moonslav59

Top SP Catching Prospects History (Highest Rankings and year) 16 Joh Garcia '23 18 Hickey '22 14 RHern '21 12 Wong '20 1 Swihart '15 13 Vazquez '14 5 Lavarnway '12 9 Exposito '10 7 Kottaras '07 3 Shoppach '04 I might have missed some.

I agree that SPs has done a fine job, over the year. They miss on some, like everyone does, but they do seem to do a better job than the national services. Some pretty big misses in the past (top 3 only): Michael Bowden #3 Lars Anderson #1 Casey Kelly #1 Ryan Kalish #1 (It's not like we had great prospects in this era) Wil Middlebrooks #1 (same as Kalish) Anthony Ranaudo #2 (same as Middy & Kalish) Allen Webster #3 Blake Swihart #1 Henry Owens #2 Jay Groome #1 Michael Chavis #1 DHern #2 Dalbec #2 Downs #2

How much value do GMs place on a one month sample size? It does matter, but how much? I guess one could go back to the start of 2022 and see a bigger sample size: .726 in 443 PAs. I do think, if Duvall is still slumping by Aug 1st, his value will be pretty low, even if we pay his full remaining contract.

I'm talking opening day 2024. I'm all for Story at 2B, but Yorke will not be the back up 2Bman April '24. Mayer will not be the opening day SS in '24. Right now, our 2024 middle IF looks like this (with no outside additions:) Story Chang EValdez D Hamilton I'm not all ga-ga over Arroyo, but it makes sense keeping him over Kike. If we traded him or even DFA'd him, I would not shed a single tear.

It's weird they had Anthony 9th last December, then felt the need to jump Perales and Paulino in front of him by spring.

I was going by what MVP said about the SP podcast on Teel.

He'd be gone, already, if we didn't care. Our middle infield is injury prone and lacks depth, now and next year. Kike and Mondesi will be gone. EValdez is not a good defender. It looks like DHam isn't either. I'd keep Arroyo, at least until Yorke or Mayer are in the mix. Of course, signing a cheap 2Bman next winter is an option, too.

The idea would be to trade him for a player at a position of higher need, but that might be hard to do. Usually, Duvall would be traded for a prospect. Maybe a 3 way trade? Duvall to team A Prospect to team B (We could even add prospects like Dalbec and Murphy.) SP to Red Sox

I think we trade Duvall. He'll bring back more than Kike, and we still need ML middle infield depth. The other option could be to trade Arroyo, but he's got longer team control. That being said, if we pay all of Kike's contract, someone might give us a promising low level prospect.

Ahhh, I forgot about Garcia. I guess I'm higher on Hickey than some. I do realize he may not stick as a catcher. I know he's 23 and turns 24, later this year, but he has handled his promotions very well. He's just below .400 in OBP in the minors, has 29 HRs in 483 ABs and walks, a lot.

Duran's defense and speed on the bases ups his value, even against LHPs. He should play, everyday, at least until he proves he can't hit lefties well enough. The problem is that Duvall is a pretty good fielder and had a longer track record of hitting LHPs very well. I'm not one to think a recent one month sample size after recovering from a wrist injury should weigh as heavily as some seem to think it should. Kike is a very good defensive CF'er and has a career .804 OPS vs LHPs, but his lack of hitting since the end of 2021 carries more weight than Duvall's one month slump. I'm fine with Duran > Kike. The real choice, to me, is not Duran v Duvall v LHPs, it's Duran v Casas v LHPs. (Turner to 1B, Yoshida to DH and Duvall in LF- not CF) The last time I suggested platooning Casas as a way to get other playing more, my head was nearly ripped off. There is good reason to keep Casas FT, too. 1. He needs playing time to further develop, especially on D. 2. He has hit LHPs (.735) slightly better than RHPs (.725), this year. Career is .695 v L. Casas may be a slightly better hitter than Duran v LHPs, but it's pretty close, and Duran is a way better defender. Plus, platooning Casas improves our 1B D (Turner>Casas), LF D (Duvall> Yoshida) and CF D (Duran>Duvall.) Another idea might be to spread the days off vs LHPs between Duran, Casas and Dugo. Also, make sure when Devers gets his scheduled day off, it's vs a lefty (Turner at 3B, Yoshi at DH and Duvall, Duran and Dugo in the OF.) Like I said before, trading Duvall might end up solving the logjam with the short split side.

Where might Zanetello place? I'm thinking Teel should be 7th, and since the next guys will be pushed back, Z might be placed just in front of Paulino at #18.

Where would Ward be ranked in our system, right now? He's had a good season with just over 50 IP and has done better in AA than A+, this year.

I assumed this statement was about Brannon: Sox now have two good catching prospects in their system. Tell, being closer to the bigs despite not being signed yet.

Ref has been a top 10 hitter vs LHPs since 2022. Duvall has shown he is capable of leading the league in rbi. All three have capabilities, but Duran has yet to show his vs LHPs.

Is Hickey not considered a catching prospect, anymore?

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