sk7326

True to a point. By deploy differently, I mean that Farrell could use some parts of his bullpen to head off some of the issues in the rotation. Now, Price is a stud - using pitch counts to measure wear and such makes sense. You don't have a ton of issues with letting him see hitters a 3rd time through the order. Buchholz I think is the same - although he has to iron out some things on his own end. The stuff continues to be premium. But I think you could get a lot of effectiveness by putting Owens in Kelly's spot and then having Kelly available to back Owens up. Let Owens get through the lineup twice and let Kelly take over. Let Kelly get through the lineup once and then figure out what to do from there.

Now we know that Steven Wright won't be the best pitcher in Boston history. Hell, he's not even the best STEVEN WRIGHT that Boston has produced. (sincerely, the guy on the couch) But Dojji is right in that I think Wright can produce 180+ back-rotation innings for somebody. He's not a #2 because that's just not something you'd want the knuckleballer to do. But you have to respect what he does - it would be an 8 figure salary as a free agent. Buchholz is off to a rough start - but he is capable of turning it around. His durability is the reason to get rid of him, not the performance - because the stuff will come around. He is maddening, but he has been very effective 2 of the last 3 seasons. It is smart to bet the over compared to what we've seen to date.

Indeed, they need to watch his miles - heck they even need to watch his warmups (basically if you ask him to get up and get loose, you gotta use him). It is one of the quirks of the bullpen Farrell has to negotiate. Koji is amazing but he is not the moveable chess piece like you'd prefer for a primary "set up" guy (like say Tazawa or Smith). The Kimbrel acquisition can help there some - although on the flipside you could argue that Koji as the 9th inning guy allows the team to monitor his workload easier (fewer unpredictable situations, can rotate Carson Smith in occasionally to spell him). But I marvel at Koji's maddux-ish economy.

Oh it's just being flip. Who doesn't want a consistent winner? Now what Dombrowski has done this offseason has been notable - but fairly obvious. Now it is nice he has been empowered to do the obvious thing and sign the top free agent pitcher. He went and traded for a mid-career stud closer - the price is arguable but if you're gonna do it, at least get somebody good. (somebody who is the 2nd best reliever in the pen through 11 games somewhat amusingly) What is clear is that since Epstein left is that there was a distinct lack of strength at the top of the baseball operation - and with Dombrowski, Henry has put some juice at the top. That is a good thing - as opposed to the mushy way it has been handled the last three seasons. The mushy way has wasted development time with some of their better prospects. At least Henry has identified somebody he wants to drive, and that alone will help quite a bit. They had a collaborative thing which produced the best decade in Sox history, and with two of the principals gone, the collaboration dropped off quite a bit into a vague formless blob. Henry's credit is to step in and fix the formless blob by empowering a proven guy he knows.

Depends on how much they win ... flags fly forever ... for most Red Sox fans, I think the pattern of the last three years is ideal. Win a title - who doesn't want that? And then two years of last place - which gives the fans a chance to complain, which ultimately it what they are better at.

First, aside from somebody underestimating how fast internet commenters can type with one hand ... catcher is a safe route to the bigs, but it helps to have a fairly uncommon body type (I don't know that many people who look like utility fridges) which a lot of guys who catch in high school outgrow. And then you get the odd Bryce Harper who had 80 power as a high school junior, and the Nats decided he could get to the bigs even faster as a non-catcher, and an 80 power bat is not something they want to limit (since catchers play fewer games a season than other positions assuming good health).

I don't http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=13018

No real issue with the demotion - he has to play. Vasquez is in a better position to add defensive value, and offensively, we'll let that sort itself out.

1. If by "same age" you mean "over a year and a half older than Swihart" than yes, Vasquez is the same age. 2. The issue with the "he can't catch" thing with Swihart is nonsense. There are guys like Montero or Lavarnway who outgrew the position (and folks knew when Montero was on AA that is was a probability) and who frankly aren't good enough athletes to do anything else. Swihart is an actual good athlete (like Posey or Mauer, but not the same level as Biggio) who needs time to figure out the catching thing. He did not have that chance last season because all of the Sox catchers got hurt and the idea of Sandy Leon starting 130 games scared most of the United States 3. Kid needs reps - he just turned 24. Catcher is one of the positions which is later arriving in general. He has had very little time in AAA, was brought up before he was ready - and this is a kid who had previously conquered every level at a good age. 4. Sanchez when he comes up it will be to replace McCann - not right away, but not "several seasons". It's a waste of team resources - and McCann's decline is not that hard to forecast anyway. 5. Swihart taking fly balls in LF means nothing. It's like Posey playing 1B occasionally. Creative way to keep his bat in the lineup and use both guys if it came to it.

Good move. Swihart needs to play. They don't need another reliever. They could stand to deploy their relievers a little differently. And I'd certainly bring up Owens, move Kelly to the pen and launch Ross into outer space.

It's weird to not see Swihart down. That said, I THINK there is some logic - at least temporarily. 1. It was not like Sandoval was the primary backup at 3B. They have that covered. 2. We know Shaw can spell Ramirez at 1B, and I don't think they'd have any hesitation to give Swihart a 1B mitt if it came down to it 3. The Sox do not actually know what they have in Vasquez. Now, if he is not overwhelmed by big league pitching and can turn out the average on-base skills he has shown in the minors, then we have a starter. I can see some sense of risk aversion with dealing with Vasquez - at least early. Maybe there will be a trade of Hanigan at some point. I would be worried if this condition held for a ton of time. In the age of 95 man pitching staffs, burning a position spot on a 3rd catcher is really dicey.

I see what you did there.

It has been 100% starting pitching so far: Offense has been very good Defense has been good Bullpen has been good - less good when overextended but that applies to everybody Now the rotation is not THIS bad. They are giving up homeruns at a rate which would obliterate last year's league leader (HR/FB). So that will come down. And at some point Wright will not be the only pitcher who can pitch into the 7th inning. Really that the Red Sox are 4-4 dealing with slo-pitch softball level starting pitching is a good sign.

He was really outstanding eight years ago - almost as good as he thought he was

Also, with the revised draft bonus rules, the international signing caps and the Japanese posting system - the sports created a giant incentive to go hog wild over Cuban players. It's the one cohort (so long as they remain free agents) which you could buy no strings attached.

About $2M per year above the expected bid range ... typical "winner's curse" stuff. IIRC there were four or five alleged suitors.

Tying homerun, 8th inning, Game 4 ... correct otherwise

I know there are some sort of "legit medical" reasons they have to nominally prove i guess if it came down to it (union would surely file a grievance if he is on the DL forever without merit) ... but you take the DL stink, add a 30 day rehab assignment. This probably gives them 1-2 months of cover without poking the (union) bear.

Sometimes you make a perfect pitch (2001 Game 7) and the guy puts in somewhere the fielders aren't ... there will always be blips.

He's been fine - most of the opportunities have been on the easier side.

You're right of course. SSS does prevail - after all they have a homerun/flyball rate which is almost double that of the worst team last season. But how can the internet subsist without SSS based hot takes? Come on in!

1. Starting Pitching 75% 2. Starting Pitching 20% 3. Starting Pitching 5% For all the hemming and hawing about Farrell (some deserved, and some I've done) they are on a 926 run pace, which would be 35 more runs than the Jays last year (and the Jays were the only team to score 770 runs). No starter has gotten through the 7th inning. The bullpen has not been good, yes - but they are being asked to lift way way too much right now. There have been struggles at catcher, but the defense has largely been pretty good - it would be hard to put much of the run prevention issues on them.

Soxprospects did say that - and it made sense given he was acquired to convert to catcher. That said, these places (and baseball america, espn etc) all thought he could stay behind the plate. Had good stolen base numbers and is a good athlete. (most of the guys who have to leave the positions are not) It's more likely a young Mauer-like athlete can figure out the stuff at the plate than a DH in waiting. I think at this point giving him some time to be comfortable is all you can do - and if that means doing so in Pawtucket, fine. Right now the pitching staff is giving up more line drives than anybody, is in the top 5 for fly balls, dead last in ground ball rate. The Sox also have the 3rd highest homerun/FB rate. So right now this has been target practice for opponents, and Jason Varitek coming from the heavens to call fastball after fastball ain't going to fix that.

Neither of our teams are good enough to worry about playoff rotations.

In order 1. Perhaps. He was clearly rushed up due to a pile of injuries. While his makeup portend to him figuring this out, giving him more reps is a totally reasonable position. Indeed, you don't want the defense to muck up his ability to develop offensively, which is supposed to be his special sauce. 2. No. He was performing well in the minors - this is not like Kyle Schwarber or Jesus Montero where it really looked like people were lying to themselves. Clearly reps would help. 3. Nothing currently justifies this. He's young, his bat has not been amazing - his success is built on being a catcher. It was known that he was raw in areas but has picked up a lot. But AAA makes sense as the next move to me. If Vasquez is ready to go, Swihart getting the demotion would make sense - some high profile non-performance clearly is helping nobody but sports talk ratings.