Maxbialystock

I am not defending JBJ, but I am also trying to be fair to those his devout followers. Right now, he sure ain't worth no $8.5M/year, but it's early. The downside on JBJ is that his 2016 OPS of .832 now appears to have been that one great year that was/is in reality chimerical. The Yankees gave Ellsbury a $140M+ contract for 7 years based mostly on his totally unreal and unrepeatable 2011 season when he had 32 dingers and an OPS of .928. I am more and more convinced that really good contracts for players actually pay for what they have already done and not what they in fact end up doing. Scott Boras is a con man.

Not me. I like Lin a lot, but think right now we can use the better bat--Chavis--and not give up too much defense. However, to be perfectly honest, I am almost always happy with whatever lineup Cora decides to use that day.

I love lawyer jokes, but painfully have to remember that some of them authored a pretty fair document back in 1787.

CPA's are the salt of the earth. Our daughter married one. And our 501©3 depends on one.

Fair to you, maybe, but not to me. The Rays have 10 triples in 23 games, but hit 5 of them last Fri-Sat with JBJ in CF for us (and Betts in RF). One of the triples was over JBJ's head but still had room to hit the ground before the wall. He has an OPS of .372 and is being paid $8.5M this year. My guess is that he has almost no trade value, so we are stuck with him, but there is the real possibility that his hitting will come around. It has before, including the 2018 postseason.

I believe you. I hope you realize that those five no's were meant facetiously. I am tired of the endless discussion about whether Cora and DD are completely in sync about what I regard as a trivial topic--who to play at 2b on a given day. I would not have put Vazquez out there, but always think Cora has his reasons for every move. I did like Chavez out there because I'm willing to "sacrifice" some defense for a better bat. Those quotation marks are because, with Kinsler gone and Nunez and Pedey on the DL, it is to me silly to demand fielding excellence at 2b.

Can there be any doubt about that?

Game is postponed until tomorrow and a day-night double-header.

Hmmmmm. Lotta righty bats--7--and no Devers and no Moreland. But yes Lin (2b). And Vazquez as the DH, which means, I think, Leon catches and hits the entire game.

Toothless at 10-10? Are you sure they aren't saying that about us? Their hitting stinks, but not their pitching.

No, no, no, no, and no. It's invaluable to discuss what DD and Cora might have been thinking. We should never, ever evaluate decisions based on available stats or what happened as a result of the decision. Aren't you the lawyer? If so, you should know that motive is everything.

I got the .855 from espn and they calculated his slugging % incorrectly.

Yes indeedy. Well done!!!

A "grain of salt" is essential in JBJ's case because his WAR right now is -.9 and his DWAR is -.2. JBJ continues to start because Cora and DD know he has been better in the past. He inherited the CF job from Ellsbury in 2014 and was so bad he ended up in Pawtucket and started there in 2015. Then came August when he was brought up and caught fire which continued into 2016, but with ups and downs. Since 2016, he has slid backward to between the horrendous 2014 and the amazing 2015-16.

A fair comment, but I would remind that these are the only numbers we have for this season and that they are not devoid of meaning. JBJ so far ain't helping, nor have Nunez or Pedey at 2b. Lin is the proverbial good field no hit infielder, which is probably why Cora gambled with Chavis, who was the pivot for one DP but maybe not as quick as Pedey (or Lin) on the other one--the throw to 1b was late by a whisker.

Right now the the Sox team ERA is ranked 29th in MLB, runs scored (by the offense) are 22d--ditto the team OPS--and on fewest errors by the defense are ranked 27th. So, me, I think it's really hard to criticize any lineup moves made by Cora right now, especially after the Sox just swept the AL East leaders in Tampa. Speaking of which, I guess it's just the Trop, but did anyone else notice that our sterling outfield defense gave up 5 triples in this series and that their outfield gave up none? And this just in--some player WAR's, season to date-- JBJ -.9 That's worst than Hanley's was when he was dumped. JBJ's DWAR is -.3. Nunez -.7 Not the answer at 2b. Pedey -.4 Also not the answer at 2b. Pearce -.4 WS MVP has not returned from hibernation Bogie .8 Leading the Sox but getting almost no praise on talksox or anywhere else for that matter. And he's the guy who just signed a long-term contract. Vazquez .2 Also an OPS of .855.

I don’t understand the fuss over Pedroia. Seriously. He did nothing last year and the Sox had a stupendous year.

Last year’s team had toughness, and these guys looked that way in this series. Impressive.

Price has been lucky because he has thrown a lot of fastballs and too many of those right down the middle.

Not all Poynter’s fault. Leon called for 4 straight fast balls, which was dumb.

Why is Pearce in for Moreland?

Station13, boldly going where no one has gone before--2 in a row! If the Sox win this one, maybe a page has been turned.

Thinking the same thing. Oh, yeah.

I apologize for my pontificating above. moonslav and TylerD came much closer to what makes talksox so much fun.

April 19 was the Battle of Lexington and the shot heard round the world--all done by the Massachusetts Militia (founded in 1636) who couldn't wait for the 2d Continental Congress to do something. Nor for a Declaration of Independence. Other Americans were so astounded by what the Massachusetts Militia did, they did things like name their Kentucky camping grounds Lexington (now the 2d largest city in Kentucky) within weeks of April 19, 1775. That said, I would hesitate to connect that amazing history to anything going on at the Trop tonight. I was born at Fort Banks (now gone, but close to Boston) and both my parents grew up in Massachusetts--one in Agawam and the other in West Newton--but neither they nor I nor my 5 siblings went back to MA except for one year, 1953-54 when the old man was overseas. So I can't really call myself a New Englander, but as an American am both proud of and astounded by what our forebearers achieved. About 8 years later GW resigned his commission and returned to Mount Vernon, and 4 years after that presided over the 1787 Constitutional Convention which quickly wrote our defining document. 23 of the 40 signers had served in the Continental Army. Unfortunately, they failed to live up to the Declaration of Independence ("we hold these truth to be self-evident that all men are created equal") and to banish slavery, but it was still one of the great documents in history.