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sk7326

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Everything posted by sk7326

  1. sk7326
    I am always in both directions here - fans pay too much money to blow it up willy nilly - especially since a lot of these failures seem very fixable. But yeah if this week does not go well, the reasons to chase are just not there. I'd be willing to deal Sandoval regardless - the hot corner is where Boston's org strength is.
  2. sk7326
    I would not read too much into that - after all Nieves walked the plank, which could be read as an equivalent gesture.
  3. sk7326
    I think management was targeting above .500, which was reasonable. The best offense in the AL combined with a middle of the road run prevention would have gotten you there. They have failed on both counts (and clearly the run prevention includes both pitching and defense) On the bright side, the team has started to find some things that will work. Betts, Pedroia and Holt make a solid set of tablesetters, and that is as big a driver for offensive consistency as anything.
  4. sk7326
    I am not sure it is the strikeouts - but something has clearly happened to the ground ball rate - that is the entirety of his failings this season, leaving the ball up. That could be a matter of pitch selection, release point. The durability has not been an issue, it has just been leaving the ball up much too often.
  5. sk7326
    If they get dealt, I can guarantee you it wasn't because of Cherington.
  6. sk7326
    Moncada's 19 - early to tell. Really Guerra and Devers stories are the ones to watch, the latter particularly.
  7. sk7326
    http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/keith-law/insider/post?id=4037
  8. sk7326
    honestly, if he were giving 180+ IP per year at a 3.7 or so ERA it would have been plenty fair. Not a wholesale price, but fair. Porcello is not getting groundballs at the rate he was earlier in his career - that's it. Indeed the left side of the defense has been an unforeseen problem which has mangled much of the run prevention concept.
  9. sk7326
    No - Porcello had come off of three years with over 175 IP, and FIPs trending correctly. He was only 26, had shown legitimate improvement and real durability. You look at one comp - Homer Bailey got 6 years 105 million while being 2 years older and less of a track record of pitching innings. James Shields signed for a similar figure (slightly less but whatever) and he was going into his decline and had never pitched in a hitters environment. I hear the "mm mmm mm 20 million mmm mmm" like the 20M is sacrosanct. 20M a year in the 2016 FA market WILL NOT BUY YOU A #2 starter. It will buy you a guy who looks a hell of a lot like Rick Porcello - and probably without any sort of upside projection.
  10. sk7326
    It is baffling - because 22-28 year olds tend to IMPROVE because that's what learning is. To look at the sample size here and just say "yep, he is what he is" makes as much sense as doing that about his high school numbers. The idea was because he was improving over his tour in Detroit, and that he is just 26, and that he was leaving a horrible defense, that he would be more productive. Miley has been a little less baffling although given his 3.8 ERA in a launching pad in the NL, you'd have expected his numbers to go up in the AL but not to the degree. Kelly has been inconsistent and Buchholz has largely been solid.
  11. sk7326
    He needs to stick with the ponies ...
  12. sk7326
    They also did build to the ballpark - which has always been pitcher friendly. Also their market I think is a factor - it's sort of what Beane did with his change in Oakland. It's cheaper to build around run prevention than scoring - and the Rays have always had quality defenses to go with the pitching (which makes the numbers look even better). But a lot of it has come at the expense of the offense. And yes, the high draft picks matter - picks the Sox rarely get (and indeed have not gotten in those special sorts of years).
  13. sk7326
    Craig Biggio??
  14. sk7326
    I've always said this - I have issues getting too critical of Ben because I am never sure how much control he has. There are moves which seem like the result of a GM running a baseball team, and there are other moves which seem like operating NESNs flagship TV series. Now one can say "you don't know - you're not there", but there is a schizo nature to some of the moves at time which seems to point to this. Now one can also say "why doesn't Ben quit?", but Boston is a great place, there are only 30 of these jobs, and when people get out of your way you can win a World Series or 3.
  15. sk7326
    LOL - he will. New system more or less makes it so. He has a bit more leverage as a sophomore - but it is safe to assume the entire first round signs unless the teams did not do their homework or discovered an odd medical thing
  16. sk7326
    Updated Top 10: Moncada #7, Devers #9 (updated due to promotions and such) Benintendi Law rates as Sox #5 prospect behind: Moncada, Devers, Margot, Owens and maybe Guerra. Of course this was not a great year for "star" prospects (look at how many college bats went early compared to high school)
  17. sk7326
    Law notes where each of the Top 10 picks would land in each teams rankings. http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/keith-law/insider/post?id=4008
  18. sk7326
    Mike Trout was a very special case and one of the fascinating ones. He was from Southern Jersey - and Billy Rowell (former O's prospect from same area) totally crapped out. Northeast prospects are already facing negative perception - the level of competition is bad compared to Florida or California. And you remember the winter of 2009, right? Just brutal - record snows and whatnot. Scouts just did not have chances to see him, his games kept getting cancelled. So you were speculating on looks against inferior competition during a season where you had very few chances to see him in person. Made for some serious foggy information.
  19. sk7326
    I think the criticism of Farrell is not about the tactical stuff you see necessarily - although things like optimal use of shifts and whatnot deserve scrutiny. But the entire team is underachieving at the same time - the lack of good seasons is so widespread that it is hard to put it all on the players or the GM (who would be accused of landing untalented players).
  20. sk7326
    It is not likely to save the season. But it could help. Changing the players may or may not fix things - the players are not that bad and some of the underlying stats seem to lead you there. Also - if everybody is underachieving at the same time, it is unlikely all 25 guys stink.
  21. sk7326
    Wouldn't canning a manager you extended be owning a mistake?
  22. sk7326
    A creative solution: Offer Panda back to the Giants. Eat a smallish amount of his salary (say $15M of the $110 - so amazingly it would be 95 million) and ask for at least a single A lottery ticket. Giants are getting exactly diddly poo from their 3B. The Red Sox 3B position is their strongest organizationally. Just put Ramirez there until the end of the season, put a potted plan in LF and see what happens.
  23. sk7326
    The "character" and "leadership" of their best players have won titles. Unless you think Pedroia, Bogaerts, Ortiz, Uehara and Napoli took stupid pills there are some flaws here. Or if you think that guys who were integral to the 2013 title turn to jello at the site of Hanley Ramirez and 3-time World Series champion Pablo Sandoval.
  24. sk7326
    To add a little more mitigation to the rotation - their numbers have been bad, but one of the things the Sox were counting on was run prevention help from the field, and that has not happened - almost entirely because of Sandoval and Ramirez.
  25. sk7326
    Yes ... odds are low and the peripherals are not encouraging. But the scouting elements have not faded offensively - the bat speed has not wavered much, the things you'd expect to go south (like strikeouts) have not. I think a coaching change would help.
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