Maxbialystock

Agree, but too often the dice seem to be loaded against the Sox so-called brain trust with DD being just the latest example of over-spending for over-taxed arms.

Agree with you and mvp 78. Leave Devers at 3b and Casas at 1b--right now the two best Sox infield bats by a wide margin. Their defense ain't great, but it's good enough. It's their bats that count. Speaking of which, I'm surprised there has been so little discussion about Story's terrible bat. His defense, I hasten to add, has been pretty doggone good, but the Sox ain't paying him those big bucks to play freaking defense. Good defensive SS's are a dime a dozen.

To be honest, I consider your numbers to be authoritative. That said, however, you did use the verb "should," which to me means nothing is certain or guaranteed. And here's the problem with that uncertainty. The Sox management seems incapable of figuring out which pitchers are worth--will deliver on--7 x 25, 6 x 25, or 5 x 25. If you think I'm wrong, please name just one 5 x $25M, 6 x $25M, or 7 x $25M starter the Sox hired who actually delivered on that salary. Go ahead. I dare you. I double-dare you.

I keep reading about how overweight Devers is, but at the same time notice he leads the team in games played, WAR, OPS, dingers, total bases, rbi's, runs scored, etc.

Agree. I only watched bits and pieces but did see Refsnyder's single. Pitching was again excellent and the hitting was again in the doldrums.

RISP has been an issue all season long, but lately the Sox are making it into an art form.

Name the games, please. But my real point is that, even if you are right, you can't then claim that no other MLB teams have lost games because of errors/mistakes. Errors/mistakes are the cost of doing business especially if your first priorities are good arms and bats.

Actually, no, they can't. By that I mean they still love sabermetrics and sabermetrics says never bunt. So very few Sox players can actually bunt effectively.

How many times have I said on talksox that the Sox need to score 5 runs to have a good shot at winning? Too many times. In this game they've scored 2 freaking runs. And of course they have now failed to bring home the "ghost runner" on 2d base in the 10th and again in the 11th inning. This year that is signature Sox baseball: they stink with RISP.

Ain't lost yet. However, since you re-raised this topic, a thought. Your complaint was and is that the Red Sox defense stinks this year and is costing games. My nefarious claim is that, while I agree that can happen, it's the cost of doing business because first priority is players who can hit. Rafaela can hit. I hasten to go on and reiterate what I've already said too many times. Hitting and pitching are vastly more important than defense or baserunning. But I did look him up on Sox Prospects, and they say he is already a plus-plus defender, especially if he is in CF. If he is, then just maybe those errors/mistakes are in fact the cost of doing business and not a freaking disaster.

That's the future. Rafaela in center field running in to catch a ball over his head.

Right. JH was being cheap. We know that because in 2018 and 2019 the Sox had the highest payroll in MLB. JH should have been happy to spring for a $300M or, better still, a $400M payroll.

I completely agree CBO's are hired to be fired and that JH has never hesitated to do either. That said, there does seem to be a sea change in MLB which you and others are ignoring-- Mets, Yankees, and Padres have the three highest payrolls in MLB and absolutely no hope of making it to the postseason. Bottom feeders Rays and Orioles, 27th and 28th highest payrolls in MLB, have the two best records in MLB despite both being in easily the toughest division in MLB. Throughout the John Henry era--at least until he hired Chaim Bloom--John Henry has been willing to pay top dollar (or close to it) for talent. This year's payroll is 15th, probably the lowest payroll ranked for the Sox in 40 years.

The 2018 Sox payroll was the highest in MLB. So was the 2019 payroll. The 2018 team was the best Sox team ever with 108 regular season wins and an 11-3 record in the ALDS, ALCS, and WS postseason. The 2019 team finished 84-78 despite retaining almost all of the talent from the splendid 2018 team. The current horrible, terrible, disgusting Sox team with the 15th biggest payroll in MLB would be just 6 games back of the 2019 team. The Mets have the highest MLB payroll in 2023 and have a losing record. The Yankees have the second highest payroll and are one game ahead of the horrible, terrible, disgusting Sox. The Padres have the 3d highest payroll and a losing record. The Angels have the 7th highest payroll and a losing record. On the other hand, far and away the two best teams in the AL, the Orioles and the Rays, have 28th and 27th highest payrolls in MLB. And 2 weeks ago the Rays lost their best freaking player, shortstop Wander Franco. He was everything we hoped Story would be and more. But without him the Rays are 8-2 in their last 10 games. We do not know what Betts would have cost if JH had told his guys, "I don't care what the Dodgers offer him, we will go higher." We can, however, be absolutely sure Mookie was going wherever the most money was. As for Bogey, he too went for the bigger bucks, and his new team, despite the massive payroll, has a worse record than the Sox.

A fair point. However, his tenure was based on not doing what every other GM/CBO for the Sox has been able to do during the John Henry era and probably the last 40 years: spend like a drunken sailor to bring in talent, especially pitching talent.

I admit I worry Devers weight because I know it can affect his long term viability, especially as a position player and on the basepaths. But, if we've being honest, the one thing we should worry about is his swing and "command" of the strike zone. Besides, this season he leads the Sox in games played with 140--also total bases, dingers, and rbi's. Statistically, his 2023 OPS, .859, is right at his career OPS of .854 but below last year's .879, 2021's .890, and 2019's .916. His 114 K's are no worse than last year's or 2021's. His 34 dingers so far are below last year's 42, but will likely be no worst than 2021's 37 in 156 games.

I know this topic was much discussed in 2019--that the poor old rotation had been abused in the 2018 season and postseason, but I think it's just bunk. No starter was overworked in the 2018 season or postseason. Lester and Lackey threw more postseason innings in 2013 than Price and Sale did in 2018. They also pitched more innings in the 2013 regular season than Price and Sale in 2018. However, because Cora apparently believed those guys had been overworked in 2018, he had them pitch less than usual in spring training, which I think was the real cause of their lousy 2019 seasons. But I have one big caveat to the above. We now know that both Price and Sale were basically worthless after 2018. Price's WAR in 2018 was 4.4, but in the next 3 seasons it was 1.8, .5, and .7. Sale's WAR in 2018 was a terrific 6.9, but in the next 5 seasons it has been (note the word choice) 2.3, 0, 1.0, 0, and 0. Those WAR numbers, combined with what the Sox paid for them, poisoned John Henry's belief in simply buying pitching. So he fired DD, hired CB, and gave him guidance--probably through his brain trust--on what he could and could not do in terms of buying/paying players. Mookie became unaffordable. So did any long term pitcher contracts, which led directly to the rotation mess the Sox have today.

I think you have to be a really good hitter to justify being the "regular" DH. Why? Because the DH slot gives the manager opportunities to rest other players, to get the right bats into a lineup against a given pitcher, etc. In Yoshida's case, left field at Fenway is almost perfect for him defensively because it does not put a premium on having a great arm or on having great range. Thus do Manny Ramirez and Ted Williams come to mind. To me the real issue with Yoshida is his hitting vs. his salary, and that's exactly the issue with Story even though Story is a pretty good defensive SS. Story's salary, just like Yoshida's, demands an .800 OPS as an absolute minimum.

His first year Whitlock was a terrific reliever, especially because he was a rule 5 steal from the Yankees. But he throws a lot of different pitches well, so his 2d and 3d seasons they gave him a shot. But you were right all along.

It's role, not roll, and the attempt to make Whitlock into a starter was not unreasonable. A starter pitchers a whole lot more innings than a reliever. The two key questions are: 1) can he go through a lineup 2-3 times successfully; and 2) does he have the physique to throw 80-100 pitches every 5 days? I think Whitlock has a better repertoire than Houck, but Houck has more durability.

I'm not saying he's a good baserunner, but am saying that double play was automatic. Any baserunner who would have been safe on that play would have been a runner with no lead. The guy on 2b is supposed to take a good lead so he can score on a single.

And I'm the only one who said he should at least start the 6th. I did so only because we have in fact seen Houck get guys out the third time through the lineup. He is also the most durable pitcher the Sox have. Enough of the phony self-congratulations. The real credit goes to Cora who made two tough calls--letting Houck start the 6th and letting him finish it--that worked.

I think we under-value Casas's defense. He's made a couple of good plays today--the throw to 2b on the grounder when the play at first would have been easier and now fielding the grounder and throwing home despite interference from Houck. His one weakness is grounders, and for now I can definitely live with that because he is good at the plate.

Interesting. Right now I sure look as wrong as I can be with that leadoff double on the first pitch of the 6th inning. But the Yankees haven't scored yet. Excellent play by Rafaela to come over from CF to back up Abreu who missed the carom of the green monster. I haven't seen many Sox CF's do that.

He actually has gotten over the hurdle several times this season already. But I'm delighted you paid enough attention to see he already got the Yankees top two the third time through. I agree 88 pitches is a lot for a Sox pitcher, but I think Houck is healthy/tough enough to come out for the 6th.