Nick

This season, Red Sox left fielders as a unit are 15th in the league with a .739 OPS, and haven’t been very good with the leather. Brock Holt has been trying to fill in for Chris Young’s .288 TAv, but neither his .259 mark or Bryce Brentz’s .257 TAv have come close to replicating that. It’s been a long, gradual slope downhill for that position. That’s where Benintendi comes in. The Red Sox probably didn’t want to bring him up this early, but with no clear options available to them and Chris Young still a ways off, it was worth a shot. He immediately gives the Red Sox an outfielder who can actually play the position. Holt’s value comes in playing multiple positions acceptably, not a single one well, and Brentz, well……let’s just say fielding isn’t his strong suit. Benintendi has much better chops than both of them in the field. Speaking of Holt, Benintendi’s call-up might have shown that the Red Sox have finally learned their lesson with Brock Holt in the second half. See, he’s usually pretty good for three months, give or take a couple weeks. Once the second half starts, he’s not so great: I endorse this article by Baseball Prospects; What's troubling is John Farrell fully endorsing Holt as the starting LF in April. Maybe he just didn't mention that it's only good until the All Star break.

Benintendi looks to be a professional hitter.....Bryce Brentz? Come on.....Brock Holt?.. Maybe we should send hom down for couple of weeks to get him some more at bats. He will be fine....he even looks good striking out.

can we bring up Moncada please..............

Here's to Moncada playing 3B for Sox in 2017. As long as our pitching is a suspect, we can't afford a black hole in the line up. We have to hit 1-9. Swihart should play winter ball somewhere to work on his catching. Even if he's a trade bait, wouldn't it increase his value for other teams to see him behind the plate? Again, I don't think there's money to be spent on starting pitcher this winter. Money should go towards a power bat at DH. You can't have team full of doubles guys. Betts, Bradley and Xander are attractive in part because they can generate some power. Betts should be a 30 HR guy and both Xander and Bradley should hit 20 HR at some point. Throw in Encarnacion along with Moncada/Benintendi growing into their position, Sox becomes an offensive jauggernaut, with higher ceiling than this year's team.

“It’s been going pretty good,” the Portland manager said. “He’s familiar with the position. He’s played there before. He told me he played mostly center field and third base in Cuba, so he’s very familiar with the position. So he’s working on little details about having a wide base and it’s fast, where if you’re playing second base you have the luxury of staying back on the baseball. At third base you’ve got to be a little more aggressive, and react because you don’t have much time. Stuff like that. The transition is going to be easier for him because he’s done it before. When the subject is broached, Moncada points to the fact he played third base for two years in Cuba, starting when he was 16 years old, and also spent time as a center fielder. “Right now, it’s like riding a bike,” he said of his time at third base. Hum....third base in not completely new to Moncada.....we act as though it's a brand new position for him.

Bench 1 Bryce/Benintendi until Young returns..then Bryce is gone...no point in having Bryce/Young combo obviously in LF. 2 Shaw/A Hill...platoon at 3B 3 Holt...back up every position except for catching If Hanley goes down, then you have Shaw and Holt playing 1B/3B with the possibility of Moncada call up. Do we have a right handed batter in the minors that can play either 3B or 1B? I suppose Shaw can play full time 1B and Holt can relieve Aaron Hill at 3B against righties.

With nearly $60 million remaining in is contract after this season, Sandoval may have the worst contract in baseball. Any trade of Sandoval would require that the Red Sox add a player of significant value to offset Sandoval's negative value. Only worse contract was Pablo's with $80 million remaining at the beginning of this year. dws

If a righty comes in, I hope to see Benintendi come in for defensive purposes..

Per Sox Prospects In calling up Andrew Benintendi after only 63 games in Double-A, the Red Sox clearly see him as an upgrade over what they have in left field right now, at least hitting from the left side. Red Sox left fielders have put up a .258/.324/.397 triple slash this year, so Benintendi doesn’t have to hit much to prove an upgrade over that. With his defense, he really doesn't have to hit much to help the ball club. It's an UPGRADE.

Bradley just hit a double....Now, can we all laugh about Bradley starting out the year hitting 9th in the lineup? He's a fun guy to watch....

Brycee baby is not a good left fielder.....and he doesn't hit for power.......not a good fit...OPS of .674

Moon, I read somewhere that Holt will assume the role of utility player. When Young returns, I assume Bryce will be gone. They will have the 4th OF in Holt. With Benintendi, they will have terrific defense in OF.

I agree......bottom line is there's excitement with younger guys....I appreciate Pedey...but I love watching Betts, Bradley and Xander. They look like they're having fun. I want Moncada, Benintendi and Devers to join the PARTY.

You better alert the Sox management...

“Maybe,” Dombrowski said of their (Benintendi and Moncada) potential impact this season. “It could be. They’re close enough that they could be. I’m not making that prediction, but they could be. They’re really good. … (Single-A Salem third baseman Rafael) Devers you could say is pretty close, too. He’s a little younger. These guys are special players, and they’re not far from the big leagues, either. Moon, sounds as though Devers is still a 'keeper' for the Sox. I'm glad but are we running out of positions for some of these young guys? High Ceiling guys for the Sox LF Benintendi CF Bradley Jr RF Betts SS Xander 3B Moncada 1B Devers C Swihart? I would prefer full time DH and that position can be purchased...maybe Shaw can be in the mix somewhere... IF this happens, every player in our system will be blocked.....good problem to have....

It's obvious that Brock Holt won the starting job in LF by default. He was born to play the role of super sub. He has struggled defensively as of late (I don't care how many runners he throws out at Fenway. Stupid running mistakes). He misplayed one in right and two in left over the last several games. Plus I think he's playing hurt. Benintendi was College Playe of the Year. Let's find out sooner rather than later what he's all about....He's not some 18 year old.

I think he does all the little things to make up for any struggles he may encounter at the plate. Obviously he has to hit. But you don't have to worry about his defense, base running and all the intangibles.

Going forward, we can carry 3 utility players. We'll have Hill, Holt and Brentz until Young returns.

Sooner we have the core group together (next up is Moncada) we'll solidify the team that will make multiple runs at the title. Xander, Betts, Bradley, Benintendi and perhaps Shaw. But it does mean that Swihart will either return to catching or is a major trade bait at some point. I'd like to see him return to catching, personally but I know many here prefer defensive minded catchers (and I'm ok with that) We are one game down in the loss column to the Orioles. We're right in thick of things.

"He has a quality work ethic and good makeup," Dombrowski said of Benintendi. "If he goes through an adjustment period, which could happen, we think he can handle that." We're looking to help out the ball club win this year and every rock has been turned......there comes a point he's done all he can in AA and Dobrowski has been on record about his feelings on players jumping straight from AA to majors. Look he may struggle but I think he's here to stay. Defensively, you can't ask for much better outfield with Benintendi in the lineup.

I know we won't but we need to simply walk away from Koji. His health is a concern and no way I want to give him $13M for his two years. Now Ziegler is a different story.

"We looked at some possible alternatives to help us in left field. We thought some of them were good choices, but we also thought the cost for some of those were quite high," president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said. "Our people kept coming up and saying, 'We think he can play at the big-league level. We think he's ready.'" there you have it.....straight from horses mouth.....and this is August 2nd...and this is fun.

I would say that management has been prudent.....look to your right, look to your left....this is all we got boys....go kick some ass...

Dombrowski said the price tag for quality starting pitching had not come down since last November, when he initially balked at acquiring a starter via trade. He didn't want to move any more of his elite prospects, characterizing himself as "extremely" reluctant to move Yoan Moncada or Andrew Benintendi. "These guys are special players, and they're not far from the big leagues, either," he said. "You know when you talk to other clubs and people offer you good big-league players for them. But I do think we feel we have a club that can not only win now, but we want to be good for years to come. They're a really important part of what we're going to do." Atta boy Dave..

There's not a high priced SP available this winter....THAT HAS BEEN THE PREMISE OF ENTIRE DISCUSSION FOR PAST SEVERAL MONTHS. Why would you factor in a high salary for acquiring top of line SP when there's none available? Thus bulk of underspend can go towards Encarnacion. Now if some $30M per year starter becomes available, then its another discussion. This is why we need to mix in team controlled players such as Benintendi and Moncada. With Encarnacion, Bee Boys, Pedey and Hanley, we can carry Benintendi and Moncada. Obviously Moncada has to show that he can play adequate defense at 3B.