vegasbob

Keep your hopes on Velazquez small, and you won't be much disappointed. Surely someone on that weak list can throw 5 innings every 5 days and not be down 10 runs.. The real story is that the farm system has not developed a starting pitcher in over a decade who is still with Boston. Easy to blame DD's trades for losing a couple ,but the 4 WS titles in less than 2 decades still overrides a lot of pitching prospects. How many cities and fan bases would trade places with us ?

Conor Wong starting to look like Mr. Right. Congrats on GS yesterday. Reading between the lines from Roenicke, he may have some way to go as a defensive catchewr, but certainly lots of upside. Looking for Chavis to play today and get his bat atrted. 0-5, with 4 K's isn't sending much of a message yet, but it's super early. Why do I think Verdugo could become one of those guys that is hard to get behind and root for. Is it the diamond earrings or something else ? The Sox do need to give him plenty of time to prevent a back injury recurrence.

The symptom of forearm soreness on the throwing arm has become the kiss of the surgeon's scalpel. When I heard that Severino had the soreness a day or two ago, I wondered how long until they shut him down. Good thing the Yankees have all that depth.

And if Castillo's performance and upside warranted it, any team in MLB could have him or he may have wound up in the Boston OF a couple years ago. Neither happened so that's on Rusney's abilities and execution, not the literal contract. Meanwhile he is one of the wealthiest young immigrants in the USA. Nothing to feel sorry about.

Ha, definitely not the stat nerd some of you are, but one time did not use the pocket protector and sure enough got an ink stain on my shirt pocket. Foll me once, etc, etc.

You guys should start your own personal thread to continue the battle. May the best fan win, or not

Watched a couple of innings of first week ST games and wonder how the teams can even charge for such drivel. It really is watching AA, AAA and no wAy guys struggling. I realize some of these fellows will eventually mature , some will become Swiharts and Sam Travises, and one or two will be Bogey and Devers in 2 years. But you see the same problems on the mound, the inability to throw a strike and force contact. Everyone needs to start somewhere to make it to the show, but show some basic talent along the way.

Maybe Bloom keeps working the Wil Myers angle because he was part of Myer's early days in Tampa Bay and thinks he can bring him back to his original potential. Nothing like loving your younger brother. Myers is 29 and could show up better in a HR park like Fenway.

7 catchers in the Fort. 2 on the 26 man, 2 in Pawtucket, and 1 in AA. 2 others go home, away or get lumped in a subsequent late ST trade for a , yes, pitcher. If a few of the 7 don't mind the MiLB deal and competing for one shot as Vazquez's backup, more power to Bloom to fill the clubhouse with possibilities. Plus all those split squad games are now fully covered, lol

I have nothing against Verdugo, ok with the trade for all the reasons expressed by others, and would love him to have a great year and extended stint in Boston. But can he STFU until he can get on the field and actually play, then he can talk. This motormouth is very impressed with himself. Get healthy and then do something worth talking about Verdugo.

A flu that transitions into pneumonia takes a heck of a bite out of one's energy and endurance for up to a month once the active disease subsides. So I think Sale will require most if not all of April to get to the stage where he can throw 80-90 pitches (5 innings). Boston's weather in April may not make him feel any better either. Well at least he won't get worn out too early this year , but it is not an auspicious start . Hopefully the ending is worth the wait.

One of the most significant failures of the past decade or more in terms of MLB results as starting pitchers . The few with good potential are on other teams now. Also this failure to self develop internal pitchers led to some of the excessive spending on FA/trades pitching signings/extensions and the resultant luxury tax issues. A contributing, but not sole factor in moving Mookie Betts.

There will have to be more maneuvering of the roster, even with the starting lineup fairly predictable. They can't open with only 3 OF'ers plus JDM and expect to get too far into the season. This is one of the spots where Holt's flexibility as IF/OF would pay a dividend. 4 Starting pitchers and some maybe openers, 2 of whom are coming off unhealthy arm years ? This won't last very long either. The $19million in tax space now opened can plug both holes with some marginal , late to the game talent. Based on Peter Abraham's tweet of Chavis apparently trying to run, in the ST thread, I'd say he either has bulked up crazily as did Beni before or he's way out of shape to play infield. Maybe it's all muscle in his core. I will bet against Dalbec being one of the 26 to break camp but with instructions to remain ready for 1B when Mitch goes down. Certainly interesting that the Betts deal resulted in a SS and a C as the other two, as opposed to any MLB ready pitcher. Downs and Wong aren't ready for Fenway and strengthen the depth, but SS and C are two of the positions locked up for a a number of years. But qo with the best available talent rather than trying to fill open slots with poor, no future choices. Never know when they will be needed to come up .

Will probably come over from the Jupiter area on a weekend. Checking the ST schedule now. I'll be wearing a dark blue hat with a red B on it.

Beni is now the next man up with Mookie gone. He needs to bring an A game because I agree with Moon, Andrew in 2019 was a real disappointment at leadoff as and as far as development into an better player. They definitely need him to perform now.

Here's a plus, if Barnes opens a game, you still have several innings to overcome his occassional blowups. A walk or wild pitch won't beat him in the first or second inning, and the HR ball is not a killer.

Assuming the LA-Twins trade holds up, and the budget dilemma is off dead center, is there any chance Rusney Castillo could figure into the 2020 Red Sox as he enters the end of his very unproductive contract. He has become such an afterthought , maybe rightfully, but when you look at Moon's possible roster you can see that you better not suffer much downtime in that OF. Maybe Rusney could have a big Spring and be available as a player later . Or he could just disappear come September . It is tempting to say that Brock Holt is worth considering again and could be paid for 2 or 3 years at the $4M level. If MLB talent evaluators/GMs valued him , he should have signed a deal by now. The injury bug and low upside for a mature player probably holds his value way down. He does fill several positions where an opening is likely to develop as the inevitable injury occurs . I would rather have Brock than Lin on the bench.

Hire Chaim to clean up the budget, so he does it in one big move, getting that albatross off the deck. Now he has budget available to work with and will be one year closer to reclaiming Pedey's cost. If JDM departs after 2020 , then he has another big chunk to work with. The next job is the much harder and longer one of rebuilding the farm system . That one still may hinge on draft penalties from MLB on the Cora issue. Either way the rebuild will be a multiyear task, at least 3 to 5 before significant performers will be in Fenway, or they might not. I don't see how the process the Sox have now embarked on can show true results until 2022 at the earliest.

I think with the budget solved and the Boston fan base in turmoil over Betts, Benintendi probably got his position locked in for 2020. He could have a good comeback of sorts year is still relatively cheap by Mookie standards. JBJr may also have received his stay in Boston ticket for several months. Check back on both these guys around July 30.

For obvious reasons, there has been little focus or discussion about this core of maturing players who can be the foundation of a competitive team. I think J. Henry got the train off the tracks with the "cut payroll" plan which has led to constant unrelenting speculation about Betts, JBJr and Price/Eovaldi. , the state of the farm, and capped off by Cora's departure. I'm sure all of that has been very distracting to the player group[ getting primed for ST, and wondering who the manager will be. The organization does appear to be in disarray because they do seem to be waiting for the MLB penalties to come down and either name more culprits on the staff or let underlings rest. I think Manfred owes the team and the fans a quicker resolution given the ST timeframe unless the goal is to inflict max pain and disruption on Boston. None of that, however takes away the skills and potential of the current lineup. It is possible that Sale, Price and Eovaldi do get 30 starts over a season, and Erod hits 20 wins since he gets big run support. Major miracle but possible

Brock Holt or Moreland since neither may be available for long stretches on the field they can focus on the analytics more

Good point. Hope is never a game plan or good strategy but it does make you wonder if 2020 could turn out to be a laugher. Here's why-- 1. Mookie is here it seems and in his walk year trying to justify the mucho millions he will get in 2021 2. We have a great defensive CF'er to chase flyballs 3. Our LF'er is less bulky (read Phat) and more athletic than last year. 4. We have one hell of a DH 5. Our 3bman, SS and catcher are entering their prime career years and are under contract or control. 6. There is always the very rare chance that somehow Price, Sale and Eovaldi actually can pitch into summer. And Erod should also be entering a mature phase , building off 2019. 7. Bullpen, well just be hopeful Workman has a rubber arm. They won't know what pitch is coming, but these individuals are not incapable of being successful over a several month period, like right up to the trade deadline.

All the more disabling, if the Sox lose multi-year top 2 picks and some IFA money. When the bombs fall, if they do, the selection of Chaim and his experience could be deeply discounted.

$2 or 3 million maybe for the elusive LH bat at 1B ? You would think that platooning you could get a full year out of Mitch but at whatever salary , he struggles to get in 4 months out of 6.

More like a definite maybe, when and if, unless of course conditions change. The "uncertain" from whichever spokesperson is pretty weak. Pedey , for whom there was a slight ray of hope, is well done, fully baked, over, needs to move on, collect his remaining pay and come to old-timer events, maybe even a Day at Fenway in the warm summer where he can announce to 35,000 faithful and his former teammates, "It wasn't me"