moonslav59

Was it that painful to say?

I can't help but think back to the glory days, and the fact that the championship we won my freshman year was as a result of our 3rd string QB getting a shot due to injury to the #2 and flopping by the #1. Dan Devine had Joe Montana 3rd of the depth chart in 1977! You'd think QB, being the cerebral position, would be the one area we could recruit well in.

It's like comparing apples to oranges as Bloom made no major prospect trades, perhaps by mandate. No doubt, DD mastered the trade market and chose the right prospects to keep. It's really quite amazing. Some have argued he might not have even know who Bello, Casas and Houck were, at the time, and that their trade values were very low, when he was here, but the bottom line is he kept the right ones and won just about every trade he made. Even the ones he did not win, he never lost one badly. BTW, it's not just Devers, Bello, Casas and Houck, it is also Crawford, Duran, Rafaela, Murphy, Walter, Wikelman, Perales & Mata. I probably missed some. DD deserves some blame for where we have been from 2019 to maybe today, but in this area, he nailed it. In hindsight, the highly rated prospects he traded, mostly were overrated. The ones he kept were underrated or too far away to know much. The ones we wish we still had, we still got great returns for, so what's the beef? He nailed it- time and time again.

We did pay some bonuses, too.

My bad. I did not know there were two. I was surprised to see him ranked that highly. BTV has our Logan at 0.0 value, lol.

I'm not sure, either, but it might have just had to be Kluber and Mondesi or Joely.

Some are still not in MLB, yet. Logan Allen is ranked 57th on BTV's most valuable pitchers- at 22.4 (just below Zach Eflin and just above Luis Castillo. Pure speculation, of course, but the jury is still out on him, for sure.) I'm not taking back hardly any trades DD made. They guy was awesome with trades, but there are guys we could use, right now. Margot means no JBJ reunion. fWARs since 2017 15.0 Moncada 9.4 Margot 6.3 TShaw 4.7 Espinal 2.0 Beeks 1.9 Kopech I'm not saying this list is good, but some of these guys would have been useful at min wage or arb costs, and I might still like to still have Logan Allen, Margot, Kopech, Beeks and Espinal on our 40.

How do we sign Walker over Kluber and stay under the tax line with the Yoshi deal? No 2 from Duvall, Turner or Martin?

You were responding to someone who questioned his "stepping back" with a comment that suggested you agreed. Man, you sure make assumptions about my comments, all the time, and almost always wrongly.

I'd make the trade I suggested in a heartbeat. Garrett is 26 and has 5 YEARS OF TEAM CONTROL. I'd do this trade, if he had 3 years of control left. Last 2 years at ages 25-26: 3.63 ERA 3.64 FIP 120 ERA+ 1.183 WHIP 8.9 K/9 1.9 BB/9 No way Drohan ever comes close to that. Romero is the one that could bite us in the ass, down the road. Duran is so up and down, it's hard to know what to expect. You have to give to get, and getting a 5 year SP'er with solid #1 or #2 numbers at age 26 is very valuable. Miami would say NO to this offer.

In 169 ABs. It's funny how Duran has proved nothing to you after a much larger sample size in the bigs in 2023, but you agree a 169 AB sample size is a step back.

Responses to Jacko... C- Wong- can't hit, not a good catcher Wong dropped off at the end and is still young enough to improve greatly. The catching position is not known for hitting, and our team C OPS ranked 19th. Wong does control the run game, very well, but they say his jumpiness hurts his framing and blocking skills. How he gets the most out of his staff is what I want to see improve mostly. I like our tandem, although they both finished near 30th out of the top 60 catchers in MLB in OPS. (Wong is like 20th out of the top 30 in PAs. That's not horrible for a first full season.) 1B- Casas- kid can hit, he is an awful 1b 1B defense is not a major thing, but he did suck on D. His approach at the plate is awesome. He can and should get even better at hitting. 2B- open Urias is only 26. He battled injuries, this year, but was solid from 2021-2022, you know, "way back then." The position is not "open," any more than the Yankee 2B position is open. 2021-2022: 111 OPS+ w 39 HRs in 1042 PAs. Torres- same period: 103 OPS+ with 33 HRs in 1088 PAs (109 OPS+ '21-'23) SS- Story- lost half season, sucked on return. Should be healthy going into ST, but he is never healthy it seems He may be our make or break player of 2024. It's hard to know what to expect, except great D, if healthy. 3B- Devers- ended up with a solid, albeit unspectacular season for him. Middle of the order bat no question Devers forevers is a reality. LF- Yoshida- guy can make contact, not much power and absolutely abysmal defense. Better served at DH He should DH 140 games and play LF 10-15 games. The added rest might help his bat more. The cultural adjustment may help, too. CF- Duran- had a good year. Unsustainable start, big valley, good recovery then hurt. If he can stay on the field, he could provide good value Moving Yoshi to DH and Duran to LF, FT, should help both be better players. Having Rey as a platoon-mate, if needed, makes the LF position very promising on offense. Handing CF to Rafaela and Abreu looks scary, but if we re-sign Duvall, we should have it covered better than 2023. RF- Verdugo- 2.0WAR RF. Not great, not terrible, just meh If he's not traded, he's a slight plus in RF. If we go with Duvall/Abreu in RF, it's harder to project, but still very promising. DH- Turner- 38 yrs old in 24. Probably going to see a downturn at some point. Yoshida's ultimate destination JT will be gone. Book it. I think Yoshi will improve on 2023, significantly. SP1- Bello- kid was solid. Started striking out batters by year's end. Electric stuff It's interesting how you paint the end of his season and high K rate as the promising aspect. The K rate barely changed. (36K in last 44IP) First 14 GS: 3.04 ERA/3.74 FIP (70K in 80 IP) Last 14 GS: 5.49 ERA/5.36 FIP (62K in 77IP) He did have a nice long 20 game stretch after his first 2 starts: 3.18 ERA/4.16 FIP (96K in 119). He had a super 12 GS stretch from April 29-July 5: 2.35 ERA/ 3.49 FIP. SP2- Sale- middling season. Quietly made 20 starts and is perpetually hurt Sale had a very nice stretch of GS'd after his first 3 rusty starts: 3.38/3.31 (106K in 91 IP over 17 GS.) That's still not vintage Sale, but it was a good enough sign to have hope he can be very effective again. It's the health, again, that is such a major concern, I don't think we should count on any starts from him, and make it work, if he can start 20+ in 2024. SP3- Crawford- quietly had a good year. Learned how to keep the ball in the yard. Best served as the #5 Crawford did break our in '23, but I like Pivetta as our #5 and Crawford in the pen with Houck and Whitlock. That would make a fearsome 3 long relief group. 1.66 ERA and .471 OPSA as RP 4.51 ERA and .706 OPSA as SP in '23 (4.75 ERA in last 10 GS and 47 IP as SP) SP4- open We need to add a serious innings eater who is ace-like. SP5- open We need to add another serious innings eater who is a top #3 type pitcher, or a top #2 type, if we add a #2 and not an ace with the other SP'er addition: (A #1 and solid #3 or two solid #2's is the minimum needed.) Anyone who thinks Houck and Whitlock should be in the rotation are out of their f***ing minds. Both of those guys had 5+ ERAs and dealt with injury after getting the Joba Chamberlain treatment. They're nails in the pen. Leave em there and stop messing with them. You barely mention our pen, which should be our biggest strength, especially with Houck and Whitlock in it- Crawford or Pivetta, too. Jansen Martin Winckowski Schreiber Bernardino Houck Whitlock Crawford Pivetta Even you have to admit, that looks pretty damn good. Sox farm isn't as "now ready" as it should be for a team that finished last 3 of the last 4 years. Mayer took a step back. Raffaele is MLB ready, but they'll likely groom him a little more. We drafted mostly HS players with the early picks, and 2020's draft and lost minor league season makes it more like 3 years not 4. We just graduated Casas, Bello, Crawford, Wink, Duran, Wong and Murphy, so it's understandable, the ML ready class might be low for a spell. You forgot Abreu, who many see as a better shot that Rafaela. BTW, these are the prospects soxprospects.com has at the MLB level by 2025: 1. Mayer '25 2. Anthony late '25 4. Rafaela '24/MLB '23 5. Teel early '25 6. Yorke '24 8. Wikelman '25 (perhaps in the pen) 11. Bonaci late '25 (may not see MLB) 12. Abreu early '24/MLB in '23 (could be a real sleeper) 13. Drohan '24 (took a big step back in AA) 15. Walter '24/MLB in '23 (40 man roster bubble player) 19. Hickey '25 (probably not as a catcher) 21. EValdez '24/MLB in '23 (showed promise with the bat) 22. Jordan '25 23. DHam '24/played some in '23 27. Mata '24 (health issues) 28. Dobbins '25 29. Guerrero '24 (could surprise from pen) 30. Bastardo '25 Others: Gambrell '24, I Coffey '24, Scott '24, Hagenman '24, Robertson '24, Meidroth '24, Rosier '24, RFern '24 Sox pen should be deep if they stop f***ing around with Whitlock and Houck. They have money to burn and need to burn it in the rotation. Sox are hard to gauge here. I don't think their upside is as high as the Yanks right now because their issues were less injury and more poor roster construction (lots of DH's) or poor operational decisions (two lights out relievers being tried as starters). You have 2 studs, as you claim on the other thread. How do your other 24 slots compare to ours for 2024? How about the other 38 roster slots? Our overall foundation is better. I like our farm better, too. But because their only real long term "albatross" contract is for their star 3b who is producing at a high level, they can afford to inject massive quantities of cash into their issues and with Bloom fired, it is what they will likely do. The sox might be the most intriguing team to follow through the hot stove. The Yanks might be second. They need to fill a lot of holes to get back near the top. We have fewer holes but the 2-4 we have are gaping holes. I'd rather have our problems than yours, especially the "albatross contracts."

I doubt Duran, Drohan and Romero for Garrett would be accepted by MIA.

Yes, the days off hurt them! I now see the genius in Cora. He gives them days off to ready them for all the days off they get in the playoffs! Brilliant!

You have too many holes and too many deadweight contracts. It would take a massive over-the-tax-line winter to get back to being a serious contender. Two guys aren't nearly enough.

Here is a look at some possible SP trade possibilities and their BTV values (years or control): MIL may trade one top SP, so they can maybe afford the other three- chances are a 1 year guy: 78 Freddy Peralta (3) 30 Corbin Burnes (1) 30 Brandon Woodruff (1) MIA is always rumored in SP trade talks and traded Lopez, last winter: 71 Jesus Luzardo (3) 36 Braxton Garrett (5) 24 Edward Cabrera (5) PIT should always be looking to trade 1-2 year guys... 34 Mitch Keller (2) CWS: same as PIT 31 Dylan Cease (2) KCR: sama ole same... 26 Brady Singer (3) AZ: I doubt they will trade the second highest valued pitcher in MLB, but they may fear losing Gallen in a couple year: 94 Logan Webb (5) 47 Zac Gallen (2) DET: may not be looking very long term, but... 40 Tarik Skubal (3) Some values of Sox players who might be dealt: 59 Mayer 51 Casas 41 Anthony 31 Houck 29 Bleis 20 Crawford 19 Yorke 18 Rafaela 10 Duran 10 Dugo 5 Drohan 4 Perales, Wikelman, Romero Here are some suggested trades: 59 Mayer for 34 Mitch Keller and 17 David Bednar (3 yrs) (Bleis, Yorke, Drohan and Romero are near equal value, but I doubt KCR accepts.) 59 Mayer for 47 Z Gallen 59 Mayer for 40 Skubal and 2 Tyler Holton (LH RP) 29 Bleis and 10 Duran for 26 Singer and 11 Massey 19 Yorke, 5 Drohan and 4 Romero for 26 Brady Singer (3 yrs) 31 Houck for 30 Burnes or Woodruff or Dylan Cease (It would be nice if they'd take 29 Bleis and 5 Drohan.) 20 Crawford, 10 Duran and 5 Drohan for 36 B Garrett

His defense looks more than fine. I think he is our #1 trade bait, this winter. Anthony is scary as hell. Teel isn't going anywhere. Bleis is too far away for a team to give much up for him. Rafaela will not bring back a top pitcher by himself, or even packaged with Yorke or Perales (our next highest ranked prospects.) Just my current take.

I was joking. I like the Freeman hire, but it will take time. I'm not sure we can ever win again, unless we weaken the academic requirements.

Hartman had gone all year with no INTs, and he threw two, tonight. I'm tired of "waiting till next year." This GM has to be fired!

It's funnier that you took it seriously than how lame the joke was..

Expand to what .233? LOL! It was a joke.

A .231 batter.

Well said. Almost every one of his trades worked, for us.- Having a big budget helped, but he did a great job. I do have hope for Luis Urias at 2B, going forward. He's only 26 and had a very nice season back in '21, when he had a .345 OBP, a .445 SLG with 23 HRs in 570 PAs. His 2021-2022 line was decent, as well: Per 650 PAs 3.9 bWAR .244 24 75 .340 OBP .426 SLG .766 OPS +0.8 dWAR on B-R (per 650) With Reyes as the back-up, EValdez and DHam in AAA, we should be okay at 2B.

As Ranked by soxprospects.com (before thier winter updates:) 7. Perales 20 (Should stay top 10.) 8. Wikelman 21 (May move to top 7) 13. Drohan 24 (May drop to near 20.) 15. Walter 27 (Will graduate, soon) 25. Monegro 21 (May jump to top 15.) 26. E R-C 20 (May drop to near 30-35.) 27. Mata 24 (May drop from top 30.) 28. Dobbins 24 (Move up a little?) 29. Guerrero 23 (RP'er) 30. Bastardo 22 (May rise, a bit) 31. Fernandez (Drop to 40?) 32. Hoppe (Top 30?) 36. Rogers (Near 30?) 38. Gambrell (Should be top 25-30) 39. Troye (On the rise) 41. Paez (About the same) 46. ICoffey (Top 30-35?) 49. Penrod (Top 35-40?) 50. BBell (Top 40-45?) 53. Zeferjahn (Drop from rankings?) 54. Cepeda (Hard to know and the rest.) 55. Sena 59. Duffy 60. Song 24 pitchers in the top 60, but 20 are from #26 to #60.

Player of the Year: Ceddanne Rafaela http://news.soxprospects.com/2023/10/2023-soxprospectscom-awards-player-of.html