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But he had a good fielding percentage in those 40 chances!!

Yes. Dodgers, Padres, Yankees, Blue Jays, Tigers, Astros And even if Volpe - a 3 bWAR player the 2 previous seasons - is a crappy hitter, you named Austin Wells as one. Wells has a career OPS+ of 99. If he’s a crappy hitter, so is 50% of MLB…

Still proliferating. I did not say any players were “crappy” hitters in the original comment. Bellhorn brought that in and I only used the phrase in quotes to refute it. And for good reason - MLB has always had crappy hitters who were still deserving starters. You clearly jumped into this in the middle. It’s a short thread. Re-read it. And more important -a player having a bad 2025 isnt necessarily a “crappy hitter.” You called Luis Arraez - a man whose career compares reasonably to Tony Gwynn’s - a crappy hitter based on 2025 alone. Volos hit well last year, right? When did Eaton or Sogard ever have a season comparable to that? Refsnyder is 8th in OPS vs LHP in MLB over the last 3 years - a stat I cited earlier. That still doesn’t make him an MLB starter. It does make him a situational role player - yes or no? You e been missing the point all along. I know your vision isnt great and don’t know if you use ZoomText or any equivalent. But if anyone else kept repeating as you have, I would justifiably question them. Re-read. This started when 5Gold questioned the Sox using Lowe as a cleanup hitter since he was released from a last place team. I replied the Sox have several career bench players in the lineup regularly who are far, far bigger concerns. And they do. Yes or no?

Now you’re just repeatedly proliferating Bellhorn’s weak interpretation. I called Refsnyder (and others) bench players. Specifically “last man on the bench.” Refsnyder spent 8 years bouncing from New York to Tampa to Toronto to Minnesota making MLB cameos along the way. The description is apt. I also said he his a situational role player. He is. He excels at hitting LHP (the situation) and really, noting else. Hes not a starter. But right now folks are worried about Lowe because he was released by Washington. Lowe is a Gold Glove winning first baseman with a Silver Slugger whose resume absolutely squashes that of Refsnyder, Eaton, Sogard, and numerous other starters on this team. The whole crappy hitter thing was from Bellhorn. Stop trying to refute the entire point with irrelevancy.

Some of these “bad” teams also have young talented pitching prospects to debut without accruing service time. Pittsburgh, for example, looks like a favorable matchup for many at. first glance. But it’s not so easy if they throw Skenes, Keller, and Bubba Chandler at you…

I have mixed emotions about Bregman. He was great to start the year, but has been rather meh since getting hurt. I know getting hurt can hamper a player’s performance. But we are talking about a long term deal here, and is more or less likely to keep getting hurt as he ages? Also at some point I did hate this guy for the way he whined about the fan treatment The Cheatin’ Astros received. I’m on the Ketel Marte Bandwagon now. Sure Hes pretty whiny, too. But he doesn’t cheat…

If we’re talking OPS, I agree…

Or the weird fact that David Hamilton had a .938 OPS in August but only has 9 PA in September. It’s like, why get hot?

So DH - which is a regular position in every lineup everyday - is no different than an outfielder that only starts vs LHP? Where do I begin here? I take it next you will be telling me Ozzie Smith is in Cooperstown because of his hitting…

There is a major differ between a hitter having a bad season and a “crappy” hitter. Bogaerts and Arraez are not comparable to Eaton and Sogard. There is a reason two of them are on multi-year 8 figure contracts and the other two signed minor league deals. And don’t lump all bad hitters in as replacement players. Andres Gimenez has not only hit better, but is a former Platinum Glove winner. How many defensive awards does Refsnyder have?

Hey, Refsnyder is a one-dimensional situational role player. He does excel in that role (9th best OPS vs LHP in MLB over the past 3 seasons). But it’s almost never good to need him outside of that role…

Yes. Dodgers, Padres, Yankees, Blue Jays, Tigers, Astros. Sure they have starters that have the occasional year, but that’s not the same as having multiple starters acquired as minor league free agents. And some teams have players who are “crappy hitters” but solid-to-better defensive player. Bear in mind that there is more to baseball than hitting LHP. Refsnyder has one situational skill that is carrying his career. Romy Gonzalez has a similar skill set but at least couples it with passable defense at multiple positions…

Bear in mind - no ghost runners in the postseason…

But not Sogard?

But in order to miss the postseason, the Yankees would need to lose 5 games on the standings to Texas with only 15 to play. The lead is 4 games but the Yankees hold the tiebreaker. It will take a monumental collapse to miss the postseason for the Bronx Bombers. Especially since they have no games left with Texas…

Not really. Detroit’s record has them 0.5 games ahead of Toronto for best record in the American League. Unless they have wrapped that up along with the home field advantage that goes with it, don’t expect them to sit Skubal. And if Houston can challenge them for second seed, expect them to go all in trying to secure the first round Bye…

Lowe’s recent history is hardly the most alarming part of this lineup. Everyday they use at least two from Eaton, Refsnyder, Hamilton and Sogard. These are all players whose CEILING is “last man on an MLB bench” and the only reason they’re surpassing it now is only one player can be the last man on the Sox bench…

That’s odd because you think almost no one deserves one…

The Sox weren’t going to finish up 16-0. I’d rather lose to Oakland than NY…

Add my name to the “no chance Pivetta gets a QO” list. Assuming I am not the headliner…

Hes a career .265 hitter with a Gold Glove at 1b. But as he is due to make some $11-13 million in his final year of arbitration, coupled with the potential return of much cheaper Casas and possibility of the pre-paid Campbell, Lowe is a very likely non-tender candidate this off season…

Skilled defender. Fast baserunner. And no obviously better replacement below him. The injury to Mayer is another factor…

Different draft board or not, the Sox could have never traded Priester and still selected and signed Eyanson with the same pick. It’s not like tying Wade Miley to the AGon/Crawford/Beckett trade with the Dodgers. The Six dealt players (De La Rosa and Webster) from that trade that they otherwise would not have had in order to acquire Miley. The Sox still had that same pick that they used to select Eyanson. The slot money could have come from that pick and another pick…

I assumed he would accept the QO…

Keller has a surplus value of $16.8mill, not $72.4mill, per BTV. Campbell alone has a surplus value of $32.9mill on that same site. Sandlin ($4.8mill) and Mullins ($2.3mill) alone are nearly half the value…