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moonslav59

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Everything posted by moonslav59

  1. moonslav59
    He has yet to prove he's an overall plus catcher, for sure, but it's hard to find even adequate catchers. He apparently had already proven he was a good defensive catcher, and I get the CERA concerns. I'm concerned, too, but I do think there should be a learning curve in that area. We have seen Wong improve greatly with our staff after the first 3-5 weeks. McGuire has not played nearly as much as Wong (for good reason and due to injury,) but he should improve there, too, if he ever plays with us, again. If he never does, I still like the $5M salary dump.
  2. moonslav59
    Well, I disliked the signing from day one, and although saving $5M is no big deal, I really like McGuire as one of our catchers. I like the Vaz trade better, but Abreu and EValdez have yet to prove anything.
  3. moonslav59
    Indeed. I'm not for benching Duran vs all LHPs, but I'm also not for benching Kike (in CF or 2B) or Duvall (in LF or CF) vs LHPs either. Cora has a tough call to make. To play them all, he'd have to bench Yoshida, Dugo or Turner. I don't think anyone likes that idea, either. One easy way to fix the "problem" is to trade Duvall (or Kike.) There would still be a squeeze, but not nearly as bad. If Kike keeps sucking at the plate, the choice will be easier. BTW, the wonder of small sample sizes, that HR by Duran brought his 2023 OPS v LHPs to .708, which is now higher than Kike's in '23 (.668) but not as high as Kike's career mark or Duvall's 2023 or career mark. A couple more HRs would change that! Nice "problem" to have.
  4. moonslav59
    I'm a huge Cora fan, too. It seems some people think just because a choice failed, it was a mistake. It's just not true. That's not to say he's never made mistakes, but I see a guy who can lead a group of vets to the best season in Sox history (2018), as well as a highly flawed team to within 2 games of the WS (2021). He's done a lot with what he was given. Many blamed him for poor pen management, lst year, when we had very few good choices. Has he suddenly learned how to manage a pen, this year? LOL. Some blame him for using Whitlock and Houck as SP'ers. What other options were there? As it was, even the other starters were mostly worse (Richards, Kluber, Perez and a hodgepodge of wannabes. I've had my differences of opinion on some things he does, but I'll never say he was wrong in those choices. He knows way more than I do.
  5. moonslav59
    Lefty righty spilt are not “metrics,” and they were around for decades. I’d love to see Duran play everyday and prove he can hit lefties better than he has. I’d also love to see Duvall hit lefties, and maybe Kike, too. Duran does bring more to the game than meets the eyes, and by the way, WAR has captured that very well, but he has sucked vs lefties and has to earn a FT role. Kike is a very good defensive CFer, too, and Duvall is not bad. They both have earned the right to play vs lefties- just not Kike at SS. It’s not an easy call. I’d be fine with any of the 3 vs LHPs. I can see why Cora wants to keep his whole team sharp. I can see why Duran should get a chance, too. Im just not sure now is the time to run the experiment.
  6. moonslav59
    The highest ranked prospects that were not rated in April: 32. Monegro 36. Dobbins 37. Blalock 46. Arias 47. Jacques 49. Lira 50. Yuten 52. Liu 55. Gambrell 56. I Coffey 57. J Ramirez 59. Sogard 60. Fitzy
  7. moonslav59
    Had someone said we'd be 4 games up on the Mets and 5 up on the Padres on July 8th, most of us would have thought we'd be having a very good year We are on pace to go 85-77 (very close to 84-78, too.)
  8. moonslav59
    Who would have thought BAL and AZ would be top 4 MLB teams. MIA and CIN top 8 teams. The Sox have the 15th best record. 14 better/15 worse. We are -1 from #14 MIL -1.5 from #13 SFG -2.0 from #10 TOR, NYY & PHI -3.0 from #8 HOU & CIN -4.0 from #7 LAD -4.5 from #6 MIA -5.0 from #4 AZ & TEX That being said, we are 5 games ahead of the 9th worst teams in MLB (SDP & CHC at 41-47.)
  9. moonslav59
    The salary should not matter, as we can pay down all or most of any salary to improve the return, if needed.
  10. moonslav59
    soxprospects.com updated their rankings on July 6th: https://www.soxprospects.com/index.html (Casas graduated and was #2 April 5th) +/- not counting Casas graduating 1. Mayer 2. Bleis 3. Rafaela 4. Anthony +6 5. Yorke 6. Drohan +6 7. Perales 8. Romero -2 9. Wikelman +3 10. EValdez +4 11. Walter -3 12. Bonaci +10 13. Murphy +2 14. Meidroth +14 15. Jordan +2 16. Joh Garcia (not in top 30 in April) 17. Paulino -8 18. Mata -14 19. E R-C -4 20. Abreu +3 21. Hickey -3 (not sure why) 22. D Ham +3 23. Cespedes 24. Castro 25. Guerrero Other movers: +16 A Bastardo +11 Rogers +5 R Fernandez +4 Ravelo -5 C Coffey -8 Alcantara -14 Kavadas -11 F Encarnacion -15 Koss -22 Lugo
  11. moonslav59
    Actually, they do. Choice 1: Give Duran a chance to show he can hit LHPs and play FT in CF. Choice 2: Bat the .800+ career OPS vs LHPs Kike v LHPs and sit Duvall. Choice 3: Trade Duvall.
  12. moonslav59
    BAL is tied with TBR in the loss column, but have 4 less wins. (2 GB) MIN is now 0.5 behind the 45-44 Guardians. HOU is now 2 GB TEX. ATL is 9.5 up on MIA CIN up 2 on MIL AZ up 1 on LAD and 3.5 on SFG Some NL surprises: NYM 42-46 (18 GB) SDP 41-47 (10 GB) STL 37-52 (12.5 GB) PHI 48-40 is not bad but 12 GB ATL and 2.5 GB MIA for 2nd place.
  13. moonslav59
    HOU ended up beating SEA. Wild Card Standings +5.0 BAL +1.0 HOU --- NYY --- TOR -2.0 BOS -4.0 LAA -4.0 MIN (CLE is now in 1st) -4.0 SEA
  14. moonslav59
    He does, and yes wrist injuries can destroy seasons. His leash should be short, but I feel he does deserve a chance to find his groove. That early season glimpse was a nice tease.
  15. moonslav59
    Yup. Good thing I and Sox management don't believe that most recent small sample sizes rule over all decisions. If that was so, Duran would not be playing on the big club. How about the 894 PA sample size from 2019-2021? .236 64 165 (led league in RBI way back in '21.) That comes to this over 650 PAs: .236 46 122 I realize he may never hit like this again, but I do think he deserves a chance.
  16. moonslav59
    Woo won 8-4 Bleier 1.2 IP, 1H, 0ER, 0BB, 2K Abreu 2-3 w HR DHam 2-4 w 2B, BB (Throwing error) Raff 2-5 w 2B POR won 4-2 Gambrel went 8: 9H, 2ER, 1BB, 7K (3.75 ERA) Rosier 2-4 w 2B Binelas homered, again. GRE won 7-2 Rogers 4.2y, 4H, 2ER, 3BB, 3K Anthony continues raking AA ball (3-5 w HR) SAL completes the whole system sweep, today by winning 11-1. Perales 5IP, 1H, 0ER, 4BB, 4K Brannon 2-5 w HR (1.095 OPS at A Ball) DSL teams won 2 of 3 games.
  17. moonslav59
    OPS since May 1st .872 Yoshida .868 Turner .831 Refsnyder .806 Duran .803 Devers .782 Casas ,778 Verdugo .717 Wong .702 Reyes .701 Arroyo ERA since May 1st 1.31 Martin 1.98 Murphy 2.39 Bello 2.42 Sale 2.70 Paxton 3.04 Bernardino 3.12 Walter 4.29 Jansen 4.30 Wink 4.38 Crawford 4.67 Pivetta 4.79 Whitlock 5.40 Houck
  18. moonslav59
    He's almost always hit better v RHPs in the minors, too. Duvall is a proven hitter and does better vs LHPs. Kike is over .800 vs LHPs, career. Check out their sample sizes. It's not a slight on Duran to prefer other proven hitters in certain splits.
  19. moonslav59
    Kike sucks at SS, and he's not hitting well. 2023 -5 DRS -9.6 UZR/150 BR dWAR is not the only measure, and that +0.1 number includes his 2B and CF defense. We are talking SS D, only.
  20. moonslav59
    Nope. One bright Sox poster called him "Butterfly Man," and that's what has to stick.
  21. moonslav59
    Duran might be the "face," but Alfaro is the "hair."
  22. moonslav59
    I'm not advocating trading any of them, right now. I will point out how fickle these calls are. Just 2 months ago, we'd all have traded Duran for just about anyone. Some mentioned we should have traded Dalbec after his hot 2 month ending to 2021. That's not to say I feel Duran will do what Bobby Dee did. Duran actually looks like a totally different player. What an amazing turn around! I do think Duvall looks like the most expendable player that might bring some return. I'd rather trade Kike, but his return would be way less, even if we paid his whole salary. (I think Kike would be fine as our back-up CF'er and maybe half-time 2Bman, until Story returns.) I hope we are in the race and don't trade Paxton, but if we slip up, I'd trade any and all 1 year guys and consider some 2 year guys, too, assuming the return is good. I look at that Diekman trade and wonder what we might get for better players than he was.
  23. moonslav59
    Before the season started, I mentioned we'd be very lucky to get 32 starts from Sale and Paxton combined and should not count on that many, either. We have 21 GS'd so far. 2.73 Paxton in 10 starts (56 IP) 4.58 C Sale in 11 starts (59 IP) He was 3.70 after his first game. (2.74 last 8 starts.) SP'er ERA Leaders (as SP only) 2.73 Paxton 3.04 Bello 4.58 Paxton 5.05 Houck 5.23 Whitlock 5.45 Crawford
  24. moonslav59
    No doubt. I'd vote Chang not resting one inning until Story returns.
  25. moonslav59
    I didn't mean it as a comp. I thought there was a good chance Bello would be very good, this year. I had very little hopes for Paxton. I'm talking "surprises" not who is better or worth more.
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