moonslav59

It certainly seems better, but the major flaw is that it treats a BB the same as a single. Many times, there is little difference, but enough times, there is. How do sacrifices play into this? (Just don't count it as a PA?) BTW, does OBP count HBP's?

One important factor: how are other teams in the running being affected by "grips?" We only lose ground, if our guys are affected more than the others.

As of now, yes, but when Casas is ready, the choice may be different, depending on Devers contract or pending free agency. To me, Devers is a "keeper," but if he is to become a DH, he shouldn't be paid $25M+ for 6+ years. (I don't see him as a DH until maybe age 34 or higher.)

SLG may be underrated, but it dominates OPS by more than it should. Maybe a truer representation of overall value might be a metric like this: (3 x OBP) + (2 x SLG)/ 5. We'd still see ranges from .450 to .1050 covering just about everyone with a large enough sample size, with the vast majority falling between .650 and .850.

I still think Devers would make a fine 1Bman. His quickness and glove are rarely the issue on defense. Take away the bad throws, and Devers is a plus defender at 3B. There is no reason to think he can't be an easy plaus at 1B with a little practice and a short learning curve window. We can deal with Casas, when we have to, and the bigger issue is, who plays 3B? Dalbec? (Doubtful) Most likely a FA (or move Bogey there and get a SS.)

Verdugo will not likely demand or get anywhere near what Betts got. I do not think the Sox are going totally small market philosophy, here. The last coiple winters seemed a bit that way, but Bloom had to navigate through some tough waters. I think we will still offer deals like Eovaldi ($17M x 4) and Bogey ($20M per year with an opt out) with an occasional Sale-type deal when they timing seems just right. I think this winter will tell a lot about how we will be looking at out budget and financial priorities. We should have a lot to spend. We don't have a major roster squeeze coming up, despite having 4-6 Rule 5 players we should add, but a clear choice will be made: 1) Do we sign 3-4 moderate to expensive free agents (SP, RP, RP, ???) and fill the rest of the 40 with some nice in-system additions? 2) Do we sign 4-6 low-cost to moderate free agents (maybe one on the expensive side) and end up trading away some of our promising talent to make room for them? I can see 3-5 players that could be DFA'd or traded without feeling like we went too far. Replacing the 2021 ERod might not be hard, but adding any meaningful SP'er to the mix will be costly. Replacing Barnes & Ottavino will be difficult, and spending large on a closer and top set up man is not my idea of spending well. Marwin & Santana can easily be replace- probably from the farm. I think we will begin to see the type of team Bloom will form, once his checkbook is opened up and far fewer roster slots need to be filled.

Me, too. Not just because I hate the Yanks. IMO, they are still the team to beat. Expect some trades by them, maybe soon, to make them better.

Or, Texas.

Let's talk OBP differentials, now...

Duran (3hits) and Chavis homered, tonight. Gonsalves went 6 IP, 4H, 0BB, 7K Bello K'd 10 in 5.1 IP, 2H & 1 BB Gambrell was lit up at single A Jimenez with 3 hits and 4 rbi at A-.

Humans make mistakes. Calling balls & strikes is not easy. Robo umps are the only way to solve this problem, IMO.

The thing is, he had to swing (and foul off) several out-of-zone pitches for fear they'd be called strikes, earlier.

If Andriese is not DFA'd after tonight, Bloom shares in the blame. (That being said, I'm still very happy with the Bloom-Cora dynamic.)

That was a crappy loss- not that any aren't. I pass the game thread mojo torch to another.

Good to see Arroyo get tossed. These umps suck!

Time for Christian to keep the lead off slot.

Damn. Hit it hard.

If ever Marwin could just ...

Wrong AB for that homer, but still a nice blast!

GMs hit & miss all the time. He was a cheap signing. The real mistake is why he is still on the roster and maybe why we got nobody better.

I'm in shock!

I'm not a betting man, but... (I agree.)

The A's beat the Yanks. Rays up early on SEA 1-0. CWS 1 HOU 1 in the 8th.

It made total sense, and I didn't take it like a criticism. Devers reminds me of Adrian Beltre as a batter. When all the other Sox players couldn't figure out a pitcher in a groove, Beltre would slug a 3 run job to put us in the game.

He's too smart for that. I wouldn't change a thing about Devers. My philosophy has always been that a team needs batters with different approaches.