oldtimer

Errors can also lead to extra pitches and stress, even though they made not lead directly to runs. I prefer a solid defender who makes few if any during the season.

They also have Machado who I rate as a top defender.

I would think any guy who throws close to 100 mph must be puttinng tremendous strain on his arm and it seems like a large number of them do these days. On our staff, we have a bunch including Kelly, Barnes, Eovaldi, Brasier, Hembree and even Sale. If we stay away from pitchers who have previously had TJ surgery, we might be limiting ourselves too much.

Machado is an excellent defensive SS with a very stron arm. He also hits very well. Saying that, I would not want him at the money he will command on the FA market. There are a lot of teams that would want him, but I can't see the Sox as being one of them. Maybe the White Sox?

The Sox do have the highest payroll in the majors, but we also have over $40 million tied up in players that are no longer with the club. When commentators talk about our payroll they forget that fact.

Eovaldi is a team player. He is willing to come in and shut down the Dodgers anytime called upon. I love to see him again next year, but getting him will not be easy. He has got Verlander stuff.

Kelly has been lights out. Cora decided to add him to the roster as he loved the velocity. A lot of us questioned him on the roster, I know i did. I admit to being totally wrong on that one and Cora has been so right. Another great win tonight. Good pitching, pesky hitting, good speed on the bases, good defense. Even Devers looked sharp at 3rd and Beni made an excellent catch in left. Our guys are backing each other up and seem to refuse to lose. I can see a lot of pride on this team.

Hope the cold weather doesn't bring on Mr. Tingles.

Maybe, but that last pitch was a ball and would have been a walk. Walks are his bane, so while he did very well, I still wonder if he has found it totally.

If you think in terms of comparative advantage, the Astros beat the Dodgers last year and if anything the Astros were improved this year and the Dodgers about the same. I am thinking Machado for Cory Seeger is about equal. The Sox beat up on the Astros so one would think in the comparative sense that we should be favored and are, but not by a lot. Good luck to the team tonight. If Cora sees us in a position to win he will go all out to do so in the later innings. Love how Cora thinks.

Great staart. Cora keeps pushing the right buttons

These numbers are based on season long statistics. Performance does change over an entire season due to many reasons. One could argue that Devers performance is on the upswing whereas Kinslers is on the downturn. Good reason to use a holistic approach to determine lineups.

Machado

He has done an excellent job. Still, we have to see how the Price contract works out long term and also Pedey's. No GM will hit 100%, just hope there are no huge mistakes.

It would be pure speculation by any of us to ascribe a reason or reasons to his situation and unfair to do so. Best to stick to the facts . He wasn't producing, he wasn't picked up by another team. and clearly we didn't want his 2019 salary to limit what we can do going forward. Enough said.

I'm with you on this. JBJ is a great centerfield presence while Beni has made some significant LF plays against the Astros. Clearly all three are better than JDM in the outfield in range and probably break on balls. i agree that Cora is in the best position to make that decision and I will be satisfied with whatever decision he makes. I also note that the Sox have coaches meeting to preplan what they will do and they use the best ideas from very capable baseball people.

You are probably right.Cora is no fool. He will do the right thing.

I agree. This is a tough problem and potentially will be faced 3 times. Cora knows his players and I trust him to make a reasonable decision. If his first approach doesn't work out he can adjust as the series moves on. I personally don't have any suggestions to make.

Pat yourself on the back a few more times.

I saw Kiimbrel's main problem as lack of command of either of his pitches. Walks and hit batsmen have led to his troubles. When he was forced to come over the plate with a meatball, he was hit. Maybe it was lack of regular work that led to his lack of command,maybe it got into his head but in truth, he was wild and did struggle. His four seam fastball is a tough pitch to hit but he has to get it over to enduce a swing. His knuckle curve was missing in action of last. When he gets that pitch over, it is almost unhittable. If he does develop a slider that he can control then he would be even more of a force. Maybe Cora haas gained a better idea of what works for Kimbrel.

During the season, many fans that contribute to the discussion offered constructive criticisms aimed to improve the team. Polllyanna's rushed to bash anything that might be considered criticism, maybe to stroke their own ego's. The truth is we have a very good team that certainly could get better, but is under constraints that limit what could have been done this year and what can be done moving forward. What is often lost in the discussion is that while we have areas which clearly could be improved, all of our opponents do as well. The Yankees weak defense in the infield and at catcher. Their dependence on the homerun, their problems with starting pitching. The Astros are a more complete team than the Yankees, but their pitching was not as good as touted and they were held down in runs by what some in baseball considered our weakish starting and Relief pitching. Clearly, while we have some faults that could use adjustents going forward, we are still better than the two powerhouse teams we faced to date. We may well be favored in the WS as some in the media are realizing that the Sox are a really good team.

Watch out, we may be favored against either.

So, any changes for the WS roster? Is anyone injured? Do we see different needs? Has performance suggested possible changes? It is hard to see a lot of positive changes that could be made to improve things. Here are my possibles: 1. Workman based on his perfformance and lack of use. Do we have a pitcher that might be a better fit? I can't see a clear improvement. 2. Swihart never saw the light of day, but is a versatile athlete who has some hitting ability. Lin is an alternative but not really better. 3. Nunez got a lot of PT but don't know the status of his ankle, hamstring, knee issues. I assume the days off will allow him to recover. We may well just stand pat. 2.

Unbeatable one minute and losers the next. The Astros learn that the game is humbling.

Cora went to Kimbrel. Got to be good for him and his confidence to close this one out. Same could be said of Price. Cora stuck with him and it paid off. Same for Devers who came through tonight and has to be a growth experience for the kid. Lots of decisions by Cora and so many worked out.