Fan_since_Boggs

Dave Winfield, another big guy, kept hitting until age 40. But Judge's defense in RF will probably begin to decline relatively soon and that matters for the Red Sox. But if Judge can maintain quality defense for another 4 seasons, that would give the Red Sox plenty of time to find a replacement and move Judge to DH. What is the Red Sox long term plan for RF anyway? It almost feels like they don't have one.

I haven't given up on Wong. He is a very good, athletic defensive catcher. The Red Sox just need him to hit a little and he could be the guy who takes over the starting job next year. He is starting to hit much better in AAA now, we will see if that continues.

I would rather give 300 million to Judge than Bogaerts. In the post-shift baseball world, I don't see Bogaerts as a great defensive option at SS. The Red Sox could move Story to SS, let Bogaerts leave, and bid on Judge. But that's assuming the Red Sox are willing to shell out 300 million for Devers too. Would the Red Sox be willing to carry two 300 million dollar players? I don't know, but if the Red Sox plan to do that, I would rather go with Devers & Judge than Devers & Bogaerts. At the very least, the Red Sox have to make a phone call to Judge's representatives. The Red Sox have crap in RF now, and they don't have a RF in the upper levels of the farm system either. 2023: C: Wong 1b: Casas 2b: Arroyo, Hamilton, Downs SS: Story 3b: Devers LF: Verdugo CF: Duran RF: Judge DH: will Cordero finally develop?

The Red Sox really need Cordero to find his way and step up. Hopefully, this will be the start of something good--the Red Sox need that extra bat. There are too many holes in the lineup, with the two bozos in RF, the shoddy hit tool of Dalbec, Vazquez's decline, and the disappointing Verdugo.

Judge is definitely going to get over 300 million. If the Yankees don't give it to him, some other team will.

When I get the time, I'll compare starting pitchers ERA and ratios and then do the same for the bullpen. My feeling is that the Red Sox's starters were close to the Astros starters in overall performance, but that the edge was significant when it came to the bullpens, with the Astros bullpen getting it done and the Red Sox bullpen always giving up runs. When did the Red Sox bullpen not falter? It faltered in game 6, game 5, game 4, and game 1. The game 1 decision to not use Whitlock ended up being a pretty big deal. Also, Houck was terrible in this series, but maybe the Red Sox are to blame for that, thinking he could be a stopper from the bullpen but maybe that isn't what he is..... The only time the Red Sox bullpen came in and didn't give up any runs was game 3. That isn't good enough.

For me, the difference seemed to come to to the bullpens. Both teams were evenly matched in many ways but the Astros had the superior bullpen and that made the difference. I could be wrong, I haven't looked at the bullpen data, but it seems like every time the Red Sox went to the bullpen, runs were given up. In contrast, the Astros bullpen was much more effective. In game 4, for example, it looked like the Red Sox might cruise to an easy win when they started to beat up on Zack Grienke, but Baker went to the bullpen early and shut the Red Sox down. Outside of Whitlock, can you name one Red Sox reliever that you trust? In retrospect, Barnes' implosion ended up being a big deal, as that forced Whitlock into a late inning role and weakened the set-up relievers. Ottavino had his typical late season struggles. Robles had his moments but he isn't a guy you are going to trust in a big spot. The Red Sox have a big challenge next year: they must rebuild the bullpen. And if they plan to move Whitlock to the rotation, that is one less quality arm for the bullpen.

Interesting. It would be hard to not go with the numbers in this instance.

I don't know why Roberts took out that dude who was throwing 100+ MPH heat for Jansen. I know Jansen is a quality pitcher but that guy seemed difficult to hit, the move seemed unnecessary and when it was made I thought it was a benefit to the Braves. The ball off Jansen was hit very hard, whereas the other dude wasn't giving up hard contact. Also, as good Seager is, geez, you have to knock that ball down as priority number one. If you knock the ball down and the guy is safe at first, who cares, you still have two outs with runners on first and third, but to let that ball trickle into CF was unacceptable. Oh man, can the Braves really win this? The Braves were up 2-0 on the Dodgers last year and still lost.

Cashman should make a move to the NFL, like Paul DePodesta, and bring Joey Gallo with him. LOL.

Jackson is obviously very distraught over the 2021 season, the year he believed the Yankees were going to win a championship. Not only did the Yankees not win a championship, but the Red Sox proved they are a much better team than the Yankees right now, and the Red Sox have a brighter future with a much stronger farm system and better younger players overall. The Yankee have not beaten the Red Sox in a meaningful and historic game since the Boone HR. The 2004 playoffs, the 2018 playoffs, and the 2021 wild card game = solid evidence that the Yankees are now second class citizens. Speaking of 2004, on the 20th year anniversary I would like to see the Red Sox invite the 2004 Yankees to Fenway Park. They could introduce each 2004 Yankees player to the crowd and each player would get a standing ovation for being part of the biggest losers in the history of sports. The front office should be invited too, Brian Cashman should be there, after all, he was the architect behind the biggest collapse in the history of sports.

Maybe so. I can't figure out why they went with a bullpen game in game 1. There does seem to be a little arrogance behind the decision to go with a bullpen game against Fried, which would have set up the Dodgers really well for the rest of the series. Problem is, they lost game 1 and now the decision doesn't look so wise or prudent. The Dodgers will still likely win this series, but if one of their top starters stumble over the next few games, the Braves will have an opening.....

That was an absolute must-win game for the Braves. If they didn't win with Fried going against the Dodgers bullpen, the series would have been lost after one game IMO. Starting today the Braves will now face the 3-headed monster of Scherzer, Buehler, and Urias, but at least the Braves are up 1-0 and maybe one of the dominant Dodgers starters will stumble. I believe that dominant starting pitching wins championships and that is why the Dodgers are the biggest threat to the Red Sox and will likely win the World Series. The Braves have decent pitching too, but their starters are less dominant than the top 3 of the Dodgers' staff.

Maybe it makes sense to give up on Sale, move him to the bullpen, and to hope that E-Rod and Houck could come up big in the rotation and join Eovaldi as a guy who can give you 6 innings of dominant ball. Still, the idea that Eovaldi, E-Rod, and Houck can keep up with Scherzer, Urias, Buehler seems laughable to me. Friedman is so smart, he traded away a couple of stud prospects, but he saw an opening and took it, and the Dodgers greatly increased their odds of winning a championship. To compete with the Dodgers, the Red Sox need Chris Sale at the top of his game but it looks like Sale isn't going to perform at an ace level anytime soon. Maybe next year. And maybe next year the Red Sox will be in a better position to make a trade for an ace starter like Scherzer at the deadline.

I didn't like Cora's moves last night either. In the last two games, the bullpen has given up leads, including a 5-1 lead and that is partly on the manager (I suppose) but to be fair to Cora the Red Sox just don't have the pitching depth to win a championship this year. I don't like how Houck is being used, I think he should be in the starting rotation. The Sale decision, a risk that didn't work out. Braiser only got one out, he should have remained in the game, his stuff looked good to me. The jerkoff Sawamura decision. The decision to pinch hit Santana for Renfroe and wouldn't Verdugo have caught that ball in LF? It seemed like an out to me off the bat, but Santana didn't seem to get a good jump on it, maybe because he hasn't played very much. I would need to see that play again to be sure. Also, I'm not sure why you pinch hit Santana for Renfroe rather than let Renfroe hit and pinch hit Santana for Arroyo. Arroyo has been pretty terrible, he is starting to be exposed as a player. He is more of a utility guy than a starting 2b. I would rather let Renfroe hit, knowing he could put a charge into one, and let Santana bat for Arroyo who isn't producing.

I agree, but the problem is without Sale performing as a top pitcher, the Red Sox just don't have the pitching talent to get them across the finish line this year. They stand a better chance of winning a championship next year.

It was a difficult play, the ball was ripped. Arroyo isn't the kind of 2b who makes plays like that. I think the bigger question is why did Braiser only pitch .1 of an inning? I don't like how the Red Sox are using Houck, I would save him for game 4. But the bigger problem is the pitching. The bullpen isn't strong enough to hold leads and the starters are failing to go deep into games. Sale looks like garbage, and the Red Sox need him to be an ace or at least a solid two starter. The Red Sox just don't have the pitching to win a championship this year.

I don't see anyone beating the Dodgers. None of the remaining teams can compete against Scherzer, Buehler, and Urias, no one can match up against that kind of starting pitching depth. In fact, I think you would be hard pressed to find many World Series winners who could match-up against those three. The Dodgers are just better than everyone else. Assuming the Dodgers win, and odds are they will, this would be the first time in a long time that a team won back-to-back titles.

It would be pretty cool to see Verdugo have a big World Series and outplay Betts. The Dodgers are so loaded. They were loaded even before they traded for Scherzer and Turner.

The Dodgers scare me. I think every Red Sox fan was rooting for the Giants to win and of course will be rooting for the Braves to win. In contrast, every Yankees fan was and is rooting for the Dodgers to win believing that the Dodgers have the best chance of beating the Red Sox or the hated Astros in the World Series.

Against Valdez (lefty), do the Red Sox sit Verdugo, play Schwarber in LF, and Dalbec at 1b? Dalbec has been crap in the postseason, I'm not sure I would go with him, but it is hard to overlook Verdugo's numbers against lefties. I would keep the OF defense strong, play Schwarber at 1b and keep Verdugo in the lineup in LF. Against Valdez, my lineup would look like this: Herndandez CF Schwarber 1b Bogaerts SS Martinez DH Devers 3b Renfroe RF Arroyo 2b Vazquez C Verdugo LF I would put Verdugo in the ninth spot with the hope that he doesn't face Valdez twice.

Interesting. This strikes me as being unsustainable. To get to where the Red Sox want to go, they will need E-Rod and Sale to step it up at some point in the postseason.

I can understand this strategy in the regular season. In the postseason, I would be a little more circumspect with bringing guys in according to script. If Braiser is getting it done, I'm willing to stretch him out another few batters in the postseason. Of course, this would also mean that Braiser might not be available to pitch the next day. But I'm willing to live with that in order to keep an effective reliever in the game rather than switch to another reliever who might not have his stuff on that specific day.

The Red Sox could resign Schwarber and play him at 1b if JD doesn't opt out, and then Schwarber becomes the full time DH in 2023.

It is all about projection, and in the post-steroid era, 34 year olds are nearing a period of decline. JD is just too old now, whereas Schwarber is younger and will be a much better hitter over the next several years. JD is also exhibiting some troubling signs, such as the highest O-Swing% of his career, and he will continue to decline in that area until he is no longer a starting caliber DH. It could happen 3 years from now, it could happen next year, who knows. But we do know that Schwarber is years away from that kind of decline, and that is why it makes all the sense in the world to bring him back.