moonslav59

The phrase. Maybe I said it another time, of something like it. I hate the Astros. The Texans are growing on me, but I'll never like them more than the Packers. I'm Bucks all the way. No issues with the Rockets. I loved Dream and Sam Cassell.

You can have the last word.

Go Rangers! (I'm not sure I ever uttered those words before.)

Could this be soxprospects.com's next top 20? 1. Anthony 2. Mayer 3. Teel 4. Cespedes 5. Bleis 6. Rafaela 7. Wikelman 8. Yorke 9. Abreu 10. Perales 11. Zanetello 12. Monegro 13. Joh Garcia 14. Castro 15. EValdez 16. Anderson 17. Meidroth 18. Romero 19. Drohan 20. Gambrell (Drohan?)

2023 wOBA (490 players with 80+ PAs) 18. Abreu .375 33. Casas .367 42. Devers .359 58. Duran.354 79. Duvall .347 91. Turner .346 122. Yoshida .339 161. EValdez .328 189. Dugo .322 214. Reyes .315 219. Ref .314 297. Urias .298 321. McGuire .293 328. Wong .292 348. Rafaela .287 447. Story .249

318 MLB players had 500+ PAs since 2022. Here are how some place in OPS: 6. Betts .932 11. Soto .893 17. Devers .864 22. Casas .842 25. JD .836 30. Schwarber .822 39. Bogey .811 40. Suzuki .811 63. J Turner .795 79. Yoshida .783 113. Duvall .760 116. Renfroe .759 117. Duran .758 146. Dugo .738 .733 is the median OPS 172. T Pham .724 175. Beni .723 181. L Urias .712 208. Arroyo .696 224. Story .685 256. Vaz .661 270. Chavis .648 285. Kike .639

It's interesting to note, Cora once called Kike the best defensive 2Bman in MLB, then moved him to CF. Once Kike established himself as one of the best defensive CF'ers in MLB, he moved him to SS. Once Kike established himself as one of the worst defensive SSs in memory, he moved him to LA.

Also... Dominican Professional Baseball League (LIDOM) The 2023-2024 LIDOM season began this past Thursday. Enmanuel Valdez appeared in three games for Toros del Este and went 1 for 5 with two RBIs, one run scored, five walks, and two strikeouts. The 24-year-old second baseman was also hit by a pitch on four separate occasions, leading to a sky-high .714 on-base percentage so far.

SP's breakdown of this week in the AFL: Boston's contingent of prospects had its fingerprints all over this successful run for Glendale. Corey Rosier led the way offensively, going 6 for 14 (.375) with two doubles, two RBIs, six runs scored, two stolen bases, five walks, and four strikeouts in four games. The left-handed hitting outfielder is currently batting a stout .333/.424/.412 with a team-leading five stolen bases in his first 13 games (59 plate appearances) with the Scorpions. He has already seen playing time at all three outfield positions. Tyler McDonough has made his impact felt at the plate as well. Despite being a late addition to Glendale's roster, the versatile 24-year-old reached base in 10 of his 24 plate appearances last week while swiping three bags. He broke out for three doubles, one walk, and three runs scored (including the game-winner) as part of a come-from-behind, 10-9 victory over the Salt River Rafters this past Thursday. Nathan Hickey enjoyed less success as far as offensive production is concerned. The 23-year-old backstop went 3 for 15 (.200) with two runs scored, three walks, and six strikeouts to drop his slash line on the season to just .182/.386/.182 in 10 games (44 plate appearances). Defensively, he has thrown out two of 11 potential base stealers while splitting time behind the plate with Kevin Parada of the Mets and Andrew Cossetti of the Twins. Turning to the pitching, Bryan Mata made a pair of scoreless relief appearances for the Desert Dogs on Monday and Thursday of last week. The 24-year-old righty allowed just one hit and did not issue a walk while striking out five of the eight batters he faced over 2 1/3 innings of work. A member of Boston's 40-man roster, Mata now owns a 6.75 ERA with eight strikeouts to zero walks in five outings (5 1/3 innings) this fall. On the topic of relievers, fellow right-handers Felix Cepeda, Wyatt Olds, and Christopher Troye each appeared in two games for Glendale as well. Cepeda, 23, allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits and two walks in two innings. Olds, 24, put up zeros in his two outings and picked up the winning decision by tossing a 1-2-3 ninth inning in Saturday's extra-innings victory over the Mesa Solar Sox. Troye, also 24, went 2 for 2 in save opportunities without giving up a run. Zach Penrod, meanwhile, got start for the Desert Dogs in their matchup against the Solar Sox at Sloan Park on Saturday night. The 26-year-old lefty went three innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits (one home run), two walks, and two strikeouts. Of the 53 pitches he threw, 31 went for strikes and nine elicited a swing-and-miss. Through three starts this fall, Penrod is 1-1 with a 1.64 ERA and 11 strikeouts to seven walks over 11 innings in which he has held opposing hitters to a .184 batting average against.

He did play 300 more innings than Kike to squeak by him -14 to -13, but we don't need a crappy SS. Odds are he'd be okay at 2B, but I'm not sure he's all that much better than Urias. If 2021 to 2022 is the time period of worth: fWAR 5.2 Rosario 4.4 Urias OPS .766 Urias .722 Rosario

3 major trades from Nov 2015 to Dec 2016, then none for almost 8 years is a pretty notable change. The Price contract was an outlier, and I agree that the spending after 2020-2021 has been pretty much in line with past seasons. (The bigger change has been that more teams now have bigger spending owners.) IMO, I love the idea of building and maintaining a solid farm system and pipeline, but that priority should never be the be-all-end-all priority. 8 years is long enough to wonder, if we will ever trade major prospects, again.

Agreed. At some point, we should pull off a big prospect trade- not just for the sake of doing it, but to provide a big boost to the current team, while allowing the budget more space to fill other needs. We haven't really had a bigger trade than #6 Beeks for Nate and #9 Aldo Ramirez for Schwarber since the Sale trade in December of 2016! We are coming up on 8 years!!! (Before Sale, we traded for Kimbrel and Pomeranz within 13 months of that trade.) I think it goes beyond spending. We went over the tax line (barely) in 2022 and came close in 2023. Yes, several teams have passed us, and we need to stay a pretty big spender, for a while, anyway, to reach a competitive level, but without some major trades, I don't see us having the ability to sufficiently upgrade 4-6 positions on a tihg budget like $50M, this winter. We've spent years trying to build up the farm and 40 man roster with capable players and prospects. We seem pretty deep, now, although some might argue deep with mediocrity, and they may not be far off base. Here's the thing, teams will trade for mediocrity or "capable." Teams will like our prospects. IMO, we can now afford a 3 or 4 for one deal. We can trade one top prospect and a good second tier one or two for someone who is proven and has several years of team control. We'd still have 2-3 very promising top prospects left over with more promising ones on the rise, behind them. IMO, if we want to compete in '24, we will need to make one big trade, and I'm not talking Dugo, Drohan, Hickey and Walter for a pitcher. Then, we need to spend at least right up to the tax line, but going to the $20M tax line without going over could very well do the trick. Big trade +$69M = competitive team in '24. Does JH agree? Will he do it, if he does?

I will say, even without much change on the top level, the team philosophy has changed pretty dramatically a few times in 20 years.

Apparently, there were some changes in the scouting and developing areas of the system, but yes, at the top, there has been little major change. Lucchino was about it- above the GM position.

Agreed. If we don't change the culture, it won't matter who takes the job. If we are counting on the new hire to bring about that change, we will likely be disappointed. The major change needs to happen from above this new guy's pay grade.

We asked you who would be better at $10M or who signed recently for $10M that you felt was better. We got no names.

I was raised to be righteous. If someone lies or tells half truths, I try to show the other side or what I think is the truth. That is not always a virtue. I know that. I've tried to tone it down and even ignore Red, but he keeps feeling the need to misrepresent who I am and my positions. I apologize for putting others through all the grief. I will try harder, going forward to just let the lies roll off my shoulders.

Me, too, especially if they are telling anyone interested, they want them to "groom" Romero and or Cora for their job in 1-3 years. Even, if this is not hat is being said, those interested or not interested might be thinking about that. I'm really not that worried. I'd be happy with Romero and an experienced assistant GM. I'm not sure how well Cora would be with expanded duties.

Agreed, and MI help is like 5th or 6th on my priority list, unless he also fills the big RHB priority I have at #3.

They hav4e a few player who will need to be extended in the next 1-2 years. They can afford some, but not all. Make the right offer, and they would likely trade Burnes or Adames.

I'm not trying to hide my liking Kike. I called him a hero of 2021's playoff drive and run in the playoffs, because IMO, he was awesome. Yes, I did not see anyone better for $10M, along with others. You keep harping on something I am not denying. I'm not sure why you seem to take joy in others rooting for a player who ends up sucking. I was wrong about Kike. BTW, I did not always defended him. I wanted him removed fro SS as early as anyone and said he sucked. Stop the lies. I did not hear many wanting casas demoted, but if that was an admission of a mistake, I guess that's the best we will ever see from you. I like Kike and he sucked. You wanted Casas demoted and he did great, right afterwards. You seem to think that because it turned out pretty well" for the team, it make your mistake better than mine. I get a lot wrong. I give my opinion a lot. I'm bound to get a lot wrong. Baseball is not an exact science. I defended Bloom, when i thought the criticism was unfounded or needed some context. He was criticized so often, my defending happened often, too. You don't seem to understand that someone can defend someone they love, like, dislike or hate, if they think the criticism is wrong or lacking some context. Some believe all that matters is the W-L record, so anything else is useless or not as important. Just because someone does not go by just W-L record they must be "pro ____." You still don't get it. Sadly, it seems you never will. Only you are allowed to draw conclusions, wrongly. If anyone does it to you, you hit the roof. I was dead wrong on Kike. Get over it. Not only do you obsess with patting yourself on the back, but you also obsess over Sox fans who supported players that sucked, and gloat that you knew they sucked before us. How wonderful you are.

Less likely, but the right offer might get him. Maybe MIA trades someone good. Maybe CLE.

It's hard to know what order these people turning down interviews or the job are in the pecking order, but one would think the ones you want the most would be the first to be offered an interview. Maybe some might be waiting until after the WS to talk. Maybe Romero is the guy they wanted, all along, but are kicking the tires for someone better or someone who will work with Eddie for a couple years to help him be totally ready for the whole job. It's hard to know, and there is a lot of speculation out there. A lot of theories. Nobody really knows for sure what the plan is. (We don't even know if Sox brass has a clear grasp on a plan.) If their talks are about finding someone to "groom" Romero and Cora, I can see why so many are walking away.

If they push the $70M winter budget, they can get 2 top SP'er. They could also trade for someone like Burnes and sign Yamamoto. That would leave enough money to sign Duvall and a LH RP'er sand maybe some MI depth.

Would you prefer Rosario to urias, or would you keep both- spending over $10M on the combo? I think I'd rather spend $5M on a LH RP'er and let Joely walk.