moonslav59

It could be no tear. That's what I'm hoping for. Boy, that Sale trade looks even better now!

It might be nice to still have Buch, but I'm glad we shed his salary and the grief of always wondering when his next injury was going to occur. We can find a good starter who costs less than him, if we need one.

Last season, we had a stretch were we outscored our opponents in something like 8 out of 10 straight series, but tied or lost the series in half of them. It was a lot worse "in the old days", but it does still seem to happen more to us than to other teams. I'm not sure where you find the data for that.

I get what he meant, but it was worded funny. He's saying his bat is good enough that if he cannot be a plus fielder at 3B, he'll still have a job (at 1B). My point was that it would be better for him to hit like a 1Bman, but field well enough to stay at 3B.

David Price Undergoes MRI After Experiencing Elbow Soreness By Jeff Todd | March 2, 2017 at 8:46am CDT 9:48am: There is “serious concern” that Price may require Tommy John surgery, Bowden tweets. 8:46am: The Red Sox are holding their breath after sending in key lefty David Price for an MRI, as Jim Bowden of ESPN.com reports (Twitter links). For now, Price will just be held out of his next scheduled start while he heads for a second opinion. The broader outlook is not known, but manager John Farrell says there is concern given the degree of soreness Price is experiencing. And while it’s far from clear whether there’s reason yet to believe he could be headed for surgery, the veteran lefty is already slated to see one or both of the game’s foremost Tommy John experts — Dr. James Andrews and Dr. Neal ElAttrache — for a second opinion, per Tim Britton of the Providence Journal (via Twitter). Price, 31, signed a record-setting seven-year, $217MM with the Red Sox last winter. The agreement includes an opt-out opportunity after the 2018 campaign. He has earned only $30MM of the total thus far; needless to say, Boston has a lot riding on the lefty, both now and in the future. While his first season with the Red Sox didn’t pan out quite as hoped, with Price recording only a 3.99 ERA, he still managed to throw a typically robust 230 frames. Boston has hoped that he and newly added starter Chris Sale would provide a historically excellent 1-2 lefty punch, with reigning AL Cy Young winner Rick Porcello rounding out a top-flight front of the rotation. If the worst case comes to pass for Price, then the club does have three arms to round out the staff — Eduardo Rodriguez, Drew Pomeranz, and Steven Wright (assuming all remain on track with their respective health issues) — but little in the way of certainty beyond that. Boston president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski previously shipped out veteran Clay Buchholz, but he has expressed confidence in the team’s remaining depth.

I'm not sure how his bat "profile" affects whether he plays 3B or 1B. Ideally, having a top hitting 1Bman that can play 3B as a plus fielder, would be better than forcing him to 1B, because he's hitting too good for 3B.

MLBTR... Red Sox Renew Mookie Betts For $950K By Jeff Todd | March 2, 2017 at 10:21am CDT The Red Sox have renewed outfielder Mookie Betts’ contract at a healthy $950K price, according to Alex Speier of the Boston Globe (via Twitter). Betts, 24, has established himself as one of the game’s best players and is fresh off of an outstanding 2016 season in which he slashed .318/.363/.534 with 31 home runs and 26 stolen bases. On the heels of that effort, Betts will take home the second-highest amount ever given to a 2+ service-class player who wasn’t eligible for arbitration, falling shy only of Mike Trout’s 2014 payday of $1MM. Nevertheless, the Red Sox weren’t able to get him to sign his name to the agreement. The club had the right to renew him at whatever amount it preferred, so long as it met or exceeded the league minimum salary, so it’s not as if he had much leverage. But it’s still somewhat notable that Betts was the organization’s only player to make the symbolic gesture of forcing the club to renew him. That being said, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski says that he did not sense any bad feelings between the sides during negotiations, as Tim Britton of the Providence Journal reports (Twitter links). Certainly, the club could have taken a harsher stance in setting the final number, but obviously had no interest in making a point at the expense of its relationship with a key player. As things turned out, says Betts, there’s no animosity on his part. (Via Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald, on Twitter.) It would not be surprising to see the sides back at the bargaining table sooner rather than later. If nothing else, there’ll be a hefty arbitration salary to negotiate next winter, but it’s also possible to imagine that the sides will explore a longer-term deal. While Boston enjoys three years of control over Betts beyond the upcoming season, the team’s leverage will wane as he gets closer to free agency and increases his earnings through the arb process.

He played 278 games at 1B over his career. True, he was a DH-only type player, but his weight was much higher than Devers. From what I have read and seen, Devers has big legs and "lower half". Usually, weight issues involve big guts. Scouting reports actually mention needing to "fill out" on his upper half. https://www.google.com/search?q=rafael+devers&safe=strict&rlz=1C1UDIB_enUS705US705&espv=2&biw=1920&bih=974&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiKhK3OxLjSAhUHxFQKHfecCqoQ_AUICCgD Looking at the fotos, I'm not worried at all, and to say he's a bigger conditioning issue than Pablo is pure hyperbole.

People kept saying Papi needed to "shed a few pounds". I'm not worried.

According to Soxprospects.com, Devers took a big step forward on defense last year. If he doesn't work out at 3B, he should be fine at 1B, but then that squeezes Travis. ...he showed fine defensive instincts and ability for his age in my short look at him this year. Physical Description: Well built with a large lower half. Physically mature for someone his age. Room to fill out in his upper body. Not a great athlete. Will need to watch his conditioning as he matures. Field: Doesn’t look pretty, but can make the plays at third base. Limited range and on the stiff and rigid side when fielding ground balls. Will be given every chance to stick at third, but could move across the diamond to first base eventually.

Could this be our 2020 line-up? 1) Beni LF 2) Bogey SS (re-signed) 3) Betts RF 4) JBJ CF 5) Pedey 2B 6) Devers 3B 7) Dalbec DH 8) Travis 1B 9) Vaz-Swi C SP1 Sale (extended) SP2 Price SP3 ERod SP4 Groome SP5 Wright RP1 ??? RP2 Smith RP3 Barnes RP4 Hembree RP5 Johnson/Owens RP6 Worman RP7 Scott/ Martin/ TBall/ Ysla/ Velazquez

Chances are all three from Devers, Travis and Groome will not all be plus players or good enough to lessen the loss of Sale or Porcello or HanRam's bat. If just two come through, maybe Dalbec can take up the slack for the one of three that may not come through.

New scouting report on Dalbec from soxprospects.com... http://www.soxprospects.com/players/dalbec-bobby.htm

MLBTR Chat... 4:40 Any possible way Sandy Leon has another good year? BABIP was so unsustainable. Maybe Sox could make a run at Norris? Jason Martinez: 4:42 He won't be as good as he was in his less-than-300-plate-appearance stint from '16. But I think he can still be an above average hitter for a catcher. Paired with Vazquez, I think the Sox are in good shape behind the plate. No need to look for help anytime soon.

MLBTR Red Sox southpaw David Price is fully assured a spot on the staff. But he will need to make a slight adaptation to his pitching approach. As ESPN.com’s Buster Olney explains, the league has asked Price (and others with a similar delivery) to make clear to umps whether they are working from the stretch or the windup when there’s a runner on third.

They can keep 3, because Swihart has an option left. He also needs to improve his defense, so it works out just right. Hopefully, we'll know more about all three catchers after this year and can make a more informed choice, when the time comes.

Getting away from catching for a moment, one name I haven't seen here is Steve Selsky. The Sox picked him up off the waiver wire in January and he's been looking good this spring - good to the point where Farrell said that Selsky is the most surprising player he's seen this year. I wouldn't expect him to be on the 25 man roster but his being on the 40 wouldn't surprise me at all... He's on the 40 man roster already. competing with Castillo for the first call-up spot. (BTW, Castillo made a couple of nice catches in the OF yesterday and had a double down the LF line. The double was interesting because he fouled of 4-5 pitches, swinging late on all of them but then pulled a 91 MPH FB down the LF line. But he also looked pretty pathetic in his other plate appearance). Castillo is going to have to go nutty to be added to the 40 man roster and put us over the luxury tax (unless just added for a few weeks). Question about Rutledge: I know we got him off the Rule 5 Draft last year. Does he have to remain with the club forever to avoid being sent back to where he came from, or is he now a "regular" player now that he's in his second year here? He has to stay on the 25 man roster for the whole year or be sent back. A trade could be worked out to avoid a send back.

MLB 2016 OPS by positions Swihart might be able to play: .810 DH .781 1B .773 3B .738 LF .702 C

I respect your opinion and input, harmony, and using WAR and projected WAR in a consistent and unbiased manner has its pluses, but you seem to close the door on anything that doesn't conform to your rigid guidelines. ZIPS and Steamer are often wrong, just like we are. Trying to project what Swihart will become (or any young player) is near impossible. I've been accused of being a stat geek and numbers-only guy (not true), but even I know all numbers and data have context. Nobody is going to argue that Swihart has great numbers over the last 2 years, but there's more to projections and expectations than just what a player has done lately or what these services project. It might help if you acknowledge that sometimes. Sometimes scouts and baseball observers go against the numbers and are right. Sometimes they are wrong, too.

I think DD thinks Swihart might someday become our number one catcher. With Vaz and Leon still question marks, I think keeping all 3 options alive makes a lot of sense.

How many bunt hits against a shift would it take for teams to give up on the shift? 8 out of 20 ABs? 16 out of 40?

Broken record.

Swihart is a near lock to start at AAA as our catcher this year. If he plays any other position this year, it might be 3B, but LF could still be an option if 2 OF'er get hurt. We're not "throwing away" a good hitter by having him develop defensive skills that will allow him to be an overall plus when playing. Right now, he's not better than Young and Holt in LF. The only reason he player there last year was because both were hurt and Beni was not deemed ML ready.

Scouts raved about this kid 2 years ago. He did well in 2015 after having to skip a level. He had a bad 6 game sample size to start 2016, and later got hurt after being forced to switch positions. I'm not sure why you see it as "bearish" for projections to not adhere strictly his last 2 year WAR and OPS numbers.

20 Locks: C: Vaz & Leon (Swihart with as a long shot for opening day roster) 1B: Moreland & HanRam (DH) 2B: Pedroia & Holt 3B: Pablo SS: Bogey LF: Beni & Young (DH) CF: JBJ RF: Betts SP: Sale, Porcello, Price SP/RP: Wright or Pom RP: Kimbrel, Thornburg, Ross 2 Near Lock: (Bold= options remaining) 3B: Rutledge (with Hernandez as a long shot) RP: Kelly 6 on Bubble for 3 slots: SP: ERod RP: Hembree, Abad, Barnes, Scott, Workman Scott and Workman are long shots for the opening day Roster. Carson Smith will start on the DL. That leaves 3 slots for ERod, Hembree, Abad and Barnes with Hembree and Abad out of options. The choice most likely comes down to ERod vs Barnes, and since we don't need our 5th starter until the 9th game, my guess is, assuming everyone but Smith is healthy, ERod will be the odd man out. When the 5th starter is needed, we may decide to use Pom or Wright and keep ERod at AAA, or we can call up ERod to start and send Barnes down, again, assuming nobody goes on the DL. Barnes & ERod will get plenty of chances to pitch on the big club.