Maxbialystock

You're darn right. That song in West Side Story gets it right when the gals say it's great in America and the guys say it's great in Puerto Rico. Alex is as American as apple pie, and he's made us all all proud. I'd rather have had him than that goofy guy with the weird hair although I did like Sully.

I guess the two unearned runs today are also because Story isn't playing SS. Duran dropped a fly in LF, which Story would have grabbed easily from the SS position. Anyway, that's now 11 unearned runs out of 24 scored against the Sox.

I should take umbrage with that remark, but in fact I forgot about the ghost runner who scored.

Could be.

And none of the 9 unearned runs were the result of an error or misplay by the Sox SS, whether Story, Reyes, or Hammond. In the first LA game, the one in which Story was injured, the two key errors were the dropped pop fly by Rafaela (Mr. Casual), and the dropped throw to 2b by Valdez. Make those two catches and the grandslam never happens. But in fact it did for 4 unearned runs. If Story had stayed in the game, he could not have prevented those two terrible errors or the 4 unearned runs.

It was just as terrible when Story was SS. He was great, but Rafaela, Valdez, Casas, Abreu, Devers, etc made sure that 9 of the 22 runs given up on the West Coast trip were unearned.

31 years in the Army and before that an Army brat--and I agree with you. What veterans, especially those returning from combat, want from MLB is what happens right after the home plate umpire says, "play ball."

Actual talent is pricey and, sadly, all too fragile. In the past JH has spent lavishly on starters only to see them go on the IL. The rotation this year has been nothing less than miraculous. The Sox currently have the lowest ERA and WHIP in MLB. When was the last time that happened? And the rotation of Bello, Pivetta, Crawford, Whitlock, and Houck is being paid $14M, compared to $16M for closer Jansen, $22 M for Story who is probably not returning this season, $18M for Yoshida who still isn't hitting and can't field.

Meh. I agree losing Pivetta is bad news, but he was just one of 5 starters and none of the 8 relievers.

One more time. This team is 7-3 after a West Coast trip--contrasted with 3-8 after the loaded and very expensive 2019 Heels started with West Coast trip--for one reason only. The pitching has been great, period. The hitting has been middling--ranked 15th in team OPS. In 4 of the 10 games, the Sox were held to 1 or fewer runs in regulation. I hasten to add that Story's OPS is .617. Last year for the Sox it was .566. In 2022 it was .737. So allow me to say that it is doubtful the Sox are going to miss Story's bat. No question his defense will be missed. However, his great glove/arm could not prevent the grim reality that 9 of the 22 runs scored against the Sox were unearned--thanks to egregious errors by Rafaela, Abreu, Valdez, Devers, Casas, et al. Therefore to me it makes sense that Cora would want to go righty/lefty at SS and at 2B. It's already worked well at catcher. Because pitching is the only thing this team does well, it makes more sense to improve the hitting than the defense.

Probably. He's at AA Portland and has said out loud he needs to be there.

Mookie was never, ever going to be a bargain. I think the Sox got Bogey's best years, but there can be no question--20-20 hindsight--keeping him was a better idea than bringing in Trevor Story, who's a better fielder, a worse hitter, and mostly on the IL.

Hmmmm.

See my other post on Sox Prospects take on Rafaela. He's much, much better in CF than at SS. Plus don't forget what happened when Kike was moved to SS. We absolutely, positively know Rafaela can plays centerfield because we've freaking seen him do it. And, by the way, what is your definition of someone in the minors who is ready? If you are talking about a bat, it's always a gamble because MLB pitching is so, so tough. But, if its a glove and an arm, what's great in Worcester or even Portland is probably going to be pretty good in Boston. Assuming Hamilton is temporary, keep him around until Mayer has some games and shows the good defense ("very fluid actions, soft hands, solid footwork, plenty of range, confident defender, plus defender at SS"), then give him a shot.

Good OP. Timely. Good discussion.

Be careful. Most of the time I don't even agree with me. If we kept track of recantations, I would be the leader in the clubhouse.

Meh. By the time anyone gets to MLB, most of the skills are there but need additional refinement. MLB has the longest apprenticeship of any professional sport, given that they can turn professional at age 18. If you make it to the Majors by age 23, you are ahead of your year group. And this. John Henry has never shown any reluctance to fire a manager. After the great 2018 season and with pretty much the same team in 2019, the Sox didn't even make the playoffs. If your accusation has any validity, that was all Cora's fault. To make matters worse, MLB banned Cora from managing or anything for a year. After that year was up, JH hired Cora back for 2021, 2022, 2023, and now 2024.

Go read Sox Prospects, which says Rafaela can be an elite centerfielder. Plus we've seen him do just that this season--that dropped pop fly notwithstanding. Yes, he played in field in 2018 and 2019, but has been primarily outfield in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. Does the name Kike Hernandez ring a bell? You guys all wanted to hang him, draw and quarter him, and send him to his room without dinner--what year was that? And what caused the uproar?

Wow. That sounds pretty smart to me.

Hamilton had 2 hits yesterday. He gets at least one more game, maybe two. After that, I would prefer to find a good defensive infielder in the minors or elsewhere, regardless of his bat. Because I like an outfield of Duran, Rafaela, and O'Neill. Rafaela infuriated me with that dropped easy fly that led to 4 unearned runs, but he has also made some excellent plays.

Good. Despite my constant griping--what else is new?--the defense is better this year and that has to be encouraging to the pitchers. Right now, I'm fine with Devers at 3b, where he's been for several seasons, and Casas at 1b. Casas's reach comes in handy on those throws to first, and I guess we'll just have to live with his lousy work on grounders. If memory serves, his throws to 2b have been good. So the problem is in the middle infield and here's my thought. Go for the D. If, for example, Mayer is ready on D, bring him up (after he's played some games in the minors this year). Same goes for anyone else who really is good with the glove and the arm. And live with two lousy hitters because the other 7--Devers, Casas, O'Neill, Duran, Wong/McGuire, Rafaela, and Yoshida--just might be enough. Indeed, Alex Cora has even used McGuire as a DH, which worked pretty well.

Right now I do like Rafaela, Duran, and O'Neill in the OF. I also like Wong and McGuire behind the plate. The problems are in the infield, which right now does not have one good glove.

I certainly thought our defense had improved this year--and said so, mostly because the pitching has been spectacularly good, the best in MLB after just 10 games. But guess what? 9 of the 22 runs scored against the Sox were unearned. That to me bespeaks lousy defense--and the fact that Story played excellent defense at SS could not prevent the bungles by the likes of Rafaela, Abreu, Reyes, Casas, Devers, and Valdez. Of those errors, to me the most forgivable one was by Devers, who had to deal with one of those in between high-hoppers, which he tried to grab while going backwards. Rafaela's error was on a dead easy fly he decided to go casual on. Same goes for Abreu on an easy grounder single he let get through his legs. Same for Casas--of course Casas--on another easy grounder. Same for Valdez on a throw to 2b, which he dropped. Also, let's not forget that, while I think we can all agree Trevor Story is superb on defense, at 2b or SS, he can't stay healthy. I hasten to add he's getting paid $22M/year primarily for hitting, which he has yet to do. Speaking of hitting, I don't see a whole lot of them in next year's hypothetical all-defensive team. I think I see 3: Devers, Casas, and Duran--and the latter two are probables, not certainties.

It’s way early, but perhaps not too early to discuss two new faces--CBO Craig Breslow and pitching coach Dave Bush--in the Sox management hierarchy since last season. And just maybe those two have made a difference--with a nod of the head as well to manager Alex Cora. This was an excellent West Coast trip to start the season--7-3 against the 4-6 Mariners, 3-7 A's, and 5-4 Angels. And the pitching--yes, just 10 games--is beyond excellent with an insane ERA of 1.49, best in MLB, and WHIP, 0.96, also best in MLB. I cannot remember a better rotation at the start of any Sox season since 1949. It gets better because all five are a bunch of no-names whose total salary, approx. $14M, is less than closer Jansen's $16M. So we probably need to acknowledge a 4th influencer, owner John Henry. We should also note that the previous CBO, Chaim Bloom, whom I defended endlessly, gets credit for bringing in Trevor Story ($22.5M/year) and Masataka Yoshida ($18M/year), neither of whom has earned even half of his salary. So far Yoshida can’t field or hit (OPS .775). Story is an excellent fielder at SS or 2B, but has yet to hit (OPS under .700) and has played a total of 137 games in his first two seasons and appears to be out for a big chunk of this one. Compare those two to Breslow’s pickup of Tyler O’Neill who has the Sox highest WAR (just 10 games) of 0.8. Of course I fundamentally agree with jacksonianmarch--not that the Sox will fold, but that 10 games is infinitesimal, 1/16th of a season. On the other hand, looking at how the Yankees have failed season after season despite one of the biggest--and sometimes the biggest--payrolls in MLB. George's boys have managed to elevate John Henry to semi-genius level among MLB owners.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. A Yankees fan who recognizes that their current record of 8-2, at immense cost to the Steinbrenners, is chimerical and that their almost quarter century of postseason failure (one WS since 2000) is likely to continue. Your honesty is a credit to all Yankees fans, although I suspect very few will thank you for it.