oldtimer

While Koji has done an admirable job for us over the years, he is now old enough such that he probably cannot stand up to the rigors of a season or even a short period. I hope he retires for the sake of his own reputation as he will probably be ineffective. Tazawa has been overused and appears to have a tired arm late in the season. He still probably can be effective but if resigned should be used less frequently. Could we afford for one of our 7 relief pitches to be shielded in that way? Ziegler is still effective but he is a FA himself and is 38. I would hate to invest a lot in $ and years at his age. Our 7 BP pitchers will include Kimbrel, Robbie Ross and probably Kelly and Abad. Beyond that, there are quite a few internal possibilities, but no givens that can be said to be locks. Moonslav put out a nice list of possibles. My guess is we go after at least two as upgrades to the staff, one being a long reliever. Buchholt is in the running for that and as a backup starter, but the FO needs to keep an open mind going forward. I also would be reluctant to trade Swihart, instead, I would look for a home for him on the team.

He is young and has been brought up because he is a very good hitting prospect. We have to expect some rough edges as he develops and gets grounded. He should learn from getting picked off, the error situation however may take longer to resolve. Comparing him to some ideal is a little unfair, he is in for Shaw and Hill who just were not helping the team offensively and Hill was just okay defensively.

I hit the wrong button so needed words to post

Hanley has shown more offensive capability recently but Shaw is a better defensive first baseman. With his contract, Hanley is very likely going to remain in the lineup next season, we could do worse. Shaw seems to have unrealized potential offensively, with decent power. I would think he should consider winter ball to try to find himself and so he will make the team and be more productive next season. Young is a logical utility outfielder. Swihart is one of those good athletes who can hit and can play multiple positions (OF,C and possibly 1st). Like you, I believe Sam Travis starts next year in the minors. I do not believe Sandoval will make it back, but stranger things have happened. A lot will depend upon which players the FO feels they need to use a trade bait to get additional relief pitching. I have been on the side of using a DH who can also play in the field if necessary. I am against bringing in an ageing star to fill the role of DH as such a move would no doubt result in another big contract with at least 4 years duration and would probably only have a marginal impact on production at best. As an aside and not to disparage Sabermetics, horse racing is a sport that features perhaps the most information about past performances. The horses in todays races don't conform to past performances all that often. Ageing and a host of other influences get in the way. To pick an ageing player to come into an organization and make a positive impact one has to put rose colored glasses on and hope for the best.

Before you give him up, think about who plays first next year. Unless we go after a DH, then Hanley is likely to take on that roll, leaving 1st base vacant and either Shaw or Holt to fill that role unless something else happens.

Probably those drafting looked at the stature and didn't project the kind of player he has become. Part of his strength is his desire to listen and learn. I don't see a lot of apt comparisons here. He is unique. Maybe a little like Ricky Henderson but not asked to be the base stealing threat.

He is a gold glove quality outfielder with very good speed and a great arm to boot. His hitting is good and he has the power to be a 25 home run guy. He just needs help correcting his batting issues to pull him out of slumps. My guess is that he will improve year to year and be excellent for us in years to come. Under no circumstances should we trade him.

Well, we faced better pitching today and were unable to score. That is how it goes, so our defense and base running need to be stellar since we may face this kind of pitching there. Moncada is a hitter but he did show his inexperience. Getting picked off first and making an error. With his speed, he had a good shot at stealing but instead make a rookie mistake. He will get better and probably get to play some winter ball to bring him along. As far as Holt is concerned, no one expects him to be a gold glove at all the positions he plays. He is a major league hitter and a passable fielder so is a much appreciated part of the club from my perspective. Beni is not that far away so the perceived fielding issue will be resolved.

We do have Kelly and this new guy Scott, who I hadn't heard about before callups. Anyway, pitching discussions are another thread. The Rays are doing us a favor by bringing Toronto down to earth, while we just have to keep playing good road ball and maybe come off the road with at least a tie in the standings. I admit to having become a little frustrated when our bull pen was giving games away. Nice to see the team coming out of the funk and know we have two young rookies who may help us now and hopefully both be contributing by mid month.

Don't gloat! We will face much better pitching should we reach the playoffs. Then the hitting will cool down and we will need to have great all around play to win.

What do you attribute these outstanding numbers to? Just great players? Fenway Park? A great hitting coach? A lineup stacked top to bottom? The grind down approach we use? All of the above? Over .900 OPS is considered outstanding.

Good start for the kid. They brought him up at the right time. Lets get a look at what he can do.

We appear to have the most urgent need with Bull Pen help. Getting an ageing Encarnacion by giving a large long term contract seems to tie us down more financially with possibly only a small incremental gain, which would likely decline with time. By moving Hanley to DH (which is likely) and moving Shaw or Holt to first, we will have a very good lineup next season. Put the money into areas that will give us the most gain for the investment.

Last night on the broadcast, the announcer alluded to the condition of Benintendi as making very good progress. The assumption being that he is not that far from rejoining action. I also expect they will use caution and bring him back into play only when satisfied he is fully ready.

Nice job of compiling prospects for next year. Since left hand relief is in short supply, all the more reason for staying with Ross (a given) and Abad (in need of turning around but has the stuff)

He is young, is talented defensively, can play two positions and has power. Could it be the pitching last night was softer than what we have seen of late? I think Shaw has room for further development and should be seriously considered to stay on the 25 man roster for next season, with 1st base in mind. Maybe he winds up as one of our utility infielders or maybe Holt does. Plenty of time to decide on his status.

Getting back to the lineup discussions, the plan for next season is somewhat fluid, with some young players with things to demonstrate to solidify a position for themselves. Here is my current take. Pedroia (2nd) Benintendi (LF) Bogaerts (SS) Betts (RF) Ramerez (DH) Bradley (CF) Leon © Moncada (3rd) Holt (1st) 4 Reserves Vazquez © Young (Of) Swihart (Of/c) Rutledge(IF) If that feels uncomfortable having 2 outfield subs instead of two infield subs, then take out one of either Swihart or Young. and replace him with one of Shaw, Hernandez or Marrero. Some of the fluidity can will be further confused by potential trades. Swihart has been mentioned and I would suppose Rutledge is also possible although he is a proven major league commodity and played decently before being injured. The other big if is whether DD trades for another big bat for DH. I wouldn't advise an older player on a long term contract for that no matter what the current production shows.

The way the season has gone,especially recently, of our 7 relief pitchers only Kimbrel and Ross have been dependable. Tazawa looks like a pitcher with a tired arm. Hard to understand with a 1 and 2 count he came down the center of the plate with an anemic fastball. You think an experience guy wouldn't have done that. Barnes has been terrible of late. Not much more to say. Abad has the stuff but nibbles at the corners and even seems fearful of being in the strike zone. Buchholz has been at least okay but not particularly dependable. Ziegler has been decent on some days but others were not so good. Of the likely additions this year Kelly at least offers decent potential. I understand they will bring up another lefty but know nothing of him. The BP is our weak spot going forward and into next season as well. I would think keeping Kimbrel and Ross is a given next year and possibly Kelly if he shows marked improvement from earlier this year. With Ziegler a FA and turning 38 should we try to resign him? Uehara is approaching 42 and probably not up to the rigors of another season. Abad has good stuff if he could be brought out of the funk. I question trying to do something with Tazawa, Barnes and Buccholz. Of our need for 7 RP's next year I only count 4 with a strong chance of helping us. Kimrel, Ross, Abad and Kelly. That means DD needs to add a few from internal sources or through trades. Internally we have Smith, Workman and Hembree who may fill some of our void. Lots to think about in the off season.

The system hasn't worked that well in the pitching department.

I see us holding onto Hanley and using him primarily as a DH with a backup 1st baseman's role. In the case of Moncada, I would not assume he will be a starting player next year until we see some evidence at the major league level. I like to see speed in our field players with good hitting up and down the lineup. I think of Holt and Young as two of our utility players with Vazqyez taking the role of our backup catcher. That means we have room for one more utility player. Will it be Swihart, Rutledge or perhaps someone else. My linup for next year is similar to yours: Pedey Xander Betts Hanley, Young, Swihart(DH) JBJ Leon Moncada Benintendi Shaw, Swihart (ist) A problem I see with this lineup though is 4 right handed hitters to start it off, so perhaps moving a lefty ahead of Hanley might give us a move effective lineup. Is JBJ reliable enough? Benintendi doesn't have the power to hit 3rd or 4th and the others are not in the conversation. If Benintendi shows he can hit at a 300 clip may stick him in second and move everyone back one. Plenty of fuel for discussion. I don't want to see them go after Encarnacion.

The clock is ticking. Maybe he can come back after the road trip.

Abad has a good fastball and a very good curve but for some reason he seemed to want to nibble or worse yet not throw a strike. I believe he can so why didn't he. JF had a desperate position and wound up having to put Tazawa in. With the count 1 and 2 he chose to groove his average fastball and gave up the lead again. Why would an experienced pitcher do that? Fortunately we regained the lead and Kimbrel was there to get the save. We need to get Kelly and Hembree up to give JF more options. It's almost like Tazawa can't get the job done anymore. Maybe he just has a tired arm.

We have had the worst production from the 3rd base position in the American League. Surely that alone is a good reason to try a young player with star potential. We as a team were awesome when we were getting production up and down the lineup. Today we got some of that back as Hanley and JBJ added their bats in a big way. Having a threat at 3rd would make our lineup that much more of a threat.

With JF's coments just a day ago it looked iffy. Maybe the poor showing last night changed his mind.

Today, three solid hits against three different pitchers and ones who had been striking him out the night before. Was it the day game or have the hitting coaches got Jackie back to a more level swing? Whatever it was, keep on doing it.