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Well, before he is handed the starting role, let’s have him get healthy first. But I see no reason why he shouldn’t try that. There may be long term medical implications, but the decision to ignore or adhere to them is on him and not me....

Exactly.

Not about the career comparison. Just about the upper limit of how many games Pedroia might have left. I don’t begrudge him for not going away quietly. If I were in his position, I’d do the exact same thing. And I’m probably not alone there among people on this board...

Brentz was used more so to show the frequency with which we should expect to see Pedroia play over the duration of his contract. He’s just not likely to play often enough to draw the ire he’s getting. And he’s not going to be taking significant time away from any younger, more able-bodied players. If he retires, he’ll have a nice life. But apparently most MLB players have the attitude of “make them rip the uniform off of you,” and that’s exactly what I expect from Pedroia. And I think he’s earned it...

That’s true. It’s like in the NFL. The best-skilled cornerbacks never lead the league in interceptions. But the guys who do are quite often the ones on the other side from them, because that’s where the other teams are throwing. Stats measure history. And in history, opportunity matters...

The thing is, he probably has already gone away. He’ll probably try a few more brief comebacks, but all ending with the same result. Over the next 2 3/4 seasons, I would be surprised if Pedroia played in as many as 20 games, which is fewer than Bryce Brentz has played in since 2016. But I don’t see anyone wishing Brentz would go away or retire or calling him an embarrassment. I might be the biggest Brentz detractor on these boards and I’ve never said any of that. And Brentz’ contributions over the next 2+ years are not going to significantly outweigh Pedroia’s, and his past ones are completely dwarfed by Dustin’s. And that is a massive understatement in itself. But hey, it’s time to hate our past heroes because they aren’t heroes anymore...

There will be great plays, because he flat out has the ability. The point is - he isn’t being “penalized.” Stats measure what he’s done, not what he can do or should do. Bradley is simply underutilized in Boston. And while I could see why the Sox would try to replace him with a more well-rounded CF (re: lesser defender but better hitter), it isn’t going to happen because it’s simply not that easy. Also because having an underutilized defender is much better than one who is just not capable. And while I expect Bradley to get hot at some point, on the off chance he doesn’t, the Sox might have to make a surprising decision this off-season on whether or not they even offer him arbitration or just non-tender him (although even if they do, they still might re-sign him)...

He is off the 25 man. The guy has been an incredible player for the Sox for a long time and is only trying to hold on to the only life he’s ever known for as long as possible. He isn’t hurting the team at all; it’s not like Holt and Nunez we’re doing such great jobs benching them would have been criminal. He may never play again, but all he’s doing now is trying. Yet so many people keep trying to wish him out of existence for some reason...

It’s probably not so much one guy. But a group of people measuring it against the standard. I suppose there is a possibility of automating it with software as well, but I don’t think that has happened yet. WAA does seem like a better idea. But I think stats thrive best when they’re more available, which was a big reason Win Shares and VORP are never mentioned any more. Fans struggle to look them up. I actually think B-R’s WAR stat is better than Fangraphs, but B-R doesn’t have a website feature that makes looking up values anywhere near as easy as Fangraphs does. It’s near impossible on B-R to find WAR ranks that can be customized and manipulated. So I default to Fangraphs WAR out of ease. WAA has a similar problem. And there’s nothing wrong with “old school,” which are the most accessible and relatable stats and techniques of all. But I think people lose sight of the fact that all of them were also considered “new metrics” at one point. And someday down the road, fWAR and WAA will either go the way of WARP or be considered “old school” themselves...

Exactly. And even that assumes he doesn’t have injuries or just plain suck at higher levels...

Whether or not Bradley’s defense is underrepresented in fWAR is a matter of what you are expecting the metrics to tell you. If you think it represents his ability, I can see why. But I don’t agree. But no stat really measures ability. Stats are recorded history of what actually happened. Right now, Bradley ranks 12th out of 19 qualified center fielders in total plays made. He also ranks 17th out of 19 in “out of zone” plays. It’s not like his range has suffered due to a leg injury and he just can’t get to anything any more. He’s s simply not as involved defensively. And a big factor is very likely Betts, who ranks 2nd out of 19 right fielders in “out of zone” plays. (Betts also ranks about the same as Bradley - 13th out of 19 - in total plays made.) So Bradley’s low defensive score is a function of opportunity. Sox pitchers simply are not giving the outfielders as many chances to make plays. And when they do, Betts appears to be taking a decent chunk of the more difficult plays away from Bradley. In contrast, Kiermaier has made fewer plays than Bradley, but ranks 1st in “out of zone” plays. A big part of the reason is Avisail Garcia is no Mookie Betts out there. (A more spacious CF in Tampa also helps.) But defensive stats are there to tell you what happened. Not to measure unused parts of the skill set...

Jarren Duran is in A-ball. Can we let him try AA before we pencil him into the starting lineup in MLB?

This is true. And at some point, the Sox might have to choose one or the other. And I like Bradley, but I hope it isn’t him...

Maybe not the last time, but defensive metrics used to tell me Alfonso Soriano and Matt Holliday were good outfielders. No way, Soriano played here in Chicago and never learned to play the Wall. He also had a bout with defensive yips so bad he got ovations for catching routine pop ups. And Holliday was just awful, one of the worst I’ve ever seen. The man could not catch a cold if he was naked in Norway...

My last time was when I decided that while Bradley is an outstanding defensive CF, I think playing next to Betts is creating a defensive overkill and his defense alone in this case might not justify his lackluster offense. Previously I felt he could hit .100 and be worth it, but I’m not so sure anymore...

Yes but most of them who do so are not He Who Shall Not Be Named (who isn’t you, unless you also think “Prune Face” Henry is cheap and spends too much money on his trophy wife that should be earmarked for the Sox).

But give them this. They never say those who don’t agree with them are ruining baseball...

Hey if it gets him a .903 OPS...

Would you be thinking of someone “Who Shall Not Be Named”?

Oh cp. What makes you think that was a shot at you? (It wasn’t.)

Absolutely. But when the Sox have 2 offensive black holes in the lineup, it does put more pressure on Benintendi...

It’s a Sampson thing...

Because the nerds in the analytics department didn’t play baseball and therefore cannot understand the game at the same level as someone who might have played maybe in high school (or maybe not) but at least watched a lot of games on TV and therefore can speak for all managers and MLB players. Got it?

I expect numerous comments tomorrow about how that decision could have only come from Harold Nerdwell in the analytics department. Cora had nothing to do with it...

You might want to reset your parameters there. The splits on that page only appear to cover about 1200 at bats and Alomar had over 3000 hits