moonslav59

Because they are worried, they are pampering him. There should be no issues with this strategy, IMO.

Rick has been a bit up and down over the last 5-6 years, but if you take out his Cy Young season, his fWAR has been between 1.7 and 3.0 every season. He's actually one of the most consistent performers in all of baseball, by seasons. He's on pace for about a 2.3 WAR, this year. This is largely driven by maxing out IP's almost every year. fWAR loves IP'd. His issue this year is a Dr. Jekyl & Mr. Hide syndrome. He's been about as inconsistent as he's probably ever been. 11.12 ERA his first 3 games 2.45 his next 4 games 4.62 the next 6 games 1.32 the next 2 games 12.75 his last 3 games Or, breaking it down another way: 11.12 his first 3 games, 12.75 his last 3 games and 3.30 the 12 games in between. When you look at from the second perspective, it looks like he's been fine for 12 games and has just had two really bad 3 game stretches. It give you hope he can have 12 game stretches of better than decent pitching, but it just doesn't feel that way right now, while he's in the midst of a horrible 3 game stretch.

I'm fine with the idea of pampering our SP'ers earlier in the season, so they can be fresher and stronger when you need them most, which is usually around now or a bit later in the season. Considering our place in the standings, I'd think now is the time to unleash our starters, especially when we play a contender by allowing them to go another inning deeper than we have been doing. This could also take a lot of pressure off our overused and struggling-to-stay-above-water pen. (I trust Sox management to know Price's limits.)

BR has 74 IP as a starter and 2 IP as a RP'erfor German. Fangraphs is always messed up in this area.

In a sense, we also added Hembree to our more recently troubled pen. Maybe they do think Eovaldi, Wright and Hembree is all the pen needs and they'll focus all their resources on a 5th starter. Could happen. If it were me, I'd stick with Velazquez/Johnson as my #5, trade for a solid closer, and use Eovaldi like the Andrew Miller of old. Having Eovaldi and Wright able to go 2 IP, if needed, would take an enormous strain off the rest of the pen and may allow guys like Workman, Hembree, Barnes and Brasier to thrive in less high leverage situations while being used less often.

It may not be all that objective, but they have been pretty good with their rankings when separating prospects by value. Also, the bias for Sox players in general should not sway them to give Dalbec the Defensive Player of the Year Award, if he wasn't at least a good defender among a system possible lacking one great defender. Their scouting reports often mention weak areas or give coded messages like "this player will likely be moved to 1B."

It's an insult only if some other GM offers him $15M or more a year, which they might. Probably the best way to handle Porcello, without insulting him, is to offer him a QO, but I'm not sure I'd want him back at close to $19M/1, since I'm thinking my to offer is $20M/2.

These games will be very significant. Each game against a contender amounts to a two game swing. If I had to guess, and I haven't been right all that much at this, I'm thinking we got at least 6-5. I guess we could go 5-6 or even 4-7 and win just about every other game and still be "in it," but beating our competition is the best way to gain vital ground. Another way to look at it is that we need to hammer the Rays and not lose ground to the Rays when we play the Yanks. 5 of the 14 games you mention come after the trade deadline. Here is alook at the games played before the deadline: BOS: 3 v LAD 4 v TOR 3@ BAL 3@ TBR 4 v NYY 2 v TBR TBR 4@ BAL 4@ NYY 3v CWS 3v BOS 2@ TOR 2@ BOS CLE 3v MN 4v DET 3v KC 3@ TOR 4@ KC 2v HOU NYY 3v TOR 4v TBR 3v COL 3@ MN 4@ BOS 2v AZ It won't be easy, but I think we can gain a lot of ground on the Yanks and TBR, if we can keep playing well.

I'm not saying many people saw the exact path Kyrie was taking, but I remember many questioning his choices and attitude while with the Cavs. As a Bucks fan, I remember thinking, I'm glad we didn't trade for him when the trade was announced. He wasn't a "team player" with the Cavs. It's not "hindsight."

Complete confidence in the greatest pen the Sox have ever had!

It seems like Price is on a 100 pitch count, and others around 110-115. I don't think anyone has given a reason for the kid gloves with Price.

He may be in the mix, but at this point, I wouldn't count on him to fill any meaningful role next year. (I may feel much differently, if he keeps doing well the rest of the way.

My guess is we roll the dice at 1B and 2B with in system options. 1B: Chavis, Dalbec or maybe a surprise from Ockimey. 2B: Chavis, Hernandez, Lin, Chatham (maybe Holt comes back) All our available financial resources (the number depends on which tax threshold we decide to stay under) should be spent on pitching, pitching and pitching.

I'm way far away from your suggested offer, and what some GM will likely off him. I might offer $18M/2 with an $8M option 3rd year and a $2M buyout, so essentially $20M/2 tops.

Chances are we can only afford one solid acquisition or two decent ones. I'd go closer and set-up, unless Eovaldi is looking strong by the deadline.

I like the idea, too, but if he's healthy next spring, I may plan to have him as the 4th starter. We can't afford to replace Porcello with a cheap FA.

He did say "could."

or continue the run we are on. We've won 3 straight and 14 out of 21. (3 of those 7 losses were by 1 run, and even in the Yankee games, we had our chances.)

They haven't been hiding him. He's been injured. He had shoulder surgery and then a major setback during rehab. I had always been high on Marco, but after so many injuries and setbacks, even I gave up on him. I'm glad to see him doing well out of the gate. He's a better fielder than what we have, which may not be saying much. His offense has shown promise, but he's had some bad numbers, too. I'm pulling hard for him. I, too, like the way he plays the game.

Clearly WTF management!

Of course it will come down to the comps and costs of who is available. Who knows, we may even decide to fill the 5 slot from within the system, assuming we have faith in Eovaldi being a starter in 2020. Johnson Wright Velazquez DHern Shawaryn Fill in the blank _____ We'll have a limited budget and many holes to fill: 1B 2B Closer Set-up 5th Starter OF depth SP'er depth

I don't disagree, but the AL has more exciting teams while the NL is wallowing in mediocrity.

We're 2.5 down on TB ( 2 in the loss column) We're 2 down from CLE (3 in the loss column) Only 2 NL teams have a better winning% than the Sox.

True, but he was on the IL and by the process of elimination, he's the only one left. He also pitched the 9th 2 games ago, but it wasn't a save situation by 1 run.

If you really think errors tells the whole story on defense, then you are right, there's no sense bringing this up again. Here's what soxprospects has to say (not that they are the top scouting experts around): Dalbec: Field: Hands work well and footwork is usually reliable. A little stiff and has some trouble getting down on ground balls when charging the ball. Doesn't have great range, but makes up for that somewhat with his length, allowing him to cover more ground than his feet would normally allow. Has made great strides since he joined the Red Sox and now projects as an above-average defender at third base. Arm: Plus-plus arm strength. Touched the mid-90s off the mound in college. Plenty of arm for third base, able to make all the throws including balls fielded on the foul line...has the potential to become an everyday regular at third base with good defense. Plus, there is this to ponder... Red Sox Minor League Defensive Player of the Year (2018) Chavis: Field: Not the most fluid defender. Footwork is choppy and lets the ball play him at times. Hands work and has average range in the field. Has more range to his glove side than when going to his right. Has the raw tools to be at least a fringe-average defender. Started playing first base in the 2017 Arizona Fall League and second base during Spring Training 2019. Played shortstop initially after signing, but was moved off the position to third base very soon thereafter. Arm: Above-average arm, able to make all the throws from third base, including deep against the foul line. Accuracy suffers at times due to sloppy footwork...Needs to make major strides defensively