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Post by johnsilver52 on Feb 12, 2021 21:57:42 GMT -5
Interesting question of whether guys who bulked up can revert their quick swings. The bulking up works for some and ruins others. this was brought up when Benny started having problems on the board.. I can name guys it worked for, Like Brady Anderson, tho it may have been needle assisted and guys bulking up whose career it killed.. Nelson Simmons who was a Tigers top prospect saw 1st hand at both lakeland and Winter Haven in the old FSL and Sparky Anderson himself said bulking up took away all of his quickness and speed. sound familiar? |
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Post by johnsilver52 on Feb 12, 2021 21:40:25 GMT -5
Safe to ask who is headed to the Fort this spring? I'm not. cpl locals.. Sarasoxer? not seen steveinbradenton on the boards for a bit.. You guys going to take in any of the kids this spring? Think going to head down later in the summer for just 1 trip this year.
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Post by johnsilver52 on Feb 12, 2021 18:41:57 GMT -5
I guess you could package Chavis and Arroyo for an upgrade, leaning in the versatility of Hernandez and Gonzalez. And with Aruaz in the minors. Chavis doesn't really make sense for the team at this point; he's redundant with everyone. Issue there is that Arroyo has no trade value, other than possibly some end of 40 man roster player another team was contemplating cutting ties with already and Chavis brings back ATM far less than the 2 guys benny just did after the shortened 2020. He will need some consistent playing time at AAA to adjust again after the league figured him out and need to adjust himself. I think he can is 2c. Chatted him up for nearly half hour after was drafted in Tampa once after GCL playoff game and he had been recently drafted. Extremely intelligent kid came away with who, along with now gone CJ Chatham have thought both would do well at MLB level after seeing in person. FWIW..best pitcher thought would make it decent seen up close live last few years was Anderson Espinoza.. Man that guy was just so non hittable.. And only 18 when pitched at ft myers.. |
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Post by johnsilver52 on Feb 11, 2021 21:48:50 GMT -5
Seems like they want a short bench They need to. If you look at the pitching - assume there are no injuries - I know, I know. For the rotation: E-Rod, Eovaldi, Richards, Perez, Pivetta For the bullpen: Barnes, Ottavino, Brasier, Sawamura, Hernandez, Taylor, Andriese, Whitlock That's 13 pitchers that they're kind of lock into. So that would mean a 4 man bench. So that's Plawecki, Gonzalez, Arroyo, Munoz or something like that. Perhaps Moreland can't be added, but I'd still like to see it. Take Moreland over Arroyo also. Arroyo of no real need with so many on the roster capable of playing 2b and that's not even counting Chavis. Question would be signing Moreland would require another 2-4m of now precious cap space, which is growing scarcer. |
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Post by johnsilver52 on Feb 11, 2021 15:24:55 GMT -5
Jacob Wallace just came back as a PTBNL for Pillar. Marco Hernandez, a useful player until career destroyed by shoulder injuries was a PTBNL in the felix Doubront trade.
Looking like Bloom is going after power arms of some type in every deal he makes to stash in the minors, a change from other regimes and something i like. Hope 1 of the PTBNL's is another of this type. 1 hopefully out of the bunch acquired will pay off. All (except MiLB rule 5 Ort) are very young and plenty of time to see and develop. Like getting extra draft picks last year and not wasted on those "4 pitch mix" rubbish types we saw for so many years.
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Post by johnsilver52 on Feb 10, 2021 23:45:35 GMT -5
Serious question: they *have* to resign JBJ now, right? They have one full-time outfielder. No, not in my mind. Seems to me they moved him as less of a salary cleanse than as a way to try and just move him for anything they could get back and the deal they took was probably the highest return. Paying 3m of Benny's deal will only leave tad over 10m before hitting the salary cap and that's before figuring in the 1.2mAAV Sawamura is expected to earn. Bradley's market falls to 5-6m annually and perhaps, which could happen if boras has been pumping his BS machine all winter, but doubt it's that bad and even then don't think Boston would go more than 2y if it fell that low. |
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Post by johnsilver52 on Feb 10, 2021 21:44:50 GMT -5
I defy people to say these two guys are great gets. I smell having to tolerate another deluge of "now we can afford JBJ" posts about to erupt on the site.. And yeah.. What a pile on the return. Hopefully it was only about clearing more space, but for a Moreland, cheaper real backup OF etc.. Not a wasted expensive get. |
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Post by johnsilver52 on Feb 10, 2021 13:06:20 GMT -5
My 2c is that the NE media has pretty much always played more importance in what has happened to various NE teams, especially the Sox than they should have. Term "pesky reporters" means more to NE sportswriters than maybe any other in the country over the years.
Get what you mean Umassgrad. Can understand Boston going over tax limit on condition team is doing exceptionally well come July, but only under that condition. Doing so now, with a BP looking like this, not the kind of offense Boston is used to and key players like Benny and Martinez hoping to comeback after awful 2020 seasons would be a poor reason to go over prematurely, unless maybe some beat writer looking for a story to complain about, then they need nothing as it is for an excuse.
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Post by johnsilver52 on Feb 8, 2021 16:49:00 GMT -5
Don't you have to try and project the 2022 luxury tax line if we are going to speculate why we should or shouldn't go over? Maybe it's just me, yet I'd expect that to really jump in the future if that system stays in place. The smart way, would be raising it yearly based on the increase in revenue. Which would result in big jumps, not these little ones of the last three years. By 2022 you could be looking at multiple prospects being part of the game plan. Thus allowing you to easily get back under. So I really don't see the issue. The issue seems to be if you think it stays close to $210 million and you think the Red Sox plan on going crazy with big deals. Even then, what was our tax bill in 2018? $12 million is the number coming to mind. Kinda sick of the BS that a team has to dip back under because they might pay a 15-20 million tax bill. If you have a great team at that point, it makes no sense. The difference is the Red Sox making 20% returns versus 10% returns and that's not even counting the NESN money. The media thinks we went under and traded Betts to save money. When in reality it was about restocking the system for another run. The more money our owner makes, the more he will spend. So why go offer this year? If the extra money gets you to the playoffs, that extra money will be more than any tax money in a few years. Nevermind making you a destination for free agents, getting young guys playoff experience and making NESN a bunch of money. Really the only argument I see about not going over when you've spent this much, is that it won't make a difference. Yet that seems foolish looking at this roster. It doesn't workout, be sellers and get back under. In my mind, it's more of a you never know what the upcoming CBA could bring and instead of no real hard cap still, a harsh penalty could be brought forth, like losing draft picks after years 2-3 for going over the cap at certain levels, maybe even the lowest of levels would end up losing some pick(s) and is another reason am leery of going over last 2 times CBA negotiations have come up. We have already seen compensation for FA turn into pretty much nothing and free picks for so called "small market" teams often worth more than comp picks, so I could fairly easily see the league, without powerful owners amongst the larger market owners now, seeing more and more going the way of what is not really fair. Put it this way.. If they were given a choice of sharing cable revenue, or caving on compensation.. Which one do you think large market teams will choose in a land slide? |
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Post by johnsilver52 on Feb 8, 2021 4:39:27 GMT -5
I've understood your reasoning for going over the tax limit since the start, tho never lately for a guy like JBJ since they signed these last 3 folks and got so close to it will admit who despite his glove and paragraph after paragraph of wonderful things have seen written regarding him, is still nothing more than a glove guy with a 2 month bat which nobody wants to see at the plate the remainder of the season.
CBA..Certainly, things will be changing some, but going over the limit a season before the team "really" has a chance to compete and go far in the playoffs is 1 season closer to stiff penalties which caused the team having to go into reset in the 1st place. Were they setting their sites on signing a Springer this offseason? SURE!! Trading for a Bryant and trying to lock him up for the foreseeable future? Same thing, but not for some glove guy several people on this ite have some love affair with. Ink Marisnick, or Pillar and let's forget all about Bradley.
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Post by johnsilver52 on Feb 8, 2021 1:24:24 GMT -5
Could be an interesting signing. I'd rather they sign Kela who could possibly close, but then again maybe Sawamura could close. He was a closer in Japan although that was quite awhile ago, so maybe his team(s) didn't feel he was the man in their bullpen. His walks spiked upwards the last couple of seasons in Japan, although he still pitched pretty well. Last season could have been an outlier a little bit given that what was going on here was also going on in Japan as well, so maybe he wasn't as ramped up as usual, which could explain his rough start but him settling in later. I'm pretty sure Cora will simply hand the ball to Barnes in the 9th, but I can't say I trust him as the closer and Ottavino is kind of similar to Barnes, so I do have a hope in the back of my head that Sawamura, if he signs, could maybe take over as the closer, although I know that might not make sense given that he hasn't closed in Japan for quite some time. And will probably continue to blow up as a closer, like Taz did when he was given the ball for a short time in the 9th. While Barnes may be a decent setup guy, I don't think he's got the mentality for closing and has shown it, a reason Workman was given the chance in 2019 and thankfully was good at it. While Cora may feel Barnes has "earned the right" to close, it will cost games in the end. As the BP stands right now, either Ottavino, or Brasier are better choices to close. |
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Post by johnsilver52 on Feb 7, 2021 16:49:41 GMT -5
Looks good to me. Google him and an Oct 2020 link from MLBTR on him comes up. Sounds pretty decent to me, or better than couple guys already projected to be in Sox pen.
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Post by johnsilver52 on Feb 6, 2021 19:35:36 GMT -5
Look at the bright side. Leiter blows up and he's got a nick name already. His dad's old one from when he blew up and had a bad game.. "Leiter Fluid"..
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Post by johnsilver52 on Feb 6, 2021 18:01:54 GMT -5
I'm stating the obvious here, but the key here is "hit on a couple guys". It's clear that the Red Sox are looking to systematically emulate the Dodgers here. Just for giggles I looked at LA's drafts going back to 2012. 2012: Seager(1) 2013: Bellinger(4) 2014: Verdugo(2) 2015: Buehler(1) 2016: Lux(1), W. Smith(2), May(4), Gonsolin (9)(!) 2017: Wong(3) It's arguable that 4 of these guys are superstars (Seager, Bellinger, Buehler, May). Will Smith is an important role player. Gonsolin looks to be an important piece going forward for them. Lux is a big time prospect. Verdugo and Wong were 2/3rds of a trade to bring in another superstar. This is, admittedly, virtually impossible to duplicate, and only their draft acquisitions. This doesn't include IFAs. If they want to be perennial contenders, the key is to start producing their own talent, specifically pitching talent. Truthfully, even that level of success might be more than one can ask, but for all the hand-wringing over DD’s approach, the fact is that the Sox problems can as easily be traced to their terrible drafts. Just looking at the non-1st round picks the Dodgers have hit with... those were mostly guys that got away. But we end up with Cannon, Decker, Brannen, Chatham, just to name a few 2nd rounders. Since Benny, it looks like at this point Casas is the only draft pick that could yield a legit star, unless Groome really picks it up (don’t say Houck!). Yes, we’ve lost a lot of picks for signing FAs, and being good hurts your position, but the Sox seem to be unusually good at avoiding diamonds in the rough. My issue has been the type of picks and then fully getting to know some some of them. Cannon and before him, 4th rounder Tate matheny were wasted "safe picks" who IMO were upside of utility infielder, or 4th outfielder in matheny's case and Brannen is one who really got me. I don't know how many have seen him up close at other levels, but what saw of him one week at Ft myers, I don't think his head was in the game at all in CF or at the plate and he heard it in the dugout once, reminiscent of a chewing out Basabe got once when was there for looking foolish at the plate. Of course more picks can be added to that list up high.. I've gone over the garbage tossers numerous times from years with wasted number 1-2 draft picks who never did anything and complained a bunch when they happened, only to get reminded better heads were drafting... A new regime is here now and let's hope things have improved from the erroneous ways. Having a massive advantage in the draft and IFA market is gone, which allowed Boston to get the stars they had and most they still do. It will take an intelligent system to do it now, not stumbling onto 1 out of 5 like they used to and drafting the Cannon, Matheny, Stankewiez and Brannon lot. |
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Post by johnsilver52 on Feb 5, 2021 17:54:47 GMT -5
Going to be very interesting to watch what the Dodgers do now. Cot's already had them at $204M. Meanwhile, they don't really have a 3B. Unless Edwin Rios there really is the plan? I wonder if they're going to try to move Price. He's currently their Number 4 and they're paying him $15M. Kershaw has one more year but they have May ready now and Gray in the future, plus Gonsolin in the swingman role (or Urias I guess). Then comes the part we talk about now with the Red Sox - how do they pivot? Do they not re-sign Jansen next year and hope Graterol or Treinen can close? They need to extend Bellinger and Buehler is getting into arb. The huge advantage they have is their farm. They will still have Smith, May, Ruiz, Gray, Lux, Graterol cheap. Slide Price 15 big 'uns under the table to opt out again? Kidding of course, but who knows what he will do. Possibly signals from his end playing this season isn't set in stone and the pandemic has caused a way to sit out season(s)..Albeit unpaid..Without voiding contracts. |
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Post by johnsilver52 on Feb 5, 2021 17:27:32 GMT -5
Based on him striking out at a fairly high rate for someone with his lack of in game power. So more of a relativity thing than a real contact issue. Not trying to be snippy here.. Duran only started the upswing last summer at Pawtucker with the extras and really hasn't had a prolonged chance, other than short PR winter league to try his swing out vs real competition. I can't see how hammering him for "in game power" is genuine when the team has fair confidence that he has that ability now. |
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Post by johnsilver52 on Feb 4, 2021 23:08:25 GMT -5
Have posted here before am pretty sure and just in case our northern friends were not aware.. Tampa's abysmal fan attendance average really isn't accurate anyway. For instance. Not looking any up, but am pretty sure Boston had 3m total yet again in 2019, as they do every season. Tampa will "show" an average of around 20k per game as remember last time I looked few years backed, but it's bonkers. Try and get any ticket to a Yankee and R/Sox game not in bleachers, or nose bleed seats on game day. Sometimes, even those are gone!, yet when Orioles, Tribe, Detroit etc.. Come to town? Place is nothing but empty blue seats. They will announce 10-15k, but I don't believe it and have been there for a few when son gets tickets on occasion (he lives there).
The Lightning played there for a season and had massive crowds every night (had season tickets (lol).
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Post by johnsilver52 on Feb 3, 2021 22:17:04 GMT -5
JBJ can seek out whatever he wants but that doesn't mean it's going to happen. It'd be worth $$ to see what Boras has written up in those silk binded books he had written up with regards to Bradley. He's probably compared to a Yaz type who plays CF with the propensity boras has for flat out lying and making up facts to suit "his" people. |
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Post by johnsilver52 on Feb 3, 2021 21:01:42 GMT -5
Rays did go out and spend right after the franchise was awarded. Quickly found out additional star power didn't help any with the gates and the team was dismantled. Huizenga did the same thing down state in Miami, only he got a WS with his big buys. I can't see Sternberg (Rays owner) all of a sudden changing his ways and throwing nearly 90m at a DH playing corner OF. This guy signs his own stars as youngsters to team friendly deals, then unloads them before market value years kicks in. he's been owner for over a dozen years, don't remember exactly how long, but he's been there a long time. This just makes no sense for him to OK it.
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Post by johnsilver52 on Feb 3, 2021 18:12:38 GMT -5
I don't know anything about Pio Deportes....does anyone know if they are credible? We have seen his name thrown around with Boston before and don't see why. A non fit that would require going over the tax threshold. Martinez is the DH, he's a poor defensive corner OF.. Where? Is Benny gone? Are they talking 1y? Bradley makes more sense and he makes none now so close to the salary cap. |
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Post by johnsilver52 on Feb 2, 2021 20:30:56 GMT -5
Chris Archer got 1 year 6.5 million from the Rays pending physical. They're familiar with him but that's still a head scratcher to me. The way he's looked the last few years I think that'll be a sunk cost. I bet tampa flips him at the deadline for the next Austin meadows Or is given his outright release by June because he really is the terrible pitcher, both on the mound and mentally everyone saw at Pittsburgh over 2 seasons and that was before having major surgery. How THAT guy managed to not just get a MLB deal, but one for 6.5m is the shocker of this offseason, then throw in from the cheapest organization going? I had wanted Bloom to look at Archer on a MiLB deal, posted as much here, but a 40 man spot, then this much guaranteed? It's beyond ridiculous. |
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Post by johnsilver52 on Jan 31, 2021 15:41:04 GMT -5
I'd love to know how many times a third place team finished with 94 wins? Ah yes.. You asked a question from my favorite time period... 1977 Both Boston and baltimore tied for 2nd/3rd with *97* wins. '98 is an almost.. Brewers won 93 for 3rd. '99 boston at 91 (3rd). Ahh.. The AL east in the 1970's... |
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Post by johnsilver52 on Jan 31, 2021 12:09:20 GMT -5
Weber.. He of last off season's "this guy has terrific spin rate" and will be a good pitcher, regardless of the fact he's been consistently terrible for his entire career. Doesn't everyone just love how some just pump up and swear by analytics and this crap *only* and never waver from it?
Think it's time to jump off the hammer Andriese. At best he's a long reliever/starter in a relievers game and he's sure better than was Velezquez of a cpl years back. At worst, he's better than guys at the bottom of the pen, like valdez and Brice.
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Post by johnsilver52 on Jan 29, 2021 15:28:14 GMT -5
All right, deleted my response to the off-topic stuff. As for the season starting... any possibility it will be dalyed, either ST or regular season? Came back to catch mine, but mods took care of it (thanks!). As for ST being delayed in Florida.. I doubt it on a whole state basis, unless the entire state is hammered. Risk of starting something unintended (again).. DeSantis has been the king of the country thus far in attempting to keep as much open as possible so far thru these horrible times to stop from ruining the state economy any more than possible and it seems to have worked. Locals are still allowed some leeway of course and the southern part of the state isn't as.. Well, let's just say it doesn't burn bright red as much as a cooler blue breeze and about 3/4 of the teams with ST in Florida are in south florida now, unlike 25-30y ago when was only a couple. That said.. I "do" remember when Florida was at it's worst on the pandemic case wise and the southern part of the state was in kind of a lock down. Don't remember the countie(s) involved. Palm beach comes to mind, but it didn't last long. My 2c is DeSantis isn't going to have any part of canceling ST, nor allow the counties to either for something this big. |
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Post by johnsilver52 on Jan 29, 2021 3:15:39 GMT -5
Was going to throw one of my favorite, all time TV announcers in there with the Phillies listed in Tommy Hutton, but double checked and he had taken his superb PH bat to the Expos by 1980 from Philly (74-78). Davalio is a name hadn't thought of in many years  Gates Brown was known as a decent PH for the Tigers in the pre-DH era. He had a .777 OPS in that role, compared to .750 overall. He popped 16 HRs in 423 PH ABs. He also spent time in the slammer on a burglary rap before his time in The Show. What remember of Brown was that he looked a lot like stretch McCovey. Isn't it kind of another example of how the game has changed tho? Teams, especially NL ones all kept specialized PH guys on the roster. Some were of little use in the field, except for dire emergency, like 40+ YO Manny Mota a few seasons, Gates Brown as mentioned. |
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