moonslav59

He's probably still a top 10 closer, but for what we gave up and for what we are paying him contractually, we should have expected top 5.

It seems like we've had these medical staff issues since I started following the Sox in the early 70's!!!

He was hurt for part of last year and has done worse than any year in his career. His ERA has been about double what it was before Boston. I gave him a "D" based on "expectations". If I graded based on how he does as compared to other closers, he'd get a B- or C+. We gave up 4 prospects and paid FA like money to get a top 3-5 closer. So far, that's not what we got. The jury is still out, though.

Me too, and for the record, my dislike for the trade has nothing to do with any negative feelings toward Pom. I like him and think he'll be fine. I just was super high on Espi.

3B in recent years... 2016: .686 (Shaw, Hill, Rutledge, Holt and 4 others) 2015: .693 (Pablo, Holt, Marrero and 4 others) 2014: .580 (Middy, Bogey, Holt and 5 others) 2013: .683 (Middy, Iggy, Holt and 4 others) 2012: .703 (Middy, Ciriaco, Youk, Punto and 5 others) UZR/150 +2.6 2016 -20.9 2015 -9.3 2014 -15.4 2013 -4.5 2012 What a mess!

First, we need to get some semblance of our team on the field at the same time.

His play at 3B in 2014 was part of the reason we signed Pablo.

Flexicrapola!

I think that's why trading Buch and freeing up so much tax budget space was important. Since the trade deadline is about at the 2/3rds point of the season, we can "afford" to trade for a player(s) with a yearly salary near $30M, since the pro-ration will be only about $10M. That could be even 2 pretty talented players like Todd Frazier, Gio Gonzalez, Pineda, CC Sabathia, Darvish, A Cobb, W Davis, Clippard, Cishek and many more from teams considered out of it.

MLBTR... Red Sox left-hander David Price threw a 20-pitch bullpen session today and came away from the workout feeling good, he told reporters (via Chad Jennings of the Boston Herald). The key for the former AL Cy Young winner, however, will be seeing how he feels tomorrow. Price has yet to pitch for the Sox this season after a forearm issue led to a scare during Spring Training and, prior to today, hadn’t thrown off a mound since Feb. 28, Jennings notes. Farrell said that if Price feels strong tomorrow, another mound session would be lined up for Wednesday. There’s still no definitive timeline when it comes to Price’s return, but Jennings notes that he won’t pitch in the Majors until at least May. In a Red Sox bullpen that has quite a bit of uncertainty throughout its ranks, right-hander Matt Barnes has emerged as the primary setup option for closer Craig Kimbrel, writes Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal. That could change, potentially, when Tyler Thornburg is ready to come off the disabled list, but Barnes’ early showing and the struggles of many of his teammates have him primed for a big role in the Boston ’pen. ““A guy that’s maybe a little bit more seasoned than some others in some of those big spots, he’s going to be a pivotal guy in our bullpen,” said Sox manager John Farrell to MacPherson. The 26-year-old Barnes averaged 9.6 K/9 against 4.2 BB/9 with a 45.6 percent ground-ball rate out of the bullpen last season, and he’s logged a 5-to-1 K/BB ratio through his first 3 2/3 shutout innings in 2017.

Ben's short history on drafting: 2012 24- Marrero 31 Johnson 37 Light (traded for Abad) 87 Callahan 2013: 7 T Ball 45 Stankiewicz 81 Denny 263 K Martin 2014: 26 Chavis 33 Kopech (Big part of Sale trade) 67 Travis 103 Cosart 164 Ockimey 2015 7 Beni 81 A Rei 171 Lakins 201 B Taylor

Dombrowski assembled the 2016 rotation (and the depth options behind it), so of course he bears some measure of responsibility for the fact that it was coming apart at the seams by midseason. Why should he not? We ended up using O'Sullivan for 4 starts beginning on May 7th. While I do think DD was ultimately responsible for building starter depth, it's hard to blame a GM for having to go with your 9th or 10th starter in early May. Here's how I had our starter depth chart on opening day: 1) Price 2) Porcello 3) ERod (Started first game may 31st) 4) Buch (Had an ERA of 6.24 on June 1st) 5) Kelly (Lost his starting job after June 1st with an 8.46 ERA & missed 3 starts in APR) 6) Wright (Solid off the bench) 7) Elias (Started his only game June 17th.) 8) Owens (Started 3 games by May 5th but had 13 BBs & 3 HRs in 12.1 IP) 9) Johnson (Had the heebie-Geebies and never made it to the big stage.) 10) O'Sullivan (Started 4 games.) 1st half numbers: 11-2 Porcello 3.66 (18 GS) 10-5 Wright 2.68 (17) 9-6 Price 4.34 (19) 3-9 Buch 5.91 (13) 2-0 Kelly 8.46 (6) 1-3 ERod 8.59 (6) 2-0 O'Sullivan 6.75 (4) 0-0 Owens 5.11 (3) 0-1 Elias 15.88 (1)

Since most of these deals involved prospects, the jury will be out of some time. However, here's my view on how well the players we have acquired have met expectations (or not) Here are his significant moves so far (The jury is till out!): (Grade is only for how well the player(s) we obtained has done- not how well the players we gave up have done or project to do.) Trades: Kimbrel for Margot, Guerra, Allen & Asuaje Kimbrel has been hurt and dropped in effectiveness: D C Smith & R Elias for Miley & J Aro Smith has been out hurt and Elias disappeared: F A Hill for W Rijo & AA Wilkerson Hill sucked: F B Ziegler for L Basabe & J Almonte Ziegler was crucial: A Pomeranz for Espinoza Pom was damaged good: D- Abad for P Light Underperformed on expectations: C- C Sale for Moncada, Kopech, L Basabe & V Diaz Looking great, so far! A+ T Thornburg for T Shaw, M Dubon, Pennington On the DL: F J Tobias for C Buchholz: No expectations here: Incomplete Signings: C Young Great signing, but was hurt for part of 2016: B+ D Price Underperformed and now is hurt: D+ M Moreland So, so: C (Note" these are not definitive grades. It is way too early to judge.) Draft: 12 Groome (looks great) 51 Chatham (looks good) 88 S Anderson (Unknown) 118 Dalbec (looks promising)

True. The judging has begun already. There's a lot to be judged, and I gave my opinions on many of the moves, but I have tried hard not to make any judgments on DD as a whole. Many of his moves may take years to judge. Here are his significant moves so far: Trades: Kimbrel for Margot, Guerra, Allen & Asuaje C Smith & R Elias for Miley & J Aro A Hill for W Rijo & AA Wilkerson B Ziegler for L Basabe & J Almonte Pomeranz for Espinoza Abad for P Light C Sale for Moncada, Kopech, L Basabe & V Diaz T Thornburg for T Shaw, M Dubon, Pennington J Tobias for C Buchholz Signings: C Young D Price M Moreland

It's still early to judge DD moves, but people sure judged Ben quickly.

Thanks. I must have missed or forgotten that podcast. I guess we go with Young, which forces Moreland to play vs wrong-handed pitchers, at times.

From soxprospects.com... Prospects updates: Fifth-ranked prospect Bobby Dalbec was 3 for 4. Henry Owens pitched well, allowing a run in five innings with two strikeouts and two walks. Brandon Workman looked strong in relief with 2 1/3 scoreless innings, punching out one. Trey Ball struggled on the mound, allowing four runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings. Jamie Callahan was great in relief, striking out three in 1 2/3 perfect innings.

I can't see Marco becoming Pablo's platoon partner or beating him out of a job anytime soon, so maybe he's the logical choice to start "learning" LF. Since he's probably our #2 SS, #2 or 3 2Bman and #2 or 3 3Bman, I can see why we might not want to be too hasty distracting him with a new position. Learning LF would make Holt more expendable.

Which nice to say, because after VTek retired, our catching status has always been a concern. With Leon doing well and Vaz & Swihart in the wings, I really like our catching corps right now. From day one of the off season, I have said our pen is our biggest concern. Hopefully we will improve once our injured pen arms return, and our rotation begins to take the pressure off the pen by going longer and handing over bigger leads.

If it was a Kimbrel signing, I'd have been fine with it, but it was like a signing where we lost 4 prospects. It was a trade for a FA market salary closer. Yes, Cerry failed with his FA signings- just like Theo did near the end, and how DD apparently has, so far.

There's just no way he could have even kept everybody. There was no room for everybody to make the 40 man roster or to have a chance at winning a FT job. He had to trade somebody eventually.

He's still hitting the ball hard. Many pointed to his unsustainable BAbip last year, but they missed his huge increase in Line Drive % and Hard Hit%. I'm not suggesting Leon will stay above .800 all year, but I think he's showing he will no longer be a .600 guy either.

The closest he came was dealing Jose Iglesias. He also trade de la Rosa and Webster for Wade Miley. (Not really top flight, but still...)

I think Cherrington would have made a big blockbuster. He might have been forced to, if he didn't want to. I think he would have made the Sale trade, or one like it, unless he had already made a big trade before Sale became available. I don't think he'd have made the Pom or Kimbrel trades. I do think he'd have signed a big pitcher but maybe not Price.

Pretty nice being 3 and 2 with all these guys out. I still think we have one of the best benches in all of baseball, especially when you count guys we have in AAA that are ready to step in, if needed (Marco, Travis, Swihart, Selsky...)