moonslav59

I'm not. I'm depending on them holding the fort until Wright, Pom and ERod return. If it looks like 2 or those 3 will not return, then I go looking. I'm not sure we know enough now to do that. We have limited trade resources. If we can find a starter for cheap, I'm all for it, but good ones aren't cheap. I still think building the pen is our number one priority.

Holt worked out heavily this past off season and added bulk. It may have helped him build stamina. I've been suggesting we trade Holt for years, but he's earning his right to continue playing a lot and to show the endurance question has been solved. It's nice to have Phillips as depth, but I'm thinking we should keep things as is, for now.

Next, you'll be proclaiming that "real men use Viagra."

Johnson's doing fine. We have Velazquez ready when needed, and Wright should be back soon. I'd wait until nearer the deadline to see how things are looking. (There's also waiver wire deals, if needed.)

I would not even think of moving Betts to 2B, if Nunez and Holt both got hurt and Pedey does not come back, but it wouldn't be Swihart getting more ABs. It would likely be Moreland & Pearce playing FT and not platooning at 1B with guys like Nunez or Holt getting some time at DH or spelling people while they DH. I hate the idea.

Far, far from the truth.

Holt did, too.

I haven't experienced those bad things, but I'll watch where I walk. I'm loving the crepes and other fine foods. We're off to cruise the Ile d'Orleans today in the misty rain. Weather has been perfect every other day.

If you had to assign a percent to each of the factors listed, what would they be? 1. Better health (We had a lot of players playing while hurt last year, especially Betts, Bogey & Moreland.) 2. Players getting closer to prime or with one more year of added experience (Beni, Betts, Bogey). 3. New coaching and manager. 4. JD added into the line-up. 5. JD added as mentor and coach. 6. Osmosis (Players just seem to do better when everyone else around them is doing better.) 7. Other (Please clarify) Without putting a ton of thought into it, I'd go this way: 25% Better health 24% Age/prime year progression 23% New coaching & manager 22% JD's presence (I combined 4 & 5) 6% Osmosis

2019 could be the last "window" season. I'm not sure leaving the closing role to Kelly/Thornburg/Buttrey and others is the way to go. Maybe we can find a decent bridge closer. I would not pay Kimbrel $20M. That's about 1/10 to 1/11th of the luxury tax budget amount. It's a major area of concern going forward. Losing HRam and Pom's contracts might help a little, but the arb contracts will see significant upticks next year.

Last night... AAA Butler HR'd (4th) Olt his his 11th Scott pitched 2 innings with 1H 0ER 0BB 3K AA Trey Ball 1.2 IP 9H 8ER 0BB 1 K Kyle Hart 4 IP 9H 8ER 3BB 1 K Ouch! A+ Dalbec 2 for 4 with a 2B. Jake Thompson 6 IP 4H 2ER 1BB 2K

...until this fall.

I always thought all forms of coffee were for wimps. Can't people wake up on their own? Like real men?

Good point. I will add, Bogey has been "mediocre" for years according to UZR/150 but horrible according to DRS.

Ditto.

Bogey is not the fielder Machado is, but he seems to be headed towards some serious cash.

That's probably a better question to ask with a follow up of, "How much more have they improved from 2017, because of JD?" (if any) Some seem to think it is the "Papi effect." I'm not sure Papi had hitters emulating him or his style, or that he helped others in a hitting coach way all that much (more, less or the same as JD?) Some felt his "protection was the main reason others did better, and his drop off after losing Manny added some evidence to this claim (although JBay did pretty darn well for a year and a half.) It's hard to assign percentages to all the factors involved in the turn around of almost all our players not named Vazquez. I was positive most would have better seasons before we even signed JD. These are probably the biggest factors in my view (not in any order of influence: 1. Better health (We had a lot of players playing while hurt last year, especially Betts, Bogey & Moreland.) 2. Players getting closer to prime or with one more year of added experience (Beni, Betts, Bogey). 3. New coaching and manager. 4. JD added into the line-up. 5. JD added as mentor and coach. 6. Osmosis (Players just seem to do better when everyone else around them is doing better.) 7. Voodoo magic (Just kidding.)

On another note.... My family and I are in Quebec City and will be off to Montreal soon, then back to Maine for a few days more. Beautiful city. Reminds me of Paris. Have a great break everyone!

Complete quiet the rest of the season.

With no games being played and nothing new to talk about, things are getting off on tangents. How about our Sox? 38 games over .500 at the all star break. No Sox team has done that, EVAH! Can the nay-sayers finally take a break?

JD is doing worse than last year, Stats prove Cora's influence is bad. Cora sucks. (Just kidding.)

Yesterday, BJ would have made it 5 innings had the guy who homered off him wasn't coming up next.

Great point, and if you watched the play yesterday, ERod was way off the mound towards 3B and leaning that way, when he had to change momentum and run to 1B. Yes, other lefties are able to cover better than ERod and Pom, but it's not an easy thing to do. I hope Cora has been addressing this issue.

I see your point and feel that way a lot myself, but I guess I feel that since the teams assembled before the 2012, 2014 and 2015 seasons looked competitive, although maybe not highly competitive, I wasn't so much in blame the GM mode, when things went south so soon (or not so soon as with 2012). I've said Ben deserves a big chunk of the blame for those 3 horrific seasons, but I guess I view his overall job differently. As for looking forward, to me, that also includes the GM building a farm that will keep us in it every year going forward. I think Ben did a great job in that area, so that helps balance the bad years he was part of.

Not that these tiny sample sizes mean much, but here are the run totals in games JD has not played: 7 (Apr 2) 7 (Apr 20) 1 (May 27) 0 (June 8) 4 (July 2) 19 runs in 5 games= 3.8 per game. I'm convinced JD has made a significant impact on the hitters around him in the line-up. I'm not sure if it's more than all the other factors combined, like new coaches & managers and improved health by several hitters like Betts, Bogey $ Moreland, but I do think it mattered. If you look at Betts, Bogey & Moreland last year, they all seemed to be doing very well before their injuries. Beni has taken off. One could argue he's a year older and wiser, but JD's influence seems to have made a major impact on his performance. One could also look at Betts and Boegy when Papi was still here mashing. They had some down periods then as well, so it wasn't just 2017. Is Betts' .812 and .803 OPS with Papi all that much better than the .803 in 2017 without Papi? Bogey had worse years when Papi was here. He was at .660 in 2014 and not much better than 2017 (.746) in the two years prior (.776 and .802). Certainly, one could argue his injuries were enough to drop him from .776 and .802 to .746. I've never been a big believer in a great hitter having a major impact on improving those around him, but I'm thinking it matters more than I previously believed it did.