oldtimer

To suggest that Farrell had no responsibility for losing the last 9 games we played means the manager doesn't matter in the scheme of things. The manager sets the tone and makes decisions that impact the games played. He was at least in part responsible for the outcome. Yes, Cleveland is a good team this year but we were swept by the Yankees and Blue Jays just before Cleveland. We weren't playing good ball at the end. I wouldn't mind going in a different direction although that has its risks as well.

If we are fortunate enough to return to the playoffs, we need to think of who are starters could be. Porcello had a bad start but has the talent for the playoffs. I see E-Rod as a second likely starter in the playoffs but Price hasn't shown that ability nor really has Buchholz. Probably not Pomeranz and starting a knuckle baller in the playoffs would be unique. What speaks to me is that we need to get that ace starter and we know the price would be high in prospects and maybe even 25 man roster personnel. In the end, if we can't improve our starting pitching we probably can't advance in the playoffs.

There is a very real chance that either Holt, Shaw, Swihart or Hernandez could be lost in trade deals for more pitching or even to get a DH. I wouldn't trade Moncada as I believe he will become a regular position player sometime in 2017 (probably to fill our need at 3rd). We probably can't trade Pablo, so may use him at DH or 1st, to fill a need. I wouldn't expect Swihart to play 3rd at all during the season but we may try to keep him based on his versatility (catcher, outfield, possibly 1st). My own guess at PT at 3rd: Opening day: Holt 50% Shaw 40% Moncada 10% Most 3rd base innings by years end" Moncada 60% Holt 30 % Shaw 10% All that could easily change if we trade away players like Holt or Shaw

I am a big proponent of speed and defense from the lineup players. Since the regular season is such a grind, I also like durable players (usually meaning in their 20's). In Bogaerts we have an infielder who has decent range and is solid at defense, not GG level but good. He has been durable and hits well. Iglesias has not been durable. Third is the issue. If Moncada comes along, a big if, then we have a young 5 tool player at third are are set at all positions except maybe catcher. It may be the smartest move to nurture Moncada and keep Shaw or Hernandez until he comes along. We do have 4 candidates at catcher to choose from. Leon has lost some of the attractiveness so I would keep an open mind on promoting any of our 4 to the starting role. JBJ is coming into his own as a GG level defender, with speed and durability. Everyone would be done a big favor if he worked on his swing mechanics to develop a compact swing where he could emphasize contact over power. During the regular season, a player may get weak pitching often enough to put up impressive power numbers, but in the playoffs, we are seeing again this year that there are few weak pitchers and the big swingers are being held down.

Price has value to the team as a guy who will win a lot of games and eat a lot of innings, being very durable. What he doesn't seem to be is a playoff pitcher. Porcello should have been but his last two starts were lamentable. Hard to know why. Very possibly, if we get to the playoffs next season, Porcello will be our game 1 playoff starter and E-Rod our game 2 starter unless DD finds a value trade for top starting talent.

Well, Ben has been hired by others. Lets see how well he does in his new position. I like him where he is now so he can't make the acquisitions he got for the Sox. I do give him credit for holding on to his young stars in the making though.

I thought Petrocelli played 3rd base for the Sox. A friend of mine played on the same team with him in the minors and he remembers him as a 3rd baseman.

That power hitting BJ lineup has managed only 3 runs in 3 games. Run production in the playoffs is a different animal. Guys like EE may help get you there but are just another weak bat in the playoffs.

But there are plenty of rosters out there that will guarantee you don't win a championship. I don't want the Sox to have one of those.

We are busy considering pitching moves we might make for the coming year. The area of starting pitching is one where we have elements of a decent staff. When considering changes, I would assume we are planning on keeping the format of 5 starters and 7 relievers. With half the games played at Fenway, I would think that would favor a right hand pitching bias due to park dimensions. We have Porcello, Price, Wright, E-Rod and Pomeranz with Buchholz as a possible as well. Since it is very unlikely that we can go through and entire season without some injuries to starters, we do need starting depth, whether it be expressed as a long reliever or from AAA or both. I think we also understand that the regular season and playoffs, if we are so fortunate to make it in 2017 require somewhat different talents so we need to consider that when we look for acquisitions through trades or FA's. Since the FA market is not strong this year, the trade market is probably our best bet. During the regular season, it is important to have inning eaters, starters who can often go 7 or more innings and by doing so reduce the wear and tear on the BP. Based on 2016 we may have 3 of those. Porcello was excellent in that regard, Price is a workhorse and Wright (if he can return to form) is also capable of going deep into games. E-Rod showed signs of really coming on but still is more of a 6 inning guy and Pomeranz may do well starting the season fresh and rested. Buchholz didn't really show the capability to stay in games. So, in my view, we have 5 likely starters, although 3 of those are left handed, (not optimum at Fenway). Buchholz or Pomeranz might be looked at as long relievers with a likelihood of picking up as starters should anyone get hurt. In the playoffs, our starters didn't fare so well. Porcello went away from his two seamer and may yet show his ability to win in the playoffs. Price has had a lot of chances and was unable to win a game in many tries. We didn't get a chance to try wright and E-Rod may have had that potential, we just didn't get far enough to see. Going forward, I would be looking to add Quintana over Sale, if possible and would be willing to cut Buchholz loose or even Pomeranz, but not E-Rod, Porcello, Price (not possible anyway) or Wright. I am assuming Quintana could bolster both the regular season and playoff pitching staff. I would think finding a long reliever if we lose Buch and/or Pom would be easy enough. We still have some young arms in AAA ball and should keep our best there for potential starting roles should our starters get disabled during the season. Having a main rotation of Porcello, Quintana, Price, E-Rod and Wright would give the Sox one of the best in baseball and some of the AAA kids are improving as backups.

Yes, 3rd base is the main question. I have read elsewhere that we might try to resign Ziegler. Sounds reasonable.

I agree that E-Rod is too big a price to pay as he may well morph into our #2 or #3 starter next year. Buch would be okay or Pom more reluctantly. We do have to give something to get something, but if Sale doesn't stay sound for several years and E-Rod does, it would turn into a bad trade.

I have been mulling over the question of how difficult it is to be a hitter in the majors and came up with some thoughts below. How they apply to our guys is hard to say but it is interesting in my view. My thoughts are below: Hitting at the ML Level To become a ML player, a guy has to demonstrate capability in all phases of the game and to go through a gauntlet of competitive play at minor league play along with whatever other play to earn a chance to move up to the majors. That culls out a lot of athletes and leaves a few. Among those are players that have exceptional vision, hand eye coordination and an emotional makeup that allows them to hit a baseball under difficult circumstances. Those that can do the rest and hit are rare individuals, and those who have learned to stay balanced and make a short but hard swing are rarer still. So what do hitters today face while hitting? 4 seam fastballs ranging up to and above 100 mph with movement 2 seam fastballs that tend to sink in the zone Cut fastballs that bear in on the hitter Sliders that move away from the hitter Splitters which look like a fastball but make sudden moves that are generally down Curveballs which break sharply away from a batter Forkballs which mover toward and then away from the batter Knuckle balls which are very unpredictable in their movement ML pitchers may have three or four of these in their arsenal, they can mix them up and those that command them can hit the corners or tempt hitter with balls close to the strike zone. Starters may only be expected to last 6 or 7 innings, at which time a new pitcher is brought in with a new set of pitches, a fresh arm, etc. Pitchers also can be brought in for favorable matchups based on the left handedness, or what statistics reveal is favorable. Since statistics are kept on all hitters, their weaknesses are known by the opposing staffs and become available for exploitation. Pitchers also use deceptive motions. Side-winding, under-handing, over the top, looking back, hesitation and a bunch of others are used to disrupt the timing and balls thrown at or near the hitter are also options to unsettle the hitter. With some pitchers standing 6’6” or more, their release point is a lot closer to the hitter than the rubber to the plate which leaves only tenths of a second to recognize and get the bat through the zone. The reality is the hitter has to be looking for a pitch and recognize whether it will be a strike or a ball near to the release point. The wonder is that you have guys that make contact enough to carry a 300 or above average, even when the defense on the field is so good. I maintain that guys with a compact swing have the best likelihood of being a consistent hitter, but so much of it is also raw ability, quick reflexes, good hand eye coordination, the ability to stay cool under pressure, that many different styles can be seen being effective. Bottom line: If you have a good hitter, keep him because they are so hard to find.

Watching the championship series just confirms that pitching and defense overcomes offensive prowess. The Guardians and Blue Jays and one of the Dodgers and Cubs games have been very low scoring. Keep that in mind before going in big for an expensive FA bat for a long term contract. He might help a team reach the playoffs but is just another hitter once against playoff pitching. Best to find or train top notch pitchers, both as starters and RP's. Also, find and keep the best defenders you can get. Hopefully, the hitters we have can play good defense. Something to think about when discussing JBJ as a trade possibility. One random point is that Leon is a decent defender but is listed at 5'10", 225 lbs and is probably 235 lbs. He is very slow and may have durability issues behind the plate playing at what is clearly an overweight situation. Taken with his hitting malaise over the last part of the season, I think we would do better to look for a different solution, whether it be Swihart and Vazquez or some other.

You might get prospects for him or add him to a package to sweeten an offering for an established player. HIs main value is what he has been doing for us, utility. So he also has that value for us as well.

I agree with your points of view. We were not a dominant team period, but had elements enough to be a good team. The near collapse of the team at the end is a great bother to me and that's why I would prefer a change in managerial leadership. Would it help? I don't know if it would but the status quo didn't seem to work and we have lost Ortiz, so will lose a big piece going forward. I do think DD made a good effort to improve the team and expect he will do so again in the off season. It is a competitive business though and it is difficult to get real value and improvement when making trades and picking up free agents. Pitching, Catching, Third Base and Management. It is likely pitching and 3rd will be addressed. Hope that can happen without weakening ourselves in other positions or giving away key prospects going forward. Recognizing you have to give up something when trading for something, it will all be about value.

The Guardians have held the Blue Jays to 1 run in two games and needed to do that to win. They have done that with good starting pitching (which may well be better with the return of injured players next year), good and effective use of the bullpen and good team defense. The Guardians often also manufacture runs. They have good speed and are aggressive on the bases. They are pesky hitters. If you judge a manager by results versus expectations based on talent, then Francona has to be rated high. If you compare what the Red Sox talent and results were, particularly at the end of the season, then the SP looked decent although with some warning signs of trouble, particularly with Price. The RP looked good with the exception of Kimbrel who went wild and couldn't seem to come out of it. Our defense looked on a par with the Guardians and maybe better in the outfield. We have a lot of speedy players but didn't pressure the opponent pitcher much since we weren't getting on base. Our hitting, already declining was really held in check by the Guardians pitching. The Red Sox went into a 9 game malaise at the end of the season. Personally, I would look for a change in the manager and hope for better results. Someone capable of exciting our players and using our strengths to win the close ones. Who knows if someone else would actually do a better job, but standing pat means we get more of the same. It is beating a dead horse though since DD has already indicated JF will be the manager next year.

At least one Boston sports writer has us keeping Ziegler if we can get him to resign. That wouldn't be a bad idea and would cut down our needs at RP.

I'd say no for several reasons. We didn't win it this year with a better lineup (Ortiz). We will likely face a number of injuries, as we do most years. The Yankees will be on the ascent and the Blue Jays despite losing Encarnacion, will still be tough to beat. Some of our guys had career years that they probably won't repeat. Leon for instance and Shaw is more likely to not add much in offense. There have been numerous suggestions for ways to improve the team. Most are well meant and have a reasonable likelihood of improving the team. You can't stand pat and improve. We will need to at least make changes at 3rd base and in the RP area (since we lose 3 of our meaningful RP through FA). At most, I see us adding RP's, picking up a reliable 3rd baseman (yes Sandoval and Moncada are wild cards there), a DH and if we get lucky a top SP. That would mean some of the players you list for standing pat would be gone. Clearly, to get a SP we might have to trade at least some of our depth, but it is not worth it if we have to put up our young starting talent to do it.

I agree that Hanley needs to remain in the lineup as one of our most feared power hitters, something that will be in short supply. His fielding at 1st base did improve during the season so I no longer see him as a liability there. He certainly can play first in national league parks and if we want to slide him to DH to give him a rest, that is okay too. Our real needs for lineup players are at 3rd base, catcher and DH. Whether in the FA or trade market, we need to pick up a good quality two way player at 3rd. Moncada may well come along during the season so that presents a quandry. I agree that we should not go after Encarnacion. It would be a big buck deal and a long term contract and we would be in competition with many for his services. He will be 34 and presumably going in the wrong direction. Maybe Beltran would fit the need as a DH, PH, backup outfielder. He is a very good hitter and has power. If we could get him on a short term lower dollar contract I can't see the damage going in that direction. Catching is still up in the air. We have good defenders in the fold but the hitting is suspect to weak. The only FA worth his salt is another of those big buck long term contract types (Wilson Ramos). Perhaps he is injury prone as well. Internally, we have the possibility of Swihart. Doesn't appear to be a perfect answer at catcher as standing pat also looks bad. We have to trust DD to make the optimum move and getting value for the team while still having resources to bolster the relief and possibly picking up a first rate SP. I agree tha

I wasn't happy with our losing 9 straight. We had a breakdown in our closing pitching, 4 of our hitters were slumping, JF gave away a game, our best starters couldn't get it done and in one game usually reliable players made errors. You can ask why that happened. I don't think there is one answer, such as it was all JF's fault, but I do think he and the coaches contributed. The giveaway game was supposed to set up our pitching going into the playoffs and no doubt JF gave the game away to rest players and set up his pitching. It didn't work but at least there was a reason he did it. The inability of our coaching staff to help JBJ out of his slump, which occurred over a long term is also a mystery to me. It was clear that his swing was not only lengthened but also he began looping it, presumably for more power. Bogaerts was also in a prolonged slump which he finally seemed to be coming off in the last game. Slumps will occur but coaches are there to bring the good hitters back to a norm. Our starting pitching is what it is. Why it should crater at the end is a bit of a mystery, but only Porcello really looked capable of out-dueling the opponent and when he failed we had Price with his poor post-season record and Buchholz who tends to be inconsistent. DD has already stated that JF will be back so despite the feeling maybe a change is in order to freshen the outlook, it will not occur in 2017. It's a choice and the team will live with it so I certainly can.

If we get another high quality starting pitcher through trade for next year, I would not choose to renew Buchholz.

We certainly could use a better hitting catcher. The only person that might be available that fills the bill is Wilson Ramos, and to take him in the FA market as an A level at his position would mean us not being able to go after encarnacion from the way I read the FA rules. So with Swihart being an internal source, it is worth consideration.

You can choose to believe that, but the fact is we played poorly for several series before Cleveland. We just had too many flaws to move ahead. The real question is can we do enough to be near the top again in 2017. Cleveland had two top pitchers out who will return next year. Count on the Yankees to be in the market in a very competitive push to surpass us next year. We have had countless inputs to threads identifying our weak areas. Third base, catcher, DH, RPs and possibly one SP. If DD can fill at least some of those voids through the FA and trade markets, then we should be very competitive. In addition, we are hoping that some of our coaches/manager can have an impact on a player like JBJ to improve him at the plate.

Add one other. It was just a fluke we lost all but one of our last many games. Managing and coaching didn't matter either.