moonslav59

Agreed. Nobody comes close to the iron men of eras past.

I was thinking warm Mountain Dew.

soxprospects.com on Groome.... http://news.soxprospects.com/2017/03/notes-from-field-jason-groome-debuts-on.html

Pretty incredible numbers, even for a small sample size. I'm not trying to lessen the greatness of this feat, but a little context is needed. The NL ERA those years were 3.54 and 3.38, so while 1.89 is amazing, it was only about 1.50 better than the regular season NL ERA those years. Last year's NL ERA was 4.17, so a comparable modern number might be a 2.67 ERA.

Maybe it was really some other warm yellow liquid.

True, but we needed to replace Koji, Ziegs and Taz, and Thorn looked like a very good option among available RP'ers.

+1 !

I think we both agree Marco is an overall better player than Rutledge, especially at SS or 2B. Personally, I'd rather have Marco over Brock, but our OF depth (on the 25 and 40 man roster) is thin. I want to keep Rutledge until we know more about Pablo, and starting Marco in AAA or Rut on the DL seems like the best way to do it.

lol!

Putting Rutledge on the DL would not hurt our team. It's one way to keep the depth and allow Marco a chance to shine at the big level.

Nice response. I've also been a huge Marco supporter since we traded for him. I wanted him to play 3B last year instead of Shaw and Holt. The issue this year goes beyond keeping epth due to options, which itself is a strong argument to keep Rutledge in the mix. I have long been a doubter of Pablo's ability to hit LHPs ever again. I think he should be platooned immediately. While Marco's splits are not wide, I think Rutledge is probably equal or better than Marco vs lefties. Maarco might have a better glove but worse 3B arm. I think they are pretty even when a lefty is pitching. That's the point that tips the balance to giving Marco full time playing at AAA to start the year. Any injury to Bogey, Pablo or Pedey would man an immediate call-up and FT job for Marco. If Pablo struggles vs RHPs too, then I'd think of replacing him with Marco. I apologize for implying your decision was based on just (or primarily) ST'ing numbers. Others here seems to be basing it on that, because besides a handful of posters, there was little love for Marco before this spring.

How about those of us who said don't worry about JBJ?

(And, I'm a huge Marco fan and was high on him years ago.)

Why do ST'ing numbers mean so much?

Phantom DL?

Yes

Plus, Pom is better. There's that too. Some people (not you) put too much stock in ST'ing numbers.

Yeah, I knew you were, but I thought I'd mention "the other" healthy one.

MLBTR... Thornburg has a shoulder impingement, according to Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe. Thornburg won’t throw for another 10 days, and Abraham notes that this injury could sideline him for a month (Twitter link).

Smith has 4 years of team control, so I'd say yes to him. Thornburg has 3 years remaining. I say yes here too. Who knows if we will see them much this year, but we should.

Nobody is arguing every player has the exact same focus in every PA. That's an absurd thought and never was part of the argument from those of us who believe that "clutch" is not a skill set.

I said from the start, our pen is the weakest link ("not weak but weakest"). Now it looks worse than I expected.

Agreed. That's why I said "so far".

That's what really tips the scales towards the likelihood of it being a good trade. I had hoped Elias would be our 7th or 8th starter, but so far he's been a dud. (He's got 5 more years of team control though.)

Miley was actually our most consistent "wire-to-wire" starter in 2015. I had wished we'd have kept him, but I was fine with the trade, assuming Smith was healthy, of course.