Hugh2

I disagree, we didn't just land Irving, but we took him off the Cavs. This Celtics team is significantly better and the Cavs took a step back.

Is that where the Nets pick was going to fall? Good chance it could have been more in the 3-6 range and I'm willing to bet Irving will be much better than any player they'd get there. With a little luck, they Celtics still get a top 5 pick with the LA pick.

It's always best to avoid surgery, but if surgery is inevitable you really would have wanted to him to just of had it at the beginning of the season. If he has it now he will miss the rest of this season and next.

I apologize if I implied that JBJ and Holt should switch places in the lineup, I only meant that Holt shouldn't lead off and JBJ shouldn't bat 9th. using a 1 at bat sample size is a poor anecdotal remedy to say otherwise.

Mega mega dumb batting JBJ 9th and Holt 1st. Holt just hasn't been the same since his concussion, this makes zero sense. I hope it doesn't cost us.

I'm not saying he shouldn't get a shot, but he could easily be worse than Fister.

Splits are a great tool, and we all love to use them (and with good reason) but I think we are in agreement that they must be taken with a grain of salt. Naturally, a split such as home/away is going to make a sample size significantly smaller, and when we're talking about a guy splitting time at a position the sample is a bit smaller, to begin with. I think we would be correct to come to the conclusion that Vasquez is a better hitter at Fenway and it is reasonable to expect that going forward. But it would be logical to assume the difference between his home and away line should shrink.

I have a hard time we win this game with two runs

And what quantitative methods did you use to come up with these statistics?

There's still a much better chance that Ball is a late bloomer and can contribute to an MLB club than him ever contributing as an MLB hitter.

Good start for Trey Ball, but call me when has a good season and not just a good game. I mean, guys are late bloomers and put it together, but I've mostly given up on his prospectidum.

Ok, ok...so he has to be added to the 40 man. But he's out of options, so he can't be sent back down to pawtucket without accepting an assignment? but if that's the case can he still start the season in Pawtucket?

he's on the 40 man but he has zero options left. I'm going to have to look into this but I believe as long as he's on the 25 man the Sox keep him. He will probably show up to spring training, and if at any point the Sox don't think he will break with the team they will release him and he can sign somewhere else.

Well he has zero options left, but they do have control left, no? I believe as long as he'd stay on the 25 man roster next year they'd have him for the min. They can't send him down to Pawtucket though so if I believe another team could scoop him up if the DFA him. I'm not entirely sure on the rules here.

Don't we still have a few years of team control left? how does that work if he makes the MLB roster? With the year he's had, and especially if he has a good September I think the Sox would give him a legit shot at making the 25 man next year.

What Brentz is doing might be more than a fluke, I'm intrigued. However, if he's called up now he's not going to get regular playing time between our starters. Towards the end of the year, it's no consequence because when the AAA season is over he wouldn't be getting regular playing time anyways. My guess is he's called up in September as an audition for the 4th outfielder spot next year, and if he excels then he could even make the playoff roster as well.

The problem with Chavis is his defense is subpar, and he'd likely be even worse at 2nd. If you can hit, you will find a spot eventually and it never really seems to matter. I'm sure the Tigers were more than happy to put up with Cabreras horrible glove at 3rd to get his production at the plate. I'm not opposed to Chavis getting time at 2nd, but as long as he's healthy I'm confident Pedroia will always be much better at 2nd than Chavis ever will. Even at 37 and 38, I think Pedroias defense at 2nd is going to be superior. I'm thinking he should get some time in LF too, I'm curious to see how he can play there.

Only the best little league players played on my high school team, only the best player on someones highschool team got to go to college and play, only the best of the best college players got drafted, only the best of the guys who were drafted made it to the upper minors, and only the best of those guys become major leaguers...... and some of those guys aren't even very good. Only the best of the best get to play, Trey is better than 99.9% of people to ever play the game and it looks like that won't be enough for him. I doubt it's for lack of trying, but this is his life and legitimately getting angry at people for not being good enough for your enjoyment is pretty, well, it's pretty lame for lack of a better term.

Putting up good numbers in the GCL sounds like he's raw and very far away, but a power bat emerging in the system would be very welcomed. Here's the Soxprospects profile on him: Physical Description: Looks taller and heavier than listed. Strong, large frame. Somewhat stiff and will have to watch body as he matures. Hit: Starts square with hands high. Starts on front toe and never leaves ground utilizing toe tap. Short stride, lot of upper body in swing. Long, rotational swing. Hole on the inner half, likes to get arms extended. Pitch recognition a work in progress. Lot of swing and miss. Struggles with identifying secondary offerings. Fringy bat speed. Power: Plus raw power. Power comes mostly from strength. Needs to incorporate lower half into swing to tap into power in game especially against more advanced pitching. Arm: Average arm. Field: Stiff, minimal range. First base only profile. Run: Well below-average runner, not a part of his game. Career Notes: Excelled against DSL competition in 2016, when he was much more physically mature than most of the rest of the league. Participated in 2016 Fall Instructional League. Summation: Bat will be tested as he progresses through the system as hasn’t shown bat speed or the approach to succeed against more advanced pitching. First base only defense profile so will have to hit both for average and power. High risk prospect with low floor due to potential for swing and miss.

I think (and I can't stress the word think enough) it has more to do with their body types. Johnson is 6'3" 235 LBS and Beeks is 5'11 180. Johnson's profile is a better bet at starting. That doesn't mean that Beeks can't end up a starter and Johnson won't end up middle relief but that is the line of thinking I believe.

It's a poor and lazy comparision on my part I admit. My point was guys who have issues in the minors can usually get by because they can do one or two things really well but that might not always translate to the majors. With Owens it was his control, with Beeks it could be his durability and lack of a plus pitch.

Beeks gets guys out in the minors. We don't know how his stuff will play up in the majors, and scouting reports aren't glamouring. That aren't bad either, they just don't look like he's going to be a superstar. Guys who lack a tool, third pitch, control, command, velocity or just one of these in access can have success in the minors and falter when they get to the big leagues and they face hitters who can expose those weaknesses. Think about Henry Owens. Most scouts saw a BOTR arm, possibly better if he could hone in his control and command. He didn't, but he was able to get by in the minors but struggled at the MLB level. I think Beeks can carve out a position on the MLB club, but it will probably be as a middle reliever.

That is true, but chain promotions happen throughout baseball, there are players coming up to Greenville from short season A. But I think consistency is a hard thing to get from a pitching prospect who is 1 year removed highschool baseball. The minor leagues are littered with pitchers who don't have great stuff but they know how to pitch and they can get away with that at a lower level. I think of a guy like Roniel Raudes, or a Brian Johnson who pitched really well in the minors but scouts never saw more of a BOTR/Swing man type out of him. Guys who pitch well in the minors get exposed all the time when they move up the ranks. You also have the opposite, you have guys who have all the tools but they can't put it all together. Maybe they can't repeat their mechanics, find their release point, or various other things but they are young enough that if they put it all together they can be absolutely dominate. I'm not worried about Groome, even if he laid an egg all season, but when a guy is supposedly MLB ready I do think you're right to expect more consistency (otherwise I'd argue he's not even ready). The thing about raw skill and tools is you can't really teach them. I mean, you teach a guy to pitch but you can't teach a guy to throw 99 MPH. Just like you can teach a guy to hit but you can't teach 425 foot HR. This is true in other sports too, think Basketballl; you can teach a guy who to shoot but you can't teach him to jump and dunk it. Either you have these raw abilities or not. This is the mystery behind player development and the suspense between trying to figure out who will boom or bust. You can't predict how guys will develop because in essence we're trying to predict the future and know one can do that. What we do know, is the guys who have raw tools put it together, we can generally know how good they can be. A guy like Jason Groome could be a top of the rotation starter, but he could also be the next Trey Ball too. I'm not worried about Groome, I have faith that he will develop into an above average MLB pitcher but if he doesn't I will not be surprised either.

It really is, but I was never too concerned, even if he pitched sub par for the whole year. Young guys take a while and to develop and put it all together and that's the path most guys take. Just look at what Michael Chavis is doing this year?!? He might not ever win an MVP but the guy could become a contributing regular on an MLB team and that type of path is much more common than the Bryce Harpers of the world. I think he's under a larger microscope because he was a highly regarded and drafted pitching prospect. It will be interesting to see what he does next year if he starts to take off.

Jason Groome had another outstanding outing last night. Groomes numbers over his last 2 games 11 IP, 14 K's, 3 BB's, 4 H, 0 ER's.