moonslav59

What effect has our poor D had on our team ERA of 4.46? If we had average D? Maybe 3.90 to 4.10? With top D? Maybe 3.60 to 4.10? Just the change in scoring across the league has probably added 0.15 to the league ERA.

A count the revolving foor of our 8th RP slot as one grade, not 8 grades. I count the players expected to play FT or a lot more than role players. I don't even count the Barnes for Bleier deal, as it was meaningless. The top 6 moves comes to about a 2.2 or a C+. I did not expect much from the other moves, so I barely count them. If I change Yoshida to a C or better, like some seem to be saying, I should, the 6 moves would be a B-. Why not tell me how you grade each of the top 6 moves? I guess one could argue we should count Kike and McGuire- two players added last summer.

Maybe they figured he could be a near average defender and Fenway's LF could hide some of his weaknesses on D. If they thought they, they were wrong.

That's how you see it. I'm grading him on his current OPS, defense and value per dollar paid. Yes, I'm counting the salary, too. Had I graded him a month ago, I might have given a C or B-. If I graded him after his first 3 weeks, maybe a D. You can grade your way. Would you give him a grade above a C?

The problem is, they replaced Brasier with pitchers just as bad.

No. I think an .800 OPS for the year, at that money, along with poor D, is worth around a D. C or C- would be okay.

The season is not over, yet, but here is a look at my 2023 grades for last winter's additions (some deals are longer than 2023, but these grades are just for 2023, so far.): D Yoshida $90M/5 A- Jansen $32M/2 A+ Martin $17.5M/2 F Kluber $10M/1 A+ Turner $8.3M/1) A- Duvall $7M/1 (A+ had he not got hurt.) C Bleier for Barnes (a push) Minor moves, including in season: F Mondesi for J Taylor (3+M contract) Not that Taylor did anything F Joely ($1.5M) may help next year F Mills (min) for Jacob Wallace- may help next year A- P Reyes for cash A Bernardino (waivers) B+ Urias ($4.7M & 2 arbs left) for Blalock C Alfaro & Chang C Robertson for Kike F Dermody, Lamet, Faria, T Scott, R Sherriff, Graza, jacques, Bear Claw & Llovera Overall grade: B- Biggest mistake: not adding more SP'ers Biggest plus: improving the pen. If you go by change in winning % from 2022 to 2023: +.100 or more TX, WSH, CIN, BAL +.050-.099: TBR, MIA, CHC, PIT, AZ +.040 DET +.038 BOS & MIN +0.25 LAA & PHI +.010-.020: SFG & SEA The worst drops: -.172 NYM -.145 STL -.126 NYY -.109 CWS -.095 KCR -.094 CL -.087 HOU -.083 SDP

Our pitching has had some pretty long stretches of doing very well. I suppose if could happen, again, but I see no signs of any starter "stepping it up."

Yes, I saw that after my post. I'm still not sure Dalbec gets that one Sept 1st slot, though. DHam? EValdez? Maybe add Stephen Scott?

If he can get on base at .350, it's not a total loss with him at DH. I'm still holding out hope he can improve.

I feel he will have to do better, which he could do, and not burn out in August. $18M is a lot to pay for a .800 hitter with no D plus.

I would not bet on us even winning 4 or 5 out of those 7. My point was that going 7-0 might mean we could get by with less overall wins to close out the season, because we'd gain 3 on TX and TOR. It's a very long shot from here- no doubt.

How do the odds improve, if we go 7-0 v TEX(3), TOR(3) & HOU(1)? Could we then go 14-8 in the other 22 and have a chance? (21-8 overall)

As much grief as Yoshida has taken, recently, his yearly numbers do show some impressive rankings on the team: Only Turner has more PAs and a higher OBP: .358 Tuner .349 Yoshida .344 Devers .342 Verdugo (Casas is at .363 but has fewer PAs) Only Devers and Turner have more PAs and a higher SLG%: .509 Devers .490 Turner .456 Yoshida .441 Verdugo (Duvall.593, Casas .484 and Duran .482 have higher SLG but fewer PAs.) Weird how stats can be used or presented.

4:10 start time. Framber Valdez vs Kutter Crawford It's most likely "now or never" for our Sox. I never thought I'd say these words, but Crawford has been our ace for the last month or so. One game at a time, guys! Go SOX!

Realistically, we are going to need a miracle, starting tomorrow. There is nothing to base any belief that it will start, tomorrow, but this team has brought us to extreme ups and downs, over and over, so maybe we have one last gasp in us. One game at a time.

I see the foundation has improved. I see less one year deal expiring. I see more young players being called up and doing well. I see more coming up this and next year and some really promising ones 2-3 years away. I see way fewer holes to fill in 2024 than we've had since 2018 or 2019. I see a chance our budget may expand in the next year or two, but that may just be wishful thinking. It may all come up short. It may all be a mirage, and the sucking will continue or even get worse. I, for one, am optimistic about our future, and to me, we may be 2 key additions away from being a significant contender in 2024. It doesn't seem like you and many other agree, but that's life.

Talkin owners, but yeah. Half have sucked. Half have given us brief hopes, only to be dashed.

It's hard to fathom we have a higher BA with RISP than when not.

Can nobody get a big hit with men on base?

I did say "maybe," but I won't argue with anyone who thinks Dugo is better. Dugo has better numbers, this year. Duvall has a GG, but it's hard to compare Duval with Dugo, since they have played different OF positions over much of their careers. Dugo is having a better defensive season. Career? It's pretty close: Here are some numbers 2019>>>: RF DRS & UZR/150 +11 Dugo in 1998 innings 3.3 UZR/150 +6 Duvall in 863 innings (actually a better DRS/inning) 3.1 Looks kinda even. CF -1 Duvall in 998 innings 2.0 -3 Dugo in 821 innings -2.4 Pretty close LF +21 Dugo in 1847 innings +6.4 +8 Duvall in 1177 innings +1.5 Dugo better in LF

Well, there was the... Haywood Sullivan, Buddy LeRoux & Jean Yawkey group and The JRY Trust with John Harrington Those two bars were a bit higher. I'll just say, 4 rings in 2 decades will be hard to top, so be careful what you wish for.

What's not spent of the fans money on salaries goes into the owners' pockets.

I know it's coming. I just wish we'd make a strong pivot from quantity to quality. We have a pretty solid foundation and some young talent as well. We don't need to divide whatever the budget is by 5-6. We need to divide by 2-3 and get talent.

Yup. I usually avoid the "what if" game on the budget, and I think Bloom made a lot of shrewd signings, like Martin, Jansen, Duvall and Turner, but... No Kluber $10M No Kike $10M No Mondesi $3M Tax Room $6-9M We are talking almost $30M! Eflin and Wacha would have been nice, and it would have been cheaper, in terms of 2023 dollars.