oldtimer

Nothing is clear in Baseball. You would like to think he is better and maybe he is, but at the present time Mookie's game is a mess.

Once we get into playing the better teams again, we will need Mookie to perform. Thee idea of making up ground on the leaders means we have to come away from series with the better teams even or better. To do that, Mookie has to start to hit. Too many fly balls to center and right. My hope is that he will be more aggressive and stop taking FBs for called strikes early in the count. Last year he was handling the FB better than anyone else in the league.

Yes, but the very idea of long prolonged slumps should get the management to look for alternatives.

Its clear who you are talking about. When the pitchers find a hole it might take some guys longer to figure things out.

Still hoping for Mookie to show something. He is definitely in a slump and is in danger of have his BA sag into the 250's When it goes bad for a guy it can get to his head.

He'll be fine when he faces weak pitching. Lets see if he can maintain his surge against the Twins.

Top notch pitching can make anyone look bad. He just has to gain more experience seeing this is his first season. He did use ped's to gain strength, but every young player deserves a second chance, and provided he keeps his nose clean I am all for him getting a long look in the majors.

Actually they are with Sandoval. And now compounded with Pedroia. With that money we might have signed a second baseman and a closer. It is a crap shoot to hire FA's for long and expensive contracts. The guys who get it right more often than not will put their teams in a winning position.

Would you have believed Mookie would be hitting in the low 260's with 40 % of the season gone? I didn't expect another MVP season but his fall has been a serious problem for the team. Would love to see him get out of his funk and it is entirely possible that he will and soon.

For 2020, I don't want the Sox to repeat the mistakes of this year. Whether we have the money and trade resources is another story. 1. Our first mistake was not to go out and get a talented and hopefully younger second baseman when we had to know Pedroia was iffy at best. Giving Pedroia the 8 year contract was a mistake in the first place. We can keep a Holt or Lin for utility but we need a second baseman. I don't think Chavis is a long term 2nd base prospect. Is Chatham? Only way to find out is to bring him up and try him later this year if the Sox are out of it. Chatham could fill in at SS if the need arose. 2. I don't think of it as a mistake to have kept JBJ. There was talk of how he would extend his end of year hitting prowess and that his mechanics had been modified for the better. What we got is the same streaky hitter, only this time the subpar streak lasted and lasted. For 2020 we should shed his contract and fill in from the available candidate. Will Duran grow during the minor league experience. He is fast and has a decent if not powerful bat. Perhaps he can at least become our utility outfielder. 3. We took on Pearce to back up Moreland at 1st and both of them have proven fragile. Moreland is having a very decent year but can probably only be expected to play in 90 games at this point in his career. Pearce was taken on due to his excellent performance in the WS. We need to rethink 1st base for 2020. Will it be Chavis and Moreland? Can Chavis cut down on his strikeouts? He has power but it doesn't help if you can't make contact. I don't see Ockimey or Dalbec as an improvement there as both are power hitters but have similar characteristics as Chavis. Conceivably, Dalbec could backup 3rd base and thats a plus. 4. As far as starting pitching is concerned, I don't know why we waited for the season to schedule Eovaldi for an operation to remove loose bodies from his throwing elbow. I find it hard to believe they developed during the off season. Has it been done in November, he probably would have been back to his regular turn in early May. Now we may be looking at July to see him return after sustaining a bicep strain. We have Price, Sale and Eovaldi and I for one would likke to resign Porcello but if possible for a shorter term contract. He is a very solid 3rd or 4th starter who eats innings and is durable. We have let guys like him walk only to see them have long careers. The guy I would seriously let walk is E-Rod. With all his experience, he still wants to nibble and performs like a 5th starter. Maybe we have a pitcher in the minors who could fill that position in 2020. Brings to mind the old question mark. Why do the Rays seem to develop young pitchers while we can't? We don't get high draft choices? Hire the Rays pitching development coach. 5. The catching position was controversial at the beginning of 2019. Vaz has proven his merit as a starting ML catcher while Leon is a weak hitting backup. This is not a serious problem for the team so should be a lower priority for change than our larger needs. 6. At DH we did the right thing in keeping JDM. He is one of the very best DH's and can sub into the outfield from time to time. His physical problems will continue as he ages. His player coach value has also be special. Will he opt out on us and how far do we go to keep him? i admittedly haven't done to math to see how our contract $s stack up but would like him back if at all possible. 7. I saved our BP for last. We had financial considerations get in the way of resigning our closer. That became inevitable due to Kimbrel's expectations and our available resources. It hasn't worked well. Barnes has good stuff but seems to lack the composure to come in during tight games. Brasier had a great 2019 but hasn't been as effective this year. Hembree is still fairly effective but isn't closer material. The rest are so so. For 2020 we need to address the closer and at least one more bridge arm beyond what we currently have. Is Workman able to be the bridge? Don't think so but he is at least a guy we should keep. Otherwise, I am in favor of blowing the BP up and looking for talent. I am not for making Eovaldi our closer. So, I advocate making moves to improve the tea while staying under the 2nd tiers of the competitive balance tax and at the same time avoiding taking on additional high dollar, long term contracts for guys 30 and over.

I don't think DD should push any panic buttons at all. The Sox are only marginally likely to make the playoffs and anyone they can pick up that would make a difference would be costly in resources and money. If they can pick up a RP for cash at the trading deadline that would be as far as I recommend they go. It is likely that we will need to do a restructure of the team for next year, and getting rid of even more of our prospects to get an older and costly player doesn't make sense. If they could pick up a younger quality second baseman with control for a couple of years, maybe that would make sense, otherwise no.

Maybe its up to the individual players to gain that determination. It is a grind to play every day so it takes determination to be your best out there. Maybe Beni was frustrated and embarrassed by his performance the prior night and that gave him extra incentive. Betts just doesn't look like the same player this year. He needs to do better if the team is to regain that elan they showed last year.

We stuggled tonight but at least we won. Our lefties hit tonight and especially Beni. Desperately need to take the final game of the series.

Mookie had a walk that forced in the winning run but another 0-4 night. We need him to contribute every night.

The lefties hit Texas piitching well tonight. Benintendi hit like he had a fire lit under him. Still a struggle to win but win they did.

It is not easy. I am hoping for giving our best talent some PT in late August or sept to see if anyone fits. We do need low cost talent filling in at some positions. We need to decide on a core of veteran players to keep. Some of the decisions have been made with big contracts out there. I see Bogie, Devers, Betts, Beni and Vaz in that list. Our starters of Sale, Price and Evoldi. The BP needs to be blown up with few remaining. Your more into the available resources that I am, but it seems like a tall order.

I think it is realistic to assume the probability of the Sox reaching the playoffs is now around 50%. Nice to talk about an acquisition in the pen, but I doubt we can trade for or afford a game changer. Then there is the risk of trading away assets and not making the playoffs. My view is we have to make the playoffs with our current personnel plus perhaps one decent BP arm. That is plan A. Plan B should be a restructure plan for how we go forward if we fall too far back to be in it this year. I posed that question before. When might we know? The AS break? Plan B means deciding on a core to hold onto and then parting company with those that are unlikely to help us going forward. I have my list and of course that list is debateable. I watched the Oakland/Rays game this afternoon. Both teams had a level of play and pitching that the Sox haven't often produced this year. Whatever happened to our team and its management, our team has definitely slipped badly. Can they turn it around? I don't know but see little evidence that points in that direction.

If you take a called 3rd strike, got to give 20 pushups.

Devers has been in a slump but he is an aggressive hitter and can do damage. The best thing was to generate 2 runs with 2 outs. The thig I never like is taking a called 3rd strike, particularly with a man on 3rd.

Devers is hitting sub 200 for the lat 7 days as is Chavis and Mookie is hitting right at 200. Hard to win games with so many starters having weak at bats.

Reminds me of an old Bill Parcells quote (You are what your record says you are.) Right now the Sox record says they are a middle of the road team.

I would add to those questions with one that asks: How likely is it that this prospect can fill in next season or beyond in a position where we are likely to be weak otherwise? An example would be Duran as a center fielder. Maybe not a good example and maybe Dalbec taking over at 1st base instead of Pearce and Moreland. I don't want guys who can come in and gived the Sox good performance for a low cost. We can use the money paying for stars and/or pitching.

It's just not Betts doing that. At the critical juncture in the game, Beni took two strikes, and then fouled off a few before taking a fastball down the middle, Bobaerts also took two finally swinging and Llining out. Last year they seemed to be more prepared to swing at the frrst good pitch. Is it lack of aggressiveness this year that is part of the hittinng problem?

The team is floundering right now and it is unlikely any single acquisition will make enough difference. I am against trading away solid prospects for one more player and spending more to get one more mid line RP. Better to take our lumps this year than to weaken our future. If the Sox can't do it this year with the resources they have and can get with the money still availble by staying under the second tier of the Competitive Balance Tax, then accept it and think of moving forward. The only field players I would definitely keep for next year are Betts, Bogey, Devers and Vaz. I would like to keep Beni unless a better offer comes forward and also Hernandez for 2nd base.. JBJ, Chavis, Nunez, Pearce, Moreland, JDM and Leon are all possibly gone, some through their own volition and others because its time to move on. I would keep Holt for utility work and would like to see what Duran, Dalbec and other youngsters can bring to the table. If we are out of it come August then I would get youngsters on the roster and get a look at them as possible replacements next season.

Marco joined a crowd of Sox hitters who didn't look good. What happened to Devers? Lets face it, this was an awful loss.