moonslav59

I love a good offense, too, but with an OF or Beni-JBJ-Betts, there's barely room to play Young vs LHPs in the OF. There would be no room for CarGo, unless HanRam played 1B FT again. That was doable, but I think HanRam needs time at DH....perhaps a lot of time, and I like the set-up they have now, where HanRam DHs about 2/3rds of the time, and Young gets his PAs at DH vs LHPs, so we don't have to sit an OF'er.

Good news. I'm not down on Pom. He could be MLB's best #5 starter. He's probably better than 20 teams' #4 and 10 teams' #3. The main reason I hated the trade was that I think Espi has a super high ceiling.

Maybe he meant by the time we reached the playoffs. I agree, at the start of the season, there were too many big question marks to feel very optimistic about our chances.

Why? I thought you said he shouldn't be called up unless he plays FT for a guy out for the season. Doesn't he need to play everyday until the "training wheels are really coming off"?

Maybe just one hundred. As I recall, I was all alone the first time I brought it up. Now, it seems like a few stragglers are joining the position. Again, I would not trade him for someone like Abad or the like, but I would trade him with Owens for a Thornburg or Ziegler type with 2+ years of team control. If that's too pie-in-the-sky, then at worst, it shows I do NOT undervalue Holt. As far as I know, I've never heard any names linked to trade offers for Holt, so it's hard to judge how highly the Sox or I value Holt.

Me too, but with his health in question, it could be a short outing, even if he is doing well. (Although I hated the trade, I like Pom.)

Espi was my top hope.

Then he'd probably be traded, because he won't play FT for years unless there's a serious injury or Pablo fizzles out. I suppose we could look to next year and move Pablo to 1B and HanRam to DH FT as Young and Moreland will be free agents. That would leave Marco with a chance to win the FT 3B job, but to me, 3B might be his 3rd best position after 2B and SS. He's already spent 7 years in the minors. I think the grooming is over. Maybe we disagree on what should be determined as "long term". I'd be okay with setting that time at 3 or more weeks, but personally, if an IF'er goes on the 10 day DL, Marco should and will be called up. The real question might be, does he start over Holt and/or a healthy Rutledge?

If they hadn't signed Moreland, they'd have signed some other 1Bman or used Selsky on opening day. I think they want Young at DH vs LHPs, so they don't have to sit JBJ or Beni, and having HanRam just play 1B vs LHPs makes a lot of sense. My second choice would be to have HanRam DH FT with Pablo (Marco-Rutledge/Holt platoon at 3B) or Shaw at 1B had we not signed Moreland.

True, but I don't think this kid is thin-skinned. He's actually not really a kid anymore. He turns 25 this season. I see your point though. I just think 10 or more games is too much to go playing someone who I perceive as being inferior, even if just slightly.

....Am I wrong to suspect, if not for Moreland, HanRam would've played 1B yesterday...? I think Selsky would have started had Moreland not been ready.

JF should try to have the pen arms fresh that day, if possible.

Fair enough, but I think he'd rather be "jerked", if it meant he'd have at least 10 days in the bigs playing just about everyday knowing he'd be sent down when the injured player is ready.

I thought the same thing. He looked rattled after that play.

Why not for a 10 day DL?

Looks like we won't face our first lefty until April 8th (Detroit's Matt Boyd). Will this be the line-up? R Pedey L Beni R Betts R Ramirez 1B? R Bogey R Young L JBJ # Pablo R Vaz If HanRam can't play 1B, Young should play LF with Beni in CF giving JBJ a day off vs the lefty. I'd bat Moreland 8th vs a lefty or try Selsky at 1B.

I agree. They probably could have afforded Scherzer and HanRam (to play 3B) by saving on not signing Pablo and Masterson.

Beni's on pace for 160+ HRs and over 450 RBIs! And, some of you thought he should be batting 7th! (LOL)

I love Holt too, but I love Marco more, and I think Marco is not a negative WAR guy at this point in his development. That's just an opinion. BTW, Brock has a +0.2 WAR last year with a negative batting and defense score. Only his base running kept him at a plus WAR.

I will add that Holt is not an "everyday quality defender" anywhere but maybe 2B. Holt's versatility certainly makes JF's job easier and adds value in ways that are not easily measured, such as JF being able to sub someone else, knowing he still has Holt on the bench to cover any injury or contingency, except at catcher. Can you answer my question?

I wouldn't argue with Scherzer at #2 and sale at #3, but since 2012, Sale is clearly top 3, IMO. Over the last 3 years, Sale is 5th in WAR, but 4th in WHIP and 8th in ERA-. Over 2 years, 3rd in WAR, 9th in WHIP and 20th in ERA-

Can you answer the question I asked before? "If Pablo, Bogey or Pedey went on the DL, would you really give the job to Holt over Marco?"

This whole talk of Westbrook vs Oscar Robertson neglects one key point: The Big O averaged a triple dbl over his first 4 years combined, including a scoring average above 30 PPG. If you round off the numbers, he did it in his first 5 seasons in the NBA.

CarGo got $11.5M. He can't play 1B, and apparently neither can HanRam, so where would Cargo play for us? His contract would put us right at the tax limit with no room to wiggle. (I guess we could trade Young.)

I'm not dismissing his value. I know an emergency sub is different than a long term sub, and that's why I made that distinction. I never said versatility is not an asset of high value. I do not want to give him away for a scrub. Just because I value Hernandez higher than Holt does not mean I do not see any or significant value in Holt. I value him highly, and I think we should be able to get so meone very good for him or a package including him. Obviously, Sox management values him more than what any GM offered them, and if I knew the player(s) offered, I might be on the same page. How would you like it, if I stated that you "dismiss" Marco's value? I know you don't, but making these sorts of statements about my position is just plain false. Do I value Holt less than the Sox? Maybe. Probably? We might never know. For all we know, the Sox could trade him for a bum, and we'd find out I valued him more highly! (Note: I do not think we will trade Holt, but if Marco tears up AAA, they might think more about the idea. How Rutledge, Selsky and Shaw do may also be factors.)