oldtimer
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Everything posted by oldtimer
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Hard to believe any pitcher 30 or over should be given a 6 year contract. The question is where do you draw the line? Is it 4 years or 5 years for someone who has been great?
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All the recent talk from DD indicates that any one of the 3 could go. They gave Vasquez the contract so I suspect he is the least likely to go. Leon is a good defensive catcher but is 30 and 5'10" and 225 pounds and has proven he can't hit even close to his own weight. Personally, I would see him as the more likely to go but none of the three are untouchable.
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I still think the Vasquez/Swihart is an option based on what DD has said. I have no specific information that any choice is favored.
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I think we all know that Pedroia's situation is on the iffy side. I'm hoping that he can return and give the Sox a viable 2nd baseman for 100 games. Only time will tell if he is able to ddo that.
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A friend of mine works in the Cardinals organization. He said one consideration in baseball is to force teams to use relief pitchers for at least 3 batters, unless the pitcher is injured. This is to speed up the game and to avoid pitchers being brought in for one hitter. I like the idea and hope it sticks.
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Where have you gotten your information? I see nothing in writing to support your contention. DD is saying 3 catchers go to ST and compete for the job, unless someone offers a trade alternative that he likes.
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So was mine, none of the above. Seems like notin doesn't think Swiart has any chance of being our second catcher.
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Good to have a potential full time backup for 2nd in the pipeline.
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Realiistically, Pedroia who turns 36 this August and will be returning after a full year layoff and having returned from microfracture surgery, will be played in 100 games or less this season. That will depend on him being able to return to some sort of positive hitting form, not an easy thing to do. He has always had the kind of spunk to give it his best shot but in my mind the odds are stacked against him. Hope I am proven wrong in my view.
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Leon is 5'10" 225# is dead slow and I doubt he will ever hit close to his weight. He will turn 30 in spring training. I'll agree that he is a good receiver with a strong arm, but catcher is a tough position and one has to wonder could be solid for 75 games this year, assuming Vasquez catches the remainder.
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You have been pushing Leon over Swihart for a long time whereas the projected lineup disagrees with you. What you say isn't going to happen is actually quite likely.
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I'm not disagreeing with your suggestion of how age impacts players and their capabilities, but with the trainers and nutrition expects helping players these days, wouldn't you thiink the prime years might be extended? What is the data used to back up the gradual reduction in player capability and does it apply to all players or is there a difference for pitchers, catchers, field players? Do thinner guys remain in their prime for longer? It seems like that would be quite a research project and one that probably been undertaken by most of the teams to justify their contract offerings.
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Are you over 70 this year? Come down and play. I turn 78 shortly and have been at it for about 10 years or since I fully retired. I play both in Florida and North Carolina. We play in Fla on 4 three hundred foot fenced fields with lights. Nice set up. Nobody in my age group hits it over the fences these days but we often hit the fence on a few bounces. We have about 75 guys playing in my age group. There are well over one million nation wide. I like it more than golf.
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I agree that examples of long term contracts that haven't paid off abound. A smart owner wants to avoid a long term commitment which may in the end hamper the club. Even with that said, we have seen our own guys make bad decisions on contracts. There doesn't have to be collusion among owners to stop getting into these contracts, just the realization that they are highly risky. Price was questionable at the time but has given us some value. Time will tell if 7 years made sense.
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One of the guys in my senior softball league experienced microfracture surgery on his knee. At 69 years old, he is the youngest on our team by quite a lot. He replaced a guy who had a-fib and played for one day with 2 six inniing games. The bottom line is his knee swelled up like aa grapefruit and he was unable to play 2 days later. I hope that Pedroia's microfracture surgery goes better.
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With a new political situation, the very highly paid players may get taxed at a 75% rate or higher. Good luck to all those making big money as maybe they can be on a Canadian or Japanese team.
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I'm wondering when the roster for 2019 gets updated. Is it during spring training or do we have to wait til the season starts? My interest is in Devers, who has been referred to as trimmed down. Since he was 6 feet 237# last year, a trimmed down weight may well improve his defense and keep him off the injury list.
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Maybe you are correct, but posswibly Swihart will have shown an improvement and Leon will be moved.
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Some of our compadres on this site use long term performance to justify decisions for the on going team. I am reluctant to do that with players who appear to be breaking out of their long term performance mold. Kelly did look to improve last season toward the end and may well have found something. Bogaert's hitting really was better in 2018, presumably because he took to heart to swing at good pitches earlier in the count and to try to drive the ball. Using long term statistics to justify decisions about Wright or Pedey are no more than a guess and are probably not close to reality. I'm not worried, as I think the Sox front office is aware of the likely performance of guys and will usually make good decisions. Like you, I believe the loss of Kimbrel, without a suitable replacement will impact the team's performance. But like Kimmi, I would be reluctant to pay big bucks and more reluctant to get into long term deals for closers.
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A good thing that can't hit their own weight!
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Give the young man a break. Maybe he has improved and can make a case for being our 2nd best catcher. I woulod prefer to see him compete in spring training and if he looks ggood to keep him and jettisone one of our other catchers, probably Leon. I know I am in the minority as others and especially Moon is advocating Leon and Vaz.
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The word on Swihart is that his defense at catcher has improved and started to show toward the end of the season. If his defense is solid, then you have a player who may hit better and defend well enough to be a reasonable alternative to Leon. We shall see as the story unfolds in spring training.
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Also, no burn is given to the possibility of improvement, which the sox are saying Swihart has made in the past year. Moon tends to look at long term numbers, which undervalues those who are improving. It looks to me as though we have 3 competent catchers on the roster and have to decide who sticks based on hitting and trade value. Leon has little of that because he doesn't hit, while its up in the air for Swihart and Vaz possibly will show better hitting. The plan may be to go through spring training with 3 and see which 2 we want to keep.
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I agree with your position. We can get by with the two we had last year, but I don't view them as a strength as some others do. I would also be satisfied with keeping Swihart and letting go of Leon. The argument about letting Leon go is that no one else will trade anything for him. That should give us a hint of his value withing MLB.
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I don't think the Red Sox have made the decision on which two catchers to keep. I would keep Vaz but am uncertain whether Leon should stay. He is solid on defense but a black hole on offense. Don't hear a lot of rumors flying around about the catching situation.