moonslav59

I remember that epic 1978 season. The Sox won the last 8 in a row and 12 of 14. They needed every win to force the tie-breaker game. The Yanks won 6 of 7. Just going 5-2 would have put us in. You can't count on other teams losing, but it's nice to know one team has to lose, and we are ahead of both. If we go 2-1, we will gain on one team.

Sometimes a big win, like last night sets us onto a nice run.

Indeed. It also sucks to win 3 or 4 of 5, but the other guys win 5 straight.

In 1995, John Valentin played only SS. By '97 and '98 he was at 2B and 3B and no SS at all. (Nomar took over SS.)

Maybe the Twins can win 1 of 3. The Rays might be the spoiler.

I meant to type 3B.

I hate days off. How about Cal breaking the Catcher HR record (43 as a C)and tying Mantle for most HRs by a switch hitter (54?) Our pal, Devers, is over 30 HRs and 100 RBI. Anybody still thinking "What if?" on Soto? (40 HRs and 98 RBI) Is this the first season the Sox do not have a qualified player in the top 70 of wRC+? (Duran at #72 at 112.) If you go down to 450 PAs, Bregman is at #34 at 127. (Last time nobody was in top 30?) Go to 300... Anthony is 17th at 138, Bregman 44th and Abrue 90th at 115.

He's only 21. He was rather highly regarded, whe n drafted. I think he was as high at 7th on sp.com, then nearly fell out of their top 30 mid 2024. He's more "ML ready" than Arias, and 2B seems to be his final destination spot, IMO. I can't see him being our 2B solution, but all hands on deck!

I didn't want Yoshida playing before the 40-50 game sample of yuck. Then, I kept asking how long of a leash does he get. He's up to 158 PAs, now. He did get a little better, but now he's back to sub .450 (8 gms). I'm not sure what better choices we have, now, as Anthony and Abreu are out. My position was based on needing to play all 4 OF'ers. Now, that's not the case. It's also a reason I'm hesitant on benching Rafaela, when those 2 are out.

It's apples and oranges, because the only reason Ceddanne is still playing is because he plays excellent defense, If Rafaela was a DH only bat, I'd play Yoshida over him v RHPs and it's about even vs LHPs.

With the day off, do we rest our top 3 SP'ers by giving them an extra day off, or do we have Early & Tolle pitch a piggyback start, and go with out best 3 sooner, so maybe we get an extra start from one at the end, if needed. We have another day off to come. Max best 3 OFF ATH Early/Tolle ATH GIO ATH Bello @TBR Crochet @TBR Early/Tolle @TBR GIO -1 OFF @TOR Bello @TOR Crochet @ TOR Early DET GIO DET Bello -1, if needed (or Tolle) DET Crochet -1, if needed or Bello/Harrison Rest 3 OFF ATH Early ATH Tolle ATH Gio + 1Bello @TBR Bello + 1 @TBR Crochet + 1 @TBR Early/Tolle OFF @TOR Gio @TOR Bello @ TOR Crochet DET Early DET Tolle DET Gio (Harrison)

Not based on recent play.

I'm okay with Duran in CF, but I doubt Rafaela brings back anything near what Duran or Abreu will, so that is one reason to keep Rafaela. What about this? LF: Duran v R/Anthony v L CF: Anthony v R/ Garcia v L RF: Abreu FT Or platoon Garcia with Abreu in RF and play Duran in LF FT and Anthony in CF FT?

So, our arb guys are... Lowe 4th of 4 (may make $9-10M) Houck 2nd or 3 and will miss 2026. Crawford 2nd of 4 and is coming back from injuries. Wong 1st of 3 (should not make a lot) Bernardino 1st of 4 Other first of 3 are: Wink, Casas, Romy & Kelly Grissom is one year away from arb year 1, so are Criswell, Abreu, DHam, Slaten, Weissert, Murphy, I Campbell, Harrison & Moran. Maybe Lowe is non tendered, but I doubt others will be. Maybe Grissom is DFA'd.

Yup. One team will lose 3-6 games- maybe two lose 3.

The next week: BOS: OFF, 3 v ATL, 3 at TBR HOU: 3 v TEX, OFF, 3 v SEA (somebody will lose 3-6 games) TEX: 3 at HOU, OFF, 3 v MIA SEA: OFF, 3 @ KCR, 3 @ HOU NYY: (No days off) 3 @ MIN, 4 @ BAL,

No. I thought we should have dumped his salary before his value went down further. I thought we had better options at DH, like moving or rotating an OF'er to DH, since we failed to trade one last winter. I wanted Anthony on the opening day Roster and Yoshida not part of the 26 man roster. You think that's worse than supporting our 4th best WAR guy, despite his long slump?

I wrote him off before the season even started. And, he's a DH only with little power. Ceddanne plays GG type defense in a tough position. His offense has sucked, of late, and is barely passable as a whole.

Probably, although with 4-6 games left, TOR might still need a win or two to stay ahead of NYY. They are 4 up, now.

Why? Because he slumped at the end of last year, too? I'm not sure why you even try to predict what anyone will hit over the next 12 game stretch. I hope you are wrong, but certainly you may end up guessing right. It was easy projecting doom & gloom for the last 3 years. Now, things have changed, but you cling to the doom. I'm sure we'll never hear the end of it, if you end up being right.

When did I ever say there is no lower limit? He doesn't "keep sucking worse and worse." He goes up and down and has his whole career. He is sucking now, and you act like he always has and always will. Maybe he will. He was at .577 in early May (30 gms/112 PAs) He then hit .807 in his next 30 gms (110 PAs) He hit .849 next 30 (93 PAs) .568 his next 30 (93 PAs) .529 last 24 gms (89 PAs) I've never been one to judge a player on just his last 40-50 games or so, like the cherry-picked worst sample of .472 in 36 games. That is horrific. That cannot keep going on forever, but until we have a better option on the 26, I'd keep playing him in hopes that the previous 95 games sample size of 358 PAs at .798 might return. It's over half his season- that sample size, but to you, that is not an cannot be him. Only this recent sample size is him.

I'm saying it will go to 8, but maybe after we expand to 32 teams. (Maybe we go to 7, in between)

No doubt, Rafaela has been bad for a month or so. The number support that. Only Yoshida (.516) and maybe Bregman (.561) are even close to his last 4 week OPS or .496. I guess we should have benched Story for hitting .432 in May, which is worse than Ceddanne's last 28 days. The question is, why should we expect he will hit.496 the next 12 games? What evidence supports players keep batting the exact same as the weeks beforehand? I'm fine with playing hothands and giving slumping players a breather or short break, but I'm not benching my 4th or 5th best player in crunch time. How long a leash does he get? Maybe until Abreu returns? Is Eaton's short spurt of glory enough to take Ceddanne's place?

We've discussed the "lower/lowest limits" his OPS could be and still be acceptable or a plus. We disgree by a pretty big gap. I'm a big fan of defense up the middle and may feel it has more value than you think it does. He's taken away countless hits and some homers. Way more than Duran or Anthony would have taken away in CF. He should never have been moved to 2B. You may not value WAR, and I agree it has flaws, but Ceddanne has the 4th best WAR among position players. I don't see why our 4th or 5th best player is bearing the wrath you heep on him. He's not even close to being the worst batter. He's not even top 9 in K% on the team (among 12 batters with 190+ PAs) and you bash him for lack of plate discipline. (That is a problem, but he has his K rate down to 20%.) His BB% has almost doubled since 2023-2024 combined. His OPS is better than 2023 & 2024. He's slumping, now, like he has before. I wish he wasn't. I'm not benching him, at least until Abreu returns. I'm not one to believe a player repeats what he's done over the last 2, 3, 4 weeks. I go through this with Max, almost weekly. Rafaela is one example of a player who never repeats month to month. He may hit .400-.500 the rest of the way and be a reason we lose. He may not. He's streaky. I think he has a hot streak left in him. You don't.

Cora destroyed Ceddane by playing him at 2B. LOL!