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Post by sarasoxer on Apr 11, 2021 18:32:19 GMT -5
PTBNL deadline is always 6 months. The understanding here is the Sox had a list and would spend a month or two scouting them. Ok good! A while ago I asked the question whether Beni's performance would impact the basket of possible PBTBNL selections. So Chris your understanding is "No"....that the group originally posited remains the same notwithstanding what happens for Beni.
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Post by sarasoxer on Apr 8, 2021 23:45:00 GMT -5
Yeah but....
Andriese has a very good changeup.
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Post by sarasoxer on Apr 8, 2021 23:22:38 GMT -5
Months ago Steveofbradenton, a sage observer/evaluator, tabbed House...
Obviously there have been injuries but wow, how fluid is the draft prospect positioning?...and likely to continue for 2 more months. That's lots of time for ups/downs and surprise emergence.
All sports drafts are, to a degree, inexact despite the mountains of data and analysis on players, but baseball is still very much the epitome of a crapshoot.
We are likely not to pick fourth again in my lifetime so I sure as hell hope that Bloom "mind melds" with Univac or Spock.
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Post by sarasoxer on Apr 8, 2021 18:29:23 GMT -5
Also Kumar pitching this evening wish him well. If his velocity returns and he becomes a top 4 guy again then he pushes some SSs down to us or hey maybe we grab him. If I'm picking this guy at 4, he has to be throwing 96-98 with no semblance of arm trouble. 89-92 doesn't do it. Hell except for painter Andriese, just about all our guys are in the mid 9Os or above. That's today's (and tomorrow's) baseball. And Kumar is a thrower with iffy command. Bad, light 'em up combo....No thank you. Leiter, yes. Mayer, Lawlar, yes. If those guys are gone, we are more into the land of iffy and hope for.
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Post by sarasoxer on Apr 8, 2021 15:43:52 GMT -5
I'm watching on Gameday, what has happened? A pitch hit Ruiz, but he swung at it so it was a strike. The manager got ejected, but did it in style with his mask in chin diaper mode. Did his best Earl Weaver impression....needs to add kicking dirt on homeplate tho if he wants any real cred.
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Post by sarasoxer on Apr 7, 2021 20:55:35 GMT -5
This has been some of the worst officiating you’ll ever see. Completely lopsided whistle tonight. Evergreen post. NBA refs are almost as useless as MLB umps. We beat the Knicks!!!!
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Post by sarasoxer on Apr 7, 2021 10:56:57 GMT -5
For all the "dismantling the 2018 outfield of Benintendi/Bradley/Betts" distress, Bradley is 1/16 with 7 Ks Benintendi is 3/18 with 1 walk and 5 ks. (and Betts has only 1 RBI /ducks) The volatility does suggest that not getting locked into players for a long time, like TB has done, may be the better route. Get a couple good years out of a guy, then move him. I have been pretty open about hating the Rays’ never-win-a-ring model. Looking at this team the last two days, I am shocked they were in the series last year. It doesn’t look like they’ll be back for a while. But if the Sox follow that model fully, they trade X instead of paying him, let ERod walk, and trade Devers in the next few years. Then they plug in... who? Letting Beni and JBJ go might work as practical matters — though let’s face it, letting go of guys who aren’t going to help only to replace them with Renfroe et al is not *improving* — but it doesn’t provide a rule to follow. If the Rays made money, would they still be constant sellers? Is it strategy or necessity? I think the fear that the Sox will go all Rays is quite overblown. Bloom did what he had to do when he arrived to get a semblance of financial control and help rebuild the barren farm. Early on, he has made progress on both. The Beni situation seemed a careful assessment of talent level, money and potential return. JBJ, even if good, was how old?...and would he be a mainstay on the next championship pursuit? No question Bloom is clinical. Harsh as that can be, it's needed in today's baseball world. What a career pearl for Bloom to come to the Sox where there is finally financial largesse, not constraint. That had to be a huge inducement. His exposure to the Tampa Bay Rays way also was a shiny bauble for the Sox and what was needed. My prediction is that this was a best of both worlds amalgam that will produce a happy marriage for fandom.
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Post by sarasoxer on Apr 7, 2021 10:10:30 GMT -5
Waay too early on Beni demise...4 games into the season. As someone pointed out, players don't lose their athleticism at 26....unless unknown mental or physical circumstances intervene.
Were the Sox given a concrete list of players to choose from for PTBNLs or is that list dependant on Beni's performance?
As to the others 'gone missing' JBJ is streaky...so he'll come out of it. He hit in the .280s last year.... ...And Mookie is Hall of Fame material.
With Cordero's apparent uppercut, 'launch angle' swing, he looks to me a bit like a left hand hitting Chavis.......having a good sized hole with high and hard.
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Post by sarasoxer on Apr 6, 2021 22:11:56 GMT -5
We can't currently beat the top teams...Lakers and Nets + others. We are a bit above middling even with Fournier. So let's prepare for the future...Let's try to accelerate the development of Nesmith and Langford who have the athleticism and energy to help....at the expense of Williams and Ojeleye. Those former two represent upside and second unit incremental improvement.
Maybe an off season trade or use of the trade exception plus a top 15 draft selection gets us close. .
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Post by sarasoxer on Apr 5, 2021 21:43:53 GMT -5
Don't let the lucky home run make you forget the fact that Cora lacks the spine to drop JD Martinez in the order. Ha, Ha...good one. How about dropping down Devers tho...Every swing it seems that he tries to hit the ball 500 feet...as he did early last year. 3 games....zero hits....strikeouts/weak contact. He needs to be more selective and have confidence in his native bat to ball ability without over swinging or committing early.
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Post by sarasoxer on Apr 5, 2021 21:06:13 GMT -5
Imagine if the Celtics just magically added a top 5 center who can playmake (Timelord) and, eventually, a top 20 defense first, drive and cut wing (Romeo) to the Jays, Kemba, and Smart core? Throw in a plus offense 6'7 wing in Fournier and you might actually have something there in a hell of a 7 man core with average 8th/9th men dependent on matchups (Grant, Nesmith, TT, Pritchard) The more I see them post break the more I feel we could shock in the playoffs like the Heat last year following the Crowder/Iguodala additions they had. Whatever it is, it's miles better than whatever two big nonsense we had going there for a while because of COVID/poor roster construction. Well, I like this thinking. I wish Timelord was 6'10"+...devastating! I think that when the recent acquisition euphoria dust settles vs mediocre teams, we are a ways from serious competition. Let's hope that Nesmith finds a decent shot with hours in the gym and that Romeo adds to his defensive prowess borne of superior athleticism with a semblance of an offensive game. Both are energetic with young legs thirsting for playing time. Please Brad give them time to err and grow. Winning today is secondary to maybe winning tomorrow. Otherwise they may become trade throw-ins.
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Post by sarasoxer on Apr 5, 2021 7:06:17 GMT -5
Devers looks like he has the yips whether it's throwing or fielding. If so, those are very hard to shake. They are usually brought on by experience with and fear of additional failure. Ask any golfer with putting woes how cruel they can be. Devers wants so badly to do well and hangs his head in discouragement when he doesn't. I believe that he is currently governed by fielding fears. And so far at least, a position switch with Dalbec isn't in the cards as some reports indicated that Dalbec is stiff and may have regressed at third...plus, not athletic enough. True enough, with Casas in the wings, 3 into 1 at first doesn't go. Someone becomes DH...someone may go or platoon. It's no surprise that no conversations re a Devers contract extension have been had to date.
I also agree that JDM, provided that he has a good season, may punch his ticket out come August to help Bloom continue to restock. He'll be a more valuable player to a team elsewhere. His age doesn't neatly coincide with the next championship go.
As to Richards, he has always had a fairly high walk rate, even when outstanding. But I'm wondering whether injuries have robbed him of the necessary command or whether his stuff has diminished (both?). This spring there was talk of mechanical issues being a problem and his last outing gave hope that those had been worked out. Yesterday, even I had an urge to go to the bat rack.
These games have once again underscored how little spring stats mean when the bell rings. We were not playing the Dodgers. And our record in sacred Fenway has been terrible for some time. This isn't a blip on the screen.
90 wins, 266 homers...?..Ah, I don't think so.
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Post by sarasoxer on Apr 4, 2021 20:55:48 GMT -5
Curious with Richards, he of the high spin rate. Was it lack of stuff or poor location....that led to the poor results. And, if it was a location problem, is that his historical M.O....command that comes and goes or is this the result of him still working back from injury/surgery?
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Post by sarasoxer on Apr 4, 2021 15:48:54 GMT -5
Definitely stay the course it’s still very early. With that being said its tough seeing the worst team in baseball the last few years put up more runs today then we have scored the entire series In the mid 1950s to 1967, Sox fans often wished that our batters could hit against our pitching staff....It could be deja vu all over again.... Whitlock looked very good...and he's the Rule 5 guy! Sawamura...ball, strike, ball, strike. He's probably going to have a high WHIP...dangerous. I suspect that Bloom will be active before the trade deadline....getting more prospects. Loved the way the Orioles tried and did beat the shifts. That was smart baseball...and I wish the Sox players would do more of that. Vazquez is exemplary in that way.
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Post by sarasoxer on Apr 3, 2021 17:50:07 GMT -5
what an uninspiring start to the season. they will obviously play better during the year, but this looks and feels bad. I suppose its still early, but it appears it is now two seasons in a row (2019 & 2021) that Alex Cora has not had the team ready to start the season. Well, hell...they led the Grapefruit in numerous offensive categories...so they appeared primed. Cold weather, wind blowing in, new ball, sluggers rather than hitters....better pitching against...probably about right. Don't despair! Wait 'til July!! We'll have some 14-10 games.
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Post by sarasoxer on Apr 3, 2021 15:37:39 GMT -5
The marginal fans are gone until this team reaches .530. Maybe .550 So....what you are saying is that they won't be around this year?...
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Post by sarasoxer on Apr 2, 2021 10:20:50 GMT -5
I mean, 266 HR's would have been 5th in the league in 2019, and the Sox are very deep in Power first guys (Dalbec, Cordero, Renfroe) and overall good hitters with power (JD, Devers, Bogaerts) so I don't think it's out of the question. As for the 5.00 ERA, it's just predicting the individuals likely outcome. Chances are someone is going to have a bad season, but why predict one guy to just have a blow up season other than the odds that someone will? Yup. And you put a heckuva lot of work in on this. I used to guestimate year-end stats of players and they were all within narrow parameters. We know that some guys will do better and some worse...but those kinds of predictions can't be made.
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Post by sarasoxer on Apr 2, 2021 9:10:39 GMT -5
More important than the HRs is the 90-95 wins this would result in. GOOOO SOXXXX The odds of every starter under 5.00 ERA, and that the Red Sox hit 266 or more HRs is probably about the same as winning the lottery Twice...
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Post by sarasoxer on Apr 1, 2021 20:57:35 GMT -5
He ain't goin' #1 with that stuff....Top 10?
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Post by sarasoxer on Apr 1, 2021 20:56:34 GMT -5
Sounds like the velo down again tonight. Kendall Rogers @kendallrogers Kumar Rocker struck out two in a scoreless third and now has five strikeouts. That last slider from him at 85 was his nastiest of the night so far. Fastball velocity was 90-91 that frame. @vandyboys #mlbdraft 8:24 PM · Apr 1, 2021·Twitter for iPhon
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Post by sarasoxer on Apr 1, 2021 14:12:06 GMT -5
I'm guessing Houck won't get enough innings to win the Cy. Ha,ha,ha..... But if he did.....
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Post by sarasoxer on Mar 31, 2021 6:54:08 GMT -5
We have to have an attractive enough team to get a buyout guy.
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Post by sarasoxer on Mar 30, 2021 19:52:09 GMT -5
Momentary disappointment posted above. 'The sun will rise, the sun will set and I'll have lunch'...Cs look like they are entrenched in mediocrity tho... Lakers and Nets vying, by buying, championship quality teams... You mean for this year or going forward... Because Tatum just turned 23 and Brown is still 24. Tatum has already even second team all nba and is a 2 time all-star and brown is also an all-star on the rise. Those guys don’t destine any team to be entrench in mediocrity. Tatum’s said it multiple times now and including recently... he hasn’t fully recovered from COVID. His game shows it. There’s something missing energy wise. Hopefully a real offseason will fix that. Do you feel the Cs are going anywhere this year? Yeah we've got 2 all-stars but the team is playing un-Celtic type ball. Iso, iso, iso. To your point, Tatum does not look terribly bushed now. Historically we've done well by not playing Kobe or MJ hero ball but that is where we are trending IMO. So if we need to do that to be anywhere near competitive (or our stars and/or coach feel that way), we have to get better players to generate team confidence and share the load. And if the roster is deemed talent deficient, then Danny is a pinatta. Now maybe Romeo helps finally when and if, and maybe Nesmith progresses to elevate the team play/talent level. But that is for next year and beyond... After a championship sniff last year, we are curently in some 'danger' of dropping to the lottery this season. As a sage once said, 'our record is who we are'. IMO, Danny has opted out this year with his eyes on next year and beyond. Our pickups at the deadline don't move the current needle...
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Post by sarasoxer on Mar 30, 2021 9:03:22 GMT -5
Momentary disappointment posted above. 'The sun will rise, the sun will set and I'll have lunch'...Cs look like they are entrenched in mediocrity tho...
Lakers and Nets vying, by buying, championship quality teams...
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Post by sarasoxer on Mar 29, 2021 22:00:52 GMT -5
Something's got to give...either Danny or Brad or both. This team is going south. I agree with an above poster that Smart's sometimes great defensive plays are often outweighed by offensive fauxpas. On a very good team, he is an asset with spirit and tenacity...a potential difference maker. On this team, the act is getting tired.
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