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Post by patford on Aug 12, 2021 12:17:55 GMT -5
Richards might be effective in a bullpen role. His stuff isn't bad. Between him and Perez I'd rather take a chance on Richards. Doesn't Richards usually struggle in the first inning before settling in a little bit? If so, that doesn't sound like a good option for the bullpen My impression (I've not looked) is the struggled early prior to the sticky stuff being taken away. Since then it seems like his control got better and he's been sort of decent for a couple or three innings before blowing up.
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Post by patford on Aug 12, 2021 10:11:25 GMT -5
Valdez, Lefty Davis getting optioned later this week. 20 days til roster of 28 Need Seabold up. Get some new blood on this staff. Run a rotation of Sale Eovaldi Erod Houck and Pivetta with Seabold being a long guy. DFA Richards into oblivion. Richards might be effective in a bullpen role. His stuff isn't bad. Between him and Perez I'd rather take a chance on Richards.
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Post by patford on Aug 11, 2021 14:15:23 GMT -5
I think the Barnes diagnoses are overestimating the effect of the sticky stuff ban and underestimating the effect of Cora bringing him into every single 3-run game in the 9th inning when the team had like a 97% win expectancy since April. It is maybe not a coincidence that his recent collapse started with his being brought into 3 games in 2 days (and now 4 consecutive games).
Agreed. Barnes has a pattern of good starts (although not as dominating as this season's) and a pattern of declining at the end. If Cora were Joe Torre we'd say that Barnes was getting Proctored (in honor of the overuse of Scott Proctor by Torre). I don't place blame on all Cora. This is where some legit bullpen help at the deadline could have helped. It's also symptomatic of how many close games the Sox have played this year. Blowout wins are few and are between and for a long while the Sox, even when they lost, were in every game. So I do buy the overuse as more of an issue than the spin thing, but the weird thing is that Barnes DID have a long all-star break in a way. There was a lot of concern here that his pitching in the all-star game would deprive him of 3 days off and that the Thursday game afterwards would hinder his rest as well, but instead that game got canceled, and the Sox had a bunch of games where he wasn't needed and he did get about a five or six day break, so in a way that refutes the point of overwork, but I still think that the totality of the workload, even with the little vacation, has played a part. I don't know which Barnes we see the rest of the way. I remember Chapman pitching lights out and then suddenly imploding and he is still shaky as hell. I don't know how well Barnes recovers from this for the duration of this season. Wouldn't be shocked to see him dominate the first half of next season. The people blaming Cora are the same people blaming Cora for leaving starters in too long. People just wildly striking out in all directions. The Sox aren't good. They never were. It's a bridge year.
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Post by patford on Aug 11, 2021 10:53:10 GMT -5
I love on the podcast how Chris mentions the Sox have been streaky and maybe the day off will kick-start the team against the Rays and Ian says nothing and there is a telling moment of dead air.
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Post by patford on Aug 11, 2021 7:55:11 GMT -5
Just focusing on this game. It all started when Whitlock mysteriously could not throw strikes. That is always the way it is with the Rays and the Yankees. MLB supposedly wants to get away from the three outcomes style of baseball but as long as umpires continue to reward the Rays and Yankees for standing around MLB will never get away from the three outcomes style of play. There is an easy fix for this and it does not involve ridiculous extra inning nonsense rules. Electronic balls and strikes.
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Post by patford on Aug 11, 2021 7:27:02 GMT -5
Well we don't need to worry about the next eight games because the Sox are toast. Their one strength the bullpen is completely burnt out from overuse and the team probably won't win ten games from here to the end of the season. I should say hopefully won't win ten games because the thing to shoot for now is a better draft position.
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Post by patford on Aug 10, 2021 15:30:43 GMT -5
Pretty much, yeah. Exactly on that date I started talking about it, in fact (and before that in late June I was saying they should bring up Duran and Ort and give them 21 days so they can make informed decisions at the deadline.): And here's part of the other bit. So yeah, I've been consistent in my messaging and my cynicism regarding the Front Office: I hope Bloom doesn't forget that even the 2018 team needed a Steve Pierce to get over the top. And an over the top Steve Pierce at that. This team still needs a legit lead-off hitter as the pitching gets SO much better in the playoffs. I would prefer a move that has some control, but if we're moving sub top 10 prospects for a rental, that's fine. I still contend he needs to bring up/audition Franchy and Duran for the offense, and Ort in the pen before making any move. The latter two will involve 40 man moves, but Santana has become expendable, as has Workman. Here's the thing. The selling teams were in gouge mode. The Yankees were in an out of their minds panic and the Dodgers have so much minor league depth they could pay crazy prices. I'm sure Bloome worked the phones and teams weren't interested in 24+ year old guys in the top 20 prospects. Teams wanted young high upside guys. From my perspective I'd have traded Duran rather than Ramirez. Maybe that was offered. Duran is 24. He sold out for power. His K rate exploded and his average took a big hit.
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Post by patford on Aug 10, 2021 15:25:24 GMT -5
Mostly agree. But I’d send Dalbec to the WooSox, see if he can put up Franchy-esque numbers, then see if he’s worth anything in the off-season. Come to think of it, I might do that with Franchy, too. I don’t see either being answers in Boston. My guess is that Franchy rather than Dalbec could be dropped. Schwarber is a LH 1B. Dalbec hits LHP somewhat decently. He would make a better alternative to Franchy or any other struggling hitter (Marwin comes to mind) than Franchy against LHPs. I'm not ready to give up on Dalbec or Cordero. Haven't seen enough of Cordero and Dalbec is intriguing. Consider that supposedly Gallo is (I'm being sarcastic) a super star slugger and his average in identical to Dalbec's. We know Dalbec has Gallo type power which he hasn't tapped into. It's one of the season's bigger mysteries as he was not a type who had a lot of cheap HR. When he hit them they were bombs. I think a big problem for him is he's a rookie and a Red Sox. As such his strike zone was minuscule and the walks and accompanying BB which would have helped his OBP went to hell as he began chasing due to the knowledge that he was getting nothing from the home plate umpire. It is impossible to overestimate what a powerful position a home plate umpire is in. Short of Barry Bonds at his height they are the most important person on the field in every game. They can completely dictate the outcome of game. Dalbec has persevered with extreme dignity and given umpires no reason to not reward him with some respect. Not only does he not complain he does not even give the dirty looks which always plagued John Lester. In any case Dalbec has not yet entered my Chavis list where a guy has been given multiple looks and shows no improvement. And maybe I'm wrong but had Dalbec ever fit the "obvious hole" category or does he just either hit or not hit for no glaring reason?
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Post by patford on Aug 10, 2021 14:22:50 GMT -5
The next nine games should have a defining impact on what the Sox do for the rest of the year. While I agree with many that most of what is going on is a team which had been overachieving (and even stranger overachieving without any of it's players overachieving) returning to the mean, I also don't think the Yankees and Rays are good teams. So let's say the Sox go 7-2 including a sweep of either the Rays and the Yankees. At that point hope would be rekindled. Sale is coming back. Schwarber should be coming. If Rodriquez, Pivetta and a Houck combination with someone pitch like they have shown hints of maybe things would come together. I also think Richards might be pretty good out of the pen. His raw stuff is not bad and would play up in short stints. If, on the other hand, the team ends up not making up any ground and even loses ground I hope the decision is made to treat the end of the year like last season. That would mean sticking with Duran, Cordero and Dalbec and playing them almost ever day as well as being extremely cautious with Sale.
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Post by patford on Aug 9, 2021 9:09:14 GMT -5
I don't understand the fascination with Rizzo. My guess is it's just because he was once in the Sox system? Rizzo-Schwarber is a wash. And I think that is being generous. Oh, and Gallo has been atrocious for the Yankees. The Yankees have been winning because of their best player. The home plate umpire.
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Post by patford on Aug 8, 2021 18:45:54 GMT -5
It's not the pen. It's the starters.
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Post by patford on Aug 8, 2021 18:18:22 GMT -5
My favorite posts here are when the same people say Cora left a starter in too long and complain that he is using the bullpen too much. Look, the Sox won a ton of games they had no business winning. They inexplicably did it without individuals in the lineup playing well. It was like miracle after miracle. Think how frustrating it would be to be a Dodgers fan. They have a super team and might be a one and done Wild Card team.
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Post by patford on Aug 8, 2021 16:36:45 GMT -5
People. The Sox are not a good team. They never were. Relax.
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Post by patford on Aug 8, 2021 11:15:40 GMT -5
I'm generally in CB's corner because I love the idea of the RS being a development machine with high revenues. That will give them the financial flexibility to re-sign any homegrown guys who want to take reasonable deals, acquire veterans who are making decent money, and trade prospects when it makes sense. That said, I'm disappointed with his record so far when it comes to identifying low-priced talent. I don't recall a contending RS team being as wretched at the bottom of the roster as this one. Look at these four guys and you see a lot of suckage over 811 PAs. PA OPS OPS+ Marwin Gonzalez - 261; .568; 56 Bobby Dalbec - 310; .651; 74 Franchy Cordero - 127; .517; 41 Danny Santana - 113; .554; 48 The lack of the depth at the bottom of the roster has tied Cora's hands in mixing and matching to use guys where they're most likely to succeed. Verdugo has 159 PA against LHP and a .505 OPS; Renfroe has 250 PA against RHP with a not-terrible .729 OPS, but many of those PA have come in the middle of the order where you'd like better production. To get Dalbec out of there against RHP, he has gone to M-Gon, Santana and Franchy, none of whom are viable options. Throw in Vaz and his disappointing year (.648 OPS, 76 OPS-plus) and it's not surprising that they're in a long stretch of not scoring runs. Almost everyone has been at least somewhat disappointing. I mean, I was thinking Devers had .320 and 50 HR in him. I'm starting to wonder if he is very very good but not the absolute beast I thought he could be. Martinez has crashed to Earth. Verdugo hasn't been great and Bogaerts is having an average year. Kiké and Renfroe are doing what would have been hoped for. Nothing crazy but decent years for them.
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Post by patford on Aug 8, 2021 11:09:50 GMT -5
Well I criticized him for the Ramirez trade. Here's the thing. Teams like the Yankees were overpaying like crazy. The Dodgers had the prospect depth to do that. The Yankees were driven by panic. It's pretty clear teams weren't going to trade for guys like Chavis and Wilson. Let's say Scherzer would have gone to Boston. Would people be happy if the Sox traded; Bello, Yorke and Groome for a rental ? Would Scherzer have brought the team a title? There is an argument there if Sale comes back and is vintage Sale and Scherzer's triceps is okay. Two absolutely dominate SP can potentially carry a team a long way. That on top of a very good bullpen. What if it turns out Sale and Scherzer have hiccups? Suddenly the Sox have traded away many of their best high upside young prospects and their farm is again one of the worst in MLB and they still have to worry about signing free agent Scherzer who has something going on with his triceps. For the record, I’d do Bello, Yorke, and Groome if Scherzer agreed to an extension. Two things. 1. He didn't agree to an extension with the Dodgers and he expressed an interest in the West Coast. So apparently he wants to test the market. 2. We don't know yet what Sale will be. With a dominant Sale and Scherzer going 7+ innings per game in a five or seven game series and accounting for 3 of 5 starts and 4 of 7 starts plus a strong bullpen and a Houck-Whitlock piggyback the Sox could win it all with almost nothing from the hitting side. I'm not a gambling man. I've never made a wager in my life. Not even a lottery ticket.
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Post by patford on Aug 8, 2021 7:38:05 GMT -5
What does an offensive slump have to do with long-term organizational philosophy? Why does the rebuild term have to correlate only with long term organizational philosophy? If he is gonna get credit for the depth and signings that lead them to their great record up to the deadline, why can't he get criticism for the deadline strategy ? Let's be honest, that is where people feel frustrated. I think it oversimplified to say that this is an offense that is slumping also. Maybe the offense outperformed internal projections and he knew that. It is his job to address deficiencies related to long term and short term goals. It is kind of a slippery slope to wed rebuilds with long term goals (not saying you don't realize that). Well I criticized him for the Ramirez trade. Here's the thing. Teams like the Yankees were overpaying like crazy. The Dodgers had the prospect depth to do that. The Yankees were driven by panic. It's pretty clear teams weren't going to trade for guys like Chavis and Wilson. Let's say Scherzer would have gone to Boston. Would people be happy if the Sox traded; Bello, Yorke and Groome for a rental ? Would Scherzer have brought the team a title? There is an argument there if Sale comes back and is vintage Sale and Scherzer's triceps is okay. Two absolutely dominate SP can potentially carry a team a long way. That on top of a very good bullpen. What if it turns out Sale and Scherzer have hiccups? Suddenly the Sox have traded away many of their best high upside young prospects and their farm is again one of the worst in MLB and they still have to worry about signing free agent Scherzer who has something going on with his triceps.
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Post by patford on Aug 8, 2021 7:25:38 GMT -5
One of the biggest disappointments of the year. The guy had some big years at Houston in the not too distant past. The Sox have a bunch of players who have not done anything close to what was hoped for. Using Dalbec as an example I think the Sox could live with his Gallo BA (.147 with the Yankees) if he was hitting for power and walking. The Sox "big bats" are all having average type years measured against what would be expected.
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Post by patford on Aug 7, 2021 17:45:00 GMT -5
Inching towards the panic button No need to panic. The Sox are done. The ideal outcome would be for them to lose every game for the rest of the season with the exception of beating the Yankees. The most amazing thing about the team's early success is they did it with not one player on the team having a big year and with most players having down or outright bad years. And yet somehow they kept winning when they had no right to. This was always a sub .500 team. The focus was always on next year. Goals were to sell at the deadline and reset the cap.
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Post by patford on Aug 6, 2021 20:29:23 GMT -5
I don’t mean to relitigate the deadline, but the Robles trade was the one thing that irked me. I liked Scherff, and they seemed to dump him. Not really. The bad one was Ramirez going for a rental who shouldn't play the rest of the year because the Sox are clearly out of it and should be playing Dalbec, Duran and Cordero every day to see if any of them are worth holding on to.
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Post by patford on Aug 6, 2021 20:24:58 GMT -5
Every game I see people wondering why Cora left a pitcher in too long when said pitcher hasn't gone five innings.
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Post by patford on Aug 6, 2021 20:15:51 GMT -5
At this point the best the Sox can hope for is going 0-For the rest of the season.
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Post by patford on Aug 6, 2021 19:07:03 GMT -5
I am okay admitting that 2021 is supposed to be a year that the Blue Jays finish ahead of the Red Sox. I mean… I don’t think it is negative to say that they are probably the better team on paper, especially after the deadline. But… the Sox have a lead they can make stick — game’s not played on paper! Look on the bright side. In four days you can relax, keep an eye on the prospects and think about the off season and next year.
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Post by patford on Aug 5, 2021 17:38:08 GMT -5
It was a good year because the Sox made the Yankees go crazy at the deadline.
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Post by patford on Aug 5, 2021 14:24:26 GMT -5
our trade deadline is paying off for our opponents. Realistically the Sox were an 80 win team this year. There's only so many rabbits in a hat.
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Post by patford on Aug 4, 2021 18:35:14 GMT -5
The Red Sox are so drained they have a better chance of finishing under .500 than making the playoffs. It's like they had to fight so hard to get where they are they have nothing left in the tank. You think it’s more like that they finish 17-37 or worse than make the playoffs when they are currently leading the wild card? That is just a ridiculous take, recent slump or not. Let's just say I don't think they will make the playoffs.
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