moonslav59

You are winning me over on the need for a solid RHB. I don't think we can count on Story to come close to Youk's numbers, let alone Manny's. JD gave us that RH'd strength in 2018 (Bogey was very good, too.) Napoli and Vic shared the duty in 2013. Both did better than what I expect from Story on O in 2024. Our RH'd bats look bleak for 2024. Story (.624 v LHPs in '23) Refsnyder (.828 v LHPs in '23) Wong (.501) had massive reverse splits (as did McGuire) Reyes (.772) & Urias (.787) Rafaela (.645) Our LHBs v LHPs .875 McGuire (not sure we can count on another reverse split season) .824 Devers .817 Casas .749 Duran .746 Yoshida

The last question is a big one. I do think we trade LHB Dugo and sign RHB Duvall. (Teoscar is better suited for LF or DH, and we have too many of them, already.) With DH/LF Yoshida on the roster, I'm not sure the 26 should have Duvall and refsnyder on it, but Ref has been our best RH'd batter since 2022. DH: Yoshida/Refsnyder LF: Duran/Refsnyder (Abreu) CF: Rafaela/Abreu RF: Duvall.Abreu That is 6 roster slots for DH & OF. 2 catchers 4 IF'ers That leaves one slot for back-up IF (Reyes/Urias/EValdez) I could see us trading Dugo & Refsnyder, despite Ref's nice numbers vs LHPs. I can't see us trading Dugo and Duran while signing Duvall, but here would be that OF: LF: Yoshida/Duvall/Abreu CF: Rafaela/Abreu RF: Duvall/Abreu

I thought what happened in the past doesn't matter to you. BTW.... Rings in last 12: 2 BOS 2 HOU 2 SFG 1 ATL, LAD, WSH, CHC, KCR, STL Keep it balanced.

For what it's worth, here are the GS by position in 2023: C 105 Wong 51 McGuire (6 Alfaro/CHam) I don't see much change in '24, except a healthy McGuire with about 62-72 GS. 1b 115 Casas (was benched some, early and injured, later) 35 Turner 12 Dalbec I see Casas starting 142+. I'm not sure who will back-up 1B. (Devers? Duvall, if signed?) 2B- MAJOR CHANGES for 2024 51 Arroyo (gone) 44 EValdez 24 Urias 21 Reyes 14 Kike (8 others, including 4 by JT) I see Reyes and Urias splitting duty at 2B. 3B 149 Devers 7 Turner (6 by urias & Dalbec) I see Devers with 152-155 GS.) SS- MAJOR CHANGES COMING 54 Kike (gone) 35 Story (injured for first 3+ months) 30 Chang 18 reyes 9 DHam *8 others, including 5 by Rafaela) I hope we see 147+ GS by Story and the rest by Reyes/Rafaela LF- Maybe big changes coming 84 Yoshida (may DH near FT in '24) 38 Refsnyder (should platoon in '24) 20 Duran (may see big numbers in LF in '24) 9 Tapia (gone) 8 Abreu (may see more time, here) 3 Duvall (gone???) I see a Duran-Refsnyder platoon as improving the D and O from 2023 in LF. CF- Major question mark. 62 Duran (should be way less in CF) 56 Duvall (Even if he returns, it should be less in CF.) 11 Rafaela (more,) kike (gone,) and Abreu (more) '7 Refsnyder (should be zero) 4 Tapia (gone) A lot depends on Rafaela's bat. RF- Dugo or no Dugo? (Duvall or ____?) 135 Dugo (traded?) 20 Duvall (re-signed for RF?) (7 others) Mayve a Duvall- Abreu combo works out well. DH 98 JT 49 Yoshida 6 Story 5 refsnyder 4 Duvall 3 Casas 2 Devers Maybe we see 142 Yoshida, 10 Casas, 5 Devers and 5 Refsnyder

It's just as easy to plan on "a day off next week" and then adjust to the pitcher or situation. Locking into a specific day offers what advantage?

No, I actually pointed out that if they were health related, it's okay. "If a guy is hurt, I'm fine..."

Indeed, but that OF looks to be a step down on offense, and we already ranked between 11 and 16 in most key categories on O. I think trading Dugo and adding Duvall makes sense, and playing Duvall in RF (with Abreu) and LF (with Duran) might be a better idea than CF. If Rafaela stinks up the place on O, who plays CF? Duvall, again?

I agree. I no longer am saying we should spend all our winter resources on pitching. I think we need a big power RH'd bat. Duvall might be about as a low a bar I might set.

Are we going to hear this 200 more times before opening day 2024?

I get the argument that we did not know this was what Wacha could have been signed for, when we inked Kluber, but without a doubt, his contract was more team friendly. It's not even close.

So, it's all about the max in one season in the past 4 that makes a pitcher more durable?

Kluber had a major injury and was never the same. It was not his "age" that caused him to reach these IP totals since the injury: 36 in 2019 1 in 2020 80 in '21 164 in '22 Yes, Wacha has had more injuries and was never the work horse Kluber was, but he did have.... 127 in '19 34 in '20 125 in '21 127 in '22 Neither has been "durable," recently.

OF OPS .724 in 2021 with 240 RBI (many from Renfroe) .676 in 2022 with 218 RBI .783 in 2023 with 259 RBIs- your big stat. 90 rankings in DRS from 2021-2023 21. 2021 Sox +14 52. 2023 Sox -3 (about middle of the pack and better than 2022) 77. 2022 Sox -20 OAA 47. 2021 -1 76. 2023 -12 82. 2022 -14 But of course, your eye test on all 22 games you watched is most important.

6 is not excessive. 9 in 2023 is 2-3, too many. Plus, he started 2 games at DH. If a guy is hurt, I'm fine with as many days off as it takes. I'm not going batty, nor do I think others are over this, but I do disagree with giving a 26 year old nine days off, plus two at DH, above the scheduled days off. What irked me the most is that he seemed to schedule these "rest days" way in advance, with no regard to who was hot or what handed pitchers was going the day of rest. Devers was "rested" 9 days, but only 6 were vs a LHP. We faced 42 LH's SP'ers. It's not like Devers has horrible splits, but Cora did the same to players who do. It's that part that bugs me more than the total days off. Now, to the total games started at a non DH position: 149 Devers 135 Dugo 115 Casas 105 Wong 84 Yoshida 82 Duran 79 Duvall Most of these guys had injuries, really bad splits or DH'd a bit, so it's hard to read into "rest days" for any of them, but I don't think anyone came close to be tired out by excessive starts in the field.

Yes. We already have too many OF'ers and DH types where LF is their best OF position. We keep adding guys like PHam, Refsnyder, Cordero, and yes, even Renfroe, who are best suited for LF. The only guy they got who could play plus CF defense was signed to play 2B (Kike.) Let's hope the new guy smartens up in this area.

Certainly, a reasonable position to hold.

I didn't ignore it. We all know what happened. I just pointed out they tied (won) the game (in part) due to a bloop hit. You questioned Posada's "bloop" hit, then changed the subject.

It should be called the Tornado Club, next.

They used to not have the bullpen until 1940. That made HRs easier by 20 feet, mostly LHBs, after it was installed.

Agreed. Maybe the next guy can talk him out of it.

Renfroe will get a MLB deal. Your faith in Duran, Rafaela and Abrue is unmatched. Ref & Yoshi would be the back-ups.

There is not a single poster trying to claim defense is more important than batting or pitching. I'm not sure anyone thinks it's worth even half of either. (Speak up, if you do.) I think many of want us to improve our defense without damaging the batting. Nobody is saying let's spend on defense not pitching, although improving the defense will improve the pitching. IMO, our defense may improve from dead last to somewhere in the middle (12th to 18th) without signing or trading for anyone, as long as key players do not get hurt or suck so much on offense, they get benched. 1. Replace JT with Yoshida at DH. 2. Duran-Refsnyder (Abreu) in LF is a significant improvement in LF from 2023. 3. Story staying healthy at SS is a major improvement over 2023's SS. 4. Reyes at 2B could be slightly better than what we saw in 2023. 5. Rafaela & Abreu in CF should be a major improvement over Duran/Duvall in 2023. 6. I think it is reasonable to expect continued improvement on D from our catchers Wong and McGuire. 3B, 1B and RF should be about the same (maybe C and 2B stay about the same). 3 Better 2 same or better 3 about the same 0 worse . No money needed. Now, losing JT and Duvall means losing some plus batting, so it could end up being a trade-off. If we bring back Duvall, and don't play him in CF much, then we get some offense back without hurting the defense. How do we replace JT's offense? Story improves the SS O? Reyes/Urias/EValdez adds some O at 2B? Casas improves? Yoshida at DH helps him bat better? Duran/Rafaela/Abreu improve? Wong & McGuire improve? I don't think we spend much on offense, except maybe Duvall. We may have to cross our fingers on the O. I doubt we take notin's Chapman suggestion. Teoscar might be better than Dugo or Duran on O, but who knows? It is a drop on D. Any other ideas? Trades?

Ding, ding, ding! Leaders by example! Work hard. Play well. Do well. Win, and all of a sudden you have team leadership. Work hard. Do your best. Don't do well. We have no leadership.

What point? I thought it was about us not talking about it, which we did. We apparently had "leaders," last year and had the same record. What point are you making? If winning is the only litmus test, which it seems to be for you, either we had no leaders or s***** ones, last year, and all the talk of those famous players being "leaders" was bull. (I don't believe that, because I look at context and not just Wins and Losses.) So, did the Sox have leaders, this year? Last year? 2021? 2018? (If yes, why weren't hey leaders in subsequent seasons?)

I said not close to average, and I see "adequate" as being close. Part of the reason I want Yoshida at DH is not because he's a worse defender, but because we have 3 OF'ers who best spot is LF. We don't have a 3Bman to take Devers' place. I'm not sure why you only use dWAR as the final value given on defense. B-R gives no reference to where -0.5 places among 3Bmen in MLB, anyway. Here are some other numbers: Worst in Outs Above Average (-9) and last over the last 4 years combined (-14) 2nd worst in DRS (-9) - He's in last place on DRS in the last 4 years combined. 4th worst in UZR/150 (-2.2) and 2nd worst in the last 4 years (-4.20) So, dWAR says -0.5, this year, and that makes him "adequate?" I'm not sure why you are going to the mat on this one. I'm fine with the idea that defense doesn't matter as much as batting and pitching. I agree, but let's not sugarcoat how bad some of our defenders are and have been for years.