sk7326
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Everything posted by sk7326
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They have never not had the money. The 2012 trade allowed them to move diminishing assets. They could whine about budgetary limitations, but the limitations are ones they set. This is not an argument for them being stupid - but it is to point out it is a constraint that does not exist to the degree they claim.
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I think their definition of fair could be different than ours. The ownership are not afraid to pay on one hand, but they are pretty hawkish (and always have been) on player compensation. The leverage of the trade is a little silly - since nobody is going to offer a reasonable return without some sort of confidence Lester would resign. So yes, if there is leverage in the "well if he doesn't sign we can trade him to Milwaukee for a bag of donuts" - that is leverage. But from a practical scenario the player has much more say. That said, if the Red Sox re-sign Lester, it will effectively be a "last contract" - since Lester's 10/5 rights will kick in.
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Agreed. The 2011-2012 experience did not mean that spending money is a bad idea. It just means that mistakes suck (and injuries suck). If this teams whines about cost like they are the Rays, it is quite distasteful. I think Lester gets done ultimately - he is a hard commodity to replace.
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So would lots of teams, but who cares. Lester is still tremendously valuable - so is Lackey. 200 IP of quality is worth paying for. And the Sox aren't poor - for the price they charge, it's not an either/or thing.
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Clearly nobody goes on slumps ...
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Easy enough to undo - let's see what happens. 6 games back - the run prevention has been largely good. Lot of bad luck so far. There is hope.
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Relying on memory of Yankees gone by isn't really measurement. Bradley has struggled - of that there is no dispute. Betts could take his job - and that could be interesting. The Sox have not done enough offensively ... still producing baserunners, but knocking them in. Bradley has been a problem - but he is at least creating value on the run prevention side. The corner outfield spots have not offered that.
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6 WHOLE YEARS!!!! The horror!!!
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Hard to talk about fast in terms of baserunning since there is not much way to measure it ... neither stole bases, and Bradley is a better defensive CF than Williams showed at any time in his career. But the speed showed in the non-SB places. Clearly Williams had an excellent offensive trajectory, one Bradley has not gotten to. The rookie comps are interesting though it is instructive to note that Williams' PAs mostly came at once on a team committed to the philosophy. Bradley has been yo-yo'd a bit by a front office that responded to WEEI callers and brought him to the show on little but a spring. I am not giving up on Bradley - different than predicting great things, but Victorino's absence and the general LF suckitude have been every bit as bad a problem. Bradley is at least adding value on one side of the ball while the other side gets figured out.
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When you win a title - the right to complain the next season is very very low. This has not been a Marlins fire sale - just some crappy fortune and a little front office hubris.
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More like a poor man's Williams without the same power level. But the rest of it? On base guys who have speed but only manifests itself in defensive range, not base stealing. It's not a perfect comp, but more of a point to stop whining about stolen bases.
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I believe in the mental part of the game - I also believe that this is the hardest level of baseball on earth, and if the concerns of the levels of baseball we are experienced in have not been conquered, those dudes would not be there. The road from instructs to bigs is so difficult that the "devastation" you refer to would have crushed these guys way before the show. Has been a rough season - a lot of negation of the good fortune of last year (especially Victorino). Between Middlebrooks who would I bet on? Oh, Bradley - premium position and better approach. But Middlebrooks has at least some time in his couple of seasons where he has been good - so there is more past performance to dream on.
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The Yankees had the chance to go all in on shopping THIS season and chose to let one of the ten best players in the league walk. Do not conflate Hank's willingness to do anything to win with his pop's.
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TOTAL coincidence. If Bogaerts is such a delicate flower that this has devastated him - as opposed to just life as a rookie - then he is just not a very good player. Since I am a huge believer in X, I obviously believe that is complete nonsense. I do agree with you on this - I hope that if WMB returns and shows optimistic form (real form, not a statistical oddity) that the team is agile enough to mothball drew and play the lineup of the future. That said, nothing Middlebrooks has done supports this.
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I am not a Bradley believer per se - but I am not flushing him down the toilet either. He was an on-base machine at every level of baseball he has played ... friends don't let friends obsess over BA. Bunting for base hits does not increase hit tallies much - just stuff for get off my lawn types to fawn over. Stolen bases is more helpful, but relatively unimportant. I always thought the fair comp for him was Bernie Williams - and it still might be. He has a lot of work to do - and the very low probability experiment the Sox tried increased that workload.
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Is it time to "give up" on Peavy? Hard to say. If he is the worst starter on this team, that is a good thing. Run prevention is not our problem. Rotation has largely been fine, and the top of the rotation has been downright very good. Bullpen has been excellent. Having too many starters is something every team would want. Obviously if Doubront can net something in trade that would be awesome - but it is nice to have options. Doubront is the easiest to move of the 3. Peavy is movable with his essentially expiring deal - and he still can be effective.
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The Sox are 11-17 in 1-run games, and of all the teams struggling to score are the only ones showing above average on-base skills. There has been a lot of bad luck here. That and corner outfielders turning into pumpkins (or injury cases). The Sox' health has not been as favorable as it was last year. That being said, the run prevention has been pretty good. Peavy has struggled, but if he is the worst starter - that's not bad. The top 2 is as good as any in the league, and the depth might be better than that. There is a run to be had in this team - has been frustrating to not be able to get to it.
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Sizemore was a lottery ticket more than a plan. It was a waste of time frankly. What is weird so far is Bradley has been poor with the bat (duh) but outstanding defensively - enough to be (barely) above replacement level so far. He is a kid who has figured out every level as he has hit it - and if he could get himself back to a .310 sort of OBP by the end of the season, his contribution would have been very positive. In reality, it is the sinkholes in LF and RF that have been more of a drag than the CF production. Yes, the dropoff between Ells 2013 and Bradley 2014 is vast, but the dropoff between 2013 Ells and 2014 Ells has been quite substantial also.
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Oh I fully expect Lackey to do so - he ain't holding out. I do think that any questions about his durability are answered sufficiently to pay him like an innings eater again.
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He has been terrific - and frankly the entire rotation has been just fine. I'd give him the Ortiz treatment ... rip up next season, 2 years, 35-40 million ... one vesting option, one team option.
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The Quarter Pole; What's the problem?
sk7326 replied to jacksonianmarch's topic in Boston Red Sox Talk
It can to a certain degree. The Sox led the league in LOBs last year as well. Tigers were 2nd. You put a lot of guys on base, you're gonna leave a lot of guys on base. Now what is fascinating is how few of them they have cashed in - well below what you'd expect. They are the 3rd worst scoring team in the AL, well documented of course. But of the teams in the bottom, they are the only team who is generating baserunners at an above average rate! Now I am not going to say it is a lack of "clutch ability" - that is stupid, there are a lot of the same characters from a year ago. But this is a team direly in need of some 3-run homers ... and more than likely will probably start to get a few of them. 72 games is a lot to keep talking about things regressing - but the Red Sox will start scoring more runs (maybe not enough) just by having some better luck. -
The Quarter Pole; What's the problem?
sk7326 replied to jacksonianmarch's topic in Boston Red Sox Talk
What is amazing so far is that the Red Sox fundamentals have largely been good here approachwise. The OBP is not at all bad (.326, above league average, 6th in the AL). The BA has been low - but who cares there. The problem has been almost entirely a lack of extra base hits in general, and homeruns in particular. One can moan about Ellsbury's loss - but the net there is not what has caused the power outage. That has been a team wide scourge. -
Given what Lackey has produced - if the Sox offered a 2/35 sort of deal replacing next year, that would be a win for everybody. The contract would be a little less tradeable than at 500K obviously - but a guy as productive as Lackey has been (and as durable) has enough value that a contender would not blink at that short a commitment if they are a starter away.
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The Quarter Pole; What's the problem?
sk7326 replied to jacksonianmarch's topic in Boston Red Sox Talk
1. You are choosing the wrong catcher 2. Nava belongs in the outfield mix as long as we have platooners out there. On base skills 3. Better off in the bigs - he has been productive in the minors generally, what he needs to learn, he has to learn with big league ABs. 4. RF is still better value here. 5. Maybe - have a contingency if/when he turns into a pumpkin 6. A bit expired by now 7. Rotation issues have a way of working themselves out. If Peavy is the worst of them, this rotation is doing well. 8. At least today - let's just be happy we have 7 reasonable starters - most teams don't have 4 9. I'd concur, although non-strike throwing relievers make a tear roll down my eye 10. Who cares really. -
I admire his attempt - clearly just wasn't good enough. Holt and Bradley just make more sense for the time being. Andres Torres arrival as a platoon partner will be useful also.