moonslav59

Replacing what Pom has given us this year will be easy. It's addition by subtraction. Replacing Kimbrel, Kelly, Eovaldi & Pearce will be harder. Yes, 2B is a concern, but I would not be surprised, if we wait to do anything at 2B until we see how Pedey and Nunez are doing healthwise. Maybe make a deadline deal.

If Sale can continue pitching like he did his last start, maybe he should get 10 days off between every start. Seriously though, get this guy as much rest as he needs. He's a machine out there, when healthy.

Yes, JBJ had great "protection" when he was at .510, too.

So are they! The A's were 9-10 when they took 2 of 3 from us at home. They went 8-10 after beating us. They then took 2 of 3 from us at Fenway in May. They finished May 8-6 after beating us. They were a near .500 team when the beat us twice. We were 16-2 when we arrived in Oakland in May. I think we went 10-8 between the two series. I think the A's have the second best record since May 31st at 46-21. We are best at 49-19. However, look at the two records since June 16th: 40-11 BOS 40-13 A's One could argue that over the most recent third of a season, we have played about the same great ball as each other.

Losing Kimbrel & Kelly makes getting a top RP'er a higher priority than 2B, where we will have Nunez, Holt, Hernandez, Lin and maybe Quiroz in the mix. While this pen might not be bad, it probably won't be top 10 or 15: Thornburg Smith Barnes Braiser Hembree Workman 2 from Wright/Johnson/Velazquez (assuming the rotation is 100% healthy) Scott/Poyner/Walden/Maddox Haley/Shawaryn/Cuevas/Shepherd/D Hernandez Houck/Feltman/Lakins

That too. UZR/150 2008-2014 +2.3 (+6.0 in 2014)

Dalbec with 2 dbls and an RBI. Kent 6.2 IP 0 ER 2H 4 BB Alex Scherff 4 IP1 ER 2H 0 BB 5 K

He's becoming what we all hoped he could be.

I'm far from giving up on Devers, especially his bat. I just see him as moving to 1B sooner than most. I guess DD saw Nunez as the insurance at 3B (and 2B). the problem is, Nunez is not really better on defense at 3B than Devers is. Better arm- worse range and reflexes.

It's like the Astros are the 2017 Red Sox. 2017> 2018 OPS (listed in order of most PAs in 2017) .957> .857 Altuve .889>.768 Springer .827 .817> .714 Gurriel .847> .724 Reddick .907> .708 Gonzalez .666> n/a Beltran .941> .799 Correa .759> .606 McCann .767 .815> .690 Marisnick

...and how Cora gets the credit or blame depending on how well or baldy they do.

Feeling good despite the Sale to DL news. Nice win. A's are tied with the 'stros. WOW!

I'll give my two cents, if you don't mind. $47M +$9M= $56M We're about $41M over the luxury tax limit now. That leaves $15M, if we want to reset (not likely, unless maybe if we win a ring this fall). We could spend $55M and straddle the maxline again in 2019, if we make a strong drive for a (another) ring. Other spending adjustments this winter: +$1M Sale option(plus another $1M, if he wins the Cy Young) + ~26M in arbs raises: Betts $10.5M > ~$18.5M (2 of 3 arbs) Bogey $7M> ~$13M (3 of 3) J B J $$6M> ~$9M (3 of 4) ERod $2.4M>~$6.4M (2 of 4) Holt $2.2M> ~$3.2M (3 of 3) Thornburg $2M> ~$2.5M (3 of 3) S Leon $2M> ~$2.5M (3 of 4) Barnes $606K> ~$1.6M (1 of 3) Wright $1.1M> ~$1.6M (2 of 3) Hembree $582K>~$1M (1 of 3) Swihart $564K> ~$1M (1 of 3) Smith $850K> ~$1M (2 of 3) That's about $27M total, before we even try to fill any slots left vacant by departing free agents. We'd be $12M over the luxury tax (year 2 consecutive) and $27M from the max line. In house possibilities? Kimbrel- Thornburg, Smith, Kelly, Barnes (Houck/Feltman) (Then we'd need to fill another set-up role, if one moves to closer) Kelly- Everyone else moves up one notch (Barnes, Thornburg, Smith, Hembree, Brasier, Workman... Pom- Wright, Johnson or Velazquez Eovaldi- (same as above) Pearce- Travis/Ockimey/Dalbec/Chavis (Devers to 1B?) Kinsler- Pedey/Nunez/Holt/MHernandez (Lin/Quiroz)

I was certainly higher on Moose than LoMo or Duda, because I was worried about Devers and his learning curve under a hot spotlight at 3B. Duda and LoMo cannot play 3B. None have really done well this year, but Moose has been better than the other two. I'm sure glad we didn't get hosed with Hosmer.

Better than horrific can still be pretty bad. The issue with Devers is just his arm. I'm not down-playing the problem, but is range is fine right now.

Another very nice catch and two hits. He's at .698 now after being at .510 three months ago.

I hope you spend a big chunk of your budget space on Donaldson. He's fading faster than Pujols did.

...and the rain...

Pablo was a plus defender before he came to Boston. Devers seems to have plus range. That's not his problem, unless he gains more weight or continues having hammy issues. I'd like to see him lose 10-15 1bs. He's struggling. All players struggle, and it should be expected that a 21 year old who rocketed through the minors will struggle more than the average player. I am far, far away from giving up on Devers, but it has always worried me that a team on a championship run would force a kid to learn-on-the-go right smack in the middle of the hottest media spotlight in MLB. I think Devers is tough enough to overcome being blamed for making a playoff series blowing error, and I hope to God that never happens, but it concerns me a whole lot that it might happen, and he might now recover. What choice do we have now? I'd have less faith in Nunez at 3B. He's equally bad on defense and is having an equally mediocre offensive season. Holt? Maybe, but I wouldn't view him as an overall upgrade. I think we are stuck with Devers, and although Moreland has had a very nice season, maybe some posters who poo-poo'd my sign Mosse rants can at least see the reasoning behind my suggestion (not that Moose is lighting up the league).

They've had their best players on the DL for the last month or two. All are coming back or just got back. I wouldn't count them out just yet, but the A's are stomping and have been for months.

The A's won on an overturned call in the bottom of the 9th and a Matt Olsen walk off HR in the 10th. These guys are for real. The 'stros are in trouble.

Darwinzon Hernandez 6 IP 1 H 2 BB 0 ER 9 Ks ERA down to 3.56

Houston has some very key players on the DL. They will all be back by September. The Yanks struggle against the Astros' starters not really ours.

Kind of a let down for the season, right? Some had high expectations for Travis this year. To me, Ockimey has passed him.

Agreed. I still think he ends up at 1B sooner than many think.