moonslav59

I can't believe opening day is so near! I'm excited about this season, despite the rotation injuries and pen uncertainties. The Devers-Abreu-Story problems may work themselves out, and as always, we seem to have more questions than answers, but we have depth and some decent secondary chocies, some of which seem more promising than the likely opening day starters. The 3 top prospects. Maybe a returning Sandoval. Maybe Hendriks finds a groove, before it's too late. Maybe, the second half by DHam-Romy was not a fluke. Maybe Wong & Casas improved their defense, over the winter. Maybe Slaten & Whitlock have great seasons. Maybe, maybe, maybe... Hope springs eternal.

STing leader board OPS 1.280 Thompson 1.060 Bregman 1.022 Eaton .997 Toro .957 Mayer .936 Story .933 Rafaela .817 DHam .757 Casas, .753 Sogard, .740 Romy,, .719 Anthony, .713 Refsnyder .686 Yoshida, .639 Narvaez, .618 Wong, .615 Duran ..587 Campbell., .535 Grissom ERA (7+ IP) 0.57 Crochet 0.63 Newcomb 0.79 Fulmer (demoted) 1.80 Buehler 2.35 Kelly (demoted) 2.45 Fitts & Chapman 3.12 Bernardino, 4.70 Criswell, 4.82 Davis & Priester 6.23 Weissert, 11.20 Houck, 15.43 Wink 4-6 IP 0.00 Drohan, 2.08 Troye, 3.00 Mills 3.86 Slaten, 7.94 Wilson, 9.53 Guerrero, .995 Hendriks

For a long time, the Rays often do better or much better than expectations, but they are getting more predictable, of late.

Yes, thanks for the correction. That makes a huge difference. I was wondering why he got so little.

Tanner Bibee had 2 years of control left- like Crochet. He has a 3.25 ERA after 2 seasons and 316 IP. He just signed an extension: $2M signing bonus + $3M in 2025 $4M in '26 $7M in '27 $10M in '28 $21M in '29 Club option for '30 at $21M w $1M buyout. $48M is the third most ever given to a 2 year player. Knowing this, what should Crochet get?

He's traded, drafted and signed more pitchers in his short time here than Bloon in 4 years.

MLBTR: Moore and Ottavino are both Article XX(b) free agents, so their minor league deals contain built-in opt-out clauses for today, May 1, and June 1 unless their teams have selected those contracts to the 26-man roster.

Word is, according to MLBTR, Fitts has won the 4 slot. Newcomb and Priester are fighting for the 5 slot. Ottavino & Moore will not make the opening day roster and have a May 1st date for a decision to be made. (Neither are on the 40.) Fulmer and Zavala are not going to be on the roster, either. MLBTR also reported.... In some interesting behind-the-scenes Red Sox news, The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey detailed some of the many organizational changes Craig Breslow has overseen since being hired as Boston’s chief baseball officer in the fall of 2023. Breslow has conducted something of an overhaul of several different departments within baseball options, ranging from installing new department heads to entirely changing how certain divisions operate. The perception is that the Sox are adopting more of an analytical-based approach, as evidenced by staffing increases to the research and development department and cuts made within the various scouting divisions.

I think Yoshida, but not sure on the others.

Maybe after 3 or 4 starts in April? He may have been working on a secondary pitch, today. (I'm probably reaching, there.)

We really can't afford to have Houck drop off, significantly, this year. Crochet & Buehler could take up a lot of slack, but we need a strong third man, and Newcomb, Fitts or Priester are not likely candidates.

I'm all for an extension. He's worth an overpay, despite the risks. We gave up a lot for him. 2 years will likely not be worth it. We need 5-8 years.

I was okay with the $17M x 4, but how many playoffs did we make under that extension? He started 73 out of a possible 115 starts in those 4 seasons. That was not the main reason we missed the playoffs in 3 or the 4 seasons, but it didn't help. It's no coincidence he had 32 of those 73 GS in 2021. That was a big game in 2021 vs the Yanks- no doubt. The rest of the '21 playoffs was not something to brag about, though: 15.1 IP 10 ER (15 Hits & 5 BB) I have no beef w Nate. I'm glad we traded for him and extended him, but his injury issues hurt us. It did not help that Sale's injury history was even worse, over those same years; Price fell apart, and ERod missed a season with Covid and never regained his form in '21.

It's hard to know who will be the first RP'ers called up. Last year, we used 27 pitchers in relief, including Reyes and Dom Smith. If we can keep that under 20, it might be a good sign. If we don't have to trade for relief help, this summer, that would be another good sign. It looks like a sure bet that Chapman begins the season as our closer. I hope he can hold that slot, all year. Hendriks and Slaten might turn out to be decent 8th inning pitchers. Whitlock and Criswell could be very good 2 inning, high leverage arms in the pen. All these 5 guys have questions, but the rest of the pen seems wide-open. The good thing is, we have about 15 pitchers with varying levels of promise hoping to get a shot at the remaining 3 pen slots: Wilson, Ottavino, Fulmer are the seasoned vets. (Moore & Adams are longshots) Bernardino, Kelly and I Campbell had some success at the big level, even if just for short stretches. (Moran might rise) Guerrero might be the rookie break through guy. Converted SP'ers might help (Crawford, Fitts, Priester, Dobbins) Other longshots might be: Mata, Mills, Harris, Gambrell, Adames, YH Cruz or even Murphy or Sandlin, later in the season. If Sandoval returns, we could push Gio or Bello to the pen. That is a lot of names. I've never been a quantity over quality fan, but it's better to have quantity than to not have it.

I like how this team is shaping up and the depth we have at nearly every position. Our rotation has too many injuries, at the same time, but we kind of expected it and planned for it, this time. Catcher: Narvaez may help on the defensive side of the position, but his offense is a big question. Wong's D has to improve, of he is no longer a true starter. His offense in 2024 looked good, but metrics show he was a bit lucky. 1B: Casas needs to stay healthy. His D is what it is, but the guy can rake. 2B: The big question mark, this spring, but I like our 3 options more than what we've had at 2B over the past 2 years: Mayer, Campbell or a DHam-Romy platoon. SS: Story's health and arm are at question, as well as his O, but Mayer looks ready, so maybe SS will be the best it's been since Bogey was hitting well. 3B: Bregman is the best all around 3BMan we've had in a long time. OF: Duran-Rafaela-Abreu could be the best defensive Sox OF, ever. Their offense is not too shabby, either. Anthony, Ref and even Yoshida offer good depth. DH: Devers, Yoshida & Refsnyder could be the best DH group in the AL. Rotation: Crochet, Houck, Buehler are the best 3 we've had in a while. Having 6-8 guys to choose for teh 4-5 slots is nice: Bello, Gio, Crawford, Fitts, Newcomb, Priester, Criswell & Dobbins. Pen: This is our major need area, especially at closer. We may end up finding a decent closer from the top 4 group, but hopefully we won't need to trial and error it for a couple months. I like our pen depth and extended pen depth, but again, I'm hoping we don't have to cycle through 18-20 pitchers to find the best 8. Cora need to choose well. I think we can have a decent 8, but don't ask me to predict who those 8 will be, especially after the 4-5 we all think might be okay or better.

About 1800 ft high Mexico City is about 7400

I'm not sure we can know how well Mayer will do from April to May, and just as importantly, how well will any other player we choose do or would have done? If Mayer hits .625, maybe DHam would have hit .600. Poster will complain, no matter what we choose to do, unless the choice works great from day one.

He may have won a slot, even if he does not do well in Mexico. Cora has been gushing over him.

Hendriks says Chapman deserves the closer role. He "earned it."

He has looked good, but maybe they are choosing to keep him as depth, without having to add him to the 40 (and 26,) so we can add someone else. If Fulmer keeps pitching well, he can easily replace someone else, later, of be added when we put someone on the 60 Day IL. No hurry on any of this.

The thing is, even if Devers misses a lot of time, this year, we could probably get good offense from Refsnyder and others being squeezed by Mayer, Campbell and Anthony. Yes, he's not a bad hitter, but we can do better, IMO. We could pay every penny of Yoshida's deal and add Bernardino, and it would not be enough for O'Hoppe. Adding Abreu gets us close, but good catchers are hard to find and highly valued by teams that have them. One factor could be how much LAA likes or wants Abreu and/or if they like/want Wong or Narvaez. Maybe Yoshida + $10-12M a year, DHam & Wong could get the deal done. They might demand Abreu & Wong.

Maybe JD Martinez?

A weak arm is one thing, but throwing the ball away is worse. I still think Story is a plus on D. I'm not sure Mayer is better, but if he is, I'm for the swap.

I don't disagree. I just don't know how good Mayer is on D at SS, just yet. When you read scouting reports that talk of positional; changes, I woner.

Mayer is a better defensive SS than Bogey, and Story played 2B for him. I know this is different, but let's do what is best for the team. (Note: I'm not sure what alignment is best, and if it's close, I'd keep Story at SS and have Mayer at 2B.)