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So… fire Cora?

Iglesias can’t hit? The man has a league-average 99 OPS+ over his last 3 seasons in MLB and currently has a .908 OPS for the Mets AAA team.

He’s a lousy shortstop and not much of a hitter. But that man can play center field. And was somehow omitted from the “best Red Sox defensive center fielder” debate last week. He probably isn’t the best one, but he absolutely deserved a mention…

Xander is already off shortstop…

Kike was bad in CF in Boston?

But the problem is, according to most psychics, ghosts haunt a place because they have some unfulfilled mission. A ghost runners mission is to score. How do you stop that? The Sox need opposing ghost runners that have missions of running into an out…

And replace “Sweet Caroline” with “Suicide is Painless”…

Latest word is Pivetta’s injury is minor. We shall see…

Last year, the league leaders in CF had 373 (Doyle) and 370 (Roberts) putouts. The league leaders at SS had 396 (Lindor) and 362 (Pena) assists. Yearly, they appear to run slightly higher at SS over CF, but not by much. The two positions appear to be roughly equal in defensive activity, with maybe SS have a slight edge...

Mayer has played one game so far for Portland. 1 for 4 with a double. Played 9 innings in the field, and had 3 chances with 3 assists. No idea how far he is away from MLB, how healthy he is, or what the Sox think of his status...

I'd say those qualify as cheap solutions. Most teams try internal option first. They're the easier ones to undo if the situation changes or something doesn't work out. No one seems wild abut Hamilton, but so far, he really has not had much of a shot. His career consists of 98 innings in the field and 44 plate appearances. Scouting reports are not kind to his defense, but the Sox stayed with a few games of the wild card last year with Kike Hernandez completely butchering the position. Hamilton won't get a Gold Glove vote, but can he at least outplay Kike? And he's only in a part time role for now, probably at least until the sox know how long Story will be out. Even if that takes two weeks, will 8-12 games of Hamilton at SS completely derail this team this year? I expect once they know what is going on with Story, this situation changes. Either with a new SS coming in, a movement of Rafaela to SS, or they try Vaughn Grissom there for a while. The last one is the most likely, since they need a place for him to play, he has played several full (minor league) seasons in that role, and he can hit, which Cora seems to prefer over defense-oriented players...

What did you expect in a backup SS this offseason? Capable fielder, and just hope offense happens? Sounds a lot like Pablo Reyes.

Kike is playing weakside platoon while James Outman struggles vs pitching with any arm. While the Dodgers have made a complete questionable mess of their INF and OF alignment, they still have not tried Kike at SS, and for several good reasons. The man is not available, not cheap, not an option, and flat out not capable. If Mayer ever stats playing again, he can play himself into candidacy. If one of the other young SS prospects (Colson Montgomery, Jackson Holliday) can force the issues on their teams, then players like Jorge Mateo and Paul DeJong might become more available. Brandon Crawford might already be, as Masyn Winn appears to have taken over his role in St. Louis..

If he fails to hit, what is his floor? A better fielding Kike Hernandez? Kike got a $4mill AAV this year...

Definitely. Bloom had the same problem and it surfaced 3 months before the season even started. And his solution still has not played a game in the majors yet...

I think they had far bigger needs than just shortstop depth. Starting pitching being number one. Relief pitching behind that, as they moved too many relievers into the rotation. Catcher, despite the hot start by McGuire, looked much worse at least until Teel forces the issue. If/when Story went down, defensive shortstops hit the waiver wire much more often than quality pitchers and catchers...

He's played 149 innings at SS across two seasons. Hard to maintain league average production when you're on the bench or in the minors. I would like a more recent scouting report on him, but so far this is what prospectslive.com said about hm in 2021. "Field: Good instincts. Shows strong footwork at SS. Moves well to his right and can make the difficult backhand. Covers an above-average amount of ground when moving to his left. Very fluid in his actions. Can make some difficult plays. Grade: 55 Arm: Plus arm strength with strong carry across the diamond. Can make the throw from deep in the hole. Throws from several arm angles depending on how quickly he needs to get the ball out. Quick transfers. Throws were on target in looks. Arm plays on the left side of the infield. Grade: 60 Overall: Soto stands out more for his floor than his ceiling. He's an advanced defender with enough speed to become something more than an org piece. His bat significantly lags behind, and he likely won't get the shot to start without maxing out his raw tools. He looks to be more of a utility/backup type, and he'll need to hit some to get there." Source: https://www.prospectslive.com/scoutingreports/livan-soto Certainly a lot could change in 3 years, but if he has maintained or improved on that, he is a better option than Hamilton. Certainly not a permanent solution, but a good option for a stopgap...

The Angels just DFA’d Liván Soto. He might not be a bad idea…

I disagree, and think you’re misinterpreting that stat. The 9 unearned runs aren’t what defines the defense; it’s also that the Sox have only given up 24 runs total. We like to attribute that solely to pitching, but defense absolutely is a factor. The Sox crazy low run total can’t be all pitching; not with all these guys back from last year. Defense isn’t measured just by the plays you don’t make. The ones you do makes are factors as well…

Maybe Bello is my source

That makes sense…

Dalbec optioned. No corresponding promotion announced. Romy?

To “Still Better Than Hamilton” levels…

Andrelton Simmons is still unemployed...

6 years $55mill according to my sources…