moonslav59

Of course, but is there any harm in choosing a higher ceiling utility player like Munoz, who can also play OF and has a higher ceiling (and maybe a lower floor)? BTW, I'm for finding ways to keep as many as possible until things shake themselves out.

Arroyo can play SS, 3B and 2B. Santana and Munoz are not on the 40 man roster, so they offer decent depth beyond the 40. My guess is that if Arroyo had options or could be DFA'd and retained in the system and Munoz or Santana had to be on the 40 man, their roles would be swapped, right now. Since Santana is not even ready, yet, DFA'ing Arroyo can wait. The day may come, sooner rather than later, that we DFA or trade Arroyo, because we know Munoz and others are better. (Are we sure Cora and Bloom feel like we do?) I even think Arauz has more upside than Arroyo, but keeping depth is usually a good idea. BTW, he's only 25- a month older than Dalbec- and has only 305 MLB PAs, so do we know what his ceiling might be? I'm not sure a great spring from Munoz, and a poor one from Arroyo is enough to force the move for opening day, but my guess is that Arroyo will be on the opening 26 man roster or the IL (phantom or otherwise.)

RIP Rheal. Cancer gets too many of us.

Maybe his due back date is tied to the opt out date.

He's probably better than Arroyo and Chavis and maybe even Gonzalez, but keeping depth is important.

That's what jumped out at me. Makes that trade look like a steal, since I was fine getting nothing for both of them. I'm not sure I would even trade Wong, Groome and Decker for him.

It's hard to know for sure, if Cordero is better than Duran on defense, but I'd guess yes, at this point in their development.

Man. Only 53. When people younger than yourself pass away, it seems to hit harder. RIP, Rheal.

Yes, and sometimes, I wonder why. I guess our lack of OF depth is the reason, but I really think that if we need an OF'er, Munoz and Santana would be added and used before Wilson. I guess keeping him around as long as possible makes sense.

Unlike some, who look at Duran's age and chances at being a super stud, I'd like to get an extra year of control for him, unless injuries force our hand in an OF with very little, ML ready, organizational depth, I'd like to have him spend enough time in AAA as needed to get that year. (It makes more sense to let him develop more, first, then call him up, but if we have someone on the IL, maybe the hand is forced.) I think we'll try to avoid adding Santana, Munoz and others to the 40 man roster for as long as possible. If Cordero is not ready, we do have Marwin and EHern to play OF, so maybe we just roll the dice and keep Duran in AAA. Wilson is an option, but even as raw as Duran is, I'd take him over Wilson. I like Munoz over Wilson, too, so if we added Munoz or Santana, I'd DFA Wilson not Arroyo. Arroyo is probably our best back-up SS with Arauz. Arroyo can also play 3B. I'm not a big fan of Arroyo, but despite the fact that he is out of options, I think we keep him around for as long as we need to work things out. If he struggles and others look good, then yes we might trade him or DFA.

Top Trade Value of Sox Prospects according to BTV: 24 Casas 21 Downs 14 Duran 14 Hernandez © 11 Jimenez 8 Yorke 6 Houck 5 Seabold, Ward, Lugo 4 Groome, Song 3 Rosario, Wong, Murphy, Decker 2 Bonaci, Jordan, Potts, Gonzalez, Lopez, Ramirez, Bello, Cannon, Rafaela 1 Koss, Feliz, Flores,Marcan, Vaughn, Wilson, Whitlock, Liu, Espin, Howlett, Wallace, Politi, Brannen, Northcut, Celluci, Drohan, German, Gettys, Reed, Wu-Yelland (0.6 and below not listed)

Lot's of defensive potential with Duran, Dalbec, Cordero and even still with Devers.

Normally, I'd say, if Duran is up, he's playing, but since AAA starts in May, they may have him on the 26 man roster, until AAA opens, depending on who is on the IL by opening day. (My guess is Cordero will not be ready.)

I've never been against a good platoon, and since Renfore hits .717 vs RHPs, he's not bad as a FT player, either. I agree, though. CF is not a position you normally want a 3-4 man rotation covering (Cordero, Verdugo, EHern and Duran). I get the feeling, as the season progresses, things will get more and more set, unless the injury bug bites us, or a few key players flounder.

I think a Renfore-Cordero platoon in LF could be better than Beni on D, but LF defense in Fenway is not a major concern, anyway. Verdugo in RF is certainly is no Betts, but I think he will be fine, as well. (hopefully, he plays way more RF than CF.) The big concern is CF. Cordero has the tools to be a plus out there, and EHern has shown he can be a plus there as well. I think an OF like this, could be average or even better than average: LF: mostly Renfroe with some Cordero & Marwin CF: Cordero & EHern with some Verdugo RF: mostly Verdugo with some Renfroe It could end up being an overall minus, too. To me, this almost guarantees a minus: LF: Cordero & Gonzalez with some Renfroe CF: mostly Verdugo with some EHern & Cordero RF: mostly renfroe with some Verdugo

It makes more sense to have Chavis at 2B and EHern in CF, but if they really think EHern is the best defensive 2Bman, and they want continuity with Verdugo in CF, then maybe my idea might win out.

Yes, my bad.

Yup, I got it backwards. I've been doing that a lot, recently. Age and eyesight are getting the better of me. My bad.

Oh, I understand how we got here, and I'm on board with the plan- both near term and long term. As a fan, I love to watch great defense, especially at SS and CF, and somewhat for RF and 2B (3B). If I could make one minor change, I'd have gone after Marisnick not Marwin. If the team analytics guys like EHern on D at 2B, who am I to say they are wrong. Renfroe is not bad on D, and Cordero has a ton of promise, so we didn't add anti-defense, but losing Betts and then JBJ hurts. (I'm hopeful Devers goes back to improving on D.)

5-6 IP per start equates to about 2-3 walks per start.

Could we see a hot hitting Chavis in LF?

I'm not sure what your point is. On paper, it looks like our defense is bad. We have hopes at a few positions where players are young and still learning and have room to grow, or have shown flashes of improvement. I'd say, out of our starters, only Dalbec, Devers and Cordero are largely unknowns or have shows signs they can be plus, but have yet to do so for a full year or more, in Raphale's case. Bogey, like Jeter, makes the plays hit right to him. He's solid on that, but his range is poor and very likely will never become a plus. I don't want to get into Vaz, because I've beaten that horse to death several times, but he is pretty well known. EHern has moved around so much, it's hard to know, for sure, just how good he is at just one position, and there is a wide gap between what his metrics show at 2B and Cora calling him "the best." Arroyo is nothing special on D. I doubt he surprises, either way. Verdugo moving to a new park makes it a little more interesting, but he's been a plys defender in the OF and has improved over the years to the point where I think he's a plus in RF and maybe a slight plus in CF. Renfroe has shown he's about as average as average can get. He'd be better in LF than Fenway's spacious RF. I'm not claiming to be an authority on this, and many of these guys have not been on the Sox very long, so I can certainly be wrong. Do you think our defense is average or better?

The guy has 'all the tools," but we know that does not always lead to success. Until he puts together a full season or two, we can't really use his numbers. We can trust scouting reports and observations and look at his minor league numbers and reports. Here are some reports I found: Originally an error-prone shortstop, he moved to the outfield last year and was a natural as a flycatcher, showing excellent range and throwing ability with 60-grade speed and a 60-grade arm that work well in center field. He's also exceptionally fast, ranking anywhere from the 89th to 98th percentile in sprint speed from 2017-19. His instincts remain a work in progress in center field... A former shortstop, he owns a great arm for the outfield (so he can play right field at the highest level). He also flashed impressive center-field defense, which might simply follow from how quickly he moves around. Observers have pointed out that Cordero’s outfield defense can still look a little raw and unpolished, but it’s important to consider that he entered the Padres’ system as an infielder, and he only started playing in the outfield in 2015, and in center field in 2016. Cordero is a positional convert. Having long been a shortstop before, we can tell he has the arm and the foot speed to make it all work. The early big-league results were encouraging.

The players that are going to play a lot for the Sox have been around a while, except for maybe Cordero, who I mentioned it being hard to know how good he is on defense. I'm not rating Downs and Arauz, and I mentioned Dalbec "could" become a plus. They have not had much ML time, but we can learn a lot about defense in the minors. Is Bogey suddenly going to acquire plus range? (No.) Can Devers play like 2019, again? (Maybe) Do we know who Vaz, Renfroe, Marwin and others who have been around a while can do on defense? (Yes) Can they improve or get worse? (Yes, but usually not by much in a single season, and the older you get, the more "known" you are.)

How can anyone know?