Maxbialystock

Who needs Raffy? Our DH is just as good as he is. moonslav is the one saying Yoshida and Ref together wouldn't be as good as Raffy, but they would be close.

I thought Toro was miles outside the base path.

Two separate things. Always good to be "great in the clubhouse," but not a requirement. Story was a not so good hiring by CB whom nobody else wants. Good field no hit isn't worth $22M/year. However, playing Story at SS makes more sense than not playing him. His OPS in June was .810 coming into this game.

2 yesterday were decisive. Getting a tad difficult to brag about the Sox defense. And now a baserunning error.

You're right. Before the trade I loved Raffy at DH. If Raffy had embraced 1b as he did DH, I would have been fine with that too. Raffy was our guy. I also read that Raffy was mad because he'd been lied to and told that, even with Bregman on the team, Raffy would keep 3b where he had played for 8 years. Bregman would play 2b Looking back, I now think the well was poisoned the day Bregman was announced as the new third baseman. Raffy was going to have to change positions not once but twice. He said yes to the first and no to the second, partly because moving to 1b would be tricky, partly because he was one of the two best hitters on the team and had been for some time, and partly because he'd been lied to. And maybe the language barrier played into that. I'm not anti-Raffy so much as I'm "let's make the best of this." Breslow was heavy-handed with Raffy, but I sure like Narvaez, Crochet, Bergman, and Chapman. Campbell, Mayer, and now Anthony have all been brought up. Despite the absence of both Devers and Bregman, the Sox are hitting enough to win games. They scored 9 runs in the last 2 games against the 3d best pitching staff. When Bregman returns--he just started baseball activities--I like the lineup you proposed. The pitching is better. I've a Sox fan grateful that JH changed the Sox from perennial (in my case, 1949-2003) also-rans to winning 4 WS, the most of any MLB team since he arrived in 2002. Those 4 WS teams included the best season in Sox history--just 7 years ago. So of course I'm going to defend any CBO John Henry hires--at least until they get fired. I think Breslow is the 5th CBO and Cora is the 6th manager.

MLB players have little stability. They get traded all the time, and a player rarely stays with one team. A lot of players have to change positions just to get a shot at The Show. While I agree Breslow was heavy-handed about Bregman supplanting Raffy at 3b, I don't see an amicable way of doing that. Raffy had played 3b for 8 years and had been promised he could stay there. So of course he was mad. Cora did a good job of convincing him to embrace DH, where Raffy flourished, but that also meant that Yoshida, who can only be DH, was getting $18.6 M to stay away from Boston. In effect, the Sox were paying $48.6M for one position, DH. Incidentally, where are the woebegone, completely unhappy and unappreciated Sox--missing their two best hitters, Bregman and Devers-- in the standings? Plus they are current 3-2 on a dreaded WEST COAST TRIP. Without Bregman and Devers, they have scored 9 runs in 2 games against the 3d best pitching staff in MLB. That may not last, but I like this team as is. Bregman replaces Hamilton in maybe 10 days. Story and Rafaela both have OPS's in the .800's in June. I like Mayer and Anthony. Also Narvarez, Duran, and Abreu. Most of all, I like that the pitching staff seems to be getting better.

Cannot disagree about Raffy's dinger yesterday--it won the game for the Giants. Did it escape your notice that he did nothing to prevent the Sox from winning, 7-5, the night before? Have you also forgotten that the Sox are currently without Bregman and Devers, their two best hitters, and are 3-2 on a dreaded WEST COAST TRIP? Without Raffy and Bregman, the Sox have scored 9 runs in 2 games against the 3d best pitching staff in MLB. Henry owes us nothing. He ended the curse and then won 3 more WS titles, which makes him the best owner in Sox history and one of the best in MLB. He did get po'd at DD when the 2019 team bombed despite the highest payroll in MLB. Worse, fixing the 2019 team was going to cost a lot more than the 2019 payroll. Once Bregman was announced as the Sox 3d baseman, Raffy's departure was inevitable.

I don't see your logic. I think Breslow was heavy-handed about Raffy, but Cora reconciled him to DH, where he delivered. Cora's job is to be the leader, give the orders, and connect with the team. He does that well. Breslow's job is to get Cora the players to be successful. This year he added Crochet, Chapman, Bregman, and Narvaez. That's pretty doggone good. Sale was a mistake, but that's mostly hindsight. Other moves also show that Breslow ain't perfect, but I think he is right for this team at this time. Breslow was heavy-handed with Devers, but I think Devers became unaffordable when he moved to DH. As moonslav points out, Yoshida can only be DH, and the Sox are paying him $18.6. $48.6M for your DH is unacceptable. Bringing in Bregman set all that in motion, and I refuse to accept the idea that Bregman was a mistake. That said, time will tell.

Not BS. The Sox were paying $30M for Raffy and $18.6M for Yoshida, both of whom had to be DH. Sooner or later, Raffy was gone the day he was told Bregman was the new third baseman, a position he had cherished for 8 seasons. Plus Breslow lied to him. Raffy was great as the DH, no question, but that's a lot to pay for a DH. Plus, because of Yoshida, the Sox were really paying $48.6M for their DH. That said, I think the Giants got a good deal, but I also don't think this deal was terrible for the Sox. I like this lineup proposed by moonslav: Bregman 3b, Mayer SS, Story 2b, Toro/Gonzalez 1b, Narvaez/Wong Catcher, Duran OF, Rafaela OF, Abreu OF, Ref/Yoshida DH, and Anthony OF/DH. Bregman's rehab is going well. His physical Thursday was positive, and he started baseball activities yesterday. When he arrives, he replaces Hamilton in the lineup. I think the money saved on Raffy should go toward pitching.

Well said.

We'll just have to see. I like the new lineup, especially when Bregman returns, even without Devers. You don't. Fair enough. At least for now the hitting and pitching are good enough for me to look forward to the games. I was pumped last night and today and will be tomorrow.

As I said, Bregman left a big hole because Raffy's OPS dropped 80 points without him. And right now we are missing all of Bregman and Raffy. But at the same time the pitching seems to be perking up. And I don't understand why you think the hitting won't improve when Bregman replaces Hammond and Anthony and Mayer have seen more MLB pitching. And what about being 3-2 on the WEST COAST and scoring 9 runs in 2 games vs. the Giants without Bregman or Raffy? Those didn't happen? When Bregman and Devers were in the lineup and wreaking havoc, the Sox were a .500 team. Without both of them the Sox are better because the pitching is better. And I see the possibility/probability that the hitting will improve without Breslow throwing money/prospects at another bat. Can't wait until tomorrow's game.

Not to me. Devers was headed out the day Bregman was announced as the third baseman, a position Raffy had played for 8 years and had been promised he could stay there. The move to DH actually worked, but was doomed because, as I think moonslav pointed out the Sox had two DH's who could play nowhere else. The other is Yoshida. So the Sox were spending $48.6M for their DH. Raffy doesn't knock in 2 runs if Hamilton doesn't make the error for the third out. I never thought of Raffy as elite. This year he was terrific because of the move to DH and because Bregman was batting right after him. After Bregman went on the IL, Devers OPS dropped about 80 points, and he contributed almost nothing to the 6 game winning streak. The front office brought in Bregman, Crochet, Chapman, and Narvaez, 4 of the most valuable players on this team. And they have aggressively brought Campbell, Mayer, and Anthony up from Rochester. Campbell started well, but then struggled at 2b and at bat. But you gotta like the other two, who I believe were signed on CB's watch. Heck, you gotta like Campbell too, also on CB's watch. Sale was a big mistake, but I'm pretty sure no one on talksox spoke up and said it was a mistake. Giolito was also a mistake, but he might be earning part of his pay this season. Tune in tomorrow.

Can't blame you.

Agree with mvp 78 and of course you. A terrific game thanks to the rally in the 9th. People on here seem to have forgotten the Sox are on the dreaded WEST COAST, and playing a good Giants team with the 3d best ERA in MLB. What's it like in the stands?

Oh, stop it. The Sox are 3-2 on this road trip so far. They scored 9 runs in 2 games against the 3d best pitching staff in MLB and they did it without Bregman or Devers. If Hammond doesn't make that error, we are out of the inning and Raffy leads off the next inning with the score 1-0. Bello pitched a heckuva start--6 IP and 1 ER. Plus that wasn't any stinking low bar. The Sox scored 0 runs in the first 8 innings and were down by 3 in the 9th. Then a double and 2 singles and a steal leading to an errant throw brought in 2 runs with a man on 2d and just 1 out.

SF has the 3d best ERA in MLB and the Sox scored 9 runs off them in the first two games--without Bregman and without Devers. Bregman is due back, maybe in early July, and he replaces Hammond in the lineup. That's a pretty big bump. As for Devers move to SF, I like your idea of Yoshida/Ref at DH or even Anthony, who looks like the real deal. To me that's enough hitting, so I would prefer Breslow to focus on a starter or two. Pitching is our weakness, even with the recent spate of superbly pitched games. I agree with you that absolutely nothing is guaranteed about our hitting, our pitching, or the season. But I'm a lot more hopeful than when the Sox were 30-35. A win tomorrow would be huge for this west coast trip.

Heckuva finish that fell short. No question that Hamilton's error cost the game and the Devers dinger won it for SF. But I do like this team The pitching was terrific--1 ER in 8 IP--and the rally in the 9th, started by 10 day rookie Anthony's hard hit double, was a thing to behold until the two grounders to end it.

Whether or not he's a bum, he's the best available. I agree Campbell is better, but he is also in Worcester for good reasons. When Bregman returns, the Sox will have options on who they want as backup--and Hamilton could well be the one sent packing.

Noticed the same thing.

Sure was. 1 ER in 6 IP. 1 BB and 6K.

Big crowd at Candlestick, however.

Oh, stop it. My case is that someone far more knowledgeable than me picked Hamilton over Campbell when Abreu returned. Hamilton has always been a backup, and he's the best the Sox can come up with now. He has a positive DWAR and Campbell a negative one. He bats at the bottom of the order. When Bregman returns, Story or Mayer goes to 2b. The error cost 2 runs, but it was not a routine play. Yesterday Hamilton drove in 2 runs in a 7-5 game. If the Sox lose by more than 2 runs, the error didn't cost this game.

???? Bello has gone 4 and given up 1 ER.

I was wrong. The error cost 2 runs. If the Sox lose by 2, it's on Hamilton. Too bad you don't acknowledge any of the good plays he's made. By the way, which Sox player had 2 hits and a 2 run dinger last night? And didn't the Sox win by 2?