sk7326
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Everything posted by sk7326
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Sox interleague schedule April 2-3: AT Miami (2 games) ... Last of a 6 game roadtrip to start the season, so it makes sense for JD to sit one of these games May 25-27: VS Atlanta (3 games) July 2-4: AT Washington (3 games) ... The July 4 game is an 11:00 AM start after a night game, so could easily see JD held out of this or the night before July 30-31: VS Philadelphia (2 games) Aug 14-15: AT Philadelphia (2 games) ... days off on both ends of this, let's say Martinez gets both starts here Aug 28-29: VS Miami (2 games) Sep 3-5: AT Atlanta (3 games) ... 2 of the 3 games are afternoon starts, so figure Martinez sits at least one of these. Sep 14-16: VS NY Mets (3 games)
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Without a doubt. The injuries have hurt Swihart's trade value - but he is too talented for the Sox not to give him an honest go.
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Yeah - at least in the big leagues there are some ways to work between the at-bats ... take some cuts in the cage, break down some video etc.
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I figure he probably plays in the field in 6-7 of the 9 NL park games. And I imagine he will play LF against a few of the trickier LHPs, where Benintendi can move to CF. And I could see him playing some 1B too.
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As Kimmi notes - differences in lineup construction don't matter a whole lot ... but that is different than saying they don't matter at all. Even a dozen runs over the season can help - and every edge counts in short series. The question really is how can you balance the two goals of getting your best hitters more plate appearances, while ALSO getting your best hitters the most number of RBI opportunities. I think in that vein something like a Betts-Benintendi-Martinez makes sense for your top 3 (get them as many PAs as possible), while putting Nunez and Bradley 8-9, to give them some additional RBI chances. Yeah you are putting your weakest hitter at #7, but I do think the catcher position could end up being perfectly okay there. Vasquez showed last year he can hit well enough for a catcher, and Swihart certainly looks like he could hit well enough for anybody.
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The challenge for managers is figuring out how to take stuff analytics suggest and turn it into actionable stuff. It's not necessarily a matter of understanding or not understanding the analytics. That stuff can tell you why stuff happened and possibly what to do to fix it ... but the how is very much up in the air, especially with players who have been playing a certain way their whole lives, rather successfully. I have a hard time thinking that previous managers did not communicate the analytics - granted it probably manifested itself in areas of emphasis - such as unusual defensive alignments.
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if you are going to put a defensive liability on the field, 1B or LF is where you do it. Hanley's journey from mildly below average SS to comically inept LF is a very rare one.
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He's a liability doing anything but swinging the bat. I could see him getting some run in LF and 1B though (maybe provide some help on day after night games, doubleheaders and such) ... but I figure >120 of his starts will be DHing.
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Well the medical staff is in Boston, and Martinez has had a couple of major injuries in the past ... and this is a lot of money. If anything, I'd think there might be some extra haggling on injury clauses and such. But I don't think this deal is getting derailed.
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I am confident it was mostly that ... that specific injury is so damaging to hitters.
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What is interesting is in 2015, he figured out how to slap it. The next level - which he showed flashes of in 2016 - is laying off of them and getting something to drive. Ultimately, these sorts of injuries while small have shown to have a pretty pernicious effect over the season. Whether it be Chavis on the farm or Bryce Harper in the show - I could see just being able to get some rest having real impact.
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I've long maintained having a closer is more important than who the closer is ... hopefully there are enough live arms that it solves itself.
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Oh he has DEFINITELY shown signs of being a dominant starter (or at least an occasionally dominant starter). It's the injury thing that's the rub. That deal has always been a very good one.
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Let's watch him play in full season ball first. It is hard to project anyone, especially anybody who has not gotten to Greenville yet. From the ESPN profile
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Lineup: LF: Benintendi RF: Betts DH: Martinez 1B: Moreland/Ramirez SS: Bogaerts 3B: Devers C: Vasquez 2B: Nunez CF: Bradley Yes, Vasquez at 8 or 9 is conventional. But I think having a decent chance to turn RBI opportunities over to Benintendi and Betts is a good idea. This allows them to be table setters without hampering their RBI opportunities too much.
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He deserves his day in court. The Red Sox do not share that obligation. If their investigation reveals something then he should be cut.
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A trade would be ideal of course - but moving Pedroia to the 60 day DL is a reasonable option too.
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The last 2 years of the Martinez deal are probably not going to be great. At the same time, if it is Dodgers Adrian Gonzalez level (or hell, 2017 HanRam)... we can live with that.
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Not for anything valuable ... this gives them some really good platoon options there. This core has a couple of years before some decisions have to be made - Martinez clearly will maximize this team's chances to do something special in that time. It's worth the downside risk - even if it comes true in Year 4 of the deal.
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A Moreland-Ramirez platoon could be one of the most productive 1B positions in the league ... Moreland has never hit lefties. You might give Ramirez more at-bats than a simple L/R platoon. Now I could see Holt not starting the season to give some flexibility early.
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A 5 year deal was going to be a risk. The odds were that years 4 and 5 were not going to be that good. Any long term deal could be ruined by injury. I used to think that player options stunk because it was all downside for the org. I am less sure these days. I mean, let's say JD does well enough that he will opt out after 2/50. In a sense both sides are getting what they want. I don't think the Sox got a steal here, but this is pretty reasonable for the best slugger on the market. FWIW it probably takes them out of the Bryce Harper derby next season - if that was ever a consideration.
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It seemed like destiny - the Red Sox hand just got a lot stronger in recent weeks. I'll be curious as to how the deal is structured.
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But then - you had terrific production from Bogaerts, Betts in 2016 ... a year which also counts on his record. You also have amazing seasons from Victorino and Mike Carp in 2013. The problem with the evaluation is that all of it counts. I am okay with him being replaced with Cora - I am very high on Cora. But it is absolutely possible to do worse. I cite last year as a weird case where nobody over-performed their expectation (except for Vasquez and Devers) ... which usually you get in good seasons. But - aside from Bogaerts (who had injury problems) nobody was BAD either. Everybody was kind of in the middle of the expected range of outcomes (Betts was a dropoff from 2016, but STILL a fringy MVP level season) . Since so much of the core was young, you wish there was a leap from somewhere ... but there is nothing that precludes that from happening this year.
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I agree. To be fair, 4 years of a guy who, while somewhat inconsistent, has been on the verge of a true #1 pitcher (and sure as heck has the stuff of one) is at least a return which is fair.
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that'd be neat - but Archer is such a valuable commodity that I think Tampa will want to get as many bidders in as possible.