Kimmi

Good point about making the jump from AA to the majors. People like to downplay the importance of spending time in AAA, and maybe from a physical standpoint, they're right. But experience is the best way to learn and correct those mental mistakes.

Well said oldtimer.

Criticism is fair. I just think in Beni's case the criticism is a little harsher than it should be.

Beni is far from being a liability defensively. He does not match up to the standards set by Betts and Bradley, but who does?

Personally, I think it boils down to him still being young and just making rookie mistakes. He has handled himself pretty well, so we tend to forget that there is really a lot of pressure on him day in and day out. I feel like most of the time, he is probably trying too hard or trying to do too much. It's a learning curve. He'll learn.

Beni's overall baserunning value is +1.3 runs. Broken down by components, he is -0.5 in extra bases taken (1/2 of a run), +0.3 in GIDP runs, and +1.5 in stolen base runs. His overall defense, including his play in CF is +4 in DRS and +1.5 in UZR/150. The 'ARM' component of his defense is either +2 or -0.9, depending on which metric you look at. So yes, Beni does make some mistakes. But even with those mistakes, his overall baserunning and defense are still slightly positive. It's not like the year we had Hanley in LF. Beni is fine. He'll learn.

That's a very good point about not creating a hole to fill another hole. I personally wouldn't trade for Stanton based on the contract alone. Having to give up all those prospects and creating holes in other areas on top of that is way over the top IMO. Stanton was put on waivers and no team put a claim on him. If I'm not mistaken, had a team put a claim on him, the Marlins could have flat out given Stanton to that team, and the claiming team would not be able to refuse. The claiming team has to take the player along with the remaining salary. The fact that no team was willing to take that risk tells me that no team wants to take on that salary.

Pablo lives! He is the September player on my Red Sox calendar. LOL

Having a couple of days off seemed to have worked for Beni. I'm not saying it will work for Bogaerts, but sometimes those prolonged slumps just become mentally draining. A few days off could help. That said, I truly believe that Bogaerts is still dealing with the hand injury. If that's the case, he probably won't be right for the rest of the year.

Beni is fine. He makes some mistakes both defensively and on the bases, but he is young and still learning. At times, he is probably trying to do too much. At the same time, he also makes some good defensive plays and some good baserunning plays. On the whole, he is not hurting the team in either area.

This is true. In fairness to myself, however, I never questioned how good the team would be during the 'window'. Dombrowski has done a very good job of building a strong competitor for the short term, and I've given him credit for that. My issue is with what he has done to our long term outlook.

I was not at all opposed to any of the moves. I figured Reed would be a good pickup for the back end of the pen. I thought the other two were very good depth type moves. My hindsight comment was in regards to them being a lot better than I thought they would be. But as you say, low risk, high reward. They are always worth a shot.

Gray has pitched well for you guys. If I were a Yankees fan, I would not be ticked about the way Gray pitched, but rather about the lack of offense.

Frankly, I don't get people's willingness to part with Beni (plus others and lots of money) to get Stanton. Yes, Stanton is currently the better player, but Beni is a darn good player in his own right, not to mention that he is younger and cost controlled. I think people have been awestruck by Stanton's homeruns this year. And when I say 'people', I mean 'dudes'. Chicks do not dig the long ball.

Speed is a great asset. Stolen bases are overrated. That's not to say that a stolen base can't be a powerful tool, but in general, they are overrated. Trying to form a causal relationship between stealing more than one base in a game and the W-L record of 23-1 in those games is being way too simplistic.

On the topic of Fister and small sample sizes: 1. Apparently, they tweaked his mechanics, which has led to him pitching very well. If that truly is the case for the turnaround, then by all means, we have reason to be optimistic going forward. Whenever there is a known physical reason for decline or improvement, that has to be taken into account differently than a random short term improvement or decline. Either way, it's still too small a sample to know for sure. 2. What a player has done the last month probably is a better indication of how he'll do next game than what he did in April. It may even be a better indication than his cumulative stats for the year. That said, projections trump in season performance to date, at any point in the season, in terms of being a better predictor of what will happen going forward. Keep in mind that updated projections to incorporate season to date performance. 3. I am good with starting Fister and leaving Price on the DL for now. Ride the hot hand as long as we can. (Did I just say that?) Perhaps he and Sale can do the piggyback thing against the Tribe in the playoffs. 4. I do think that the idea of a 'hot hand' for a pitcher is a little different than it is for a hitter.

Jacko being Jacko. I think what he means is that if your starter can get you to the 8th with only 4 runs allowed, he has at least kept the team in the game and given them a chance to win. I can agree with that thinking.

I agree that it's the right call. I would rather have him healthy for the postseason than playing all out right now. The team is holding its own without Pedroia in the line up everyday.

I am with you on the defense at shortstop, but I am having such a hard time watching Bogaerts at the plate right now. He needs some time off.

Very nice to see Pedroia back. He made his presence defensively known right away. It will be good to get Jackie back today. There is nothing I like better than a well pitched, well defended game.

About last night's game, Woohoo!!! That is all.

Yup. One of the things that I really like about Fister and Sale. It was mentioned in the other thread, but Farrell should tell ERod that he is not allowed to shake off his catcher anymore. Get the ball, get the sign, and make your pitch.

Dombrowski deserves a lot of credit for his trade deadline pickups. Nunez, Fister, and Reed have all contributed a lot, and none of them were blockbuster deals for superstar players. That's what I'm talking about. These are the kinds of deals that impress me, in hindsight.

If the Sox don't win it all, I hope the Astros do.

Our biggest baserunning weakness is hitting into DPs. It was a good call to send the runner on a 3-2 count. The batter did not do his job of protecting both the plate and the runner in that situation.