Flash

Fans are entitled to blog their opinions on how to improve their favorite teams without 9 paragraphs of rightious rambling on how we should be grateful (I think that is your point) for the early exit because 'the playoffs are a crapshoot boys and girls'. I give you an A for word count though.

Guess it depends on what value you assign to Career .805 OPS/111 OPS+, positional versatility and 25 HRs ('21).

Hard to read Cubs plans for '22 but guessing he could be available at a reasonable price. Maybe Burger plus Lambert plus ? You're right about the volitility though although I think he might be coming into his own.

From Sports Chicago.... 'Happ seemed to be playing himself into a non-tender candidate by late-July — hitting .175 with a sub-.300 on-base percentage and .603 OPS, barely five months after beating the Cubs in arbitration to win a $4.1 million salary. Since then, in his final 60 games, starting July 27, Happ hit .288 with a .938 OPS and 16 of his career-high 25 home runs'

Ian Happ of the Cubs might be an interesting get. SH w/power from both sides. Career OPS of 805. 25 HRs in '21 and capable of playing 2b and all 3 OF positions. looked as though he had things figured out in 2H last year.

I'd happily send Jimenez and Crochet for Marte and Varsho and fail to see how this alters the window. My sense is D-backs would prefer Vaughn to Jimenez in which case I'd be less inclined toward the trade and would focus on Varsho alone. Maybe Crochet plus a combo platter from among Burger, Sheets and Collins for Varsho.

TRADE TARGET... Daulton Varsho Diamondbacks. 25 yr old w/5 yrs of control. Excellent defensive catcher (caught 31 games in '21 but blocked by Carson Kelly) and all around OF (all 3 positions). LH hitter with pop. Can catch or platoon w/Engel and or Jimenez/Vaughn. He'd cost plenty in trade but would be an ideal target. Maybe D-backs would do business on a package to also include Ketal Marte.

TRADE TARGET... Daulton Varsho Diamondbacks. 25 yr old w/5 yrs of control. Excellent defensive catcher (caught 31 games in '21 but blocked by Carson Kelly) and all around OF (all 3 positions). LH hitter with pop. Can catch or platoon w/Engel and or Jimenez/Vaughn. He'd cost plenty in trade but would be an ideal target. Maybe D-backs would do business on a package to also include Ketal Marte.

I don't disagree on the risk w/Moustakas...plus I think he has two years of big bucks left. I do like the Reds as a potential trade partner though. Love Winker, Gray and others.

Moustakis

Obviously. My point was Eloy and Abreu have similar batting profiles. Free swingers prone to chasing sliders out of the zone. When they connect, its fun but too often pitchers can induce Ks or weak contact.

Eloy's value is polarizing for fans. There are clearly those who believe he will eventually fulfill on the promise he displayed while literally exploding lights in the OF tower. Since his debut in 2019 he has accumulated 3.4 WAR across almost 900 plate appearance (0.6 across 213 PA in '21). Can he hit for power?...no doubt. Awkward and uncoordinated?...yep. I am respectful of the opinions of most here and can understand the appeal of Eloy. That said, I am not a fan and believe his value in trade will continue to plummet from today's level which, we might be unpleasantly surprised to find, is not as robust as some believe. Moreover, to me, he appears to lack intensity and seriousness. Maybe I'm being overly critical and I don't expect him to be Juan Soto and stare down pitchers after each pitch but I'd sure like to see him act like he gives a shit. Obviously, I'd trade him to capitalize on whatever trade value he possesses. I might be wrong but I don't think the Sox can ever reach the promised land with Eloy in LF and the middle of the lineup...especially as long as Abreu is also around.

Guessing Gallo has worn out his welcome in NY. Yanks have 1 more year of control at @ $10M. Maybe dangle Keuchel (Yankees seem fond of recycling LH'rs), Fry and $8M or so to make money even. Gallo for a year in OF buys time for Cespdes, Colas or whomever. If Gallo clicks, resign him.

For me, the Sox are less a team and more a collection of individual players, many of whom have gaps in their games that defy their positional requirements and batting order. Missing the discipline to control the strike zone and wait for pitches they can do damage against, or a willingness to take walks if pitchers try to work around them. Lacking the notion of situational hitting such as not swinging at the first pitch when the pitcher is struggling with control. Personally, I don't believe we can reach the promised land with both Jiminez and Abreu in the middle of the lineup...they are simply to easy to strike out or induce into weak contact. For me, Abreu stays and Jimenez goes (I have been advocating trading Jiminez for two years as his trade value has steadily declined). I believe '22 and beyond is less about acquiring specific players and more about sorting from among the current roster, then packaging the redundant (i.e. Eloy) to acquire positional talent who bring more than one-dimension to the roster. Guys like Vaughn, Sheets, Collins, Jiminez, Abreu and to a lesser extent, Mercedes all have value but have similar profiles and short comings to their games. We can't play 'em all.

How about for '22 we invoke a dress code for starters. Caps on straight, shirts buttoned and no jewelry. We lead the league in chains. Maybe hire Gabe Kapler away from Giants to instill a little purpose other than support the local jewelers. More brains and less chains.

Contrary to popular opinion, I like the Sox to take the next two games. Expecting Cease to pitch his ass off tonight and the Sox to muster enough offense to win a close one. Game 4, Sox win a blowout.

Other than CF and catcher, am curous which positions (non-pitchers) you feel the Sox have more talent than Astros?

IMHO there are 3 keys to the series for WS: 1) laying off the low and away sliders Abreu, Robert, Jimeniz, Anderson will get a steady diet of. 2) Rodon's velo (assuming he is healthy enough to get the ball). 3) defense...can't allow extra baserunners and at-bats with Houston lineup. I would add a 4th being some combo of Robert, Jiminez and Moncada getting hot (or in Robert's case hotter). I'm expecting solid play from Abreu and Grandal but we'll need others to contribute at the plate.

For me, Kimbrel was incidental to their willingness to trade Madrigal. With Kimbrel we were betting on whether he could continue his dominant performance through this year and possibly next. So far it looks like a bad bet. Now, if you start with the premise of Madrigal as a trade piece, the question might be...who should we have pursued? My sense is Madrigal, either by himself or coupled with a middling asset or two, might have yielded a more attractive addition, but....obviously I wasn't in the room.

I know it wasn't meant to be but imagine if the Sox made Harper the object of their affection vs. Machado.

AJ Hinch could have been in the Sox dugout instead of Tigers and that would make all the difference

I've wondered if his veto dip is by design in order to protect against injury or if he indeed has lost a couple of ticks. I keep waiting for him to bring the 2020 heat he showed in the POs, even if just to confirm he can still light it up at 101-103 but he's either deliberately throttling back or unable.

Kimbrel is an 8 time All-Star who, at the trade had an ERA of 0.49 and WHIP of .70 while striking out almost 16/per 9. Madrigal was on the DL and out for the season. Heuer showed flashes but hadn't distinguished himself so as to be missed (granted he has performed better in Cub uniform). I don't think Hahn/Williams can be critized for the trade logic. The issue here is Kimbrels performance since coming over. I don't think anyone could have expected he would struggle this badly....certainly not based upon his performance at time of trade.

A bit juvenile of me but it was fun reviewing preseason posts about possible (Food Guys) trade for Burnes and hypothetical players we might send. Not gonna name names but several on this Board were opposed to even considering including names like Kelley, Madrigal, Steiver, Heuer, Vaughn and, God forbid, Jimenez. I recall spirited debate as to who is the better pitcher, Burnes or Giolito. Sorry for being so trivial but just wanted to drive a final stake into the whole 'Burnes relative value' discussion. Where Corbin Burnes now ranks in baseball among qualified pitchers: fWAR: 1st (7.1) ERA: 1st (2.25) FIP: 1st (1.50) xERA: 1st (1.89) xFIP: 1st (2.30) SIERA: 1st (2.59) K-BB%: 1st (30.5) HR/9: 1st (0.30) Barrel rate: 1st (2.6) K%: 1st-t (35.4)

I agree. The only reason you'd hesitate is his injury history but based on performance and the dearth of LH starters (of which Rodon might be the best in the AL), I think he'll get 4/80-100. If I were Hahn/WS, I'd consider it.