moonslav59

My top prospect list (soxprospects.com's rank, if different) 1. Anthony 2. Teel (3) 3. Mayer (2) 4. Cespedes (6) 5. Bleis 6. Rafaela (4) 7. Fitts (9) 8. Sandlin (12) 9. Joh. Garcia (18) 10. Zanetello (13) 11. Wikelman (8) 12. Slaten (20) 13. Perales (10) 14. Hickey (17) 15. Abreu (7) 16. Arias (25) 17. Meidroth (14) 18. Yorke (11) 19. Monegro (21) 20. Jordan (16) 21. K Campbell (22) 22. Castro (15) 23. Guerrero (28) 24. E R-C (23) 25. Dobbins (24)

I hope he ends up being the stud we hoped he was, when drafted. We need a hit.

Sounds like a conditional call.

The Astros have all 5 starters on the IL.

Much like last season, we see some surprise starts by a few teams: 9-3 PIT 9-4 KCR 7-4 DET 4-10 HOU

I caution making decisions based on 12 games. I also think Rafaela has probably saved more than the 4 runs with his D than the 4 that scored after his errors. Some errors end up hurting more than others due to how many men were on base and how many hits happened after the error.

Using soxprospects.com as a guide, here are my picks for the best players on each year's farm: 2003: Lester, HRam, Youkilis, F Sanchez, D Murphy, Shoppach, J de la Rosa 2004: Pedroia, Papelbon, B Moss, Lester, HRam, Youkilis, Shoppach 2005: Pedroia, Papelbon, Lester, A Sanchez, Shoppach, B Moss, D Murphy 2006: Ellsbury, Buchholz, Bard, Masterson, Lowrie, Pedroia, Papelbon, B Moss, Lester 2007: Ellsbury, Buchholz, Bard, Masterson, Moss, Doubront, Lowrie, Middlebrooks 2008: Ellsbury, Buchholz, Bard, Doubront, Masterson, Reddick, Middlebrooks 2009: Tazawa, Bard, Reddick, Middy, Rizzo, Iggy, Doubront 2010: Rizzo, Iggy, reddick, Doubront, Tazawa, Middy, Workman 2011: Iggy, Doubront, Reddick, Middy, Workman, A Wilson, Bogaerts, 2012: Bogaerts, JBJ, Iggy, Barnes, Doubront, Workman, Wilson, Middy 2013: Bogey, JBJ, Betts, Barnes, Workman, Wilson, Vaz 2014: add Devers, Margot, T Shaw & ERod 2015: add Moncada & Kopech 2016: add Beni, Dubon 2017: add Houck, Beeks 2018: add Casas, Duran, Dalbec 2019: add Murphy 2020: add Wong, Bello 2021: Whitlock, Mayer, Bleis 2022: Wink, Rafaela, Anthony, EValdez, Abreu 2023: Teel, Cespedes 2024: Fitts, Slaten, Sandlin

If we trade McGuire, I bet we call up Heineman or Hickey for the rest of '24. We may wait and trade McGuire in the summer of '25, when Teel might be kicking down the door.

Had we asked what two positions would have the highest OPS, this year, we might have mostly agreed on 3B and 1B. The nest best might have had more debate, but probably SS, DH and LF might have been discussed. Here are the leading OPS by Position: LF: 1.086 (mostly Duran, but O'Neill has raked there, too) RF: .938 (carried by O'Neill) C: .851 (thanks mostly to McGuire, but Wong has been okay.) McGuire is also 1-3 as a PH'er w a 2B. The expected best/better positions: .644 3B .706 1B .669 SS .553 DH

In batting practice, maybe.

lol.

LOL. Back then, it was Casas, Mayer, Duran and Yorke.

Too bad Martin had a rough time, last night. One could try to blame the lack of ST'ing work or say he's just getting old, but for us to have a real chance at the playoffs, we almost certainly need him to turn it around. Overall, our pen has been a plus. They have just a .631 OPS against. There have just been a handful of bad outings by RP'ers, this season, most notably by Joely, Wink and Martin and Campbell, last night. Of course, every pen looks much better after taking out 4-5 of their worst efforts every 12 games. Slaten has looked like a steal. 0.00 ERA .111 OPSA 6 Ks in 18 PAs with 0 BBs and just 1 hit. Jansen missed much of ST'ing, too and has struggled with BBs (5 in 17 PAs,) but has gotten the job done. 0.00 ERA .294 OPSA Weissert has faced 18 batters and done fine. 0.00 ERA .465 OPSA (3 Hits, 2BB and 5 Ks) Bernardino has not pitched much (7 PAs) 0.00 ERA .572 OPSA (1 Hit, 0BB, 3 K in 2 IP) That's 16.1 IP by 4 RP'ers with no earned runs allowed. Anderson has surprised this poster. In 24 PAs: 3.00 ERA .598 OPSA (5 Hits, 1 BB, 4 Ks) Wink has done well, except for that one game. Martin was okay, before last night. Joely & Campbell have been rocked, at least once.

McGuire will be traded (this summer or next). It's his last year of control in 2025. Wong has 3 arb years after 2025.

So, yesterday we faced a lefty, but Devers is given the day off vs a righty, today.

Rafaela makes up for his errors by making plays very few other CF'er make or even come close to making. Valdez won't. Devers makes some nice plays, but makes way too many throwing errors, and a few too many booted easy outs. Casas has not looked better than '23. Duran looks better than the pre-2023 Duran, still. O'Neill has looked good, except for the booted ball and maybe another shaky play or two.

Agreed. I have faith he can get close to a 90 wRC+, maybe even better, at some point, but of course, it could just be wishful thinking.

By the end of 2025, we could see this 13 everyday roster at no added cost: C: Teel & Wong 1B: Devers/Casas 2B: Grissom & Reyes SS: Story/Mayer 3B: Mayer/Devers LF: Duran/Abreu CF: Rafaela/Anthony RF: Anthony/Abreu DH: Casas/Yoshida/Devers

I think Anthony would be RF and O'Neill LF. Our catchers are doing very well, so far.

Yup, or kept 2 and not extended Sale.

You mean, after his years of control?

He's not getting $20M to add 1-2 years to the Sox team control. What will he get, without extending, for one more pre-arb year plus 3 arbs? It won't be $80M/4.

I agree, totally. I will add that Betts signed during the uncertainty of COVID, and Devers signed after several years of rather high inflation, so it's not really apples to apples, despite both being around $310M.

Of course going 7-3 on a road trip that oftens kills us changes the mood towards brightness. We all knew once we lost 3 in a row or 5 out of 7 or something, the mood would shift on a dime. Just look at the game threads for minute by minute massive mood shifts. Losing 2 in a row sucks, especially how we lost, last night, but I'm still finding things to watch that brings me enjoyment, even when we lose. I loved watching Crawford's reaction, when he got the last out of the 5th. You can tell, it matters to him. I hope Romy can surprise me, some more. Some bonehead plays on D irked me, but I'm staying optimistic as long as I can.

To some, it's all part of the "eye test."