moonslav59

April 4th- a day that will live in talksox infamy, as the Sox go on to win 15 in a row under the "4/4 vs Rays" thread title.

What's funny to me, is that the biggest Debbie downers are those who denied we'd have a big down turn. Maybe they are just frustrated they were so dead wrong.

They did seem to neglect drafting pitchers to some extent, but they were also God-awful bad at it, so maybe it wasn't such a bad idea in that light. Here's a summary, since 2001, of our top draft picks, in terms of pitching: 2001: our 1st pick was Lester, we then picked a pitcher in 3 of the next 5 picks (none of note) 2002: 1st pick Shoppach (only 1 of top 5 picks was a pitcher). 2003: David Murphy #1. 3 of top 6 were pitchers. 2004: Pedey. Next 4 were pitchers. 2005: Ellsbury. Next 3 of 4 were pitchers (Craih hansen, Buch & Bowden) 2006: Jason Place. Next 4 were pitchers (Masterson) 2007: LHP Nick Hagadone (traded). 2 of next 4 were pitchers. 2008: Casey Kelly (traded for AGon). 3 of next 4 pitchers (S Fife). 2009: R Fuentes (1 of top 5 was P) 2010: VTek (2 of 6 were P) 2011: Barnes (Owens 3rd) 3 of 6. 2012: Marrero. Next 8 were pitchers !!! (B Johnson, PLight, Buttrey) 2013: TBall (7th pick overall), then Stankiewicz with #45. 2 of next 3. 2014: Chavis. 3 of next 4 (Kopech-traded for Sale) 2015: Beni. 1 of top 5 (Lakins) 2016: Groome (#12). 3 of next 5 were P (S Anderson & Nogosek-traded) 2017: Houck (#24). 3 of next 5 were P. 2018: Casas. Only 2 of next 7 were p. (Ward & Feltman) 2019: Cannon. 2 of next 3 were P (Song & Zeferjahn) 2020: Yorke, then Jordan, then 5 pitchers in a row. We picked 'em; they mostly sucked.

Vaz has basically been an .800 hitter the last 2 seasons combined. This is a great start.

If Leiter is there at 4, it has to be a no-brainer. I hope we take a college player, but I trust Bloom & Co.

They've gutted their rotation several times and don't seem to miss a beat.

What a change in the attitudes of posters from 3 days ago.

Big assumption here, but assume every Sox pitcher is 100% healthy and pitching to their norm, which is tough for Richards, because his "norm" was like 6 years ago- knda the same with Eovaldi and his last full season of good pitching.) Rank our starters by how good you think they are and where they fall in our 2021 rotation. Here's my take: 1. Sale (no brainer) 2. ERod (several good seasons in a row) 3. Richards (2014-2015 version) 4. Eovaldi (2013 & 2018 versions) Could swap w Eovaldi 5. Houck (small sample size choice, here) 6T. Pivetta & Perez

I'm currently watching a training video at work with the game on a split screen with the sound turned down. I'll be back watching the game once the video is done.

You really shouldn't draft for positions of higher need, especially a HS player that is so far away, you don't know what you'll need in 4-5 years. If all things are even, I'd go pitching.

They also state and restate the painfully obvious things.

That alone, makes this something that should be repeated (like M>F, day games anyway!)

This is weird watching on youtube, but this is cool that so many can watch the game.

I'd hate to put JD at a higher risk of injury, but I do think the scenario I mentioned could happen.

I'm really not sure how much weight that holds, especially, if Casas was deemed not ML ready on defense. (We don't know this, but my guess is, he is not ready defensively.) I do know, the moved Bogey to 3B after 10 games in AAA at 3B. It might not take as long as we think to get Dvers ready to play 1B, but I agree, doing it during a season, at the ML level is highly problematic and extremely unlikely.

Interesting topic. I can see both times as being a valid starting point to the "modern era." One could also argue it all started when Henry took over, but I do think Dan Duquette brought a "modern" outlook and philosophy to a team mired in a structure that prevented real great teams built to win it all. Sure, 3 times we made it to 7 games in the WS to lose, but none of those 3 teams sustained any period of greatness before or afterwards. (Not that having sustained great teams means "modern.") Henry did make a lot of changes that can be considered "modern," but I think Dan D started it all.

I won't name the sites, but here are a few mock drafts: Kumar>Lawler>Leiter>Mayer>Watson>Davis>Frelick>House>Hogland>Fabian Kumar>Lawler>Fabian>Leiter>Mayer>McLain>Del Castillo>House>Wood>Madden Kumar>Leiter>Lawler>McLaim>Mayer>Del Castillo>Fabian>JHill>Watson>House Lawler>Kumar>Mayer>Leiter>McLain>J Hill> Fabian>Del Castillo> Madden>House Kumar>Leiter>McLain>Lawler> Hill>DelCastillo>Binelas>Fabian> House>Mayer 5 samples: 3 different players projected. Fabian available in all but one of the 5 mock drafts.

Jacko was right about one thing: the Yanks did have a deep farm, in terms of pitching. Thanks, Yanks!

I guess we are now officially over Mookie being traded. There is nothing new to say about it.

Will we keep the "4/4 vs Rays" for the next 15 games?

Thanks for this very insightful summary. It is good to see SP'ing being a major priority and focus for our farm. It seems like it's been about 40 years since we've had numerous good starters come up from the farm at about the same time.

3-2 Bal 3-2 Tor 3-2 NYY 2-3 Bos 2-3 TB Not much bragging rights for anyone.

That's what I've thought all along. There was no evidence they have worked Devers out at 1B, at all. They did move Bogey to 3B after just 10 games at 3B in AAA, but that was AAA, not the bigs. In theory, since Devers usually sucks at the plate in April, they could send him to the Alt site for a crash course at 1B, but that is not a realistic plan. We'll see how he does, this year and decide when winter comes. One possible scenario: what if we are in the race for a WC,a nd Devers is just killing us at 3B but hitting very well? Do we risk not making the playoffs by continuing playing him at 3B? Do we DH him and let JD play LF? If we can't or won't move him to 1B, mid season (and I'm not saying we should), what other options do we have for the scenario I mentioned?

96 of what, though? I'm not saying he's bad, but the right up sounds a lot like what we'd probably hear about Devers at 3B. The major problem with Devers is his throwing. As much as people don't want to believe it or agree, the guy is quick and has shown plus range for very long stretches. He'd likely have VERY plus range at 1B. He seems to have a good "glove," but scooping balls is different from fielding 1B, so your point is valid. Another thing is how far away does Sox management think Casas is? We might think June or July or a September call-up, but maybe the view him as September 2022. If that's the case, then Devers at 1B isn't stopping Casas from being promoted. Devers is a FA after 2023. We might be talking just one year log jam.

I say, if Devers is best suited for 1B, you move him there. (I'm not saying that time is now, but I can see how many feel he needs to not play 3B anymore.) If Casas proves he can play 1B well enough or better than Devers, and he's ready to be called up (maybe late 2021 at the earliest), then you deal with the log jam at that time. We also have to factor in Dalbec's abilities at 3B. If he's just barely better than Devers, what's the use? I don't want Devers learning 1B "on the job" at the big league level, and he's too good of a hitter to send down to AAA or the Alt site to learn 1B. I had hoped this would be the year Devers would show he can be at least an average 3Bman on defense. I also figured this being a bridge year and all, what's to lose. He's gotten off to a bad start, and I felt like he deserved a long look, but even I am second guessing that position.