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I think he's kind of meh. I'd put his ceiling as LOOGY. But maybe he will turn into something special someday. I've been wrong before, like when I said Travis Shaw was a bench bat at best...

I hope Merloni is only speculating. But you are right that he would have much more information tan any of us..

mvp was being sarcastic...

I think it gets interpreted differnetly. While your version and mine of Machado's slide are similar, I think Pedroia simply wanted to stop the headhunting, especially if he felt Machado thought he put Barnes up to it. If that was the case, that makes Pedroia the target for Baltimore pitchers. A lot of fans might not like it, but stopping the headhunting is a good thing. Machado's slide wasn't that different - and actually less egregious - than many other slides he went into 2B with. We've all seen him take out slide into Pedroia the previous season while missing the bag but able to grab it with his passing arm (which was legal at the time). Certainly he wanted to collide with Pedroia; it's part of breaking up the double play. I don't think the spikes were necessarily intentional, and I do think he tried to help Pedroia up because, as a former shortstop, he knows what it's like to be on that side of the play as well. As for Bogaerts, he could have been referring to anything. There are so many incidents in clubhouses and so many conflicting personalities. It's a scene of 25 guys with massive egos who don't all like each other and never will, and a coaching staff trying to keep all that in check. Tension could come from a multitude of places. The worst tension usually comes from a consistent source, not a singular event. I'd think Bogaerts was referring to some other far more drastic change It's actually even hard for me to believe the team was even united against Pedroia after that comment. Much like on this board, the players themselves probably took it differently. Maybe a few were offended and maybe a bunch of others agreed with Pedroia. But this type of reaction can happen with any comment, and is probably more commonplace than most of use realize. I would be VERY surprised if Pedroia's comment had that much of a lingering effect, especially since the Sox pitchers continued to throw at Machado a couple more times that year... This strikes me, much like chicken and beer, as another of those incidents that was taken far more seriously by fans outside the locker room than by those in it...

Where is the dWAR coming from? I don't think the Defensive component on Fangraphs is straight dWAR. Swihart did have a defensive rating (or whatever) of 5.9 that year, but I thik it needs some context. His 5.9 ranked 18th out of 28 catchers with 300 plate appearances, all of whom had positive numbers. Swihart did rank dead last on Fangraphs in Defensive Runs Saved for all catchers who caught 500 IP or more that season with -16. B-R-com gave him -0.4 dWAR in 2015. Nothing in the metrics tells you he was a good defensive catcher that season...

No, but I am saying that had it been intentional, he very likely wouldn't have tried to help Pedroia up afterwards.

I think what it means is what the free agents were signing for and achieving with WAR, and using that valuation for non-free agents. It makes more sense than making it straight salary, but it still isn't a good feature...

https://www.mlbdailydish.com/2013/10/17/4849688/jose-abreu-rumors-astros-red-sox-white-sox-finalists

Really? I live in Chicago and the story when he signed was the White Sox acquired him by outbidding the runner-up Red Sox. Regardless, given the Cubans who came out at that time, teams probably should have withheld bidding on any of them. There were far more expensive busts than worthwhile contracts...

I hated that metric until it was explained to me that it was their value in free agent dollars that year. It does make more sense now, but it is still my least favorite feature on that site...

Those are some pretty lofty expectations. I'd be more than happy if he was the next Terry Steinbach or Mickey Tettleton....

They did bid on Abreu, just not as much as the White Sox. Abreu said he went to the White Sox because of the larger number of Cuban players, despite us all knowing the money was a big factor. So it looked to me like Castillo was bid on heavily so as not only to miss out on the next Abreu, but also maybe to increase the number of Cuban players and make the Sox look more appealing to other Cubans. Kind of like how Rosenthal wrote an article that the Sox had no black players and therefore might look less appealing to black free agents. And then that off-season, the Sox added Mike Cameron and Bill Hall on their way to becoming a more appealing destination for Carl Crawford. (Oops.) And while the Sox did miss out on Abreu, he really does look like he only good Cuban to come out at that time. We also missed out on Erisbel Arrabuena and Yasmanny Tomas and no one is upset about that..

But not a likely one. Not only do they have to pay arbitration raises, as noted before, but they also might want to replace Kimbrel and/or Pomeranz. Maybe Kelly replaces Kimbrel, but he is FA as well and would need to be signed.

The big difference being no one is using Betts on the DL to malign his character. In the past, you have referred to Machado as a punk because of that slide, right? Or at least, that conclusion was influenced by that slide. Do you think he was intentionally trying to spike Pedroia? I do believe he was trying to break up a double play, but that isn't the same thing. I also saw Machado try to help Pedroia up after taking him down, which would be a little inconsistent with the actions of a player who intentionally tried to injure another player. But what do my lying eyes know?

Really? So it's an impossible situation that Pedroia simply didn't want the entire situation to escalate? And that he figured he would be the victim of the next retaliatory beaning?

The poblem I have with comparing it to 2011 was that farm had a lot of players who were marginal talents, but at least were above A-ball. Of the top 8 in the Sox farm (per soxprospects), only Jalen Beeks and Sharwyn are above A-ball and not suspended. And MLB-readiness now is a very big factor in trades. I am not a huge Beeks fan, but right now he might be the biggest trade chip in the Sox minors. If you were the Royals GM, would you want Beeks as the headliner in a trade for Herrera, your best expendable trade chip? Johnson is another trade chip, but if the Sox cannot really afford to deplete starting pitching depth. Hembree is a throw-in at best, especially for a rebuilding team. His exclusion should be far from being a deal breaker...

And given how the team is playing through his struggles, we can afford to be patient with him while he does...

How many players really are worth their contract? Pedroia's deal isn't actually that bad. He has 3 years and $40mill after this season. On the free agent market last year, that gets you Jay Bruce. The bigger deal for Pedroia will be can he last the 3 years, not will he be good enough...

Even if it's not a king's ransom, can the Sox outbid anyone else who wants him? The minor leagues are about as barren right now as they were in the Steve Lomasney era. Houston, for example, is very likely to be looking for a closer. They can easily top anything the Sox offer without even depleting their minor league depth. Unexciting players like Tyler Clippard or David Hernandez might be more realistic targets for the Sox...

The problem is, Herrera could be a very tough get for Boston. While he won't go for a package like the Cubs paid for Aroldis Chapman, he isn't likely to move as cheaply as Addison Reed last year. But bolstering the bullpen would definitely be a smart strategy at the deadline, since starters go fewer innings not only in the post-season, but in the regular season as well..

He's 34 years old. Players who are anywhere near as good at 34 as they were at 26-28 are very rare. But given how free agency worked until last year, you pay a player at 30 for what he was at 25, even if he was elsewhere. Pedroia will not live up to his contract. This hardly makes him a unique case in MLB. And his contract really isn't even all that lucrative, given the state of MLB contracts at the time...

Well, no impact starting pitchers...

If the concern is teams pitching around Martinez to get to Devers, that can easily be handled by keeping them far enough apart in the lineup. As for Devers, young player? Sure? Rushed? Sure. Best option at thrid in the organization? Yes. And if he needs o make adjustments, he isn't going to learn to hit MLB pitching anywhere but MLB.

Agreed. The "stories" behind departures always get too ugly for this fan. Even in the Theo regime, there was too much childish media babble about someone who was released or traded away, like they needed to justify everything solely for PR purposes. We do get as fans that sometimes players are not as good as they once were and moving them can lead to a better overall team. There is no need to bring up all their negative traits like it is necessary that fans forget what good or great players they once were.

Agreed. The team is winning. No need to make any big changes. Demoting or benching Devers would mean playing both Nunez and Holt full time. While both are excellent party time role players, there is no need to force both into a full time role because a kid is preventing this team from having an even better best record in the majors. ...