moonslav59

Players sometime choose college over a signing bonus.

The second pick is in: #50 Pick Nazzan Zanetello SS (HS) MLB had him ranked #52. They wrote: Zanetello climbed up Draft boards with a strong showcase circuit, beginning with MVP honors at the Breakthrough Series in June. He stood out in athletic testing at the PDP League in July, raked at the World Wood Bat Association World Championship in October and led Team USA in hitting (.429) at an 18-and-under World Cup qualifying tournament in November. Scouts love his five-tool potential as well as his makeup. Zanetello has a wiry 6-foot-2 frame with room to add more muscle, and his strong hands and wrists produce plenty of bat speed and 25-homer potential. He doesn't have the prettiest right-handed swing but makes a lot of hard contact. He also shows good control of the strike zone and produced against quality pitching throughout the summer. While Zanetello has clocked run times that earn grades from anywhere from 45 to 70 on the 20-80 scouting scale, the consensus is that he'll probably have solid speed once he's physically mature. His athleticism and strong arm help him make plays at shortstop, where he projects as an average defender. The Arkansas commit has looked solid in stints in center field and should provide similar glovework if he shifts to third base. Next picks, tomorrow: #83 #115 #132 (comp) #133 (comp)

I know some posters hate this talk, but I find it interesting: We'd be in 1st place in the ALC by 2.5 games. We'd be 4 GB Texas in the ALW (3rd place.) We'd be 2 GB Cincy in the NLC (3rd place.) We'd be 4.5 GB AZ in NLW (4th place.)

I don't think that's what he meant. He just thinks the other ALE teams look better on paper.

MLB had him ranked #7.

I've been wrong, often enough. I think many saw the players we lost from the losing 2022 team and thought there was no way we got better. I feel they thought of them as their 2018 selves and not their 2022 selves. It's easy to like our own players, even if we thought the 2022 team sucked. We knew them well. They were good players. Some still are. Nobody knew Turner like we knew JD. Nobody knew Yoshida like we knew Bogey. Nobody knew Bello like we knew Nate. Nobody knew Duran would go through a metamorphosis from Butterfly Man to Superman. Many blamed most of our losses, last year on the pen, then lessened the value of improving it over the winter. We still have some big weaknesses that could ruin our next 2 months. Our defense is scary. Our offense has tended to disappear for too long. Our opening day rotation is almost totally gone: Sale on the 60 day IL, Kluber demoted and on the IL, Pivetta demoted and Houck and Whitlock on the IL, too. We have hopes that Whitlock, Houck and maybe Sale can return to join the two saviors: Bello & Paxton. I'm afraid it might come down to 3-4 of these guys returning to not only comeback, but to do well, which means maybe Houck & Whitlock will have to do better than before they got hurt. Story Sale Whitlock Houck Schreiber (or one longshot like Mondesi, Beier or McGuire)

I prefer OPS Against but for some reason, fangraphs doesn't provide it.

Nobody said that was a theory.

Sox OPS Leaders at the AS Break .886 Duran .874 Yoshida .850 Duvall .824 Turner .817 Verdugo .813 Devers .738 Refsnyder .728 Casas .703 Wong .702 Reyes .692 Arroyo .684 EValdez .665 McGuire .602 Kike .499 Chang .472 D Hamilton

I'm not complaining, but catcher draft picks are very hard to get right.

Exactly. Had he been a SS, they'd have taken him, instead. SS taken 12, 13 and 15th.

Kyle Teel- NOT a HS player Catcher from VA (a junior)

How about what Duvall and Refsnyder can do and letting them "go?"

Personally, I'm not big on hindsight criticism, if I agreed with the choice when made, but I do it, at times. I had hoped we'd sign another SS, but with Story expected to return and hope for Mondesi by May, I felt Kike and Change would be okay. Chang got hurt. His replacement, Reyes, got hurt. Kike ended up sucking on D at SS and at the plate. The choice failed. It's hard to think having 5 guys who can play SS would end up being just one: Kike and now Chang. In hindsight, the choice failed. I don't put much blame on Cora for this, because we had no other options. I felt like it was worth giving Arroyo a shot at SS, but I trust Cora knows better. Iggy was DFA'd and could have been added for super cheap.

I listed SEA as the last Sox series before the deadline. The other series listed are for TOR, NYY and HOU.

I drink no sugar lemonade. Sorry for getting testy with you. I really do like Duran and want him to play everyday. I just like other Sox players, too for specific roles.

You don't know if he would have been around for the third round. Look, even if Yorke ends up being a swing and miss, that draft does not look bad, so far. Our farm rankings have been on the rise. He added several prospects in other ways that have already contributed, and to me, they sort of make up for all the HS picks that are farther away. The rankings are speculative, but it looks good to me, so far.

If he keeps playing like this, 1B or DH in a couple years.

It's a fair opinion, but the season is not over. We are now very close to a couple ALE teams that have some big issues, too.

We are on pace for 85.3 wins, so a couple wins out of the gate could project to 86 wins.

Always the contrarian, I don't like or drink beer.

I was thinking Cherokee.

I hope we draft a SS. I don't trust early pitching picks.

Yes, the trade deadline falls within the last series listed. It is August 1st

I should have put that post in green.