Perfect Vision

Any non-rental player good enough to block Madrigal is light years more expensive in prospect capital than the Sox could afford.

Assuming the Sox don't trade anyone on the MLB roster, they simply don't have a "headliner" to be able to make a big trade. I expect Sheets, Adolfo and one of Thompson or Dahlquist to be traded for one or more depth pieces. I don't think Burger will be traded this year.

Honestly, I don't think there's a single player in the Sox minor league system who I would have a problem with being traded away. Probably the first time I've felt that in 5 years. The closest would probably be Jake Burger, just because I think it would be great to see him get to the big leagues with the Sox, although he's about as blocked as a prospect can be.

I will say this: If it's only a hamstring injury, then Madrigal should be back by or before Labor Day, which should give him enough time to shake the rust off before the playoffs, and with the dominant starting pitching the Sox have and the general weakness of the division, the Sox should still be considered the odds on favorites to win the AL Central this year. There is still a good chance that the Sox will be in the divisional series come October and that Eloy, Robert, and Madrigal will all be in the lineup for game 1.

My guess is the Sox trade Gavin Sheets for a solid but unspectacular relief pitcher at the deadline, and that is their only move. I don't see a trade for an outfielder with Engel now back from his injury and Robert due back in late August/early September.

If we're assuming he stays healthy all year and has a Cy Young-caliber season, I think he would decline a QO. With his injury history, would there be a team out there willing to make him a 5+ year offer based on his 2021? That seems doubtful to me. But I think he would get 3-4 year offers with an AAV in the range of the QO.

I've seen enough clips of Madrigal driving the ball with authority to left in college and the minors that I'd be surprised if he doesn't end the year with 3-4 hrs. But the actual impact these few homers will have on his slugging and value as a player is minimal so who cares. It does seem like there are a lot of people who would be far more satisfied with Madrigal if he hit 5 hrs/year compared to 0, all else being the same, which to me is strange.

Moving Eloy to DH seems like a no-brainer to me. It sounds like he's worked hard on his defense and wants to play the field, but there's no denying that he is a below average defender and plays the position with a recklessness that makes him vulnerable to injury. It's one thing to have a great defender who plays somewhat recklessly and is therefore injury prone (i.e. Aaron Rowand), who you put back out there when healthy and hope for the best. It's something else entirely when the player is a poor defender to begin with and is also reckless. Mercedes has been a boost to the team but he should be dealt this offseason.

IIRC, part of the condition for Tony becoming manager is he would get some say in personnel decisions and the Sox would be willing to add payroll. Mercedes is in the dog house and due for regression. Pujols is about to be the Sox full time DH.

This can be interpreted in a bunch of different ways. Did none of the other coaches know the rule? Did they know the rule but fear speaking up to correct Tony? Did they know the rule, but based on Tony's answer, assume that Tony knew it as well and preferred Hendriks running to a position player?

Why shouldn't it be part of the thought process. Eloy has shown that he plays the position in a way that makes him vulnerable to injury. Putting him out there isn't best for the team. The PR nightmare wouldn't come from the injury, but that the Sox brass should have known better at this point.

I don't think Eloy steps foot in left field again. Can you imagine, if after all this, the Sox put him out in left field again next year and he got injured again?!? It would be a PR disaster and the Sox have invested too much in him. No, he's done in the field. Vaughn will play left this year and next year and then the Sox will have to decide whether to keep him there long term or move him to 1B if/when Abreu's contract is up. Yermin should absolutely be traded this offseason to an NL team needing a DH. If he's solid all year, the Sox should be able to get really good value for him in a trade as a cost-controlled, MLB-proven hitter.

We have a serious problem here. If everyone is actually healthy, then there's no reasonable defense for this lineup. None. Which means one of two things -- either LaRussa is suffering from serious cognitive decline (not meant as an insult, but an objective observation), or LaRussa is doing this as a huge F You to the fans/media/Hahn, just to show everyone he can do whatever he wants.

The OPS statistic is a good one, but not perfect by any means, and people who criticize Madrigal rely too heavily on it as the end-all-be-all for measuring a player's baseball value. There was an at bat the other night that perfectly captured the chasm between Madrigal's actual value and OPS as a statistic. Madrigal was up and Robert was at third with one out. Madrigal fouled off some tough pitches with 2 strikes that most hitters would have struck out on, then hit an RBI groundout. Madrigal's skillset produced a concrete positive result that won't be reflected in his OPS.

This is cherry picking at its finest. I can promise there will be one or two players selected after Madrigal that will have a better overall career than him. And Madrigal haters will constantly mention that the Sox blew the pick because they could have selected one of those guys (while of course omitting to mention the other 28 guys selected in the first round who were busts).

Assuming all Madrigals, every plate appearance would be expected to produce 0.63-0.64 outs. So it would take over 42 plate appearances to produce 27 outs. Over 42 plate appearances is going to produce 16 times on base.

I would check your math on that. 9 guys with a .350-.375 OBP and 27 outs. How many times on base?

Not true at all, because your 27 outs are all balls in play. Runner(s) would be advancing on most at bats. There would be plenty of 1-hit innings that would result in a run.

I've seen this said many times and I just don't buy it. I'd put a lineup of 9 Madrigals vs. any lineup in baseball all day long. On a per game basis, you're looking at at about 12-14 hits, 4-5 walks, and 0 strikeouts. People don't think that would produce a bunch of runs?

Vaughn showing that he can make all the routine plays in left field and an occasional good one (like in today's game) is a very, very positive development and far outweighs some of his early struggles at the plate.

Well, we'll probably never know what Stearns was asking for, but it's starting to feel like whatever it was Hahn should have paid it.

Let's not forget that Nick Williams got hit squarely in the hand yesterday, and is probably dealing with some swelling/soreness today. Even if he was raking that's reason enough for him to not be in the lineup today.

If anyone wants the real answer why this is happening: Tim is about to come off the IL, Jake Lamb is about to be DFA'd, and Tony wanted to throw him a start before that happens. Trying to win a baseball game, be damned.

Time for Hahn to go all "moneyball" and just DFA Nick Williams and Jake Lamb. "Sorry, Tony, you can't start those guys tonight....they're no longer on the team"

Lol Clown show