moonslav59

They're moving Price to closer. LOL!

Yes, it's a game not a sport. Like throwing a frisbee or playing catch.

You could have had Buch for someone slightly better than the guy we got, if you would mind the extra money (over Gallardo). Gallardo is more reliable in terms of not getting hurt. I'd take Buch too, but I think Seth Smith was not a good fit for the Sox.

So then walking in the park is now a sport?

Well, 5-9 Mel Ott blasted over 500 HRs.

Hank Aaron was under 6 feet and weighed under 180 for much of his career.

Yaz is not the only "little guy" to show some power. Beni had 14 XBHs in just 105 ABs last year. Some were "leg 2Bs" but still... He's also had these numbers in just 570 minor league ABs: 20 HRs 16 3Bs 38 2Bs 74 XBHs! Add to that 26 sBs and this guy should be on 2B or beyond a lot. His last year at Arkansas, he his 20 HRs and 15 2B+3B in just 226 ABs!

That's because it's not really a sport. Ohhhhh NOOOooooo! You dih-int!!!!

Seth Smith to BAL. Gallardo to SEA. Pretty close to the Buch for Smith trade harmony kept trying to suggest we might be interested in. I guess BAL is paying $2M (the buyout amount on his option). $11M for $7M. BAL saves $4M. I like saving $13.5M with out Buch trade better.

I know, right? This time of year sucks for sports, especially big baseball fans.

Wright and Pom were both recovering from injuries. We traded Buch to avoid wasting time and money on an unreliable, yet highly talented, pitcher.

Exactly, but the good thing is, he's always heated up at some point at each level. His fielding growth was a big step forward according to scouts.

That seems about right. That timetable matches up pretty well with the time Pablo may switch to 1B or DH (or both), assuming he's not gotten bloated up again. DD did get one thing right when it came to choosing which prospects to keep. The three top prospects he kept all play a position that will have the earliest openings due to attrition. 1B/DH: 1 year (Moreland 1B & Young DH), 2-3 years (HanRam), 3 years (Pablo) 3B: 3 years (Pablo) SP: 2 years (Pomeranz), 2 or 6 years (Price), 3 years (Porcello) Best 3 prospects: 1B: Travis (or Pablo to 1B or DH-- Longhi or a converted 3B prospect)) 3B: Devers (Dalbec-Ockimey-Chatham-Chavis) SP: Groome (Owens-Johnson)

MLBTR... Right-hander Zach Stewart has agreed to a minor league deal with the Orioles, writes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (the news was first reported by Korean media outlet Naver Sports — hat tip to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net). Once a well-regarded pitching prospect in the Reds organization, the 30-year-old Stewart is now a well-traveled veteran who will hope to return to the Majors for the first time since 2012 this coming season.

He took a huge step forward on defense, so I think you're right. If Pablo sucks again on D and is not very good on O, we may see Devers called up earlier, just for a defensive gain with upside or developing MLB O.

Is there a draft day? How are the points tabulated? I've never been in a baseball league- just NFL long ago. You just submit your line-up every day? Do you play head-to-head games of just total points for the day or year? I'm totally a novice at fantasy baseball.

And that was what made swinging hard every time okay. He was very patient. I will add that although he always swung as hard as possible every time he chose to swing, I'm not sure he was always trying for an HR. He just loved smacking the ball hard.

Yes, so if Devers reaches AAA by the end of this year or to start the 2018 season, he could be considered ML ready or very close to it.

Losing old men like Papi, Uehara and Ziegler will hurt, but not the Tazawa- Hill types. This team is the youngest I've seen the Sox in a long, long time. Anybody know the last year we were this young? Our oldest 3 guys were born in 1983 (Pedey, HanRam and Young). Wright's the only guy born in 1984. Price, Moreland and Abad in 1985. Sandoval in 1986 and nobody in '87. All the rest will be under 30 for the full 2017 year!

I tried to stoke the fire with this post, but nobody tried to warm themselves by the fire... Some Sox questions to ponder.... Pablo Sandoval: Lots of questions on this guy. Here are some: Is his weight loss going to be something that we continuously have to worry about? Even if he gets in top shape, can we expect the numbers he put up several years ago with SF? Can his fielding return to slight plus or just average? Leon- Vazquez-Swihart: All have shown promise in either offense or defense. Can two of these guys step up their weaker side and become all around solid catchers? Carson Smith: He's really had just one full season in MLB- a very good one (1.01 WHIP/11.8 K/9). He is coming back from major surgery and may not be "ready" until May or June. Can we expect the 2015 Smith to return to form by mid season and into the playoffs? Tyler Thornburg: After his rookie year's 1.185 WHIP, he had two years over 1.25 before posting last year's excellent 0.940 number. His K rate was never above 9 until jumping to 12/1 in 2016. Can we trust these 2016 numbers as legitimate indicator of who he now is and will continue to be? Kelly, Ross & Barnes: Can these guy continue to show the growth they experienced, at least in flashes, in 2016? Can they make up for the loss of Ziegler, Uehara & Tazawa? ERod, Pomeranz & Wright: All 3 had a very good to great half season last year but also had bad halves as well. Can the rotation stay healthy enough for one of these guys to give a big boost to our pen? Can the two that start go long enough into games to lessen the need to have a good pen (or deep pen)? Sale, Porcello, Price: Sale has been a rock, and so has Price until 2016's shaky start and finish. Porcello blossomed. Can the big 3 live up to their hype? Mitch Moreland: His fielding has always been GG quality. Can we get decent numbers from him, at least vs RHPs? Can his playing many games at 1B help keep HanRam fresh and healthy? Chris Young: He's been one of MLB's best hitters vs LHPs in recent years. Can he produce vs LHPs as a DH? Can he get enough playing time in the OF to keep him "in the game"? Holt, Rutledge, Hernandez, Travis, Marrero... Is this bench good enough? Abad, Hembree, Scott, Workman, N Ramirez, Martin, Ysla: Hopefully, we don't have to count on any of these guys too much... Are they good enough? HanRam: He's been up0 and down for much of his recent career. Age 27 .712, age 28 .759, age 29 1.040, age 30 .817, age 31 .717 and age 32 .866. He's also had under 430 PAs in 3 of the last 6 years (under 512 in 4 of 6). Is HanRam due for an off year? Can he help pick up the slack with Papi's retirement? Pedroia: He had his first .800+ OPS since 2011. He had his first season with over 135 games played since 2013. Can we count on a healthy and productive Pedey this year? Bogaerts: He has shown steady growth at the plate, despite his late season swoon. His OPS jump was due almost exclusively to a gain in power. His fielding is another matter. Can we hope for a turn around on defense? Can we expect a further increase in his offense, especially in the OBP area? JBJ: He has had two straight seasons over .830. There were a few big ups and big downs in those two seasons and one big long down in 2014. Can we expect more consistency in 2017? Can we expect a jump in OPS? Betts The only question here is how high is this kids ceiling?

I don't think Storen would have signed with us for even $4M (33% or one million more than he got.) I do think he'd have been a good addition, if he would gave signed. Assuming we have about $10M in spending room, had we spent $4M on Storen, $6M is a lot of money for the deadline. When we trade for a player at the deadline, we're only responsible for 1/3 of their contract (assuming the other team pays no money at all). That means we can afford to trade for a player or players that are being paid $18M for the full season... maybe like two $9M players. If we traded Abad, as I think we should, even without a SToren type RP'er being added, we'd save another $1.5M (his expected $2M arb minus a $500K guy). That would leave us almost $8M for the deadline. There might also be a de Aza type deal out there, if needed, where the other team pays a big chunk of what is owed.

The difference between semi-urban and rural Maine is huge. I've lived in both areas. Now, I live in Texas, where they pride themselves on "less gov't interference", but these damn association regulations outdo any state rules. There;s hardly any homes in the Houston suburbs that aren't part of some planned community with all kinds of restrictions.

lol!

A few things: 1) I do think there's always a risk for Pablo to revert to his old ways and get fat. He's got enough money now to not have to worry about getting another contract. However, I get a feeling, he has learned his lesson and will stay at a reasonable weight the remainder of his contract. 2) He has not always "started slowly". In 2015, his first half OPS was higher than his second (.784 to .762). His second best month was May at .970 in 99 PAs- the most PAs of any month. In 2014, his monthly OPS numbers started with 1.002 (July), then went to .711 in August of his short season of just 2 months. He did struggle to start the 2016 season, but there's not enough evidence to suggest he's a slow starter at each new level... at least not more than the norm. 2016: .504 APR .652 MAY .738 JUN 1.078 JUL .845 AUG .397 SEP (just 12 PAs) Sox prospects has Devers starting the season in AA. A lot depends on how he does there. If he does well, we might think he'll play for at least part of 2018 in Boston, but I agree, we should not count on it happening. Hopefully, Pablo will be doing well enough, so we won't have to rush Devers. We do have Holt, Rutledge, Hernandez, Dominguez and Marrero as deep mediocre (at best) depth.

Impeach the bastards!