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8/2-8/4 Red Sox @ Yankees Series Thread
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Post by James Dunne on Aug 5, 2019 9:03:59 GMT -5
Sale, I just don't know. I can't say we'll ever see Chris Sale, the ace, the guy who gives the Sox a huge advantage. I'm not ready to declare him a bust yet either. He still gets the Ks, but when he misses location, man do they hit it a long way. And I still have no idea what to expect going forward from Eovaldi. But if Sale is nowhere near what Sale can be, what do they do? There is no farm system gem to trade for the next ace the way the Astros sent four strong prospects (while hanging onto the two they wanted to keep) to get Greinke. Nor is there a guaranteed ace on the FA market. There's a lot of drooling over Gerit Cole, and he's a solid pitcher who'd help, but he wouldn't be what Chris Sale was. Maybe the Sox get him, but who knows? Wouldn't shock me if he's signed, gives one of two years that are good and then we would spend the rest of his contract waiting for it to be over with. Who knows? I do know that there are no future aces coming out of the Red Sox farm system and that Mata probably needs a good half season at least and he's probably a mid-rotation starter at best (in other words he can replace Porcello's 2018, but not Sale if Sale isn't his ace self) I mean, the Red Sox gambled a lot, lot, lot of money this past offseason that Sale and Eovaldi, two pitchers with some real, on-the-record durability concerns, could anchor their pitching staff into the next decade. Right now that looks wrong and it's a big problem. Without getting into a millionth argument about how much money John Henry should spend, Dombrowski made very shrewd moves to build the 2016-2018 teams, but possibly made a huge mistake building the 2019-and-onward pitching staff. People were pretty happy about both moves at the time, though. Lots of revisionist history going on in this thread.
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Post by redsoxfan2 on Aug 5, 2019 9:11:56 GMT -5
I find it amazing that the Red Sox started this 14 game stretch 5-2 and lost it 5-9.
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Aug 5, 2019 9:42:23 GMT -5
Sale, I just don't know. I can't say we'll ever see Chris Sale, the ace, the guy who gives the Sox a huge advantage. I'm not ready to declare him a bust yet either. He still gets the Ks, but when he misses location, man do they hit it a long way. And I still have no idea what to expect going forward from Eovaldi. But if Sale is nowhere near what Sale can be, what do they do? There is no farm system gem to trade for the next ace the way the Astros sent four strong prospects (while hanging onto the two they wanted to keep) to get Greinke. Nor is there a guaranteed ace on the FA market. There's a lot of drooling over Gerit Cole, and he's a solid pitcher who'd help, but he wouldn't be what Chris Sale was. Maybe the Sox get him, but who knows? Wouldn't shock me if he's signed, gives one of two years that are good and then we would spend the rest of his contract waiting for it to be over with. Who knows? I do know that there are no future aces coming out of the Red Sox farm system and that Mata probably needs a good half season at least and he's probably a mid-rotation starter at best (in other words he can replace Porcello's 2018, but not Sale if Sale isn't his ace self) I mean, the Red Sox gambled a lot, lot, lot of money this past offseason that Sale and Eovaldi, two pitchers with some real, on-the-record durability concerns, could anchor their pitching staff into the next decade. Right now that looks wrong and it's a big problem. Without getting into a millionth argument about how much money John Henry should spend, Dombrowski made very shrewd moves to build the 2016-2018 teams, but possibly made a huge mistake building the 2019-and-onward pitching staff. People were pretty happy about both moves at the time, though. Lots of revisionist history going on in this thread. Yeah, it's always easy after the fact to say, "They should have done this, they should have done that". I don't have an issue if you said they should have done that, they didn't, and they should have, but if you weren't complaining at the time.... I was thrilled when they re-signed Sale. I knew he had durability concerns and they were trying to strike the right balance between him having his velocity when he really needed it and trying to preserve him for the right moments, but if your rate stats are great, you can live with that. But guys like that need to be balanced out by the Lesters, Porcellos, and Wakefields of the world - guys who aren't spectacular, but eat a lot of innings and hardly ever miss a start. And Eovaldi, where in the world were you going to get a starter who has ace ability (even though he hasn't tapped it yet) with amazing stuff for four years (as opposed to 5, 6, or 7 that it takes to get an elite guy) for $17 million year (as opposed to $30 million/year)? I think those things made sense at the time. It's easy to say now, they shouldn't have done it, but if you weren't complaining then, then you're being a hypocrite. Hell, I thought Pearce was an excellent re-signing. 1 year for $6.5 million. Not big bucks. Can hit in the big games. Solid pop, kills lefties, hangs in against righties. Why the hell wouldn't you sign him? Age and injury history I guess? Credit to Pedrofan - he called that one in advance citing his age concerns, but if he's playing well at 36, why should he fall off a cliff at 37? I think Dombrowski's actions regarding tying up money on those 3 made a lot of sense, and it was a spectacular move to get Bogaerts to re-sign for what he did - and while I'm fine with players getting all they can get, Xander gets a lot of "fan points" with me because he could have waited to get every last dollar, but decided he wanted to stay where he was truly happy - and as a fan I like players who enjoy playing in front of us - so Xander made me a fan for life. I'm sure it's not worth sacrificing $ for a lot of players to have people like me be a "fan for life" - and I get it, but when Xander did that I appreciated it. And he's playing well, so that's money very well spent. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that those re-signings were sensible and something a lot of us agreed with at the time, just like there was a lot of agreement in letting Kimbrel and Kelly go (although as a fan I would have loved to have had them both back) Sometimes teams do sensible things and get negative results. And sometimes teams blow three year $39 million on nearing the end Shane Victorino and while he's a total waste of money the last two years, you get one last vintage season out of him resulting in a Championship. In a vacuum that was a stupid move, but man did that work out, even if the last two years were what was expected. Dumb move - great results. At this point I'm extremely thankful for the 2018 World Championship, although now I wonder - will this be like it was for the Mets in 1986 or the Tigers in 1984? A dominant team that has that one year where everything just explodes in their favor and they can never capture that kind of success for a long time forward. The 2004, 2007, and 2013 teams were awesome but they were never wire-to-wire epic/historic like the Red Sox were last year. That was a once in a lifetime thing. They were a generational team last year. Just hope they don't make us wait generations to be able to do what the 2004, 2007, and 2013 Sox teams did. Hope they saved some of that unquantifiable superstitious baseball karma for the future.
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Post by James Dunne on Aug 5, 2019 9:49:53 GMT -5
And Eovaldi, where in the world were you going to get a starter who has ace ability (even though he hasn't tapped it yet) with amazing stuff for four years (as opposed to 5, 6, or 7 that it takes to get an elite guy) for $17 million year (as opposed to $30 million/year)? Charlie Morton got paid less and had a longer track record. He's pitched better than anyone on the Red Sox, which wasn't even that hard to fathom. You can't pay a 29-year-old based on stuff and a one-month stretch of putting it together every couple years. Eovaldi hasn't even had the great peripherals to go with the stuff either. The idea that he might be an ace was totally and utterly insane. He had a 9.0 career bWAR and 96 career ERA+ heading into the season, and his K/9 was only 6.8! Has anyone ever turned into an ace at 29 who fits that profile? It was kind of foreseeable as a bad signing but there was a lot of emotional investment in hoping it wasn't a bad signing based on what he'd done in October.
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Post by fenwaythehardway on Aug 5, 2019 9:54:35 GMT -5
And Eovaldi, where in the world were you going to get a starter who has ace ability (even though he hasn't tapped it yet) with amazing stuff for four years (as opposed to 5, 6, or 7 that it takes to get an elite guy) for $17 million year (as opposed to $30 million/year)? I suppose the literal answer here is Charlie Morton.
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Aug 5, 2019 10:04:19 GMT -5
And Eovaldi, where in the world were you going to get a starter who has ace ability (even though he hasn't tapped it yet) with amazing stuff for four years (as opposed to 5, 6, or 7 that it takes to get an elite guy) for $17 million year (as opposed to $30 million/year)? Charlie Morton got paid less and had a longer track record. He's pitched better than anyone on the Red Sox, which wasn't even that hard to fathom. You can't pay a 29-year-old based on stuff and a one-month stretch of putting it together every couple years. Eovaldi hasn't even had the great peripherals to go with the stuff either. The idea that he might be an ace was totally and utterly insane. He had a 9.0 career bWAR and 96 career ERA+ heading into the season, and his K/9 was only 6.8! Has anyone ever turned into an ace at 29 who fits that profile? It was kind of foreseeable as a bad signing but there was a lot of emotional investment in hoping it wasn't a bad signing based on what he'd done in October. Ok. I drank the kool-aid. I thought there was something there and that only injuries had really derailed him. I thought the Sox found something in his delivery or something that with his cutter that was going to make him a really good pitcher. I mean, he was dominant in October. Small sample size, of course. I guess we all fall for small sample sizes at some point. I figured, at worst, if not a guy who can pitch like an ace, a guy who can at least be a solid #3. You mentioned, didn't have great peripherals, but I remember the Sox getting a guy with a ridiculously strong K/BB ratio when the deal was made. I figured between his time in Tampa and the adjustments the Sox were making with him and his cutter, he was turning the corner. I guess, Dombrowski and I, were wrong. I guess I just don't remember a lot of hand wringing over his re-signing or any "We should have signed Charlie Morton instead!!!" comments. As it was, wasn't Morton coming off an injury himself? He didn't pitch too well against the Sox in ALCS Game 4.
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Post by James Dunne on Aug 5, 2019 10:05:09 GMT -5
And again, without going too deeply into the "how much of John Henry's money am I willing to spend" discussion, Patrick Corbin got $7M AAV more than Eovaldi and two extra years. That's a lot of money and shouldn't be dismissed, but he had the advantage of already being the pitcher who people hoped Nathan Eovaldi would grow up to be. His 2017-18 bWAR was basically the same as Eovaldi's career total heading into the year.
Same could be said for Dallas Keuchel.
The idea that there weren't really options other than Eovaldi doesn't really align.
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Aug 5, 2019 10:10:05 GMT -5
And again, without going too deeply into the "how much of John Henry's money am I willing to spend" discussion, Patrick Corbin got $7M AAV more than Eovaldi and two extra years. That's a lot of money and shouldn't be dismissed, but he had the advantage of already being the pitcher who people hoped Nathan Eovaldi would grow up to be. His 2017-18 bWAR was basically the same as Eovaldi's career total heading into the year. Same could be said for Dallas Keuchel. The idea that there weren't really options other than Eovaldi doesn't really align. Wouldn't that 7 million have put them beyond where Henry was willing to spend, though?
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Aug 5, 2019 10:11:00 GMT -5
And again, without going too deeply into the "how much of John Henry's money am I willing to spend" discussion, Patrick Corbin got $7M AAV more than Eovaldi and two extra years. That's a lot of money and shouldn't be dismissed, but he had the advantage of already being the pitcher who people hoped Nathan Eovaldi would grow up to be. His 2017-18 bWAR was basically the same as Eovaldi's career total heading into the year. Same could be said for Dallas Keuchel. The idea that there weren't really options other than Eovaldi doesn't really align. Well I guess if you went with Sam Travis or some minimum wage bat as the RH hitting 1b bat and didn't re-sign Pearce and don't bring back Eovaldi, then I guess the math works out.
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Post by soxjim on Aug 5, 2019 10:27:01 GMT -5
I could buy this if the Dodgers weren't 74-40. The Red Sox managed their staff differently in October than the Dodgers did and won the World Series because of it. Also, it kind of goes without saying that it may be easier for some players to come back from an increased workload than others. Also, too, the Dodgers pitching depth is a pretty obvious reason for their success. Ross Stripling is like their 8th best starter. ----- EDIT: Seeing some conversation above - Eduardo Rodriguez has a 4.19 ERA, and the league has a 4.49 ERA, and Fenway has a park effect this year of 108. I know it's convenient to call a 4.00 ERA "average" but that's not what an average pitcher is in 2019. You don't just get to decide "average" based on your personal expectations and the convenience of round numbers. Average has a definition, and Eduardo Rodriguez has been better than it. You're free to be disappointed by it--it's not up to me to tell you what your expectations are. But a 115 ERA+ is, by definition, above average. James we can agree to disagree. You're using "league average" thus comparing him to the bottom teams dreg pitching staffs. When he starts in the playoffs (if Sox make it) he is a 4.19 era. He is the worst number 1 starter of all 16 playoff teams with a 10% chance or higher probability of making the playoffs. He is nothing to write home about. If he is pitching "well" he'd be better than 4.19.
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Post by fenwaythehardway on Aug 5, 2019 10:33:00 GMT -5
The Red Sox managed their staff differently in October than the Dodgers did and won the World Series because of it. Also, it kind of goes without saying that it may be easier for some players to come back from an increased workload than others. Also, too, the Dodgers pitching depth is a pretty obvious reason for their success. Ross Stripling is like their 8th best starter. ----- EDIT: Seeing some conversation above - Eduardo Rodriguez has a 4.19 ERA, and the league has a 4.49 ERA, and Fenway has a park effect this year of 108. I know it's convenient to call a 4.00 ERA "average" but that's not what an average pitcher is in 2019. You don't just get to decide "average" based on your personal expectations and the convenience of round numbers. Average has a definition, and Eduardo Rodriguez has been better than it. You're free to be disappointed by it--it's not up to me to tell you what your expectations are. But a 115 ERA+ is, by definition, above average. James we can agree to disagree. You're using "league average" thus comparing him to the bottom teams dreg pitching staffs. When he starts in the playoffs (if Sox make it) he is a 4.19 era. He is the worst number 1 starter of all 16 playoff teams with a 10% chance or higher probability of making the playoffs. He is nothing to write home about. If he is pitching "well" he'd be better than 4.19. A 4.19 ERA, in Fenway, in 2019, is a good ERA. Period.
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Post by redsoxfan2 on Aug 5, 2019 10:37:41 GMT -5
James we can agree to disagree. You're using "league average" thus comparing him to the bottom teams dreg pitching staffs. When he starts in the playoffs (if Sox make it) he is a 4.19 era. He is the worst number 1 starter of all 16 playoff teams with a 10% chance or higher probability of making the playoffs. He is nothing to write home about. If he is pitching "well" he'd be better than 4.19. A 4.19 ERA, in Fenway, in 2019, is a good ERA. Period. Relative to the pitcher I would think. A 4.19 at Fenway wouldn't be good for say, Scherzer, Sale, Price, Kluber, Verlander, et. For E-Rod, it's fine.
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Post by James Dunne on Aug 5, 2019 10:51:58 GMT -5
Eduardo Rodriguez is worse than Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander yet still notably above average.
Also, your expectations may change, but the definition of average does not. Justin Verlander had a season where he was average and people called him washed up but that didn't make him not average.
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Post by soxjim on Aug 5, 2019 11:01:17 GMT -5
I The scary part, as somebody else mentioned, was that now they're at a point, there's not many options to fix the problem if Sale and Price can't rebound. There's a lot of drooling over Gerit Cole, and he's a solid pitcher who'd help, but he wouldn't be what Chris Sale was. Maybe the Sox get him, but who knows? Wouldn't shock me if he's signed, gives one of two years that are good and then we would spend the rest of his contract waiting for it to be over with. Who knows? I do know that there are no future aces coming out of the Red Sox farm system and that Mata probably needs a good half season at least and he's probably a mid-rotation starter at best (in other words he can replace Porcello's 2018, but not Sale if Sale isn't his ace self) There is no shot get Cole, is there? Hasn't that shipped sailed with the signings of Sale and Xander etc? JDM will probably opt in. Sox are going to try to get under the 1st threshold tax. So going after Cole is over, isn't it?
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Aug 5, 2019 11:04:52 GMT -5
I The scary part, as somebody else mentioned, was that now they're at a point, there's not many options to fix the problem if Sale and Price can't rebound. There's a lot of drooling over Gerit Cole, and he's a solid pitcher who'd help, but he wouldn't be what Chris Sale was. Maybe the Sox get him, but who knows? Wouldn't shock me if he's signed, gives one of two years that are good and then we would spend the rest of his contract waiting for it to be over with. Who knows? I do know that there are no future aces coming out of the Red Sox farm system and that Mata probably needs a good half season at least and he's probably a mid-rotation starter at best (in other words he can replace Porcello's 2018, but not Sale if Sale isn't his ace self) There is no shot get Cole, is there? Hasn't that shipped sailed with the signings of Sale and Xander etc? JDM will probably opt in. Sox are going to try to get under the 1st threshold tax. So going after Cole is over, isn't it? I don't anticipate the Sox getting him, especially if they're trying to get under that 1st threshold, and if they do it doesn't leave a lot of room for improvements, does it?
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Post by soxjim on Aug 5, 2019 11:22:11 GMT -5
Eduardo Rodriguez is worse than Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander yet still notably above average. Also, your expectations may change, but the definition of average does not. Justin Verlander had a season where he was average and people called him washed up but that didn't make him not average. Whoa-- I have to concede. I was going to point out below (crossed-out) how much worse he was this year vs all the other playpff teams -- then I thought for sure I'd see he was better than some of the top 16 team's number 1 from last year proving he was pretty good lasy year and mediocre this year but stats don't support. I thought I'd show "absolute." I'm dead wrong. Well priro to late trades - not only Verlander and Scherzer there are 3 Braves pitchers 1 Philly, 2 other Nats, 2 Mets, 3 Cubs, 3 Cards, 1-2 other Brewers, 3 Dodgers, 2 from Zona, 1 Yank, 2 TB, 3-Twins, 2 Clev, 2 other astros and 2 A's. ***I concede James -- you are right. Thanks. I don't know about using "league average" when you throw in teams that deliberately tank but maybe its the only way. Isn't there a better way? I mean some teams like Detroit (obv Balt) -- they aren't "trying their best to win." They skew the numbers in a variety of ways. But certainly can't use what I felt was "absolute." I'm dead wrong. Sorry to INC and redsoxdon and coach... - I was certain I was right but dead wrong.
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Post by soxjim on Aug 5, 2019 11:24:13 GMT -5
There is no shot get Cole, is there? Hasn't that shipped sailed with the signings of Sale and Xander etc? JDM will probably opt in. Sox are going to try to get under the 1st threshold tax. So going after Cole is over, isn't it? I don't anticipate the Sox getting him, especially if they're trying to get under that 1st threshold, and if they do it doesn't leave a lot of room for improvements, does it? No shot I think.
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Post by wildcardwillie on Aug 5, 2019 11:44:37 GMT -5
with Porcello and Moreland coming off the books. Give Darwinzon a bigger role and save some money at 1st and 2nd base with a combo of Holt, Marco, Chavis and maybe Dalbec. Could we have some decent money for a SP?
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Post by manfred on Aug 5, 2019 11:55:16 GMT -5
Holy cow. The Sox sign Price for huge money. Much lamenting now. Sox sign Sale for big money. Rending of robes, tearing of beards. Now.... let’s drop huge money in Cole! What could go wrong?
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Post by James Dunne on Aug 5, 2019 12:01:37 GMT -5
Eduardo Rodriguez is worse than Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander yet still notably above average. Also, your expectations may change, but the definition of average does not. Justin Verlander had a season where he was average and people called him washed up but that didn't make him not average. Whoa-- I have to concede. I was going to point out below (crossed-out) how much worse he was this year vs all the other playpff teams -- then I thought for sure I'd see he was better than some of the top 16 team's number 1 from last year proving he was pretty good lasy year and mediocre this year but stats don't support. I thought I'd show "absolute." I'm dead wrong. Well priro to late trades - not only Verlander and Scherzer there are 3 Braves pitchers 1 Philly, 2 other Nats, 2 Mets, 3 Cubs, 3 Cards, 1-2 other Brewers, 3 Dodgers, 2 from Zona, 1 Yank, 2 TB, 3-Twins, 2 Clev, 2 other astros and 2 A's. ***I concede James -- you are right. Thanks. I don't know about using "league average" when you throw in teams that deliberately tank but maybe its the only way. Isn't there a better way? I mean some teams like Detroit (obv Balt) -- they aren't "trying their best to win." They skew the numbers in a variety of ways. But certainly can't use what I felt was "absolute." I'm dead wrong. Sorry to INC and redsoxdon and coach... - I was certain I was right but dead wrong. It's all good. It's kind of jarring how much run scoring is up. In 2013, John Lackey's 3.52 ERA translated to a 117 ERA+.
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Post by soxfansince67 on Aug 5, 2019 12:31:40 GMT -5
I do think the MFY series is a paradigm shifter in terms of how I will try (key word...try) to view the remaining games.
Watching to see if they mail it in/ go through the motions, win a few/ lose a few and just play out the string, or push to right the ship and actually nab a playoff spot . Seeing if Mookie's play gives a hint of staying or going...which leaders will emerge if they can get fired up again. Watching to see who Cora does/doesn't play. Etc....
At least, that's my plan.
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Aug 5, 2019 12:39:27 GMT -5
I do think the MFY series is a paradigm shifter in terms of how I will try (key word...try) to view the remaining games. Watching to see if they mail it in/ go through the motions, win a few/ lose a few and just play out the string, or push to right the ship and actually nab a playoff spot . Seeing if Mookie's play gives a hint of staying or going...which leaders will emerge if they can get fired up again. Watching to see who Cora does/doesn't play. Etc.... At least, that's my plan. Any passion I have for the 2019 Red Sox is gone. Now I'm more concerned about the future. I figure that 2020 should be an in-between of 2018 and 2019, but really that depends on Sale, Price, and Eovaldi. Those guys really are the key to 2020 and beyond. If we get injuries/mediocrity, it's going to be hard for the Red Sox to be a 95 win team, especially if the Sox are trying to duck underneath the luxury tax limit to reset in 2020. The farm system is improving, but there's no next core immediately waiting. If not dealt, Dalbec has a role. Duran could be on the way. Mata and Houck will contribute at some point. And I do think Casas will continue to improve. But there's very little in the way of impact - a top of the rotation type pitcher, a middle of the order caliber masher - the kind with Dalbec's power that has a good hit tool to go along with it. That's not in place so I'm not sure how they reshape things going forward.
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Post by soxjim on Aug 5, 2019 12:52:33 GMT -5
Holy cow. The Sox sign Price for huge money. Much lamenting now. Sox sign Sale for big money. Rending of robes, tearing of beards. Now.... let’s drop huge money in Cole! What could go wrong? Who said sign Cole now? It's basically impossible, isn't it? Unless you lose other big salary(ies)? Basically can't be done so the Cole discussion is over before it ever started.
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Post by manfred on Aug 5, 2019 14:16:29 GMT -5
Holy cow. The Sox sign Price for huge money. Much lamenting now. Sox sign Sale for big money. Rending of robes, tearing of beards. Now.... let’s drop huge money in Cole! What could go wrong? Who said sign Cole now? It's basically impossible, isn't it? Unless you lose other big salary(ies)? Basically can't be done so the Cole discussion is over before it ever started. Doesn’t matter. My point is Price was a shiny toy. Sale next. Now people somehow imagine letting Sale walk (before knowing he’d have a down year) and getting Cole instead. I’m still good with the Sale contract, but maybe in principle signing pitchers to contracts that pay big deep into their 30sis exceedingly high risk?
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gerry
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Post by gerry on Aug 5, 2019 14:38:33 GMT -5
I do think the MFY series is a paradigm shifter in terms of how I will try (key word...try) to view the remaining games. Watching to see if they mail it in/ go through the motions, win a few/ lose a few and just play out the string, or push to right the ship and actually nab a playoff spot . Seeing if Mookie's play gives a hint of staying or going...which leaders will emerge if they can get fired up again. Watching to see who Cora does/doesn't play. Etc.... At least, that's my plan. Any passion I have for the 2019 Red Sox is gone. Now I'm more concerned about the future. I figure that 2020 should be an in-between of 2018 and 2019, but really that depends on Sale, Price, and Eovaldi. Those guys really are the key to 2020 and beyond. If we get injuries/mediocrity, it's going to be hard for the Red Sox to be a 95 win team, especially if the Sox are trying to duck underneath the luxury tax limit to reset in 2020. The farm system is improving, but there's no next core immediately waiting. If not dealt, Dalbec has a role. Duran could be on the way. Mata and Houck will contribute at some point. And I do think Casas will continue to improve. But there's very little in the way of impact - a top of the rotation type pitcher, a middle of the order caliber masher - the kind with Dalbec's power that has a good hit tool to go along with it. That's not in place so I'm not sure how they reshape things going forward. I am confident that the 2020 Red Sox will both reset the cap and compete for the Division. I agree that “there is no next core immediately waiting” but am not really concerned about the immediacy issue. Beni, Betts, Bogaerts, Bradley, Brockstar, Chavis, Devers, Lin, Marco, Vasquez make an exceptional homegrown core for 2020, even stronger if JDM doesn’t opt out. -The 2019 team is hitting like a playoff team, just out of synch, not always consistent. That will change. -JDM is one key to this. If he opts out, he needs to and will be replaced. Probably an Abreu or Incarnacion type, which is stilll pretty good with the homegrown core returning. -Like Chavis and Devers before him, Dalbec has had to overcome a number of issues, has made good progress, and is now in AAA. While all three young sluggers have very different skillsets, all continue to improve. Even without a high BA, I hope to see if he can hit 30-40 bombs at Fenway with reasonable k/bb ratios, a decent OBP, and good glove and arm at 1B. What a win that would be. Trading him could be hugely dumb, and unnecessary. Warts and all, he could be an immediate asset. -I agree that Duran could make an immediate impact sometime in 2020. He is adjusting to AA. He could soon add great speed and energy to what has been (but not in 2019) a great baserunning and base-stealing group, which is part of what’s missing this season. The sooner the better. -We can bet that fixing the pitching will be the team’s priority for 2020. Meanwhile, are we really convinced that neither Sale nor Price can regress to the norm, that Eovaldi is not a starter, that ERod has reached his peak even as he enters his prime, that a strong #3-5 won’t be available, that pitching coaching won’t be thoroughly addressed? -Isn’t it likely that DDo will find that elusive RP; and that one or more of Brasier, Houck, Shawaryn, Lakins, Feltman, Brewer will step up; and that a core Pen of Barnes, Workman, Darwinzon, Taylor, Wright, Johnson, Velasquez is a good base? Even a depressing season like this is full of excitement and promise (Devers, Chavis, Vasquez, Barnes, Workman, Darwinzon, Walden, Dalbec, Duran, Mata, etc.) Meanwhile, 2019 ain’t over and a WC remains possible. And I expect 2020 to be more like 2018. Energized. Dynamic. Fun. Relentless. In synch. With some personnel shakeups, but maintaining most of the homegrown core while adding both prospects and veterans. So, for about the 70th time in my life, since feeling the pain of the 1946 WS loss as a little kid, I say with more confidence than in almost any prior season “Wait ‘til next year.”
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