Maxbialystock

As always, good stuff--and some of them are surprises to me.

Ohtani is dead simple to evaluate. He wants and is likely to get way more than he will be worth. I say worth in terms of wins and losses. He might be worth that contract in terms of boosting attendance, depending on where he ends up.

Yep

Worcester, which is primarily west (not south) of Boston, was on the road/trail Henry Knox used in 1775-76 to drag/boat/carry 60 tons of British guns 300 miles from Ticonderoga to Boston--first going straight south, mostly on water and then going basically east on land--in the dead of winter. Knox needed the snow and sleds to move those heavy guns, which were then used to drive the British Army and the British Navy out of Boston in March 1776. The 2d Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia never screws their courage to the sticking point of writing and signing the Declaration without that crucial victory in Boston first. As for your analysis of the lineup, you are way off base. Bloom/Henry kept Devers primarily because he's still young and can actually deliver on part of that huge package ($330M) he got and because he's a fan fav in Boston. As with the pitching, Bloom/Henry are trying to find ways to do more on the field of play with less in terms of big contracts to players. Right now the Sox are ranked 4th in MLB in runs scored and 13th in dingers. The 2018 Sox were 1st in runs scored and 9th in dingers. The 2007 Sox were 9th in runs scored in MLB and 10th in dingers. The current batting slump notwithstanding, the Sox hitting has been one of the pleasant surprises this season, especially given the absences of not only Mookie, Bogey, JDM, Beni, et al, but also Story and Duvall (who has played in just 8 games out of 50).

Bad call on the 3d strike against Duran, but it was also merciful.

He certainly hasn't lost his touch. As for the Sox, this slump could last awhile.

Funny thing, but I think Whitlock has an excellent repertoire--exactly what's needed to start. But in 2+ seasons his relieving has been way better than his starting. Maybe he is not physically strong enough to start, say, 30 games in a season.

Good correction on my strident post. Your numbers are better than my opinion. That said, Jansen did blow back to back saves badly with multiple runs given up in both games. And his one save since then included two BB's. Winck looks back on track, but the time before was pretty awful. Crawford blew a 1-1 game night before last. Them's my excuses for being strident. I do agree the hitting is the issue now. Ironically, it comes at a time when the rotation (except for Kluber and Pivetta) has looked particularly good. Also this. McGuire looked pretty good catching Bello last night. I like Wong, but I want McGuire to be good too.

Agree. DD is praised almost endlessly on talksox because he delivered the 2018 Sox, probably the best Sox team ever. But, as notin has made clear, the cost was not just considerable, it was franchise-changing. You gotta give credit to the MLBPA, which I think was the first truly successful professional athletes union. These days good players can expect everything to be guaranteed, even when the amount is insane. ARod started it with $250M guaranteed--when he was a youngster. My own (no doubt prejudiced) view is that the media love those big contracts and write about them endlessly and almost always in a positive vein. To them the LA Dodgers got a complete bargain with the Mookie Betts contract. Now they are hoping Ohtani will sign for half a billion dollars.

I've lived in Texas, but briefly, and am not a fan. Too big. But Texans can be awfully loyal to Texas, even with all those big cities that keep growing bigger. So I think you are right about Eovaldi--and good for him.

Right now the rotation is Sale, Paxton, Bello, Houck--all of whom pitched well last time out--and Kluber, who ain't worth $10M and may or may not be replaced by Whitlock. The bullpen is Jansen, Winck, Martin, Crawford, Pivetta, Garcia, and the two lefties, Rodriguez and Bernardino; and lately they look pretty unreliable.

Right now the Sox sure like like they have four decent starters in Sale, Paxton, Bello, and Houck. However, the bullpen seems to be springing leaks, and the "no name" lineup is, well, offensive to the nostrils. They stink.

Not me. I said he was "great in May" before anyone else did:o. But of course I didn't make the cut for the intelligentsia.

It started with Jansen blowing 2 straight saves against the Cardinals. Since then the bullpen has been mostly lousy. Even Jansen gave up 2 BB's in his one save vs. Seattle. Winck looked good for 3 innings scoreless innings. The good thing about Rodriguez stinking it up tonight is that the Sox hitting has disappeared for 3 straight games: 1 run scored in 26 innings (soon to be 27). The bad thing is that maybe the offense really is this bad.

No. You're wrong. Bello has been excellent: 7 IP, 2 ER. The defense has been OK. The catching by McGuire has been good. And for the third game in a row the hitting has stunk.

Hard to believe how bad the Sox hitting looks right now. 1 run in 22 innings--so far.

Agree. Wacha hasn't been all that consistent over the years, but he's younger than Kluber and had a good season last year.

Mostly agree if only because the Sox can't get by with one freaking catcher. We need two, and McGuire, while he might not be as good as Wong seems to be, should be good enough. In the movie Twelve O'Clock High the commander of the 918th, played by Gregory Peck, creates a special bomber crew called the "Leper Colony." It's where he puts the pilot he likes least (an LTC played by Hugh Marlowe) and the crew members who have screwed up on other planes. By the end of the movie, the Leper Colony proves their mettle, and I think that's Cora's intent with putting Kepler and McGuire together.

Before we go onto the next game thread, I have to say last night was a heckuva game. Barria was dynamite in his first start of the year even though he relied heavily on just two pitches, slider and changeup. But those two pitches kept our guys off balance for 5 innings--which may even have carried over and benefitted the Angels bullpen. Houck, on the other hand, started slowly but then just dominated the Angels, including Trout and Ohtani, who were both hitless in 3 at bats apiece vs. Houck. Too bad Crawford gave up the dinger, but that changeup was just too fat--and it looked like Moniak got all of it.

This is good. You are kind of attacking CERA because the data on Wong vs. McGuire are not significant enough. But I'm advocating a new version of CERA. It's called starter's choice, and my impression is that all the starters would prefer to have Wong behind the plate. This does not mean that McGuire can't catch for the Sox because we need two catchers. So all your data from the past that say McGuire has been pretty good behind the plate make a good case for keeping McGuire. And he won't just be the backup because no catcher can catch every game. For now McGuire will catch 1-2 starters each time through the rotation. He will be available to pinch hit for Wong and then catch in the late innings. He will also be available if Wong is injured.

My guess is that right now the starters prefer Wong. In the last 5 games Wong caught Bello, Paxton, Sale, and Houck--and McGuire caught Kluber.

And it keeps changing. I prefer to focus on number of wins or winning percentage. Last season the third AL wild card team was the Rays with 86 wins (and a winning percentage of .531), the second was the Mariners with 90 wins, and the top WC team was the Jays with 92 wins (and a winning percentage of .568).

Agree on July, but have to say May has already been "very interesting for this team."

Thanks. Stunning that a veteran starter would give so much credit to a rookie catcher. This also helps explain why I believe every starter on the Sox wants Wong catching them. I think McGuire is still fine as the second catcher.

I'll ask you but will be fine with an answer from anyone. I thought most MLB teams now call the pitches from the dugout. Wrong? Does Wong call the pitches?