Maxbialystock

Not that this is at all relevant to a thread on the Sox-Yankees rivalry renewed, but has anybody else noticed that freight train one game back of the Sox? Right now they are playing great, and our guys stink. On second thought, it's better to decry that two game series with the Athletics in Tokyo in 2007.

No closer is worth that money. To me the "fireman of the year" award is a joke because most of the time the closer ain't putting out a fire because he normally starts with a clean inning.

You left out advancing the runners with 1 or 0 outs. Bradley is also lousy at that. Plus don't forget that his WAR is currently -.4. To me the best case for JBJ is dead simple. Cora wants him out there, and I trust Cora.

I, on the other hand, remember a Dodgers-Yankees WS game in a late inning when Yogi Berra, a great clutch hitter, hit one down the left field (opposite field) line and Sandy Amoros caught. I remember Willie Mays grab in the 1954 WS, game 1, vs. Vic Wertz and the Guardians. I remember Jeter's flip to home on the off-line throw from the outfield. But I don't remember the name of the Sox first baseman who let that grounder go between his legs. On the other hand, I'm losing track of all the great JBJ and Mookie grabs because they do it so often.

Can't disagree with that. Plus I trust Cora, whose preference is to play him.

Then they have no sense of history. The Continental Army pushed the British Army out of Boston in March 1776, but 6 months later the British Army drove us out of New York City and kept it for the duration--all the way up until the peace treaty was signed in 1783. Londoners should be rooting for the Yankees (despite their name). Fittingly, the longest-tenured owner in NYY history was another George.

Well said. I can't argue with that. And I agree about the beauty of great defense.

I think they didn't like what they saw in 2015 when he started 84 games at C because others were on the DL. His DWAR was -.4. The Sox ERA that year was 4.31, ranked 25th. The next year it was 9th, and last year it was 4th in MLB.

Good stuff. I'm kind of anti-Vazquez right now, but agree with you completely.

The Sox already have two good bats, Moreland and HanRam, to play 1B. To me it is pointless to want to move Devers when we have weak bats elsewhere (C, 2B, CF) in the lineup. Same goes for DH: HanRam and JD. In other words, I have yet to see a compelling argument on where to put Devers besides 3B other than benching him, which I think would be monumentally stupid at this point. Second, Devers has now played 30 games, 1 more than any other Sox player, so apparently Cora sees some value in him at 3b. At the same time, however, JBJ has played in 29 games, so clearly Cora values his defense because he sure ain't worth much on offense. His overall WAR right now is -.3, but last year it was 2.8 when his OPS was .726. Now it's .545. If it were up to me, given the weakness of the bottom 3d of the order, I would play JD more in LF, moving Beni to CF and JBJ to the reserve outfielder. HanRam goes to DH and Moreland, OPS over .900, to 1b. If you hate that idea, you only need to point out that right now the Sox are 2d in MLB in scoring, which argues that a great defensive CF can only help the pitching which is really struggling right now and isn't needed that much to help with the scoring.

A good point. Here's what soxprospects wrote about Devers: Field: Has soft hands and his footwork is surprisingly good given his build. Comfortable charging the ball and making smooth transfers from glove to throwing hand. Agile for his size and has average range. Projects as at least an average defender at third base. Speed of the game could give him some trouble while he adjusts to the major league level. On occasion will lose fundamentals leading to careless errors. Should be able to stick at the position long-term unless his body gets away from him as he matures. There was concern in the lower minors that he may need to move off the position, but this stemmed almost entirely from projections that he may lose agility as he grew into his large frame, rather than from anything relating to his fielding ability.

Are you saying WAR is irrelevant to evaluating the value of a player? I love watching good glove work and a great arm. It's the poetry of baseball. But, I say again, 80% of team defense is that pitcher on the mound. Speaking of defensive players being crucified, I take it then that you would still rather have the brilliant Iglesias at SS instead of so-so Bogie as the Sox shortstop. I loved Iglesias back in 2013 because he was terrific to watch, but I was fine then with letting him go and am more than fine with Bogie at SS today. I see Devers as another Bogie in the making.

Meh. 80% of defense is the pitcher on the mound.

Devers is 3d on the team in total bases and 4th in rbi's. His overall WAR, .3, ain't much, but Nunez's is -.5. I do not understand the enmity directed toward Devers and the free ride accorded Nunez, who I might add has 9 more years professional experience than Devers. To me Devers at 3b is a good investment for the future who is contributing now and will only get better. Do I need to remind this board of other recent Sox thirdbasemen? Mike Lowell was pretty good back in 2007-9. Later came Middlebrooks and the great Pablo Sandoval.

Count me among those who underwrite fielding lapses by productive hitters and antagonistic toward JBJ when he goes into one his now almost legendary slumps. His BA is below the mendoza line and his ops is .545. I have not forgotten 2014 when he was handed the starting CF job on a platter and ended up in Pawtucket. Since then, he has definitely had some good periods at the plate, but right now he is a liability despite his defensive prowess. If it were up to me, I'd keep Devers at 3B, let JD play left field, move Beni to CF, and use JBJ in late innings for his defense.

Me, I'm fine with Devers at 3B, especially when the Sox have given up just 5 unearned runs this year. I have already seen improvement in his throws to 1B, and he has also made some nice plays on weak grounders where he had to go fast and hard to get the ball and then make a good throw. Nunez, on the other hand, gets almost no errors because he has so little range and to me is a bigger liability at 2b than Devers at 3b. Besides, who gives a darn about errors when the real issue in 2018 is the rapid deterioration in Red Sox pitching? In the first 19 games when the Sox went 17-2, they gave up 53 runs in 19 games, including 7 extra innings. In the most recent 12 games the Sox have given up 65 runs--roughly twice as many runs per game. We are now losing more games by 4 or more runs than we are winning by 4 or more runs. And right now the rotation and bullpen are equally bad--or so I think without having looking up the numbers.

What B squad? Our $30M starter was on the mound and in the lineup all but one of the guys who got us the 9 game and 8 game winning streaks. Pedey is not nor ever has been a player who "waits" to come back. His problem is coming back too soon. Devers at 1B puts HanRam or Beni on the bench and no good hitter at 3b.

Just thought I'd bring this up again now that the Yankees have taken 3 of 4 in Houston and the Sox look absolutely abysmal vs. the Rangers. That freight behind us is just 1 game back.

Hey, feel free to tell us all the positive things you can think of about Price since he came to Boston.

The Sox seem to be in the process of disintegrating. Price was awful, but 2 of the those runs were unearned. JBJ strikes out on 3 pitches with the bases loaded and then bellyaches to the ump about a call that was correct. What a loser.

Hard to defend $30M/year gutless incompetence.

One thing Price is not is tough.

Yankees won today with 3 in the 9th and having taking 3 of 4 vs. Astros. If the Sox lose, it's a one game lead.

Cora just does not understand how important outfield defense is. If JBJ had been in CF instead of Beni, that triple gets caught. Who the heck made that over the shoulder catch in LF? Did Swihart finally get a shot?

Great. He's in for that bum Beni, who can't hit and can't field. This is the 2d or possibly 3d time Swihart has started, and it's always been as a DH. Never catcher or leftfielder. Never at 3B.