moonslav59

If we really think our 1Bman and/or DH need to be replaced, why do we still have them batting 4th and 5th? I'm not against the idea of trading for a big bat 1Bman. I've been calling for Moreland's line-up demotion for weeks. I do not think demoting or platooning HRam makes too much sense (right now anyways).

Clippard going to the CWS as a salary off -set.

Nobody has been traded so far that I felt was a good fit for us.

I'm thrilled.

Since Henry took over, we've certainly struggled developing top pitchers: Drafted or Int'l signings: Lester Buchholz A Sanchez Papelbon Showed some success... H Okajima J Tazawa Dice-K Felix Doubront Daniel Bard Frank Montas Cla Meredeth Stephen Fife B Workman Matt Barnes Brian Johnson Austin Maddox Ben Taylor Alex Wilson

Oh, please God, NOoooooo!

We don't need a LF'er. We don't need a DH. I'd love to add a big bat, but adding one at one of those two positions doesn't make much sense to me. 3B, 1B and C are our three weakest offensive positions. I don't see a big bat catcher out there I'm willing to overpay for. I see Devers as our 3Bman of the future, so getting a rental might make sense, but what available, rental 3Bman is a high impact offensive threat? That leaves 1B. JF & DD aren't even willing to move Moreland out of the 4 slot, even though he has slumped for over a month and has been battling a toe injury. I'm not sure they are actively seeking an upgrade at 1B. I just don't see any type of big deal making sense to me. Those wanting a big bat might think trading for Beltre or Alonso is the answer, and while those two make more sense than trading for a LF'er, I think the cost will be too high. We'd need to deal Devers and/or Groome for Beltre, and I doubt we can get Alonso for Chavis, Ockimey, Lakins & Beeks.

I doubt Marrero has any trade value. Playing Holt might add some value to his stock. I do not want to trade Marco. I think Rutledge will be gone. I doubt we keep Holt & Marco, and I'm a big Marco fan, so I guess I'm suggesting we find a place to trade Holt this winter, unless we can't find a decent 4th OF'er. I'd like to see ... 1B: Acquisition & Travis/HRam (DH) 2B: Pedey 3B: Devers, Hernandez SS: Bogey, Lin Minors: Marrero, Holt, (Travis)

I think Swihart's bat is better than his recent minor numbers have shown. He's likely not going to ever be good enough to play 1B full time, and maybe even 3B FT, but I still think his best role might end up being a super utility guy: 2018 3rd string catcher (allows us to PH for our weak-hitting catchers more often) 3rd string 1B (behind Travis and HRam) 4th string 3B (behind 3 from Devers, Marco Hernandez, Rutledge, Holt, Lin & Marrero) 3rd string LF (behind Holt)

Options remaining: 3 Bogey, Young, Beni, Moreland, Taylot, Velazquez, Scott, Martin, Ysla, Sale, Travis, Maddox, Fister, Lin 2 Workman, Betts, ERod, Barnes, Ross, Owens, Kimbrel, Price, Smith, Selsky 1 Holt, Kelly, JBJ, Swihart, Marrero, N Ramirez, Thornburg, B Johnson, Marco, Elias 0 Hembree, Ramirez, Porcello, Leon, Pom, Abad, Boyer, Rutledge

We're 14th in ISO at .146. (LAA is at .141 and MN is at .157)

Options are by years, so he can be called up several more times this year. soxprospects has him with 1 more option year remaining after 2017.

OPS is slightly better, although it's not a true stat and it is flawed. (Per Smart Baseball- I just read it.)

When behind... Astros: https://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/inning_summary.cgi?year=2017&team_id=HOU 10-19 after 6 innings 10-23 after 7 5-23 after 8 1-27 after 9 Guardians: https://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/inning_summary.cgi?year=2017&team_id=CLE 7-26 after 6 7-32 after 7 5-26 after 8 1-39 after 9 Boston: https://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/inning_summary.cgi?request=1&year=2017&team_id=BOS 11-34 after 6 8-34 after 7 6-35 after 8 1-40 after 9 LAD: 7-24 after 6 5-24 after 7 5-24 after 8 6-26 after 9 Nats 7-22 after 6 4-24 after 7 2-24 after 8 2-28 after 9 MIL 8-26 after 6 4-33 after 7 1-31 after 8 0-31 after 9 The Sox are... 12-13 whern behind after 2 13-21 after 3 9-26 after 4 9-29 after 5 Started inning behind vs ahead Inn behind/ahead 1 25-18 2 34-32 3 35-38 4 38-36 5 45-41 6 42-41 7 41-41 8 41-45 9 40-45 Our problem looks more like we fall behind early more than we go ahead--not so much that we can't fight from behind.

Our top 4 starters have looked very good lately (in reverse chronological order)...\ IP/H/ER/BB/K Sale 7.2 3 0 2 13 7.0 7 4 0 12 7.0 4 0 1 11 6.1 4 1 2 9 28 18 5 5 45 (1.25 ERA) Price 8.0 7 0 0 8 6.0 5 2 2 5 6.0 6 0 2 9 20 18 2 4 22 (0.90 ERA) Pomeranz 6.0 6 4 2 7 6.0 6 2 5 6 6.0 5 1 2 3 5.0 4 0 0 7 6.1 6 2 1 5 6.1 4 1 3 4 35.2 31 10 13 32 (2.52 ERA) Porcello 6.0 9 1 0 6 8.0 6 1 0 7 14 15 2 0 13 (1.29 ERA)

Big out we ran into yesterday. We've actually hit pretty well in Late & Close situations this year until recently, but timely hits early in games seems to have been our weakness all year long. Hopefully, things will even out over the rest of the year. 2017 Team OPS: .746 Late & Close .695 (-.041) High Leverage .714 (-.032) RISP .769 (+.043) RISP/2 outs .763 (+.017) Men on .744 (-.002) 2018 Team OPS: .814 Late & Close .730 (-.084) High Leverage .774 (-.040) RISP .847 (+.033) RISP/2 outs .730 (-.084) Men On .847 (+.033)

We can go over the luxury limit by $39M without having any affect on our draft picks, so I think it might not be as hard as it looks to keep all 4 B's and Sale. It would really help, if we could extend one soon, so the AVV stays lower than if we wait to free agency (as the "arb years" are included in the whole contract).

Since August 2015, JBJ has been as consistent or better than most MLB players. His production has been very good, and he's GG caliber on defense. He had a tough start to his career. Can we let him off the hook yet for that? It's been almost 2 full seasons since that tough stretch. JBJ's OPS by half-seasons 2nd 2015: .891 1st 2016: .926 2nd 2016: .728 1st 2017: .853 If .728 is the "valley", I'll take it. By Month 8/15: 1.163 9/15: .739 4/16: .807 5/16: 1.175 6/16: .805 7/16: .839 8/16: .651 9/16: .731 4/17 .596 5/17 .808 6/17: 1.009 Two months below .730 (both below .652) is not really a sign of too much inconsistency. Other hitters on our team have more bad months than this. Out of the last 11 months: 2 months .595-.635 2 months .730-.740 4 months .800-.840 3 months 1.000-1.200 I love these numbers. 2015-2017 J.B.Jr. (1204) OBP .346 / SLG .483 (.829 OPS) wRC+ 117/wOBA .352 UZR/150 J.B.Jr. +4.1 CF (+55.1 LF & +20.7 RF)

He'll likely cost less as well. He also has one more year of team control, so the re-sign period difference might play into who we can afford to keep at that moment. I'm sure the longer view is what management will look at, and Bogey's age is a big factor in his favor, but I like JBj better. I've never been a fan of Bogey's SS defense. He's not improved over the last 2-3 years. To me, SS defense is vital. I love CF defense, too and JBJ is the god of defense.

Look at other teams- not much difference.

Marrero might also still be in the upper depth chart at 2B and 3B, injuries or not.

Running into outs hasn't helped either.

I meant about consistency. I cherry-picked the start time, but here it is: OPS by half-seasons JBJ/Bogey 2nd 2015: .891/.803 1st 2016: .926/.863 2nd 2016: .728/.729 1st 2017: .853/.815 By Month (60+ PAs) 8/15: 1.163/.761 9/15: .739/.876 4/16: .807/.785 5/16: 1.175/1.017 6/16: .805/.815 7/16: .839/.830 8/16: .651/.599 9/16: .731/.750 4/17 .596/.731 5/17 .808/.949 6/17: 1.009/.763 I don't see much difference here, but I'll take JBJ's offense over Bogey's since Aug 2015. I'll take his defense, too. My guess is JBJ has been about as consistent or more so than most in MLB since AUG 2015. 2015-2017 (note PA differential) Bogey (1744) OBP .355 / SLG .434 (.789 OPS) wRC+ 110/wOBA .342 J.B.Jr. (1204) OBP .346 / SLG .483 (.829 OPS) wRC+ 117/wOBA .352 UZR/150 Bogey -0.1 SS J.B.Jr. +4.1 CF (+55.1 LF & +20.7 RF)

I believe wRC+ adjusts to the park and maybe opponent strength.

Look at the numbers. Other than JBJ's horrific start to his career, he's been more consistent and better than Bogey at the plate. He's also a much better defender. 1) Betts 2) JBJ 3) Beni 4) Bogey