moonslav59

I don't really "see" them that often. Perhaps I should have worded it "best Sox right-handed hitter I have seen."

Wuss! Is this your War Games moment?

Verdugo is the better defender out of Duran, Refsnyder and Yoshida, so trading Duran improves the D more. He also would bring back a better pitcher than Dugo, but his years of control is also a benefit to us. We greatly improved our OF, last winter, so maybe blowing it up is not such a great idea. Moving Yoshida to near FT DH is the biggest no-brainer of the off season, especially if his recent slump is related to fatigue. Turner will bolt, unless we offer him a big deal, and I doubt we do that. Our IF and Catching positions seem set: C: Wong/McGuire (Scott in AAA and on the 40) 1B: Casas (Dalbec in AAA and on the 40) 2B: Urias/Reyes (EValdez in AAA and on the 40) SS: Story/Reyes-Urias (DHam in AAA and on 40) 3B: Devers, Urias-Reyes (no minor league depth on 40.) DH: Yoshida LF: Duran/Refsnyder platoon (Yoshida as depth) CF: __ FA__, Rafaela, Abreu, Duran RF: Dugo, Abreu (Refsnyder is emergency depth) (Rosier does not need Rule 5 protection until 2025.) (

Rafaela is not struggling. .965 June 1.008 July .983 August IMO, he has a slot on the 2024 MLB roster, already. He has to show he does not deserve it, going forward to lose that slot. I think we trade Dugo and try to bring Duvall back. LF: Duran-Refsnyder platoon (Yoshida DH/LF) CF: Duvall- Rafaela (Duran) RF: Rafaela-Abreu (Refsnyder) Rosier may surprise, as well.

On pace for 86 with 34 to go. How many think we end up with... 88+ 85-87 82-84 78-81 77 or less (Remember, we have a very difficult schedule.) I'm thinking 87 wins.

I'd hand it to him, right now, and ride the hot hand, if and until he shows he does not deserve it. I do agree, no matter what happens in the next 5 weeks, I'd want a vet in the mix for 2024 that can play CF/RF, in case Rafaela and or Abreu struggle.

This has been our patter, with being 2-6 games above .500 for much longer the -3 to +1 on .500. This seems like the type of team that could pull off a comeback at any moment-- or severely disappoint us as well. Kinda like that '21 team after losing to BAL.

Dugo looks to be waking up the echoes, too.

Manny was the most laid back superstar I have ever seen. I never saw him go apeshit at an ump or slam his bat or helmet down in disgust with anyone or himself. He's K 4 times and then hit a 3 run jack in the 8th. He had the same kind of kid-like smile as Devers, and the game just seemed to be fun to him. The only "Grizzly" I saw in him was when the Sox started going to the media with his contract demands and yes, his pouting and disingenuous claims of injury. They never called him out on the fact that he used his grandma dying 5 times to delay going to ST'ing, but that was "Manny being Manny." That expression, itself, exposes how incomparable he was to anyone else. He was the best right-handed hitter I've ever seen. I always wonder what his stats might have looked like, if Papi batted behind him and not vice versa. The most popular thread on "that other site," was one I titled "No Manny-No Rings!" (The revisionist historians seemed more plentiful and extreme on that site, I might add.) I'm glad Devers is on our team. I love his approach to hitting and would not even think about trying to get him to change a thing. A variety of hitting styles in a line-up is a good thing, IMO.

Position OPS 2022>2023 .693> .701 C .683> .824 1B .724> .660 2B .816> .654 SS .856> .843 3B .693> .818 LF .671> .825 CF .661> .782 RF .764> .789 DH ERA 2022>2023 4.53> 4.37 P 4.49> 4.62 SP 4.59> 4.02 RP ERA- 111> 97 P 110>103 SP 112>89 RP The only significant drops were at 2B and SS, as expected. The slight decline at 3B is offset by the slight improvement at C. ERA- shows our rotation and pen improved, significantly over 2022. The Wins and Loses might not show as much improvement as one might expect, looking at these numbers, and we are on pace to win 8 more games than 2022, but I'm thinking these numbers show quite a bit of improvement. The big decline, of course, has been on D.

I liked Vaz, overall, despite some shortcomings, but at his age and FA status, it was time to move on. Not needing to go out and spend money or prospect capital to replace him, was a slick move by Bloom. Catcher OPS 2023: .701 (13th in MLB) 2022: .693 (8th in MLB) I'm 100% certain the D is better, this year. dWAR 1.8 Wong and -0.2 McGuire 1.3 Vaz and -0.3 Plawecki How each catching tandem handles the staff is hard to figure out, because the staffs are so vastly different.

We are on pace for 86 wins. 5 out of 15 picked 81-90 wins. 10 picked 71-80.

TOR lost to BAL, so we have gotten some help, the last 2 days. Needing to beat the Dodgers, while others face much easier teams is a big task, but it is what it is. Let's hope we can cool Mookie down and whack their pitching like we did France.

C: Wong, McGuire (Scott) Teel, Jog Garcia 1B: Casas (Dalbec) Jordan 2B: Urias, Reyes (EValdez) Yorke SS: Story, Urias/Reyes (DHam) Mayer, Romero, Cespedes 3B: Devers, Urias (Meidroth) Paulino, Bonaci LF: Duran, Refsnyder, Yoshida (Rosier) Zanetello CF: Rafaela, Duran, Abreu (Sikes) Anthony RF: Verdugo, Abreu ( BGonzo) Bleis, Castro DH: Yoshida, Casas (Dalbec/EValdez) Hickey, Kavadas, Lugo

It's hard to get a read on how good he really is or can be. He had a .667 OPS before coming here. However, that was just 323 PAs, spread over 5 years. He did have almost 1300 PAs in AAA with a .787 OPS. (.750 at AA in 565 PAs) This might not be a fluke.

Yes, and Abreu is pretty good, too.

Indeed, and he broke his day game curse.

I added a couple above. We may also see Rosier, EValdez or S Scott making an impact.

Some of the issues Dugo has had, this year, might make it more likely he gets traded, but he is our best defensive OF'er once Duvall's control ends.

Depends what the guys playing, instead do. Certainly benching is a possibility, if Abreu keeps raking, like this.

Masa can DH and all 3 hot OF'ers can still play, but I'd rather play Turner and Casas than Masa. I agree, sit Masas a couple games. Maybe it will help him, too.

Next 3 series: BOS: 3 LAD, 3 HOU, 3@KCR TOR: 3 CLE, 3 WSH, 3@COL HOU: 3@DET, 3@BOS, 3 NYY SEA: 3 KCR, 3 OAK, 3@NYM

The Jays play the O's tonight, but as of now, here are the standings: 71-56 SEA 72-57 HOU 70-57 TOR -1.0 68-60 BOS -3.5

I seriously doubt we trade Duran- or Casas- or any young player with talent, but we need pitching, and to get good young pitching, you have to trade something to get something. It's not be giving up on anyone. It's not me devaluing or undervaluing anyone. To trade anyone for a top young pitcher, to me, shows just how much I do value them. I'd be fine with Duran/Ref/Yoshida in LF, Rafaela/Duran in CF and Abreu/Rafaela in RF, but if Yoshida will be our FT DH, I could see us bring back Duvall, in case Rafaela and or Abreu go through some growing pains.

Sox ERA Leaders (65+ IP) 3.06 Winckowski 3.56 Bello 3.66 Crawford 3.79 Paxton 4.28 Pivetta 4.68 Sale 5.08 Houck Sox ERA Leaders (25-64 IP) 1.26 Martin 2.61 Bernardino 2.72 Schreiber 2.81 Jansen 3.72 Murphy 5.52 Whitlock