moonslav59

I'm not sure any wants to...

Yeah, I didn't think he was the same person, but some qualities are very similar.

Quentin & Selsky- sounds like a lawyers' firm. Nothing more to ask for! We gotta be faves now!

For several of the last DFA's, I thought it should have been Brentz, but it's not like any of the other guys we cut went on to do anything useful, so I can see why people wonder why I keep suggesting he's the "next to go". This time, since he's out of options, I really think it is his time. I wish him well, but I just don't see it happening here.

I've always been against spending significant money trying to upgrade the middle or bottom of the rotation, so it really was nothing personal against Dempster. At least I never called him one of the worst pitchers in the league, like I did Masterson. I get why they signed Dempster, and I get what he brought to the clubhouse, but I was against the deal when it happened, and then his production on the field was much worse than his previous seasons before coming to Boston. I guess that soured me even more. It wasn't just Dempster and Masterson, it was Penny, Smoltz, Colon, Wade Miller, Paul Byrd, Jake Peavy, Erik Bedard and Aaron Cook. At least I've been consistent. I realize some of these guys were in season acquisitions needed to fill a gap during a playoff run. Sometimes, there wasn't many other options, so I couldn't and didn't blame the GM for getting some, but I just hate the idea of building a staff from anywhere other than the top (or at least a solid 3 type). I always viewed Brentz as Middy-light. I must have suggested hundreds of Middy trades--back when he had value. 25% K rate and unsustainable/diminishing power. I never rooted against Brentz or any Sox player, but I just never had any high hopes for the guy.

I made the mistake of engaging you with this nonsense. I won't make it again. If you're not up to the challenge of discussing or debating baseball with me, then you're not worth my time. Stick to baseball. Do you remember a poster on BDC who always used the word "specious"? Just got me thinking...

What has he done or showed to justify wanting him on the ML roster? He's out of options. He's not making the 25 man roster. Even if we have an OF injury, I'd rather bring up someone else.

It's not hate. He's just not good enough to play MLB.

Bye bye Brentz.

You have my permission. (Not that you needed it.)

That's what I believe, but it took me 17 paragraphs to say it! Hijole!

That all can and has been debated. I guess it may never end.

Steve Selsky (1B/LF/RF) Bats: R .838 OPS in 6 season on the farm (limited power with just 51 HRs in 2075 PAs) .810 in MLB with just 54 PAs with Cincy last year. Minor league splits: 2016 AAA: .937 v L/ .750 v R He's on the 40 man roster and has 2 options remaining.

Not one "stathead" I know of claims any single source or any single data reference at a definitive support for any of their claims, let alone this subject. Then, there's the fact that some "statheads" haven't even chimed in on the term "real" or not real (or deosn't exist), at least in the context of whether "clutch exists" in a general sense of the word or whether we can definitively label any player "clutch" based on sample size concerns or as a comparative to random samples.

..and is just flat out wrong.

Couldn't have said it any better!

I'm not sure any amount of rule changes will help enough to attract the tech-savvy new generation.

Fair enough. I will argue that the "full season of Kelly" was there for the taking last year. He didn't get a full season because he sucked. That could happen again, so I wouldn't use him in your point. Is this better? 3/4 Uehara + 3/4 Tazawa + 1/2 Ziegler > Full Thornburg + 1/2 Smith We could add Scott, Kelly, a full ML season of Hembree plus the Pom/Wright aspect to tilt the balance the other way. We could also trade for another Ziegler type this year. I don't think out pen is "weak", but I do think it has the least strength value of our team with the possible exception of the "X factor" 3B situation.

I think we can handle one starter injury well but not two. I do think Pom improves the pen enough to not be a big concern, especially if we can get anything out of Carson Smith. I worry about this: Uehara, Ziegler & Tazawa > Thornburg + 1/2 season from Smith. (Adding Pom does go a long way to evening that equation up. I suppose adding Wright does too, but Pom looks to be a better pen arm. If ERod starts in AAA, our pen loses a good arm.)

I'm okay with the auto IBB, but that's minor. Just speed up the time between pitches and enforce it. Maybe try to cut down on the time between RP'ers somehow. I'd like to restrict how many RP'ers you can use, but that seems too extreme and changes the game too much. That's where much of the "wasted time" comes from.

Agreed, and I view "X" as a weakness until proven otherwise. I think our 6th starter is so good, it just about mitigates the weakness we have from 7-12. I think Moreland for Papi is certainly a step down, but better D at 1B and Young DH'ing vs LHPs should help lessen than drop off in offensive production, if perhaps only slightly. I'm not sure I'd call HanRam-Moreland-Young a weakness at 1B-DH though. I think our 3 catchers can produce 1-2 capable near league average catchers. To me, the pen and 3B are our weakest positions, but that may not mean they are or will end up weak when compared to the league norm.

The interesting thing I see in this list is that 3 of the top 4 half season samples are from our 4-5-6 starters!

It reminds me of the stupid college football OT rules.

So, what is this team's greatest weakness? (These are the choices I'd have provided.) A) The pen 3B C) Starter depth D) 1B/DH (Moreland for Papi) E) Catcher F) Manager (Mangement) G) Lack of clutch hitting (just kidding!)

Well said. I'm fine with moving on to another topic that has already been beaten to death as well.