moonslav59

Sox injury updates on Crawford, Bello, Giolito, Abreu... No 6 man rotation announced. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/02/red-sox-injury-notes-crawford-bello-giolito-rotation-abreu.html

I'm not sure anyone has said there won't be one, but some are not sure... like me. There are several reasons for there not to be one. Mayer will not, unless Story is hurt. Guerrero may have the best chance of all. Campbell and Anthony seem to be ML ready, now, but they will likely not be added to the 40, unless and until they will be added to the 26 as FT or near FT players. That very well may happen on opening day, especially if there is an injury, but maybe without one, as well. If Bregman is at 2B, I'm not sure Campbell takes an OF position by opening Day. Anthony may not either. We have Duran, Rafaela and Abreu-Refsnyder. Yoshida in the OF has been mentioned, and if Devers is at DH, we may see him out there, too. I do not view the DHam-Romy/Grissom platoon as bad at 2B, but I do like the looks of Campbell at 2B better. That does not mean I'm sure he wins the job on opening day. DHam and Romy looked pretty good at 2B defense in 2024, and have nice matching splits as a platoon. Did they do enough to deserve the job? Probably not, but they might be given one, anyway, even if just to gain Campbell another year of service. There is also a chance the two rookies do not do well in ST'ing, which might tolt the choice towards a vet. There are 13 everyday slots, and 2 go to catchers, plus locks to Devers, Bregman, Casas, Story, Duran, Abreu, Rafaela and probably Refsnyder. Yoshida may start on the IL or be optioned to AAA. That's 10 slots, not counting Yoshida or any 2Bman or rookies. The 3 slots could go to... Yoshida, if healthy Campbell and or DHam, Romy and Grissom Anthony That's 6 players for 3 slot. Campbell & Anthony offer the most upside and excitement. Yoshida might be the most predictable bat. Romy offers the best flexibility of the remaining 3 and hit well vs LHPs, last year. DHam looks good at 2B defense only, hit righties okay and could steal 50 bases, if given 650 PAs. Grissom has the most to prove and does not look good on D at any position. I'd say Grissom has the worst shot at the opening day 26 of these 6, so maybe it's really 3 slot for 5 player. If Yoshi starts the season on the IL, it's down to 4, and a rookie is almost certainly going to be one. The most likely 3 vets over a rookie would be Yoshida, DHam and Romy. That's not an exciting bunch, and I can see why Campbell and or Anthony can be viewed as clear choices over any of them, but I don't see it as a slam dunk choice, as of now.

Rafaela is better than Abreu vs LHPs.

Lots of dingers, today.

That was about $28.5M x 6. If he has a good year, he can get $28.5M x 5, this winter and end up plus. He might get the same $171M/6 offer, next winter.

I'm not so sure, but if 1 or 2 look great in ST'ing, I think it will happen. I'm not as down on the DHam-Romy platoon at 2B as many seem to be, and I could see us starting the season giving them a second look. (The first look was pretty nice.) I think the years of control factor might be in the equation, as well as the 40 man roster issues, if we add one or two. They are not deal-breakers, but somewhat significant factors. I'd love to see Campbell at 2B, opening day. Anthony in LF or RF would be nice, too, and if it squeezes Rafaela to a platoon/super utility role, that's not a bad thing. I'm more worried about squeezing our best bat vs LHPs, Refsnyder, out of the line-up, but I suppose he could play LF vs LHPs, Duran CF and Anthony RF. One thing is for certain, with Campbell at 2B and Anthony in the OF, Yoshida is left out in the cold- not a bad thing, either, except for the wasted budget space and 26/40 man roster spot. 1. Duran CF 2. Bregman 3B 3. Casas DH/1B 4. Devers 1B/DH 5. Campbell 2B 6. Abreu RF v R/ Refsnyder LF v L 7. Story SS 8. Anthony LF v R/ CF v L 9. Wong.Narvaez C Damn, that is nice. Rafaela super-sub on the bench w Abreu or Ref (nice PH'ers) DHam or Romy and Narvaez or Wong

I think DHam is a plus defender at 2B, and so is Romy. I also think 3B is an important defensive position. I think LF is one of the least important defensive positions, especially in Fenway. I don't think the drop off from Rafaela to Duran in CF is all that much, and if Rafaela plays RF vs LHPs, it's a better defense than Refsnyder in RF. I'll go with Bregman at 3B, DHam/Romy at 2B, until Campbell arrives and improve the offense by having Yoshida in LF vs RHPs and Ref vs LHPs. Duran in CF. Abreu-Rafaela in RF is a nice D platoon. It's not an clear cut choice. We could see switches, here and there.

Devers has been in MLB for 7.5 years. He could possibly improve his defense, but I'm not sure why we should expect that to happen. He has to have known this was an area of need for years. I will say, he has had some pretty long stretches where he looks okay to even decent on defense, but he tends to have periods of lost focus or whatever it is, where he basically sucks, bigtime, most notably with bad throws to 2B and 1B. We know Bregman is a top 3-8 defensive 3Bman and should remain there for a while longer. I don't see the benefit of forcing Campbell into an already very good and crowded OF, just to keep a poor defender at 3B. Anthony is already set to put the squeeze on Abreu & Rafaela, but creating a platoon with those two might work out very well. Benching them or trading them, so Yoshida can DH and Devers stay at 3B makes no sense, to me. There is not great rush, until we are ready to call up Campbell and or Anthony. We could probably go a while mixing and matching, whereby Yoshida, Rafaela, Abreu, Ref and others all get enough PAs to prove they need to keep playing or playing more often, by moving people around, but I'm not sure that is the best plan: Bregman at 2B and 3B, Devers at 3B and DH or 1B, casas at 1B or DH, Rafaela in CF and RF, Duran in LF and CF, and on and on.... I'm fine with some shifting and platooning, but not a merry-go-round at nearly every position but catcher and SS.

This thread is about our 2025 prospects, but here is a look at some of our recently graduated prospects, since 2021: P: Houck '21, Whitlock '21, Bello '22, Crawford '22, Slaten '24, Winckowski '22, Kelly & Bernardino '23 Everyday: Duran '22, Casas '23, Wong '22, Abreu '24, Rafaela & DHam '24 There is about a dozen pretty good players, here, and we could be adding 4-6 more in the next year or two (listed by ETA on soxprospects.com): Early '25: 1. Anthony, 2, Campbell, 3. Mayer, 17. Guerrero, 20. Penrod (to IL?), 28. Narvaez Mid '25: 9. Fitts Late '25: 8. Dobbins 2026: 11. Sandlin, 12. Jh Garcia, 13. Romero, 14. Early, 18. Castro, 21. Monegro, 24. Mullins, 27. Jordan, 29. Wehunt (Longshots: 47. Gambrel, 48 Hickey, 49 G Jackson, 50 Uberstine, 56. Mata)

Priester on the mound, today. Anthony was scratched, yesterday but is in today's line-up: 1. DHam SS 2. Anthony LF 3. Rafaela CF 4. Narvaez C 5. Mayer DH 6. Grissom 2B 7. Toro 1B 8. Thompson RF 9. Sogard 3B We plat the Rays.

What would it take to pry a catcher from STL, or some other team with 2 good catchers? I really think getting a better catcher would solidify this roster. I'm not sure Wong will be able to repeat his top 5 Offense as a catcher, and his D was horrible in '24.

There are too many reasons the Sox are better with Bregman at 3B and Devers at DH or 1B for it not to happen. A possible pouting Devers aside, if the biggest issue involved with the move is where and when to play Yoshida, then maybe even that turns into a plus. (BTW, I still see some ways to play Yoshida without significantly benching any one player. The one who might see the most effect is Rafaela, but he can still get a lot of PAs in 2025.)

True, but do we know Devers will never change his mind? You gotta try.

Wong's numbers look pretty bad, too, but I read somewhere he reduced his K% by more than any other player in MLB from 2023 to 2024. 33.3% to 23.4% I can't imagine Ceddanne lasting many more years with a K% of 27% along with a 3 BB%. I guess, if he can hit well enough and have some power, his D can carry him.

Casas 0-3: trade his fat ass!

Good point- kinda like an upside down bell curve.

Pitchers Best Seasons: 16-4 2.47 Buehler '21 (171 ERA+ led league) 6-9 2.91 Sandoval '22 (138 ERA+) 0.965 WHIP 9-10 3.12 Houck (137 ERA+) 14-9 3.41 Giolito '19 (134 ERA+) 6-8 4.04 Crawford '23 (113) 12-11 4.24 Bello (107) 6-5 4.08 Criswell (105) ___________________ 1.80 (240 ERA+) Hendriks '19 0.965 WHIP (38 svs in '21 w 0.732 WHIP) 1.96 (239 ERA+) Whitlock '21 1.105 WHIP 2.21 (202 ERA+) Chapman '19 1.105 WHIP (1.55 w 276 ERA+ in '16 w 0.862 WHIP) 2,54 (163 ERA+) Wilson '19 1.333 WHIP 2.88 (158) Winckowski '23 1.423 WHIP 2.93 (146) Slaten '24 1.102 WHIP 3.20 (143) Bernardino '23 1.303 WHIP 2.83 (141) I Campbell '23 1.221 WHIP As with the batters, 2019 was a big year and 6 years ago.

Batters Best Season or current 162 game average, since 2018 (OPS): .296 41 112 Bregman '19 (1.015) .311 32 115 Devers '19 (.916) .291 37 108 Story '18 (.914 & .917 in '19) .285 21 75 Duran '24 (.834) .250 31 80 Casas career per 162 (.830 & .856 in '23) .289 15 72 Yoshida '23 (.783) .283 11 40 Refsnyder '24 (.830 in 307 PAs & .881 in 2022) .795 w BOS .263 17 73 Abreu career/162 (.794) .280 13 52 Wong 2024 (.758 in 487 PAs) .246 15 72 Rafaela career/162 (.664) .235 11 40 DHam career/162 (.671) 50 SBs .291 5 18 Grissom '22 in just 156 PAs (.792)

5-2 BOS

Here are some of MLB's highest K rates by non-pitchers along with their BB rates: Not a complete list 40% Tim Jordan 12% 38% Joey Gallo 15% 37% Dalbec 8% 37% M Sano 12% 35% Zunino 7% 35% Franchy Cordero 8% 28% Wong 6% 27% Rafaela 3%

The games have begun! 5-2 win over NE. Mostly farm guys playing.

True, if he's bound to get hurt just swinging, then no much we can do about it. The "selling point" was more about easing his psyche. He can tell himself, he was moved due to injury and not suctitude.

A good "selling point" for convincing Devers to DH or play 1

hard to keep up that K:BB ratio, but maybe...

Now, that is over-the-top sensationalism.