moonslav59

Napoli was not all that big ($16M x 2), and wasn't Porcello extended under DD?

Yes, but I do think there was a significant drop in prospects traded and big signings under Ben vs Theo and DD. Ben had more than Bloom, but he is closer to Bloom than Theo and DD.

Chapman is a better get than bringing back JT or Duvall. I've been talking a lot about trading Dugo, but trading Duran, instead makes more sense for several reasons: 1. He's bring back more, especially as part of a package for a SP'er. 2. Dugo in RF makes our OF D stronger than Duran in LF or CF. 3. Yoshida playing LF vs RHPs instead of Duran is not a huge downgrade on D, and allows Casas to DH more often- maybe improving 1B defense. With an addition of Chapman, trading Duran makes even more sense. 3B: Chapman (Devers) 1B: Devers (Casas) DH: Casas (Yoshida) LF: Yoshida-Refsnyder CF: Duvall-Rafaela RF: Dugo-Duvall (Abreu)

If our winter spending budget is fixed, every penny you spend on DH and OF, is a penny less spent on the rotation. I'd love to have Turner and Duvall back, but not at the expense of improving the rotation.

We had the worst or near worst OAA at every infield position.

It probably wasn't about trading his ass.

285 + PAs (Duvall's PAs) Fangraphs numbers... Catcher 18th Wong .708 (McGuire did not qualify would be at #T16 at .711 1B 7th Casas at .862 2B none qualified (Reyes would be 18th at .748) 3B 1st Devers .850 SS none qualified or came close LF 7th Duran .828 8th Yoshida .813 CF 1st Duvall .927 9th Duran .828 RF 21st Dugo .790 DH 12th Turner .836

We don't know where Duvall would be, had he qualified, but he'd be top of the list, too.

That is not my strong area, nor do I want it to be.

Other than the Iggy trade, how many significant prospects did Ben trade? Total the Theo prospects traded, the DD prospects traded and then compare to Ben & Bloom. Compare the largest contracts given out to free agents and extensions by Theo and DD vs Ben and Bloom. The team's plans were very different. Ben's plans were very similar to Bloom's as Theo's were to DD's.

Ben was allowed to spend much of the money saved by the AGon-Beckett-Crawford trade, unlike Bloom after losing Betts and Price, not the Porcello & Kimbrel money lost from the year before.

Would you say he is close to being a lock at being solid in 2024?

It makes more sense to DH Yoshida with Casas getting some time there. The idea of moving Devers to 1B and Casas to 1B may be premature, while also forcing Yoshida to play LF full time, except for days Raffy or Casas get rest. I guess he could DH when our 3Bman rests, too as Devers could play 3B on those days and Casas 1B, but that might be just 20-25 games total.

We'd still have 4 veteran OF'ers: Duvall, Yoshida, Duran and Refsnyder, but there would be ample opportunities for Rafaela and Abreu a chance to win more playing time or even win a full time position, if and only if they earn it..

My idea does not force any rookie to start.

He was responding to my idea of trading Dugo, signing Duvall and moving Yoshida to DH and back up LF'er.

I'm for bringing Duvall back, not JT. I was just responding to the idea of JT taking the option. If JT wants to return to Boston, so badly, he could just ask for a bump up in salary for 1 or 2 years. I see a way to improve our D and make room for some up and coming younger players without costing us a penny. Yoshida should DH with Casas getting some time, there. That could improve 2-3 positions, as it allows Duran to play LF not CF, thereby improving LF, CF and sometimes 1B.

I'm not. If Dugo gets traded, this is my scheme: LF: Duran-Refsnyder platoon (Yoshida 3rd string) CF: Rafaela and Abreu (Duvall/Duran 3rd string) RF: Duvall and Abreu (Refsnyder 3rd string) We also have Rosier in AAA, next year. We could play Yoshida LF, Duran CF and Duvall RF and not count on any rookies.

We have used several starting pitchers, this year, as many expected we'd need to, due to know and projected injuries or possible demotions. Many of our SP'ers had significantly long stretches of good to great stretches, but none lasted long enough to get us over the hump. Here is a look at those "stretches:" Sale: after his first 3 starts, Sale has had a 3.02 ERA in 13 starts, including the 4 he's had after coming back from a mid-season injury. His stretch from game 4 to his injury was 8 games at 2.87. Paxton: surprised most of us by coming right out of the gates, after missing April, doing well, but his best stretch started from game 4 to game 16 (13 GS): 2.99 ERA. (He was at 5.54 after his first 3 games and has been at 14.90 in his last 3 GS. Bello has been remarkably consistent. The stretch I chose for him started in his 3rd game: 3.20 ERA up to today, but his better shorter stretch was a 2.35 ERA over 12 games from the end of April to early July. The team is 15-8 in his starts and have a losing record in other games. Pivetta: perhaps the biggest "swing stretch" was provided by Pivetta, starting two games after his demotion from the rotation, so in some ways, he does not fit into the title of this post. However, this stretch did include some starts or long relief stints that resembled starts, so here it is: he had a 5.46 ERA on May 24th, then did this... 23 games, including 3 GS and 10 relief outing of 3 or more IP: 3.36 ERA His best stretch was 15 games from May 28th to July 25th: 1.51 ERA Crawford: has been one of our most consistently good pitchers all year. We can view one stretch of his as his whole season, after game 1. 3.61 ERA in 25 games, including 17 GS and 4 relief games with 3 or more IP. He had 2 shorter stretches of 1.82 in 10 games and 3.28 in 12 games. Houck has not really had a good stretch. His ERA has ranged from 3.81 to 4.96 since game 2. There is no stretch of 4 games or more where he had an ERA below 4.00. Whitlock has been consistently bad, all year. The best I could find was 7 games at 3.95. Had these guys had longer stretches of pitching well, or just 2-3 of them, maybe, just maybe....

The similarity was mostly on the philosophy to not trade many/any prospects and to reign in spending.

I've been Turner's biggest fan, or tied with others for that role, this year, but moving Yoshida to DH improves the team defense, while finding a way to play Duran in LF not CF and Refsnyder as his platoon. It gives Rafaela and Abreu a chance to win the CF or RF role. That would greatly improve the CF defense. I'm for bringing Duvall back and then every last penny needs to be spent on the rotation.

Anybody know the average time it takes a college drafted pitcher to not just make the bigs but to start contributing, effectively? I thought 4-5 years, but maybe it should be 3-4 or 3-5.

Not much left to their season, but I like the moves.

Your #5 is my #1 with future hopes.

Kike was clearly Cora's top fave. I'm not sure about JBJ, but that makes sense. I remember when Dugo first played for us, he was really sucking vs lefties, and Cora nixed all talk of platooning him by saying he is our FT RF'er. I'm not so sure that was the first time Dugo did not run out a grounder, but you are right: others have done it, too. This should be a very interesting winter, and I really wish I knew what top brass is telling Bloom. It could be... 1. Make it look good, but we are still 1-2 years away from spending large. 2. We want to make a strong push in 2024 without making any major sacrifices for 2025 and beyond, as in no major prospect trades. 3. Go for it- very few limits, except the $20M over the tax line cut off. (Maybe one major prospect package allowed.) 4. No limits. Win or you are gone.