Hitch

Interesting. Didn't realise you guys had it so tough right now. The Rays series is becoming larger in importance by the day.

Yoshida/Toro split doesn't work as they're both better against right handed pitching. I agree though, a lot of my concern in this area would go away if Cora just started Mayer every day!

Maybe that's where the disconnect is. I don't see Yoshida getting any time in left. Why would he? So he and Refsnyder will have to share DH (even if we do trade one of Duran or Abreu for pitching - which I feel is a certainty). We will soon have only 5 infielders, 2 of which are going to be platooning and Romy needs to platoon at two places against lefties..This is utterly obvious in its unsuitability to a team going for it, at least to me. But I've tried long enough to change your mind and it's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. I'm off to post to Fred that Rafaela may be the most talented hitter we've had since Williams.

Totally passed me by too! And I'm always suspicious of these things ha!

You're one of the good ones, too. 👍

Right but we dont want Toro playing full time against lefties or we lose what we're gaining. But Cora won't play Mayer against lefties either. How does he cover them both?

It doesn't have to be him, though I'd rather him than what I've laid out. But we need to do something (if we're buyers).

Because we've sent down Hamilton and Eaton in this scenario. Our infield bench option is Romy. How does he platoon for both Toro and Mayer?

Appreciate it. I can get as petty as the next person, unless the next person is the self proclaimed superior baseball mind. But Hugh is good people. 👍

I'm sorry, respectfully you haven't. Let me try and make the point in another way. Bregman and Yoshida come up. Eaton and Hamilton go down. There's no other options. You're adding 1 infielder while subtracting 2. Your outfield - Refsnyder, Rafaela, Duran, Abreu, Anthony and Yoshida. DH - rotation between Yoshida and Refsnyder Your infield - Bregman, Story, Mayer, Romy and Toro. You're playing a lety. Cora sits Mayer like he does every time, how does Romy platoon with Toro? You yourself recognised that Toro has to be platooned. Even with a trade of an outfield piece for pitching, you cannot platoon both DH and 1B with this roster. Toro is a nothing player having a decent spell. For me, if you're going for it you free up that platoon and have Romy as your bench guy against lefties. Suarez is valued at 6m on BTV. You're really not using much in the way of bullets to get him.

He was asked the question on Devers and how the players view him post trade. It's not weird to answer these questions. As much as you and I might like this conversation to die down, it isn't, and people will continue asking questions around it. People will give answers. Such is the way of the world, It would be weird if he kept producing blogs out of nowhere about it. But that isn't happening.

Again, I'm only discussing this in the case of a buy now scenario. I actually think we will be better off selling (as I don't think this run lasts past today), but in this scenario, if we are going for it, we have plenty of bullets, and should be looking at multiple avenues. Not least (and none of your replies have addressed this point) because the roster needs adjusting. We can not have Gonzalez as an utility man if he is platooning with Toro and Toro is no good to us playing full time. Hamilton and Eaton are disappearing soon with Yoshi and Bregman coming. This needs to be addressed (unless we're selling). Pitching is a necessity for sure. Altering the make up of the roster and bringing some RH pop should be another. Suarez has a career OPS of .793 and an OPS+ of 112. He's pull heavy and would suit Fenway perfectly. And he'd play every day. You take Suarez all day long, obviously, especially the way our roster is currently aligned.

People are complaining daily about Devers being traded. I'd love for people to move on. There's little chance of it.

As I mentioned, this is only in a 'buy' scenario, as there's no point otherwise, but you don't think Suarez does that? While freeing up one of the clog points in our roster? I don't think we can continue to compete with rotating platoons at DH and 1st Base.

I think the only thing Fred is focused in on is being in a state of almost constant fury/annoyance. I've never seen a man enjoy his sport less ha!

Yes, I'm never sure how much credence to give him. As you say, he really should be in the loop, but he has talked some ungodly amounts of s*** at times these past few years. I look forward to visiting this board on the day (if) we trade Bregman.

It's Jim Bowden, so take this with a huge pinch of salt, but I wonder how accurate his information is in regards to Bregman. This was in response to a question in The Athletic. 19. Will the Red Sox extend Alex Bregman before the trade deadline? … If the Sox go on a winning streak, establishing themselves as buyers at the deadline, what relief pitchers should they target? — Rich K. The Red Sox would like to extend Bregman before the trade deadline, but it won’t be easy with Scott Boras as his agent. And, I’m hearing, in my conversations throughout the league, if he’s not extended, they could end up trading him to Seattle, Detroit or Milwaukee. But if I’m Boston and your scenario plays out, I would look to add Emmanuel Clase or Ryan Helsley.

I think we do it for a few reasons. I don't believe a player that has a career batting average of .228 and OPS+ of 85 has suddenly transformed into a player we can rely on, even if he is only platooned. Which leads me onto issue number 2. Yoshi is on his way. It looks clear he is mostly going to be platooned at DH with Refsnyder. We can't afford to carry two empty spaces by carrying a platoon at 1st Base as well. Not to mention, we will need to send down Eaton and Hamilton when Bregman and Yoshi are reinstated. Gonzalez is going to be needed as the utility guy/platooner. If he's having to cover Toro already, how does he play for Mayer? Toro would have to play more, which is not a good thing. Toro has 0.3 WAR of the total between him and Romy so far. Suarez is a name I've seen bandied about a lot. He's a 3rd baseman, so shouldn't be too hard to make the transition. He has 28 HRs already. Is project for 50. Has 2.7 WAR so far. And the Diamondbacks are likely going to have to sell, and he's a free agent at the end of the year. I'd only make this happen if we are definitely buyers, but it seems obvious to me the roster is all over the place and needs adjustment. I'm grateful for what Toro has given us so far, but is easily improved upon, and we do need to adjust.

As with most discussions in baseball, I think we're too early into knowing what we have. I don't know why people get so sure of their opinions on this stuff. Nobody knows, just chill out a bit. He's improved, he's doing great, let's see if he can carry it on or if this is more of an outlier. Way too early to know either way.

Next 5 games are going to be huge. If we can round off the sweep and then take 3-1 against the Rays, we've vaulted yourself into a position where we pretty much have to go for it (short of a disastrous post All Star run). Lose the last against the Rockies and then go 2-2 or 1-3 against the Rays however, and that stretch after the All Star game looks ominous. If the season has shown us anything, it's that we're about to get slapped in the face again. But maybe this time there's real momentum. Hard to gage when you're beating up on these past two teams. One huge factor going the Sox's way - the timing of the Yankees squaring off against the Mariners. Exactly what you want when you're beating up on a bad team.

1B. Toro has done a job there, but that wave can only be ridden so long. We've got Bregman and Yoshida coming back which means Gonzalez can go back to roving cover and we demote Hamilton and Eaton. We don't want Toro playing every day. If we can get good power there, you go for it.

Don't worry, I got your back. I'll defend your promise while Fred spits fury at his keyboard every night over your 150 OPS.

Hopefully, in AAA, Kristian Campbell is taking note.

Yeah, I posted the video on the last page. Not a good look at all The whole video is worth a watch.

Without recent context - sure, probably. But off the back of showing he is a lousy teammate, or at least has become one, and seems to be skipping practises already - probably not.