moonslav59

I'd prefer Sogard over Story, but Sogard at 2B works, too. I'm kinda thinking Mono and Seigler's nice runs are over. Maybe they can resurge. Maybe not.

Story is not that far removed from being our HR, RBI & SB leader (1 CS.) We shouldn't totally write him off, but I share everyone's deep concerns. The fact that Mono sucks on D and is slumping makes the Story choice a little more appetizing. Between Sogard, Seigler and Mono, they can fight it our for 2B and back up SS. Story will likely geta few days off, especially early upon his call-up. If Mono was still raking, I'd be against making a change.

Some of these draftees and recently promoted-to-ier-level prospects have started to shine. 1.214 Gonzales at AA .991 Primera at Salem (15 XBs in 39 games) .957 Hull at GRE .857 Brito at SAL .804 Winnay at AA .799 Jo Garcia at AA (14 HRs in 280 ABs) .780 Schaffner at GRE .721 Godbout at AA (4 Hrs is 13 games)

Bennett really looks like the real deal. 5 years of control. No matter how well Perales does, Brez gets some serious props for this trade. It's funny, because I think a reason for the trade was because Perales needed to be added to the 40, and we wanted flexibility from Bennett's one more year before his Rule 5 situation.

This staff Brez has assembled is nothing short of amazing. 9Ks today and no BBs. Just 4 hits. Bennett might have been our 9th, 10th or even 11th SP'er on the winter, all-healthy depth chart. Guerrero was viewed as a stab in the dark minor league add-on. Moran was someone a few posters suggested we DFA on setting the opening day roster, as he was out of options. These are just 3 pitchers from today's game. We've done this without our 2025 ace (Crochet) our 2024 ace (Houck) our 2025 IP leader (Crawford) and our # IP and ERA guy (Bello) from 2025 getting the "starter yips." We also lost Oviedo for the season and traded Early after he went on the IL. Absolutely stunning staff depth.

Great point, Max. We are 2nd in ERA-. Our 81 ERA- is 12th best in MLB since 2017 (10 years.) Best Sox ERA- in this century: Under 100 Sox teams 81 this year 82 2017 82 2002 (pre Henry) ***83 2007 ***84 2018 85 2000 (pre Henry) 88 2025 (Brez) 89 2008 & ***2004 ***90 2013 91 2016 92 2001 (pre Henry) 93 2021 & 2009 96 2010 97 2019 & 2003 98 2024 (Brez) 99 2011 All 3 Brez seasons have been under 99. Under Henry, every ring season has seen an ERA- at 90 or lower. Of the 7 season at 90 and lower- we have 4 rings. Can we make it 5 of 8?

We can hopefully save Chapman for game 2.

Badda-bing-budda-boom!

Maybe his best role would be as a PH'er.

Rutschman is up to .538 with the Sox. He was at .458 before today.

Mono comes through and is moving in stereo.

STL has 5 less wins than BOS.

Bloom did leave Brez with a foundation that was heavy on quantity and prospects to work with and trade for higher quality. STL is doing way better than expected after making several "rebuild" trades,

How about some insurance runs?

Unlike Bloom, who was likely hired to find "gems in the rough" as I called it, Brez has found several. OPS Against last 4 weeks (before today) .425 Gamboa .426 Olds .446 Miller (not "in the rough.") .450 Burgos .571 Guerrero .588 Moran .622 Tolle .646 Slaten .675 Gray (not in the rough) .698 Bennett All Brez adds.

All season, too.

We need Guerrero to be on top of his game, which has been very impressive this season. Kinda out of nowhere. OPS Against by Sox pitchers with 150+ PAs Against: .531 Whitlock .573 Guerrero .585 Chapman .589 Moran (more PAs Against than the 3 above him) .610 Bennett .642 Suarez .644 Tolle .683 Gray .707 Weissert

He could get zero over the rest of the season. It's not a repeatable skill.

We've had a few fortuitous stretches from our SS depth chart. Maybe's Mono's has run its course. I'd go with Sogard at SS and Seigler/Story at 2B, but it will end up being Story at SS and Siegler/Sogard at 2B.

I'm not counting on much from players returning from injuries, and many may never play a game this year. Some points about some injuries: Forget Casas and Kelly. No room for them, anyway. Crawford's status has not been updated since July 17th. What's up with that? Back then, MLB.com reported he was throwing from 100 feet and his ETA was "September at earliest." Oviedo's last update was July 21st, when he was throwing off the mound. Same ETA as Crawford. Houck will pitch in scrimmage on Sept 1st in Fort Myers. ETA: possible late season. (I doubt we see him in 2026.) Yoshida is likely done for 2026. ETA is possible end of season or PS. Slaten is throwing from 120 feet but has not been on the mound, yet. ETA: September. (Not counting on him returning in time to help) Mead has started "mobility and strength exercises and is running and throwing," but not hitting yet. ETA: Late season or 2027. (Count on zero for '26) IKF is in rehab and playing. ETA Sept 1st or later. May not be room for him, and he is out of options. Story is the big question. He is rehabbing and likely "ready to return," but is doing so poorly on offense, I'm not sure he is ready. ETA: late AUG/early Sept. Crochet is not listed on MLB.com for some reason, but ESPN says he's throwing with intensity fro 90 feet. CBS says "out until Sept 11th." Anthony offers the best hope for a meaningful return. He has been in rehab for a while. ETA: late AUG/early Sept.

Can Bennett give us one more inning? He's at 75 pitches.

I think we needed both. Narvaez has been even worse than .535 with BOS (.295 w BAL,) and Wong is not very good on defense and inconsistent on offense. If Rut was raking, we'd be saying this is what we needed. I think it was a good stab at boosting the offense- just as getting Mead was. I totally agree on the "shoulda added a SP'er" point... just not instead of a catcher. BTW, Wong is at .671 since the trade and .572 in his last 15 games. We needed a bat, and Catcher was our weakest area on offense- this year and going into 2027. We just need Rutschman to start hitting just .725 or better. If he can hit .800+ we will see things differently.

Yes, Olds demoted.

"Clutch" is not a skillset. It's not repeatable.

I've mentioned this before, but not after the Early for Mead trade. Our pitching on the farm has taken a major hit due to promotions/graduations and trades. Several trades were pitchers for pitchers, but the net result seemed to be trading away more than we got back- hopefully more like quantity for better quality. (Bennett & Gray jump to mind, but several RP'ers, too.) I've always been big on improving pitching with a focus more on quality than quantity. I often said "rebuild the rotation from the top not at the 4-5 slots." That being said, the lack of top pitching prospects might not be as scary as it looks. Here is why: years of control of perhaps enough quality pitchers to keep the need of outside acquisitions rather low. Maybe that can help us use our resources to try and add a big bat, but I think Mead and Anthony might be enough. 5 years: Crochet, Tolle & Bennett 4 years: Suarez & Bello 2 years: Crawford 1 year: Houck & Oviedo FAs: Gray & Sandoval Minors: Burgos, Rivera (non 40: Wehunt, Paez, Holobetz, Ziehl, Phillips, Brown, Futrell, Monegro) IMO, we need to be 10 deep at SP'ers to have decent depth. This is 8 deep, in theory. Maybe Gray agrees to come back for 1 more year. He may demand 2 years and get it somewhere. Maybe we get by with Wehunt & Paez or Burgos & Rivera. Maybe not. Maybe we want Houck and or Crawford in the pen, so we'd need a SP'er add or two, but we can probably get by without SP'er prospect infusion for a few years. I'm not sure how many promising, far-away pitching prospects we have in the system but here is what we have: MLB ready: Rivera ETA 1-2 years: Wehunt 25 Paez 22 Holobetz 24 Ziehl 23 Monegro 23 Phillips 22 Brown 22 Other '26 draftees: Devenport, Lanman, Adetuyl, Volmerding (Futrell 23, Mullins 26, Finley & Mayers 22) Far-Away (2-3+ years): Valera (20) Delzine (18) LaFavor (18) Cason (20) Not too impressive, at all. That's putting it mildly, but Brez has shown he can add pitchers of quality with a good rate of success. Yes, he gave up Sale, Harrison, Drohan and Priester, but he had previously added Harrison & Priester, too.) His adds have been Gray, Bennett, Suarez, Tolle, Sandoval, Oviedo, Fitts, Newcomb, Criswell, Buehler, DMay (a year too early?) Some added then subtracted besides Harrison & Priester: Eyanson, Witherspoon, Fajardo, Clarke, Aita