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."