moonslav59

He's 23. Needs a lot of work does not mean he's toast as a catcher. By the time he makes the bigs, we may have robo-umps. That would help.

They'd dump Santana and Chavis before Dalbec. They will also give him another chance, if they ever do demote him. (IMO)

soxprospects: ' Physical Description: Thick, mature frame. Sturdy catcher's build. Hit: Starts open and utilizes a short leg kick timing device. Loads high and keeps his hands up throughout. Will not swing-and-miss often, but rarely walks and his approach needs work. Can be overly aggressive and has trouble recognizing spin. Has had issues with timing in the past. Potential below-average hit tool. Power: Plus raw power. Can really impact the baseball, especially up in the zone. Power is mainly to the pull side; every home run in his career prior to being acquired by the Red Sox was to left or left-center. Ability to tap into raw power will depend on how his hit tool develops. Potential average in-game power. Run: Well-below-average speed. Not a part of his game. Field: Does not move well behind the plate. Framing and receiving need a lot of work. Potential fringe-average glove. Arm: Plus-plus arm. Does a good job controlling the running game. Arm is a weapon. Career Notes: Acquired from the Rays in February 2021 with Nick Sogard for Jeffrey Springs and Chris Mazza. Spent much of the 2020 traveling with the Rays on the taxi squad. Was added to the Rays 40-man roster in November 2019. Was an infielder before signing with the Rays, moving behind the plate after signing. Summation: Potential bat-first backup catcher, but has a wide range of outcomes and has everyday upside. Power and arm are carrying tools, but questions about his approach and hit tool and defensive profile cloud his future projection. Type of defensive profile that could really benefit from robot umps. If he can even develop into a fringe-average defender with a below-average hit tool, could be an everyday player given his power and arm.

I admit, I don't know much about him, except that BTV rated him highly, and soxprospects.com, too. Catchers often take much longer to get good on D. I mentioned VTek as one late bloomer, but there are many more. I doubt we give up on him to clear a roster slot. Maybe he ends up at another position, but I'm not sure any of us know if that is in the works.

My district and Houston ISD does not allow 6 year olds in kindergarten, unless they turn 6 there or were not in school at 5.

Yes, without falling down and making it look harder than it really was.

I was thinking about Arroyo on the IL. I also wondered why they did not use Kike at 1B, since he had about 90 innings there in the past.

I doubt Santana gets called back up after his rehab stint, but who knows? Cordero might get another look, this time at 1B, soon.

Well, .767 is good for any catcher. It's not a reason to cut him. He may improve on defense like VTek did after age 28.

Better than bat first Vaz at .650. MLB OPS for Catchers in 2021: .686. Of course, I'm assuming he stays around .760 in the bigs, which is no sure bet.

True, and I'm not one to harp on excessive K's, unless they guy is sucking on OPS and or D. Anybody notice Santana now has more PAs than Cordero had?

.767 is a very good OPS for a catcher.

To those who love small sample sizes... K% Leaders 64% Wong (11 PAs) 43% Duran (7) 38% Chavis (63) 37% Dalbec (266) 36% Cordero (102) 30% Arauz (10) 25% Marwin (246) 24% Arroyo (70) 24% Santana (104) 24% Devers (380) 24% League Average (Our lowest is 14% by Verdugo.)

With Vaz's tenure almost up, I think we do. He's doing well, this year and Wong is no sure bet.

Agreed, but some Sox fans were pissed we lost him.

We won't keep Vaz, Plawecki, Wong and R Hernandez on the 40, so I agree. Keep Vaz and the younger guys.

With all the weak areas you mentioned, we'd have to trade away a bunch of promising prospects to fill even half of them. I'm certain we are not going all in, this deadline- as in trying to win it all by trading away the future. I doubt we even play it "halfway." We might make a couple low-key deals like in 2018, but I doubt we trade anyone Bloom thinks is very promising. (I'm not sure many felt Beeks was all that promising.) I like our chances, this year, but I like them more in 2022 and beyond. That's where I think Bloom's priorities are, too.

Yes. Like the guys we lost getting Eovaldi (Beeks) & Pearce (Espinal) in 2018.

I'm not sure how big "the crunch" is. If we only sign 3 FAs, it's hardly one, at all. If we sign 4-6, maybe 1-2 players may be lost to Rule 5. It also depends on how much Bloom values some players currently on the 40 man roster, but appear to be bubble ML'ers. There are also some options and arbs that may not be taken. Also, the possible JD opt-out, but one has to think, if he bolts, we replace his roster spot with another added FA. Here is the solid core of 25 keepers Devers Bogey Sale Eovaldi Pivetta Whitlock Houck Renfroe Kike Vaz (option accepted) Taylor DHern Arroyo Duran Verdugo Dalbec Cordero Sawamura Seabold Mata R Hernandez Groome Bazardo (perhaps a bubble player) Valdez (perhaps a bubble player) Brasier (perhaps a bubble player) JD opt out? (26th man or replaced by FA) Options taken or not? Richards (not likely) M Perez (maybe) Andriese (I hope not) (Maybe we're at 27 with Perez option) Bubble or gone: Arauz Chavis Wilson Rios Plawecki or Wong Potts Rosario (I guess we keep 1 catcher, Rosario, Potts and maybe Wilson- that makes 30-31) FAs lost, resigned or replaced ERod Ottavino Marwin Santana Workman (We should sign 3-6 FAs- making the number between 33-37- most likely 34-35.) That leaves 5-6 for Rule 5. It does not look like a big crunch, but maybe Bloom likes some of the guys I brushed off. Rule 5 Winter 2021: (I deleted most no chance players.) Brayan Bello Cole Brannen Pedro Castellanos Kole Cottam Kutter Crawford Tyler Dearden Jeter Downs Durbin Feltman Frank German Devlin Granberg Gilberto Jimenez Kaleb Ort Yusniel Padron-Artiles AJ Politi Tyreque Reed Victor Santos Alex Scherff John Schreiber Thaddeus Ward Josh Winckowski

Gotta sign 'em first.

Woo rained out, but the Sea Dogs continue to win. 15-4, yesterday. Winckowski went 5 with 2 ERs (4.04 ERA) 19 hits + 5 BBs 4-6 Granberg HR 3-5 T Reed, BB 3-5 Potts, HR 3-6 Castellons, HR, 2B 2-3 R Hernandez, 2B, BB 2-4 Rosario HR, BB Howlett hit his 11th HR for Greenville.

Just 70, once, but he did lead the league 3 times. Of course, OPS does not capture SB value, but it also does not capture CS'ing and running into outs, sometimes blunderingly so. Certainly, his value, especially when he became a plus defender was higher than these OPS charts show, but I still think it's shocking how so many Sox fans would have paid near what the Yanks paid for Jacoby to return. I think some remember him being a better hitter than he really was- based on one huge season.

Of course, losing 3 series in a row sucks, but we all should have known the path to winning a playoff slot was probably going to involve a rough patch or two. We need to remember that other teams have had or are going through rough patches recently, too. All AL teams have serious weaknesses. Some may make major moves at the deadline, while we may be relying only on rolling the dice with Sale. I'm sure we will hear much frustration from some posters, here, as the win now mentality takes hold. I'm glad Bloom is at the helm. I plan on being a live for a few more years and like the longer term priorities very much.

The only way I see us trading for a rental is by Bloom giving up someone he knows or is almost certain won't be part of the team's longer term plans. I'm sure he wants to keep as many options open as possible, but there will be a slight roster squeezes this winter with free agent signings and Rule 5 prospects added to the 40. Now, how good are the players he think might not make next year's team? Maybe not good enough to bring anything useful back, but who knows? Trading for someone with multiple years of control left, usually means giving up good prospects, unless it's a salary dump. Could be an interesting or very uneventful trade deadline for the Sox.

I still think we are better than the Rays and A's. It's hard to tell with the White Sox. The Astros look better on paper than any AL team, but their pen is a mess. If we finish behind the Yanks and/or Jays, then we were never as good as we became convinced we were, and nothing short of a couple major deals could change that. Is that something this team should really do? Is this the time to pull out the stops and mortgage some of our future? The way some "fans" are talking, and I use the term loosely, we'll need some major trades to turn around this season.