moonslav59

I really don't think a player's value drops as much as some think, due to a 200 PA slump. I think many teams would love to have Campbell, even after seeing his 2025 issues on O and D. I don't see KC as an option at 2B, unless as an extreme emergency. He is really bad on D. We don't need another OF'er. If we trade Duran, we may need help, especially if Jh Garcia struggles. If we keep Yoshida around, he could be a LF option, too. Maybe Romy, too. Maybe Refsnyder returns for 1 more year. I don't like the idea of trading any of our OF'er. I like them all, but our surplus is too valuable to have 1 or 2 on the bench or at DH every game. I'm not trading Anthony. I guess trading Rafaela could be an option, but his glove in CF is too good to lose. I'd be okay with trading Abreu, as Anthony and Garcia can play RF decently.

Mine was a projection not my choice. Romy is a lefty killer. I'd lead him off, despite his trailing off a little. DHam sucks at the plate, especially v lefties. Rafaela is better, overall and at 2B, he allows all the OF'ers to bat, even Duran who sucks vs LHPs, this year and for all but 2024. My choice: R Romy 1B L Anthony LF R Story SS R Bregman 3B R Garcia RF L Duran CF R Narvaez C R Rafaela 2B R Eaton DH Save the LHBs (Lowe & Yoshida) for PH opportunities.

Sox prospects.com has Gonzales at GRE, next season. Maybe he ends up at POR by the end of 2026. He sure looks like a keeper. Our everyday prospect list took a big hit with graduations by Anthony, Mayer, Campbell, Narvaez and the trade of Teel, Montgomery and Meidroth, but I still have hopes in some big jumps next year.... C Jo Garcia, Jo Rodriguez & Mussett (H White & Rosario) 1B Hickey, Brooks (C) & Brito 2B Godbout, Mason & (Cespedes is dropping) SS Arias, Soto, Cason, Ramos & Pinto (Nunez is dropping) 3B Romero, Liendo & Encarnacion (Alcantara & Anderson are dropping) LF Gonzales, Azocar & YRod (Castro is dropping) CF Jh Garcia, Rivas & Martin (Bleis is dropping) RF Taylor, Turner & Yuten DH Hickey

With Lowe doing well, I don't see Campbell being a 1Bman option need, and he may never play another game at 2B for the Sox again. We just called up DHam over Campbell, so that is pretty telling. I am far from giving up on Campbell's bat, but his glove is a major concern. His most likely fits on Defense are LF (where he needs to learn the difference between playing CF and LF) and DH. While DH seems a waste of his athleticism, if the guy can't be a plus on D anywhere else, then what is left? We also have such an overload in the OF, playing LF is not really an option and may not even be an option if we trade Duran. LF: Anthony & Garcia CF: Rafaela & Garcia RF: Abreu, Garcia & Anthony Where does Campbell fit in, unless Jh Garcia bombs out? With Yoshida at DH, being a DH platoon is a waste of a roster spot. DH v LHPs and 5th OF'er and emergency 2Bman is still not a good option. He may end up being trades along with Duran or Abreu- maybe in a separate deal.

I am nearly certain either DHam or Grissom are not on the 40, next season- maybe both. Sogard and Eaton will likely be non-tendered. With 9 guys on the 60 Day IL, and no 60 Day IL allowed before opening day, some roster moves will be needed. Sandlin may be the only sure bet Rule 5 guy added, this winter, but word is Tolle may be added, soon, despite not being Rule 5 eligible for a while. Other that might be protected are Mullins, Uberstine & Paez. I doubt we add Hickey, Bleis or Castro. Houck will be added to the 60 Day IL, soon after opening day, but he will take a 40 man slot up for the full 2026 season. That creates a winter dilema, to some extent, but I really feel like our winter plans should concentrate on quality additions over quantity, so a roster crunch can easily be avoided. One 5 for 1 deal, involving 2-4 forty-man players would go a long way in solving any issues. A second similar trade would allow us to add quality (Bregman, Chapman) and quantity, as in depth at 2B and 1B (Lowe) and the pen. Maybe even a 3rd catcher than can be stashed at Woo but be on the 40. I think Wong will be out of options, after 2025. Salary dump trades involving Yoshida and or Hicks could also allow us more roster flexibility and improvement. Lowe's contract could become an issue.

I'm really excited about the Sox extending so many of our core young players and prospects. Only the Campbell one looks somewhat questionable, as of now, but it's way too early to judge that deal. The Bello and Rafaela extensions made previously were questioned by a few posters, here, and there was some merit to question why the need for jumping the gun on these two, but clearly Bello would get more had we waited until now. Rafaela is third in fWAR on the team and about tied with Duran for second on fWAR per PA or game started. He's ranked about 50th in all MLB. His $6.25 AAV looks like a steal, now, to me. The Crochet extension made the trade 5 times better.

It's $130M/8, so the all important AAV will be a hit on the lux tax, starting in 2026. (He would have been below $1M in 2026, so the front end is a budget burden at $16.25M, but over the long haul, it should be a major budget asset.) The team also has a 9th year option with no buyout cost, but it's $30M, so he better be great to kick that option is. Here is the year by year: $5M signing bonus 26:$2M, 27:$4M, 28:$8M, 29:$15M, 30:$19M, 31:$23M, 32:$25M, 33:$29M, 34:$30M club option (no buyout) awards may increase 2031-34 salaries up to $14M in 2031, $16.2M in 2032, $18.4M in 2033, $21.6M in 2034: $1M annually in 2032 or 2033 for first or second place in Rookie of the Year vote $2M in 2034 for first or second place in Rookie of the Year vote $2M each for winning league MVP award $1M each for second or third place in MVP vote $750,000 each for fourth or fifth place in MVP vote $500,000 each for sixth through 10th in MVP vote per cots.

Tolle won't be starting for the Sox on Monday. I think it might be a pen game, if we don't overuse them, today. Otherwise, I think we go with Fitts, since he's on the 26, now. Harrison might "deserve" it more than Fitts, but based on what? Just to give him a fresh look? It would be nice to get 6 or 7 IP from May, tonight. It was great not needing Chapman or Whitlock, yesterday and this is a night after day game, too. Weissert just threw 13 pitches, so he could probably pitch, again. Wilson is dropping in the high leverage role, so not using him might be a plus, tonight. Slaten may be ready for a promotion by the time Tolle could get a start, so with the addition of Buehler to the pen, we could see a major shift in the make-up of the pen and rotation. Since the deadline, we might see: Rotation: May>Buehler and Tolle/Harrison>Fitts Pen: Matz> Murphy, Buehler > I Campbell and Slaten> Moran/Kelly/Hicks (Hicks to IL??? He is out of options.) That's 5 of 13 slots changed out, with those 5 still here as depth in AAA.

The thread starter has been suspiciously absent from any further comments or retractions. Man up, OCA!

Do you think Yoshida has played too much?

I guess it could be Brez telling Cora he has to play Yoshida, but I think Cora calls the shots on who plays from the 26. Brez sets the 26 with Cora input, IMO. Cora seems to have full faith in Yoshida, despite his shortcomings, this year. I think he cut him a lot of slack, assuming he was adjusting after missing so much time with the injury, that apparently was not supposed to affect his hitting. Yoshida has played almost FT since his return. 28 games (26 started.) in 37 games. He's batting .234 with just 2 HRs and 8 XBHs in 103 PAs. He has a .643 OPS. That sucks for a DH. With Ref on the IL, now, and Romy needed as a platoon for 1B or 2B, and Rafaela being used at 2B, it looks like Yoshida will DH vs L & R. There is no OF to DH rotation in the works, IMO. BTW, Cora specifically asked me not to give you his new email account information, as the last time you stalked him relentlessly. 🤪

Agreed. Judge has also missed time with injuries, not just this year. Stanton has missed a ton of time. Rice, Bellinger, Grisham & Chisholm have done well, this year, but I don't see them as the types to carry and offense, when Judge and Stanton are out or not having big games. When all healthy, they have a solid 6. Goldschmidt at .760 looks fine, but he's at .735 since April 15th and .618 since May 31st (225 PAs) He hit .716, last season, so maybe that's who he really is, now. Six is better than a lot of teams. I'm not saying the Yankee offense is a weakness. It is far from that, but when it gets to crunch time, teams can pitch around Judge and Stanton, and fell pretty confident the other 4 guys won't burn them. I guess you could say the same about Bregman and Anthony, but Story leads the team in RBI and the Abreu-Ref and Lowe-Romy platoons give us two slots that beat any of those 4 Yankees. Duran may not be a reliable "key hit" batter, but he is suck an offensive threat in other ways, so he has to be seen as at least equal to those second tier 4 Yankee batters. Narvaez and Rafaela offer some hope, as well and Jh Garcia is the wild card addition.

I project this line-up: 1. R Romy 1B (Lowe sucks vs LHPs) 2. R Bregman 3B (Cora loves him at #2. I might go Anthony 2 & Bregman 4.) 3. L Anthony LF (Our new Yankee killer) 4. R Story SS (Has done well, this year) 5. R Garcia RF (Breakin-breakout game, tonight!) 6. L Duran CF (maybe Cora gives him a day off: insert Yoshida 6th.) 7. R Rafaela 2B (DHam cannot start v a lefty.) 8. L Yoshida DH (It's what Cora does, although demoting to the 8th slot would be new.) 9. R Narvaez C (Heating back up?)

I think Cora is flexible enough to see the DH role as a way to rest players while keeping their bats in the line-up. He could still give everyone 3-5 full days off, instead of 6-10, like now. The problem is that he feels like as long as Yoshida is on the 26, he HAS TO PLAY HIM FT. Brez needs to rid Cora from having that option. If it comes to a DFA, then so be it. Maybe he can trade Yoshida, Lowe and DHam for Arenado. STL would still save money. Throw in Mullins, if need be. I don't see playing Rafaela or Abreu at DH, especially Rafaela. Just give him the full day off. I'd rotate Duran, Anthony and maybe Garcia at DH, but now by adding Garcia we are at 6 OF'ers, so one will be traded. One has to be traded. If it's Duran, we could see this (assuming no Yoshida option): LF: Anthony v R (when not at DH)/ Garcia v L (when not at DH) Campbell???? CF: Rafaela FT (Garcia when rest is needed, most likely v R, as Garcia spells Abreu & Anthony v L's) RF: Abreu v R/ Anthony v L (when not at DH) Garcia v L DH: Rotate Anthony, Garcia and rarely Abreu. (If we move Abreo to FT, then he DHs more often) Campbell???

Back in the 70's and 80's OOB was a Quebecer magnet. Yes, I have not noticed many there in the last couple decades.

Hitch, I racked my brain, last winter, trying to find some team, someway, somehow to trade Yoshida, even while eating $10-13M a year or by taking back some big contract- some salary dump types and some just high salaried good players. The closest I think I got was something like Yoshida, Casas and a pitcher for Luis Castillo plus dumps like Haniger and or Garver. Another was Yoshida and ____ for Arenado and or Contreras. I think we may need to eat $14-16M a year of his $18M, so it hardly seems worth it, unless we need the roster slot. Yoshida does have options, if Brez would dare to park him in AAA as insurance at DH. I know, DH depth seems like a waste of a roster spot, but that highlights why he has so little value to other teams, too. On Casas, I think the guy is a career .800+ batter, and he's cheap, so I don't trade him. His trade value is not worth his potential value, and I don't trust Lowe to hold the 1B job. Lowe also is MLB's worst batter vs LHPs, so he'll be platooning with Romy, anyway. (Campbell could play 1B v L and maybe DH or play OF v R, if we trade an OF'er or two.) I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think trading Campbell makes a lot of sense. Jh Garcia might be ahead of him for the RHB OF slot. Lowe & Romy are ahead at 1B, and we even tried Jh Garcia at 1B w Woo, the other day. 2B has Mayer and Romy ahead of Campbell, and as long as DHam is on the roster, Cora may have him ahead of Campbell there, too. (They did call him up over KC, just recently, so Brez seems to feel the same as Cora on 2B choices.) Before long, Arias may face Story to 2B (or Mayer.) In short, I think we trade Duran, Campbell, DHam or Grissom, maybe Yoshida (not Casas) and some of our pitching (Fitts, Criswell, Harrison, Hicks, or even prospects not named Tolle and maybe Valera) for a solid #2 pitcher and maybe a 2Bman and or solid RP'er. This would lessen the amount we need to spend on a FA SP'er, and it would allow us to bring back Bregman and Chapman plus a decent RP'er or 2Bman- maybe.

We needed someone to take over the Devers Yankee Killer role. I think we found him.

I kinda like toast.

I hope they listen to Cora, and I think Brez has good baseball instincts, too. I like the combo, and may be in a minority with that position. It seems several posters think both are "idiots" or worse. On the analytics and platoons, one could argue Cora does not platoon enough, as Duran has been pretty poor vs LHPs just about every season. Who is against batting Romy and Ref vs LHPs? Please, speak up! 1.017 Romy 116 PAs .989 Bregman 99 .905 Refsnyder 112 .773 Narvaez 110 .754 Story 136 .751 Anthony 83 .721 Abreu 64 (Maybe time to see if he can play FT) .704 Rafaela (Pretty even vs L & R) .675 Campbell 74 .570 Duran 181 (most PAs vs LHPs: why?) .398 Wong 32 vs RHPs .897 Bregman .892 Anthony .881 Duran .828 Abreu .739 Mayer .728 Story .724 Narvaez .718 Rafaela .676 Romy (better than Toro) .664 Toro .658 Campbell .650 Yoshida (Why is he still our DH?) .556 DHam (an equal opportunity slumper) .502 Wong

Hell, the fact that he does not have to face a righty is already cutting him some slack to start his career.

The Yankees do have the best offense in MLB, according to multiple metrics and traditional stat categories. They blow all other teams away on the offense component of WAR for everyday players: 92.2 NYY 77.2 LAD 71.0 TOR (BOS is 11th at 29.3, which is aided by their +6,2 baserunning) wRC+ 116 NYY 113 LAD & TOR 111 NYM & AZ (Sox are 12th at 104) They have 19 more homers than LAD and are 66 ahead of the #15 team. (Sox are 12th.) Their OPS is fueled more by SLG (1st) than OBP (4th). OPS: .779 NYY .767 LAD & AZ .764 TOR .752 BOS You'd expect them to lead the majors in runs scored, but they don't. 668 LAD 663 MIL 659 NYY 651 BOS (Thanks, in part, to yesterday's 12-1 win.) I will say this: their numbers on offense are greatly enhanced by just 2-3 players, who most have injury issues and or are getting older. Judge is a beast and has missed some time, this year. He still leads the team in PAs and OPS. Stanton is 10th in PAs on the Yanks and is also over 1.000 for his OPS. Their offense is somewhat unbalanced. I think this is why they do not lead the league in runs. Here are the Yankee players listed in order of most PAs with their OPS: 1.114 Judge 529 PAs .675 Volpe 509 (WOW! 2nd in PAs) .817 Bellinger 508 (He and Rice are the only others over .800.) .760 Goldschmidt 454 .796 Grisham 447 (Certainly been a plus on offense) .821 Rice 414 .799 Chisholm 402 (almost over .800) .713 Dominguez 397 .685 A Wells 363 1.009 Stanton 177 .452 Peraza 170 (almost as many PAs as Stanton) .674 LeMahieu and .631 O Cabrera To be fair, the Yanks do have 6 batters over .760 and 400 PAs. The Sox have just 3 players over 400 PAs and one over .760 (Duran at .779,) but that highlights the more balanced offense, we have and maybe why we are so close to the Yanks in runs scored. Here is our list: .779 Duran 569 PAs .735 Story 521 (seeing him at #2 in PAs is great!) .714 Rafaela 466 (struggling at the plate, of late.) .811 Abreu 395 (due to platoon) .923 Bregman 362 (due to injury) .739 Narvaez (maybe snapped out of funk) .659 Toro 284 (DFA) .664 Campbell 263 (may not play for big club) .846 Anthony 262 (should rise in PA rankings) .838 Romy 240 (playing more and more) .827 Refsnyder 157 (on IL & platoon only) .545 DHam 153, .481 Wong 147 & .643 Yoshida 103 (Lowe is at 1.159 in just 18 PAs) We have 8 players with 150+ PAs and above .735. The Yanks have 7. (Pretty close.)

Those numbers included Saturday's game.

He has 50 IP. WAR is helped by 70-80 IP for RP'ers.

No problem. We've had some great closers in the Henry era.

DET beat KCR to add another game to the WC lead. CLE is getting drilled 10-0, and BAL had tied up HOU 7-7 in the 6th. I'm hoping we can pass HOU, as I see SEA as the likely ALW winner, this year.