Maxbialystock
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Everything posted by Maxbialystock
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Oakland has no one remotely as valuable as Abreu. Plus losing Casas is no big deal. His WAR was -0.8.
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Love to see Anthony in LF, but right now I'm fine with Duran in LF and Rafaela in CF. I may change my mind by the All-Star break or later. More to the point, I see absolutely no reason to make a deal to replace Casas. When he was hurt his WAR was -0.8. Losing him didn't hurt one bit. Sabol has played 2 games at 1b and the Sox won both of them. And Gonzalez's WAR is +0.4. Alternatively, Anthony or Mayer could be asked if they want to take a shot at 1b for Worcester in hopes of getting to Boston. Both are lefty bats and both are 6'3".
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Not really. I agree he could get injured running the bases or swinging the bat, but a possible injury while fielding is additive, not separate. If you look at the Sox individual batting stats, you will see Devers is the only Sox player who has been in all 42 games. That's the value added of a good DH bat--he never gets tired. In addition, staying as the DH could extend his value to the team. David Ortiz turned 40 before his last season--in which he played 151 games with 626 plate appearances and a little ol' OPS of 1.021.
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One more time even though no one is listening. The Sox don't need a great first baseman to replace Casas. In fact, a lousy one will do. Sogard has played two games at 1b and the Sox won both of them. How many times do I have to remind you people that Casas was a liability this season? He had a WAR of -0.8. Replacing him is the easiest thing in the world. So why look further than Romy Gonzalez (now on the IL)? His WAR is +0.4, a huge improvement over Casas. So is his OPS, .785 to Casas' .580. Heck, Connor Wong played 1b a few times last season. If the Sox could find a pretty good firstbaseman at a reasonable price, I'd be for it. But they can't. Heck, I'd even move Story to 1b and move Mayer up to Boston. Right now Devers is hitting well, and I think part of that is being a full-time DH.
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Agree! In fact, all 3 starters were terrific this series, as was the bullpen. I believe I'm correct in saying that the Royals scored 1 earned run in 3 games. Sogard was fine at 1b because he's a warm body, almost decent on defense, and we don't need his hitting. We don't miss/need Casas, at least, not the one we had this year. In that vein moving Devers to 1b would be just stupid. He's a terrific DH so far and that's all we need from him. Breslow can go pound sand. Still just 2 games over .500, but this was a very encouraging 3 games @ KC. Back to Breslow. Right now it looks like he's made a lot of good moves to put the Sox in a position to win a bunch of games.
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Completely agree. Acquiring Bregman pushed Devers into the DH slot, which I think is ideal for him. I was wrong to claim Yoshida can't hit because he can--but not as well as Devers. Chaim Bloom brought in Yoshida and Story, both of whom were/are overpriced. However, it also looks like he put some pretty good talent in the Sox minor league system.
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A Realistic View of the 2025 Red Sox: Part II
Maxbialystock replied to moonslav59's topic in Boston Red Sox Talk
See the Mayes article today, Sunday. The numbers say Wong has improved a lot from last year in key catching stats. This does not mean I think Narvaez isn't a great addition because he is. I'm not sure the catcher calls the pitches these days. -
On the other hand, they dominate the NBA and probably have a high percentage in the NFL. My theory is that players normally get to the NBA or NFL a lot quicker than to MLB. I have no idea how salaries compare.
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Indeed. I like to complain about Breslow, but this year he's brought in some pretty good players.
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I don't care. We weren't getting much from Casas either. His overall WAR, -0.8, was the worst on the team.
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Amazing. At 84 I'm in constant fear of dementia.
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Sure would be nice if Crochet could pitch the 6th and 7th.
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Without looking/checking, in order--3b, DH, RF, 2B, C, SS, LF, CF, 1b
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Devers has 4 total bases so far. All 6 righty bats have 3 total bases, two of them by Rafaela. Lefty bats, Duran and Devers, have 5 of the Sox 7 hits.
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Move him to 1b and keep Devers as DH. Mayer to SS.
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A Realistic View of the 2025 Red Sox: Part II
Maxbialystock replied to moonslav59's topic in Boston Red Sox Talk
He could well be one of the worst defenders, but the Sox kept him at 3b for 8 straight seasons, plus he made the all-star team 3 out of the last 4 years. I like the addition of Bregman, but I also like moving Devers to DH, which to me is a win-win. He can hit while avoiding both errors and injuries. He is no doubt overpaid as a DH, but his lifetime OPS is .854 and could well improve at the DH position. To remind: nobody griped when Ortiz and then JDM were full time DH's. Hitting is vastly more important than defense. -
I've got to say this one more time for emphasis. Moving Devers has very little to do with replacing Casas, whose WAR at 1b this season was/is -0.8. Almost anyone except Dalbec could do better. And it has everything to do with opening up the DH position for Yoshida, who is still on the IL and who is nowhere near the hitter Devers is.
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I agree that Devers' wording is unfortunate, but I agree with his position, that over the past 3 months Breslow has been jacking him around. The right way to do this would be to give Devers a full spring training to become a firstbaseman. I also agree with Devers that becoming a full-time DH takes some adjusting. Plus, given his rep on defense, I think DH is the perfect slot for him. And let's not kid ourselves. The reason for moving Devers to 1b is not to replace the injured Casas, but to make room for Yoshida as the DH.
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Sorry the Sox lost, but it was still a terrific ballgame. Sox pitching was fantastic and the defense helped.
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Terrific ball game.
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Career OPS .775. Given that he can't field, cost $105M for 5 years, and has missed a bunch of games, I'd classify him as subpar.
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Back to my hobby horse--Devers defender. To me it's criminal Breslow wants to move him from DH to 1b so that no-field no-hit Yoshida can DH. If Devers had been able to play a bunch of games (and practices) at 1b during spring training, that would have been OK. The neat thing about Devers at DH is that he is at less risk of getting injured, plus he's a pretty good hitter.
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All good comments, but I'm definitely looking forward to the game. When I was stationed at Fort Leavenworth, I used to go to several games each summer, 1986-89, at Royals stadium. Nice ballpark, but it can get awfully hot. One year I saw Bo Jackson play--absolutely worth the price of admission. He was better at football than baseball, but should have stayed with baseball. There was big money for a good diddley player, but Bo didn't know how to.
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Why Yoshida? He is nowhere near the hitter Devers is, and DH is all about hitting. I think Devers, who badly wanted to stay at 3b, has found a good niche at DH. Moving him to 1b is stupid when Gonzalez is already playing 1b with an OPS 200 points higher than Casas's this season and 10 points higher than Yoshida's .775. Devers ain't the problem, not by a longshot. Yoshida is the problem. Replacing Casas couldn't be easier, but all this bs going on is because it's so hard to find a spot for our $105M nonfielder.
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A Realistic View of the 2025 Red Sox: Part II
Maxbialystock replied to moonslav59's topic in Boston Red Sox Talk
Management made the first move by taking him out of 3b, which he very much loved playing, then moving him to everyday DH, which took some adjusting, and then asking him to take over a whole new position 6 weeks and 39 games into the season. We can assume all this is to prepare ye the way for one of the Sox all-time great hitters, Masataka Yoshida, whose .775 OPS with the Sox is lower than Gonzalez's .785 this season. Am I the only one who can see that Yoshida's insane salary ($90K plus a $15M posting fee for 5 years, of which this is the third) is the real problem here?
