moonslav59

I think the whole "were better on paper" argument was faulty. We won 108 games. It wasn't luck. It wasn't by mistake. On paper, our catchers looked like the worst in MLB. That is so far from the truth, it makes me laugh. (And this from a "numbers guy".) On paper, JBJ was just a 2.8 WAR guy. His weak start at the plate muddied the numbers. On paper, Pearce is just a role player. Holt is just a sub. Our pen is weak beyond Kimbrel. Price wilts under pressure. Verlander and Severino are Gods. Many of us knew better. We won 108 games and lost just 54. In the playoffs, versus tougher opponents, we are now 7 and 2. There should be no surprises here.

One could argue playing the Yankees, Astros and Dodgers is the hardest path to a World Series ring in the history of MLB.

He sure did. While papi got much of the glory, and well-deserved I might add, Manny set the table for many of those moments- some with BBs, some with hits, some with earlier RBIs that allowed Papi's hit to be the game winner. No Manny- No Rings in '04 or '07.

The fact that so many put Cora ahead of Tito is pretty funny. I count one: me. I understand the love for Tito, and he is deserving of the support he has gotten. I get the longevity argument. I get the total rings argument. I also look at several missed playoffs, early exits and let downs with some damn good teams led by great starters. I think it's "funny" how Ben is always roasted for trading away a top rotation, but Tito was not blamed for not being able to win with them. He gets credit for winning the two rings but not for the other seasons. I know I'm the champion of not using small sample sizes, so my position seems contradicting, but in my opinion, Cora is the best manager I've ever seen the Sox have. Yes, it's a small sample size, and my opinion might change after he's had a couple poor or under performing seasons, but he hasn't had any, yet. I'm going by the totality of their work-- the good and the bad and the ugly. Cora has no ugly. Cora has no bad. True, Cora has no rings either, but from what I've seen him do, he's the best. Tito is a close second, and I'm okay with seeing him as #1. Dick Williams and Bill Carrigan are 3rd/4th.

Well said. I was going to mention the depth behind Devers, but my gut was telling me it was not all that productive, but you are right. It remained good enough until Devers was ready to take it back. Also, Holt not only did very well, this was probably his best year, ever, including his all star season. Pearce has been a fantastic bench piece. Moreland and Vaz seem to be returning to what they already have shown they can be. To me, only Nunez and Swihart (non-pitchers) appear to be "let downs" over our pre-season expectations.

Sometimes it seems like the team that comes close the year before makes the next step and wins it all the next year. I don't think this will be the case this year. The Dodgers are a solid team. They have some top SP'ers and a bunch of hitters over .800 this year. I think we are better. The best team's don't always win, but I think we not only have the better team, but the intangibles are on our side as well.

Yes, but he also has created a sense of urgency and what I call "fire & desire." He's helped create an atmosphere where everyone feels like they belong and have a defined, important and known role in our winning. Bone head mistakes went way down. Same players- way less mistakes. Defense improved. Base running improved. We led the league in runs scored. Our pen over-performed. Despite 38 starts from our starter depth, we held our own in that area as well. Adding Eovaldi, Pearce and Kinsler brought stability and made Cora's job a lot easier. DD may have gone a bit too far in trading future assets to get what we have now, but clearly he has built a team ready and able to win it all. I'm extremely thankful to DD for this, and I am still thrilled he added Cora to the team.

This is the window DD built. It is the best chance we have to win a ring. We can be highly competitive through next year and maybe 2020, if we keep spending near the max limit. I'm fine with what DD has done. I'm hopeful we get the ring(s) we built the team for.

Nunez is on the roster. They have him at $4M, but he's actually getting $5M due to his PA bonus kicking in. Sale's contract is not included.

You've been saying the Sox aren't deep all year, and yet our replacement players subs and bottom of the order guys have carried us time and time again. We got 38 starts from pitchers not named Sale, Price, Porcello, ERod & Pom. 9-4 Johnson 6-6 Eovaldi (not counting the playoffs) 5-3 Velazquez 3-1 Wright Our pen was strongly bolstered by Brasier. Pen depth Relief IP/ ERA 54.2 Velazquez 2.63 41.1 Workman 3.27 38.2 Johnson 4.19 33.2 Brasier 1.60 29.2 Wright 1.52 22.1 Poyner 3,22 14.2 Walden 3.68 (All not viewed as significant pen pieces on opening day.) On the everyday side of the ledger: Let's not forget that Moreland started the year as a sub- not even a platoon player. We also picked up Pearce. Our catcher depth was fantastic on defense- all that reallymatters. Pedey was out pretty much all year. .774 Holt .744 Lin .677 Nunez .604 Kinsler (stabilized the defense) Our line-up balance might not lead the league, but they have pulled their weight. I'm glad teams keep underestimating our role players and bottom of the order hitters. JBJ, Holt and Pearce keep on producing. Now, even Vaz is hitting.

Prepare to be stunned.

It does show it was more about the money than a desire to play a game he loves.

My guess is Mookie starts one game at 2B, JBJ sits one game and Beni sits one vs a lefty. We'll have a hell of a PH'er on the bench those games.

Brasier, Barnes, Kelly & Hembree with 22.1 IP and 2 ER. 0.81 ERA

Sox 2018 Playoff OPS Leaders: 1.145 Holt 1.101 Moreland .946 Martinez .909 Devers .853 Bradley .810 Pearce .730 Bogaerts .670 Vazquez .655 Kinsler .625 Benintendi .578 Betts .528 Nunez .000 Leon & Swihart Pitching IP/ERA 14.1 Eovaldi 1.88 12.1 Price 5.11 10.2 Porcello 4.22 10.1 Sale 3.48 7.0 Brasier 0.00 6.1 Kimbrel 7.11 6.1 Barnes 1.42 5.1 Kelly 1.69 3.2 Hembree 0.00 3.2 Rodriguez 7.36 1.0 Workman 45.0

No love for Bill Carrigan. Never had a team with less than 91 wins in seasons 151-154 games long. World series wins in 67% of his seasons as manager.

They would not have put a shift on Rod.

The longest thread in the history of BDC was one I started called, "No Manny- No Rings".

Read the post I responded to. It was about the sick and lying Clemens.

It is a pitcher's park, but your point is well-taken.

The perfect balance.

1. Cora 2. Tito 3. Dick Williams

I'm fine with whatever Cora chooses to do. I doubt anyone sits all 3 games. Yes, losing Betts' defense would hurt, but so would losing JBJ's. It's hard to see any choice as being clear.

Unbelievable.

I have no issues with the shift. I do have issues with players who fail to adjust or even try to adjust. I think, over time, players will learn ways to beat the shift, and maybe change the way they are defensed. Plus, they used a shift on Ted Williams, so it's not like it's brand new.