oldtimer

I have given up on them for today. There was a nice start with the offense getting it started. Then E-Rod went into his nibbling act. The guy has stuff but his head has never been right. Then a nonchalant play by Bogie and a poor response by Nunez. Nunez next makes a bad play on a grounder. Nevertheless we take a lead innto the 7th and our terrible BP blows up and we have a total misplay from Chavis. If Moreland was back we would have an option. This is a team going nowhere this year. I also would not deal away what good prospects we have but and don't think even two solid BP pitches can help us. Time to reset.

We need starting pitching but E-Rod is beyond redemption. That along with Nunez who is the worst fielder on the squad. In 2020 they should both be gone.

Good point. We haven't had many top of the line draft picks in the last 10 years and we lost further by exceeding the second tier this year. That may explain why we don't develop starting pitchers. The Yankees must have gamed the system to be sitting in the catbirds seat. They too are sitting on a couple of unproductive big contracts, but their lineup and relief pitching is very good and they still aren't ushing the spending limit. Is that better management?

He would have been a treasure. The year before, I suggested Yellich but we probably didn't have the chips to get him. The Yankees have done a much better job of picking up talent. No weak spots in their lineup.

DD for the most part stood pat with last years team sans Kimbrell and in addition the team has had a number of injuries with perhaps the most critial was Eovaldi. That might have been avoidable had the elbow problems been dealt with in Late Novermber instead of April but it is what it is. We all know financial constraints have played a part along with the minors depleted to attempt to win it all last season. The situation wasn't helped but having to carry Sandoval's contract and having Pedroias contract (with no value to the team as well) to make moves more difficult. Moon has pointed out that we got improved performance from some guys which to some degree has made up for weaken performance from Betts, Beni and even JDM. Maybe it's Cora approach or player apathy, but we are not as good a team this year while the Yankees have improved. Compare that to Cashman's activities in the off season just for field players. Urshela, LeMahieu, Encarnacion as the most prominent. The Yankees were smart and survived a streak of injuries because of their depth and they are getting back their injured resources. That doesn't even touch on pitching help that they got and probably will add beyond what they had. Maybe we still have enough to get a wild card slot provided we shore up the BP. That may be a 50 % probability at this point but does anyone see us beating the Astros, Dodgers, Yankees or perhaps other and going to the World Series? I don't so recommend going to a play B approach, which is to look to develop any young players that can make the grade (maybe none, but dont get rid of the most promising). identify a list of keepers and then trade away or otherwise get rid of those that don't appear to be competitive so as to open up some salary space to fill our pitching and position player spaces. My list of keepers are Bogie, Devers, Vaz, Betts (I expect him to bounce back), probably Beni although not surely, probably Chavis as a low cost 1st base presence, and probably JDM unless he exercises his option to leave and possibly JBJ if he shows sustained performance. That leaves us to find a permanent 2nd baseman, utility guys (Holt is fragile but is a pro), a backup catcher if we can do better than Leon,but the key is pitching. We have Sale, Price, E-Rod and Eovaldi but Porcello, while an inning eater may need to be let go as a FA. Have to ask, why can't we develop a starting pitcher as the Rays have so often done? I would blow up the pen keeping only a few of the best. This is a thread for aa realistic view of the season and that is my view of reality.

There is no getting around the fact that the pitching stunk to high heavens today. Maybe they will get a hold of themselves tomorrow. I read that Bogey left the game with a leg injury. That is a concern. Actually, the offense did pretty well and were in the game at the end despite Cora resting several key players. Vaz, Bogey, Devers, Chavis, JDM and JBJ all did well. Beni still seemed off as did Mookie. Could we rebound from this with a good pitching performance? Sure and that is what I am hoping for.

You need a sense of humor to follow baseball and the Sox in particular. I hear Bogie left the game with a leg injury. That if it is serious would be the worst thing to happen in this game. He is one of our best and is really the team leader. Hate to have it be serious.

17 runs given up today and counting. Ouch!

Anyone still willing to use our BP stats to say pitching is not a problem? Gave up watching this as batting practice doesn't spin my motor.

I wonder? Does anyone remember when baseballs began to be toosed out of games every time they hit the dirt? I have been around since the 1940's but sadly don't remember when that occurred. I believe we still have a 90 year old poster who might comment on that.

I once rented a car on the south island of New Zealand and went on a fly fishing vacation. Bridges down there at that time were sometimes narrowed to one lane. I forgot that the left side of the car extended so much father out with a right side driver's seating and came within inches of tattooing a bridge abutment.

Good job of kicking off the second half by pointing out where we have struggled and where we have improved. It appears the only moves likely to be made are for 1 or two relief pitchers. Maybe a starter could drop to us with a reliever and that would be okay. Knowing when Eovaldi will make it back would certaintly affect who we go for. (I still wonder why they waited until April to operate on the loose bodies in his arm). i usually comment that the facts are interesting, but what conclusions can be drawn from the first half results. I'll make a try. 1. Since we probably can't or won't bring in new position players, we will have to use who we have to get the best results possible. Hopefully we will get Moreland back to help us. 2. We should continue to monitor our position player performances during the second half to determine a course of action in the off season. 3. Depending on how we fare and whether we make a wild card slot (I don't kid myself to believe we will catch the Yankees), I would bring up our best young position players for a looksee. If we fall out of it I would give them enough PT to see if they can help us either in 2020 or as trade bait. 4. My current thinking on each player: a. Betts is playing well below expectations even given most expected some decline. Would try to keep him but not for the $300 Mil long term previously in the cards. b. JDM is still valuable to the team but if he exercises an option to walk, I would think his value going forward is declining c. Beni is doing well but not great. I would try to keep him and look for improvement. Otherwise, don't trade him. d. JBJ is a tough call. Do we want to keep him and pay big money or trade him for a alternative player. A lot will depend on how he goes during the second half. e. Holt is a bit fragile and is best kept in a utility role. He has proven to be worth keeping but not as a regular position player. f. Dever has become an emerging star and must be part of the team going forward. Probably remaining at 3rd but flexible. g. Moreland has been valuable when healthy but he appears to be quite fragile. I expect him to be replaced in 2020. h. Pearce is getting older and I expect him gone in 2020. Fragile and his skills appear to be dropping i. leon is an interesting case. He doesn't hit but is okay as a backup catcher. You have to ask what we could get as a backup that would be better. I'd consider looking but don't see it as a priority. j. Vazquez is one of the better catchers in the league and should not be traded under any circumstances. k. Nunez is an erratic fielding utility guy who can hit and help the team at times. I wouldn't consider him as a guy we will need on the 2020 team l. Chavis is a rookie and wasn't on the list because he didn't have stats last year. Like a lot of rookies he has problems but appears to be holding his own and may well help us in 2020 with an improving war number. Low cost players that can do what he is doing are needed on every team and I would want him back in 2020. Clearly we will need to solve our 2nd base issue next year and should have this year but for another questionable contract for Pedroia. Most of us believe Pedroia is gone for good. Does Hernandez or Chatham replace him or do we look for a FA to fill that void? We should have some money available to shore us the starting pitching and BP in 2020. As far as managment of the team is concerned, you gave fairly low marks. I tend to agree that Cora's preparation for the season and constantly weakening the lineup to rest players hasn't worked very well this year. DD has been contrained financially this year. He helped bring in the WS ring in 2018 but some of his moves have depleted our minors. I won't jump on him for this year but if our weakness persists, he has to share the blame as well as the credit for last year. Would like Moon's take on the pitching staff as well.

True. The current problem is that Cora has insufficient capability in the BP. Part of that may be becauswe of overuse but some is due to guys who can't handle high pressure situations. The job of management is to replace at least one and preferably 2 guys capable of pitching in the 8th and 9th. Be interesting to see if management can get something done.

Knuckleballers can pitch more than one inning. barnes is going through a tough period.

Both Betts and Lindor will soon be FAs. Both will get big money. Bogaerts is a good shortstop and a leader of the team but he could play 1st or 3rd if we had a star like Lindor. He is only 26. Would we pay the freight when he hits FA status?

Barnes is also having issues. Maybe Cora hasn't rested him enough? This team may be RIP for the playoffs.

There will be a lot of competition when he hits the FA market. I am thinking big as he would be a tremendous addition to our or anyone elses team.

He did get two doubles and scored the winning run last time out. I want him in the game.

I would be very reluctant to trade away any of our more solid players this year. We suffered through the worst of JBJ and now should utilize the best of him, certainly for the remainer of this year. Like Moon and most posters on the site, I would like to get a solid reliever, two if possible without going over the competitive balance tax second tier. For next season I would make some substantial moves while trying to keep our solid core. By that I mean Betts, Beni, Bogaerts, Devers, Vazquez. I think we need to clear some space with older and oft injured players like Pearce, Moreland Nunez. I'd play a wait and see attitude on JBJ. My big move, having cleared substantial cap room is to go after Francisco Lindor. I think he is a better player than even Betts. Imagine having him at short, Bogaerts at 3rd or first, same for Devers, and possibly Chavis for second or DH. Could we swing the money having cleared over $30 mil of space. I'd hope it would be a consideration. Pitching is not my forte. DD also has that struggle ahead of him.

I am begining to seriously question Cora not putting our best lineup in game after game. Always someone sitting it out. And the number of injuries is consistently high. I brought up Cal Ripkin playing in 2636 consecutive games as the record. We don't seem to have players in 20 games in a row never mind hugh numbers like Ripkin. It worked last year, but it doesn't seem to be working for us this year.

Beni has been hitting well. I hope Cora is not resting him tonight and that beni actually has a more substantial reason for not being in the lineup?

And right now its JDM who is struggling and Mookie to some extent as well. When the teams two top hitters struggle, its hard to put up crooked numbers. I think they will both come around but it may take them to the AS break to become the impact players we need.

No crooked numbers for this team. We need the big hit and of course the relieft pitching to hold up.

Whatever happened to the idea of playing every day? Cal Ripkin holds the record of 2632 straight. We have more guys either resting or on the IL then I can remember going back into the 40's. Devers, Holt, Moreland, Lin to name a few. We need to field a full team and keep it on the field. Bad backs, hamstrings, quads, stubbed toe, knees, etc. Cora has the idea of resting guys who are healthy. Does that work?

You have constantly urged we go out for at least one for the pen and if we can stay under the 2nd tier cap, two. Of course both the pen and the starters have had their issues but adding a meaningful starter looks to be beyond our resources. Of course some advocate blowing the top of the budget but I am not one of those. If we can get Eovaldi back soon and Stephen Wright can give us something, our starting issues aren't as significant anyway. We also need Hembree back ASAP as he has been better than a number of our BP. Many of us now believe we are playing for a WC, without much hope of catching the Yankees. So the moves that we could make are likkely to bring us a WC.