moonslav59

I think all their available funds will be needed to stock up on RP'ers and possibly LF/corner IF depth. If we want to stay near the luxury limit, we'll have about $30M to spend. That should get us 2 really good RP'ers and a decent one.

If we end up using Moncada at 3B for a significant amount of time, would you be happy with the amount of time Sox management gave him at 3B at AA? I'm not trying to open up the can of worms, but now that the reality is upon us: Moncada is here, let's do a little hindsight evaluation.

Moncada could play 1 game at DH, 1 at 2B and maybe half of the games vs RHPs at 3B. He could also PH and PR the games he doesn't start. I think we can find room for Shaw to play enough to stay somewhat fresh. I know Moncada doesn't hit lefties as well as righties, but the sample size is small, and he has hit letfies well enough in the minors to play both handed. To me, Hill is our biggest "black hole" right now, and my guess is Moncada can hit better than he has vs lefties. Maybe he should play 3B vs lefties and half the righties.

I've mentioned several times that keeping all three on the 25 man roster as a serious option starting next year. Since Swihart is a switch hitter and can play LF and maybe 1B/DH at times, it would be nice to be able to PH for Vazquez earlier in a game than one might normally due out of fear of your second catcher getting hurt. That may not be reason enough to make that decision, but it is a positive factor. What it ultimately would come down to is this: will Swihart hit well enough to play LF, 1B, DH? I guess one could argue, he just needs to hit better than Holt/Shaw/Pablo/Hernandez to be a valuable bench player, but I just can't ever believe that Swihart's value to us in this role would be more than his value to another team as their FT catcher. I have touched on the "state of catching in MLB these days" several times, so I won't get into that, but to me, some GM would grossly overpay for Swihart, and we should oblige them. I'm not for handing him away. I don't value him less than many others. I just see our needs at other areas, and our surplus at catcher and think this why and how trades are made.

Leon has a 43% CS rate this year and 45% career. He was at 45% in the minors. Pretty much know what he can do. 45% is excellent. Vaz has a 45% career MLB CS rate. His minor league CS rate is 43%. That's pretty close to Leon, but with the surgery, one never knows going forward. The other intangibles of catching are so hard to measure and rank in order or importance that I'm not sure who is actually the better defender. My guess is Vazquez has more upside, but maybe right now, Leon is better or equal.

The real question is, what else can we get for $13M? If nothing better, then Buch is an option.

Would you be happier right now if the Sox had the record of the Yanks over the last 15 years? You'd have your one ring (2009) and a lot of highly competitive teams the other years (no losing records). How about the Cards? 2 rings and 4 trips to the big dance. To me, the Cards are really close to us and the Yanks are behind, but not by a whole lot.

Being a Sox fan from 1970 to 2003 was tough. It was almost more heart-breaking to be so good and come close so many times than had we just stunk. I remember saying many times that we should go all out to win once, even if it was at the expense of being really bad for the next 9 years. Once we won in 2004, I got spoiled and wanted more, more and MORE! I still do, but I no longer feel the urge to have to "win right now", if it feels like it's coming at the expense of winning in the future- and I don't mean just winning 85-90 games every year and barely making the playoffs here and there. I realize that sounds contradictory in some ways, but I think our core of young players and upcoming prospects makes us set up pretty well to seriously compete for a ring over the next 5 years. I even think that because the AL is so weak this year, we have a good shot at winning the AL pennant, and then anything can happen in the WS, even if it's against the snake-bitten Cubbies. I want to win now.I think, so far, DD has balanced the now with the future pretty well. While I may disagree with most of his individual deals, his overall plan and execution have been okay. Had Carson Smith not gotten hurt and done as well as 2015, we'd be in first place right now, but blaming injuries is something every team can do. We've actually had less major injuries than other teams and other years. I can see how after winning 3 rings since Henry's take-over has made winning a ring less desperate, I still think that's the ultimate goal for me. I hated finishing second to the Yanks for over 30 years.

Agree. You don't mess with this kid's future by trying to squeeze a few games out of him at the end of the year or in the playoffs. We also have such pitiful OF depth going forward, and even Young comes off the books after 2017. Let's keep the killer B outfield healthy and together for many years to come.

Yeah, I could have said 4.

I don't value offense more than defense at the catcher position, but that is what many view as Vazquez's biggest weakness. My point was trying to show that even if Vaz ends up as a .600-.650 catcher, he'd still be better than what many teams have right now. Defensive stats for catchers are hard to evaluate. Most look at CS% and maybe WPs and PBs. There is so much more to catching than that, and by all accounts Vazquez rates to be a very good defensive catcher, if not right now, pretty much certainly in a year or two. He may end up being the best defensive catcher in 1-3 years. Swihart would probably be a top 10 offensive catcher once healthy. His defensive short-comings will lessen his value to a team looking for defense over offense, but his ability to maybe play LF or someday 1B improves his trading value. His hitting could even reach the level of being a decent DH. I do not rank OPS as the most important aspect of a catcher. It's not even the whole aspect of a catcher's offensive value. It's important, but I really brought it up to put our catcher's projected OPS into some sort of league-wide context.

What an amazing rise for Moncada! The Sox have now had three players in recent years ripping through the system at break-neck speed (Betts, Beni & Moncada). Good luck Yoan!

For years and years we heard from Yankee fans, "look at the rings". Now, it's look how few times they finished last or with a losing record. I'll take 10 last p[lace finishes and 1 ring over 10 second place finishes. I'm not saying being continuously competitive has no value, but the ultimate goal is winning the WS or at least getting there. The Yankees have had a nice run of over .500 seasons. It is something that should be commended. They have the most wins since 2002 at 1394 with the Cards (1346) and Sox (1320) close behind. That's 5 more wins a year than the Sox. They have made the playoffs 11 times in the 14 years since Henry became owner of the Sox for the 2002 season. They advanced to the ALCS 4 times but lost 3 of them. They just won 1 championship in 2009. The Sox have made the playoffs 7 times in the last 14 seasons but might be at 8 this year. That's 3-4 less times than the Yanks. The Sox have made the ALCS 5 times, which is one more than the Yanks. they have won 3 rings, which is 2 more than the Yanks. The Sox have had 3 losing seasons since 2002. the Yanks none. The Sox have nine 90 win seasons to the Yanks' 10. The Cards have 8. the Cards have made the playoffs 10 times since 2002 and have had just one losing season. They advanced to the NLCS 8 times- winning 4 of them. They have 2 rings in those 4 trips. The Sox are 3 for 3 and the Yanks 1 for 1. All-in-all, I'll take the Sox recent 15 year history. Maybe all the years of never winning a ring has caused me to over-value championships, but again, that's all I heard from Yankee fans for decades.

There has been plenty of trade rumors involving our young catchers in recent years. You ask why DD hasn't traded one, and I would answer that he didn't trade one, because we weren't sure who we wanted most, and most of the value they had and still have is speculative potential. However, this is high value none the less. We also did not have any catcher hitting like Leon until just a couple months ago. Just look at the state of catching these days. It's horrible- both offensively and defensively. Some of the best are old or aging. Here's a look at team catcher OPS: 3 teams over .800 25 teams below .765 17 teams below .714 16 teams below .696 10 teams below .675 7 teams below ..623 3 teams below .608 The Guardians have a catcher OPS of .544. It doesn't take telepathic powers to know teams are scouring the earth for decent catchers. It's almost a lost art. Just having a young catcher with potential is better than what several teams have already. They will overpay for Vaz or Swihart (once he shows he's healthy). I'm pretty certain one will be traded by next July. Let's just see how much some GM loved one of our kids.

Ben left us a nice nucleus of talent- much of it young and much of it still potential. I was pretty certain he was going to deal some of the talent away last winter, and I was never for keeping it all either. I've already beaten the dead horse on why I disliked most of the trades and signings, but they all had good reasons to be made. I'm not out to bash DD. I'm just saying I'm worried he may go too far on trading away our future going forward. There is really not much roster construction left to do. Most of our positions are locked up for 2, 3 or more years. The luxury tax should go up this winter, and we lose some salary. We'll have about $30M to spend to stay near the luxury limit but may go over, if necessary. Our only sure high priority this winter is the bull pen. Sure, I'd love to get an ace, but Pomeranz has filled out our rotation at a pretty low cost. We still have some question marks with the rotation, but Kopech looks like he may fill that need a couple years from now. Kelly, Johnson and Owens are not promising 6th starters anymore, so 1 injury (or off year) could unravel the rotation. Overall, I'm still happy where we are. Here's a look at team control at each position: C: Leon & Vazquez 3 years/ Swihart 4+ years 1B: HanRam 2-3 yrs 2B: Pedroia 5 yrs SS: Bogey 3 yrs 3B: Moncada 5+ yrs 3B/1B: Shaw 4+ yrs 3B/DH: Pablo 3 yrs LF: Beni 4+ yrs CF: JBJ 4 yrs RF: Betts 4 yrs OF/DH: Young 1 yr Utility: Holt 3 yrs SP: Price 2 or 6 yrs SP: Porcello 3 yrs SP: Pomeranz 2 yrs SP: Wright 4 yrs SP: ERod 4+ yrs SP: Kelly 2 yrs RP: Kimbrell 2 yrs RP: Smith 4 yrs RP: Ross 2 yrs RP: Abad 1 yr RP: Barnes 4+ yrs RP: Hembree 4+ yrs RP: Elias 4 yrs RP: Workman 3 yrs Last year under contract: Ortiz Uehara Ziegler Tazawa Hill 1 more option year: Buchholz Hanigan

DD has done a great job. He identified the problems and he made sure to get the guys he wanted to solve the problems. Did he overpay? Probably but we have the hindsight to be critical of his trades. I was critical before a game was played. I get that the trades made us much better now. I'm glad we have a chance to win in Papi's final year. I'm glad the players we got are here for 2 more years. I'm glad we still have our best young players. I'm worried DD may go too far this next winter. I'm worried we have already traded away too much without getting close enough for a ring. While I'm glad we are competitive, and I think we still have a good chance at winning the AL pennant, I'm worried about our direction and long term future. DD deserves more time before we judge him definitively, but I can't say I think he done a good job let alone a great one.

All I know is that so many teams would die to have just one of Vazquez or Swihart. Probably 10-20 teams would make them a FT'er immediately (if healthy).

Since Henry took over the Sox, we've been better than the Yankees. Only the Giants and cardinals can compete.

Does the DL time count on his ML service time?

I'm not at the trusting Abad point. I only really trust Kimbrel and Ziegler. Ross is fine. The rest are all sit on the edge of your seat pitchers.

JBJ eventually may improve to the point where he can make quicker adjustments and keep away from pro-longed slumps. If or when he does, watch out! I love this guy! Thanks DD for not dealing away the player every GM wanted.

..and people were worried about JBJ!

The "people are there", but half of them are lousy.

The quicker the hook, the more pen pieces you have to use. The more pen pieces you use, the less you have to use later (or the next game). When you only have 2 good pieces and 2 okay pieces, you're up s***'s creek with just your hands to use.

Talk about black holes: August OPS: Shaw .542 Hill .594 2nd half OPS: Shaw .629 Hill .514