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5GoldGlovesOF,75

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Everything posted by 5GoldGlovesOF,75

  1. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    No matter what we think is the best order -- or even what the paid analytics dept determines -- the manager has his favorite line-ups, plus ego quirks to deal with that none of us know about. Cora's already said his top four guys will be Anthony, Story, Duran and Contreras, probably with Abreu 5th and Durbin 6th (AC likes Caleb "lengthening" the line-up down there). That's a lot of swing and miss, 1 through 5. Personally, I like a contact hitter and bunter like Durbin behind another base stealer like Duran or Story. It's the best way to utilize Durbin's skills -- which are rare on this roster and desperately needed to change the culture. And if Anthony is indeed the team's best hitter -- on a team with zero offensive stars -- don't we want him up there as much as possible with traffic on the bases??? If this season will be based on pitchers' duels, give yourself the best chance to win them...
  2. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Texas' starting rotation is as good in names as New York's, but neither may have the quality depth to overcome injuries as Boston's. If everyone stay healthy, then all three teams have to be favored to make the postseason. And I say that without even looking at who the Rangers have in their starting line-up, since pitching is the predominant reason for optimistic Red Sox fans whose hopes Spring eternal.
  3. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Merloni just said Cora loves Anthony leadoff, so who bats behind him for protection just needs to wear a Manny mask until they get to Contreras at clean-up (he didn't say the last part; I did). Lou also says Durbin at 3rd, with Mayer/Romy at 2nd -- mainly because Romy is more comfortable there. My feeling is that Mayer is the best infielder with the best arm, which gives the Sox the best chance at completing Cora's favorite feat: the double play. DPs will be more important than ever for a club built around pitching. Mayer had his elbow fixed last August. Durbin, who proved himself capable at 3B for a team that won the most games in baseball, had his elbow scoped this offseason. Romy has had recent shoulder pain, but in his left shoulder. Cora will go the guy who will turn two most consistently.
  4. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    No matter how we look at it, a homer counts for at least one instant run... ... so I confidently determine the minimum value as 1 HRAR (1 Home Run Above a Replacement batter). My logic is that the typical replacement batter can't even reach the seats -- unless he overpays for one and enters through the turnstiles.
  5. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Game 4: Sox led 2-1 in games, but LA had momentum, coming off an 18-inning walk-off in Gm 3. Dodgers were 7 outs from tying the Series and would be home for Gm 5. Rich Hill, throwing a one-hitter, had a 4-0 lead in the 7th when Roberts yanks him after his second walk. Moreland pinch hits for ERod and PLAKATA... Boston then destroys LA's bullpen and wins easy.
  6. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Fair points. Of the eight teams that won their first rounds in the '25 playoffs, only Milwaukee was below the MLB average in team HRs. I'm just a Red Sox fan, and know that our four World Series MVPs this century all were awarded for their power. Manny, Lowell, Papi and Steve Pearce wouldn't have been candidates without the longball. Oritz never should've been pitched to in any of the 2013 games by St. Louis, because he blasted the most heroic grand slam in Boston history in the ALCS. It's arguably the greatest dinger in Sox postseason history -- (because they won rings, Carlton) right there with his '04 walk-off in the Bronx and Damon's salami... though no one should ever forget Moreland's 3-run pinch shot that turned around momentum in '18...
  7. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Ah, Soto -- the Red Sox knew how much he'd mean to their batting order, and were reportedly so aggressively interested they offered $700 million... or was it $600 mil... $500? More than $0.00 to Schwarber or Alonso? But they wind up wounded, not even dead.
  8. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    LaRussa tried her, but she insisted on getting more than three outs in the 9th. Kira lives with husband Kevin Bacon on the family farm in Connecticut. My father was a farmer, and there's no closing in a dawn to dusk profession always getting ready for the next season all year every year...
  9. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Wear a seatbelt next time so you can read all the words in a post before replying.
  10. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Breslow himself acknowledged that home runs help teams get deep into the postseason. Some posters love stats that justify opinions, but then use "Small Sample Size" to argue against other stats. Teams that out-homered opponents in playoff games last year won 35 of 40. Call that a SSS if you want, but it's also ALL the playoff games, so ESS: Entire Sample Size. I love the Durbin trade because the Sox didn't give up much for a guy who's my kind of ballplayer: all hustle, makes contact and doesn't strike out. And of course Cora is going to say the Red Sox are a "complete team" the first week of Spring Training. But we all know it's not.
  11. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Pitchers absolutely deserve MVP awards in some years. Pedro was by far the best player at his position in baseball the year two writers refused to vote for him in the Top 10 for MVP when he finished 2nd. For five years Dennis Eckersly was by far the best player at his position -- which he invented: Closer -- and finally won an MVP (but it wasn't the season he walked three batters... in the entire season). And the Sox go nowhere last year without their Big Three pitchers on the mound. The question is: after Crochet and Chapman, who was #3? Fangraphs says it's Whitlock, bWAR gives the edge to Bello. Both gagged in the playoffs, but could've had better fates if anyone wearing a B on his helmet could hit...
  12. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    What's your case again? I gave '25 Crochet/Gio/Bello a lot of credit all day, and have said Sox fans should be happy if '26 Crochet/Gray/Suarez are at least as successful. I dunno how many here look at Duran/Story/Rafaela as consistently above average though. They're all capable of big moments, but can they be more consistent or at least equal their career years in 2026? You commented that teams with better hitting need to be consistent all year, and I responded that teams with good batters were more likely to always have some guys hitting well on a regular basis... what I didn't add is that those will be different guys; when some have bad nights, others can pick them up -- if they have enough quality bats in the line-up. You're right that a lot has to go right, and every team can say that every year... but for the best line-ups, that usually means all they need is to stay healthy. This Boston offense is counting on a bunch of guys to be better than ever... so we can win at least as many as last year.
  13. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Sure, but here's why everyday regulars win 95% of the MVPs over starting pitchers who play once a week. No one is going to excel every day, but a line-up of good batters has a better chance of at least a few guys having a night than a pitching staff with an overworked bullpen that has to constantly bail out mediocrity in the rotation from starters who work every 5 days.
  14. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Good post. Some fans worry about overpaying for upgrades at the trade deadline, afraid of mortgaging the future. When is the future now? Alex Cora sure isn't shy every July to say the only future that matters is the coming October. Some day they'll be a CBO who truly goes for it again in Boston like Dombrowski did every single summer he ran the Red Sox. He made his deadline moves from 2016-19, but just look at all the talent he traded away: Aaron Wilkerson, Wendell Rijo, Jose Almonte, Luis Alejandro Basabe, Anderson Espinoza, Pat Light, Shaun Anderson, Gregory Santos, Gerson Bautista, Jamie Callahan, Stephen Nogosek, Rafael Rincones, Deven Marrero, Jalen Beeks, Ty Buttrey, Williams Jerez, Blake Swihart, Eli Prado, and Noelberth Romero.
  15. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    We know that, but apparently the experts at MLB.com don't. They just anointed two Red Sox as the top players at their positions: Duran LF and Chapman RP. Duran is a good player but we all know his flaws. He can't carry a club like Judge, Cal, Vlad, Gunnar, Bobby, Shohei and Kyle... or Raffy when he gets hot. This is just the reality of the Red Sox right now. Pitching and defense can win, but only if they're consistently good all season.
  16. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    The only problem is the Red Sox trade deadlines this decade -- for hopeful fans desperate for quality reinforcements for every stretch run -- has been 99% impotent. I haven't forgotten about Schwarber, Bloom's best move almost by luck, considering what he had to give up, who also came here as damaged goods unable to immediately contribute. Schwarbs was called by the coaching staff and his teammates as a difference-maker in the batting order and around the batting cages... but I'm bitter the first Bregman before Bregman was allowed to walk. I'm also on record blaming the trade deadline as the impetus for losing Devers, who put the sensitive Breslow on the spot in the press: "He knows what we need..." Raffy certainly meant upgrading the pitching -- something Brez finally did for the system in drafting dozens of pitchers last summer, right after he traded Devers.
  17. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    You're certainly entitled to your massive optimism. But to me, what's highly probable is that at least one starter will get hurt and another will underperform -- it just happened last year in Boston with an All-Star starter and another who had just wiped out the Yankees in the World Series... ... and that's where the depth will become the key to the season. One way or the other.
  18. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Does this count: signed free agent Andrew Miller... traded for Eduardo Rodriquez, signed as a free agent with Arizona... Comp pick: Roman Anthony
  19. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    I don't underrate Gray and Suarez -- Gray was the first starter on my wish list this offseason because I knew Bloom would slash and burn St. Loo (cuz that's what he do)... plus I got that Looie Tiant vibe watching Ranger blank the Sox last year (though now he can't face them anymore). But I think some here underrate what Giolito and Bello did last summer. They were pretty good. I look at it like this: will the Red Sox top five pitchers in '26 outperform their top five from last year? The latter quintet included Crochet-Giolito-Bello and Chapman-Whitlock. If we're honest here, it's going to be very difficult for the '26 mound stars to even exceed themselves. That's why I believe the key to improvement will be better quality from the #4, 5, 6, 7, 8 guys in the rotation.
  20. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Luke Warm to Luke Appling.
  21. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    The Yankees have been preseason favorites to win the pennant every year of my life since I was a teenager and they traded Bobby Murcer for Bobby Bonds. The worst wager you could ever make is to bet that oddsmakers won't favor NY first over everybody else -- even all the good clubs that actually make offseason additions to improve (alright, I admit the Yanks picking up Weathers could help; he's a guy I liked as a possible Sox target). Look how weak the Yanks were at the end of last season. The Jays were thrilled they beat depleted Boston, who Toronto feared as a tougher match-up. And what has New York done this winter? Cole's coming back -- from a major injury -- and he'll be as Cy as ever? I can't even-- Ju-JUD-JUDG-JUDGE!
  22. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    For anyone who thinks Breslow has actually improved the club this offseason, this is the only possible reason. The Red Sox aren't better in the batting order or even on defense yet because Bregman was an All-Star third baseman (and no matter what stats say, was clutch on D and a total difference-maker in stabilizing the infield). Here's the starting rotation that opened the first five games in 2025: Crochet-Houck-Buehler-Fitts-Newcombe. We know now that Giolito and Bello became good #2 and #3 starters and underrated keys to making the playoffs. Is it automatic that Gray and Suarez will be an improvement over '25 Gio and Bello? I'd actually be happy if they are just as good, and we get more quality consistency from Bello-Oviedo-Crawford in the #4, #5 and #6 slots. THAT may be where Boston is most improved. Plus, Early or Tolle or both could emerge...
  23. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    MLB.com again TODAY states that Duran is the #1 leftfielder in all of baseball. But the Mets just announced that Soto will play LF this season, so rankings may have to be adjusted. As for Abreu at DH, it makes no sense for a team admitting and bragging they're built around pitching and D to put a two-time Gold Glover on the bench. Of the four "starting" outfielders, Anthony might DH more than any of them. Then he could just concentrate on hitting more home runs -- which a reporter already asked him about in Florida (but no pressure, kid). I like these batting orders: Duran-Story/Durbin-Anthony-Contreras-Abreu-Durbin/Story. Cora already said WiLL will bat clean-up, so gotta think Anthony 3rd since there's no one else that can protect him.
  24. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Reports in most of these deals that didn't happen is that the other club wanted a package headlined by Mayer. We don't know if he's going to be a star or ever healthy enough to play a whole season, but trading a presumed starting infielder for a more established name basically defeats the purpose of fixing a hole where the rain gets in. Durbin cost spare parts. I won't ever compare him to Neto or Marte, but I might compare him to IKF, depending on who plays where.
  25. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Never know. He might be the next perfect fit, though even that phrase has been overused around here lately. Also, based on what I've read and researched, I'm not quite sold on Durbin as "a double in the gap." I can see him as a double, but more from slapping one past the third baseman down the line, after faking a bunt and drawing everybody in.
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