sk7326

Oh I think Casas is close to a lock. Kid has taken good at-bats so far. Can't scout the box score with him. The team is going to clear a runway for him to take 1B/DH PAs. I always remember that Pedroia looked the opposite of a major league caliber player in his callup.

Casas is possible, but there is the DH ... so it is sort of either/or ... fortunately finding a competent DH should be pretty easy

I think that is true as far as it goes but the swinging for the fences was happening regardless.

The first step is what happens to Bogaerts. I am ambivalent about bringing him back - but bringing him back at a reasonable number is a fine move. But if the team is bullish on its internal options for SS (see Marcelo Mayer), I could see the team signing a shorter term solution at SS. I dunno. The team needs a 1B in theory - but they traded for Hosmer, so we're stuck with him. The team needs production from RF. Judge would be great - but even just finding a decent platoon would help. I am in favor of re-signing Eovaldi, but not at a big number. Ditto for Wacha.

Shifts have been around since baseball was invented so whatever. Now to me - the big issue with entertainment in baseball is that so few balls are put in play in general ... and none of these rules (even the shift ones) REALLY impact that to me.

Right - the idea of the automated strike zone is that it's like the line calls in the US Open. There is no "challenging" to be done. The home plate umpire (who still has to be there to cover things like check swings and plays at the plate) gets a buzz from the system if the pitch is a strike. Now, the problem with it - at least from the data from the Arizona Fall League, was that they were calling way too many balls. But that's fixing the tolerances. (the thickness of the strike zone borders) I think TV broadcasts and Statcast have made this inevitable. I mean, just the idea that national broadcasts have strike zones superimposed each at bat, and that Statcast tells you where every pitch landed ... and we just all collectively go "moops" when Angel Hernandez misses call after call (and then throws a tantrum when a player points this out) is just bonkers.

The pitch clock is fine ... the anti-shift rule is stupid and goes against the spirit of baseball. Automated strike zone is a natural - though clearly from the Arizona Fall League experiemt, there is work to be done there. Now - if you really were concerned about the shift, I'd have taken inspiration from cricket. In cricket - for limited overs matches - for certain parts of the game, the fielding positions are restricted (to help facilitate scoring). Instead of banning shifts, you could say that for the first 3 innings (or whatever), the defense must have four players on the infield. (two feet on the dirt) Either way, it's silly.

The next season Okajima turned back into a pumpkin - when teams figured out how to lay off that splitter. But wow was he good in 2007. Of course there was the excitement of signing Dice-K, and then the ageonizing reality of watching him pitch. Even when he pitched "well", it was still a lot of baserunners and a game you could time with a sundial.

Hey, they celebrated the decade of it five years ago - but what is there to celebrate this season? But then I saw in Ian Browne's newsletter some reliving of the 15th anniversary - so hey why not??? So - back in the wayback machine we go to the middle child of the Red Sox 4 championships - but it really should get more play. After all, it featured: - Josh Beckett delivering a True #1's season from start to finish, a level he would never reach again - Dustin Pedroia's emergence into stardom, after a 2006 call up where it looked like he might not know how to play baseball - Everything about Hideki Okajima - The sudden discovery of Papelbon as a closer. Papelbon would stop being thoroughly dominant soon enough, but 2007-2009, he was absolutely electric in that position - Yooooooooooooooooooook - It was not the magical comeback that the 2004 ALCS was - particularly because all of the wins in the comeback were routs at the end - but this team ALSO had to comeback from a big deficit in the ALCS against what looked an awful lot like the 2nd best team in the majors that season. - The season did not have a ton of adversity, but as the season hit a bit of a lull, out of nowhere callup Clay Buchholz throws a no hitter against the Orioles - And of course Mike Lowell, the salary dump piece of the Beckett trade, wins the World Series MVP

4-6 win shortstops are hard to find - Bogaerts case is fairly strong in that regard ... particularly if they have some decent intel on the actual likelihood of bagging a Trea Turner.

Kike at $10M is fine - both sides have some upside there. They need some functional production from DH and RF - now that cost shouldn't be ridiculous ... that is, the cost for Aaron Judge is a lot, but the cost for Hunter Renfroe isn't. I would like to think the team would go in on somebody significant if Bogaerts walks like a Trea Turner ... but who knows. Pitching they need at least one high floor starter and just a bunch of other arms for the bullpen. Maybe you pick up Paxton's option assuming he can pitch again at any sort of level of effectiveness - but I'd be just as happy seeing if Eovaldi would come back for a similar number.

Nobody doubts they are well run - but if they were also cheap and not well run, the ownership that wanted to timeshare them with Montreal wouldn't care.

To be able to watch some October baseball and have a budding superstar seemingly sent from the future ... that seems nice.

From Rays ownership - it's the money. The success is a happy coincidence.

The thing with Bogaerts this season is that the doubles are still there and the line drive rate is still there. The fly balls have taken a dive - it does make you wonder whether this is just something mechanical that can be fixed in the offseason. He has not shown any markers of being an easier hitter for a pitcher to deal with. I am ambivalent about re-signing him - only because he is 30 and a lot of his WAR bounceback is driven by defense which seems a little trickier to sustain. But he is a good player, even if perhaps you have to think about moving him to 3B down the line.

I think just assuming Sale is not going to be hit by an Acme Corporation produced anvil ... or get struck by lightning .. is wildly optimisitic given the last 2+ seasons.

The one thing Bloom has done developmentally is get more pitching in the org than it has had in years. It'd be nice to have more #1/#2 starter among that group, but there seem to be a lot of dudes who can be solid big league somethings. And if we really are converging to a 120 IP starter sort of reality, maybe having lots of flawed stuff guys is the way to go? I dunno. It'd be nice to have a star - though the arrival there is not 2024 at the earliest.

He was decent enough in his actual turns - he just got hurt and then the bullpen needed him.

DeGrom is the obvious prize but I think there is 0% chance he escapes the Mets. Syndegaard would be worthwhile in the more top shelf category. Maybe the Mets would show DeGrom the bag but let Bassitt go. I could see a Rich Hill-type dart throw at a guy like a Chris Archer. I also wouldn't rule out Eovaldi or Wacha being back - they certainly aren't the worst ideas out there is we're talking low 8-figures and short duration.

That extension was dicey while it was coming ... but clearly ownership and Dombrowski were doing keg stands then. I've whined online about organizational whiplash and that contract was THE exemplar. The Eovaldi deal was a calculated risk but probably one I'd take again - when healthy he has been good to very good. He has also not been healthy most of the time. Heck, I'd at least kick the tires on what he'd need $$-wise.

I am optimistic. It has also been 4 years since he has been one of the league's best pitchers. The team needs him for sure.

His strikeout rate dropped in 2021 ... and if you want to get to bigger games and such he is still a pitcher who has completed 6 innings in exactly zero postseason starts. Sale I think will be very good next year and easily the best starter on the staff - but my expectations are somewhat limited, particularly as a spoiled Red Sox fan who still remembers Pedro or Clemens.

This is basically right. Hosmer is a plus because he is a breathing, sentient MLB caliber 1B, even if he is not good. The die rolls he took in the offseason were fine mostly. The Story signing could be good next year. But this year it has been injuries and a general lack of producing anything BUT homeruns. Even if he was not expected to be an on-base machine, whatever you expected of him, .298 is below that. It has been existing guys getting hurt or playing below par, though the "below par" bit would have been fine if they got even C/C- level production at 1B and RF. I am actually optimistic about next year - but the team has some big decisions.

It'd be nice. That said, his numbers have not been great since the World Series year ... granted he has been hurt for a lot of it. The strikeout data in small sample land have been a dropoff. He can still be the team's most effective pitcher - by a lot. But it's going to be a bit more crafty lefty now.

That is possible. The way I look at it, in 2021 the Red Sox counted on Dalbec and Cordero - they liked that so much they traded for Schwarber. So their 2022 plan was ... Dalbec and Cordero??? "medicore 1B/DH" is one of the easiest things to find on the street in baseball. And yes, Travis Shaw was a better bet to achieve that than Dalbec and Franchy.