Beantowne

interesting read might be a great topic for a thread by itself.. it's articles like this that only serves to bolster those that place a higher value on defensive skills behind the plate. It's no secret that how a catcher receives the ball greatly influences how blue sees the pitch, especially the low strikes. Wonder what it would look like if they used the same data to evaluate the home plate umpires strike frequency by pitch location.

if you look back in time how many Sandy Leon's have there been in baseball history...As such there's no explanation...the kid got hot, stayed hot then returned to his norm...all the while posting his career year.

what separates the 300 hitter from the 200 hitter is the ability to square the ball up more frequently...which is a god given talent..Teddy Ballgame said it best...the most difficult thing to do in sports is to hit a round ball with a round bat, squarely. i would also contend that the amount of work it takes for a .300 hitter to maintain his swing does not differ from that of a 200 hitter. BP is where they work on honing mechanics of their swing. During the season both will have peaks and valley and the cause of both is likely the same. When they're hot they're likely seeing the ball better, barreling up balls and hitting line drives with greater frequency...when they're in a slump it's likely due to them not seeing the ball which in most cases leads to them swinging at balls out of the zone, which then leads to mechanical flaw in their swings. As such there's no way to predict when either will go into a funk or get "hot"...the reality is it's part of the game.

Kind of off topic, but I often use this analogy when explaining the game to those that have never played...Baseball is the only sport where a player can execute the perfect fundementals and get a negetive result. Which I think is what lends itself to frustrating those who've tried to use math and statistic to quanitfy everything. Example; The batter squares up the ball, drving it deep into the gap in rightcenter, only to be robbed by the fleetfooted centerfileder who makes an over the shoulder diving catch landing on his belly with his back to the infield. Example two; The pitcher throws a nasty slider down and in to the batter, who swings, breaks his bat and hits a dribbler down the third base line for an infield single.... Batter 1 is ofer...batter 2 is 1 for 1 Batter 1 had the better at bat, batter two the better result..

I'd put him in the 15M/one year ballpark to reestablish his value. What we don't know is will he want to go to a team where he's guaranteed a starting OF spot. Is he an upgrade? Hard to say with conviction. Moreland is a gold glove quality first baseman with a little pop..Hanley likely is the primary DH and the better hitter of the two...So it comes down to Batista over Benintendi in left. That said, I can't see him agreeing to be a platoon player. if his primary goal is to show that last year was not the new norm...I see him ending up with a team who will give him a chance to play the OF (Oakland?).

I agree that we need to temper our enthusiasm, but from what I saw last year. The kid has a pretty good command of the zone and doesn't appear to be overmatched. I can see him being a doubles machine at Fenway...

Turnover in the front office is a bye product of two things, opportunity for growth and change in leadership. To me the question that remains unanswered is can Dombrowski given the resources, deliver a championship while continuing to build a productive farm...time will tell...

it's fairly common knowledge that "defensive metrics" UZR in particular has many flaws and that the process of evaualitng a player or teams defensive proficiency are still "works in progress". As stated above defensice metric all clearly, have value but not unlike war for example the formula is way to complicted for the average fan to wrap thier brains around (present company included). As for the eye test (My prefered method), evaluating a players defensive ability is fairly simple. A good defensive player "makes the routine play, look routine". A gold glover makes the tough play look routine. Over simplification, yes.. End of the day it's not rocket science although the sabre boys try thier best to make it appear to be...

i don't see the Sox as interested in Batista or they'd have already made a play for him. Before they signed Moreland...Basically...regression in production, moneys he'd command along with the draft compensation, roster construction (Hanley will be the primary DH) all point to them passing on him..

My take is the only reason to send Erod to AAA is if the Sox choose to keep Wright in the rotation and want Erod to pitch every 5 days. I don't see a scenario where they waste the kid by having him pitch out of the pen. The bullpen will sort itself out between now and opening day and thereafter they can always acquire arms if a fatal flaw presents itself. As we saw with both the Cubs and Guardians last year, if you're willing to pay the price which Dombrowski has shown he's willing to do. Chances are he'll be aggressive and look to add the necessary pieces to address injury or underperformance...

Erod will get every opportunity to earn a spot in the rotation. Option two would be sending him to triple a to stay stretched out and pitch every five days...Price, Sale, Porcello, Pomeranz are likely locks for the 1-4 with Wright or Erod competing for 5th starter slot. Wright would be the guy i see better suited to be the swing man. if Erod wins the job in spring. To early in the process to grade the quality of the pen...they have solid building blocks in place and the bullpen is a work in progress with lots of time to add and subtract...Workman might be the sleeper if his arm is sound and as we saw with both the Guardians and Cubs. impact arms are always available if you're willing to pay market price.

Hey Moon, Just found this forum, saw you and a few others from the old BDC forums here. Hope all is well and you're enjoying the holidays...Don't have much to add to this thread. I like the 2017 teams chances with the addition of Sale