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Post by carmenfanzone on Sept 1, 2015 6:51:13 GMT -5
I get that there's not much downside when they can just outright him again later, but what's the point? He's a bad defender with a .077 ISO in AAA who hasn't hit major league pitching in years. He's never going to hit again. I guess he can't do much harm sitting on the bench, but if he gets a single start... You platoon him with Shaw at 1B and see how he hits in that role, all the time using the aids that would be unavailable in Pawtucket: detailed video analysis of swings, looking at how the opposing pitcher handled him in the past, perhaps a novel suggestion to fix his swing. The reason to do this is that the only missing position on the 2016 roster is the good version of Craig-- a RHH 1B / OF. It would be silly to go and acquire someone to fill that role while paying Craig to do it just as well for another team. There is no downside in assuring yourself that the odds of that happening are actually 0% rather than, say, 5%. At the same time, you'll find out how Shaw hits when he's not playing every day, which is his likely role next year. We're not trying to win games (except against the Yankees, perhaps), we're trying to find out useful information for next year.
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nomar
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Post by nomar on Sept 1, 2015 6:51:42 GMT -5
Craig is depressing.
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Post by carmenfanzone on Sept 1, 2015 7:00:31 GMT -5
Totally agree with this. Who plays First if Shaw gets banged up or needs a day off? Moreover, given that De Aza is now gone, he can fill in in the outfield if one of the three young outfielders needs a day off. And Dombrowski gets to evaluate him against big league pitching. I am not expecting him to be any good (much like I am not expecting Ramirez to be able to play First), but what does it hurt to bring him up and see? I am assuming he is only going to be a backup and have not heard anything that suggests otherwise.
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Post by jimed14 on Sept 1, 2015 7:03:19 GMT -5
Totally agree with this. Who plays First if Shaw gets banged up or needs a day off? Moreover, given that De Aza is now gone, he can fill in in the outfield if one of the three young outfielders needs a day off. And Dombrowski gets to evaluate him against big league pitching. I am not expecting him to be any good (much like I am not expecting Ramirez to be able to play First), but what does it hurt to bring him up and see? I am assuming he is only going to be a backup and have not heard anything that suggests otherwise. It's way more important IMO to figure out if Hanley can play 1B well enough to determine whether they need to dump him at all costs this winter or not. If he doesn't show more at 1B than he did in LF, they have to dump him, no matter how much money they have to eat.
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wcp3
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Post by wcp3 on Sept 1, 2015 7:05:43 GMT -5
Not sure I understand the disappointment here.
Craig is 30 years old - not 22 or 25 or even 27 - and his career has been trending backwards for two full seasons now. The guy isn't a major leaguer anymore.
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Post by jimed14 on Sept 1, 2015 7:07:52 GMT -5
Not sure I understand the disappointment here. Craig is 30 years old - not 22 or 25 or even 27 - and his career has been trending backwards for two full seasons now. The guy isn't a major leaguer anymore. The only disappointment is that he might get playing time over anyone.
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danr
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Post by danr on Sept 1, 2015 9:08:56 GMT -5
It makes sense to bring him up and see if he has anything left. They have to do something with him. If he does have anything left, they will send him somewhere during the off season, paying part of his remaining salary, and taking just about anything they can get in return. It makes no sense to keep him at Pawtucket for another season.
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Post by Chris Hatfield on Sept 1, 2015 9:13:17 GMT -5
Totally agree with this. Who plays First if Shaw gets banged up or needs a day off? Moreover, given that De Aza is now gone, he can fill in in the outfield if one of the three young outfielders needs a day off. And Dombrowski gets to evaluate him against big league pitching. I am not expecting him to be any good (much like I am not expecting Ramirez to be able to play First), but what does it hurt to bring him up and see? I am assuming he is only going to be a backup and have not heard anything that suggests otherwise. It's way more important IMO to figure out if Hanley can play 1B well enough to determine whether they need to dump him at all costs this winter or not. If he doesn't show more at 1B than he did in LF, they have to dump him, no matter how much money they have to eat. And Hanley is injured. Who knows how much he's even going to play in the next week or two? It's not going to set Travis Shaw back, or affect the team's opinion of him, if he gets 50 at-bats this month instead of 100. I completely understand Dombrowski wanting to see what Craig can do in the majors before deciding how to proceed.
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Post by jimed14 on Sept 1, 2015 9:15:00 GMT -5
It makes sense to bring him up and see if he has anything left. They have to do something with him. If he does have anything left, they will send him somewhere during the off season, paying part of his remaining salary, and taking just about anything they can get in return. It makes no sense to keep him at Pawtucket for another season. Does anyone really think that we don't know the answer to that already? I'll eat the biggest hat I can find if I'm wrong. He had a .077 ISO in AAA. Allen Craig without power is about as useful as Breslow.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Sept 1, 2015 9:41:33 GMT -5
I know Hanley at first is a binky for a lot of people. But it's been pretty obvious for a while that he hasn't been the same since he slammed his shoulder into the doorway out in left field. So who plays first when Shaw can't? Think this through.
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Post by soxfanatic on Sept 1, 2015 9:43:43 GMT -5
I know Hanley at first is a binky for a lot of people. But it's been pretty obvious for a while that he hasn't been the same since he slammed his shoulder into the doorway out in left field. So who plays first when Shaw can't? Think this through. Holt
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Post by Chris Hatfield on Sept 1, 2015 9:47:18 GMT -5
I know Hanley at first is a binky for a lot of people. But it's been pretty obvious for a while that he hasn't been the same since he slammed his shoulder into the doorway out in left field. So who plays first when Shaw can't? Think this through. He admitted yesterday or the day before that he tweaked his shoulder on a throw a while ago and that it reoccurred on another throw relatively recently.
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Post by ancientsoxfogey on Sept 1, 2015 9:49:40 GMT -5
Totally agree with this. Who plays First if Shaw gets banged up or needs a day off? Moreover, given that De Aza is now gone, he can fill in in the outfield if one of the three young outfielders needs a day off. And Dombrowski gets to evaluate him against big league pitching. I am not expecting him to be any good (much like I am not expecting Ramirez to be able to play First), but what does it hurt to bring him up and see? I am assuming he is only going to be a backup and have not heard anything that suggests otherwise. It's way more important IMO to figure out if Hanley can play 1B well enough to determine whether they need to dump him at all costs this winter or not. If he doesn't show more at 1B than he did in LF, they have to dump him, no matter how much money they have to eat. I wouldn't be surprised if that decision has already been made - and not in Hanley's favor. The very few clips I've seen of Hanley around 1B appear to show a guy who doesn't give a damn. If the Sox are convinced that that is his attitude, he's gone. The only place he could possibly belong on this club is as DH, and he seems to be blocked there -- unless Papi hits his 5 more HR, gets 100 RBI, and decides for some reason to retire on top. But nobody believes that, with the dollars at stake.
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Post by jimed14 on Sept 1, 2015 10:23:53 GMT -5
It's way more important IMO to figure out if Hanley can play 1B well enough to determine whether they need to dump him at all costs this winter or not. If he doesn't show more at 1B than he did in LF, they have to dump him, no matter how much money they have to eat. I wouldn't be surprised if that decision has already been made - and not in Hanley's favor. The very few clips I've seen of Hanley around 1B appear to show a guy who doesn't give a damn. If the Sox are convinced that that is his attitude, he's gone. The only place he could possibly belong on this club is as DH, and he seems to be blocked there -- unless Papi hits his 5 more HR, gets 100 RBI, and decides for some reason to retire on top. But nobody believes that, with the dollars at stake. Papi has hit like it's 2007 for 2 months straight now, so I hope he comes back another year.
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