moonslav59

Some are not small, and lots of small ones combined make a significant sample size for both catchers.

No mockery from me. Sandy was an overall plus for this team.

If you believe the CERA numbers mean anything, these differentials are shocking: Sale 1.82 better CERA with Leon .188 better OPS against How much does 2 more runs per 9 IP hurt his value? (note: 84 IP is kinda small.) Price 1.31 better CERA with Leon .091 better OPS against How much is a run and a half hurt? (Both have fair sample sizes). Porcello 0.77 better CERA with Leon .066 better OPS against (Both had 200+ IP with Rick.) Buchholz 1.43 better CERA with Leon .059 better OPS against ERod is the only pitcher Vaz did better with on CERA, but his OPS against was worse than Leon & Swihart! There is not SP'er with significant IP'd with 2or more Sox catchers where Vaz has a better CERA and OPS against with. Leon has a better CERA and OPS against vs Vaz with 4 out of 5 (splits the 5th) Swihart splits in CERA and OPS against vs Vaz with the 2 starters they both qualified with (74+ IP)

I don't disagree, but we need a good young catcher- maybe before trading him. Wong projects to be a catcher or maybe 1B/LF with the ability to be a team's emergency 3rd catcher. Vaz may do well framing pitches, but he has a very weak record getting the best out of the team's best SP'ers. That is worrisome, and it decreases his value more than many may think it does. While CERA is a flawed stat, it is useful in comparing catchers on the same team through the same time periods. The IP with each catcher, on the Sox however, are often too far apart to really judge well. Here are some eye-opening numbers: ERA/OPS against -Pitcher- career IP (all catchers listed with 74+ IP) Sale with each catcher: 2.51/.622 AJ Pierzynski 226 2.79/.575 Sandy Leon 436 2.98/.632 D Navarro 97 3.02/.616 T Flowers 552 3.36/.725 J Phegley 88 3.53/.680 Alex Avila 112 4.61/.763 C Vazquez 84 (While his IP are lower, his numbers are frightenly bad, here. It's no wonder Leon was Sale's binky.) Price 2.30/.555 R Martin 74 2.67/.599 A Avila 111 2.78/.691 J McCann 107 2.85/.634 J Molina 473 2.96/.647 S Leon 204 3.06/.616 J Jaso 191 3.09/.661 Navarro 128 3.61/.705 Schoppach 162 4.27/.738 Vazquez 360 (Some of the catchers above Vaz are not known for defense or handling pitchers well.) Porcello 4.17/.735 Avila 578 4.19/.728 Leon 576 4.32/296 Laird 296 4.93/.800 Swihart 122 4.96/.794 Vazquez 211 5.38/.831 Holaday 82 (Notice how the best CERAs relate to the most IP almost exactly, here. Even Swihart did slightly better than Vaz!) Rodriguez 3.98/.711 Vazquez 456 4.05/.700 Leon 118 4.44/.692 Swihart 75 (Both Swihart and Leon got better OPS against than Vaz. It doesn't look like ERod cares who his catcher is.) Buchholz 2.83/.642 VMart 241 3.01/.646 Leon 155 3.23/.622 Shoppach 78 3.95/.737 Salty 207 4.44/.705 Vazquez 130 5.12/.801 VTek 118 Wright 2.94/.611 Hanigan 95 3.49/.700 Vazquez 101 Pomeranz 1.99/.542 Norris 3.92/.745 Vazquez 198 To be fair, Vaz did do slightly better (Barnes) and even much better (Kelly & Workman)with certain RP'ers. He did much worse with Hembree, but the sample sizes are pretty small for some catchers with each RP'er.

He "calls"a crappy game. His CERA sucks vs Leon's. His bat has been great (for a catcher) and s***** from year to year. (I would love to see us trade Chavis for Campusano, Myers and $30M.)

He's been between a 9 and 10 for 15 years. Our team looked really good, on paper, last year. This is the first year we look to have such a slim chance, but even then, we are not far from being a playoff team. I'm more than fine with Henry's record, and we all knew (or should have known) we went all out to set up a window from about 2017-2019 or 2020. The window closed sooner than expected. I won't blame injuries, because the Yanks had more than we did in 2019. Yes, we look pretty bad, right now, but we are resetting, and I fully expect us to go over the lux tax in 2021. This should help us be pretty close to a pretty competitive team. I think the Bloom hiring was an excellent one, especially when look at the difficult task at hand. Our farm is actually better than I thought it would be after we got dinged from int'l FA signings a few years back and had very bad draft picks and signing bonus money the last 2-3 years. I'm thinking 2020 will still be fun to watch, but I do think we might stink up the place, and it could be painful. No matter how 2020 goes, I like our chances in 2021 (assuming spending $5-19M over the tax line). We lose Pedey after 2021. We may get a nice draft pick 2 years in a row, if we don't get draft penalties for cheating. I can't assign a 1-10 score going forward, but the point was about Henry's choice-making. I think Bloom was an excellent choice and just what we needed after a GM like DD. BTW, I haven't seen any analytical geek rankings anywhere. I don't see the Cubs or Diamondbacks as having a better outlook than us.

True, but I was thinking more about long stretches of looking good- like in 2017 and 2018. He pitched very little in MLB in 2017, but after his first game on May 18th, he went 3-0 0.92 in 19.2 IP (.483 OPS against) 15K & 5 BB 2018 was up and down. He started out 3-0 1.82 in his first 34.2 IP (decent sample size, especially if you add it to his last 19.2 IP from 2017.) A .735 OPS against is not all that great, so maybe he had some luck, but still.He looked promising on June 20th of 2018. In his next 14 IP, he went 1-0 5.14 (8.29 OPS against). It then got more choppy: 4 games 0 ER in 6.1 IP 9 games 5.48 ERA in 21.1 IP Last 7 games, 2.08 ERA in 8.2 IP (6.10 OPS against) 2019 showed no signs of the 2017-2018 Velazquez. His minor league numbers: 2016: 15-4 2.33 in 38 GS'd (228 IP counting fall league) 2017: 8-4 2.21 in AAA (102 IP)/ 1.86 ERS in 9.2 IP in Mexican league. 2018: only 1 IP.

Maybe we are or have tried hard to lock Devers up. Vaz has 2 years of control left to go. He's been up and down almost exactly from year to year. I don't see any hurry with him.

I don't think it's all that complicated. Every major move he has made had valid reasoning behind them, whether we agree or not.

Velazquez at least looked good at times.

I wonder why Jacko didn't start this thread.

My first "man crush" was on Tommy Harper, while I lived just blcoks from County Stadium in Milwaukee. He was one of the first 30-30 players in MLB. When they traded him to Boston near the time we moved to Maine, I switched to being a Sox fan. (It's all his fault!) I loved Tiant, Lee, Burleson and Lynn. I was a big Cha Cha Cepeda, Oil Can Boyd, Burks and Evans fan early on, too. Tom Gordon, Greg Harris, Rich "El Guapo" Garces, Alex Gonzalez, Pedro, VTek, Mueller, Nava, Uehara Most recently, JBJ & Leon and of course, Devers.

I like Velazquez more than several players on the 40 man roster, now, but I'm not pretending to know more than the Sox brass. He still has options left, so I prefer him over Brice & Lin. I also like him more than Shawaryn and Weber, who both have multiple options remaining. I don't know enough about Phillips Valdez, Chris Mazza and Matt Hallto make a choice. I'm not complaining with this post- just mildly surprised by the choice of HV. Maybe they think he has the least chance of being picked up- due to his age, and he'll accept a minor league deal once he clears waivers.

Right after 2018. If they wait until June or July, it will be 18+ months from October/November 2018. If they wait until winter, it's 24+ months.

I like the signing way more than Buch.

Makes no sense- Henry approval or no approval. Now, if we are 5 games up in July, maybe spending could become an option, but that's a super duper long shot.

Putting it off for 18 months is what is asinine. Now, they may wait 20+ months.

If we end up going over, Bloom should be fired.

Velazquez DFA'd.

Red Sox Sign Collin McHugh https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/03/red-sox-sign-collin-mchugh.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/03/red-sox-sign-collin-mchugh.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

He's actually not as bad as many think he is, and if he's used just vs LHPs, he's pretty good. Plus, I'm thinking he might be a Bloom gem that goes on to have a career year after we get him. (This doesn't mean I want him and his contract, but if we get something else with him, he can disappoint me, and we'll still be okay.)

He's a Yankee fan and has that perspective. I don't view him as a "T".

He probably should have had the surgery at least a year ago.

Sounds right, but it seems like you only mention the gloomy possibilities when it comes to Sox injuries and rosy for Yankee players. Sometimes, it's about pain thresholds, too. Most pitchers feel some pain after every start, but they don't really have a serious issue. (I'm not saying Sale does not have a serious issue or that he is a woos, but pain is a tricky thing to gauge, at times.