harmony

With an on-base percentage of .330 (compared to the .292 OBP posted by Red Sox third basemen this year). Batting average is so rarely cited in player valuations these days. As a side note, the huge new scoreboard at San Diego's Petco Park has so much information that I struggled to find the stats I wanted. But one player stat was conspicuous in its absence: batting average. Times have changed.

This year Todd Frazier has posted a wRC+ 104 -- with rest-of-season projections of 101, 106 and 103 -- at a position where Red Sox third basemen have produced a wRC+ of 61 this year: http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=785&position=3B http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=3b&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2017&month=0&season1=2017&ind=0&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=16,d Frazier has an OPS+ of 107 while Red Sox third basemen have an sOPS+ of 63. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/frazito01.shtml https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/split.cgi?t=b&team=BOS&year=2017 Many Red Sox fans underestimate Frazier's worth. ZiPS, Steamer and FanGraphs Depth Charts have only four Red Sox hitters exceeding the rest-of-season WAR projections of Frazier (who is projected to produce at least at the level of Andrew Benintendi). http://www.fangraphs.com/projections.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&type=rzips&team=3&lg=all&players=0&sort=24,d

Will Middlebrooks made improvements in his strikeout rate at every minor league level before making his MLB debut in 2012: http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=7002&position=3B

Fifty-nine games at High A this year aren't enough to change my mind (or likely the minds of many baseball executives). Michael Chavis' K/BB ratio at High A resembled that of Will Middlebrooks at High A at a slightly younger age.

Remember the discussion a year ago about how much Drew Pomeranz cost in trade: http://www.talksox.com/forum/threads/17799-Red-Sox-Acquire-Drew-Pomeranz?highlight=diego

White Sox fans have their ideas about a trade of Todd Frazier to the Red Sox: http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=103296

I suspect a trade for Todd Frazier would require Michael Chavis and someone like 27-year-old lefthander Edgar Olmos. Chavis is a nearly 22-year-old defensively challenged third baseman who has posted a .252/.317/.448/.765 line in 1,283 minor league plate appearances with 332 strikeouts and only 91 walks. http://www.soxprospects.com/players/chavis-michael.htm

For what it's worth, ZiPS, Steamer and FanGraphs Depth Charts project Todd Frazier with rest-of-season WAR of 1.0, 1.2 and 1.2: http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=785&position=3B As points of reference, here the the ZiPS rest-of-season projections for Red Sox hitters: http://www.fangraphs.com/projections.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&type=rzips&team=3&lg=all&players=0&sort=24,d And the Steamer ROS projections for Red Sox hitters: http://www.fangraphs.com/projections.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&type=steamerr&team=3&lg=all&players=0&sort=27,d ... and the FanGraphs Depth Charts projections: http://www.fangraphs.com/projections.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&type=rfangraphsdc&team=3&lg=all&players=0&sort=24,d

That newspaper, the Boston Herald, had this November 2014 column about the Red Sox signing of Pablo Sandoval: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/red_sox_mlb/boston_red_sox/2014/11/pablo_sandoval_right_for_red_sox And another Herald article: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/red_sox_mlb/clubhouse_insider/2014/11/big_winner_pablo_sandoval_introduced_at_fenway_park Even the Boston Globe's Dan Shaughnessy was on board: https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2014/10/24/pablo-sandoval-fits-red-sox-needs/d9uH5iXUetHg3hXa9Fpp9K/story.html Another November 2014 take from masslive: http://www.masslive.com/redsox/index.ssf/2014/11/red_sox_free_agency_pablo_sand_3.html#incart_social_feature And from NESN: http://nesn.com/2014/11/pablo-sandoval-good-fit-for-red-sox-but-boston-shouldnt-break-bank/ From MLB Daily Dish: https://www.mlbdailydish.com/2014/10/27/7079391/red-sox-must-get-sandoval FanGraphs had these takes: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/why-six-years-for-pablo-sandoval-isnt-crazy/ http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/which-pablo-sandoval-did-the-red-sox-buy/

A link to the copyrighted material: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/columnists/steve_buckley/2017/07/buckley_red_sox_complicit_in_pablo_sandoval_debacle

It's a tradition among Red Sox fans (and sometimes the Boston media).

Perhaps Pablo Sandoval put forth his best effort but simply failed to produce. It happens.

It's that fan attitude that makes Boston a less desirable place to play.

Indeed penalties reset if the Red Sox make no expensive in-season additions.

No. It's a salary dump as the Red Sox strive to avoid escalating luxury tax penalties.

I recently traded for Chris Sale in fantasy baseball but I expect the lefthander to regress. Sale has already exceeded last year's fWAR.

Would anybody trade Rafael Devers and Pablo Sandoval to the Tigers for Nick Castellanos? I suspect Detroit would not because the Tigers have their own luxury tax concerns.

Indeed, on this forum in February I suggested that the Red Sox would be pleased if Blake Swihart's age 25 season matched the age 25 season of Mike Zunino in 2016 when Zunino started the year at Triple A: http://www.talksox.com/forum/threads/17652-Christian-Vazquez/page73 Swihart and Zunino are former Baseball America 17th-ranked prospects who started their age 25 seasons at Triple A after stints as MLB starting catchers. Last year in his age 25 season Zunino posted a .286/.376/.521/.898 line (wRC+ 138) in 327 plate appearances at Triple A and a .207/.318/.470/.787 line in 192 plate appearances after his call-up to MLB. This year in his age 25 season Swihart has posted a .213/.265/.327/.592 line (wRC+ 61) in 163 plate appearances at Triple A. This year Zunino was Seattle's Opening Day catcher but was sent down after posting a .167/.250/.236/.486 line in 80 plate appearances over 24 games. Since his return on May 24 Zunino has posted a .254/.310/.577/.887 line in 142 plate appearances over 40 games. Zunino led all MLB hitters with 31 RBI in June* when he posted a .304/.371/.722/1.092 line in 89 plate appearances. Swihart's prospects would be brighter is he possessed Zunino's skills behind the plate. * Zunino has posted an ugly .087/.087/.217/.304 line in 23 plate appearances in July. Zunino is consistent behind the plate but among baseball's streakiest hitters at the plate.

Last November, in comparing Blake Swihart with Jarrod Saltalamacchia at a similar age, I wrote: "Swihart's performance in the first four months of 2017 should determine whether he has more, less or about the same trade value as Saltalamacchia had on July 31, 2010" when the Texas Rangers traded Saltalamacchia to the Red Sox for the humble package of Chris McGuiness, Roman Mendez, Michael Thomas and cash. http://www.talksox.com/forum/threads/17857-Swihart-To-Undergo-Ankle-Surgery/page6 SoxProspects never ranked McGuiness, Mendez or Thomas among the franchise's Top 20 prospects. I can't imagine that Swihart would command a greater return this month.

For what it's worth, the FanGraphs Cool Standings give the Astros a 32.1 percent change of winning the American League, the Guardians a 30.9 percent chance and the Red Sox a 21.3 percent chance: http://www.fangraphs.com/coolstandings.aspx

Baseball America midseason prospect rankings: 5. Eloy Jimenez 6. Rafael Devers 83. Dylan Cease 87. Jason Groome 96. Michael Chavis http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2017-midseason-top-100-prospects-july-7/#LhQHl9Z2feFdqerJ.97 I can't imagine the Red Sox could have landed Jose Quintana without trading Devers.

Blake Swihart's trade value might be similar to that of Mets catcher Kevin Plawecki, who is one year older than Swihart. Swihart has posted 0.6 bWAR in 103 MLB games while Plawecki has posted 0.8 bWAR in 131 MLB games. Each entered the 2017 season with five years of team control.

I question whether the Red Sox will trade low on Blake Swihart, a 25-year-old catcher with defensive questions and a .213/.265/.327/.592 slash line in 163 plate appearances this year at Triple A Pawtucket. What would the return be in a trade of Swihart?

On the old Boston Globe forum, a poster named softlaw started a separate thread to belittle me for suggesting in the 2012-13 offseason that Will Middlebrooks might need more time in the minors. Good times.

Trivia: Who were the last two Red Sox players to homer in an All Star game? Neither was a fan favorite in Boston.