moonslav59

Does Toronto "have what it takes"? Does any other AL team? Stay tuned.

Agreed, and the whole "clutch hitter" thing is a big sham (except for Papi, who is for real).

Okay, let's talk just this year. He's got just 20 PAs in the 1 through 4 slot, and you want to make some sort of determination based on that? JBJ goes through hot and cold streaks. I'm not sure where he hits is what causes it.

I'm not sure the sample sizes are big enough to indicate some sort of pattern or aversion to certain slots. He only has all of 36 PAs from the one through four slots. His best career slot is #6 (.850) 5 is actually better than 7- career.

Young has some "history" (56 PAs and a 1.135 OPS in the playoffs- including 5 HRS!. HanRam has a 1.031 OPS in the playoffs in 53 PAs with 9 RBI in 13 games. Bogey has the one year (34 PAs and an .893 OPS) Aaron Hill has an HR in 18 ABs. Hanigan has 23 hopelessly bad PAs. Kimbrel has been in the playoffs 3 years and has a 1.35 ERA (0.600 WHIP) in about 7 IP. Buch has 26 IP and a 4.21 ERA.

Could be time to try JBJ in the top 4 or 5.

Tanaka is 5-2 vs the Sox - career with a 4.42 ERA and .736 OPS against. He's done better recently.

As much as I hate to do it, I'd give Betts a day or two off once Beni starts. That also allows the hot Young to stay in the line-up.

He wasn't on the 40 man roster, or they might have used him over Brentz. They don't want his salary being counted against the luxury tax.

No love for Hernandez (over Rutledge)?

AL East BOS BAL -1 TOR -2 NYY -4 WC BOS +3 on the last WC slot BAL +1 TOR - DET -1 SEA -1.5 NYY -2

A few weeks ago, I heard Papi in an interview saying his feet felt great. Certainly Papi knows his health better than we do, but if he's "game", I'm all for Papi returning, even if in a diminished role or at 80% production levels.

Agreed, but a lot will depend on how Pablo looks when he walks into ST'ing. If it's obvious he didn't work hard to get into better shape, I think DFA'ing is a real option. I suppose we could trade him by paying $17-18M of his $19M a year, but there's not much difference between the two. If he comes to camp in much better shape, I think he may have a legitimate chance at the ... 3B job vs RHPs, if Moncada starts in AAA (Shaw at 1B and HanRam at DH) DH job vs RHPs with Young DH'ing vs lefties 1B job vs RHPs, if he proves he's a better fielder than HanRam at 1B (HanRam to DH vs RHPs) or Moncada wins the 3B job and Shaw is struggling. or Shaw is struggling I seriously doubt he ever wins a FT role on this team with his pitiful numbers vs lefties. At least his recent situation will give him no reason to pout, if he's turned into a platoon player only.

Here's the fall instructional league roster (not the AZ Fall league), courtesy of soxprospects.com: Pitchers (21) Shaun Anderson, Gerson Bautista, Ty Buttrey, Jake Cosart, Enmanuel De Jesus, Jhonathan Diaz, Victor Diaz, Matthew Gorst, Jason Groome, Darwinzon Hernandez, Francisco Lopez-Soto, Joan Martinez, Bryan Mata, Stephen Nogosek, Yorvin Pantoja, Josh Pennington, Juan Perez, Robby Sexton, Michael Shawaryn, Hunter Smith, Jordan Weems Catchers (5) Roldani Baldwin, Alan Marrero, Samuel Miranda, Alberto Schmidt, Tyler Spoon Infielders (11) Pedro Castellanos, CJ Chatham, Yesion Coca, Bobby Dalbec, Imeldo Diaz, Santiago Espinal, Stanley Espinal, Everlouis Lozada, Josh Ockimey, Jagger Rusconi, Kervin Suarez Outfielders (10) Juan Carlos Abreu, Yoan Aybar, Lorenzo Cedrola, Chad Hardy, Tyler Hill, Trenton Kemp, Tzu-Wei Lin, Tate Matheny, Ryan Scott, Kyri Washington

Again, we outscore our opponent in a series, this time by 6 runs, and still lose the series. Yuck! I guess that's better than getting hammered in 2 of 3 games, but it seems more frustrating to me losing or splitting series this way so often recently. Since July 21st... R- RA 23-15 vs MN- lost 2-1 13-17 vs DET lost 3-0 14-12 vs LAA split 2-2 7-9 vs SEA lost 2-1 14-11 vs LAD lost 2-1 11-16 vs NYY lost 2-1 31-9 vs AZ won 3-0 3-2 vs CLE won 1-0 13-4 vs BAL won 2-0 21-18 vs DET split 2-2 12-9 vs TBR split 2-2 15-9 vs KCR lost 2-1 20-14 vs TBR won 2-1 27-5 vs OAK won 2-1 (two blow-outs followed by a 1-0 loss) 13-5 vs SD won 2-1 (could have easily swept one of these west coast teams) 22-8 vs TOR won 2-1 15-9 vs BAL lost 2-1 That's six times we've outscored the opps and lost or split a series in the last 15 series. Then, there's the two near sweeps we missed out on with west coast teams.

I think it's safe to assume HanRam is a better 1Bman than Papi, and even if you don't think that's true, the fear of Papi getting hurt prevented us from playing him in several NL away games this year. That should not happen with hanRam, unless he is not hitting well. Unless we have an OF'er injury, I see Beni, JBJ and Betts as our FT OF. That leaves one of MLB's best bats vs LHPs without a spot to play. I think Young has a near lock on the DH job vs LHPs. I suppose we would rest JBJ and Beni vs LHPs when it's their turn to rest, so Young could start in the OF a few games vs lefties, but basically, he's our platoon DH. The situation ant 3B, 1B and DH (vs RHPs only) is more "fluid" at this point. Too many unanswered questions remain, but the fact is, we have many choices for each role. Here is how I see our depth chart going into next year at each role: 3B vs RHPs: Moncada/Shaw/Pablo-Hernandez-Holt/Rutledge 3B vs LHPs: ????? Hernandez-Shaw-Moncada toss-up/ Rutledge/Holt/Pablo 1B vs RHPs: Shaw/ HanRam/ Pablo/ Swihart?/Holt 1B vs LHPs: HanRam/ Swihart?/ Shaw/ Pablo-Holt DH vs RHPs: HanRam/ Young/ Pablo- Leon DH vs LHPs: Young/ HanRam/ Swihart/ Leon

Well, when I try to be concise, some guys read into my position things that aren't there. Here's the sort version: Holt's value as a full timer on another contending team is worth more than as a utility player with a diminishing role on a team about to lose its DH only DH. The drop off from Holt to Hernandez and/or Holt to Swihart, if any, should not be as much as the upgrade at the position we trade for.

It sucks letting Baltimore back into the thick of the division race. These low scoring 1 run losses are killing me.

I like Holt and understand the value of a flexible player like him. I've answered this question numerous times, but I'll do it again. 1) You have to trade value to get value, and the idea is to try and trade a player who might be more valuable to the other team than your own. That's one type of foundation for trying to get the other team to agree to your offer. I think Holt might start on the Guardians. I feel that value is worth more to them as a starter or near FT player then his value as a utility player for us. 2) His value to us should lessen once we no longer have a DH only DH. Assuming no further additions, someone like Hernandez or Swihart (Sandy as a long shot) will take the open slot. Swihart's apparent ability to play LF (and maybe his possible future ability to play 1b) and the addition of Beni to the roster makes Holt the 6th OF'er not the 4th or 5th like he was this year. Having Swihart instead of Holt also gives us enormous possibilities of catcher flexibility as we can PH for Vazquez early and often and not have to worry about Leon getting hurt. If Leon can play 1B, Holt's ability to play 1B is almost totally nullified (HanRam, Shaw, Swihart and maybe even Pablo ahead of him at 1B). Holt's best position is 2B, but he's blocked by Pedey, now Moncada has probably gained the second spot from Holt. Hernandez and Rutledge can play adequate 2B as well. 3B is a log jam. It's hard to see Holt getting meaningful time at 3B. He's already played less there than the better 3Bman- Hernandez. Shaw, Moncada, Hernandez and maybe even Rutledge might be ahead of Holt on the depth chart for 3B (plus longshot Pablo). SS is probably Holt's worst defensive position. I'd put Hernandez at SS, if Bogey got hurt. I might even go with Marrero's D over Holt's O, but I admit I'm partial to superior SS defense. Maybe Dubon rises quicker than we think and could be a capable back-up by mid season. I just don't see Holt as the number 2 option anywhere next year. Now, if Beni and or Moncada flop of need more time, and Shaw continues to struggle, and Swihart is slow to recover, and other things happen, this could all change. With so many questions, one can certainly argue for keeping Holt, until we know more about all those issues, but I really like Hernandez- always have. I like Swihart too, but if we keep Holt, I can see trading Swihart. He'll probably get a better return in a package deal with other. 3) I don't see room for Holt and Swihart, but maybe this works. C- Leon, Vaz, Swi 1B/DH- HanRam DH/LF- Young 3B/1B- Shaw 3B- Moncada (AAA?) 2B- Pedey SS- Bogey UT- Holt LF- Beni CF- JBJ RF- Betts If you swap Hernandez for Holt, I don't see a massive drop off, if any at most positions. The differential should surely be made up for by the upgrade at the position we trade for. If Moncada starts in AAA and Hernandez (or Pablo) takes his place, I still don't see Holt playing as much as he did this year or last. I still see his value as greater elsewhere. That's not to say I don't think he valuable to us, but we're kidding ourselves, if we think we are going to get a top player without parting with some talent from our own roster. True, Holt is no headliner, but my guess is Terry F. would love to have Holt on his roster. 4) Holt seems to have settled into the .710-.730 OPS range, which is very very good for a utility player. He's finally starting to maybe shed the 2nd half blues tag he's had for a while, but he has over 200 less PAs than last year, so the durability/stamina issue is still alive and kicking. I happen to think Hernandez can hit .725. He was at .752 in over 400 PAs at AAA and over .830 at AA in 294 PAs. I'm not going to mention his tiny MLB sample size number. I think he's a better fielder at SS and 3B, which is where Holt might be most needed. I think Beni, Swi and Young are better OF options. I think Moncada might be the number 2 second baseman now, and Hernandez is probably not much worse than Holt on defense at 2B. Maybe I'm just too high on Hernandez. Anyways, Holt's not going to be a major piece of any trade, but he may be able to keep us from losing one very good prospect by offering him and Johnson, instead of Kopech or the like.

For Cleveland, my guess would be they might want to balance their team more by improving their offense at the ML level by giving up Kluber, Carrasco or Salazar. There was talk last winter that they were at least gauging the interest in their starters, so I think that's why they are sometimes mentioned. I agree though, why would any contending team trade away an ace or near ace? That leads me to... The CWS might be looking to rebuild. There was some talk of trading Sale at the deadline, so I think rumors involving Sale or Quintana are more "realistic" as UN says. I actually like Quintana and his extra year of team control more than Sale. Both have low cost contracts with an average salary used for the luxury tax even lower than what is owed. That's an extra bonus for teams like the Sox. I'm sure the White Sox would want someone ML ready, but the rest of the package could include players deeper in the minors with high upside. The offer would probably have to start with Benintendi or Moncada (or JBJ/Betts/Bogey). Without knowing what their greatest needs or wants are, I'd try to offer Swihart or Holt plus Johnson along with Devers. They'll probably ask for Kopech or Groome as well, but I might settle for adding Owens and Johnson instead. I'm not sure Beni, Swihart, Dever and Owens and/or Johnson gets it done. Sonny Gray may be available, but I'm not sure about him.

more from soxprospects.com... Baseball America has named Yoan Moncada (pictured, right) its Minor League Player of the Year. http://news.soxprospects.com/2016/09/moncada-named-baseball-americas-minor.html

Compared to the other 2 major sports, MLB is a "white man's game". I don't see any need to disagree or debate the issue. It is what it is for various logical reasons.

I'm not saying I'd do it, but I think it will take ML ready players to get Kluber- not guys like Kopech and Devers. Both Kluber and ERod have 5 years of team control remaining, but ERod has not even had his first arb year set. Kluber is not being paid much compared to the market, but it's still $60M. That's a little incentive anyways. I agree that the Sox would not do the deal. I'm not sure about CLE and what their motivations are besides beef up their offense.

True enough. One tough inning.

Moncada, Kopech and Dubon will be going to the Arizona Fall League. TBall in relief, but he expected to be a starter again next year. Others from Salem: Danny Mars and JD Callahan (rule 5 eligible)