sk7326

Rubby has been terrific - clearly the best stuff of the kids - glad the command has gotten better. And certainly while Jackie's offense is a chore, his effect on run prevention is huge.

I think the Sox can play both sides of the fence here. The division is bad and totally winnable. Sox need to go 41-25 the rest of the way to get to 85 wins, which is a total that gets you in the ballpark to win the division (obviously would like more, but showing this is not a crazy ask). The question I think is whether you think the kids are their best path to victory - an argument you absolutely can make. Trading Uehara I don't think is preferred, but he is a very movable chip and a position which can be replaced relatively easily. (not without risk) I think Oakland in 2001 did these sort of maneuvers - it is being opportunistic while still trying to add smartly. I don't mind the rebuild, but I worry the franchise is a bit too dogmatic about player salaries to avoid being cheap unnecessarily.

It is possible, although age and resign probability considerations impact that. But I'd not hesitate to deal him if a good price came up. At the end of the day reliever for "good prospect" is almost always a good idea.

Since Nava was not in scoring position, Bogaerts hit the homer - since like Fred told me he can't hit in clutch spots

We have been blessed with a great closer - but there is no reason to spend a ton of money on the position. Closers are like running backs in football - good to have, but very very fungible. (applies to relievers in general) Teams like Oakland and Tampa have shown this, there are many exhumable corpses that can be made into effective closer sorts.

1. Odds are Lester will be a top of the rotation guy in 2 years - better than odds than Lee. 2. When his decline starts most likely, he'd still be a 200 IP #3 sort of guy. $20M seems rich for that, but by 2016 it probably won't be. 3. You don't need a "true #1" to win it all - we already proved that.

Sox are a huge bounceback play for next year ... considering the youth they are playing and the likely improvement. The closer thing is a non-issue ... they will find somebody if Uehara is too rich for their bloodl. I suspect they will move X to SS, possibly still this season. They signed Drew because 3B was a disaster for them ... no reason to play him if contention is not realistic. The team is not far away at all. Sox had 2 of the AL's top dozen position players last season - between Bradley's slow start (and the Sox Sizemore dithering) and Victorino's absence that has been a huge failure. Take the replacement of a 2-3 win catcher (warts and all) with the tattered remains of AJ Pierzynski and you had even more dropoff. But there are signs of life on all of those fronts.

1. Yes, trading Bogaerts for Stanton makes sense 2. The position things matters a lot - and Bogaerts bull evaluation is based on being a SS. That's the tricky part of the evaluation - the Sox moved him to 3B because 3B was horrible for them and there were solutions at SS. But if his reality is as a 3B, things become trickier. Anyway, slump has been a problem - but not a reason to necessarily quit on a 21 year old. Sox have mishandled aspects of their kids all season - although some of it was well intentioned.

Any life decision made on a 400 PAs for a kid who still needed a fake id this time last year is highly speculative. The team has not hand strong hands with their guys - but as Bradley is showing lately, strong hands is a good thing. Clutchy McClutherson was no issue when X was starting in the biggest games of his life - and the advanced at-bats that came with it. He will get better, but you have to trust the evaluation.

.395 BABIP raises tons of suspicion ... though his line drive rate is up, but way outside of his career trajectory. This sort of line screams "regression" - but that's ok. He is performing now, and now is what matters.

ruh roh, clutchy mcclutcherson ...

Jonah Keri provides some optimism http://grantland.com/features/mlb-the-30-red-sox-yankees-blue-jays-orioles-al-east/

I agree with the Red Sox in theory - that you don't want to go 5 years with 30 year olds more or less. However - you have to make individual evaluations, and sometimes you overpay to win an auction. The question is do you think you will get 1000 innings of #2/#3 sort of production on average (you build in some decline)? I think with Lester it is almost assuredly yes - certainly nothing he has done up to this point (where he is a clear #2 starter level, who has #1 performance in him) with his performance and injury history and mechanics suggest he is a huge likelihood to get hurt.

I expect him to turn into a pumpkin - I expect other teams see that too. But no reason not to ride the wave while he is proving us wrong. With the dumpster fires at 3B/SS and LF, there is work for him.

Question is whether Vasquez can hit at the big league level. The good news is his minor league history has enough contact that it seems unlikely he won't at least provide empty calories at the plate. Add that with defense, and you have a true starter and an all-star if he can hit like he did last night more regularly

I wouldn't be either - but they have made the moves they should have made much earlier. They wasted a month or two of development time on some very low probability projects. This lineup is unlikely to win the division too, but it has a better chance. Certainly it can help the run prevention, which was good already.

Tazawa is a fine choice too. Frankly, my view on Webster is based on feelings he has knockout stuff, but I have serious reservations about whether he can turn a lineup over 2-3 times.

Allen Craig is a 2014 Tony Phillips sans cocaine. His glove is not great but not awful on the corners, and his bat plays. Or an offensively skewed Ben Zobrist, whatever you like.

The problem is - like Boston - Saint Louis is a good baseball organization.

Peavy is a good clubhouse guy who has been durable. His contract is expiring also. He may or may not help in October, but if a team wants to get through the marathon, he still has value at a reasonable price.

The youth movement was something they should have looked at coming out of camp. What Bradley has shown (and to a lesser extent Vasquez) is that they can field the hell out of their position. They can contribute in terms of run prevention while the hitting part got figured out. It would have been nice for him to have the extra 100 or so PAs the team frittered away on Sizemore. Betts is a surprise clearly, nobody expected the monumental leap he made this year - and he is still being a little overpromoted. I see on rebuild threads that the kids is waving the white flag. I don't see that all - I see the kids as the only reasonable path to winning THIS season too. Assuming Victorino is not going to return to his downballot MVP status of last year, the kids have the ability to improve with reps to a much higher degree than the veterans they have been running out, especially in the outfield. The rest of July is very reasonable, and there is a run to be had here. The East is still a mess, but the Red Sox have a chance to make enough noise in the next two weeks to still potentially be buyers. I am not saying it's likely - but it's not crazy either.

We "found" Uehara last year. Just means we'd find another one: Personally, I'd try out Allen Webster

League minimum for 1 year of Christian Vasquez sounded nice too

I am against a Lester trade. I am pro any good deal for any reliever - Uehara included. They are wholly fungible. I'd like to keep Uehara, but if he can get a Top 50 prospect - that is worth a 60 inning pitcher, period.

Mike Stanley would be surprised to hear this. Indeed, way back in 1986, the Red Sox made a key addition with Don Baylor via a deal with ???