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5GoldGlovesOF,75

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Everything posted by 5GoldGlovesOF,75

  1. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    To maximize the investment in Devers, the Red Sox could really use a tag-team partner in the heart of the order, a Manny Ramirez to the new Big Puppy. But it doesn't have to be an all-timer -- just a Manny Machado-type hitter... not leg-spiker (the Sox can always use a Manny Sanguillen or Manny Mota). Is it unfair to automatically assume either Duvall or Story will return from wrist/elbow injuries and provide more protection behind Devers than Duran (batting 5th)? The reality is there's not much longball in the pipeline. After Raffy's 13 HRs, the batter with the most home runs in the entire organization is David Hamilton (11) -- a guy playing in the same state, just south of Boston, who the Sox value so much that they instead signed and promoted a Triple A infielder from the worst team in baseball. Marcelo Mayer, ranked the #3 overall prospect this week by ESPN, has seven four-baggers (tied for 3rd in the organization). The Red Sox' next-best prospect, Roman Anthony, #49 overall, has one homer...
  2. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Any place is the standings is a good place to start with an ace starter. He can put a contender over the top, make a mediocre team a contender, and pull a bottom-dweller out of the cellar. Stopper is the most important position on the field... and they mark his spot smack-dab in the middle of the diamond, centered and elevated above all others.
  3. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Also don't forget Eovaldi was publicly critical of Bloom's half-ass trade deadline... maybe Nate was miffed he didn't get moved to a contender.
  4. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    The very nature of pitching a baseball is unnatural, throwing overhand with an appendage that grows underhand. Most MLB pitchers don't age well, and many tendons and ligaments at younger ages are already unwell... ... in this age of testing, when PEDs can no longer extend or create Hall of Fame careers -- feel free to fill in any and all names from those bygone days, when everyone was suspect (except Yankees, who only juiced because they were such good teammates).
  5. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    We have yet to know if Bloom can... We know the Sox can afford one... But we don't even know if we can identify one... Is Ohtani a good investment -- a guy whose pitching career could end suddenly in a number of ways that a non-batter/baserunner can't? Is Urias a good investment -- about to enter his prime? Is someone on the trading block worth four of our top prospects?
  6. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Still can't believe the Boston Red Sox DFAed a guy who throws a hundred miles per hour like Kaleb Ort... what, do they have an intern studying all the insultants on talksox?
  7. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Considering his intermittent turns through the rotation, it's a valid concern. But we have to assume Bloom didn't extend him (his first "core" guy locked up at reasonable multi) to be a reliever...
  8. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    I don't recall any posters that defended the Price signing, and I wasn't on board when Sale was extended. Those contracts are and will always be extremes in Boston about the risks of overpaying for damaged goods (physically and mentally). But Eovaldi wasn't ever getting the biggest contract in the history of pitchers, and was good enough and stable enough to get re-signed for two years at market rate. And no one will be surprised the next time he goes on the IL. Meanwhile, he's pretty good. Bloom doesn't sign starting pitchers for more than a year, though... so be prepared next winter to replace Kluber with the next Kluber. It's what we do these days in Boston.
  9. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    That's bull. There are a few posters obsessed with payroll burdens at the back end of contracts, and other posters who don't care that every pitcher breaks down eventually, and would rather see investments in guys that are good bets at the front end. There are even some that argued through the entire tenure of his Red Sox contract that Eovaldi was overpaid, even though he led all Boston starters in innings pitched and lowest ERA from 2019-22. I'm not arguing guys like Eovaldi and Wacha have improved as pitchers after leaving Boston. Maybe new ballparks, new defenses behind them, and new opponents with weaker bats have something to do with their success. But they don't suck, either.
  10. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Wacha just must be pretty lucky. Last year he goes 11-2 for a last place team, and this year he's 5-1 for another club under .500. And he's only one win behind another ex-Red Sox ex-teammate who leads the majors in innings pitched! But this season is still eovalding...
  11. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    If the Red Sox are the greatest last place team (tied with Toronto) in the history of the ALeast, then the Yanks have to be the best third place team in the history of this month. New York is now three games better than the next-best third-place team -- the Angels (closing fast, blanking Boston). Don't worry -- Sox' bats will break out bigly next month when they get to face the dredges of the NL -- the Reds and Rockies (interspersed around series with Tampa, Cleveland and NY, NY... I gotta wear shades).
  12. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    And yet, over the winter, some posters argued Kluber was the better "pitcher" -- as if a wily senior more likely to get by on guile... it certainly wasn't stuff last year, when Kluber was a .500 starter who lost the final postseason game for a playoff team, and Wacha was an .846 starter on a last place team.
  13. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    ... game-planning, remembering hitters' strengths and weaknesses -- from past and present series and same-day at bats or swings -- setting up batters two or even three pitches in advance, and calling pitches according to the pitcher's actual stuff that day... ... after an especially successful day for a battery, you often hear the pitcher marvel, "I never had to shake him off once." And as for running the defense, don't forget the two most important words a catcher can bark to his hurler (it's not "throw strikes")... groundball to the right side: GET OVER!
  14. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Ha. I want to say that's usually for guys who were never good in Boston, but there always seems to be a Braiser. Just checked team stats = seven pitchers this year with negative WAR: Bleier, Braiser, Kluber, Littell, Ort, Pivetta, Whitlock. A guy like Bleier has never been a good Red Sox (seriously, first pitch 3-run jack to Carpenter?), but it's understandable we cut Whitlock a little more slack...
  15. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Fair enough. Have to think a lot of catchers are affected by the pitch clock and new disengagement rules resulting in better jumps for baserunners. Look at St. Louis and Contreras. Wong, leading all MLB catchers in dWAR, is either better than we all thought... or on a fielding hot streak?
  16. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Wacha lowered his to 3.58 yesterday... must be the mild temps of Mission Beach. For those wondering why Mookie jumped at LA's contract offer with a similar AAV as Boston's, maybe it wasn't just Covid uncertainty. When Jim Morrison slurred, "The West is the best," maybe it wasn't just because of parties and group-- naaah.
  17. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Do you refer to Valdez the Big Leaguer with a higher OPS than Devers? As for sample size, he's already played in almost half the games this season (which will be one-third over next week). Hickey was definitely the best AA hitter I saw live this week, way better than Rafaela and Yorke. I didn't notice any major flaws behind the dish, either -- for CERA fans, all three Portland pitchers that night looked really good. But maybe he makes the Show as an Alfaro type. Others: Rosier looked surprisingly dangerous with the bat; Meidroth looked surprisingly harmless. Lugo looked solid.
  18. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Especially since he's the best defensive first baseman on a team with very dubious infield arms. Sacrificing what should be automatic outs at first can really drag on cranky old starting pitchers or already overused relievers.
  19. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Here's another thought (sure to get me hammered, so ball peen away): many researchers have posted data warning about the "overcost" of starting pitching, and the inevitability of most contracts turning into budget burdens -- and certainly in recent Red Sox history. Dice K, Beckett, Lackey, Price, Sale -- all have helped win rings in Boston, but all have also had periods of ineffectiveness or unavailability that have hurt their overall value. But if winning one World Series makes it worth seasons of suckitude, then what fan really, truly cares if an Eovaldi or Wacha or the next (first?) semi-longterm signee eventually breaks down? What does avoiding those guys who we know are good now really give us in the Bloom Era? When it comes to the starting rotation, all we've ever known about Chaim Bloom's coveted payroll flexibility is that he's just going to keep on moving on, every winter, to the next $10-million-dollar Richards or Perez or Kluber...
  20. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Wedon'twannarushim! You might screw up his psyche for life! Lookit Washington -- Thad Ward has almost as many walks as Ks... and he's only 26!!!!!
  21. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Quantity over quality wasn't what I meant, so I should have just posed the label "accomplishment" as a question: what defines it? Making a routine defensive play can help win a game, and definitely contributes to ending an inning -- which in the least helps a pitcher's pitch count, and at best maybe saves a run/s. But is it the same as Benintendi's diving catch with the bases-loaded that quite possibly saved the 2018 postseason and led to a ring?
  22. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Depends on what defines accomplishment: Franchy catching 10 cans of corn, or jogging Jackie reeling one in over his shoulder in the gap...
  23. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    They must be hoping to sell more food concessions. But good luck with a new logo... can uniforms and caps fit an outdoor social gathering where seafood is served? The whole thing stinks of low tide.
  24. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    I approve of this post. How many times have we've seen bad endings in the age of relief specialists; a team yanks a pitcher who is obviously lights out for a new guy... who just... doesn't... have it.
  25. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Eye-witness report from the Portland game... Half-empty: Rafaela is still swinging at every pitch, as if he's ignoring selectivity for more results that will lead to promotion. Yorke has adopted the Trevor Story stance of draping the bat down over his shoulder, which we've seen makes it very difficult to be on time vs. velo. Half-full: Lugo's swing and hard contact look solid. His at bats exude confidence. Hickey was very impressive as a lefty batter, slicing extra base hits to the opposite field and motoring around the bases at a higher speed than the average catcher. On the mound, Sharp looked taller than his reported 6'3, with a release point coming over his shoulder that makes the heater hotter. Gomez threw strikes and Fernandez threw gas. Both have potential to move up soon. The Seadogs are a first-place team that should be taken seriously... at least until next year, when new owners have reportedly decided to change their name to -- ... I can't even type it!
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