hank Bauer 26.6 WAR 1967: Red Schoendienst 42.3 WAR 1968: Mayo Smith -0.7 WAR 1969: Gil Hodges 45.0 WAR ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So looking at since 1960, the nominees for this are Joe Torre 57.6 WAR Bob Lemon 48.8 WAR Gil Hodges 45.0 WAR Al Dark 43.0 WAR Red Schoendinst 42.3 WAR Obviously WAR is a starting point - then consider peakiness of career and such ...

Gil Hodges?

I think it is a fair measurement if you normalize for plate appearances. But of course that is part of the problem. At the same time, one of those long absences was a true freak accident.

42 HRs would have helped given the team's advanced on-base skills. Could a Stanton-Betts-Benintendi OF be an improvement total packagewise over Benintendi-Bradley-Betts? Sure.

Oh it is. You have to be comfortable with his injury history. Since one of those injuries was getting hit in the face - it might not be a huh-yooge deal. The way the market seems to be shaping up - he is gettable. There is basically a sliding scale of prospect quality vs taking on money ... where the Red Sox can possibly find a sweet spot. They probably don't have the prospect heft to make the Marlins take a lot of the contract. But if they take the contract - that might not matter.

I think moreover it is hard for great players to be great head coaches - because for them the sport is not that hard ... which makes it hard to relate to players who have to struggle more.

I know - John Henry might have to settle for eating tunafish straight out of the can because of the impact.

I think they go one-year at a time with Bradley and Rodriguez ... try to get a 6 year extension for a reasonable amount ($150M would be reasonable) for Betts ... Bogaerts season (and how much of it was injury related) almost forces the Red Sox to just make a deal for next year. Explore a short pre-arb extension with Pomeranz although I am not that moved either direction

Wrong internal improvement

It is a sound move. What you hope is that they have a plan to replace some of the catching instruction he was able to provide in his prior role.

It's a much smaller penalty to go after QO guys ... and I do think it is good for both sides. Teams are not stuck giving offers to guys they do not want to keep, and players have actual FA.

I think it is more understanding that he entered a front office which actually worked. When you are one of the league's best shops - you don't throw all of it away.

In 2 or 3 years - Mookie is 27. Some people will be signed and others will not ... I cannot disagree with the assertion that this team will not field a contender in 3 years any more vehemently.

I think both would be. Granderson can't hit lefties anymore - so he'd be part of a platoon solution. I don't love it - but if we have to go with a shorter term approach, that's what I'd do.

I could do Morrison. I could also see Curtis Granderson as a lefty platoon partner and juggle Travis-Ramirez-Granderson across the two positions. For additional starters? My top choice would be to offer Sabbathia a 1-year deal Brandon Philips would be a good choice for an extra infielder who can play 2B and 3B enough and fake SS at least as well as Nunez did.

Since 2002, 13 of the 16 seasons were "good" - my definition of good is, entering September with a realistic path to a playoff spot.

I am guessing a lot. Hand/wrist injuries (gripping the f'ing bat!) are very hard to fix during the season. Chavis, Bryce Harper, Pedroia have all had seasons totally sunk because of injuries in that area.

One thing Gammons wrote was that Dombrowski - to his credit - has kept a lot of the analytics and best practices the Red Sox had when he arrived. He did not pooh pooh analytics so much as he plead a measure of ignorance, but respected it. Yeah there was a large brain drain - but you expect that given a new guy in charge. But it is nice they are definitely committed. It doesn't take a sleuth to see there is probably a lot of research to say, augment UZR with the statcast launch angle, exit velocity data, along with initial positioning.

They might not have wanted to sign Scherzer and though Price would be a better investment for that deal. So far that looks problematic - although not for the reason I would have expected.

They can hold their nose, put Merrero at 2nd and be fine.

Yes and no. It was not planned that Betts would catch up and overtake the class above him. What will happen is there will be a few of the young stars who will stay (although ALL OF THEM STAYING is an option the Red Sox have that other teams don't) - and other guys who leave or get dealt. There will be other good players staffed via trade, maybe a big FA. And then maybe it's somebody in the organization like a Travis - or maybe it's fishing for more fungible big league assets who usually don't cost much money (middle of the road corner bats, defensive infielders). Really the title team lineups were the stars we all know backed up by meh veterans on short hitches like Mike Carp, Eric Hinske, Daniel Nava. The trickier thing is finding those guys consistently. There are enough of those journeymen around in any given year for a team like the Red Sox to fill in gaps. (a team like Tampa on the other hand is better off giving it to a kiddo - assuming they have a lot of gaps)