sk7326

What he and Melvin have done is leverage platoons to get lots of cheap production - it is hard for that to be sustained in the playoffs when the pitching is better, but it has allowed them to be consistently competitive. And of course, they have built to the ballpark as well as anybody.

I think he might be the surest, although Ramirez' hitting numbers are there too. I also think Uehara makes sense. You get scads of relievers on the pitching staff and Koji had been his usual self. He is only a disappointment if you compare him to the 2013 version.

But a harder road to a playoff bid. I don't think they have any intention of rebuilding. But we know beane will take calls on zobrist and Kazmir. That is why he got them in part.

Let's hope so - he faced better opposition in the SEC (generally)

I think the issue was the term rebuild. This season has not gone well - but the fundamentals of a good team are there. I could see a sell because Beane is a smart guy (and it's why you got Zobrist in the first place), but nothing on the level of ripping to the studs or anything.

I don't disagree and we know Beane is Belichikian in his unsentimentality. That said, their run scoring margin is so misaligned with record that he might (justifiably) see a better team than others do.

Every team needs one ... some thoughts Hanley Ramirez - probably the favorite. Players and managers vote, and there is not much evidence that the statistical revolution has hit that entire community. Ramirez has the most impressive counting stats on the team, regardless of whether he has provided an overall positive contribution or not. Clay Buchholz - actually leads the team in fWAR (3.1), 3rd in bWAR (2.4). Outside of a shaky April has been very very good. Still not a great record, and Sale and Kluber have been better among starters without the record to show for it. Mookie Betts - alas, life at the position Mike Trout plays. Had a terrific first half 2.7/3.9, tops among position players for the Sox. Now in an All-Star game with proper priorities (a game that doesn't count and is a showcase for the best of the sport), he gets in somehow. Xander Bogaerts - the field at shortstop is thinner, and Bogaerts has had a terrific season too. The stunning change in defensive bWAR (-0.9 in 2014 to +0.6 to date) is particularly encouraging. Strong choice to showcase the game's future as well. Dustin Pedroia - another good choice to showcase the game's best. One hell of a bounceback season before going to the DL, although defensively not to the usual standard. Brock Holt - Easiest guy to root for putting on the list. Has had a season to justify it too, although position would be tricky. He'd be a fun guy for the 32nd (or whatever the number is) man balloting. Koji Uehara, Junichi Tazawa - the managers put way way way way too many relievers on the roster relative to player value. But if you are going to do it, both have had excellent first halves. Yeah, Uehara is not the guy he was in 2013, but that guy was superhuman. MY PICKS: Bogaerts, Betts and Holt (final man ballot) MY GUESS: Uehara, Pedroia (since he's on the DL, easy selection to make and replace), maybe Bogaerts

There are guys who are not "available" the Red Sox could put an offer to get - I do agree with Pal that the Red Sox are definitely looking at that goal. Simultaneously they know that starting pitching, young controllable pitching, is easier to make than buy. It's not 1998 - there are very few teams that cannot see a pitcher through to at least the arbitration deals. Still the Red Sox best bet is doing what they did with Rodriguez - land a guy with uncertain probability and (for now) get lucky.

Kelly could be an excellent bullpen piece - they just have to make the move

And as it has happened, the team has played better ... when the team has hit like the offense they were supposed to be, this team has been above average ... which is not ideal, but at least something you can consider making an in-season trade to bolster.

Definitely see what he could bring back ... but no rush to trade him. A quality starter at his salary with 2 seasons control should net at least one Top 50 sort ... the trade deadline could be funny. Last year the cost of starting pitching was not that bad, but then the Orioles moved the best prospect for a short reliever, so who knows??

You look at the months where they hit - they have. If 4.00 is the magic number, 3 of the 6 teams at 4.00 or above have .500 or better records. Lots of ways to win. Hell, the leading and 6th best ERAs in the league have worse records than Boston.

5th there are options ... Wright, Johnson, Owens ... guys you haven't thought of yet ... skip a turn from time to time ... I am not delusional here. As you noted in a previous post, the months where the Sox have hit, they have been an above-average team. No reason to think that will change given that condition.

Cutting Masterson makes a lot of sense - reason you sign him for 1-year is to be able to blast him without any regrets Napoli needs to be platooned at best - really a Hanley-Sandoval-Napoli platoon between 3B and 1B would not be unreasonable, which would also allow them to back up LF a bit better I do think Johnson will be up by the end of the break. The team is saved by being the AL East where one 20-7 sort of month probably wins the thing. At the same time, the players are playing better - this season has been more about underperformance than pure talent gaps. I think the front office hesitation so far has really been about figuring out whether they are buying or not. The truth is, without these 25 guys playing better, adding guys will not do much. But they are playing better, and that's important.

You know ... if they got any sort of improvement from Porcello, a Buchholz-Rodriguez-Porcello-Miley Top 4 is workable, especially with the uptick in the lineup production

BTW: He won't, because of W/L and the general fetish with relievers in the midsummer classic, but Buchholz being an All-Star would not be crazy at all

Miley at his price is totally reasonable. I actually like him. There have been a couple of horrific starts. But he has swing and miss, and there is that sort of toughness that you saw out of a guy like Lackey. The ability to cobble together a workable start on a day when his command is basically nil. Of the pitching acquisitions and extensions, his is harder to quibble with.

And when you adjust for SoS and quality of fielders behind them and parks, it evens out ... 2.8/2.5 (bWAR/fWAR) for Lackey, 2.4/2.8 for Porcello I suppose the FO Calculus was replacing LAckey with somebody of equivalent quality but 9 years younger. Plenty of time to adjudicate this - his compensation is not silly, but clearly this is not what either party expected.

Porcello had as good a season as John Lackey had the last two seasons - he has been bad this year, duh

Apparently Daisuke Matsuzaka is pitching this game? Yeesh

What is interesting about Cherington is that the areas where an "eye for talent" actually matters, he has been quite good.

I always thought the Donaldson thing was basically analogous to Beane owning a $200,000 house and then Anthopolous one day bullshitting on a phone call that he'd pay $500,000 for that house. Beane: "You'd give them up? You serious?" AA: "Well, whatever. Not like Donaldson is on the market. That'd be stupid." Beane: "Sure, yeah. I gotta go." (click!)

All Stars? Xander Bogaerts is 2nd in SS fWAR to date. He'd be a fine choice, although Carlos Correa in just 22 games has made an amazing charge Pedroia has had a really nice bounceback season (at least at the plate) Mookie Betts could be in the mix, although CF is pretty stacked There are way way way way too many reliever on All-Star rosters in general, but given that both Uehara and Tazawa deserve looks too. My guess would be Pedroia

Here is the thing about blaming the pitching (which is not last when you look at advanced metrics) ... the idea we were expecting was that this team would lose its share of slo-pitch softball scores because its pitching might stink. But THAT HAS LARGELY NOT HAPPENED because the hitting has largely not been able to get into slugfests. I would be more inclined to blame the pitching if the former were actually happening.

They're playing better - which at least makes it better to watch. Gotta start small.