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And it will go away as soon as some of those stubborn lefties learn how to go the opposite way. Or take advantage of it another way. Like dropping down a bunt once in a while...

Maybe the Sox want Gonzalez to get between 6 and 10 at bats before promoting him? Also, De La Guerra is a utility infielder on a good day. But he’s behind the younger Tzu Wei-Lin and Marco Hernandez (who is only 2 months older) on that depth chart...

Although it is somewhat disheartening that a guy named Cannon might not have the arm to stick at shortstop...

And robot baserunners...

ERod is 26, has 2 years of control left, and makes an affordable $4.3mill this year. He could be dealt to fill a hole or two and would have some appeal to nearly every team...

I don’t think 27yo Gio Urshela or Greg Bird carry all that much trade value. German and Frazier probably do, but certainly not enough to get Scherzer even if you take the whole contract. Not to mention it involves the Nationals triggering a rebuild by acquiring players typically older than ones needed to build. The Yankee farm is headlined by Flovial, who certainly has some appeal. But I think the Nats could do better...

Shifting has been around longer than many realize. The “Williams Shift” was created and even named that looooong before Ted Williams played. (It was created to stop 1920s slugger Cy Williams.) The frequency with which it’s deployed is annoying, but it’s a defensive strategy. They happen and just because we’ve seen them all our whole lives doesn’t mean they were never new additions to the game. There was a time when “double play depth” was the hot new trendy thing too...

While I’ve never seen a simulation or study that eliminates the first inning, essentially every study you do see highlights the top 4 spots as being the most productive. A big part of that is they obviously see the most plate appearances. John Dewan (of Baseball Prospectus and The Fielding Bible) in 2006 promoted the traditional view of best hitters batting 3rd and fourth, with the caveat that the third spot go to the faster hitter. The prominent new method (new in application, but actually pretty old) is the Markov model, which has the best hitter hitting second to maximize plate appearances. This model also recommends the pitcher bat 8th (which I don’t like) and the best base stealer bat 5th or 6th ( which makes a ton of sense to me). Why risk stealing in front of the better hitters? Steal bases in front of the hitters less likely to string together singles or hit an XBH. And no one has ever found any way to justify the notion that protection in a lineup works. A lot of this can be found via simple Google searches. Admitting it’s not always the most exciting reading...

If nothing else, that has got to be the best name in the draft. He might need mention on the Name Thread...

Overall I think he’s tradable and actually capable of getting something key, but potentially replaceable. Plus playing in Fenway, this team might need to get less left-handed...

1. They could start Shawaryn or Hernandez in the bullpen. 2. They could deal E-Rod for a position player (or two?) of need.

These are not mutually exclusive moves...

I agree. I lean towards MadBum with all things being equal. But I’m more surprised how equal they’ve actually gotten. I wouldn’t be upset if DD chose Porcello simply to play it safe...

I was ok with using the only gun. While I would never say that game was a must win, it was certainly important after the last 4. As for mop up pitchers, that’s mostly what we have after Barnes and Workman.

Preference at 4 / $60mill: Porcello or Bumgarner? (I do assume Bumgarner will be asking for more. But that’s not the question.)

That’s one quarter of his starts. If you take out his 3 best starts, he also looks a lot worse. I’m ok with taking out an outlier bad start, but the season is too young to ignore such a significant chunk of his sample size to date...

I think it’s odd to criticize Cora for his strategy in a game we won like this. Can you imagine if he didn’t use Barnes and the Dox lost?

Think he can still get 4yr / $60mill?

It wasn’t all that much of a reach. They took him at 7 and every mock draft had him going between 8 and 14. They basically took him the only time they could have. Sometimes the high draft picks just don’t pan out...

And when they do, they’ll do it on horseback...

And the Dave Winfield’s, Joe Mauer’s, and Aaron Judge’s

Las Vegas gets a football team in 2020. And then there is the Maloof brothers - owners of Vegas casinos who used to own the Sacramento Kings (although they did not allow betting on NBA games in their casinos)...

These stories aren’t new. If Leiter gets drafted by Team X and they unload the draft budget on him, he’ll get reconsider. In fact, a lot of times I think that’s the plan all along for some of the high profile high schoolers who can use their college as a negotiation ploy...

These types of rumors usually spawn from NY media creating this image that everyone wants the Yankees and the Yankees only. Like anyone else, Leiter will forego his Vanderbilt commitment if he is offered enough money from anyone. With the Yankees not having any picks in the top 30, their overall draft budget might not be enough to accommodate him. Ditto Boston...

It’s actually also arguable that Bradley’s offense is better than that of anyone on the bench. If the Sox moved Chavis to a DH/OF role and had a good defensive 2b who could outhit Bradley, then it might be worth considering...