moonslav59

Cracklin' Rosie

Is Tanaka going to continue as he has over 11 weeks? That was my point. It seems you only think Yankee players will return to their norm but not Sox players.

I find it funny you explain away Tanaka's troubles as "rough spot every year", but you fail to recognize JBJ's history as being very similar in those terms.

I expected to see Nunez and Holt in the OF more this year, even with Pedey on the bench. I guess trying to make JD happier is a big factor, and with Nunez's knee making him look hobbled, our hands are tied to some extent. JBJ looks to be the everyday CF'er- sink or swim. If we traded Swihart and brought up Lin, maybe we could use Holt in the OF more often, but I'm not sue if that is a net gain, unless Lin mashes at 2B. How likely is that? 2018 Innings in the OF 623 Beni 572 JBJ 478 Betts (was on DL) 257 JMart 69 Swihart 53 Holt 9 Travis 2B innings: 470 Nunez 175 Holt (should be more) 27 Pedey 15 Lin

I agree. I seriously doubt we go large anywhere. Last year, it was Fister (off waivers), Reed, Nunez and R Davis. I expect something similar to that this year, but it might just be one or two players depending on the salary costs.

ERA- is a better stat than just plain old ERA. We edge the Yanks in ERA-, but our starters have been much better.

It's our weak spot, so Jacko attacks it. I get that, but the disrespect shown towards our SP'ers is not logical. He assumes our weak hitters will continue to be weak all season, but I guess he does not assume the Yankees' starting pitchers will continue to not be anywhere near how our starters have done and presumably should continue to do by his criteria of judging our weak hitters. Here's a look at SP'er ERA- (adjusted ERA): AL Ranking: 1. Wright (10) 5. Severino (54) 9. Sale (64) 19. Sabathia (79) 21. Porcello (80) 23. ERod (81) 27. Montgomery (27) 30. Price (89) Yes, we have 5 starters in the top 30 with all being at 89 or lower. 53. Tanaka (110) 60. Gray (117) 65. German (122) 77. Pom (150) I don't see Pom starting for us in the playoffs. I do think Gray and/or Tanaka are expected to be playoff starters. Team numbers: 73 Astros 80 Guardians 83 Red Sox 90 Yankees 95 Angels 96 Twins To be fair, the Yankee pen looks mightier: 68 Astros (1.05 WHIP) 68 Yankees (1.10 WHIP) 75 Red Sox (1.21 WHIP) Overall: 71 Astros 80 Red Sox 82 Yankees

many RP'er have stretches of greatness. Not that many are consistently good like Hand. GMs know this.

I doubt anyone clicks the links. None of your words suggested the larger picture. You made your point based on 2018. I'm not doubting my offer might have been light, but Treinen will not come close to the haul of Hand, unless the money becomes a factor.

Your lineup is being carried by 1, 3, 4, 5. Your 2 slot is hitting well enough, but not compared to peers. That being said, the guy occupying it with regularity now has an OPS over .900. No moves to be made. 1-5, you have guys in your lineup OPS'ing at least .849 or higher, with 4 of those guys above .900. The 6 spot at 4th in the AL is more an indictment on the rest of the AL. 7-9 is a ghost town. You might be right about our 6 slot ranking, but although our 7-9 slots rank poorly, just how far are they from the mean or average OPS by slot? 7th slot: .603 AL mean: .672 AL avg: .680 8th slot: .562 AL mean: .611 AL avg: .657 9th slot: .671 AL mean: .617 AL avg: .620 6th slot: .756 AL mean: .711 AL avg: .711 I'm not defending a .597 OPS from our 7-9 slots, but I seriously doubt they hit near that over the rest of the season. It would be a serious dip from everyone's career numbers and last 2-3 year numbers. .597 vs this... 2016-2018: .749 JBJ .732 Nunez (with BOS) .718 Leon .682 Holt .645 Vaz None were even close to .597. .597 vs career OPS .723 Nunez .709 JBJ .697 Holt .658 Leon .639 Vaz I'm sorry, but I'm going with larger sample sizes as a predictor over a 10 week sample size. I'm not cherry-picking. I've always looked at the longer picture.

JBJ has looked lost at times, often long stretches, every season. Maybe he never gets hot. Maybe he does. Vaz and Leon are middle of the pack over-all catchers. They are below average hitters, but they get the most out of the staff. They are not weak links. 2B has looked bad, and who knows if Nunez is hurt or just sucking. Holt has buffed up over the winter, so maybe he won't fade this year. We may make a trade to beef up the bottom 3, but we may not need to. I brought up the Yankee players who are struggling to make a point. I notice you did not answer. Of course you expect the players I listed to do better-- just as I expect our strugglers to turn things around- at least some of them.

Martin sucks vs LHPs. Hundley might be a nice get, but expecting him to continue over .800 is probably unrealistic. Besides, I doubt DD sees our catchers as a weakness, and our catchers have hit pretty well recently. Our catcher OPS ranks 13th in MLB the last 30 days (5th in AL). Tied for 15th in catcher WAR, Cabrera would have to come with cash (or we'd have to dump salary elsewhere), or he'd put us over the max penalty line.

You're assuming the bottom of the order will repeat what they did in the first 10 weeks. How often does that happen? Are you projecting Sanchez to end up under .750? How about projecting Stanton to end up 80 points below his career OPS? Neil Walker at .566? Gray, Tanaka and German all to end up over 4.50? You should, if you think the Sox bottom 3-4 hitters will repeat the first 10 weeks, instead of repeating 2017 numbers. Not that those were all that great anyways, but were much better than this year, so far.

I just read your words. No mention of career disparity.

The Padres are not getting a player like Devers for Hand. BTW, I like how you always selectively choose your sample size for the maximum effect.

Fangraphs had this... Alexander Montero, RHP, Boston Red Sox (Profile) Level: Short-Season Age: 20 Org Rank: NR FV: 35+ Line: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 BB, 7 K, 1 R Montero’s presence and early success is a welcome sight for one of the worst systems in baseball. He’s a relatively projectable 20-year-old with a three-pitch mix led by a fastball that’s up to 95 mph and a diving split changeup. Montero signed late for an amateur IFA last summer, inking a deal just weeks before he turned 20. He pitched in the DSL last year and was skipped directly to the New York-Penn League this summer after finishing extended.

It hasn't always been this way with Rick. Career OPS against by inning: .734 1st .690 2nd .736 3rd .820 4th .729 5th .795 6th .688 7th .707 8th (just 133 PAs) .297 9th (just 24 PAs) 2018 .788 1st .641 2nd .622 3rd .669 4th .546 5th .606 6th .703 7th 1.167 8th (6 PAs) He's been basically lights out from innings 2-6 with the 7th not being bad at all.

Nunez might benefit by having a couple weeks off. I feel like he's been playing hurt, and maybe some time off can help him get back to close to where he was last summer.

Sweet Caroline is the anthem for soccer moms.

Give it up. We're not getting Scooter.

I totally agree. I was responding within the context of bringing him back. The july 1st date would make vesting impossible within this impossible scenario.

Our 3-6 starters have been great, and you find a way to make that look like a weakness. Sale has pitched great, and the team is 8-8 in his starts. No matter how you spin this, our starters have done a fantastic job, and you know it. Just admit it.

We're 3rd in runs scored. All teams go through slumps. We're still 3rd after this slump. That's pretty freakin' awesome.

Or just rip the bandaid off with Swihart. Trade Swi & Hembree for a better RP'er and call up Lin.

Pawtucket