moonslav59

Yes, we can't stop at one, and if we lose Bregman, it needs to be two that are better than Bregman.

Agreed. We can't pinpoint one reason we lost a game based on microscopic differentials.

Don't tell anyone, but Bernie Williams, Goose and Guidry.

For real. What baffles me about this is that there is no report of anyone in the organization actually asking him if he'd play 1B.

He has created consistent winner. It can't all be related to big budgets, but I do think he has not changed enough with the times, and his teams have flaws they can't ever seem to overcome. It's been over 15 years, now. Yes, they've only missed the playoffs less than a handful of times since their 2009 ring, but just one ring in 25 years, with all those trips to the post season makes you wonder what is lacking. I'm thankful he's not figured it out. I'm very thankful he's kept Boone as the manager for so long. What is it? 8 years, now?

Yes, and on so many levels. A round ball on a rounded bat. Microscopic differences can make a huge impact.

It's their career wide stats. Okay, how about when it REALY counted? World Series: .973 ARod .832 Jeter (Yes, 6 more series than Arod) ALCS: .981 ARod .751 Jeter (yes, 4 more series than ARod)

He coulda been clutch as a 2Bman. BTW.... Career Jeter .817 OPS/ .809 High Leverage/.776 Late & Close ARod: .930 OPS/ .952 High Leverage/.869 Late & Close

What if the Twins look to slash their budget? Could this work? Trade: Hicks ($12M x 2,) Duran ($8M + 2 arbs,) Rafaela ($8M x 6,) Campbell ($7.5M x 8,) Wong (3 arbs,) and prospects Holobetz, Clarke & Valera. for Pablo Lopez (owed $21.8M x 3/ $18.4 AAV,) Byron Buxton ($15.1M x 4/ $14.3 AAV,) Joe Ryan (3 arbs) and Ryan Jeffries (last arb)

Wong had hand surgery.

Man! That's some sad news.

.675 would certainly not be top or even middle tier, among SSs, but it might be enough to stick around FT. The SS OPS in 2025 was .711. Ten teams had a SS OPS of .665 or lower. Over a quarter were below .650. Of the 43 MLB SSs with 200+ PAs, 17 were below .675. More than half were under .700. If we're talking FT, let's raise the PA cutoff: 35 SSs with 350+ PAs: 15 below .700, 11 below .675 and 6 below .650. 31 SSs with 400+ PAs: 112 below .700, 9 below .675 and 5 below .650. That's nearly 1/3. I'm not sure all those 1/3 are great fielders. 8 SSs had 500+ PAs and were under .700. Six were below .675. If he was the only sub .700 batter in the line-up, okay, but its hard to win with several.

Two players who will not be getting long term deals are E Suarez and M Kelly. Both are getting old, but the Sox are a young team, even more so without Ref, Gio, Bregman, Buehler, Wilson and Matz. I'm not saying they are my favorite players, but I'm think budget. Suarez is 34. He's had some up and down seasons, so he's no sure bet big bat add, but he might be all we can expect. He's not good on defense at 3B, but maybe he can play 1B and back up 3B. His OPS+ since 2021: 82>129>103>115>126. He had 49 HRs in 2019 and again, this year and 30-31 in 3 other recent years, but he did have a 22 HR year in 2023. He may be the best we can hope for, in terms of a FA signing. Having Suarez allows us to place our bets on one of two guys staying healthy, instead of two: Mayer & Casas. Merrill Kelly turns 37, soon, but his rookie year was age 30, and he seems to be aging well. His ERA+ in the past 4 years are: 119>133>104>117. He could be a decent 2/3 slot pitcher. His 10.1 fWAR since 2022 is 35th in MLB. That's close to bassitt, Keller and Cole. Of the 51 pitchers with 500+ IP from 2022, he places 11th in ERA- at 82. That's like Verlander, Gallen and Ranger Suarez good. He's 25th in xFIP. Can he do it for 1-2 more years? If we added Suarez and Kelly, maybe we could trade Duran plus others for K Marte. Maybe we add Hicks and get Semien. Maybe we could afford to sign 3 FAs: Kelly, Suarez & Hoskins, assuming Bregman bolts.

Agreed, but you had others on the list with little or no chance of us signing with BOS.

We could think about Suarez at 1B, if Bregman stays. He wont be getting a long term deal, so that improves the odds. He could back up 3B, filling another big need, and allowing Mayer and Story to play middle IF, only. No Polanco (2.6) or Torres (2.6)? I've been talking trades for a solid #2 SP'er, but maybe we trade for... 2B: Semien (2.1) B Donovan (2.9) or K Marte (4.6) 3B: Paredes (HOU will likely trade an IF'er.) 1B: Yandy Diaz (2.9) Soderstrom (3.4) C/DH (1B?) Sean Murphy (2.0)

Crystal ball, yes, keep Devers healthy at all costs, but I think 1B is pretty safe. The previous Devers injuries and defensive shortcomings had to do with his arm and shoulder. Casas gets hurt swinging a bat or running to 1B. His risk seemed far more probable. Maybe I'm too high on Casas' bat. I was almost as gah-gah on Dalbec, but Bobby D never came near the Casas MLB OBP. Casas averages about 33 HRs per 650 from 2023-2024 while still getting on base near 36% of the time. We needed Devers AND Casas to get the power we both wanted. We ended up with neither and it hurt us. Anthony gave us a boost, but not with power, and then he got hurt.

Well, when the league norm is .720, it's pretty close. BTW, I view SS as a much more impactful position than CF. When the league norm was .740, then .675 looked god-awful. Now, most teams have 2-3 batters under .675. .675 is the "new .700."

I'll use your argument: just because you don't want as many platoons that the Sox have used, very successfully I might add, doesn't mean it was the wrong move. BTW, this point I made is moving away from a platoon. Also, I don't want Romy as our FT 2Bman. I just said, I could see the bean counters justifying not adding someone to the 2B mix, because the stats and metrics show maybe Romy can do it just well enough FT. One more point, Casas got hurt in early May, Devers was traded in early June. Romy started playing near FT in mid July, mostly because he was hitting very well and was doing well even vs RHPs. (He kinda dropped off at the end.) They tried several players before Romy and added Lowe in August, which meant no Romy at 1B vs RHPs. Romy started playing 2B vs RHPs, because DHam sucked, not because of Casas. Yes, had Mayer stayed healthy, he may not have gotten a long look, but if Bregman bolts, we may see Mayer at 3B not 2B, so we're back to the same hole at 2B.

True on maybe Devers staying healthy as a factor, but I view Casas- a potential big bat we both think the teams needed sorely and still do, is the real China doll on teh team.

Show me where I said pampering didn't happen in all sports. I gave my opinion on how best I felt the defense and DH slot should be filled. I stated that one or a major reason many of these moves are not made is based on pampering high seniority players. Of course I know just because I have an opinion it has to be the right one.

They did make a lot. Agreed.

He basically played FT the whole second half of 2025- splitting time at 2B and 1B. He hit a near league average of .718 v RHPs and had 55 more PAs vs RHPs than LHPs (.978 OPS.) He hit over .800 at home and on the road. I would not bet on it, but these guys love themselves a bargain basement player.

Imagine going into 2026 with this.... 1. Anthony LF 2. Bregman 3B 3. Devers 1B 4. Alonso DH 5.Abreu RF 6. Story SS 7. Mayer 2B 8. Narvaez C 9. Rafaela CF (If somehow we keep Duran....)

Did our great defensive 1Bmen save an inordinate amount of bad throws this year? As in more than the league wide norm?

If he's as good on D as some seem to make him out to be, maybe a .675 OPS will be the bar for him.