moonslav59

Assuming we pass on Bauer and Realmuto, who will we sign? George Springer OF 31 Marcus Stroman RHP 29 Marcell Ozuna DH/OF 30 DJ LeMahieu 2B 32 Taijuan Walker RHP 28 Masahiro Tanaka RHP 32 Robbie Ray LHP 29 Mike Minor 33 Jake Odorizzi RHP 31 James Paxton LHP 32 Joc Pederson OF 28 Michael Brantley OF 33 Justin Turner 3B 36 Tommy La Stella 2B/3B 32 Cespedes 35 or Puig 30 OF Pen: Liam Hendricks RHP 32 Blake Treinen RHP 32 Alex Colome RHP 32 Shane Greene 32 Write-in: _________________

I'm not surprised. Here's the statement: “Throughout this difficult season, Ron’s consistency and professionalism kept the environment in our clubhouse productive and gave all of our players room to grow and develop. While we believe that, moving forward, we will benefit from new leadership and new energy, that does not diminish how strongly we feel about Ron. He is a man of the highest character who cares about our players and the Red Sox organization. As bench coach, he helped this team win a world championship. As manager, he showed poise and leadership in navigating an extremely challenging year. We are grateful for all of his contributions in our uniform.”

Here's another issue: A grounder or lined shot is hit right to an infielder's feet. The ball goes under his glove. Error. A throw is made right to the 1Bman, but at his feet. The ball goes under his glove: Error on the thrower not the 1Bman.

Yes, I know the rule. It seems unfair, since many plays are not rules as errors due to the difficulty factor, but this specific play takes away all choice. I agree with your position. The scorer should be allowed to make the call.

I think the difficulty in turning to throw from 2B is why, but clearly there are some easy turns that go awry. Also, if the 1Bman drops a perfect throw after the turn, it should be an error.

He had the both of them 2 categories away from each other. I'm also not so sure about the "certainly more promising" statement, either, but he sure looked great in those 3 starts! Also, Munoz had 555 career PAs in MLB. That's about a full season. While the .723 OPS is not all that impressive, for a 2Bman, it's not bad, especially when you factor in those PAs being the first of his career. (He hit .740 in AAA with 11 Hrs in just 363 ABs. He also had 55 XBHs in just 623 PAs at AA.) Houck's minor league numbers are, perhaps, less impressive. He only had 25 IP at the AAA level (3.96 ERA and 1.320 WHIP) as almost an exclusive RP'er. In his 83 IP at AA, he was at 4.46 ERA/1.427 WHIP as a starter. I'd have put them both in the "promising" category.

I agree, and our 40 man roster, from #18-40, is about as thin as I've ever seen it. Of course, signing 22 FAs makes little sense, but I do think we may outbid other teams for top minor league/AAAA type players for depth. It's also entirely possible we start guys like Houck and Dalbec in AAA for opening day, while we let the lower to moderate FA players settle in and prove they should not be replaced. I'm not saying this will happen, but we have a lot of players with options remaining and service time aspects to the choices we will make. Even Beni & Chavis could start the season in AAA, since they have 3 options left. Pivetta is not even on the 40 man roster. Assuming Sale, Pedey and ERod begin the season on the 60 day IL, we could have 10 slots to fill via free agency: SP _________ SP Eovaldi SP _________ SP Perez SP _________ SP _________ RP _________ RP _________ RP Barnes RP D Hern RP Valdez RP _________ RP Taylor/Brasier C Vazquez, Plawecki 1B _________ 2B _________, Munoz/Arroyo 3B Devers SS Bogaerts LF Beni CF _________ RF Verdugo OF _________ DH Martinez I doubt we sign 10 notable FAs, but doing so would give us the depth we sorely need. More likely, we sign 4-6 noteworthy FAs and maybe 4-6 depth signings who have options left, which would allow us to give the best depth players (FAs and in-system) a shot at winning key slots on the 26 man roster.

Good point, but dumping Price age 34, with 3 post prime years left on his deal is different from entering a new deal that encompasses some prime years. I'm not saying I think Bloom will compete for Bauer. I don't think he will, but with a $60+M budget on his hands, for the first time in his career, we're not really sure how he will approach this FA market.

Yes, indeed, and we should be cautious about anointing Houck our 2021 ace based on 3 games sample sizes.

I get that, but you didn't answer my question. I know you have been on the side of the "cliff" being unavoidable, as I was, but I'm wondering when you expected it to arrive? To me,last year's performance and and the reset priority being known were big clues that the cliff had already arrived. Sure, without the Sale and ERod health issues, we'd have been "better," but both of them are signed through 2021 or longer, so were you thinking 2022 or 2023?

JBJ is so up and down, it's hard to determine he "has matured." He's post-prime. His defense has declined, too. Let him walk. I'm not sure we'll see Mata or Downs, next year. If we sign an OF'er or two, even Duran may not be called up until September. Also, the sample sizes of Houck and Munoz are about the same. How can one be a "clear positive" while the other is a "question mark?"

Like in DFA? Why? He has trade value, at worst. Our pen sucks, but why get rid of one of the better ones? I think he has like the 2nd or 3rd best pen WHIP and OPS against on the team, this year.

I thought he had a year left. My bad.

JBJ may end the season over .800! Vaz just went over.800. Who-da-thunk both may pass Devers in OPS tomorrow.

Houck is looking more and more legit. It's still a small sample size, but this was a good team he shut down. Who da thunk?

Jeff Samardzija released. Maybe worth a shot?

We're one of the 3 worst teams in MLB, so there is that.

DD did keep Devers and Beni.

This is what they meant by "cleared to walk:"

Bauer fits in with every team. His contract not so much.

Team ERA: 5.75 OPS Against .857 WHIP 1.617 Most PAs Against (OPS Against) 262 Perez .744 199 Eovaldi .789 177 Weber .816 143 Godley 1.037 136 Mazza .790 132 Valdez .781 122 Brewer .900 110 Brasier .696 102 Barnes .706 99 Springs .973 83 Brice .852 71 Walden 1.209 67 Kickham 1.135 67 Hart 1.222 62 Stock .826 60 Covey.799 54 Hall 1.146 40 Houck .371 40 Hembree .786 36 Taylor .861 34 D Hern .472 34 Leyer 1.473 31 Workman .683 31 Triggs .894 21 Pivetta .556 10 Tapia .786 Based on these numbers and my own opinion, I'd think of giving only these pitchers serious consideration for being a meaningful part of the 2021 pitching staff: (Sale & ERod) Perez Eovaldi Weber Mazza Valdez Brasier Barnes Houck DHern Taylor Pivetta Borderline: Brewer Walden Covey Tapia Bye-bye: Godley Springs Brice Kickham Hart Stock Hall Lever Triggs

These are staggeringly horrific numbers: SOX WHIP SP'ers: 1.579 RP'ers: 1.649 ERA: 5.51 SP 5.94 RP OPS Against .871 SP .846 RP OPS Against by RP'ers with the most PAs Against: .781 Valdez (132 PAs Against) .687 Brasier (105) .706 Barnes (102) .973 Springs (99) .579 Weber (86) .884 Brice (77) 1.209 Walden (71) .815 Osich (62) .826 Stock (62) .799 Covey (60) .756 Brewer (51) 1.269 Hembree (40) .861 Hall (40) .861 Taylor (36) .472 D Hern (34) 1.075 Kickham (34) .683 Workman (31) .519 Mazza (29) 1.621 Leyer (29) SP'ers .744 Perez (262) .789 Eovaldi (199) 1.112 Godley (127) .861 Mazza (107) 1.056 Weber (91) 1.005 Brewer (71) 1.128 Hart (54) .371 Houck (40) 1.194 Kickham (33) .556 Pivetta (21)

Getting a mediocre closer won't help much. Trading for a very good, low cost closer will be costly. Barnes has one year left and is pretty iffy as a closer. What do suggest we do?

When did you think "the cliff" was going to start? 2021? 2022?

I'm sure there are many.