Hugh2

Finally? I mean he's only 19. He still cooking.

He will be back, he only goes away when he disagrees with you. But no, I have to see where the cards lay, there's certainly a scenario where I back the owners vs. the players. The crazy thing is, compared to other sports as a percentage of actual revenue the players association has a good case for increasing salaries, but in the name of balance and fairness I can see the need for a hard salary cap. I think if they were going to do a hard cap, and considering it would be instituted a few years from now it makes sense to set it high, maybe at $300 million but to also have a floor. Teams have to be spending $150 million a year or something like that.

I think it's unreasonable to say that at this time, I think everything relative. To just pin it all on the owners before we even know what they're agreeing or disagreeing too is premature for me. I'm open to blaming both sides.

agreed, I'm already mentally preparing myself for no baseball in 2027

Yes, percentage aside who is getting me the most outs? and I guarantee that's what pitchers think about more than fielding percentage as well.

The one who makes 10 errors is a better fielder.

I think the .500 magnet is real. If it is, Sox win tonight and then lose the Atlanta Series 2-1. This means we probably sweep the Mets and we all get excited only to get are asses handed to us at home by the Baltimore Orioles next weekend.

Devers to first allows you to lengthen the lineup without hurting your defense by keeping Rafaela in the field. with Rafaela in CF and Devers at 1B Abreu can start 2/3 of the games in RF and 1/3 of the games at DH, Duran can play 2/3 of the games in LF and 1/3 of the games at DH. Romany Anthony can spend 2/3 of his time playing corner outfield and 1/3 of the time playing DH. I don't think the Sox will add both Mayer and Anthony at the same time this year. As exciting as that is, Rookies are still Rookies, I wouldn't expect such a good young team to win the world series. At some point a talented team that has a veteran presence is going to cook you in the playoffs. But the experience may be great, and we are close to a point where you can probably call these guys up and not have to worry about losing the extra year of team control. The problem is, even under better circumstances where Raffy and the FO don't have this chasm between them and Raffy would be eager to get back out in the field it would still be unfair to throw him out there without any reps. If he was going to make the move at some point this season he really should be starting to take infield practice there now. I also think you can't ask Raffy to move to 1B at this point unless you plan on permanently keeping him there. So that's probably not very realistic for some time. It will be interesting to see how they eventually fit these guys onto the roster.

If Campbell wins ROY this year the Sox do not lose a year of team control. If the Sox called him up after only a few short weeks he would not have reached a full year of service time, so the Sox would of had him for this year + 6 more years of team control. If Campbell won ROY in this scenario, the Sox would lose the current year and it would count as a full year of service time, so they'd only control him for 5 more years. Campbell made the opening day roster, so he can't lose the Sox a year of service time BUT he can net them a high draft pick. EDIT. Sox aren't gaining a year of service time, it will be the same whether or not he nets a pick. If Roman Anthony came up and won ROY he could end up losing a year of control by winning ROY, and the Sox would NOT get the draft pick. I think this is going to force teams to have more conviction. If you start a guy you plan on sticking with him, and if a player doesn't begin the year at the MLB level, you're going to think long and hard about bringing him. Whether people agree with this or not, the Sox or someone in their position may be waiting to promote someone like Anthony to ensure he doesn't win ROY. Of course, we only have to go back to last year to see a team who got burned by doing exactly that. Paul Skenes didn't start the year in the majors, but the Pirates didn't gain an extra year of control because he won ROY, but the didn't get a pick because he DIDN'T start the year in the majors. New CBA could be tumultuous, MLB is the only major sport without a real salary cap and their might be a very big fight over getting one into the next CBA. A lockout for the 2027 season seems very possible at this point.

Dude.......did you just declare yourself a far superior baseball mind? AH man, I'm grabbing the popcorm.

We might have found the most pessimistic person on earth on Raffy's prospect of playing a 1B.....wait a minute. Could that be Raffy's burner account? Dude secretly writes in English and wants to convince the world he can't play 1b

If the Sox put Devers at 1B it opens up their roster in so many ways. They can put Yoshida there, and whether people like it or not that lifts up the lineup. They could also continue to plug Rafaela in CF, call up Anthony and rotate him with Abreu and Duran between LF/RF/DH. Or move Rafaela to the super utility role to call up Anthony and/or Mayer. I'm not sure why some people think it's a forgone conclusion he won't be a good defender at 1B because he wasn't great at 3B. I don't think that's true, he might end up taking to the position and being good there. Raffy works hard, he was just never built like an infielder.

I think there’s a good chance Luke Stevenson is there at 33

Also, this year more than any I’ve seen in a while there’s almost no consensus at the top of the draft. Literally a guy who might go 8th could go 1. someone the Sox like and have ranked top 10 is going to fall to them at 15. There are a lot of high school short stops ranked 8-14. Of course they might not be the top guy on the Sox board when their pick comes around but I can just hear the complaining now.

These guys won’t be on your team for 3-5 years in most cases. Team needs will be completely different at that point. You draft best player available, and that rings more true in baseball than any other sport.

I’ve seen some facts before in my lifetime, but my god…..those ones are indisputable.

I’m sorry, I could not disagree with a take more than this. why is Raffy a bad defender? Throws and range, he doesn’t need range at 1b, and he doesn’t have to worry about throwing it all the way over from 3B to 1b. He actually has good hands and a lot of the tools that would make him a good 1b. moving players from 3B to 1b is actually one of the most common transitions in baseball, and teams to do it to preserve players and keep them on the field. and picking someone to fire if he gets hurt? This is real life not a video game. Raffy could get hurt tomorrow at DH, Casas got hurt running the bases. Anyone can get hurt anywhere at anytime. That’s just a horrible ideal. To fire someone based on one arbitrary video game ideal

I was listening to an interview with the Sox head of player development and he said exactly what I said about those young guys. Breslow has also said the same thing too. I think that’s what Cora was talking about

That’s not what I got from them at all. The Sox have been very adamant about those guys playing everyday. They’re not calling them up until they have an everyday position. They’re also not going to call them up and simultaneously ask them to play a new position. They’ve specifically said they do not believe in asking a guy to play a new position at the same time as learning to be a big leaguer.

That was a comp pick. Those are the only pics that can be traded and they can only be traded by the team they’re awarded to.

They can’t trade draft picks

He did, he got Narvaez who I think you will see at least 50% of the time from here on out.

Are you asking me who might be the 1b tomorrow or who should be the 1b? Because those are two different questions. It’s probably easier to answer who shouldn’t be a 1B. I’d place Wong on that list.

Wong is 5’10” and his offensive ceiling is marginally acceptable at 1b

Add. I don’t think the Red Sox are going to move Campbell to 1b. That seems to be against their philosophy of player development and breaking young players into the majors. They don’t fundamentally believe in asking a guy to learn and brand new position and learn how to be a big leaguer at the same time. Of course, the Sox may well go this path and just contradict what they’ve said the last year about their top prospects. I wouldn’t completely hate them making an exception and finding a way to work in Mayer and Anthony. It would certainly pay dividends if those guys hit. But I just don’t think they’re going that route.