moonslav59

That whole winter was like a bad nightmare. We lost Fisk, Lynn, Burleson and Hobson in 3 months. We got nothing for Fisk. We got Frank Tanana and Joe Rudi for Lynn (and Renko) We got Carney lansford, Rick Miller & mark Clear for Burly and Hobson. (A couple years later, we traded Lansford for Tony Armas.)

Agreed. What's #3? Failing to send Fisk a contract on time- making him a free agent? The Sparky Lyle - Danny Cater trade? The Bagwell for Anderson trade? The Cecil Cooper for George Scott trade? The winter of '80-'81 trades of Fred Lynn, Rick Burleson & Butch Hobson trades? (Should we count the Fisk "blunder" during this same winter?)

What about two finger typists?

Maybe we should limit all Mookie discussions to the 3 day period of each yearly series, going forward. (Yea, right!)

That seems to be his M.O. When the one year guy sucks, we move on. When they do well, the move on. He will try and find the next Duvall, or Renfroe, or hopefully not Marwin.

Not a solid and durable SP'er, unless we luck into it.

Sox Numbers per 162 games played: HR RBI 54 270 Abrue 38 117 Devers 34 107 Duvall 28 115 Turner 28 70 Casas 24 124 Urias 24 74 Chang 19 54 EValdez 18 68 Yoshida 14 69 Dugo 12 63 Duran 12 49 Wong XBHs 162 Abreu 83 Duvall 75 Devers 68 Duran 65 Dugo 64 Turner 62 Story 60 Yoshida 52 Casas 49 Wong 48 Urias SB 49 Story 38 Duran 24 DHam 19 EValdez

They may view Duran's stock as being as high as it will ever be, or they may think he can continue to improve. It's nice having his speed in the lead-off slot, if they think he can maintain a .350+ OBP. (It's .346, now.) I'm not sure how upset they are with Verdugo over his natics, this year, but we will not get a solid SP'er for him, unless we include a top prospect. More likely, we keep all our current OF'er and let Duvall walk.

Strasburg plans on retiring. Another big FA signing that was a catastrophe, almost from day one.

MLBTR reports... Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen was pulled from Wednesday night’s game due to tightness in his right hamstring. Per MLB.com, the club plans to evaluate Jansen further upon returning to Boston today. Jansen told reporters that he “felt great” yesterday and was hoping to avoid a trip to the injured list. The 68-60 Red Sox are still in the hunt for the playoffs, with a 3.5 game deficit to make up for in the Wild Card standings. A healthy and effective Jansen will be key to the club’s playoff aspirations, as the four-time All Star has posted a 2.81 ERA while racking up 29 saves in 46 appearances this season. Should Jansen require a trip to the shelf, Chris Martin seems like the most likely candidate to take over for Jansen in the ninth inning.

I think batting Papi in front of Manny helped Papi, but it's harder to tell about Manny. I could be wrong, but it looks like, starting in 2006, it was almost exclusively Papi 3rd and Manny 4th. In 2003, when Papi was first proving himself as a beast, Manny batted 4th and Papi 5th (Nomar 3rd, mostly.) 1.014 Manny 4th .983 Papi 5th 2004: 3rd .993 Papi in 421 PAs .972 Manny 217 4th 1.030 Manny in 445 PAs .958 Papi in 229 (This seems to show Manny did better after Papi.) 2005 3rd 1.030 Papi in 566 .908 Manny in 142 4th 1.014 Manny in 505 .959 Papi in 145 Maybe, I'm wrong. We don't know how many times the other guy was up before or after, but it looks like Manny did better batting 4th not 3rd.

It's just a fun guess.

I'm sure Cora has a plan, and it might differ from my ideas. When is Duran due off the IL? I'm pretty sure Ref will start vs the lefty Urias, but I think Cora did not start Ref vs a LH'd SP'er, recently. Cora will "rest" Yoshida v the lefty. Ref LF, Duvall CF, Dugo RF (not Abreu.)

Not very often, and that's a difficult thing to research the numbers.

Like a "lat strain?" Could certainly happen. (I love his swing.)

Yes, when Youk was trashing the dugout after a K, Manny stepped in and it almost became a fight.

I don't really "see" them that often. Perhaps I should have worded it "best Sox right-handed hitter I have seen."

Wuss! Is this your War Games moment?

Verdugo is the better defender out of Duran, Refsnyder and Yoshida, so trading Duran improves the D more. He also would bring back a better pitcher than Dugo, but his years of control is also a benefit to us. We greatly improved our OF, last winter, so maybe blowing it up is not such a great idea. Moving Yoshida to near FT DH is the biggest no-brainer of the off season, especially if his recent slump is related to fatigue. Turner will bolt, unless we offer him a big deal, and I doubt we do that. Our IF and Catching positions seem set: C: Wong/McGuire (Scott in AAA and on the 40) 1B: Casas (Dalbec in AAA and on the 40) 2B: Urias/Reyes (EValdez in AAA and on the 40) SS: Story/Reyes-Urias (DHam in AAA and on 40) 3B: Devers, Urias-Reyes (no minor league depth on 40.) DH: Yoshida LF: Duran/Refsnyder platoon (Yoshida as depth) CF: __ FA__, Rafaela, Abreu, Duran RF: Dugo, Abreu (Refsnyder is emergency depth) (Rosier does not need Rule 5 protection until 2025.) (

Rafaela is not struggling. .965 June 1.008 July .983 August IMO, he has a slot on the 2024 MLB roster, already. He has to show he does not deserve it, going forward to lose that slot. I think we trade Dugo and try to bring Duvall back. LF: Duran-Refsnyder platoon (Yoshida DH/LF) CF: Duvall- Rafaela (Duran) RF: Rafaela-Abreu (Refsnyder) Rosier may surprise, as well.

On pace for 86 with 34 to go. How many think we end up with... 88+ 85-87 82-84 78-81 77 or less (Remember, we have a very difficult schedule.) I'm thinking 87 wins.

I'd hand it to him, right now, and ride the hot hand, if and until he shows he does not deserve it. I do agree, no matter what happens in the next 5 weeks, I'd want a vet in the mix for 2024 that can play CF/RF, in case Rafaela and or Abreu struggle.

This has been our patter, with being 2-6 games above .500 for much longer the -3 to +1 on .500. This seems like the type of team that could pull off a comeback at any moment-- or severely disappoint us as well. Kinda like that '21 team after losing to BAL.

Dugo looks to be waking up the echoes, too.

Manny was the most laid back superstar I have ever seen. I never saw him go apeshit at an ump or slam his bat or helmet down in disgust with anyone or himself. He's K 4 times and then hit a 3 run jack in the 8th. He had the same kind of kid-like smile as Devers, and the game just seemed to be fun to him. The only "Grizzly" I saw in him was when the Sox started going to the media with his contract demands and yes, his pouting and disingenuous claims of injury. They never called him out on the fact that he used his grandma dying 5 times to delay going to ST'ing, but that was "Manny being Manny." That expression, itself, exposes how incomparable he was to anyone else. He was the best right-handed hitter I've ever seen. I always wonder what his stats might have looked like, if Papi batted behind him and not vice versa. The most popular thread on "that other site," was one I titled "No Manny-No Rings!" (The revisionist historians seemed more plentiful and extreme on that site, I might add.) I'm glad Devers is on our team. I love his approach to hitting and would not even think about trying to get him to change a thing. A variety of hitting styles in a line-up is a good thing, IMO.