moonslav59

Just listened to the soxprospects.com podcast, and heard some interesting discussions. http://news.soxprospects.com/2016/09/podcast-ep-105-moncadainboston.html They mentioned how Basabe is NOT going to be a rule 5 this winter (ggod news), and how they all agreed on the top 8 prospect order. After the top 8, they put Marco Hernandez at #9 (up from 12) and Dubon #10 (up from 13). I like these two placements. I've always been high on MH. Perhaps the most exciting placements were Bobby Dalbec at #11 and CJ Chatham at #12. Both were previously unranked due to being new to the system. A big surprise was Josh Ockimey moving from 37th to 13th. Chavis fell from 11 to 14, but one of the biggest fall was Devon Marrero from 9 to 28th. (Stanki fell from 26 to 41 & Austin rei from 25 to 45th). Tonight's spotlight pitcherf ell from 28th to 47th. Longhi stayed close at 15, but Roniel Raudes jumped from 33 to 16. Lakins fell from 10 to 17, and TBall stayed close at 18. Kyle Martin and Shaun Anderson rounded out the top 20. Cosart jumped from 44 to 25. Moncada, Beni, Devers, Groome, Kopech, Travis, Johnson & Basabe.

We have the... Best AL 2nd half ERA. Best AL 2nd half WHIP 2nd best AL away WHIP 3rd best AL road ERA ERA- 2nd half 79 Red Sox 85 DET 86 NYY 89 TBR 98 TOR (pretty big gap) FIP 1st 3.75 vs LHBs 5th 4.22 vs RHBs

With the day off before the last 6, if we are 7 up, he may switch to the listed other plan giving everyone a day extra before their last start.

Yes, like maybe JBJ, Swihart and ERod.

Neither does ERod. He just needs run support. 5 of his last 7 starts: 6IP 4H 2 ER Lost 3-2 8IP 1H O ER ND (lost 1-0) 4 IP 0H 0 ER ND win 5-3 7 IP 3H 1 ER ND lost 4-2 6.1IP 3H 1 ER ND won 2-1

2nd half individual ERA- AL rankings (50 qualified): 49 Kluber 53 Verlander 57 Sale 57 Porcello 61 M Boyd 62 ERod #10 Price 67 #25 Pomeranz

We're 13th in runs allowed (629), but second in runs allowed 2nd half (205). The Cubs are at 163. Full season: runs allowed on the road (takes away much of the park factors, but not strength of opponent's offenses): 268 Nats 276 Cubs 276 Jays 283 Red Sox We're 6th in road ERA at 3.76. I can't find ranking for team ERA- or ERA+. We have the second best ERA for the 2nd half at 3.53 but way behind the Cubs 2.64.

Hanley and JBJ for Kluber? Then sign EE?

Hopefully, we can build a cushion and give these guys 2 days off.

He's going to want 6-7 years at $26M+. he may end up with 5-6 years at $25M. That's too long for me to agree to. Young can DH vs LHPs, and we have plenty of players who hit righties well: Ram Shaw Moncada (maybe Pablo) Holt Hernandez (maybe Sam Travis)

If Young keeps hitting righties like he is now, I think we may give Beni a few extra days to get 100% healthy. We may be able to afford to give JBJ and Betts a day off at some point, and we can let Beni get a game in at those positions. We could also DH Young one game vs a LHP. Papi responded nicely to those 3 days off. We have to ride Young till he shows us otherwise.

BAL Pomeranz BAL Porcello NYY ERod NYY Buch NYY Price NYY Pomeranz @BAL Porcello @BAL ERod @BAL Buch @BAL Price @TBR Pom @TBR Por @TBR ERod off @NYY Buch +1/Price @NYY Price +1/Pom @NYY Pom +1/Por TOR Por +1/Erod TOR ERod +1/Buch+5 TOR Buch/ Price

339 MLB players with 190+ PAs this year (about 11 per team). OPS Leader Rankings 1) Ortiz 1.034 4) Leon .967 18) Young .919 29) M Betts .901 ...4 in the top 10%... 44) Pedroia .853 45) Ramirez .853 47) Bradley .850 ...7 players in the top 50 and top 20%... 101) Bogaerts .800 .... 8 players at .800 or above and in the top 30%...

BOS +2 on TOR for Division TOR +1 on BAL for 1st WC slot BAL +1 on 2nd WC slot DET -1 NYY -2 SEA -2.5

I totally agree, and while I wouldn't have signed him for half of what they paid him, the fact is, Sox management thought enough about him to value him enough to give him $95M/5, and from what I here, without an insurance policy on him. SF wanted him back. They are a class organization. They saw the decline, the weight issues and had him in the club house for 6 years. I totally realize his career is likely over, at least as any sort of meaningful impact player, but he's going to get a look, if his weight is down by a substantial amount. If it's not, we may just cut ties before even giving him a look in ST'ing.

Smith back, yes, but we're losing Ziegler, Uehara and Taz. Smith is not a sure bet at being 100% Barnes, Hembree and others are bigger question marks.

I realize that, and like I said, I am not counting on 1 inning from Pablo. I'm just saying there is still hope. Prince Fielder had a big year at age 31 after some injury issues earlier.

Totally agree. Chances to get a guy like Sale or Quintana do not come very often. I'm not sure if Kluber will be available, even if we offered JBJ and Moncada.

1) Before last year, he was a plus defender at 3B. Shaw is about the same. Moncada is worse. From 2009-2014, he had a +2.2 UZR/150. He was at 3.5 the year before signing with us. Shaw is at 2.2 this year and 2.8 8 from 2015-2016. He might also be a better defensive 1Bman than HanRam, so we could put Pablo at 1B and HanRam at DH, even if just vs RHPs. (Young could DH vs lefties.) 2) Before last year, he was one of the best offensive 3Bmen in MLB (3+ year sample), although he was in a near constant decline trend. He was 9th in 3B WAR from 2008-2014. His .811 OPS placed him 8th (3Bman with 3500+ PAs). If he could hit .790-.850 vs RHPs, he'd probably win a platoon job at 3B, 1B or DH with the Sox. His .850 OPS vs RHPs from 2008-2014 ranks 2nd best in MLB with 2500+ PAs, 4th with 2000+ PAs. 3) He has always hit RHPs well (see above). Even in his awful season with us, he did okay vs righties (.744 with 31 XBHs in 350 PAs). He has a career OPS vs RHPs of .835. In context, T Shaw has a .795 OPS vs RHPs this year and a career .774 OPS vs righties. 4) Pablo just turned 30. There's certainly some chance he can get in shape and have a year similar to his career norm. He's still in his "prime". Again, please don't take this as me being a Pablo supporter. I hated the signing from day one. His 2015 season was one of the worst I have ever seen by a FT Sox player...even worse than HanRam's. I'm just saying, I do not think we will just cut him or trade him by paying almost all his salary, unless we see he is not serious about changing attitude and lowering his weight. If he gets in shape, I see him having a chance at cracking the 25 man roster, especially if we don't sign a DH or corner IF'er. .

True, so the often went cold on the road and lost 3-2 and 2-1.

Young is on fire. He's been hitting RHPs very well since returning. I'm not sure I'd take him out of the line-up for anybody right now. Last 28 days OPS: 1.151 Young 1.080 Ramirez 1.064 Ortiz 1.007 Pedroia .903 Holt .889 Beni .825 Leon .780 Betts .742 Shaw .740 JBJ .713 Bogey Nobody with 40 or more PAs has an OPS below .713! 5 guys over 1.000 ! WOW! Keep playing Young as much as possible. Last 14 days: 1.353 Young 1.207 Ramirez 1.084 Ortiz 1.048 Shaw .993 Pedey .951 Bradley .891 leon WOW, 7 guys over .890! Young is at 1.583 over the last 7 days.

I know that makes sense, but I can't help but get frustrated with the offense, when we score 16 then 1 and split the two game sample size. This used to happen under the old regime frequently, and I guess it's a by-product of having a high scoring team. You can't expect 5-6 runs every game. The runs are bound to be more randomly dispersed, but over the last two weeks, it's happened 4 times, so maybe it's just hitting a raw nerve that never healed from the "old days" (pre-Henry).

Yeah, I know. But each side of the spectrum comes to the surface after each good game or bad game.

Actually, in some warped way, yes. The "wasted runs" bug me. I also wouldn't feel as bad winning 16-2 then losing 12-11. It's winning 16-2 then losing 2-1 that drives me nuts!

No problem. I keep listing him as being on the roster, because he will be unless and until they DFA or trade him. I have not totally given up on him as many here have, but I have little faith in a tiger changing stripes. I'm hoping he has enough pride to get himself into shape by opening day of ST'ing. He hits RHPs very well, so he could possibly have a role on the team, especially if Shaw fades away and/or Moncada needs more time to develop or ends up being an OF'er or a non-starter next season. Again, counting on Pablo for anything would be a big mistake that I doubt Sox management makes.