moonslav59

Lock out or not, I'd protect him. Hell, I'm thinking of promoting him to MLB and demoting Duran to the bench or AAA. DH: Brannon v L and Yoshida v R LF: Yoshida v L and White or Duran v R Too bad Brannon isnt a LHB, and we could nix Duran from even consideration.

Would be nice, but doubtful with Gray as well. Maybe Brez sticks to the add an extra pitcher strategy.

Masa is 100 points better than Yoshida in last 28 days. Yes, last 14 games about even, till today. Duran was .567 in last 7 games before 0-4 today.

Sad but probably true. So, it's not about the money we pay Duran. 0-4 today and still up 7th. (8th & 9th went 1-8) 1-4 yesterday (2-6 batters behind him) recent games... 1-3 Duran (2-5 8-9 batters) 1-4 (2-7) 0-3 (5-8) 0-4 (0-4) Duran batted 8th! 1-4 (4-8) 0-5 (4-7) 2-3 (1-5) I had to go back 8 games to find one where he out hit the guys behind him. It's not like he was killing the ball before this sample: he was at .613. The totals: 5-31 Duran 21-58 all batters below Duran.

Arias has not missed a step in AAA (3-5 w HR.) He's at .947. Campbell is 2-3 w BB and is up to .743, now. Paez went 3.1, 2H, 1BB, 5K Jo Garcia his his 14th in a POR loss. Mullins saw his ERA go over 5.00. Is 21 year old Ronnie Hernandez for real? His OPS is .986 w GRE.

Yup. Without the kids, Cespedes would be #10! The same guy, a few months ago, I was predicting he'd be out of the top 30. #11 would be Soto. Now, take away the draftees and 19 and unders: 1. Arias 20 2. Valera 20 3. Holobetz 24 4. Wehunt 25 5. Phillips 22 6. Cespedes 20 7. Bastardo 24 (16th ranked) 8. Paez 22 9 Rivera 23 (just went on IL) 10. Gutierrez 22 (part of Mayer trade) 11. Winnay 23 12. Romero 13. Mullins 26 14. GeRod 20 15. Mason White 22 16. Brown 17. Heyman 18. Monegro 23 19. Castro 23 20. Ziehl 21 & 22 Brannon and Jo (Garcia) even this can't get these two into the top 20.

Maybe they knew he'd never survive the winter roster add-ons of pitchers from the 60 day IL. Crochet, Houck, Crawford & Oviedo

He could be a monster when he grows up.

I hope Bennett hits the Tolle Wall next start.

They do play in an easy division: Seattle Harmonies Los Angeles Angel Softs The Incognitos

So, would bringing Gray back and no other Sp'er add be enough for quality and quantity for 2017? Crochet, Suarez, Gray, Tolle, Bennett Bello, Houck, Crawford, Oviedo Holobetz, Wehunt, Paez, Ziehl, Borgos, Mullins (AAA) Futrell, Phillips, Brown, Monegro, I Coffey (AA)

I did say I thought Brez would add a pitcher, but I added "not a major" one, so that does kinda not count Gray. I'd think Gray returning sounds about right. So much for the "wilts under the spotlight" talk.

There doesn't seem to be any steps upward.

Is Suarez on some sort of 80 pitch limit? He hasn't gone over 81 pitches since June, when he went 90+ in 7 straight starts.

I'd take him back, but he'll be a FA, so he does not count as part of the foundation, until he signs.

Riddle me this: How is HOU still in it with Peter Lambert as their ace? And, how do they get a guy off the IL (Wesneski) who is undefeated in his starts since?

Casas needs help getting out of bed.

The splits show the opposite.

We may make some kind of winter move for a middle infielder, but I think Brez & Co. will see other areas as higher priorities. SS: Arias, Story, Monasterio, Sogard, Cheng 2B: Mead, Story, Monasterio, Seigler, Romy, Sogard (Campbell) While quantity is never a bad thing in baseball, I'm not sure this is top quality. Brez my address the LF situation, closer and another top set-up man in the pen. I doubt he looks to replace Gray, Sandoval and Early with a major SP'er add, since Crochet, Houck, Crawford and Oviedo should be in the mix, but he will likely look to add more depth.

The thing is, GG, it's not that these guys are creating a strawman then knocking the stuffing out of it, the strawman was real 2-3 years ago, but the three little pigs built a Ceddanne house out of twigs, last year and bricks, this year. It's a solid house, now. The whole lack of discipline thing is still real, but it's scaled way back, and this guy can hit- even balls out of the K zone. Here's the thing, one poster got his panties in a bunch a couple years ago, and can't, for some reason, accept that things can and do change. Guess where this massive undisciplined batter ranks on the team in K%? First? Maybe 2nd, and Narvaez and Story are kings of the Ks? NOPE! He's 9th out of 15 Sox batters with 100+ PAs. He's 8th out of 12 with 150+ PAs. 5th out of 8 with 200+ and 4th out of 5 with 400+. Only Durbin is better in the 400 club. Indeed, he's still 15th out 15 in BB% (4.0,) but can we cut the BA leader on the team some slack for that? Something is working okay. He's 8th out of 15 in OBP. (3rd out of 5 in the 400 club.) Rafaela was historically bad from 2023-2024 at BB/K, and I'm talking MLB history, not just Red Sox infamy. That was no strawman. He was for real- the worst BB:K non-pitcher batter in history. (.11 BB/K from '23-'24.) He's still bad at it, but he's proven he cans till do well, despite that issue, and he's greatly improved upon it to .24 in '25 and .20 in '26. That .20 places him 8th worst out of 207 batters with 300+ PAs this year. It's still an issue, but he lead the team in BA and is mid plus on OBP, so what's the problem? The guy get more flack from Fred than Duran, Narvaez, and all the other sub .700 batters combined.

Some felt he might be the best batter in 2026, but Max might be alone in thinking he was already anointed that guy. No slight on Max, as some thought it was Duran. Some might have thought Abreu was ready to step into that role. Few saw Contreras as slotted to be #1 in OPS.

Most: Tracy's fault for starting him. (Too much or at all) Least: Brez for keeping him on the 26. (I'm okay with him as the 4th OF, PR and late inning defensive LF'er for Yoshida.)

How did you not know this?

Duran has a wRC+ of 96 since late July 2024- a sample size ove 1400 PAs. How long of a leash are some of you willing to give him in hops he reverts to 2023, 2024 and early 2025 form? It's like gumby world here.

Not many teams play one, if they have another better option. We do.