moonslav59

MLBTR.... The Red Sox continue to see less-than-ideal results from lefty Henry Owens, as Tim Britton of the Providence Journal writes. Once a highly regarded prospect, and still an important part of the organization’s rotation depth, Owens most recently coughed up four free passes in an inning of work. Though the 24-year-old got a head start on throwing over the offseason, in hopes of a smooth launch with his mechanics, he acknowledges that “it hasn’t carried over yet.” Manager John Farrell says it’s a continuation of a long-known issue. “It’s something we talked about before camp,” he said. “The improved command is a primary objective. Today it wasn’t there.”

soxprospects.com... http://www.soxprospects.com/players/owens-henry.htm Physical Description: Very tall, lanky with long limbs. Still has room for strength gains in legs and upper body, but will always be on the skinny side. Mechanics: Works from the first-base side of the rubber. High three-quarters arm slot. Very rhythmic delivery with a high leg kick, but low energy delivery. Starts with his hands set at chest, drops hands and pulls back up before coming forward with solid momentum. Easy release and loose arm. Average arm speed. Very deceptive delivery; the ball comes out from behind his head and jumps on hitters due to the extension from his long limbs. Can struggle to repeat his mechanics from pitch-to pitch, leading to control issues. Reportedly made a slight mechanical adjustment involving a hinge at the waist entering spring training 2015. Fastball: 88-91 mph. Can reach back for more when loose and hit 92-94 mph. Jumps on hitters. Hitters struggle to square the pitch up, generates a lot of weak contact. Shows late downward action. Average pitch that plays up due to deception. Below-average command, but solid-average control. Command comes and goes within outings. Changeup: 76-79 mph. Potential plus-plus offering. Has steadily improved since he entered the organization. Great feel for the pitch. Same arm speed and look as his fastball. Shows late arm-side fade and drop. Can turn over with cut at times. Commands the pitch to both sides of the plate, inside and outside the zone. Comfortable throwing against righties and lefties and in any count. True out pitch that will miss bats at the big league level. Curveball: Velocity varies. Average potential. Long, loose at lower velocities. Flashes deep break and tight rotation at higher velocities. Has thrown both a softer version 68-72 mph and harder version at 74-76 mph. Able to throw for strikes. Has committed to throwing the harder, more powerful version in 2015 spring training, potentially a very positive development. Slider: 77-79 mph. Work in progress. Threw the pitch some during Hig School, but hadn't thrown it as a professional until 2015. Short, horizontal movement. Lacks tilt, but has potential with continued repetition and refinement. Has shown solid-average potential on occasion. Career Notes: Originally committed to the University of Miami. Summation: Profiles as a back end starter with a chance for more if he improves his fastball command and curveball. Development of curveball is key; relies heavily on fastball/changeup combination. Advanced feel for pitching. Will be able to withstand the rigors of starting at the big league level. Although somewhat goofy off the field, is able to flip the switch, and possesses a mature demeanor on mound. Floor of a back-end starter.

Thanks for your valuable insight. It's nice to have knowledgeable posters in times like this.

I do too, and for as young as he still is, he has the aura of a 12 year vet.

I didn't mean cut him, but I have no expectations for him ever making the big club again. I hope he surprises me.

Even teams with profits looking low (cooked books or not), the value of their team has risen so much, the massive profit is there for the taking at any time.

I used to be higher on Owens than most. I've just about given up on him.

Holt & Swihart for now. Maybe we can find another de Aza, Nava, Podsednik or DMac type on the cheap. OF depth is always easy to find.

But, if nobody picks him up, which they might not at $2M, I think we still pay him, and his salary counts against the luxury limit. I could be wrong, and would love it if I am. I thought $2M was too much.

Agreed on Travis for 2018. Losing Moreland and Young should give Travis a shot at a FT job. I had us at about $11M under the limit.

MLBTR.... Sandy Leon tells Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe that even though he’s been characterized as a lock to make the Red Sox’ Opening Day roster, he’s not assuming anything in Spring Training. Leon, who has been optioned to the minors six times and designated for assignment on multiple occasions in his career, tells Abraham, “I don’t know how to think that way,” adding that nothing should be considered guaranteed. The 28-year-old Leon had the opportunity to play for his native Venezuela or his wife’s native Colombia in the World Baseball Classic but passed on both opportunities to better prepare for the 2017 season with Boston. Leon’s breakout season finished with a prolonged slump, though Abraham notes that Leon played 53 games in Winter Ball before the regular season and was working a starter’s workload for the first time in 2016, which may have caused him to wear down. Leon logged just four Winter Ball games this offseason and figures to start for the BoSox on Opening Day in 2017.

If you meant Sox players, I don't think those numbers have been reported yet. Most will be about $575K.

I think Trout got $1.1M

Except he still gets paid, right?

I'm very concerned. It could turn out to be minor, and maybe I'm being pessimistic, but this doesn't look good.

Young is our 2nd best hitter vs LHPs (to HanRam). If he's not DH'ing vs LHPs, he has to be playing somewhere every time a lefty starts. If he's not at DH, which OF'er are you going to sit? I can see sitting Beni vs some tough lefties, and JBJ has struggled vs some lefties, but how can anyone suggest a platoon or partial platoon with him? I like Travis and want to see him do well, but he's got a long way to go to prove he's better than Young vs LHPs. Young's .875 OPS vs lefties is the 24th best in MLB among players with 350+ PAs over the last 3 years. His .985 OPS over the last 2 years (250+ PAs) ranks him 5th best in MLB! Sitting him vs lefties is insanity. The guy should bat 3-5 in the line-up vs LHPs.

If we discount Beni, I agree, but Beni is still considered a prospect. The 3 other top prospects all are earmarked to fill our next voids. After that, we are desolate. I think our ranking of 21st is about right, even with Beni counting. Once he becomes a non prospect, we'll probably be 24th or lower. "Good shape" is clearly hyperbole.

We'd probably have to have added Devers or Travis.

With Price's health in doubt, I can't help but look at how much luck and/or rotational health seemed to influence our championships. Here's a look at how many starts our top starters got over the years: 2003: 29 Pedro 33 DLowe 33 Wake 30 Burkett 14 Fossum/10 Suppan/13 others (4) 2004: 33 Pedro 32 Schill 33 Lowe 30 Wake 29 Arroyo 4 others (3) 2005: 11 Schill 32 Clement 30 D Wells 32 Arroyo 33 Wake 16 W Miller & 8 others (4) 2006: 33 Beckett 31 Schill 12 Clement 8 D Wells 23 Wakefield 15 Lester/10 Snyder/6 DiNardo/6 Tavarez/ 6 J Johnson/ 12 others (4) 2007: 30 Beckett 24 Schilling 32 Dice-K 31 Wakefield 11 Lester 23 Tavarez/7 Gabbard/ 4 others (2) 2008: 27 Beckett 29 Dice-K 33 Lester 30 Wake 7 B Colon 15 Buch/9 Masterson/8 P Byrd/4 other (3) 2009: 32 Beckett 32 Lester 12 Dice-K 24 Penny 16 Buch 21 Wake/8 Smoltz/6 Masterson/6 P Byrd/5 others (2) 2010: 21 Beckett 32 Lester 33 Lackey 28 Buch 25 Dice-K 19 Wake/ 4 others (2) 2011 31 Lester 30 Beckett 28 Lackey 14 Buch 7 Dice-K 23 Wake/12 A Miller/8 Bedard/9 others (2) 2012: 33 Lester 21 Beckett 0 Lackey 11 Dice-K 10 D Bard 29 Buch/ 29 Doubront/18 Cook/9 Morales/2 Stewart 2013: 33 Lester 29 Lackey 16 Buch 27 Doubront 29 Dempster 10 Peavy/7 Webster/6 Aceves/5 others (3) 2014: (Mid season purge) 21 Lester 21 Lackey 28 Buch 20 Peavy 10 Doubront 15 Workman/ 18 de la Rosa/11 Webster/10 Kelly/7 Ranaudo/1 Wright 2015: 28 Porcello 18 Buchholz 32 W Miley 25 J Kelly 9 Masterson 21 ERod/ 11 Owens/9 Wright/9 others (4) 2016: 35 Price 33 Porcello 21 Buchholz 20 ERod 6 Kelly 24 Wright/ 13 Pom/ 10 Others (3) It's not a perfect correlation, but our winning years saw many more starts from our top 4-5 starters than our losing years. 2004: 158 starts from our top 5 starters. 2007: 117 from our top 4 starters (24+ GS'd from our top 4 starters). 2013: 27 or more starts from 4 of our top 5 starters.

You think we could have gotten Quintana for Espinoza, Margot, Guerra, Logan Allen and Asuaje?

Ooops. Went back and edited. Thanks.

MAAAAaaaarrero looks like he'll never hit well enough for the bigs.

Cecchini was traded for cash in December 2015. I'm fine with taking him off the list. Yes, Coyle was released. He should not be on the list. Plus, he was DFA'd in the summer of 2015, so he's outside the time range anyways.

Exactly. They'd probably do the same with even a lesser talented player with several years of team control.

MLBTR... Dating back to last summer, the Red Sox have lost high-level prospects like Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech and Anderson Espinoza in trades, and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski isn’t ruling out further deals, he told Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald. At the same time, Dombrowski is aware that “you have to quit trading young guys” sometime. With the Red Sox’s collection of “good young players” in the big leagues and the minors, Dombrowski believes the team has the “foundation to be good for a long time.” Here's a list of Sox prospects traded away since last year (highest ranking on soxprospects.com): 1 Moncada 3 Espinoza 3 Margot 3 Cecchini 5 Kopech 6 Guerra 7 Basabe 9 Dubon 11 Coyle 12 W Rijo 13 Logan 13 Light 17 Basabe (the other one) 20 Asuaje 21 V Diaz 24 Pennington 30 Wilkerson 40 Almonte 43 Cuevas Plus vets... Buchholz T Shaw