moonslav59

You might be getting a little caught up in the numbers-- on pace almost never means anything and certainly not this early in the season. I didn't mean to imply that I expect any of these guys to reach 4 x their current numbers; I only meant to show the pace and balance of so many players on our team. During ST'ing I tried to argue that we had less holes in our line-up than nearly anyone else plus a great bench in case anyone faltered. Well, Sandy and Castillo are not even part of this and 8 guys are on pace for 80+ RBIs! Wow! What a start! I seriously doubt we continue like this, but I'm sticking with my top 3 offense projection.

I don't disagree, but how much longer do we stick with Holt? He's 1 for his last 21 with just 1 BB and 6 for his last 40 with a .200 OBP. What's up with Castillo?

You're probably right. You convinced me. I think Shaw likely gets over 85.

I agree, but it's hard to demote anybody right now. I might try: vs RHPs 1) Betts 2) Bogey 3) Ortiz 4) Ramirez 5) JBJ 6) Pedey 7) Shaw 8) Vazquez 9) Rutledge (LF?) vs LHP 1) Betts 2) Bogey 3) Pedey 4) Ortiz 5) Ramirez 6) JBJ 7) Shaw 8) Vazquez/Hanigan 9) Rutledge

My eyesight is poor, so the bold helps. I don't mean to offend.

We are a quarter of the way through the season and Shaw is tied for 9th in RBIs in all of baseball. If he continues to bat fifth in that line-up all year, he would need to get injured not to reach 80 RBIs! Do you know something about his health that no one else does Moonslav? Lol I can certainly see him getting over 80, but I think he will slump, and I think the Sox will not continue at this scoring pace, so he will not have as many opportunities. Note: I would not bet on my hunch.

It might have been just hot air, but there were several rumors about Cleveland shopping Carrasco, Salazar and possibly Kluber. I remember one rumor involved JBJ, but I'm not sure if that deal included one of those top 3 SP'er.

Here's two things I think will happen this year: 1) Betts ends up with a top 3 OPS on the team. (He's currently 7th and about 240 points behind the current #3 guy.) 2) Out of the 8 guys currently on pace for 80 RBIs, only 6 will reach that number: Ortiz, Ramirez, Betts, JBJ, Bogey & Pedey (not Shaw & Holt).

Quintana and Salazar were two pitchers I hoped we'd go hard after. Instead of trading for Kimbrel, I thought we could have offered that package plus Holt and Swihart and/or Devers and got the deal done.

Holt has 3 arb years after this season. That makes him valuable to teams looking to compete now, next year and teams looking 2-3 years out.

I have never argued Holt by himself would bring back a quality pitcher. My suggested offers were not even with Holt as the headliner, and some had him as the 3rd or 4th piece.

So, who does Moncada replace, and is he going to be a better fielder than any current starter by next season?

Brock Holt is a manager's dream. The guy can play anywhere at anytime without hurting you, he has a great attitude and he produces. Somebody in baseball was saying on WEEI the other day how every team is looking for a Brock Holt type and though you would think that you could turn any utility guy into a player like him, it's not that easy. He has a ton of value for the Sox. I'm not sure why the Red Sox would ever want to trade a player who can play everywhere, produces and does it with a smile. I've never read or heard of him being in a trade rumor. It doesn't make any sense to me why tbey would ever want to get rid of this guy. John Farrell would probably freak if he was traded. That value you see in Holt is the same value other GMs might see in him. You don't get value without giving up value. Suggesting a trade of Holt is not devaluing him. Our need for a solid SP'er is much greater than our need for a super sub who continuously slumps after the halfway point of every season. Our replacements for Holt are very capable. Our replacement for Kelly/ERod is O'Sullivan. The differential is stark. How does this theory not make any sense to you? I can see the value in keeping him, especially with a DH like Papi affecting our roster flexibility, but looking ahead, I see Benintendi and Moncada eventually squeezing out Holt's PAs, so to me, we should have traded him while his stock was (and still is) highest.

Injuries to ERod and Kelly are part of the issue, but I agree, our biggest weakness is SP'er. That's anopther reason, I felt like we could have spared Holt and others to try and upgrade our quality at the SP'er position. Trade quantity for quality. I'm not going to keep bringing up the prospects we dealt for Kimbrel, but even after that deal, I felt like we could have gotten something very nice for a package like this (this was what I suggested before the season started): Swihart, Devers, Holt and 2 from Owens, Johnson, Kopech or Ball.

Ben turns 35 in a few days. Although he had an .809 OPS last year, his OPS had been in decline for the two prior years. Also, he had his lowest PA number since 2009 last year. I'm not trying to say Holt is as good as Zobrist, but if you look at their ages, versatility versus and comparative contractual costs, I think one can see that some teams would greatly value Holt. Why is Holt more valuable to other teams than us? Several reasons: 1) We have Rutledge, Hernandez and Marrero behind 5 vets at the 4 infield positions. 2) We have Betts, JBJ, Young, Castillo and soon to be Benintendi and possibly Moncada to play OF or IF in Moncada's case. Not many other teams have positional depth like we do. 3) The step "down" from Holt to Rutledge/Young is mush less than the step down between Holt and some of the clowns starting for other teams, for example, he'd be the 4th best hitter on the Astros... easily. 4) His contractual cost is a big plus to many contending teams, while the Sox can afford to pay someone more than what he makes to be on the 25 man roster, if need be.

also,,, Sox are... 9-6 when allowing 4-7 nruns but only 4-3 when allowing 3 runs

An early quirk: Sox are... 6-1 when scoring 4-5 runs 10-4 when scoring 6-8 runs

It could start out as an idea to rotate, but eventually one guy steals the show.

I don't think any one person takes over the DH slot. Sandy's return and what shape he's in is a factor. I think HanRam stays at 1B. We could see HanRam, Shaw and Sandy rotate through the DH, 1b and 3B slots. We could see Benintendi with the big club, and an OF'er getting some time at DH as well (Young/Castillo). We could see Moncada rise quickly and win a big chunk of the DH role, at least by mid-season. With so many options, so many blocked prospects, so many highly paid vets, I doubt we spend large on an outside bat.

I don't think Holt would have been the centerpiece of any trade netting us a decent pitcher, but if you look at what Zobrist was paid at his age, I think Holt had more value to some other team in MLB than the Sox.

50+ PAs BAbip Player LD% Hard% .398 Shaw 20% 31% .396 Ram 22% 37% .390 JBJ 21% 39% .389 Bogey 20% 32% .387 Young 26% 32% .328 Pedey 21% 26% .326 Ortiz 18% 48% .326 Vaz 21% 28% .283 Betts 20% 31% .282 Holt 25% 25% .256 Hanig 26% 31%

The OBP leaders so far for the Sox are... .467 Rutledge .405 Ortiz .391 Swihart .391 Shaw .390 Bogey .374 JBJ .367 HanRam .349 Pedey .333 Young .327 Young .306 Betts .304 Vazquez .268 Hanigan SLG .695 Ortiz .593 Rutledge .588 JBJ .547 Shaw .503 Bogey .479 HanRam .478 Pedey .442 Betts .404 Young .385 Holt .375 Vazquez .278 Swihart .255 Hanigan

TB leaders: 89 Ortiz 80 JBJ 79 Bogey 76 Shaw 76 Betts 75 Pedey 69 HanRam 40 Holt 7 guys on pace for 280+ TBs

We're not yet at the quarter mark of the season, and here are the RBI Leaders 33 Ortiz 30 JBJ 27 Betts 26 Shaw 23 HanRam 22 Bogey 20 Pedey 19 Holt 8 guys on pace for 80+ RBIs/ 4-5 guys on pace to get near 100.

Updated Sox OPS leaders (30+ PAs): 1.101 Ortiz 1.060 Rutledge .962 Bradley .938 Shaw .893 Bogaerts .846 Ramirez .827 Pedroia .748 Betts .731 Young .718 Holt .679 Vazquez .523 Hanigan