Eddy Ballgame

I'm just not sure why you'd ever want to switch the top 3 hitters around in the line-up when they are all having great seasons and they are leading the majors in runs scored, especially when at least one of those guys has made it clear that he's uncomfortable hitting in the spot that you want to put him in. I love Mookie Betts, but he's a little streaky, like most players. If Farrell hits him 3rd and he goes 4 for 30, Sox fans will want to hang him, especially when the guy hitting 3rd right now is having an MVP caliber season.

I'm not much of a big "blame or credit the manager" guy. If he can somewhat control a bunch of 20 & 30 something year old millionaires with giant egos, then I'm okay with whoever it is. The days of Joe McCarthy and John McGraw are long gone. There's usually a solid reason why they make the in game decisions that they do, and most rely on the coaches to help them. How many times has a manager called the bullpen to get a reliever up and the bullpen coach called back and said, "So and so's got nothing right now." Probably more often than any of us realize.

Pedroia supposedly doesn't like leading off and the Sox are leading all of baseball in runs. Most ball players at that level don't like bouncing around the batting order, either. "Don't try to fix what ain't broken"

I can understand why some people would be pissed off at the time of the trade, especially if they didn't know much about Xander Bogaerts, but to say that making that trade was "lunacy" at this point in time, seems to be, well, "lunacy." The Red Sox won the World Series "with some help from Iglesias defense" & Peavy certainly helped out when Buchholz went down. Some pitchers even said he was like having a 2nd pitching coach in the dugout. Iglesias has lost a lot of time due to injury, he's had attitude issues, he has an OPS below .690 & the metrics aren't loving his defense, while the Red Sox have a much better all around SS. Just surprised anyone can look back at that trade and not love it.

Jose Freaking Iglesias?! Are you serious?! Peavy filled a void left by Buchholz when he got injured and Peavy was the perfect guy to give the players a mental boost at the deadline. On top of that, all flash/no substance Iglesias with the 600 OPS made a huge error during the Red Sox World Series run that year. He makes the great plays once in a while, but he's about as overrated as it gets in my opinion. I remember reading how Pedroia wanted to strangle Iglesias on a weekly basis for his non-chalant play. As a matter of fact, Remy mentioned it last night after Iglesias' s*** throw to first after he caught a line drive. The Sox have an all-world SS who is only getting better and you're upset Jose Iglesias was traded? That's a new one.

It's obviously debatable, but they were definitely "performance enhancing," even if it was temporary. Mickey Mantle would've averaged about 23 games a season without them.

Don't be so sure. I actually like Shaw, but I could see him as that guy who rotates between 1st/3rd/DH and sits against tough lefties. I'd rather have Moncada at 3rd or in left, if they move Benintendi, but I'm not down on Shaw. The kid is supposedly the anti-Middlebrooks when it comes to working on his game.

A lot will obviously change between now & then. Mike Hazen said in an interview earlier this week that they will eventually get Moncada work in at 3rd and left. He also said that these young players have to put a ton of work in with hitting and defense at one position as it is, so they don't want them to have to put twice as much work on D learning multiple positions at that level. He also said that he's so athletic that he could probably play anywhere. I would not be surprised if he is the starting 3rd baseman at some point next season, unless they trade Benintendi.

You'd have to put an asterisk on the 60s and 70s as well. Actually farther back than that. There were bowls of amphetamines (greenies) in every club house.

No one ever said that Holt was indispensable. No one ever said he was more valuable than a full time player. It was posted that he has more value in his current role than he would as an everyday 2nd baseman. Huge difference. Holt also has more value for a contending team than he would for a rebuilding team. The big question was why would a contending team trade a guy like Holt in the middle of a pennant race? The answer is that they wouldn't, which is why I asked you why you included his name in a hundred different trade proposals. I thought maybe you had something against the kid.

Christian Vasquez needs to play every day in Pawtucket, Blake Swihart is on the DL and catching depth is pretty important, as we've obviously witnessed this season.

I still think you are missing my point, so I won't continue to try to explain. A lot can happen between now and next season and I agree they'll have some interesting decisions to make, but they won't need to create a spot for Sam Travis. He's a highly touted prospect who is missing most of this season. He'll either win the full time job at 1st in Boston or play full time in Pawtucket.

I'm not saying that Holt wouldn't be a fine second baseman somewhere. What I'm saying is that what Holt is able to do as a supersub has a lot more value. There was an ex-player/baseball analyst on the radio about a month ago saying that every team wants a Brock Holt, or tries to create their own, but it's not easy. Very few guys can do what he does. Trust me, I'm not Holt's brother & never thought I'd have to defend the guy. I was just curious to find out why another guy put him in a 100 different trade proposals as if the Red Sox actually considered moving him.

Are you saying that Holt would have more value as an everyday player to another team than he would as a super sub to the Red Sox.? If so, then that's where you lose me. As an everyday player, Holt would probably be below average. As a super sub, his value is 10 fold. There are simply very few guys who can do what he does. He gives a team a ton of flexibility. Either way, Holt isn't going to be traded during this season. The Sox know how valuable he is, even if the casual fan doesn't.

Whether or not Holt is a plus defender at any position is certainly debatable, but I don't think that he's a liability anywhere, either. I'm not implying that you're underestimating his value, but you include him in every trade proposal, even for trades before the deadline this year. I just don't get it. Sometimes you have to get past statistical data to assess the true value of a player and Brock Holt is a prime example. David Price wasn't given 217 million to simply win 25 games every year. He was expected to be the staff leader & help mentor young pitchers, as he's done in the past. I just don't think many players can do what Holt does (Zobrist & ?), definitely not the guys that you mentioned as replacements. The toll that it takes on him mentally & physically by the end of the season is crazy. I read where Zobrist was saying it during the break. As fans, we don't realize the value of a guy like that because he doesn't get the credit the "stars" do.

It's possible. 27 isn't considered old for a catcher to "figure it out." It's pretty safe to say that he'll be the starting catcher for the rest of the season at least, barring injury.

Moonslav, You throw out a lot of trade proposals & seem to include Brock Holt in all of them. The guy is a manager's dream for any team in contention, not necessarily for a team rebuilding, and everything I've seen, read & heard backs that up. Supposedly a lot of contending teams asked about Holt during last off season, and they had no inteterest in moving him. If they didn't move him then, why would they now? Why do you want to trade this guy so bad? He gives any team a ton of flexibilty and does it with a great attitude.

Not so sure it was clear cut that they needed another starter. They signed who they felt was the best one available in Price. Porcello was locked in E-Rod definitely earned a spot The consensus at the time was picking up the Buchholz option was worth any risk Joe Kelly definitely pitched well enough during 2nd half to go in as the #5 Rich Hill obviously wanted to come back, but they couldn't even guarantee him a spot in the rotation. Oakland did. They also had Wright, Owens, Johnson, Elias, etc. as depth. Did you see what the Braves got for the likes of Shelby Miller? Who else was available? Not anyone on the Guardians. Francona said last winter that they were looking to add hitting, not trade pitching. There were rumors that Carrasco might be available during last year's deadline, but that's it. I don't think you'll find anything that mentions Cleveland looking to move any of their pitching last winter. Sometimes you have to take a risk with what you have, especially when there is nothing out there. No one goes into a season with 5 sure things in their rotation.

Yup. Hopefully he got a wake up call in Pawtucket.

They'll give Rodriguez at least a few starts before they do anything else.

As part of a package maybe, but who's available? The Braves keep saying they aren't trading Teheran and it sounds like the Sox had some concerns with him. Gray, maybe, but it would've likely cost more and there's no guarantee he'll be moved, either.

Reading between the lines, it sounds like Moncada is nearly as untouchable as Bogaerts was a few years ago. I would not be surprised at all if Moncada & Benintendi are the opening day 3rd baseman & left fielder next season. I just don't think either will be moved.

Boston isn't going to let their franchise poster boy walk in 3 years. He's a homegrown star SS. The Sox answer to Jeter. The Sox also have a solid working relationship with Boras.

I think signing Groome definitely eased the sting of moving Espinoza. Signing Groome was no guarantee and he's been called the best pitching prospect since Kershaw. I also wonder if the organization feels Espinoza may have some other "issues." Who knows. Someone mentioned Iglesias & that was the case with him. It'll be several years before this trade will be able to be judged fairly. I get fans being upset about moving Espinoza, as his ceiling is as high as it gets for an 18 year old, but it takes a lot more than talent alone to succeed at that level.

I see your point, but trust me, they aren't DHing Moncada at this stage of his career. The sky's the limit offensively, so they aren't going to risk screwing him up mentally by having him learn a new position. The reason that they haven't shuffled him around as you suggest, is because they want him to be comfortable as his offense develops. They'll likely have him take some reps at 3rd in winter ball and next spring. Why does he need to be better defensively than the guys that you mentioned? Besides, the Sox aren't going to rotate a bunch of guys at DH, as I mentioned earlier & teams don't take players with his athletic ability and DH them at 21. It's unheard of