moonslav59

Yes, and what other single stat or metric does a better job of comparing values of differing players. It's obvious that WAR is much better than any single old school stat.

There's another choice at minimizing his defensive short-comings: move him to 1B or DH.

Not only is JBJ a much better defender than Bogey, he has hit better since 2015: .862 Betts .833 JBJ .802 Pedey .797 Ramirez .788 Bogey I hear talk of consistency, and no doubt JBJ has been streaky, but have a look at the final numbers: JBJ .531 2014 .832 2015 .835 2016 .782 2017 (small sample) Bogey .660 2014 .776 2015 .802 2016 .747 2017 (small sample) I guess if you count 2014 as being reflective of who JBJ or Bogey are today, you can say both are about equally consistent in their final numbers, but I think more weight should be placed on these young players' most recent 2-3 years.

Word is he misunderstood the workout routine the Sox put him on and over extended himself.

It's not the "more variables" put into the process, it's the more components that make it better than using any other single stat or most other metrics. It's an attempt to quantify the value of offense, defense, base-running and positional differences into one number that gives comparative value between players. It's easier than saying player A is better than player B, because he has a higher OBP and more HRs, but is worse on defense, running and slugging. Talk about confusing. The "old way" of comparing players has always been subjective. WAR tries to objectify the subjective. It's not perfect. I disagree with some of their positional values, but at least they have data and research to support why they value each component a certain way compared to others. The end result is that when I look at the top 10 or 20 lists by WAR, they look pretty damn close to what I think the order should be. It's closer than ordering players by OPS, wRC+, UZR150, HRs, BA, etc... One thing WAR does not do is to credit a great player who has missed time due to injury or lack of playing time. Player A may be "better than" player B, but was out hurt for a while. WAR just captures the value of what you have given in a certain time period. To me, WAR is just a tool to try and reduce the whole of a player's skill level to one number. It's pretty darn accurate, but it's not the be-all-end-all and can be improved upon. There's still room for argument and discussion using old school stats and observations, but WAR gives a very nice guideline or framework for any discussion. To me, the onus is on the person claiming player A is better than player B despite WAR showing otherwise.

Although Pedey is not a HR hitter, I'd like to see him moved down to 5th. This is the line-up I'd like to see someday soon: 1) Beni 2) Bogey 3) Betts 4) HRam 5) Pedey 6) JBJ v R/Young v L 7) Moreland v R/JBJ v L 8) Pablo v R/ Rutledge v L 9) Leon/Vaz

Let's say Panda ends up at .275 17 80 (.340 OBP/.460 SLG/.800 OPS). We might be able to trade him by paying half his salary, or we could include a prospect to lessen the financial cost. More likely, Panda moves to 1B or DH vs RHPs and sits vs LHPs for the remainder of his contract here. Devers and Travis try to squeeze him out of a job, and HanRam DHs and plays some 1B until his contract runs out (one year before Panda's).

MLBTR... Red Sox righty Tyler Thornburg has yet to progress to the point that he’s able to take the mound, manager John Farrell said today (via Jen McCaffrey of MassLive.com, on Twitter). It’s not clear whether he’s making much progress, but it seems he is still long tossing in an effort to rebuild lost shoulder strength. At present, it seems as if there’s no clear timeline for the reliever to appear in the majors for the first time with his new team. Meanwhile, the Red Sox seem to be slowing the rehab pace of lefty David Price, as Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe reports. It’s not believed to be related to any setbacks, but plans of letting Price face live hitters appear to be on hold for at least another week, per the report.

Great sign with Porcello looking great.

They don't either.

Any metric that tries to measure offense, defense and base running and put it all into one number is going to be dissected and criticized. I think WAR has its flaws, but they do a pretty good job overall. Can anybody really argue convincingly, that they don't have this order right? Best (everyday player) WAR since 2015: 19.3 Trout 16.8 Donaldson 15.3 Bryant 13.8 Harper 13.3 Machado 13.0 Betts Pitching: 15.5 Kershaw 12.9 Scherzer 12.3 Sale 11.4 Arrieta 10.9 Price 10.7 Bumgarner 10.6 Syndergaard 10.6 Kluber

It's probably a better line-up than if JBJ was healthy, since we are facing a lefty.

Sox RBI leaders: 10 Pablo 10 Beni 8 Moreland SLG .604 Moreland .489 Betts .446 Beni .413 Pablo

I've never cried for millionaires.

Exactly, and that's what makes this "objective stat" open to interpretation and subjectivity.

If the owners of these professional teams don't have the money 2 spend..... they should sell. Why? They're making a killing as the value of their commodity goes through the roof- win or lose.

...and ball park dimensions, strength of opposing pitchers, climate conditions and more.

Bogey's been pretty streaky too. I'm not sure I'd hold JBJ's poor start against him.

JBJ and Rutledge played in rehab games. It won't be long...

Sox middle IF outlook.... http://news.soxprospects.com/2017/04/system-restart-17-middle-infield.html

The slot money is something that was not there for some of Henry's tenure. We still got Groome, because some felt he was not going to sign, but I don't think his was a case of him deciding to sign because we could throw more money at him.

It's not just about finding an OF'er. We found DMac, Nava and de Aza. Replacing JBJ with Betts in CF is fine, but replacing Betts in RF with someone like de Aza is going to be a big slide down. Name some good OF free agent signings recently that were thought to be good signings at the time? I'll name 3 bad ones for every good one you find. Playing RF in Fenway is not "mint". I love having Betts out there.

Base running is also a component of WAR.

We have done pretty well after the 30th pick, and you are right, that will have to continue, but even if it does or even gets slightly better, will it be enough to offset no more #7 (Beni) or #12 (Groome) draft picks and fewer international big splash signings? Some good 31 or later recent Sox draft picks: 51 Chatham 201 Ben Taylor 33 Kopech 67 Travis 2012-2013 was a down time, then... 40 Bradley 172 Betts 2006-2010 was down as well (5 yrs!)

Moving a corner OF'er to CF opens up a huge hole at corner OF, and while finding a top corner OF'er through free agency or trade is usually easier than finding a SS, both would be costly. What about filling the position from within the system? This is also a consideration in making an either or choice. Bogey's contract ends after 2019. #6 prospect: Marco Hernandez (still pre-arb) #7 prospect: CJ Chatham JBJ's (and Betts') ends after 2020. #36 prospect Steve Selsky #28 prospect Aneury Tavarez #29 prospect Tate Matheny #30 prospect Kyri Washington #31 prospect Tyler Hill #32 prospect Lorenzo Cedrola I realize a lot can happen over the next 2-3 years, in terms of prospect growth and acquisitions as well as trade acquisitions, but as of right now, I wouldn't feel horrible about having Marco & Chatham as our SSs of the future, assuming the money saved helped us keep one or two of Sale, Betts, JBJ or Porcello.