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sk7326

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Everything posted by sk7326

  1. sk7326
    Votto is probably the best pure hitter in the league - combining power, production and being able to take good at bats
  2. sk7326
    I think - essentially - pitching is more physically demanding than it was in the olden days ... (and of course that we know more about injuries - and everything else - generally newswise)
  3. sk7326
    Almost certainly not true ... and besides, the average velocity from then to now is no comparison.
  4. sk7326
    There was basically no evidence that there was a 2-win player inside there at his age and recent results, let alone a 6-win player. But hey - I'll take it!
  5. sk7326
    Stanton - though his past durability issues give serious pause. While Votto PROBABLY will be a useful hitter for another 3 seasons (and maybe more due to his approach) that is hard to swallow.
  6. sk7326
    That is certainly possible - this is an upside play ... it is the one thing that gets lost with dealing Bradley is certainty. At the same time, a core of under 25 guys comes with some of that uncertainty. Benintendi certainly has the chance to be a better total package than Bradley. But the guy to deal if you are moving somebody to improve the big league club, it's Bradley. A little older - valuable but probably without a ton more to go.
  7. sk7326
    And to be fair, Napoli was a sensible pickup. Victorino was kind of a lousy idea ... which worked out a billion times better than anybody had the right to expect. Yeah he only gave 1 good year of a 3 year contract, but what a year it was!
  8. sk7326
    BTW: nothing signals positivity to free agents like actively trying to prevent somebody from vesting his option.
  9. sk7326
    Benintendi has to be better, but athletically he should be able to handle either at least at an above average level. Of course Betts is one of the fielders who could actually improve on Bradley at CF.
  10. sk7326
    Because Cashman got better deals ... he got homeruns for Chapman and Miller. (it still made sense for the Cubs to make the deal, flags flying forever and such) The Beckett/Crawford deal was actually fairly good for a salary dump ... neither De La Rosa nor Webster worked out ... but given the value of the assets at the time, that was a better return for a fire sale than you'd expect. The one undisputed homerun Cherington had in the selloffs was getting Eduardo Rodriguez for 2 months of Andrew Miller.
  11. sk7326
    Actually the Yankees did the same thing the Sox did to a degree. The difference is that the Yankees were in a position to sell off veterans - which the Red Sox under Dombrowski largely have not been able to. They've been too busy contending to be able to make Chapman and Miller deals (homeruns for Cashman on both). Cherington and the prior management were the ones who insisted on taking back major league players for Lester and Lackey - and thus not getting nearly enough back for deadline sales. I am all about not selling the farm - but you have to be fair here. Dombrowski identified the prospects he saw star potential with ... Benintendi and Devers ... and dealt the rest with the understanding that a team like Boston can buy worker bees. The only thing I am critical of ultimately is selling off blue chip minor league pitching - but EVEN THEN, pitcher health is so volatile that from a sheer risk management perspective I understand being more willing to deal arms than bats.
  12. sk7326
    Really the question when trading for Ozuna is whether Benintendi can be a good defensive CENTER or RIGHT FIELDER. Betts will be near league best wherever he plays ... Benintendi at least profiles as plus at Center Field. (his performance in left was not great - although there is a long history of Red Sox left fielders scoring poorly UZR-wise ... I do think Fenway's left field creates a problem for the measure) The total impact on the outfield might actually end up being small. The idea of dealing JBJ is simply because the Red Sox could actually improve CF internally.
  13. sk7326
    A highly recommended read about this is Jeff Passan's THE ARM. The short version - considering how valuable pitchers are to winning, the industry collectively knows almost nothing about optimizing performance and preservation.
  14. sk7326
    Pitchers throw a lot harder than in the olden days - some of that is evolutionary ... but I think some of it is industry thinking. Put another way, do you really need Old Hoss Radbourn when 3 pitchers can do the same job better?
  15. sk7326
    Let's see what an offseason of rest does. Pedroia and Bryce Harper's hand injury experiences are both solid examples of reserving judgment on Bogaerts here.
  16. sk7326
    I could see him as a roving instructor or "assistant to the GM" at some point ... but yeah, for the most part he has a good life.
  17. sk7326
    One thing to remember is - making the playoffs is good, and winning is good ... Sale allowed Farrell and the team to wallpaper over flaws with the rest of the rotation - and deploy the bullpen as effectively as they did all season. After all, Porcello was the only other pitcher who provided consistent bulk. Pomeranz provided consistent quality without depth. Rodriguez just did not pitch enough period - same with Price. Fister was decent for a #5. Sale's reliability allowed them to work around issues with the other 4 rotation spots. I mean yeah it'd be nice to manage Sale's workload a little bit more - but it is hard to say that they actually had that luxury.
  18. sk7326
    I know - it's as if the Red Sox don't have a Top 10 defensive CF playing to Bradley's left!
  19. sk7326
    It's easy to say I told-you-so's about Swihart, but hard to believe any of them ... but the Red Sox had to see what they had after last year's injury. Swihart was always the team's highest ceiling option at catcher - and trading him after his injury would be a straight dump. It is a shame that things did not work out, but unless the Red Sox wanted to turn him into a cyborg, it's hard to really blame them.
  20. sk7326
    The way it was managed was about lineup turnover - some starters you might not trust a third time through the order. MOST starters you can't trust fourth time through (that includes true aces). What would help is having a couple of arms who can actually pitch more than one inning. You saw teams do this the entire postseason - although some teams might be overdoing it, emptying their bullpen is a gamble too.
  21. sk7326
    I think it will be collaborative. After all - it's not like any manager knows every coach who is out there. I would imagine management will put together the coaches to be interviewed while Cora gets significant say in who makes the cut. Of course, managing his coaches is one of the biggest parts of his gig. The same hitting coach had a league leading offense last year - so it's probably not a plug and play thing.
  22. sk7326
    His FIP in August was still 2.43 - plenty good. (close to Klubers) ... the walks went up to 5.6% which is still fine. He was still striking out tons of guys. Lower line drive rate than April-June. September and October were bad - although I can't imagine a 41% homerun/FB rate is built to last.
  23. sk7326
    Maybe - but he had a great August, and the things you'd expect to reflect a fade (more frequent line drives, fewer strikeouts) never really came to pass. I think they will be a bit more careful - but I don't think they weren't careful ... they knew the merchandise when they bought it.
  24. sk7326
    Sale's fade was genuinely strange though 1. He kept sprinkling in great performances 2. His strikeout rate never dropped, and his walk rate never went up ... and he had a terrific August 3. The line drive rate until September stayed pretty still. It seemed the problems were all about getting his slider to bite ... the velocity was still easy and high The White Sox managed him carefully and had a similar performance curve ... it might just be something he has to iron out.
  25. sk7326
    So was Cory Kluber, and Jose Quintana, and Jon Lester ... I am not sure there is much to conclude here.
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