|
Post by ematz1423 on Apr 18, 2024 16:41:17 GMT -5
Scouting Grades Hit: 55 | Power: 60 | Run: 40 | Field: 60 | Arm: 60 That's BA grade on Mayer. I have not seen one site saying he needs to move off of SS. What site site says Mayer will have to move off SS?? The MLB Pipeline writeup says that some scouts think he'll need to move to 2B or 3B. That doesn't seem to be the majority opinion anywhere from what I can tell though. Yes I wasn't saying it was anywhere near the consensus but there are some.
|
|
|
Post by ematz1423 on Apr 18, 2024 15:33:31 GMT -5
Obviously losing Story killed what chances they had of having a plus defense this year but I don't get why they didn't go get a smooth fielding bench MI. Looking further ahead, it's hard to imagine the defense being plus with Devers/Casas on the corners and Grissom playing 2nd. The OF should be pretty good as long as Rafaela is playing CF but they need to figure IF defense out. I like Mayer as a prospect as much as any one could but he also doesn't sound like the type of SS who is going to shore up the IF defense. It's a concern both short and long term to me. SoxProspects has him as a "potential plus defender at short". MLB Pipeline has him as a 55, Fangraphs has him as a 50. Sounds like he'll be solid or better there. Casas graded out well for his defense in the minors, so I wouldn't be surprised if he improves; his mistakes have seemed to be more mental to me so far, like going for a ball the second baseman had covered and leaving 1B uncovered, and that should improve with experience. Everything I've read about Grissom says he is a good bet to be an average 2B too. And, of course, Story isn't dead; he's on the team for at least one more year, and likely three more, and he should be a plus SS or 2B for most of that time. A Mayer/Story combo up the middle should actually be quite good.
I share your concerns in the short term, though. I find myself just dreaming on a healthy Adalberto Mondesi signing and being a plus SS with like a 75 wRC+...
True I suppose it depends on where you read and who you believe/trust with their evaluations, I've seen Mayer anywhere from oh yea he's going to have to move off SS to he will be above average so let's hope the folks more bullish on his defense are the right ones. Probably not the right thread to bring up the can of worms in terms of Mayer and the future defense of the team so my apologies on that to everyone. In the short term though I don't know how long they can honestly keep running out Hamilton, I don't know who in the org would be a better bet feels like there has to be someone if somehow not it's to the point just pick some random DFA MI off the scrap heap who can at least field or throw some lotto tickets at ChiSox for DeJong. Livan Soto was DFA'd by the Orioles on Tuesday, throw a claim in on him, FG gives him a 50 fielding, that has to be better than Hamilton. He's also just 23 and has two options remaining, grab him and if they get a better option down the road send him to the minors. Move Story to the 60 day IL to pick him up. Feels like it has to be a better option, maybe they catch some lightning in a bottle.
|
|
|
Post by ematz1423 on Apr 18, 2024 15:19:41 GMT -5
Obviously losing Story killed what chances they had of having a plus defense this year but I don't get why they didn't go get a smooth fielding bench MI. Looking further ahead, it's hard to imagine the defense being plus with Devers/Casas on the corners and Grissom playing 2nd. The OF should be pretty good as long as Rafaela is playing CF but they need to figure IF defense out. I like Mayer as a prospect as much as any one could but he also doesn't sound like the type of SS who is going to shore up the IF defense. It's a concern both short and long term to me.
|
|
|
Post by ematz1423 on Apr 18, 2024 15:15:11 GMT -5
It would have been nice to use … anyone … but our lowest leverage reliever in the highest leverage moment of the game eh? Going to Jacques with a rested BP after Houck's CG is some decision. Could be a whole different ball game if they'd gone to Slaten, Martin and maybe Jansen instead but who knows.
|
|
|
Post by ematz1423 on Apr 18, 2024 15:02:27 GMT -5
How is 2025 Draft? We should have a Top 10 pick. 2025 is Ethan Holliday. Younger brother of Jackson and is supposed to have a higher ceiling than his older brother. I have no idea beyond that. Sox need a Holliday of their own, I'm sold! Probably too early to even try and guess lotto odds but I would have to imagine there are at least a handful of teams who are disqualified from getting the top pick due to the lotto rules so that would seemingly help the Sox if they do indeed end up a lottery team.
|
|
|
Post by ematz1423 on Apr 18, 2024 14:34:57 GMT -5
Down 4 to 5 when the defense has been terrible, the lineup is ugly and Joe Jacques has pitched 1.2 IP. Game isn't out of reach but if they can't pull it out this would be a loss we look at shake our heads pretty good at.
|
|
|
Post by ematz1423 on Apr 18, 2024 14:09:56 GMT -5
Who the heck is saying Bloom was a good GM? He was pretty mediocre, some bad some good it was time for new blood. However trashing him because he acquired 3 guys who are now on the 40 man roster at the league minimum playing for a new regime is a strange move. You want to bash him for Story and Yoshida, yea sure I can see that.
|
|
|
Post by ematz1423 on Apr 18, 2024 13:59:58 GMT -5
Jack Leiter with a not so good debut giving up 7 ERs.
|
|
|
Post by ematz1423 on Apr 18, 2024 13:51:13 GMT -5
Probably too early to say it, in fact I know it is but I'll say it anyway being the game day thread. Why were they in any hurry to give Rafaela an extension? He does not look the part of an MLB bat right now and may never be. He should be down in AAA if they hadn't given him that extension and had another viable RHH OFer.
|
|
|
Post by ematz1423 on Apr 18, 2024 9:31:15 GMT -5
I'm still holding out some hope that someone in that top tier of eight guys falls to 12, probably not all that likely but I didn't think Teel would fall to Sox last year either so one never knows. If not as TheGoodTheBadSox says I could see it a good strategy as any to pickout whichever guy in tier two who will sign for most underslot and then spread the savings around for some of those high school arms. The difference is the apparent tiers. Last year there was an elite top 5 tier and then a second tier that was 10-15 players or something. Teel was highly ranked within that second tier, but imo he "slipped" numerically a lot more than he slipped qualitatively. None of the top tier slid out of their slots. If this year the top tier is a bigger top 8, then last year would suggest teams will draft top tiers in their slots and 'getting another Teel" would be getting someone towards the top of the second tier a bit lower than their numerical ranking, not anyone from the top tier. True I'm not taking into account the fact that last draft was a stronger draft. Still, a guy can hope even if it probably is asking too much for four different teams to pass on Law's perceived top tier of eight players. That's also assuming that evaluators across the board are in line with Law which likely isn't the case. Goes without saying some teams might have 10-15 guys in the top tier and some teams might have 5. It's also not taking into account that there is much of the season left still and there will be risers and fallers. We'll know in a few short months.
|
|
|
Post by ematz1423 on Apr 18, 2024 9:14:35 GMT -5
I'm still holding out some hope that someone in that top tier of eight guys falls to 12, probably not all that likely but I didn't think Teel would fall to Sox last year either so one never knows. If not as TheGoodTheBadSox says I could see it a good strategy as any to pickout whichever guy in tier two who will sign for most underslot and then spread the savings around for some of those high school arms.
|
|
|
Post by ematz1423 on Apr 18, 2024 8:38:14 GMT -5
I said this on the gameday thread on Pivetta but I am now rather worried on his elbow. They originally said they didn't think he'd be out much longer than the IL stint which the earliest he could be activated would be the 21st. He's been playing catch apparently but that's the extent of his ramping back up as far as I can tell. That doesn't sound to me like a guy who will be pitching next week.
At the very best at this point I would think he would need a rehab start or two and will need at least another week or two before he's back in Boston, at the worst well I think we all know that is. It is pretty common for a prognosis on an elbow strain to say oh yea he'll just need a short IL stint. Then two weeks later after trying to ramp back up nothing has improved and they take another look and lo and behold he's out for the next year with TJ.
|
|
|
Post by ematz1423 on Apr 18, 2024 8:16:14 GMT -5
Cherry picking I know and a little tongue in cheek but who needs a bullpen when Houck is starting! I do get your sentiments and overall agree in terms of depth though. Ha, what sort of a dingdong would take a Cy Young candidate and stick him in the bullpen!
In all seriousness, though, it's not so much that I wanted Houck in the bullpen as I wanted him as a sixth starter who could go to the bullpen when all the other starters were healthy (which would probably be rare). Though also to be fair, by that logic he wouldn't have been able to work in the bullpen two nights ago because with Pivetta down he'd now be in the rotation anyway.
I was of this same thought, not necessarily in regards to Houck. It could have been any of Houck, Crawford or Whitlock and it appears to me the Sox were also of this thought since in an ideal world Giolito's elbow would stay intact and by default with everyone healthy someone would have had to go to the pen unless they wanted to run a 6 man rotation anyway. That being said, at this point I would have to say Breslow and Co. are looking pretty good just saying to hell with it after the Giolito news and not going and getting a veteran 4th starter type since all the SPs have looked solid so far. Obviously now with Pivetta on the IL and Whitlock joining him that strategy will be tested and we'll see how smart it was to go with Criswell and I guess Uwasewa as their depth SPs. I'm not terribly concerned Whitlock's injury will be long term, it sounded like they are just being cautious and rightfully so with him. Pivetta I am starting to worry about since when it first happened they said it was mild and he shouldn't be out much longer than the original IL stint. He's been playing catch but it doesn't sound like he's been able to ramp it up at all yet and his IL stint would be slated to end on the 21st if he is ready to go which it doesn't seem to me he will be. It's pretty common with elbow flexor strains that the original timeline is a quick comeback and then they try and ramp it up and boom all of a sudden it's time for TJ so I'm still very concerned with Pivetta.
|
|
|
Post by ematz1423 on Apr 18, 2024 6:52:48 GMT -5
This team, which had money to burn, nonetheless went into the season with almost no depth at all to hedge against injuries. As of April 17th, Giolito and Story are out for the season, Grissom has yet to debut, and Pivetta's missed two weeks. Devers has already missed six games, and it sounds like he's set to add to that. It's tough to overcome the combination of bad luck *and* bad contingency planning. They've worked around the pitching injuries so far (sort of; if Giolito had been healthy, Houck could've been helpful in the bullpen in a game like yesterday's). But the replacements for Grissom, Story, and Devers have already compiled -1.2 WAR in 18 games. Cherry picking I know and a little tongue in cheek but who needs a bullpen when Houck is starting! I do get your sentiments and overall agree in terms of depth though.
|
|
|
Post by ematz1423 on Apr 17, 2024 11:44:48 GMT -5
Perhaps I am wrong but the way I read it was the last sentence in that post was Bojacksoxfan adding his thoughts and not what Geoff Pontes said in his chat?
|
|
|
Post by ematz1423 on Apr 17, 2024 9:06:24 GMT -5
Not going to pretend to know anything about Yesavage other than the brief write-ups I've seen on him and what other folks on here have said. That being said I would be all for taking what sounds like a really good college arm in the draft at 12 if he makes it there and they like him.
|
|
|
Post by ematz1423 on Apr 17, 2024 8:56:30 GMT -5
Are there really fans on the forum who went into the season believing the Sox would win the World Series? Because winning the World Series is the only thing that matters. I know that as a fact because I watched; 1967, 1975 and 1986 and the feeling was no different from the Red Sox finishing in last place. It's actually a worse feeling. As that is how I see things this season and the past few are all about how the team might win the World Series at some point in the near future. That is the reason the Sox should immediately get rid of Jansen. It's not that he blows games. It's that he isn't going to be around and I doubt anyone wants him around. So move him. A trade would be perfect. The return isn't even important if a partner will pick up his contract. Trading Jansen at this moment in time would be a big whatever to me, the wheels are seemingly falling off and if they continue to do so by the time the deadline rolls around assuming Jansen is healthy he will be dealt anyway. Even if they do surprise the rest of the way and are competitive through July I don't see losing Jansen being a detriment to their W-L record all that much. He probably would have more value closer to the deadline as the true competitors look to bolster their bullpens though. That being said, if they trade him even right now they absolutely should eat his entire contract to ensure an actual return worth something. They're far under the LT and trading him and not eating the salary to get a better return would just be stupid and cheap on their part but maybe Henry and Co are just cheap asses through and through now so maybe they'd want to just save the money.
|
|
|
Post by ematz1423 on Apr 17, 2024 8:41:20 GMT -5
Got to keep telling myself "expectations are low, just enjoy baseball and watch the kids develop". Trying hard to keep fan emotions out of it. Not easy to do. In this regard - and I wholly agree- we should be mostly pleased. Kutter and Houck have been downright dependable, throwing strikes, going at least 5 and giving the team a chance in every start. Whitlock was looking like his future is in the rotation until last night, so we’ll have to see. Wong has been great. Casas is doing Casas things and is looking better at 1B, albeit with 2 errors already. Abreu appears to be coming along and Rafaela is starting to barrel the ball a bit more. Sure he is still striking out too much and desperately needs a hit in a big spot. In fact, the most impactful struggles with the bat have mostly been from vets like Raffy and Masa. On defense, Abreu, Rafaela and Hamilton alone account for 8 of the team’s errors, and that absolutely needs to be cleaned up. But if we’re looking at player development, I’d say the glass is half full.This is a good way to look at it and overall the development of their young players was most key to me this season. I'd also add the big 3 in the farm, we couldn't ask for much better start from the Anthony/Mayer/Teel trio. So trying to look towards the future, the glass is half full to me but this year it certainly seems they're primed to take a lot of lumps. Perhaps more than in recent seasons depending on Devers health status.
|
|
|
Post by ematz1423 on Apr 17, 2024 7:08:57 GMT -5
Imaging on Devers knee after reading the injury came out of nowhere does not give me warm and fuzzy feelings. I am expecting an extended absence for Rafy after reading that. Not trying to be negative but I have a hard time imagining this team can remotely compete if Rafy has an extended absence.
All the fears I had on this team going into the season have really reared their ugly heads, mainly a large lack of depth.
|
|
|
Post by ematz1423 on Apr 16, 2024 19:50:01 GMT -5
Left oblique strain, not great but obviously could be a heck of a lot worse for whitlock.
|
|
|
Post by ematz1423 on Apr 16, 2024 11:51:14 GMT -5
I had thought it a bit strange Leiter was getting the call for Thursday but he's got 15.7 K/9 and perhaps more importantly for him 1.88 BB/9. Just 14.1 IP so far this year but those are some solid K and BB #s to start his year in AAA. There's a fair argument that if all your pitchers are just ticking time bombs waiting to get hurt, might as well have them get hurt helping you in MLB once they're seemingly ready - as opposed to wasting bullets in Triple A He's also already 24, which isn't old but isn't exactly a spring chicken in terms of pitching so may as well see if he can sustain that type of stuff/command at the MLB level right now.
|
|
|
Post by ematz1423 on Apr 16, 2024 10:38:07 GMT -5
Rangers promoting Jack Leiter to start on Thursday. Dodgers promoting Andy Pages. I had thought it a bit strange Leiter was getting the call for Thursday but he's got 15.7 K/9 and perhaps more importantly for him 1.88 BB/9. Just 14.1 IP so far this year but those are some solid K and BB #s to start his year in AAA.
|
|
|
Post by ematz1423 on Apr 15, 2024 7:44:14 GMT -5
Glad to see Devers back in the lineup, at least I hope I am in the sense that hopefully his shoulder if close to 100 percent.
|
|
|
Post by ematz1423 on Apr 14, 2024 16:00:54 GMT -5
What in the world was Verdugo doing there? That was just bad, any sort of effort there and he's safe.
|
|
|
Post by ematz1423 on Apr 13, 2024 21:01:46 GMT -5
His batting line last year in Greenville and Portland was amazing and I'm confident that he'll be a really good major leaguer. But he still strikes out A LOT--30% in Greenville last year; the same in a very young 2024 season. No matter how hard he hits the ball, he's not going to carry a 400+ BABIP. He still has a lot of development to go. Opening day in 2025 seems overly optimistic. I'd be glad to be wrong. As much as I like Anthony as a player and prospect I agree I don't think opening day next year is very likely. He's got some development to do and there's gonna be a speed bump or two this year if I had to guess. Same as you I hope I'm wrong and if I am then all the better but we'll see.
|
|