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Tsing-Che Cheng has a 1.346 OPS in Worcester after posting a 1.238 OPS in the WBC. Not sure what that translates to in MLB, but if it’s a number greater than .314, he’s an option over Durbin. Cheng might also be the best defensive infielder in both Boston and Worcester, which one might think should help his case. Demote Durbin and promote Cheng?

The one exception has to be 2018, where the Sox started out 16-3…

We don’t know what either team considered. It seems like Boston was paying him to be a player and not a leader, otherwise they could have played him at 2b, kept Devers at 3b, and avoided a lot of discord. But Breslow clearly valued certain baseball skills, and normally Bregman shows them. I do think it’s difficult for Bregman to establish himself as a leader when he is still being booed as a cheater in many stadiums. There is a reason I NEVER bring up leadership aspects of a player - I have no idea what they are, or even if they exist outside of Alex Speier articles. To say it can’t be quantified is an understatement. And if it can’t even be quantified, how can it possibly be prioritized? As for Refsnyder, he’s a role player making role player money. He got $6mill, roughly the same as Boston paid IKF. That’s actually becoming fairly common Experienced Bench Player money these days. Is leadership just another made up reason to create a clueless false persona on Sox management? Seattle paid career minor leaguer/bench bat Rob Refsnyder, who has 15 more at bats than me and the same number of hits, $6mill, which is being justified by his leadership. Boston paid the same money to a light-hitting Gold Glover capable of playing 7 positions and been a starter in 3 different teams, but as no one has praised his leadership, he is left to be judged and disparaged for an offensive skillset he was never signed for…

Luster has worn off early? 13 games into the season? Wow. Somewhere Kristian Campbell is thinking “damn they gave up on him fast.” Not every player hits the ground running. Jordan Walker, who started the winning rally last night, is finally hitting in his FOURTH MLB SEASON. He also doesn’t turn 24 until next month. But St. Louis stood by him through the growing pains, and it looks like it might start paying off…

Can you quantify clubhouse leadership? How important is it and how did Bregman exemplify it? And isn’t it Alex Cora’s job to lead the clubhouse? ”But he was a clubhouse leader…”. What’s that mean? Next will we discuss how he altered “team chemistry”?

Bregman is hitting .192. Durbin is unexciting, but right now Bregman isn’t much more exciting. But Alex is much older and a longer commitment…

Alonso has a .556 OPS. He’s basically another Duran right now…

If they wanted to lower payroll, it would explain why they were adamant about Abreu over Duran…

Near miss: Rafael Marchan was born Feb 25. If he had been born about two weeks later on March 12, would he count? Also we limit these to months in English, but Juan Agosto and Jorge Julio were still not born in the proper months…

No doubt Dustin May will be seeking revenge against the team that showed enough faith in him to deal a top prospect, only to watch him pitch ineffectively until he ultimately succumbed to injury…

That explains why the Sox offered Bigfoot a MiLB contract…

Honestly though, a deal centered around Duran and Paredes should have made sense for both teams. Paredes was part of a surplus of infielders on a team looking for a LHH corner outfielder. Duran is part of a surplus of LHH corner outfielders on a team that needed an infielder. A lot of stars did align and I’m not sure why Houston was adamant that it was either Abreu for them or they were going to bench Paredes and start Joey Loperfido in LF. Unless Duran’s $7mill salary was not to their liking…

I mean, getting Romy back only helps..

Schedules are not even at this point, which is a huge factor. The Red Sox have played Cincy, San Diego, Houston and Milwaukee, all playoff teams from last year (except Houston, who narrowly missed). The point here isnt that the Six have an excuse for being 4-8, but rather that it’s hard to compare them as a 4-8 team even against other 4-8 teams. I mean, Toronto is 5-7 against the A’s, White Sox, Rockies and Dodgers. Does that make them a better team than Boston, or a worse team?

There’s an article on the front page and numerous posts disparaging to Sox bench. But after watching the bulk of the Sox bench start postseason games, I’m glad to have MLB starting caliber players on it, and these 1 for 8 starts don’t discourage me. IKF in particular seems unpopular, but he’s spent nearly his entire career as a starter, and done so on some pretty good teams, notably the 99-win 2022 Yankees team. I’d much rather have IKF and Yoshida ready to start games over Sogard and Eaton…

Right now only 3 teams in the AL are over .500, and only two teams in the NL are under .500. Obviously it’s not going to finish that way…

As much as I was unexcited by Durbin’s acquisition, let’s at least give him some time to let us know who all those better infielders are. Don’t forget about a week before they traded for Durbin, they signed IKF, and there was an uproar over that acquisition as many thought he was brought in to start…

The biggest obstacle to a an automated check swing system is the complete lack of a definition of a check swing…

Coulombe and Kahnle were added at the 11:59pm point of the off-season. Tayron Guerrero is not real…

At some point, he does become a reason to not COMPLETELY IGNORE the bullpen all winter. It’s almost as if the Sox learn a bit too much from their past successes. “Whitlock was a major Rule 5 success, and Slaten was effective when available. So the only thing we need to do for the bullpen for the upcoming season is some Rule 5 homework. Much cheaper than those pricey veterans with actual pitching talent.”

I just purchased firecorahirenotin.com Surprisingly, it was still available…

I said that about Bregman last year. I suppose the CBA timing is the only factor…

If they’re taking the 2D reading at the back corner of the rectangular portion of the plate, that should work almost as well as 3D. The only pitchers getting shorted are the ones hitting the very bottom of the zone at the front end of the plate. 3D might be accomplished as easily as doing two 2D planes - one at the front of the plate and one at the back corner before the taper. It’s not going to be a strike and miss both of those planes…

Technology is market-driven. There is no market for dinosaurs…

It’s not about making umps look foolish or training them to see better. Calling balls and strikes looks easy, and maybe in local Beer League Softball games it is. But in MLB, it’s a job that requires determining if a projectile traveling 95-100 mph touched any part of an invisible box with varying dimensions, and doing so live with no help from any electronic tools. Oh and also includes being scrutinized by fans watching TV that think they have a better view and commentators that have access to replays, and now being checked against an electronic sensor system. It’s an insanely difficult job to do in the first place - probably the most difficult task of any official in any sport - and the failure to be perfect opens the door for someone who thinks you look foolish and just need to “see better”. That said, Bucknor does often look foolish and needs to see better…