moonslav59

The only guys out there will be like 2024's Cooper and Smith. We got kinda lucky with Smith, so maye we can't count on that to continue. Hey, we already traded for a 1Bman,

Then make him leadoff, where at the very least he gets 1 less PA.

Wow, you don't care about what happens over the next 100+ games. Like many, here, you seem to assume what happened in the last 50 games will repeat itself going forward. If that is true, then you are fine with ending the season .500, since no changes should be made.

The 4 slot has had 5 or 6 batters, so I'm not sure how many PAs it has gotten with Men on base. Maybe it's more, since Bregman gets on base, a lot and does not homer as much as Devers.

I don't have the slot numbers for 2025, but a 50 game sample size does not represent the truth, nor what will happen over the next 100+ games. Yes, bregman has come up 117 times with men on base and has less RBIs (26) than Devers with 104 PAs (32), so thanks once again for giving evidence to support my suggestion. I see 23 RBI from our 4 slot, and I know, they have had a lot of RBI chances, but hey, let's not even try to fix it, because 2 & 3 are doing well. Got it. Brilliant. I fully realize trying to fix #4 would lessen the effectiveness or #3, but I'm going with the studies that show #4 gets more RBI chances than #3, over the long run. Again, this is not a major issue, normally, but when our #4 slot ha ssucked, so badly, and guys like these have sucked, who else can we use? Abreu .476 OPS in 69 PAs Casas .551 OPS in 53 PAs (out for season) Story .687 in 43 (in an awful slump) Campbell .304 in 40 (YUCK!) Refsnyder .599 (short-sided platoon) What's your suggestion? It might be nice to give some, instead of just criticizing others for theirs.

You may not like it, but Cora's replacement might be more about sabermetrics than Cora is. To quote you, "Like I've said before..." BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR!" 🤪

People think Cora is all about sabermetrics, yet he stuck with the worst defensive corner IF'ers for years, and does not follow a lot of modern philosophies. I don't think OBP has gone out of style with "saber," yet it seems like many "modern" GMs no longer value it as much.

Good point. #4 won't get as many RBIs, if #1 is not getting on base. Duran's paltry .313 OBP is a major issue, and way more impactful than Devers or Bregman not batting 4th. It's been .354 over his last 11 games, so maybe that will change. Devers has the team's best OBP, but I don't see him as the best #1.

It's "robotic" to trust science and data? I see it as the opposite. Not trusting data is robotically following stale ideas. You still can't understand the position that someone can disagree with someone on a few things and still like them. How "robotic" to see things only in black and white. I know that Cora has access to way more information than I do, including what players might be hurt or having issues. He might have reasons for doing something I was against, that had I known, I'd think differently, so I don't automatically assume, that if he doesn't do what I suggest, he's wrong. I know that "wrong" choices sometimes, work out, too, so judging afterwards is complicated, as well. Some of the ideas I put out there are just possible solutions. At times, I give multiple options that may contradict each other. At times, I'm not even for some of the suggested solutions I state, and I try to say so, at the time. I also realize I am not right all the time. So, if someone disagrees, I don't always think they are have to be "wrong." If it's a minor issue that I know has little impact, it won't be enough to sway my overall position. It's not a complex concept to grasp, but you seem to have trouble understanding it. I'm okay with Devers 2nd. He's a top 2 batter. I can see the benefit of batting them back-to-back, although Bregman getting up after a Devers HR is not ideal. The 3 slot is still very important, so batting Bregman 3 is not a choice I am willing to die on the hill over, and say I dislike Cora over it.

Why do you see moving them as thinking they are the "problem?" Moving them to fix a problem with the all important (or #2 all important) 4 slot is a possible solution. All-in-all, it will not likely matter.

We do think about it, and I used to think the 3 slot was the most important. If your two higher OBP guys are up 1-2, more often than not, a guy will get on base in the first inning. After that, it's all about even, except for the more PA thing, I trust the studies done on line-up, and they all say, the slot differentials are minimal or extremely minimal, so it's not something that is a big impact choice, but the studies do show the 4 slot gets more RBI opportunities than the 3 slot. (I think even 5 gets more than 3, but it might be tied.) Of course the 1 & 2 slots are vital. I see 1 as being maybe more important than 4, but only for OBP. The numbers show 2 & 4 are the top 2 slots. I'll defer to science, until science shows something changed.

I'm fine with that and can still like Cora, a lot. Our offense is not scoring the runs it should with their OPS and wRC+. I look for reasons why and suggest some possible solutions to the issue. This is just one of many possible solutions I suggest, and some I'm not even sure I'd do or even try. IMO, Bregman and Devers are clearly our best 2 hitters and Devers as more power. I start by line-up slotting Devers 4 and Bregman 2. Duran is my lead off guy for obvious reasons, and he does seem to be heating up to maybe being our 3rd or 4th best batter. Abreu and Ref are slotted 5th, as a platoon- another big RBI slot. That leaves 3rd for the 5th best batter. We have no clear good hitter after the 5 I listed (6 w a platoon.) I'm surprised you didn't cry "Why tinker?" when Raffy got off to such a bad start to 2025, after he did so well batting 4th, last year. See, sometimes "tinkering" works. Thanks for proving my point. 😜

Arias is really looking like the full package, real deal (4 for 5.) Anderson's 3 for 4 barely got him over .675. Yuten went 3 for 4 w a dinger, but he's only at .611, now.

Bregman in the 3 slot goes against the modern line-up philosophy. In theory, he'd have more impact up 2nd or 4th. Under this philosophy, the better power hitter (Devers) bats 4th (the 2nd most important slot.) The 3 slot is behind #2, #4, #1 and #5, so Anthony up 3rd is about right for maybe our 5th best batter. Just because someone has done great, so far, in a certain slot, does not mean they couldn't or can't do better in another. BTW, Devers hit way better 4th than 2nd, last year, so why "tinker?" Also, from 2024-2025, Devers has hit more often 4th than 2nd.

The league Fldg% at 2B is .985 and Campbell is at .979. That places him 24th out of the top 30 second basemen in innings at 2B. Any plays he makes that nobody else can even dream of making are all measured by Fldg %, so... 😝

Yes, I know and knew that. It's still a "flaw,"

Agreed. Our 4 hole has really sucked. 1. L Duran 2. R Bregman (best hitter) 3. L Anthony 4. L Devers (best hitter w power) 5. L Abreu/ R Refsnyder 6. R Narvaez 7. L Mayer (or stick w Story a while more) 8. R Campbell 9. R Rafaela

That's a flaw, nonetheless. Anthony and Ref at DH is not ideal, either. I'm not arguing against the idea, unless it is to make room for Yoshida to DH (although he just went to the 60.) I'm not happy with the way he's pulling Cora's strings and not vice versa, at all. This is not what this team needs. We have been teetering on mediocrity for many years, and finally made some moves that gave us some hope we could take a meaningful step up, and distractions or worse, like this is a big bummer.

I always felt like a 27 or 28 man roster might be a nice compromise to give the players, along with a big spike in min wage, in exchange for some sort of soft or hard cap in MLB. Another compromise might be to set a pretty high minimum team spending budget that could allow more lower to mid roster players make more money, instead of the top guys making sick money.

If I hear Fldg % one more time... 🤣

I'm not for moving everyone around. I just presented a non Devers to 1B option. I do worry about defense, and focus on SS, a lot. I'm not sure what Campbell not looking all that good on D at 2B, out of the gate has to do with my ideas and opinions. We are in a jam with the Casas injury. I prefer the Campbell to 1B option over Devers to 1B, but both idea have flaws.

Fitts had a nice 3 inning outing. 4 Hits 0 ER 0 BB and 2 Ks (31 strikes in 38 pitches) Jordan stayed hot in the POR win (2-4) and is at .823.

Sox traded cash for Ryan Noda and placed Yoshida on the 60 Day IL. He can play 1B and OF. He has 17 career HRs in about 600 PAs. .713 career OPS but off to a really bad start in 2025. He's 29 and had an .855 AAA OPS with 53 HRs in about 1200 PAs. In 475 AA PAs, he hit 29 HRs (.904 OPS.)

I don't either, but they did move Rafaela off CF, when Story got hurt, last year, and now we have another injury and Campbell learning how to play 1B. (We could call up Mayer to play 2B and keep the inferior defender at SS, like we did with Bogey/Story.) I'm just giving alternative options, not saying we should or would, just we "could."

I've not given up, just yet, on Story's O or D, but I agree, he has not looked good, so far this year. I know the guy got hurt, but this is radical: 2022-2023: +8 DRS/ +8 OAA in 314 innings at SS 2024: +2 DRS/ +2 OAA at SS in 227 innings 2025: -3 DRS/ -3 OAA at SS in 418 innings