sk7326

BTW: It is also funny somebody that a guy some of my high school classmates played in South Shore League baseball is the Red Sox GM now.

I said Vasquez because Swihart is probably a centerpiece of a significant deal. My view on the catching thing is simple - Swihart has proven he can start for somebody. Vasquez sure looks like he could start for somebody (he has had less big league experience at this point, so there is less which is solid). If one of them will get 110-120 starts, it makes more sense for the 40-50 starts to be soaked up by a Hanigan sort and use the other guy to fill holes elsewhere. One thing to note when dealing some of the guys who are tradeable - some of them will turn out really good. And that's ok - as long as the guy we got back is good and the guy who we chose for said position is doing the job.

Sensible, good choice. Huge in the player development area which has gone ... will help keep the stuff which has worked here and to limit the brain drain that the org feared I imagine.

He is interesting trade filler because of his contract - but he is what he is ... a useful starter for a marathon.

This is not basketball where there is any significant difference between a wild card team and a top seed ... you get to the tournament, you can win it. The best team only wins it occasionally. This team in terms of hitting and defense is ready to content next year - the pitching is another matter, but the Red Sox are flush with resources to address that. Vasquez is not sufficient for said deal - but as part of one? Absolutely.

1. They will try to contend in 2016. Some simple reasons here. First of all, the fans pay too much money to not expect a sincere attempt at contention. (this year was a sincere attempt - failed, but sincere) Second, the changes needed to get to reasonable contention are significant - but very much in the realm of possible. 2. As the last 2 months have shown, the everyday lineup is in good shape. Yeah you need to find a 1B you like ... the notion of lineup protection is basically bunk, but still the odds of Travis Shaw being anything more than Daniel Nava in terms of an "answer" is low. Ramirez could be an answer - or somebody else. But the team has significant ways forward at all of the positions - and will be above average in most of them (in terms of total package - I agree a corner bat in the outfield would be nice, not urgent but it'd help balance things), and have serious star capability in a couple. Even positions I have less faith in (hello, third base) isn't that bad. 3. Pitching staff needs a lot of work - at least one good starter, and basically reshuffling the bullpen. This is all true - but that's Dombrowski's job - and the team has a lot of prospects who HAVE to be moved soon. It sounds nice to build a cache of blocked starters like this is the reserve clause days. But as a practical matter, guys who get blocked will often go sideways or worse (hello Cecchini, Jesus Montero). Sometimes this is revelation of limited talent - sometimes it is just human nature (staying hungry, keeping your head up or whatever is cute until it looks like a promotion is flat out never going to happen). The Red Sox are bursting with middle of the diamond talent, among the hardest things to staff - and so moving that for significant big league return is a good idea. 4. Swihart's .680 OPS has to be looked at in terms of the shape of the production - considering how overwhelmed he was (and how overpromoted) he has settled in well. He was very bad for a couple of months and pretty darn good since. He's a baby. But the Red Sox have a surplus of catching - so moving one is a good use of resources in the right deal. So is moving Margot - who is probably going to be a Top 20 prospect in the next batch of rankings by folks who do that sort of thing - because the Red Sox have 7000 quality centrfielders including one right behind him (Benintendi) who has been the best performer of the Class of 2015 Draft so far (the entire class, not just Boston's). 5. One of Cherington's mistakes perhaps was - well not overvaluing the Boston prospects (the major league evidence is in his favor), but not being aggressive in moving the non-superstar sorts. Dombrowski won't do that. You look in the system, and Moncada, Espinoza, Devers, Benintendi (who can't be dealt anyway except as a PTBNL this offseason) have the sort of ceiling a team like Boston keeps, while the other guys are bulk to get major league stuff. There are some really good players in that bulk - our bulk is better than a lot of other teams - but now Dombrowski will probably take it for a walk more readily. The GM's job will be to make more.

Fair enough - although the word puppet was an interesting choice. GM will be in charge of keeping the machine running - whether it be for Red Sox talent or trade currency. Somebody from the Astros or Cardinals makes sense - both have had created an organizational advantage in developing pitching. Clearly the Sox have had no issue with the position players.

Disagree - the job description changed. DD's focus is on the major league roster - I don't think he has the time or interest to focus on the rest of the baseball operation (which is a pretty big job). GM in Boston under this org chart is the guy in charge of the "other stuff" which DD is not looking at - and probably the guy the day to day staff interacts with the most. It's a promotion from an assistant gig - but no, it's not a chance to be the one true baseball fuhrer. A guy who can step in and keep the executive talent here will not be nothing.

That is a fair assessment - but also noting that (and this goes for Vasquez too) 23 year olds do not stay the same. What will be interesting for Vasquez will be the future of home plate umpiring. Will balls and strikes be automated in the next decade? It will impact guys like Vasquez particularly. But his pitch framing is remarkable, and as long as flawed humans are forced to do that job, he is a legitimate source of advantage. Basically you are looking at one guy with some sort of Molina brother upside - obviously the offense will steer you to which one you think, and another with some legitimate "middle class man's" Buster Posey. The latter has a significant age advantage. I think the odds are he gets moved because of his market value. The value has been enhanced by this year, when he was overpromoted because of injury - had to figure out the big leagues on the fly, and has turned out to be pretty darn good with flashes of a hell of a lot more.

Makes sense - job now is a gussied up player development director gig - which is good if you are moving up the ladder. Astros shop (which is tied to Saint Louis) as good an any there is.

Swihart is a great athlete - which is uncommon for a catcher. Really there is a possibility that long term he might do something like Buster Posey where he plays some 1B or 3B just to not have his bat out of the lineup for 40 or 50 games. But is also makes his toolset very rare for catchers, and thus the decision for the Red Sox legitimately interesting. This decision is doubly fascinating since a lot of posters are assuming Christian Vasquez can actually hit - which is a largely untested assertion. We know Swihart can cut it defensively - maybe not as good as Vasquez, but that is because Vasquez is very gifted on that side.

His low OBP/low power combo hurt a lot more. From Butch Hobson to Ryan Klesko to umpteen other cases, teams have survived with dumpster fire defenders who could hit. (and in Hobson's case he didn't really hit all that much). 1B or 3B he will be less bad if he hits to his normal ability. Heck, if he hit to his normal capability, he'd have been a justifiable starter. His teammates have done quite nicely the last 2 months ... it has been fun.

Bradley won't be the centerpiece to anything. But he doesn't have to be. The Red Sox are loaded with CF types anyway - and other position players who clearly could start for somebody (Merrero, Cecchini, Shaw, honestly probably Margot, some catcher). If you think the team needs a corner bat, there is the currency. Obviously it is currency for pitching. What is Bradley? Really the odds were in favor of him being a big league competent hitter - he has hit at age appropriate levels throughout. I think what he is now is what he is ... .269/.350, with some power (probably not this but who cares). That is a solid starter/fringy all-star without doing much else.

That meant he's gonna be a shaky fielder wherever - but his bat plays anywhere. He went in the toilet after he hurt his shoulder ... it happens. Offseason to heal, and that part will be fine.

Hanley will be fine. Give an offseason for the shoulder to heal and he will hit - enough to put him wherever you want on the field, including first. Shaw is a decent guy who will be useful trade bulk. Sandoval is what he is - certainly better than 2015, but probably not that good. Dombrowski's work with the staff is considerable - the tools he has to fix it are pretty vast.

Things have not changed - baserunners are the name of the game. 3-run homers are still optimal, but you can work around that some. You don't want outs - period. Manufacturing runs has always been largely bunk - at least if you intend to score more than a couple. With or without the 3-run homers, you still want those bases clogged. That said, Boston is 8th in the AL in HRs, 3rd in OBP and 3rd in runs ... so the homeruns are not a requirement (this was the profile of the 2007 team also). What HAS happened though is a large jump in doubles - from dead last to 4th in the league. I do think for Boston specifically - that is sustainable. We know Fenway is not a great homerun park, but it is a great doubles one and so a team of gap hitting can get pretty far too.

The team mashed since the all-star break, and that's without their 2nd best hitter providing any real contribution. (and if you wanted to go get Jason Heyward or Justin Upton, I wouldn't argue at all) But the lineup is a relative nonissue.

Basically - this is a good news, bad news thing ... Good? He has figured out how to cover all of his "cold zones" Bad? He is not forcing them to throw into his hot areas Good? He's 22 and made a major hitting adjustment to be a net asset offensively, while working on his fielding to the point that he's quite solid. Next step for him is to lay off the out of zone pitches and get more things to drive. But he has made adjustments at every level of baseball to date - including this one. He's still just a baby. This is the sort of guy you bet on.

His power run was never going to sustain ... the 1 for 27 will pass too. Question is whether the bat can be enough to hold up the rest of the package. I am bullish - no reason he can't be a solid OBP guy with the occasional hot streak. Basically Mike Napoli's offense (without the power) as an elite center fielder? I'll take that.

It makes his reign really odd - I never said he shouldn't have been ousted. The major league record was fair game. But it's also noteworthy that he left a ton behind. There are posters who talk of the disaster left in his wake - and that is not supported by much of anything. What happened in Seattle (as a counterexample) was an actual disaster. Milwaukee also is in a situation which will take a few years to dig out of. Dombrowski's job is clear - and he has an unusually good number of tools to do his job. The concern I have is a housecleaning that is largely not necessary - because so much of what exists currently is like league best level. If he keeps the infrastructure around mostly - this has a chance to work out really well. We know a lot of the stupid things which he did in Detroit were at the behest of the pizza guy.

Helps to avoid a cheating scandal while you are on sabbatical.

They'll be in the mix next season - Dombrowski will figure out the pitching. Doesn't have to do a lot with the lineup. Ramirez' shoulder heals, and he'll be fine - a bad defender wherever they put him, but a good player in sum. Funny thing is if you flip your statement around while maintaining all the facts ... won a championship in four seasons, leaves behind the game's best farm system and a starting lineup full of young, cheap star level talent ...

All players deteriorate by their mid-late 30s, where things like approach and knowing how to play baseball has to trump athletic skills - shocking. Even Pedroia - over whose hands you continually wring - got 8 good seasons! That's a good number for anybody. And Pedroia is going to end up with a near 3 win season despite all the injury time. That is the funny thing about Pedroia - trying to usher him out the door when he has slipped from one of the best players in the league vs merely one of the best second basemen.

No - because that would be stupid. He is a terrific athlete. That is really the common thread of the guys the Sox are acquiring. These are all good athletes who would be effective in other sports (assuming they had the training). The height is somewhat incidental.

A five year break yes, a one year one not so much. Coaches do that all the time - often taking TV gigs to say things that everybody knows.