kenmeister

Care to elaborate?

Assuming Hanley's option doesn't vest, the Sox should have some cash freeing up for 2019. I hope they bring Andrew Miller back.

I'd very much like to see the Sox trade for Machado, put him at third, and demote Devers to AAA (which I don't think he's spent any time at). I can dream right?

Oh I remember that! I'm still in shock.

That said, I'd still like to see if Swihart can actually catch and can actually hit.

When Pedroia returns to reclaim 2B, will that change to Moreland at 1B, Holt in left, Beni in center, Betts in right, and Martinez at DH?

On the flipside, Brock Holt looks great this year. I'm happy for Brock to play 2B until Pedroia comes back.

Unlike my belief that JBJ is cooked, I think Vaz and Leon will be fine. That said, if the right trade presents itself, getting a catcher who can hit closer to .275 and still is good defensively would really help.

Honestly I was doing a pretty successful job ignoring it until that ESPN article about Trout hitting a whole .292 having the greatest season of all time.

If JBJ can't catch up to a major league fastball, he'll get closer and closer to .100, not .175.

Here is today's update. I don't have a huge amount of time so this will be brief. Here are the 4 players with an OPS over 1: Trout - 4.0, 1.072 Betts - 3.8, 1.198 Manny Machado - 2.3, 1.070 JD Martinez - 2.3, 1.077 OPS is a stat I've always admired. It's amazing that according to WAR, Trout is worth almost as much as Machado and Martinez combined. I think it's nuts. Let's talk about Manny Machado. He seems to be having one heck of a season: 61 hits (tied for 1st), 14 homers (tied for 3rd), 42 RBI (1st), and this production from the shortstop position. He's awesome. I can't fathom WAR.

Moreland full time, split Holt and Ramirez, and release JBJ.

Does anybody think JBJ has any trade value whatsoever at this point?

Sure, sure, but unfortunately I don't know what you mean by fWar and bWar. I'm going to bet most of us don't.

Awesome article! Just what I wanted to read on this topic. Thanks!

English?

Now .161. In all my years of watching baseball, I don't recall a non-catcher regular position player hitting this poorly this late in May. It's embarrassing to watch.

Here's a current headline on ESPN:http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/23520017/los-angeles-angels-mike-trout-pace-greatest-season-mlb-history. So then I looked: Trout right now is 3.7 Betts is 3.5 Both are elite defenders, so I'm going to concentrate on their offense. Mike Trout right now is hitting .292 with 38 walks, 8 stolen bases, 9 doubles, 2 triples, 13 homers, 26 RBI, and a 1.046 OPS. That's certainly a good season, but greatest of all time? Mookie Betts right now is hitting .368 with 19 walks, 11 stolen bases (2 caught), 18 doubles, 1 triple, 15 homers, 32 RBI, and a 1.205 OPS. But he's behind Trout in WAR ??? Trout has more walks - a lot more - but otherwise is behind Mookie in every category. So two questions arise: 1) How on Earth can someone say that Trout is having the greatest season of all time? 2) How does Trout have a higher WAR than Mookie Betts? Or Machado? Machado only has a 2.3 WAR, but is hitting .347 with 14 homers, 42 RBI, and an overall OPS of 1.089. Can someone enlighten me as to how WAR has any basis in reality?

But oh the daydream! Machado at 3B, Pedroia back and healthy at 2B, Thornburg back and healthy as the 8th inning guy. I just need Velazquez to move into the rotation and bump any of Price, Pomeranz, E-Rod and the dream will be complete

My preferred lineup: 1. Bogaerts 2. Betts 3. JDM 4. Ramirez 5. Moreland 6. Devers 7. Pedroia when he comes back, Holt for now 8. Swihart 9. Benitendi With 7-8-9, the bottom of the order is vastly improved and can table set the top of the order as the game goes on. And I really really really want Swihart to get a chance.

I’m done with JBJ.

It's about time Betts got to play center. Now we can do even better Trout vs. Betts comparisons. I think Devers shores up the bottom of the order.

Agreed, catching is a problem. I'd like to think that if Swihart played regularly his average would go up, but I could be completely wrong.

Awesome story! Makes me love Yaz even more.

Pedroia's return should help. I prefer Moreland at 1B, Hanley at DH, and JDM in LF than sending no-hit JBJ up to the plate. That said, Benitendi isn't exactly lighting the world on fire either. It's easy to overlook his struggles because they are normal, whereas JBJ's are catastrophic. Back to the bullpen - Heath Hembree is my new goat. I did not like what I saw from him last night at all. Hopefully our man Thornburg comes back soon!!!