moonslav59

Phew!

What has KCR done to impress you?

I've been saying this for over a month. While I do think he could hit .770 or better, how long of a leash does he get? Here are some of the longest leashes we've seen this season: 255 PAs Story at .598 (Glad he stuck with this one! Kinda had to.) 230 PAs Campbell at .577 185 PAs Toro at .509 (127 PAs Toro at .481) 168 PAs DHam at .573 (whole season, but .800 over last 45 PAs) 160 PAs Rafaela at .563 (recently) 159 PAs Wong at .484 (.642 last 64, .685 last 43, .729 last 29, .777 last 21) 136 PAs Mayer at .674 (kinda had to play him when Bregman out) 119 PAs Rafaela at .586 (early in '25) 116 PAs Yoshida at .584 112 PAs Casas at .580 (up to injury)

He has options, so Brez could park him in AAA and take Cora's choice away.

Yes. Right now, it's SEA vs KC w SEA up 2. Sox are up 4.5 on KCR and 5 on TEX. (5.5 on CLE)

Murphy, Sandlin, Burdi & Hoppe have gone 8 IP allowing 1 ER, 3 Hits but 5BB w 6 Ks. McDonough homered twice. Toro homered again, and Ferguson also had a dinger. Campbell is 1-3 w 2 BBs and 3 runs scored. POR is losing, late. Brannon homered. GRE & SAL play tonight.

Me, too. Plus Clarke or Early. I think MIN would prefer Abreu, which I would do, too.

I suggested Duran or Abreu- both have more control than Ryan and Abreu +1 more than Duran. I also suggested I'd modify the Sandlin and Mullins part to sub our Clarke or Early or maybe both.

Not necessarily. I think Mayer & Valera gets it done. Mayer and Campbell even more so. Campbell, Garcia and Clarke, too.

August we are the best of this group 5 BOS out of 97 6 NYY out of 108 7 KCR out of 120 8 SEA out of 124 10 TOR out of 118 12 HOU out of 130 Max, I've agreed that our defense has greatly improved, and I felt that way since last winter. I'm not sure why the massive amount of unearned runs, earlier this season occurred, but it did. We might have 3-4 more wins had our unearned runs and extra outs not happened, so much.

Duran Duran! Who is that clown who wanted to trade him! I want a name!

While I agree on the vast improvement, I'm not sure if it's luck or what, but we still lead the league in unearned runs allowed. Maybe, our pitchers have let downs after an error. Unearned runs allowed and other AL contenders: 70 BOS (That more than 1 every 2 games!) 58 SEA (almost 1 every 2 gms) 55 NYY (less than 1 per 2 games) 50 DET (about 1 almost every 3 gms) 38 HOU (almost 1 every 4 gms) 37 KCR 34 TEX

Indeed, but one good thing about the Sox is that anyone of the 13 everyday players can do it. We have 8 players with an OPS+ over 100 with Abreu due back, soon. 142 Anthony (WOW!) 139 Bregman (sliding over last 8 games) 137 Lowe (mostly platoon) 135 Ref (near strict platoon) 128 Romy (mostly platoon) 122 Abreu (Team HR leader) 113 Duran (baserunning adds O value) 102 Story (RBI leader) 101 Narvaez (very good for a Catcher) 97 Rafaela (better as a CF'er)

It wasn't "soon." It was later. Our opening day budgets were... $184M in 2015 (Ben signed Pablito & HRam) $197M in 2016 (signed Price) & 2017 $233M in 2018 (signed JD) $236M in '19 but no Kimbrel and Kelly, but extended/re-signed Sale & Nate It was 2019, when the spending shifted and the choice was made that Betts was about to be traded. (They almost traded him in the summer of '19 under DD.)

I think MIN would have taken... Duran or Abreu 2 from Clarke, Sandlin or Mullins or Early, Sandlin or Mullins (maybe Clarke & Early- maybe Valera & Mullins/Sandlin) I would not give Tolle. I'm not sure about Mayer, but not Abreu & Mayer.

Our season has been like this, all along. As soon as you think we are looking really good, we hit a tailspin. As soon as you start doubting how good we really are, we go 7-1 on a road trip. I've said it before, the whole American League looks the same way. Many teams are barely above mediocrity, and nobody stands alone as the clear favorite. DET is just a handful of games or less ahead of 4 teams, including the Sox. They are 5-5 in their last 10 and 26-26 in their last 52. Their division shows their 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th place teams all have worse records than the ALE & ALW. They are very beatable. TOR was playing very well for a long time, but they too are 5-5 in their last 10. They are 15-16 in their last 31 games. They have 12 games remaining vs BOS, NYY, HOU & KCR & 3 vs .500 CIN. They can be beat, although they have had our number, this year. NYY was having a real hard time, but they match our 7-3 record over the last 10 games. They are 37-37 since early June. They have as many holes as we do and can be beat. So far, we have had their number. SEA looked like the improved their team at the deadline, but here are their last 4 months records: 13-14, 13-14, 14-12, 14-12. That screams of mediocrity. They are 5-11 in their last 16. Beatable. HOU is 20-26 in their last 46. Like us, they are getting injured players back, but they are beatable, too.

DHam has been hitting well, recently as well. He hits LHPs better than RHPs, and Romy is the opposite. I'm okay with the choice, as Cora knows more than we do. I'm hoping Lowe can keep it up. We need a boost from our rightside infield.

Keller has been a consistently decent pitcher for several years. Gio has looked better and worse over the last several years. Since Keller joined MLB in 2019, they both have similar IP numbers. fWAR: Gio 14.5> Keller 12.1 ERA-: Gio 94>Keller 106 xFIP: Gio 3.91>4.12 But if you take away 2019-2021 and go with 2022-2025, the positions flip: Keller is 11th in IP at 680, while Gio is 65th at 465. fWAR: Keller 10.0 (26th)> Giolito 4.2 (66th) ERA-: Keller 98> Giolito 109 xFIP: Keller 3.97> Giolito 4.15 2025 Keller 2.5 fWAR, 101 ERA-, 4.16 xFIP (0.9 bWAR) Giolito 1.6fWAR, 81 ERA- , 4.36 xFIP (1.6 bWAR)

Thanks for clarifying. I still disagree. I also think that even if we miss the playoffs, JH & Co would not fire Brez.

We need to take care of business, today. The Yanks are surging. SEA is playing well. TOR is trying their hardest to make the ALE a 3 way race. Our strength of schedule looks harder than others, but we seem to be beating the better teams more than the worse ones, recently. Starting today, we have a good chance at gaining on 1-2 teams. Next series: NYY @ HOU (both are WC competition) TOR @ CIN (a .500 team in div w MIL & CHC) SEA @ TBR (SEA is 3-0 v TBR, this year) CLE @ BOS (CLE is no pushover)

I think worries about Bregman's decline on offense have been rebutted, this year, but now injury concerns might be higher. How long this slump lasts may change my first statement. He had a long slump, last year. His OPS+ was between 152 and 162 back in '18-'19, then dipped some (after the trash cans were taken away) before reaching 134 in 2022, then... 134 '22 122 in '23 117 in '24 (age 30) I'm not sure he has gained any more bargaining power based on this year's current 139 OPS+ and constant stellar defense at 3B. He's a year older, but it's hard to know what other GMs are thinking and wanting. To me, bring him back is essential. If we miss out, we'd need to sign Alonso at 3B, maybe Torres at 2B and pray Mayer stays healthy enough to play FT 3B in 2026. Lock him up, Get Gio on board. Make one big trade for a solid SP'er, like Ryan, and onward & Upward we go!

With TOR starting to buckle, we've missed a great chance to gain on winning the ALE.

Agreed, and I went a step further and predicted that they would and will not do that.

Apparently, not winning a ring in August is grounds for termination.

You are not "willing to wait." You say Brez needs to be fired. The bottom line is that we are winning and greatly improved over just 2 years of Brez. Could be implode and miss the playoffs in 2025? Yes. Would I love to see a ring, this year? Of course, and I do think we could have/should have done more at the deadline, but I don't know what the offers were, I hate overpaying for rentals, and I think the strategy to make major moves in the winter is generally a good one. Brez has done way more good than bad, and to me, most of his bad moves (in hindsight) has serious merit, at the time. Saying, "He needs to be fired" does not seem like someone "willing to wait."