moonslav59

We were one of the worst teams in 2012, and look what happened in 2013. A lot depends on the foundation that "bad team" has and how many injuries or abnormally bad years players had that year. Granted, our foundation is not what it was between 2012 and 2013, but we have some nice pieces and a hell of a lot of players coming off injury season(s) and/or bad years. Sure, some of all may not comeback to form, but you seem to be counting on your players in similar situations to come back and lead the Yanks to something special. In a sense, if things go right for the Sox, we could see "additions" from some or many of these players: Sale (7.6 WAR in '17, 6.2 in '18 or even 3.6 in '19) Eovaldi (1.5 WAR in just 11 starts in '18) ERod (3.7 WAR in '19 or even 2.1 in '18) JD (1.031 OPS in '18/ .939 in '19) Beni (.830 OPS in '18/ .774 in '19) Devers (.916 OPS in '19) Vaz (.798 in '19) Chavis (.776 OPS in '19) or something special from... Dalbec (pro-rate 75% of 2020 to 500+ PAs) Houck (pro-rate 75% of 2020 to 120+ IP) Renfroe (.805 in '18/ .778 in '19) Of course, getting all of these players to return to form at once is wishful thinking, but expecting them all to be as bad or injured as they were in 2019 and/or 2020 is wishful thinking on your part. Then, we know we be adding some quality players to the mix in the next 4-6 weeks. It is not a stretch to think we might compete for the WC slot, this year and a ring in 2022. Yes, we will need a few things to go right, all at the same time, but by 2022, Downs and a few other farm hands may add some value in big ways, too. Our budget could expand bigly in 2022, too.

Maybe having Houck for the full season, some returning pitchers from injury and some possible farm help makes him think we have more depth.

As of now, I also see Chavis as the opening day starting 2Bman- not necessarily to build value, but because he offers the most hope for being an overall plus.

Linking Chavis, Dalbec & Ockimey into one group due to their power and high K rates is misleading, and even in the power category, Dalbec is significantly better in slugging %. Dalbec has two things going for him that the others are far behind: 1) OBP Dalbec .359 MLB (92 PAs)/ .362 minors (1609 PAs) Chavis .304 MLB (540 PAs)/.325 minors (1757 PAs) Ockimey n/a MLB/ .360 minors (2353 PAs) 2) Defense Most accounts show Dalbec as the better defender. On K rates and SLG%: SLG: Dalbec .600 MLB/ .505 minors Chavis .424 MLB/ .471 minors Ockimey n/a MLB/ .429 minors K Rate: Dalbec 43% MLB/ 30% minors Chavis 33% MLB/ 26% minors Ockimey n/a MLB/ 29% minors

Are you realistically hopeful our mid season rankings will improve? Who might join the list, and who might move up significantly?

Agreed. I do think we do something major to improve our chances and record in 2021, but only if it also helps us in 2022 or beyond. We may add a few 1 year deals that will allow us to spend large in 2022 and still be better in 2021, but I think we will try to stay under the luxury tax, so it's not an "all out" winter, as it should NOT be.

You need to realize the off season does not end in mid January. If we are still in this same situation in mid February, then have at it. Also, I'd be very surprised, if we go all out to win in 2021. Even 2022 might be too early to hope for a ring. 2020 was treading water and rebuilding the farm. 2021 is about improving the longer term outlook, in terms of ML talent and the farm. 2022 is about the earliest we can hope for meaningful competitiveness. You can't overcome a cliff overnight.

Dalbec is better than Chavis and is "ML farm ready", right?

If depth mean more mediocre pitchers, then maybe, yes.

Word is the Yanks were not the top bidder on Kluber.

True. I'd rather have Price at an added cost of $16M x 2 than Bauer at $32M x 4. The only plus for Bauer is that he just turned 30, and a 4 year deal is not like the 7 years Price and others have gotten, recently.

yes!

I'm not sure I'd go that far. $64M/2 Price at ages 35-36 vs (Maybe) $128M/4 Bauer who turned 30, today.

Troll thread.

It's not like Koji sucked before coming to Boston. His 2013 season actually was just following his "curve to greatness:" WHIP 0.955 2010 0.723 2011 0.639 2012 (a fantastic season with TX) 0.565 2013 with Boston His K/BB actually got worse from his amazing 14.3 mark in 2012 to 11.22 with Boston in 2013. The fact that he was our 3rd or 4th string closer is more a question of management choices than luck.

I think the Perez signing means only one more not two. Perez was the "two." (Not counting minor league signings.)

It's only a "good move," if we also sign Odorizzi.

Bauer is not the guy you go large and long on. Just because we need an ace doesn't mean you make an act of desperation.

So, winter signings and trades are over? Nobody ever comes back from injuries? (BTW, the Yanks don't win, if players injured, last year, don't come back.) (Dalbec is still considered a rookie or "ML farm ready.")

Martin Perez. Please, let this not be one of our major winter moves.

Well, they were international free agents, and they ended up making way more money than many on that list, so it just made me wonder why the need for a separate list.

That was certainly part of the advantage to trading Betts. So far, we've not seen it.

I'm thinking we may stay under the tax line, again, this year- just barely. We'll look to add a couple players for the longer term and maybe a couple one and done guys like Martin Perez not Kluber. Maybe we spend very large, next winter.

I'm never onboard with building a rotation from the 4 or 5 slot, but since this can be just a 1 year deal, it's just a punt. As long as we sign someone like Odorizzi (and I'm not sure of who else is "like" him), I'm fine with Perez as depth.

I meant to specify just the questionable pitchers on bot teams- basically every starter, except Cole.