moonslav59

A bridge to September 1st call-ups.

Even if Price has Tommy John, we might not try to acquire another starter. Wright Johnson Velazquez Beeks Elias Haley Owens (if he's not DFA'd to make room for a rule 5 player)

Probably right, but his main issues have involved his throwing arm (shoulder). Maybe he can still hit and/or play 1B. Again, I'm not saying I want him.

Andrew Miller and Danny Salazar to the DL. Looks like aren't the only team with pitchers on the DL. David Wright begins a rehab assignment. Is it time for him to move to the AL as a DH? Could he play 1B? Is he an option for the Sox (assuming the Mets take on some of the money)? $20M 2018 $15M 2019 $12M 2020 (I'm not saying I want to take on another high injury player.)

Probably. My question was a bit facetious, especially the "infatuation" choice. We all know he's not playing him because of his offensive or defensive skills. I guess the "playing him, so we can see if he deserves to be DFA'd or not" excuse is about the best I've heard, so far. Maybe there's an unknown reason Young is not being allowed to play more. Nobody on this site knows everything going on behind closed doors, but we give our opinions anyways based on what we know or believe.

50+ PAs Best Sox OBP .398 Devers .380 Travis .379 Lin .378 Pedey (Only 1 of the top 4 are on the active 25 man roster right now.) .358 Beni .354 Nunez .342 Betts .341 JBJ .337 Bogey .336 HRam .331 Vaz .326 Young .300 Hernandez .297 Leon .297 Rutledge .276 Holt .269 Pablo .258 Marrero SLG .667 Devers .522 Nunez .449 Beni .445 Betts .437 HRam .427 Moreland .422 JBJ .406 Young .406 Pedey .400 Bogey .399 Vaz .395 Travis .380 Leon .379 Lin .354 Pablo .328 Hernandez .318 Marrero .262 Rutledge .218 Holt WRC+ 172 Devers 128 Nunez 109 Travis 107 Beni 107 Pedey 102 Betts 100 Lin 99 HRam 99 JBJ 96 Moreland 91 Young 91 Bogey 90 Vaz 73 Leon 62 Hernandez 58 Pablo 48 Rutledge 45 Marrero 31 Holt 400+ PAs 2016-2017 wRC+ 163 Ortiz 121 Betts 116 Pedey 115 HRam 110 JBJ 110 Beni 108 Young 104 Bogey 101 Leon 96 Moreland 87 Shaw 79 Hernandez 74 Vaz 74 Holt

What a difference between the AL and NL. The AL Wildcard is wide open. Although the Yanks are 2.5 games up, there are 8 teams within 5 games of the last slot! That's only 3 teams essentially out of it right now. There's 5 teams with 2 games: - MN -.5 LAA -1.0 SEA -1.5 KCR -2.0 TEX All division leaders are up by 4.5 of more. The Sox are just 5 behind the Astros for the best record in the AL. The NL has 2 divisions locked up, but the NL Central is still in play: - Cubs -2.5 MIL -3.5 StL Milwaukee and St. Louis are farther behind the WC than the division: +0.5 COL --- AZ -3.5 MIL -4.5 StL (The Cubs would not make the WC with their current record.)

Good point, but there are so many players who will obviously not be on the 40 man roster next year that we can DFA before Sept 1st. DFA Selsky and add Brentz. DFA Owens or Kyle Martin and add Butler or Barfield. Maybe DFA Boyer and add Beeks. We'll need to protect Beeks in rule 5 anyways.

If Moreland aand HRam are both unable to play 1B, then maybe Travis needs to be called up. Lin can probably wait until Sept 1st.

I think they know what Holt can do. I guess they may have wanted to see, if he was over the effects of his health issues. That's a fair point, especially with Pedey's playing time at 2B in doubt. I just think it is Young who needs playing time. He's a lefty-killer normally, and needs to find his stride. With out OF locked in, any time an OF'er rests or a DH is needed, I feel it should be Young- not Holt.

He's a career .700 hitter who can barely play several positions well enough to not be embarrassed. What's there to "find out?" Is he back to being the mediocre sub we expected? Is this the time of the season to experiment? Shouldn't we also be thinking about helping Young find his stride, particularly against LHPs, but also to see if his new found success vs RHPs is for real? Isn't that a more legitimate thing to assess? With HRam and Moreland banged up, and Nunez needed at 2B, I'd think getting Young in stride could be vital to this team's success. Holt is never going to win the 2B job from Nunez, come playoff time. And WOW, in one breath you say we need to play Holt, and then speak of possibly releasing him in the next. I've never hinted that Holt was so bad as to be DFA'd-- traded, maybe, but not DFA'd.

Our pen- on paper- (pun intended) looked awful before the year started. Kudos to everyone, including JF for getting the most out of our pen so far this year. Injuries to Smith, Thornburg and Ross might have devastated other pens, but our has significantly over performed for 4 months. Props to JF and the players.

Fair enough. Point well taken.

I'm responding to your point about Beni. Yes, it looks like he benefited by sitting, I guess I should have mentioned I understood your point, but why not respond to my counter point about why JF picked Holt to play LF over Young, who did not start those two games at DH? Beni should have sat 2 games to rest vs a LHP, so Young could play LF not Holt.

Pedey's been banged up. It took a few days to place him on the DL. HRam has been limited to mostly DH duty. Moreland has been playing injured for a while. Bogey has looked tired. We lost subs, Hernandez & Rutledge, to injuries. Holt missed a lot of time, too. By and large, compared to normal expectations, we've done great with having very few injuries to non-pitchers. especially starters. We had 4 days off for the all star break and returned to action on July 14th. We played double header on the 16th and didn't have a day off until July 27th. However, starting with July 27th, we had 5 days off up to August 17th. That's 5 days in 22 days (23% days off) before beginning our crucial match-ups with the Yanks and Guardians. That alone should have been enough rest for any young player on our team and most prime age players not battling injuries. This isn't a football team. Nobody should have needed non-injury related rest vs NYY & CLE. Nobody. Games started since July 27th (21 games in 26 days): 21 JBJ (5 days of rest out of 26 days) 20 Betts (6 days off out of 26) 20 Bogey (6/26) 19 Beni (7 days out of 26 off) 17 HRam (10 out of 26 off-injured for some) 14 Moreland (12 out of 26 off- injured for some) 9 B Holt (17 days off- started more games than Young) 8 C Young (18 our of 26 days off-including the 2 days off given to Beni) 2 Pedroia (Out injured 24 of 26 games)

I was critical of Francoma towards the end, and I did feel like the right thing to do, at that time, was to let him go, but he was no idiot, moron or imbecile. He was a very good manager who lost control of his team while being distracted by more important things in his life. I'd take Terry back in a heartbeat. I'll never want JF back.

Before the season started, I pointed out how Holt was no longer the second or third best sub at any position. His versatility still had value, but with (DH only) Papi's departure, that value was minimized to some extent. HRam's injury and need to play DH changed that once the season began, and Holt had to deal with health issues as well, but by and large, our everyday players have remained comparatively healthy. My pre-season depth chart (from memory): C: Vaz/Leon, Swihart, (Butler) 1B: Moreland/HRam, Travis, 2B: Pedroia, Hernandez, Rutledge, Holt, Marrero 3B: Pablo, Hernandez, (Devers), Rutledge, Holt, Marrero SS: Bogey, Hernandez, Marrero, Lin, Holt LF: Beni, Young, Selsky, Holt CF: JBJ, (Beni>Young/Selsky LF), Holt RF: Betts, (Beni>Young/Selsky LF), Holt DH: HRam/ Young (Note: I obviously had Rutledge over-rated.)

Umm, Young plays LF, too. Beni should be rested vs LHPs with Young playing LF. Holt should be a last resort starter anywhere. His "versatility" is maximized by having him be the last guy on the bench allowing JF to PH and make other moves knowing he has anything but catcher covered.

Yes, true, but all the more reason to stress fundamentals through ST'ing and all season long. Look, I realize I don't know everything JF does. He might be addressing each and every blunder behind closed doors- to no avail. It's just hard being a rabid Sox fan and watching us piss games away or barely hang onto wins due to mental mistakes and IMO, misuse of the roster.

Yup!

Was he saving Reed for Fister's game? We were up one vs a top contender. What's the chances Fister's game will create a better chance to use our best RP'ers?

...and how to avoid bonehead plays.

Again, we've had 4 days off in 20, and our roster is as young as I've ever seen it. Yes, Pedey out has forced Holt to play more than anyone (but JF) wants, but with Nunez able to play 2B, I don't see the need to start Holt in 7 out of the last 14 games.

12 pitchers is probably the norm not 13. 13 means you have 3 guys on the bench and one is Leon (or Vaz). You're right, though. Why trade Hembree when rosters expand in 9 days? My bad.

...hopefully not as a PR'er.