southpaw777

if they decide to put Buch out there, he will most certainly have a few teams involved. Just because fans dont see value in him doesnt mean he has none. im not saying we will get a lot back, but to think nobody wants him is ridiculous. They havent put him out there because theres nobody to replace him. Owens and Johnson arent doing well. Besides the other night, Elias has looked awful. O,Sullivan? Pass....theres a reason Buch is still here. I dont think they thought ALL of their pitching depth would suck balls...neither did I..

I think TJS will be in Smiths future. Swihart in LF will not be like rushing him as a catcher. He should be fine out there. from all reports he looks a lot better than they thought he would this quickly. Not saying he a GG Ofer, just that hes looked really good out there...

And Hannigan has a lifetime BA of 253 and an OBP of 350..he walks a lot and takes a bunch of pitches. That has value. Hes not an automatic out either. Im not understamding what fangraphs wants.. All elite hitters and downplay defense behind the plate? .thats totally ridiculous... I get all the stats, but you have to balance that out with other things you cant quantify with numbers.

No apologies needs bro. To downplay Vaz' skills because of some defensive stats ( which i take with a grain of salt) is ridiculous...he picks off runners, throws them out no matter whos on the mound. Pitchers feel way more comfortable throwing balls in the dirt because they know Vaz will block them...yes, his framing has stolen quite a few strikes already...theres WAY too much intangibles for a catcher to look at a couple stats and say his skills are basically overrated...there is no way Swihart is in the same level as Vaz is on D. Let all the other teams undervalue the catcher because they rely on some defensive stats that are already questionable...the intangibles...THATS what seperates the elite one...thats where Vaz excels... All those other players were not catchers. I understamd having patience, but when your pitchers are not comfortable with him behind the plate yet, then you shouldnt use him...yet. He needs to be on a low market team if hes going to catch in MLB right now. Holt is hurt so Swihart will now get some reps in LF. Hes still got plenty of value as a catcher. Most of his reps are behind the plate in AAA Also, yes, Vaz CAN hit..im so tired of people saying he cant hit. Hes been out for a year. Where is the patience for that? Will he be as good as Swihart? Maybe not, but to think hes an automatic out shows they havent been watching him. Solid approach at the plate and has solid gap to gap power. Drove in three the other night and will run into a few HR over the course of a season...if he hits 250 310 390 thats good enough for me. Im also of the opinion that Vaz will improve offensively like Yadi did. Tek didnt really come into his offensive skills til the late 20's. I think Vaz will do the same without as much power.

Having a stud like trout would be incrdible for sure...Unfortunately he will also hurt the present and the future of this team with the players we would give up...but i do understand trying to figure out a way to do it.

Not sure how he did it greeny...i was just as surprised.

With guys like Mookie, JBJ, Benni, and even Swihart in LF, we have a very productive OF for less than 2m...and remember, were going to have to extend some of these guys..Xander and Mookie will probably be first in line the next year or two, then JBJ if hes still here...And please keep in mind that we NEED another TOTR arm, which is going to cost us some prospects.

Without Xander and Mookie? Probably, but we will still need a starter. Especially if Espinoza is traded, leaving only Kopech. Those would be all our trading chips for an OFer, which we dont need, and we would still NEED a starter...makes no sense what so ever for the Sox to make that deal. None at all. Pitching pitching pitching....thats the only spot those kids should be moved for. Besides, The Halos will want Xander or Mookie...or maybe even both in that deal.. PASS

Looks like both will be on the DL and the Sox call up Ramirez and Swihart...my guess is Swihart will be used mostly in Lf while Holt is out so we dont lose that LHH in the lineup. http://fullcount.weei.com/sports/boston/baseball/red-sox/2016/05/20/carson-smith-elbow-brock-holt-concussion-head-to-disabled-list-noe-ramriez-blake-swihart-promoted/

Not at all...he can, and probably will be a good catcher one day...Its just gonna take a bit more time to get there is all.

Absolutely, it all depends on whos in it, or who thinks theyre in it at the deadline. We may have to wait until the offseason for the big pitching move and may have to go the route like in 2013 with Peavy this year. Still two months+ to go, and a whole lot can hapoen between now and then...for now we can get by with what we have and a powerful offense.

Why all the fascination with a #3-4 pitcher? You need two solid TOTR guys for a deep playoff run. Porcello has had one year with an era below 4 and hes our closest to Price, who is proven and a CY Award winner. I doubt Chen was the piece that would have put us over the top this year.

Id rather trade some of our prospect surplus and get another TOTR starter. Why even mess with anything else? Makes zero sense to me. Anything other than a bonified 1-1A I could care less. Im just tired of these 4-5 era guys and one good one. Id like a couple low to sub 3 guys if at all possible and would be more than willing to pay for it. Our offense looks to be pretty good for a long time, so lets go get a Young, controlled starter.

What do you mean its time to see if he has what it takes? He was here all last year and for the start of this year and it was painfully obvious he has a lot of work to do defensively as well as learning to call games, work with pitchers and frame pitches. Hes hardly "languishing" in AAA...Hes learning his position where he should, In the minors. I like Hanny better as a BU anyway. He can handle wright better and is a better defender. No need to have Swi "languish" in Boston for 60-70% of the time on the bench when he can play almost every game in AAA. My guess is he is trade bait this year anyway. Im sure there will be no shortage of teams interested in him. I like the kid and understand he came up last year out of necessity, but most everyone knows he wasnt done with his development yet. Hes still young for a catcher. Especially one that only just started catching full time once he turned pro.

Hey Emp! I do have some concern with the starting rotation. With Erod i was just saying its not a shoulder or anything to do with his arm so im not as concerned. We need him back for sure. I think the BP is very strong, even without Smith. It sucks hes not there, but I really do think we can be just fine with what we have there right now. My concern is the rotation, but after seeing what DD has attempted to do so far I think he will make the necesary moves needed. I guess knowing that the payroll can and will be exceeded and the fact that we have plenty of trade chips, Im not really too concerned at this point. Both of Baltimore and Toronto have rotation and bullpen concerns so i dont see either one dominating. Not concerned about NY or TB one bit this year. Personally, I never really get worried this early anyway. I pretty much try and stay balanced, level headed and realistic about things...

The kid has already proved he has elite defense. Most ive talked to think hes an automatic out and wanted Swihart here for his bat. I am a big fan of an elite defensive catcher. Moreso than any other position on the field, i will sacrifice offense for that elite D behind the plate. With that said, Christian Vazquez WILL hit IMO, and will hit better than a lot of fans think. Will he do it right away? I believe he has already to a certain extent since most thought 220 would be about it...I believe he could be a 280+ hitter in MLB. Line drive gap to gap power. May run into 5-10 hr in a good year... Around a 700 OPS just because the SLG wont be really high. Since being told in AA to start concentrating on his offense more, Vaz has shown a solid approach at the plate. His K rate went down and his bb rate went up. He was starting to make more solid contact and seeing more pitches. When being promoted to another level in the minors his BA was always around 275-280. IMHO The Sox made the right choice when Vaz proved to be healthy. I know some were gushing over swihart, but I didnt like what I saw behind the plate at this point from him. He will certainly improve, but Im betting he will be involved in a trade this summer or winter for another starter... Vazquez is the man here for the next decade...and the skeptics, IMO, will see over the next few years just how good of an all around ballplayer Vaz is going to be...

I Think Smith has TJS...just a guess of course...He is still controlled for another 4-5 years, so although not good news, he doesnt cost more than the minimum. We can always find BO arms. As long as we have a solid closer, which we do, we can build around that.

Agree...Why go get Price, Kimbrel, and Smith if youre just going to prepare for 2017. We have a lot of prospects and a couple guys on the 25 man that could be available in a trade for a TOTR arm. Just depends on whos still in the race come the end of July. I still think Swihart will be used in a trade for that pitcher.

Ben got us all reclimation projects of the trash heap for closers and the one not expected to do that good was koji. Turns out he was the best one. Bailey and hanrahan were major busts. Melancon started to do well his last two months here and then was shipped out , only to have good success elsewhere. At least DD went out and paid 13m per for a 27yo stud to close games. Not sure how you cant give him a little praise there.

Most likely will go on the DL. Doesnt look good though. We have been pretty solid without him...so although its not good news, im not too terribly worried about it.

Kimbrel has saved koji and taz' arms. Both of who experienced fatigue from overuse the last couple years. Hes also looked pretty damn good ( sub 1 WHIP) after being a little shaky at the start of the year. Hardly "mediocre" IMHO. Obviously smith hasnt done anything yet, but at least DD made the moves that were needed...no?

Hey slash:cool: I agree. I think we will have another starter before August. Not sure what names will be involved, but I think I have a good idea who it may be. That really depends on whos available. A lot of fans like Gray. I dont really want him for the price Beane would ask for. Especially at the deadline. Depnding on whos out there would have to depend on whos available from us...but yeah, id bet we will acquire another arm via trade.

Wow...relax kids. Its a knee, not a shoulder. My guess is DD was already planning on trading a couple prospects/players for another starter anyway since our depth is crap and the rotation hasnt been anything special. IMHO, We need another starter regardless if ERod is ok or not. The pen and offense has carried this team so far. That will work in the regular season, but not in the playoffs. Another starter is still a need.

No, Im talking about a young controlled kid like Salazar or an arm from the Mets. Yes, it will cost a couple top kids, but thats the price you pay for top young, controlled pitchng. Benintendi Moncada and Espinoza are the three names i Protect at all costs rght now. devers, swihart, travis, kopech,metc., are all up for grabs. Heres a question for everyone. If a team is willing to part with a top yung pitcher but asked for at least one of Bogey, Betts, or Bradley along with another couple top porspects, which one do you choose if your the GM? Now, this will be for a young totr pitcher under control for at oeast four years...

I like the look of the bp this year. DD did what Ben should have.shore up the entire pitching staff. Now we need one more starter and Smith to return and were looking pretty solid for a playoff run.