moonslav59

Me, too. My point was about this likely being JBJ's last year, so why not look at some possible role players for next year (I hope not GH!).

Nope on DD for 2020.

Rule 5 Players This Year Christopher Acosta Fabian Andrade Yoan Aybar Roldani Baldwin Eduard Bazardo Gary Calvo Marino Campana Pedro Castellanos Rusney Castillo CJ Chatham Jake Cosart Ricardo Cubillan Bobby Dalbec Enmanuel De Jesus Chad De La Guerra Jhonathan Diaz Jerry Downs Devon Fisher Matthew Gorst Kyle Hart Trenton Kemp Matt Kent Adam Lau Nick Lovullo Everlouis Lozada Tate Matheny Samuel Miranda Oddanier Mosqueda Josh Ockimey Angel Padron Yorvin Pantoja Keibert Petit Roniel Raudes Austin Rei Hildemaro Requena Jeremy Rivera Kleiber Rodriguez Jake Romanski Jagger Rusconi Alberto Schmidt Andrew Schwaab Nick Sciortino Kevin Steen Cole Sturgeon Kervin Suarez Luke Tendler Josh Tobias Marcus Wilson Minor League Free Agents Victor Acosta Cody Asche Trey Ball Bryce Brentz Edgar Corcino Keith Curcio Joey Curletta Anyelo Gomez Daniel Gonzalez Oscar Hernandez Dedgar Jimenez Tommy Joseph Kevin Lenik Robinson Leyer Deiner Lopez Isaias Lucena Austin Maddox Daniel McGrath Jenrry Mejia Joseph Monge Jhon Nunez Zach Putnam Erasmo Ramirez Tony Renda Teddy Stankiewicz Domingo Tapia Dylan Thompson Konner Wade Jordan Weems Tom Windle Jantzen Witte

We're going to be adding Dalbec before the rule 5 deadline. I'd like to see him this year, but if it takes away a year of control, then no.

We won't come close to passing even 1 team ahead of us. Two was a pipe dream.

Nope & nope. Reset in 2020!

They don't call 'em "pin stripes" for nothing. Each stripe has tiny needles to deliver the juice.

Apparently, 31 is only old, if it's a Sox player. This "kid" has never pitched over 161 innings, and he's about to turn 31. He won't pitch 150 this year. Somehow, he's going to magically get better and stronger as he ages.

Oh, so now you "inject" one month sample sizes. No, it was Sale-Price-Eo over Happ, Tana & Pax not Sevy or German or "anything you had." If you want to go 1 by 1: Sale> Pax Price> Tan (close) Eo=Happ

The funny thing is, even with less innings, they do have better WARs! Yes, I injected ERod and German and Sevy, but I'll stick to the Sale+Price+Eovaldi>Tanaka+Paxton+Happ in 2020 position. I know I'm putting a lot of faith in their health, and all 3 have "issues", but so do your 3.

I guess he's getting a long look at our marginal pen arms for 2020. That's about it. Marco & Travis should be playing nearly everyday. Let's see what Centeno, Dalbec and maybe even Ockimey or Chatham have. Let DHern go a few more innings deep.

The fat lady was singing after the sweeps to the Yanks and Rays weeks and weeks ago. Take off the ear plugs, my friend!

Paxton is getting better? Lights out stuff? Like Sale, ERod and Price don't have lights out stuff? Look at the K rates and xFIP. Paxton turns 31 next month, has still never pitched over 161 innings and won't this year either and has seen these numbers decline (somehow, I know if he was a Sox pitcher, you'd be pointing out his age, his lack of durability and decline): WAR 4.4 '17 3.7 '18 2.9 '19 (should go up some but not to 3.7) xFIP 3.25 '17 3.02 '18 3.92 '19 ERA- 71 92 90 ERA+ 140 108 106 K/9 10.3 11.7 11.5 You see improvement: I see decline and age and lack of durability. Things you only see in Sox pitchers.

And yet with the limited injuries, Price or Sale or both ended up with better ERA-, xFIP and WAR. Who's kidding who? (Remember, German & ERod were not part of the equation, but they are listed below) 2019: WAR 3.6 Sale 2.9 Paxton 2.9 Tanaka 2.6 ERod 2.3 Price 1.7 German 1.0 Happ ERA- 79 ERod 89 Price 90 Paxton 91 Sale 91 German 96 Tanaka 111 Happ xFIP 2.93 Sale 3.73 Price 3.92 Paxton 4.19 German 4.30 ERod 4.32 Tanaka 4.84 Happ K/9 13.3 Sale (Best ever and while injured) 11.5 Paxton 10.7 Price 9.6 German 8.8 ERod 7.6 Happ 7.3 Tanaka I've admitted health is a huge concern, as it is with Sevy, Paxton and Tanaka, but even with our top 3 having "down years," they still did better than yours. Expecting down years again may turn out right, but I like our odds better on the rotation ONLY. Plus, even if they have down seasons, they may still end up better, AGAIN!

Top AL WAR Players Sox 3. Bogey 6.4 4T. Betts 5.7 7T. Devers 5.5 25. JD M 3.2 T38. Vaz 2.8 T43. Beni 2.6 3 in top 7, 4 in top 25 and 6 in top 43. Astros 2. Bregman 6.8 6. Springer 5.6 (just 486 PAs) 10. Brantley 4.5 24. Gurriel 3.3 31. Alruve 3.0 (475) 34. Correa 3.0 (310) 39. Alvarez 2.8 (293!) 3 in top 10, 4 in top 25 and 7 in top 39. Without the injuries, maybe 7 in top 25. Yanks 9. LeMahieu 4.9 18. Torres 3.5 19. Judge 3.5 (just 374 PAs) 26. Gardner 3.2 (471) 47. Sanchez (423) 1 in top 10, 3 in top 25 and 5 in the top 50. Many injuries held many down. AL Pitching (Lance Lynn #1 at 5.9!!!) Sox T8 Sale 3.6 23. ERod 2.6 27. Price 2.3 40. Workman 1.7 46. Cashner 1.6 (2 teams) 3 in top 27 Astros 2. Cole 5.6 4. Verlander 5.2 (Greinke 2 leagues 4.4 would be 6th in AL) 34. Miley 1.9 3 in top 6! Yanks 16. Paxton 2.9 19. Tanaka 2.9 31. Chapman 2.0 42. German 1.7 2 in top 20.

Nice to see Salem & Lowell have had nice seasons. I know wins and losses mean little on the farm, but some of our kids are stepping up and looking pretty good. Minor Stats: 160+ PAs OPS .980 Owings .943 Corcino .905 de la Guerra .863 Jimenez .847 Wilson .832 Casas .817 Dalbec .813 Ockimey .813 Tobias .800 Belen .799 Decker .794 Travis .787 Cottam .778 Duran HRs 27 Dalbec (21 2B+3B in 471 ABs) 25 Ockimey (19 in 376) 20 Casas (31 in 428) 18 Brentz (17 in 310) 17 Castillo (26 in 460) OPS Against (100+ IP) .562 McGrath .583 Ward .651 Mata .651 K Wade .678 K Hart .686 Haworth .691 Reyes .691 J Diaz (not counting today's 6 IP 0 ER 2 H 3 BB) .724 Houck

NO! According to the non homer Yankee fan, jacko, Happ comes on at the end of the year, and inconsistency and age do not count for Yankee pitchers.

It's funny how Sale's injury means he's toast, but Severino is expected to be great next year. Sale still had one of the best xFIPs in MLB, this year. If he didn't have such horrible run support, we'd not be so down on him. He still has almost the same IP'd this year as "inning eater" Porcello. Yes, Price and Eovaldi are huge question marks, but both are not so old that they can't still have some great years in them. ERod is stepping up and could get even better. No doubt, 3 of our starters had down years, but there's no reason to think all 3 will repeat the 2019 season in 2020. Happ will turn 38 next fall. His ERA+ has gone 134>127>116>83. Paxton turns 32 next November (140>108>107) and has yet to pitch over 161 IP. Tanaka turns 32 next November (140>95>112>100) and hasn't been over 179 IP since '16. Severino will likely be a beats, if he can get healthy. Sox: Sale will turn 31 early next year and has missed time for 2 straight years, but his numbers are still better than the first 3 on list above (121>157>209>110). He's got just about the best K/9 and K/BB in MLB history. Price will turn 35 next year, and doesn't look like Justin Verlander. I get that. He did come up with some money games less than a year ago. His ERA+ has been better than the 3 on the Yankee list: 164>112>135>123>113. His K rate has been better than his career 8.8 all 4 years in Boston. (Career high, this year, at 10.7) Eovaldi is a stretch, I admit. His first full season, like Paxton, will be his first. (112>84), Career K/9 is 6.9. 2019: 9.1. It's all about health. ERod has become the horse we hoped he'd be. He turns 27 next year- peak prime. (95>109>116>127: constant improvement) He's on pace for 190+ IP. I know I'm a homer, but thinking that all 3 starters with down years will continue being down is Yankee homerism.

You'd take Tanaka (4.42), Happ (5.34) and Paxton (4.16)? And, I'm the "homer?" I did not say I'd take any one of our SP'ers over yours, I said those 3 vs your 3. (Add ERod and Severino and I'll take our 4 over your 4.) Stick to gloating over your pen, where your top 3 are all over 31. Look, you guys have a better farm. You have a better 25, this year. You have a better team, on paper, than us next year. I'm not talking about 2020, except for our rotation over yours. Let's see how your vaunted rebuild works out. My guess is, after you lose to the Astros, you'll be roasting Cashman for not getting SP'er help at the deadline. There are times when strategic spending, even known to be overpays, are needed to get you over the top. The "drunken" Price & JD signings won us a ring. Maybe the "drunken" Sale, Bogey and pending Betts signing maybe will in 2021 or 2022. If not, maybe we retool for 2023 or 2024. Spending big helps.

This playing it halfway solves nothing.

We'll see.

Jhonathan Diaz pitched a gem for Salem ( 6 IP 0 ER 2 H 3 BB 8 Ks), and the team came back to score 3 in the 9th to tie the game, but they lost in 10. Casas went 2-5.

Tearing down is not the only way to get back to the top. We won on 2004, 2007, 2013 and 2018 without any total tear downs. Yes, we had the Dodger dump. Yes, we had the rotation sell off of Lester, Lackey, Peavy & Doubront. Yes, we had some decent farm systems here and there, and I know it's harder to rebuild the farm, these days, when you keep winning and spending like we have, but if Henry is willing to spend near or over the max line from time to time, or most of the time, we can get back to the top quicker than teams unwilling to do so.

1) You guys haven't won crap, yet, so it's kind of comical you use your team as an example on how to rebuild. Like it's the only way to rebuild! 2) You want to believe Sale is toast, Price is done and Eovaldi will never be healthy. You may end up being right, but they are better than your top 3 going into next year, and I'm not even counting ERod in the mix. 3) We have a solid young core, still, and if we keep Betts, we'd have him, Devers, Bogey, Beni and Vaz. 4) We have something your owner doesn't have, the willingness to spend to win. 5) We have a much better manager than your team. Yes, we have current budget issues and a low ranked farm. When I mentioned drafting well and signing international FAs well in the next two years, I didn't mean it as something that was going to help us in 2021 or 2022. I doubt even 2023, but building it back up might help us win in 5 years- hence my liking to win every 3-5 years. If we reset in 2020 and spend near or over the max line in 2021, it is certainly not "almost impossible" to imagine a team that could be a top contender. I didn't say we would be. I didn't say it would be easy. I actually said almost every move we make going forward will have to work for us to be back on top by 2021, but that is far from impossible. More likely, we may be able to be back on top after Pedey's deal runs out and we're looking at the final years of Price, JD, Vaz, Eovaldi and JD (if he doesn't opt out by then). If we can't win in 2021 or 2022, we'll have a boatload of money to spend in 2023, and hopefully some infusion from the farm that we had improved from 2020-2021.

It will be tough, but the wait could be shorter than you hope. Reset in 2020. Extend Betts for 2021. Draft well in 2020 and 2021. Do well with international signings. Be careful with any other 2+ year big contracts. We may need all of the above to go right, and that is very hard to do, but we still have a solid core of young players and an owner that is willing to spend VERY BIG to win. It may take longer than 1 or 2 years, but I'm fine with a ring every 3-5 years.