harmony

One FanGraphs measure has the Red Sox fourth in projected WAR: https://www.fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=ALL&teamid=3 A year ago the defending World Series champion Houston Astros were the apparent favorites to repeat ... by a significant margin: https://www.fangraphs.com/standings/playoff-odds?date=2018-03-28&dateDelta=

I suspect the Starting Five is an outdated concept. Teams will use their pitching staffs in more creative ways.

It could be worse. The Seattle Mariners jettisoned the top five fWAR producers from last season's bullpen, including the All World Edwin Diaz: https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=rel&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2018&month=0&season1=2018&ind=0&team=11&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=18,d The Seattle bullpen ranked fifth in the league in fWAR last year but is projected to finish 14th this year, three slots behind the Red Sox at No. 11: https://www.fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=RP

Each individual deals with each death differently. When my sister died unexpectedly I figured she would want me to keep working. Two weeks later I took a long weekend to fly back to speak at her memorial service. Her husband and in-laws, who lived locally, took care of arrangements. I was a professor on a research semester with no classes when my father fell ill and died a few months later. I did not get much research done that semester and may have confused my unhappiness about my father's declining health with unhappiness about my job. I interviewed for another job one week after my father's funeral and decided to leave when I probably was not in a good state to make that decision. Thirty years later I am blessed to be where I am but I'll always have second thoughts about that move from a bucolic town in the nation's least populous state to the largest metropolis in the nation's most populous state. My current employer was gracious when my mother was in failing health 15-20 years ago. My oldest sister was my mother's primary caregiver but I would travel halfway across the country three or four times a year to help out. I was with her in the final days of her life but stayed for only two days after her funeral before returning to work. I'm not ashamed to say I had a great time at the funerals of my sister, father and mother. I enjoyed sharing stories with people I had not seen for years. I hope family and friends celebrate my life when I die. Did I share too much information?

The current SoxProspect write-up of Michael Chavis includes much information that had been reported earlier: http://soxprospects.com/players/chavis-michael.htm Not right or wrong but merely curious. Regarding the "Consensus top 100 prospect entering 2018 season" reference, Chavis was ranked among the Top 100 prospects by Baseball America, MLB.com and Keith Law but not by Baseball Prospectus and John Sickels at Minor League Ball.

How about righthander Kyle Zimmer, the fifth player taken in the 2012 draft and a four-time Baseball America Top 100 prospect? https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=zimmer000kyl Zimmer has yet to make his MLB debut.

Tommy John surgery reportedly has been recommended for All Star catcher Salvador Perez of the Kansas City Royals: ... but the Royals have other options at catcher, according to the Steamer600 projections that assume 450 plate appearances for each catcher: https://www.fangraphs.com/projections.aspx?pos=c&stats=bat&type=steamer600&team=7&lg=all&players=0&sort=27,d Should the Red Sox made a trade offer? Although the Royals might prefer a defensive catcher, Blake Swihart could re-establish his value in Kansas City ... or not.

MLB Prospect Watch prominently mentions PED suspensions in its write-ups of prospects Forrest Whitley of the Astros, Michael Chavis of the Red Sox, Griffin Conine of the Blue Jays and Oscar De La Cruz of the Cubs: http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2019?list=prospects From an Astros prospect site: http://www.astrosfuture.com/2018/02/astros-top-five-starting-pitching-prospects-2018/ ... and a Cubs site: https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2019/1/16/18184346/top-20-cubs-prospects-countdown-aramis-ademan-dillon-maples-trent-giambrone-alex-lange ... and a Blue Jays site: https://futurebluejays.com/2018/11/21/conine-releases-statement-regarding-ped-suspension/

Clay Buchholtz was a free agent who could eliminate some of the 30 teams from consideration. On the flip side, any of the 30 clubs could eliminate Buchholtz from consideration. Perhaps the Red Sox were never in the running.

Does 38-year-old Ryan Madson have any game left? https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/madsory01.shtml https://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=1852&position=P Madson could be a decent buy-low candidate coming off a season with an ERA of 5.47 in 52.2 innings.

I had hoped the Seattle Mariners would re-sign Adam Warren.

The San Diego Padres reportedly sign reliever Adam Warren for a guaranteed $2.5 million:

I suspect few people in "the whole world" know who Michael Chavis is.

It's curious that SoxProspects was silent on the PED suspension in its 600-word write-up of Michael Chavis, its top-ranked Sox prospect: http://soxprospects.com/players/chavis-michael.htm

Perhaps Michael Chavis has a ceiling of Jorge Cantu: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cantujo01.shtml https://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=2521&position=1B/3B ... although Chavis strikes out at a far higher frequency. The floor? That's another matter ...

Nathan Eovaldi virtually replaced Drew Pomeranz in the starting rotation last year with Eovaldi making his first start for the Red Sox on July 29 and Pomeranz his last start on August 7. Outside of Pomeranz, Eovaldi and the Big Four, the Red Sox got only 25 starts from Brian Johnson, Hector Velazquez and Steven Wright for only 15.4 percent of the starts. Steamer optimistically projects Chris Sale with 32 starts in 202 innings, David Price 32 in 194, Rick Porcello 32 in 191, Eovaldi 28 in 152 and Eduardo Rodriguez 24 in 136. Velazquez comes in at three and 67, Wright three and 69, and Johnson three and 18. https://www.fangraphs.com/projections.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&type=steamer&team=3&lg=all&players=0&sort=6,d On the other hand, Marcel projects Sale with only 161 innings, Price 153, Porcello 176, Eovaldi 113 and Rodriguez 135. Johnson, Velazquez, Erasmo Ramirez and Wright are not far behind with 91, 77, 75 and 71 innings: https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/BOS/2018-projections.shtml Many teams will get at least 25 percent of their starts from pitchers not among the preseason projected Starting Five. The Red Sox could be one of those clubs.

The Red Sox should take the chance that Blake Swihart will clear waivers (and then be outrighted to Pawtucket). That chance is better than a nondescript minor leaguer.

One who got away: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/angels-righty-ty-buttrey-on-how-he-turned-a-corner/

The footnote shows how much the free agent market has changed in 10 years because when Jason Varitek declined arbitration after the 2008 season apparently no club would sign Varitek with a compensation pick attached: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/01/jason-varitek-a.html

Steamer600, which assumes 450 plate appearances for each catcher, projects 2019 WAR of 1.9 for 32-year-old switch-hitting catcher Matt Wieters, a four-time All Star and two-time Gold Glove winner* who reportedly has signed a minor league contract with the St. Louis Cardinals: https://www.fangraphs.com/projections.aspx?pos=c&stats=bat&type=steamer600&team=0&lg=all&players=0&sort=27,d Steamer600 projects 2019 WAR of 1.4 for Christian Vazquez, 0.8 for Sandy Leon and 0.2 for Blake Swihart: https://www.fangraphs.com/projections.aspx?pos=c&stats=bat&type=steamer600&team=3&lg=all&players=0&sort=27,d The trade market for the Red Sox catchers may be limited. * Wieters has posted 18.4 fWAR and 18.0 bWAR in 1,081 games over 10 MLB seasons while switch-hitting catcher Jason Varitek, a three-time All Star and one-time Gold Glove winner, posted 19.5 fWAR and 18.4 bWAR in 1,068 games over his first 10 MLB seasons (Varitek was two years older in age than Wieters in parallel seasons of the Georgia Tech products).

The Red Sox bullpen reportedly is complete: https://weei.radio.com/blogs/rob-bradford/dombrowski-red-sox-wont-be-signing-any-more-relievers

And Bryce Brentz homers: MLB Gameday: Red Sox 3, Pirates 4 Final Score (02/25/2019) | MLB.com WWW.MLB.COM Follow MLB results with FREE box scores, pitch-by-pitch strikezone info, and Statcast data for Red Sox vs. Pirates at LECOM Park

The 1998 Seattle Mariners lost 85 games despite a lineup that featured Alex Rodriguez and Hall of Famers Ken Griffey Jr., Randy Johnson and Edgar Martinez. Johnson missed part of the 1998 with injuries but the previous season the Mariners lost in the division series after winning 90 games with all four stars generally healthy. Many teams have a curse to break.

After two winters of discontent, Red Sox designated hitter J.D. Martinez expressed his frustration: "You can go right now through everyone's lineup and you already know who's going to be in the playoffs." https://weei.radio.com/blogs/rob-bradford/jd-martinez-new-world-free-agency-its-embarrassing-baseball Nevertheless, I would never call any club "trash." A surprise team emerges almost every year, whether it be the 2014 Kansas City Royals, the 2017 Minnesota Twins or the 2018 Oakland Athletics. That's what makes the baseball season interesting.

The small sample was offered precisely to mock its weakness.