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Devers, Dalbec, and friends: 3B in MLB
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Post by jdb on Jul 3, 2019 16:34:25 GMT -5
Yes this thread should probably be about Chavis and Dalbec and how they fit on the right side. Devers is the present and future 3B .
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Post by malynn19 on Jul 3, 2019 17:22:55 GMT -5
I wouldn't really call him a "plus" defender in the sense that he's a very good-to-great major league defender, like an Arenado or Chapman - maybe slightly better than Devers, average to slightly above. Which isn't a shot, the standard of being an average MLB starting third baseman is really high. Doesn't charge the ball quite as well as Devers and he's not quite as quick, but he has that great arm and he's really good at covering the line. His footwork is more sure on hard-hit balls as well, he doesn't get caught flat-footed or with his legs too close together like Devers does, which sometimes prevents Devers from getting down on the ball as well as he should. Comparatively quick release, with the added bonus that his arm strength gives him that extra split second so that he doesn't have to rush. He does have a slight tendency to overthrow. He's also a couple years older than Devers and with less offensive upside (which, I mean, basically everyone has less offensive upside than Devers), so I'd hesitate to mess around with Devers defensively... I almost wonder if that ends up being a fallback plan if he doesn't make it, though. Like a much better version of Sam Travis, it's more like "okay, he didn't quite stick as a starter, let's make him a 4C guy." Only unlike Travis, Dalbec provides monster power off the bench and filling in as a starter. The age comparison seems like a pretty important point! Especially given Devers' rapid improvement this season, why think that he's closer to his defensive ceiling than Dalbec is? It would seem insane to move Devers around in order to accommodate the very big question mark that Dalbec is.
Personally I love the idea of having rovers on the bench. If he could come in as a bench player and slot into any of the corner positions, that seems like a great use of a roster spot - so much better than, say, the straight platoon of Pearce and Moreland. Just look at how valuable Holt has been in his time here; his flexibility smooths out the lineup wherever it's been needed, something that WAR (or any other stat I'm aware of) can't capture. I am glad you posted this, but its that one sentence that stands out to me. Some people should accept this, oh hell you all know who I am referring to here, lol. All kidding aside, maybe Devers could be as good as Dalbec (defensively) when he turns 24 two years from now.
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ericmvan
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Post by ericmvan on Aug 18, 2019 17:09:48 GMT -5
Devers has been better than average versus every pitch known to human beings. Let's see how his performance (going into today) ranks among the 146 qualifying MLB hitters (I'm doing this as I type!). The first rank is based on what he's done since April 15th when he changed his stance (the only thing that's relevant), while the second for the full season.
FB, 4-seam: 14th / 17th. FB, 2-seam: 17th / 29th. Cutter: 31st / 29th. Slider: 51st / 50th. Curve: 50th / 54th Change: 5th (after JDM, Trout, LeMahiue, and Nomar Mazara) / 10th.
You know a guy is good when the book is "throw him breaking balls, where he's only better than 2 out of every 3 MLB hitters."
Who else ranks in the top 51 or 54 in every pitch? Trout, Bellinger, and Ketel Marte. Trout and Bellinger are the only guys with a higher average rank against the 6 pitches.
His pre-4/15 performance ranks 103, 117, 19, 48, 93, 145. So the new stance helped him hit the curve rather better, but it mostly transformed him from a guy struggling against FB / CH to a guy who you dread throwing those pitches to. As a FB / CH hitter (averaging the rank of the two FB's and then averaging that with CH), he's been 4th to Trout, Bellinger, and Yelich (who hasn't been mentioned previously because he ranks 77 against the curve).
The decline since 4/15 against the cutter is of course a SSS fluke. Interestingly, the overall pattern is consistent with my long-standing argument that the cutter is a fast breaking ball (and most resembles the slider), not a FB with extra movement, and that the cut fastball a la Mo is a different pitch. (It's quite rare that a guy's "cutter" is thrown with the same velo as his FB, and that's a true "cut fastball." It was Timlin's bread and butter, I think.)
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Post by Oregon Norm on Aug 18, 2019 17:51:30 GMT -5
What hitting coaches invariably preach is that good hitters should learn to use the whole field. A corollary to that is that power hitters should show power to all fields. That's so much easier said than done. The combination of contact skills, reaction time, a quick bat, pitch recognition, the strength to drive the ball everywhere and the mindset to go with that, is beyond the ability of most sluggers. Devers has all of it. He seems to have completely absorbed the idea of spreading those extra base hits around and he's carrying it off with absurd consistency. The team has created a Frankenstein hitting monster who's all of 22.
Imagine pitching against this guy, and the fear that must induce. About the only thing that's getting him out right now is his own eagerness. Once he locks in he's going to crush something somewhere. People who say he needs to walk more may want to think it over. His OBP, admittedly driven by his batting average, is .380, and his numbers over the last seven games are absurd: .563/.600/1.094. That last number isn't his OPS that's his slugging. Short of a bushel of intentional walks - and that may be what comes next - he has to be dealt with, a huge problem for the opposition given that contact rate. Between tattooing the big green wall and disappearing balls to center and right, he's a problem that's only going to get worse in Fenway.
I think Dalbec may have a future with the team as a slugging DH/1B and a reserve third baseman - that's if the team doesn't use him as trade bait. But the regular 3B is already here, the future is now.
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ericmvan
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Post by ericmvan on Aug 19, 2019 14:58:47 GMT -5
What hitting coaches invariably preach is that good hitters should learn to use the whole field. A corollary to that is that power hitters should show power to all fields. That's so much easier said than done. The combination of contact skills, reaction time, a quick bat, pitch recognition, the strength to drive the ball everywhere and the mindset to go with that, is beyond the ability of most sluggers. Devers has all of it. He seems to have completely absorbed the idea of spreading those extra base hits around and he's carrying it off with absurd consistency. The team has created a Frankenstein hitting monster who's all of 22. Imagine pitching against this guy, and the fear that must induce. About the only thing that's getting him out right now is his own eagerness. Once he locks in he's going to crush something somewhere. People who say he needs to walk more may want to think it over. His OBP, admittedly driven by his batting average, is .380, and his numbers over the last seven games are absurd: .563/.600/1.094. That last number isn't his OPS that's his slugging. Short of a bushel of intentional walks - and that may be what comes next - he has to be dealt with, a huge problem for the opposition given that contact rate. Between tattooing the big green wall and disappearing balls to center and right, he's a problem that's only going to get worse in Fenway. I think Dalbec may have a future with the team as a slugging DH/1B and a reserve third baseman - that's if the team doesn't use him as trade bait. But the regular 3B is already here, the future is now. By both xwOBA and wOBA, he's actually been (even) better on the road this year. After some errands I'm going to break that down by handedness as well.
According to Statcast, he's been "lucky" in that his wOBA - xwOBA is among the MLB leaders, ranking 28th out of 180 (350+ PA). Of course, xwOBA does not include horizontal angle, so a player who uses more of the field that the average hitter will outperform his xwOBA by skill, not by luck. Alas, the only horizontal breakdown available is simple three-way, which doesn't begin to capture the ability to hit foul-line to foul-line. Still, I might grab some data and see if either of two things is true: your pull / straight / oppo breakdown predicts your "luck," or players who are "lucky" in one slice tend to be lucky in the other two. The latter would be really interesting.
In fact, a breakdown of woBA - xwOBA for fly balls and line drives, home players vs road players, RHB / LHB crossed with pull / center / oppo, all of MLB versus in Fenway, would be really interesting. Doing that now ...
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ericmvan
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Post by ericmvan on Aug 19, 2019 17:20:09 GMT -5
This is pretty damn cool.
Here's some stuff to get folks started.
For 2016-2018, the average LHB hit 38.1% of his fly balls to left, with a .216 xwOBA and .215 wOBA.
(This is, BTW, the only handedness / direction combo with neutral wOBA - xwOBA (hereafter "karma"). Karma increases when the walls are closer and increases when you hit the ball better. So it's very large to the pull side, roughly neutral to oppo (RHB are -.018), and negative to center.)
Both the Sox and their opponent LHB's hit the ball a bit more often to LF in Fenway than it happens elsewhere. See wall, try to hit ball there.
Since April 15th, Devers has hit 55% of his Fenway fly balls to left (22 of 40), with a .423 xwOBA and .937 wOBA. And no wonder: the average karma on LHB to LF in Fenway was .205, and as I just said (if you read parenthetical notes), the harder you hit the ball to where the walls are closer, the more karma you get. His hitting the ball that way is clearly a skill, and it's likely that he's getting no more karma than he deserves.
The average LHB hit 23.9% of his balls to right with a .634 xwOBA and .917 wOBA. That's a .283 karma boost from the wall being closer and the ball being hit harder. In Fenway, the hitters were better (all on the opposition side, actually) and managed a .671 xwOBA but just a .739 wOBA. That's a -.214 karma hit relative to overall.
Devers has hit just 15% of his fly balls to RF with a .967 xwOBA and a .664 wOBA. He should be suffering a smaller karma hit than average, not a bigger one. He's hit too many of these 6 balls to the deep part of the park where they're homers everywhere else.
He may have been lucky on balls to CF, though. More later.
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radiohix
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Post by radiohix on Aug 19, 2019 20:26:16 GMT -5
Yes this thread should probably be about Chavis and Dalbec and how they fit on the right side. Devers is the present and future 3B . This. I honestly think it should've been about Dalbec and Chavis from the beginning lol Especially on this place, since we knew since the Minors that Rafa can flash some leather. I remember him making a good to great plays every time a member of the community watches him live (Brian TheTaoist, Eric Van to name a few) and I mean when you see the tools and think about his age, you know you just have to give him time. He's just unbelievably gifted.
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Post by bcpatsox18 on Aug 19, 2019 21:51:40 GMT -5
I know I’m in the minority here, but given that I believe like most that Devers is our 3b of the future, I really think we should trade Dalbec immediately in the off-season for pitching. He’s already 24, and despite his power if you can’t hit .260 in AAA I have high doubts as to the ability to hit enough at the major league level. I would move on from him ASAP while his value is high, since Chavis has already shown flashes in MLB, and is much more of an option at 2b than Dalbec would ever be. He’s not a bad prospect, but I see way more middlebrooks than Encarnacion in his future
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Post by jimed14 on Aug 19, 2019 21:57:16 GMT -5
I know I’m in the minority here, but given that I believe like most that Devers is our 3b of the future, I really think we should trade Dalbec immediately in the off-season for pitching. He’s already 24, and despite his power if you can’t hit .260 in AAA I have high doubts as to the ability to hit enough at the major league level. I would move on from him ASAP while his value is high, since Chavis has already shown flashes in MLB, and is much more of an option at 2b than Dalbec would ever be. He’s not a bad prospect, but I see way more middlebrooks than Encarnacion in his future I really hope that Dalbec is a better hitter than Chavis and expect he will be because he strikes out a lot in large part to his approach, as opposed to having gigantic holes in his swing like Chavis has. I'd keep both. Unless Chavis figures out how to at least foul off pitches in the upper half of the zone, no pitcher is going to pitch him anything but pitches in the upper half of the zone. Well, they'll also throw offspeed pitches down out of the zone now too, because he has more trouble laying off that than he used to.
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Post by soxfan511 on Aug 19, 2019 22:26:56 GMT -5
I know I’m in the minority here, but given that I believe like most that Devers is our 3b of the future, I really think we should trade Dalbec immediately in the off-season for pitching. He’s already 24, and despite his power if you can’t hit .260 in AAA I have high doubts as to the ability to hit enough at the major league level. I would move on from him ASAP while his value is high, since Chavis has already shown flashes in MLB, and is much more of an option at 2b than Dalbec would ever be. He’s not a bad prospect, but I see way more middlebrooks than Encarnacion in his future Who cares what his batting average is if he smashes a lot of home runs, draws a lot of walks, and has a very respectable OBP and OPS.
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Post by Chris Hatfield on Aug 19, 2019 22:34:57 GMT -5
As I've said in the past, I don't think it's accurate to say Dalbec's strikeout numbers are simply due to his approach. At all. He walks more than Chavis and strikes out looking more than he does (Dalbec struck out looking in 27.5% of his K's in Portland, but all 11 of his Pawtucket K's have been swinging. Chavis K'ed looking in 22.2% of his K's in Pawtucket and 15.7% of his K's in Boston.) Dalbec swings and misses a fair amount, particularly at breaking balls. I think it's far from certain that he'll be a better hitter than Chavis - I'd actually take Chavis's hit tool between the two.
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Post by pedrofanforever45 on Aug 19, 2019 23:06:39 GMT -5
I know I’m in the minority here, but given that I believe like most that Devers is our 3b of the future, I really think we should trade Dalbec immediately in the off-season for pitching. He’s already 24, and despite his power if you can’t hit .260 in AAA I have high doubts as to the ability to hit enough at the major league level. I would move on from him ASAP while his value is high, since Chavis has already shown flashes in MLB, and is much more of an option at 2b than Dalbec would ever be. He’s not a bad prospect, but I see way more middlebrooks than Encarnacion in his future Who cares what his batting average is if he smashes a lot of home runs, draws a lot of walks, and has a very respectable OBP and OPS. He's not going to be worth a whole heck of a lot at first base. His value will plummet outside of third base. Who cares about a rocket arm at first base?
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Post by philsbosoxfan on Aug 19, 2019 23:56:32 GMT -5
Who cares what his batting average is if he smashes a lot of home runs, draws a lot of walks, and has a very respectable OBP and OPS. He's not going to be worth a whole heck of a lot at first base. His value will plummet outside of third base. Who cares about a rocket arm at first base? 100% agree with that. You should be able to trade Dalbec the third baseman for a better first baseman than Dalbec the first baseman.
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Post by incandenza on Aug 20, 2019 0:30:09 GMT -5
He's not going to be worth a whole heck of a lot at first base. His value will plummet outside of third base. Who cares about a rocket arm at first base? 100% agree with that. You should be able to trade Dalbec the third baseman for a better first baseman than Dalbec the first baseman. Anyone have any suggestions about a prospect-for-prospect trade? Ideally it would be someone close to the majors, from a team that could use help at 3B. And the prospect would project to be at least as good as Dalbec playing first. Those are a lot of conditions to try to fulfill, and just scanning the top 100 I'm not sure I see anybody who fits the bill. And he's not sure a sure bet that anyone would trade established major league talent for him. It would be a shame to squander his defensive ability, but if Dalbec can hit at the major league level - big if, of course - the best option might be to play him at 1B and keep him as Devers injury insurance for a couple years until a trade opportunity arises and/or Casas starts knocking at the gate.
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Post by philsbosoxfan on Aug 20, 2019 1:18:37 GMT -5
100% agree with that. You should be able to trade Dalbec the third baseman for a better first baseman than Dalbec the first baseman. Anyone have any suggestions about a prospect-for-prospect trade? Ideally it would be someone close to the majors, from a team that could use help at 3B. And the prospect would project to be at least as good as Dalbec playing first. Those are a lot of conditions to try to fulfill, and just scanning the top 100 I'm not sure I see anybody who fits the bill. And he's not sure a sure bet that anyone would trade established major league talent for him. It would be a shame to squander his defensive ability, but if Dalbec can hit at the major league level - big if, of course - the best option might be to play him at 1B and keep him as Devers injury insurance for a couple years until a trade opportunity arises and/or Casas starts knocking at the gate. That's basically my point though. Bobby Dalbec is generally a mid 90's ranked prospect. If he was a first baseman only, I doubt if he'd be in anyone's top 200.
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Post by philsbosoxfan on Aug 20, 2019 1:34:35 GMT -5
It should be noted that Mitch Moreland's $7m contract expires. In his entire career he only has 1 year with greater than 1 WAR, 2015, and he's getting older and seemingly more injury prone.
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gerry
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Post by gerry on Aug 20, 2019 3:19:27 GMT -5
It should be noted that Mitch Moreland's $7m contract expires. In his entire career he only has 1 year with greater than 1 WAR, 2015, and he's getting older and seemingly more injury prone. We have all seen the value of a healthy Mitch Moreland at 1B. I can think of several skills that made him a Gold Glove caliber defender. He often saved errant throws from the left side, as well as from Nunie at 2B, his long reach and stretch, smart footwork; and a strong, accurate arm that created quick 3-4-3 double plays as well as 3-1 run saving outs, and hot relays to home. I understand positional values, but an above average defender at first can be as valuable as an above average defender at other positions. I know, as I regularly watched Dick Stuart play. I suspect Dalbec already has most of the tools to ably replace MM’s value to the Red Sox defense; but with a third baseman’s quick twitch glove, a longer reach and stretch for those errant throws, and an even better arm. He just needs reps with the footwork, a process which has already begun. He appears likely to have more power than Mitch, a solid OBP, and be more durable at almost 10 years younger. And he is another homegrown. All for an almost $6M saving at a time when we need those $$$. Of course his “value” in a trade would be greater as a 3B. But, IMO, already having a budding super-star at 3B, Dalbec has more value, maximum value, to the Red Sox at 1B. Until Casas, he has more combined talent and $$$ value at 1B for the Sox than any internal prospect or any high priced FA or trade. We probably agree that, like Chavis at 2B, his star may not be as bright as Raffi or XB or Mookie or JDM or Beni or Pedey, but that’s the point. It doesn’t have to be. Adding Chavis at 2B and Dalbec at 1B augments those bright stars, and adds another 60HR and solid Defense to the Already outrageous Devers-Bogie IF, all for about $1.2M. A youthful, energetic, homegrown IF of Dalbec, Chavis, Devers, Bogaerts would be as joyful to aatch as the amazing homegrown OF. Soooo worth the price of admission. Edit: If Dalbec can produce as well as he could/should — at 1B — for the Red Sox, does it really matter how he ultimately ranks as a minor league prospect trade piece ??
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Post by pedrofanforever45 on Aug 20, 2019 3:44:58 GMT -5
He's not going to be worth a whole heck of a lot at first base. His value will plummet outside of third base. Who cares about a rocket arm at first base? 100% agree with that. You should be able to trade Dalbec the third baseman for a better first baseman than Dalbec the first baseman. I'd probably prefer to trade him for a arm. I'd call the Mets and see who they're willing to give up. Seth Lugo, pitching prospects, anyone of them sounds fine. They have the hole at third base too.
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ericmvan
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Post by ericmvan on Aug 20, 2019 4:03:27 GMT -5
I started an in-depth breakdown of Devers this year and ran into the PITA of his having 2 "Home" games that weren't in Fenway. So I figure I'll wait until the end of the season to do that.
In the meantime, his season breaks down as follows. No cherry-picking here.
.246 / .328 / .298 (16 G, 65 PA). Non-open stance. .322 / .370 / .551 (61 G, 265 PA). After changing stance on 4/15. .368 / .407 / .736 (46 G, 216 PA). Batting second. He had 2 previous games there and was 4/10, 2B, 3B, which is as close as you can come in 10 PA to matching the later stat line.
You might think, well obviously he's just been red-hot the whole time he's hit second. But he actually spent 20% of the time in an awful funk:
.146 / .163 / .317 (10 G, 43 PA). July 31 to August 8. .425 / .468 / .844 (36 G, 172 PA). Before and after.
More tomorrow.
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ericmvan
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Post by ericmvan on Aug 20, 2019 4:49:57 GMT -5
Last nugget. Devers leads MLB in fWAR since he started batting 2nd, with 3.2. But he's only 10th in WPA, and has the wost "clutch" metric of any of the WPA top 25. What's up there?
Turns out he's 4/7, 2 2B with LI 2.0 to 2.55, but 0/8 with LI > 2.55. That's the same neck of the woods where the whole team has struggled since mid-May.
Only 2 of the failures came in his slump. So his stretches with a 1.312 OPS include an 0/6 in his 6 most crucial PA. That is ... unexpected.
But wait, there's more. What happened in his last PA before his 10-game slump?
He came up in the bottom of the 8th with 2 outs and the bases full and the Sox trailing the Rays 6-5. At 7.69, it was easily his highest LI of the season. And of course the game was crucial; they'd just failed to sweep the Yankees and they'd blown leads of 3-1 and 5-4 when Cora inexplicably brought in Colten Brewer in very high leverage when he had a host of better relievers available.
The way Devers was going at the moment, he was the guy you wanted up. After popping up his first time up against Morton, he'd gone 1B (109 EV, .550 xBA), 1B (88, .900), 2B (109, .680). But Emilio Pagan got him on an easy soft liner to LF (80, .250).
They squandered another chance in the 9th and Devers and the team both went into a tailspin.
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Post by jbsox on Aug 20, 2019 5:35:59 GMT -5
Does Sam Travis’s recent surge have anyone intrigued? DD has mentioned he is fully healthy for the first time in a long time. Maybe the power from within is finally being unlocked. What about Ockimey who is younger than Dalbec?
In addition to them all being able to play 1B, they each offer something a little different. Dalbec can play 3B, Chavis 2B, Travis has played a little OF, and Ockimey is the only lefty out of the group. I’m not opposed to keeping all 4 for now especially with Martinez’s future uncertain. Let them fight it out for playing time. I’d hate to do another Travis Shaw type trade to come back to bite us (although he is down and out now). It will be interesting to see if anything happens to this group in the offseason.
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redsox04071318champs
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Aug 20, 2019 6:30:29 GMT -5
100% agree with that. You should be able to trade Dalbec the third baseman for a better first baseman than Dalbec the first baseman. I'd probably prefer to trade him for a arm. I'd call the Mets and see who they're willing to give up. Seth Lugo, pitching prospects, anyone of them sounds fine. They have the hole at third base too. McNeil could move over to 3b from LF. Dalbec could help them, but I'm not sure they'd surrender Lugo, but I'm sure they could have discussions. I doubt there would be a shortage of interested teams in Dalbec. Either way the Sox need to go with a cheap solution at 1b next year whether it's Dalbec or Chavis shuffling back and forth in a platoon with Hernandez/Travis or even Ockimey with Travis, although I don't think Ockimey would hit well enough or field well enough, even if spotted against righties to stick.
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Post by pedrofanforever45 on Aug 20, 2019 6:55:20 GMT -5
ZIPS Projects Dalbec to strike out 40 percent of the time, all the time. Hitting less than .200 most of the time. An OPS of under .700 all the time. They project that the next 3 years with Dalbec.
The equals out to a half win player. Add another half for defense maybe and that's a 1 win player at first base the next 3 years.
The Sox can and should do a lot better than this. It's one thing if he's adding another win on defense at third base, but he has no chance at first base.
Trade him while he's a top 100 prospect.
Add- I'm not a big Michael Chavis fan, but ZIPS projects even him to be a full win better than Dalbec the next 3 years.
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Post by Chris Hatfield on Aug 20, 2019 8:07:32 GMT -5
Anyone have any suggestions about a prospect-for-prospect trade? Ideally it would be someone close to the majors, from a team that could use help at 3B. And the prospect would project to be at least as good as Dalbec playing first. Those are a lot of conditions to try to fulfill, and just scanning the top 100 I'm not sure I see anybody who fits the bill. And he's not sure a sure bet that anyone would trade established major league talent for him. It would be a shame to squander his defensive ability, but if Dalbec can hit at the major league level - big if, of course - the best option might be to play him at 1B and keep him as Devers injury insurance for a couple years until a trade opportunity arises and/or Casas starts knocking at the gate. That's basically my point though. Bobby Dalbec is generally a mid 90's ranked prospect. If he was a first baseman only, I doubt if he'd be in anyone's top 200. I don't disagree with what you're saying and have generally been on that bandwagon. The one problem is that as everyone else gets more expensive, the Red Sox will need league minimum players. Trading Dalbec for a 1B that costs money might not work, and prospect-for-prospect trades are rare. If there's a chance that Dalbec the first baseman will give you the same production at 1B that a theoretical "prospect 1B" would give you there, while also serving as the backup 3B, then it's not necessarily horribly wasteful. And for what it's worth, we've gotten reports and Ian's reported firsthand that Dalbec's 3B defense has backed up a bit this year. Doesn't mean he couldn't work on it, but it's probably more likely he'd become an inferior defensive 3B to Devers than a better one at this point (that statement made in part acknowledging that Devers is probably a 55 over there, so not necessarily a knock on Dalbec). It's kind of funny, but the decision point there probably has more to do with Mookie Betts than anyone else.
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Post by soxfanatic on Aug 20, 2019 8:09:59 GMT -5
That's basically my point though. Bobby Dalbec is generally a mid 90's ranked prospect. If he was a first baseman only, I doubt if he'd be in anyone's top 200. I don't disagree with what you're saying and have generally been on that bandwagon. The one problem is that as everyone else gets more expensive, the Red Sox will need league minimum players. Trading Dalbec for a 1B that costs money might not work, and prospect-for-prospect trades are rare. If there's a chance that Dalbec the first baseman will give you the same production at 1B that a theoretical "prospect 1B" would give you there, while also serving as the backup 3B, then it's not necessarily horribly wasteful. And for what it's worth, we've gotten reports and Ian's reported firsthand that Dalbec's 3B defense has backed up a bit this year. Doesn't mean he couldn't work on it, but it's probably more likely he'd become an inferior defensive 3B to Devers than a better one at this point (that statement made in part acknowledging that Devers is probably a 55 over there, so not necessarily a knock on Dalbec). It's kind of funny, but the decision point there probably has more to do with Mookie Betts than anyone else. Is it range or hands in regards to Dalbec's defense?
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