Maxbialystock

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.

Couldn't have said it better. "That's baseball."

Given all my negative nattering since last night's loss, I now take complete credit for today's great hitting, great pitching and so far errorless fielding. Why? Because I was using my famous reverse mojo. In other words, I don't know jack and am delighted to admit it. 7-0 plus a dinger by Hamilton of all people! And Houck headed for 6 shutout innings! Way to go, Houck! Way to go, Sox!

Excuse me. You had to deaf, blind, and ignorant not to know that JH was cutting salaries. That's why he fired DD in 2019, 5 years ago. In 2019 the Sox had the highest payroll in MLB, but to begin the process of saving $$ David Price was sent to LA with the Sox paying a big chunk of his salary for several years. Sox also paid major dollars for Sale, who stayed in Boston but missed a whole bunch of starts for the next 4 years. Why else was Chaim Bloom hired in 2019 if not to imitate the Rays success with a low budget payroll? I hasten to add that this year the pitching, basically low budget, is fantastic. Also worth noting is that the three biggest salaries this year belong to Devers, Story, and Yoshida--and to date none has earned his pay (this year). Story and Yoshida never have. Devers has earned most of his salary.

Interesting. As I posted elsewhere, there are only two things Hamilton doesn't do well: fielding and hitting. And he is inserted at a time/moment when the Sox defense and hitting are both suspect.

Blah! Both of those guys are paid for their hitting, and their defense is secondary. Devers hits. Yoshida doesn't. The Sox right now have plenty of good defensive outfielders and at least two, O'Neill and Duran, who are also hitting. These are the six Sox positions player with positive WAR's: O'Neill 0.6, Duran 0.6, Devers 0.3, McGuire 0.2, Wong 0.1, Story 0.1. Yoshida and Rafaela are both 0.0. Abreu is -0.1, Dalbec -0.1, Casas -0.1, Reyes -0.2, and Valdez -0.3.

Raffy cost us last night, agreed. But he ain't the only defensive problem. Rafaela and Valdez combined for 4 unearned runs the night before--on easy-peasy plays. Casas has cost us. In game 3 errors by Reyes and Abreu led to two unearned runs.

Hamilton has been called up. Here's what Sox Prospects say about him-- "Potential average hit tool against right-handed pitchers, but below-average against left-handers." "Inconsistent footwork and fringy range at shortstop. Can make the routine play, but there are concerns about how he would adjust to the speed of the major league game there. Has shown a tendency to rush plays and has trouble fielding the ball on the run." So I'd have to say I was dead wrong claiming it shouldn't be hard to find a good glove to fill in for Story. If Hamilton is the first choice, the Sox are in big trouble.

Fascinating discussion about SS, Story, possible replacements, etc. I would, however, like to make the following points. 1. Yes, Story was acquired for his glove, but also for his bat. I think the idea was to get a better Bogaerts for less money. In any case, what the Sox are paying for is a good defensive SS, period, and one who has missed a lot of games. So, given what Story has been to date--good field, no hit, not much play--replacing him shouldn't be that hard. 2. Last year moonslav made a big deal about the importance of good defense because it's good for the pitching. This year it sure looked as though moonslav was/is prescient. Indeed, right now the Sox pitching is the best in MLB. They lead MLB in ERA (1.44 to 2d place Cleveland's 2.28) and WHIP (0.93). 3. However, in just 9 freaking games the defense, despite the good play of Story and a couple others, has been a disaster. Out of 22 runs scored against the Sox, 9 of them--that's 41%--have been unearned. At least three times the defense has done all it could to give away games, but only succeeded, finally, last night when both runs in a 2-1 loss were unfreakingearned. In the very first game (@ Seattle), the defense gave up 2 unearned runs. 4. Therefore to me all this discussion about replacing Story is just silly. Yes, absolutely, he is way better than Reyes or whoever, including anyone brought up (like Mayer). But the real problem--based on those 41% unearned runs--is the overall Sox defense. 5. And right after the defense continually giving up runs has to be the moribund Sox offense, and that begins with Devers, but includes Story (now gone), Casas, Yoshida, Rafaela, Reyes, Abreu, Valdez--in fact, everyone but O'Neill, Duran, and the two catchers. 6. Despite the gloom and doom of the first 5 points, the pitching should give all of us hope--to say nothing of the fact that the Sox are 6-3 and just 1 game back of the Yankees. 7. On the other hand, the fact that we are just 9 games into the season could mean that the pitching will collapse before the hitting and defense improve.

6 unearned runs