SoxProspects News
|
|
|
|
Legal
Forum Ground Rules
The views expressed by the members of this Forum do not necessarily reflect the views of SoxProspects, LLC.
© 2003-2024 SoxProspects, LLC
|
|
|
|
|
Forum Home | Search | My Profile | Messages | Members | Help |
Welcome Guest. Please Login or Register.
Rest of the Offseason
|
Post by wingman478 on Jan 24, 2023 14:53:33 GMT -5
So, are we rolling with Kiké, Mondesi and Arroyo in the MI until Story comes back, with Allen/Tapia/Duran as the 5th OF? Or is there still room for an everyday SS? Kinda feels like we're done. Barring a huge trade for a top of the rotation arm Bloom has been hinting at all off-season, I think they're done too.
|
|
|
Post by wOBA Fett on Jan 24, 2023 18:37:08 GMT -5
Here is what I'd do if I were Bloom looking at this hand. Trade/DFA 1) Duran 2) Seabold 3) Winckowski 4) Brasier 5) Taylor 6) Dalbec Trade: SS/3B Alberto Mondesi SP - Brandon Woodruff Sign 1B/OF - Wil Meyers 1 yr $10 M OF/DH - Michel Conforto 4 yr $40M (front-loaded) Starters Woodruff Sale/Paxton (one will break) Whitlock Bello Pavetta Lineup 1) Yoshida - LF 2) Verdugo - CF 3) Story - 2nd 4) Devers -3B 5) Conforto - RF 6) Casas- 1B 7) Meyers DH 8) Mondesi/Keke- SS 9) Wong/McGuire C UTL Arroyo - IF Refsnyder OF Nailed my Mondesi pick
|
|
|
Post by scottysmalls on Jan 24, 2023 18:40:33 GMT -5
Rosenthal reported Red Sox are in on the lefty reliever market. Candidates (in my head) include: Andrew Chafin, Brad Hand, Will Smith. I believe they should have room under the LT for any of them. ADD: A Sox-related side-note in the article reporting on the lefty reliever market is that Dombrowski's contract for Strahm at 2/15 "destroyed the market" per at least one exec and is a reason a lot of these guys are still unsigned as it changed expectations.
|
|
|
Post by jmei on Jan 24, 2023 19:26:41 GMT -5
So, are we rolling with Kiké, Mondesi and Arroyo in the MI until Story comes back, with Allen/Tapia/Duran as the 5th OF? Or is there still room for an everyday SS? Kinda feels like we're done. Here’s the thing—they still have optionality (there’s that word again) to do any of those things if the price is right.
|
|
nomar
Veteran
Posts: 10,825
Member is Online
|
Post by nomar on Jan 24, 2023 19:37:22 GMT -5
Random but I can’t believe Brad Hand is only 32. Feels like he should be way up there. His K% is cratering so I don’t find him too interesting, but that surprised me.
|
|
|
Post by rico6 on Jan 24, 2023 20:37:39 GMT -5
Here is what I'd do if I were Bloom looking at this hand. Trade/DFA 1) Duran 2) Seabold 3) Winckowski 4) Brasier 5) Taylor 6) Dalbec Trade: SS/3B Alberto Mondesi SP - Brandon Woodruff Sign 1B/OF - Wil Meyers 1 yr $10 M OF/DH - Michel Conforto 4 yr $40M (front-loaded) Starters Woodruff Sale/Paxton (one will break) Whitlock Bello Pavetta Lineup 1) Yoshida - LF 2) Verdugo - CF 3) Story - 2nd 4) Devers -3B 5) Conforto - RF 6) Casas- 1B 7) Meyers DH 8) Mondesi/Keke- SS 9) Wong/McGuire C UTL Arroyo - IF Refsnyder OF Nailed my Mondesi pick Also, hit the trade/DFA Seabold and Taylor.
|
|
ericmvan
Veteran
Supposed to be working on something more important
Posts: 8,933
|
Post by ericmvan on Jan 25, 2023 4:17:26 GMT -5
”I’m going to look into returning to a new girlfriend.“ . . . Well, you are living with a former wife. Not whom I had in mind.
While we're going off-topic, why does the day where we finally acquire a very useful middle-infielder (and DFA Barnes!) have to coincide with the Oscar nominations release? Film is one of the four things* that I'm more into than baseball. So the next day is devoted to updating my watchlist to add all the nominees that weren't among the top 50 films of the year according to criticstop10.com.
* Yes, that's true.
|
|
|
Post by jerrygarciaparra on Jan 25, 2023 14:56:31 GMT -5
I don't know. all this late action is great for filling the pages of this website, but I don't think it bodes well for this year. Sure, we aren't even at ST, so what does it really matter, and the Story situation muddied things up, but is any other team this busy on transactions and / or seemingly unsettled on their roster. It makes me nervous.
|
|
|
Post by Canseco on Jan 25, 2023 16:11:18 GMT -5
Am I overthinking things by still wanting Iglesias? On paper, it seems like we still need more infield depth. Mondesi is rehabbing his injury, we can't count on Story returning in 2023, and Arroyo has a history of nagging injuries. Additionally, Hernandez playing mostly CF could improve day-to-day lineup flexibility.
|
|
|
Post by julyanmorley on Jan 25, 2023 16:18:04 GMT -5
Seems like they prefer Josh Harrison over Iglesias
|
|
|
Post by levi on Jan 25, 2023 17:15:29 GMT -5
Some interesting remarks from Bloom on "The Show" podcast with Sherman and Heyman.
"How it feels inside the house is very different from the perception...People are going to pick us where they're going to pick us. We like our team. We're not expecting anyone to pick us to go out there and steamroll anybody, but we have a lot of talent on our team. We have a club that should fit together a lot better than last year's team did, and we have the ability to out there -- if we play well, if we throw strikes, if we grind at-bats, we have the ability to get to the postseason and that's what we're really focused on."
This seems congruent with a lot of the speculation here that the front office had a type this offseason. They sought pitchers with high KK/BB (e.g., Martin, Jansen, Kluber) and hitters with high BB/KB (e.g., Yoshida, Turner). They've also drastically turned over the roster to (hopefully) change the clubhouse dynamic.
|
|
|
Post by redsox3in10 on Jan 25, 2023 17:15:52 GMT -5
Iglesias / Harrison ... either one is fine for me, so long as they are in consideration as bench players and not starters.
|
|
|
Post by incandenza on Jan 25, 2023 18:27:32 GMT -5
Some interesting remarks from Bloom on "The Show" podcast with Sherman and Heyman. "How it feels inside the house is very different from the perception...People are going to pick us where they're going to pick us. We like our team. We're not expecting anyone to pick us to go out there and steamroll anybody, but we have a lot of talent on our team. We have a club that should fit together a lot better than last year's team did, and we have the ability to out there -- if we play well, if we throw strikes, if we grind at-bats, we have the ability to get to the postseason and that's what we're really focused on." This seems congruent with a lot of the speculation here that the front office had a type this offseason. They sought pitchers with high KK/BB (e.g., Martin, Jansen, Kluber) and hitters with high BB/KB (e.g., Yoshida, Turner). They've also drastically turned over the roster to (hopefully) change the clubhouse dynamic. Did Bloom suggest there was anything wrong with the clubhouse dynamic? Seemed fine to me.
|
|
|
Post by freddysthefuture2003 on Jan 25, 2023 20:22:20 GMT -5
Some interesting remarks from Bloom on "The Show" podcast with Sherman and Heyman. "How it feels inside the house is very different from the perception...People are going to pick us where they're going to pick us. We like our team. We're not expecting anyone to pick us to go out there and steamroll anybody, but we have a lot of talent on our team. We have a club that should fit together a lot better than last year's team did, and we have the ability to out there -- if we play well, if we throw strikes, if we grind at-bats, we have the ability to get to the postseason and that's what we're really focused on." This seems congruent with a lot of the speculation here that the front office had a type this offseason. They sought pitchers with high KK/BB (e.g., Martin, Jansen, Kluber) and hitters with high BB/KB (e.g., Yoshida, Turner). They've also drastically turned over the roster to (hopefully) change the clubhouse dynamic. Did Bloom suggest there was anything wrong with the clubhouse dynamic? Seemed fine to me. It was a tire fire from the start. The Boras boys were worried about their contracts, you had the Plawecki mutiny, there was the Xander post trade deadline depression week, and I'm sure more that we haven't heard of yet.
|
|
|
Post by Coreno on Jan 25, 2023 23:31:45 GMT -5
It definitely was a whiney group.
|
|
mobaz
Veteran
Posts: 2,780
|
Post by mobaz on Jan 26, 2023 8:26:33 GMT -5
Did Bloom suggest there was anything wrong with the clubhouse dynamic? Seemed fine to me. It was a tire fire from the start. The Boras boys were worried about their contracts, you had the Plawecki mutiny, there was the Xander post trade deadline depression week, and I'm sure more that we haven't heard of yet. Is there Chicken and or beer?
|
|
|
Post by incandenza on Jan 26, 2023 9:25:31 GMT -5
It was a tire fire from the start. The Boras boys were worried about their contracts, you had the Plawecki mutiny, there was the Xander post trade deadline depression week, and I'm sure more that we haven't heard of yet. Is there Chicken and or beer? This is the thing... The "clubhouse dynamic" always seems to be uncannily aligned with the performance of the team. If they hadn't collapsed in 2011 wouldn't 'chicken and beer' be remembered as a sign of a loose, fun clubhouse? If they hadn't pulled off four wins in a row against the Yankees in 2004 wouldn't the shots of Jack they did before games be seen as a sign of callow indifference?
I suspect that what reads as "whiny," etc., in the context of a 78-84 season would read as intense competitiveness and guys rallying around each other in the context of a 90+ win season.
|
|
|
Post by stevedillard on Jan 26, 2023 9:35:22 GMT -5
Yes, losing teams have chemistry issues. When winning, the same grumbles are muted.
Remind me again why I should trust the Sox's "inside the house" evaluation of this year when they've been severely wrong 2 of the 3 years?
I'm more interested in the suggestion that they are returning to contact skills over selling out for power. We've seen enough guys like Benintendi, Verdugo, and at the lower levels, Yorke, screwing up their primary skill by altering their swing paths. I imagine with the shift rules, more teams will do this.
|
|
|
Post by incandenza on Jan 26, 2023 9:45:48 GMT -5
Yes, losing teams have chemistry issues. When winning, the same grumbles are muted. Remind me again why I should trust the Sox's "inside the house" evaluation of this year when they've been severely wrong 2 of the 3 years?I'm more interested in the suggestion that they are returning to contact skills over selling out for power. We've seen enough guys like Benintendi, Verdugo, and at the lower levels, Yorke, screwing up their primary skill by altering their swing paths. I imagine with the shift rules, more teams will do this. What's happened in the last three years is that they've had a slightly above-average offense in each season, and then they've had a wildly awful run of pitcher health in two of the three years. In the one year the pitching was healthy they made it to the ALCS.
Imma guess that if they have a wildly awful run of pitcher health in 2023 they will be mediocre again, and if the pitching is healthy they'll make the playoffs.
|
|
|
Post by ancientsoxfogey on Jan 26, 2023 9:54:45 GMT -5
Yes, losing teams have chemistry issues. When winning, the same grumbles are muted. Remind me again why I should trust the Sox's "inside the house" evaluation of this year when they've been severely wrong 2 of the 3 years? I'm more interested in the suggestion that they are returning to contact skills over selling out for power. We've seen enough guys like Benintendi, Verdugo, and at the lower levels, Yorke, screwing up their primary skill by altering their swing paths. I imagine with the shift rules, more teams will do this. I couldn't agree with this more completely. If you as an organization want to sell out for power, then draft/develop/trade for/sign on the market a beer-league softball team. Don't take guys who aren't inclined that way and try to turn them into something they inherently are not. Now I suppose some of this could be players deciding on their own that, since this is the current trend, they have to try to conform to it. But in the end, you need to be true to who you are. If your natural skill set leads to 10 HR and a .380 OBP, how much is it worth to shoot for 20 HR if it results in a .310 OBP?
|
|
|
Post by greenmonster on Jan 26, 2023 10:00:50 GMT -5
Yes, losing teams have chemistry issues. When winning, the same grumbles are muted. Remind me again why I should trust the Sox's "inside the house" evaluation of this year when they've been severely wrong 2 of the 3 years? I'm more interested in the suggestion that they are returning to contact skills over selling out for power. We've seen enough guys like Benintendi, Verdugo, and at the lower levels, Yorke, screwing up their primary skill by altering their swing paths. I imagine with the shift rules, more teams will do this. I couldn't agree with this more completely. If you as an organization want to sell out for power, then draft/develop/trade for/sign on the market a beer-league softball team. Don't take guys who aren't inclined that way and try to turn them into something they inherently are not. Now I suppose some of this could be players deciding on their own that, since this is the current trend, they have to try to conform to it. But in the end, you need to be true to who you are. If your natural skill set leads to 10 HR and a .380 OBP, how much is it worth to shoot for 20 HR if it results in a .310 OBP? Instead we have guys that can run back to the dugout really fast after striking out
|
|
|
Post by freddysthefuture2003 on Jan 26, 2023 10:07:01 GMT -5
Yes, losing teams have chemistry issues. When winning, the same grumbles are muted. Remind me again why I should trust the Sox's "inside the house" evaluation of this year when they've been severely wrong 2 of the 3 years? I'm more interested in the suggestion that they are returning to contact skills over selling out for power. We've seen enough guys like Benintendi, Verdugo, and at the lower levels, Yorke, screwing up their primary skill by altering their swing paths. I imagine with the shift rules, more teams will do this. I couldn't agree with this more completely. If you as an organization want to sell out for power, then draft/develop/trade for/sign on the market a beer-league softball team. Don't take guys who aren't inclined that way and try to turn them into something they inherently are not. Now I suppose some of this could be players deciding on their own that, since this is the current trend, they have to try to conform to it. But in the end, you need to be true to who you are. If your natural skill set leads to 10 HR and a .380 OBP, how much is it worth to shoot for 20 HR if it results in a .310 OBP? Benintendi absolutely did it on his own, and the FO was pissed. Cora mentioned that Verdugo also bulked up more than they asked, and per his brother Chris, has been cutting down all offseason and working on agility. Yorke was just flat out hurt. I don't think the Sox were trying to reinvent any of these guys, but to speak to your last point of "how much is it worth", like tens of millions of dollars in arb and free agency. Teams aren't making godfather offers to .285 hitters with 12 home runs. It's natural for these guys to want to add to their power totals, much like it's natural for a guy like Houck who is best suited for the bullpen to want to start. It's about maximizing earning potential
|
|
|
Post by Oregon Norm on Jan 26, 2023 10:33:41 GMT -5
This is a great set of posts. We can't ignore facts: the starting pitching got shredded because of injuries and the pen gave up what leads they did have over and over again.
But the larger point holds. Incentivizing the all or nothing approach has brought the game to its current state. So there's an effort to reset. That's going to be on ownership, to value the parts of the game that got pushed to the side. I guess that's what MLB is shooting for, but herding owners will only work if they see success on the alternative.
|
|
nomar
Veteran
Posts: 10,825
Member is Online
|
Post by nomar on Jan 26, 2023 10:39:06 GMT -5
I couldn't agree with this more completely. If you as an organization want to sell out for power, then draft/develop/trade for/sign on the market a beer-league softball team. Don't take guys who aren't inclined that way and try to turn them into something they inherently are not. Now I suppose some of this could be players deciding on their own that, since this is the current trend, they have to try to conform to it. But in the end, you need to be true to who you are. If your natural skill set leads to 10 HR and a .380 OBP, how much is it worth to shoot for 20 HR if it results in a .310 OBP? Benintendi absolutely did it on his own, and the FO was pissed. Cora mentioned that Verdugo also bulked up more than they asked, and per his brother Chris, has been cutting down all offseason and working on agility. Yorke was just flat out hurt. I don't think the Sox were trying to reinvent any of these guys, but to speak to your last point of "how much is it worth", like tens of millions of dollars in arb and free agency. Teams aren't making godfather offers to .285 hitters with 12 home runs. It's natural for these guys to want to add to their power totals, much like it's natural for a guy like Houck who is best suited for the bullpen to want to start. It's about maximizing earning potential If Yorke was really hurt, when would they have played him through it at the expense of his confidence and trade value? Not saying he wasn’t injured, I just don’t get the logic in playing him through it then.
|
|
|
Post by pappyman99 on Jan 26, 2023 10:45:21 GMT -5
This is a great set of posts. We can't ignore facts: the starting pitching got shredded because of injuries and the pen gave up what leads they did have over and over again. But the larger point holds. Incentivizing the all or nothing approach has brought the game to its current state. So there's an effort to reset. That's going to be on ownership, to value the parts of the game that got pushed to the side. I guess that's what MLB is shooting for, but herding owners will only work if they see success on the alternative. The Yankees are running proof that the all or nothing approach gets torched by good sps in the playoffs. 2018 we had power but damn we worked out a lot of lengthy at bats. But the 2022 team is not constructed at all that way. We just do not have a deep lineup Yoshida Turner Devers Casas That’s really what our top 4 in the lineup should look like, even with 2 lefties in a row there. We can’t have Hernandez and a career .314 OBP in the top 4 of the lineup, that is just not productive. We might have to default him At 5 because we don’t have a right handed power bat after Turner at this point
|
|
|