moonslav59

Someone needs to go back and count all the "non-error" hits this team has handed the opps. I'm pretty sure, it's over 1 every 2 games at least.

Paxton needs to get 6 outs, this inning. Hopefully, not more.

He's saving his dinger for when 3 men are on base.

We have a lot of players we can say that about- all with somewhat recent white hot streaks- some rather long.

As the other Duvall said, "I love the smell of juice boxes in the morning."

I'm asking for your eye test guesstemate. About when did the decline begin?

Pedal to the metal!

There is the Duvall we should all come to respect.

Let's break the remaining 12 series into groups of 4: Next 3: BOS: 4@HOU, 3vLAD, 3vHOU -Our big test TOR: 3@BAL, 3vCLE, 3vWSH -Good chance to gain, here SEA: 3@CWS, 3vKCR, 3vOAK -About as easy as can be HOU: 4vBOS, 3@DET, 3@BOS -DET is no push-over. 2nd 3: BOS: 3@KCR, 3@TBR, 3vBAL - another test TOR: 3@COL, 3@OAK, 3vKCR -a second easy group SEA: 3@NYM, 3@CIN, 4@TBR -not easy HOU: 3vNYY, 3@TEX, 3vSDP -not all that hard 3rd 3: BOS: 3vNYY, 3@TOR, 3@TEX -another tough group TOR: 4vTEX, 3vBOS, 3@NYY -finally, a test SEA: 3vLAA, 3vLAD, 3@OAK -pretty easy HOU: 3vOAK, 3@KCR, 3vBAL -easy Last 3: BOS: 3vCWS, 2vTBR, 4@BAL -gotta sweep CWS TOR: 3@TBR, 3vNYY, 3vTBR- We may need help, here. SEA: 3@TEX, 3vHOU, 4vTEX Their hardest group. HOU: 3vKCR, 3@SEA, 3@ARI -May need help

No doubt. Even Richards gave us more, and did some good from the pen, after his demotion. Perez had a few nice stretches and was much cheaper. Had Bloom got us the numbers Wacha and Hill gave us, last year, we'd be in a playoff seat, right now. Had he signed Eflin, maybe his production before the injury might have been enough to set us up for a playoff slot and did way more than Kluber did. Like I said before, when you sign $10M/1 pitchers, you are rolling the dice and betting on snake eyes. Bloom rolled the dice and lost.

Give a rough 5 year period. Soon after 2007? Was 2018 watered down?

Another wat to look at the 2 major eras.... 1975 to 1978 105.5 fWAR non pitching 107 wRC + .764 OPS 3167 Runs 66.2 fWAR pitching 3.80 ERA (93 ERA-) 3.84 FIP 1.34 WHIP 2448 ERuns (2738 runs allowed) 2004-2007 98.1 fWAR everyday players 109 wRC+ .809 OPS 3546 Runs 66.3 fWAR pitching 4.41 ERA (95 ERA-) 4.24 FIP 1.35 WHIP 2820 ERuns (3055 Runs allowed)

There has been no expansion in a long time, and apparently the league was NOT watered down from 2003-2007.

When did the watering down begin? around 2013? 2018? After COVID?

Here are a few telling stats based on comps to the rest of the league: OPS+/ ERA+ and year 107/104 1975 (+11) 103/118 1978 (+21) 107/107 1986 (+14) Nicely balanced team 118/104 2003 (+22) 110/116 2004 (+26) 107/123 2007 (+30) 116/109 2013 (+25) 112/118 2018 (+30) Last 5 years 106/104 2019 (+10 is one short of 1975) 104/87 2020 (-9) 106/110 2021 (+16 is better than 1975 and 1986. It was also better than DD's '19 team.) 101/94 2022 (-5) 102/106 2023 (+8) Of course, using OPS+ and ERA+ does not address which era or year was more skillful, but in terms of league dominance, these numbers work for me.

You should listen to that guy, more often.

Pretty close to 15-16%

As bad as our rotation has been, including demotions (Pivetta & Kluber) and promotions from the pen (Pivetta, Crawford, Houck and a bunch of Openers,) I remember thinking we'd be super lucky to get 30 starts from Sale and Paxton, combined. They are at 29, now, and both have pitched better than almost anyone expected. We also had some serious concerns about Bello: his durability and development timeline. His 3.70 ERA in 21 starts has to be viewed as better than expected. Two of the biggest disappointments, this year, did have questions going into the year, but mostly about health and durability, not skill level: Whitlock: 5.72 ERA (10 GS) Houck: 5.05 ERA (13 GS) The Kluber, Whitlock and Houck letdowns have been nearly offset by the the Sale/Paxton combo, Bello and the big surprises of all: Crawford (16 GS) and the return of Pivetta (11 GS) to the rotation or opener follower (7 games with more than 3 IP as a RP'er.) I like our rotation, now. I love our pen, now. Just stay healthy, let a few guys work out some kinks, and maybe we peak at just the right time.

Low minor league hot shots aren't in high demand much, anymore.

99% of Sox Nation thinks the league is not watered down. I went down to the big corner and took a poll.

Bookies set odds based on what fans bet on, not on what they actually think will happen. They seek 50% bets on one team and 50% on the other.

It's a hockey town, so how bad can it be?

Probably none did worse. All but Gibson got paid more.

Yaz was under .700 vs lefties in his career. What a watered down league it was back then! Today, he'd be platooned.

Yes, and we barely gained on TOR. We may have improved the odds of passing HOU, but they are still ahead of SEA and TOR with the odds, so it did not make a big enough dent by essentially losing odds vs TOR and SEA.: 80% HOU 65% TOR 59% SEA 16% BOS