moonslav59

I'm very happy, but that doesn't mean I can't point out one downside to the placement of Pedey at the one slot. I said below that the speed is not related to his superior batting skills as a lead-off hitter. Certainly, I would not put Holt #1. Ideally, next year, I'd like to see Beni get his OBP near .380+ and lead off. That would allow Pedey to fill a key slot at #3 or 5. (I like Bogey 2nd>)

I don't see it that way. Pedey and HanRam have a lot of value to many contending teams. Of course, contending teams will not give up a quality ML player in return, unless they have duplicated value at a position, and not many have too many aces. Neither Pedey nor HanRam would net us an ace anyways, but as part of a larger package they might. More likely, they could be dealt for some top prospects, and then thos prospects could either be flipped or used to replace some of our prospects that are traded for an ace from a non-contender (like Sale). I see two players on our team that probably have more value elsewhere than here: Swihart and Holt. Both would get way more playing time elsewhere. I would try to trade one, but not both, as one will be needed for LF added depth.

Carl Crawford was also in tremendous shape. His off season workout regime was among the most strenuous in all of baseball. Look, I'm not writing off HanRam. He has been and still can be a great hitter. He's had injury concerns. He's had off years. He's had issues with defense. I realize every player is a "risk" to some extent, and I have no issues with those who feel the chances are good that he continues doign well for us over the remaining 2-3 years of his contract.

...and if Moncada gets a lot of playing time, we could see 20+ there too.

Worst of any realistic alternative on the team: Betts, Bogey, JBJ...maybe Beni, Holt or basically anyone but Papi or Shaw. Fangraphs base running index: 2016 -8.9 PApi -3.3 Pedey -1.4 Shaw -0.5 HanRam (Betts +9.4, Bogey +4.8, JBJ +4.7, Holt +2.6, Beni +0.9) I'm not saying these guys are better batters in the one slot. I was just commenting on the downside of putting a worse runner in front of our best 2 runners in the line-up. It's not just the numbers. I watch every game, every inning, every pitch. Pedey is not the runner he used to be years ago. 2015-2016: -14.0 Papi -5.3 Pablo -4.4 Pedey -3.1 HanRam -0.5 Shaw 2014-2016 -21.0 Papi -5.6 Pedey Last 5 years: -35.0 Papi -6.3 Pedey -5.3 Napoli -5.3 Pablo -3.1 HanRam -3.0 Middy -2.8 Vaz 2006-2011: 22.4 Ellsbury 19.2 Crisp 9.2 Youk 4.3 Pedey

I'd be happy to never see Hill play again for us. From day one, I thought Bogey would be best at #2. He lacks the power of Betts, Papi, HanRam & JBJ. I was fine with Betts at #1, because I do not like the idea of putting one of our worst runners (Pedey) up first. I still think batting JBj 8th or 9th is a mistake. I'd go with Shaw/Hernandez at 3B with Holt my choice before Hill. I hope Beni wins the lead off slot next year. That would go a long way at lengthening our line-up with the loss of Papi looming large.

I'll put our 6-9 hitters up against any other teams' 6-9 hitters. This one of the most balanced line-ups I've ever seen with the Sox...maybe the one with Hobson hitting 30 HRs from the 9 slot was more balanced. And, this isn't a "hitter's era".

I take thousands of positions. I'm bound to get a lot wrong. I get a lot right too. I was all for the Porcello extension and reminded people last year that the extension started in 2016 not 2015. I stuck with him all along. I have always said that I felt Wright would be successful, if given a chance. I thought he'd get it last year, but he got hurt before his chance. He fell into a chance this year and did great. I never gave up on JBJ. I called his sample size too small to judge even when it was over 500 PAs. I hated the HanRam and Pablo signings- too much--to long. I liked the Napoli signings but not the Vic, Drew and Dempster signings. I was dead set on not bidiing high for Ellsbury. I can name a lot of stuff more I got right, but I'm not afraid to admit when I'm wrong too.

Huge win! Porcello is doing so well. It would be nice for him to win the Cy Young, but I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't.

I'm not sure if I can go back to BDC to look, but I think I picked us to be the best team in the AL. I think I might have said 98 or 100 wins. I really don't remember. I'm not trying to hide anything. In 2013, I projected failure and we won it all. In 2014 and 2015, I projected winning the AL east. I'm oh for 3 going into this year.

Losing Papi's power is going to hurt next year, but we still have the makings for a decent power team. 31 Betts 28 Ramirez 25 JBJ 2o Bogey 16 Shaw (in just 506 PAs) 13 Pedey 9 Young in 206 7 Leon in 251 If you replaced Papi's 34 Hrs with someone who hit 16, we'd still be a plus power team this year.

Punch my ticket for the roller coaster Moon, it don't look THAT scary. I'm fine with the idea of keeping him, and I can see why just about everyone agrees. I said I think there's about a zero % chance the Sox trade him. I don't want to talk badly about HanRam at this point of the season. He's doing a great job this year. He's not that scary, but at $22M per and entering the wrong side of prime, I'm thinking two things: one- we can get something very goof for him without paying anything towards his salary and two- we could use the $22M towards something very special, less risky and less scary....maybe. Saying you want to trade someone is not the same as saying you don't value that person. Look, let's be happy with what we have right now. The off season will be full of ideas to debate. I'm glad we have HanRam. He's doing very well with us.

I can't remember my projected win total, but I thought we we a top 5 fave in MLB and were as good as anyone else in the AL.

Yaz was amazing. His 1967 season was legendary. I know different sites use different methods for determining WAR, but fangraphs has Yaz's 1967 season listed as the 20th best WAR season by a non-pitcher. http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=8&season=2016&month=0&season1=1871&ind=1&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0 Ruth had 5 of the top 6 seasons with Barry Bonds at #5. Others listed ahead of Yaz (some with 2 or more): Gehrig 1927 Hornsby 1924 Wagner 1908 Williams 1946 (& 1942) Mantle 1956 Cobb 1917 Foxx 1932

I've been saying that for weeks.

It's not BA. It's Baseballranks

OPS last 28 days (40+ PAs) 1.192 HanRam .953 Pedey .940 Young .914 Ortiz .839 Holt .787 Betts .769 JBJ .751 Bogey .742 Shaw .620 Leon less than 40/ more than 10 1.128 Beni .700 Holaday .566 Hill .513 Moncada

Agreed. However, you have a lot to look forward to, something not so easy to think a few months ago. I remember I got a lot of flack for saying the Yanks should and would be "sellers". maybe I said it too early, but it did come true. They did a great job on getting top return on their trades. With Tex and ARod gone next year, they'll be room for additions or more youth. I knew the Ellsbury signing was a mistake. I'm glad you guys made it and not us. Will you guys trade Gardner?

He was also hurt in 2013- his great year, missing half the season.

Ooops, sorry. I was looking at ABs (baseball reference)for some years. Here are his PAs updated: 619 385 667 336 512 430 574++ 4 of his previous 5 years never going over 512 PAs. 3 of 5 never going over 430. Many of you guys hate Buch for this type of injury history, but since he's healthy now, and playing well, all is good and will continue to be.

Pretty amazing what our rotation has done, considering we lost our first half leader in many important categories- Steven Wright. 1st in ERA 2.68 1st in OPS against .627 2nd in IP 114

I'm on planet Roller Coaster. Look at 2011, 2012 and 2015. You want to believe he's going to be 2013 or 2016 in 2017. That's fine. I get it. It's not insane to want to sell high on a very inconsistent player. When we're half way through 2017, I see two things that could happen: 1) I'll be apologizing, like I have many times before as HanRam is raking again. 2) Half the posters now saying I'm crazy will be calling for his trade at the deadline or next winter. I'm not saying hand HanRam away. I'm not saying we won't replace him, possibly by using the $22M more wisely. I said last winter, I'd trade him even if he hit .950 this year, and some posters agreed. Now, nobody even wants to entertain the idea. I'm not even saying trade him this winter, until this season's over.

Yes, I was.

You're right that he's had a fluctuating career at the plate, but it might not matter if he hits .881 or 1.040. To me, as our DH middle of the order bat, just give me the RBI. This season, Hanley has already tied his career high in rbi (106, 2009, age 25, .954) w/ an .881 OPS. The Sox, as presently constructed, get on base and I don't see that changing any time soon. I think he's a perfect fit for our team going forward. I'd put their chances at trading HanRam at close to 0%. I'd be happy with a roller coaster of between .881 and 10.40, but it's been worse than that, and I haven't even brought up the injury issues. Here's the ride HanRam has taken starting in 2006.... .883 .948 .940 .954 (nice first 4 years, then this...) .853 .712 .759 1.040 (Quite a ride now, isn't it?) .817 .717 .881 Since 2009: down 3 straight, up 2 straight, down 2 straight and now up one. PAs since 2010 619 385 604 304 449 401 511++ In 3 of the previous 4 years, HanRam failed to reach 450 PAs. He's a high risk player on top of his game right now. I'm not going to argue about what we should do next year while he's in his best groove since 2013.

With such a tough road trip, and remember, the Rays are no push-over, I'm glad we have a 3 game lead.