Perfect Vision

You seem to be getting hung up on this notion of "part time" or "half time" player, and using that as reason for not paying McCann $18 mil next year. A starting pitcher only impacts 30-35 games a year. A high end reliever may only pitch 50 innings. Are those guys part time players in your mind? Because they only play part time, but still get substantial salaries. It's about the overall value you're getting. WAR is probably the best stat we have at assessing that. I just showed that only playing "part time," McCann could still give you 4+ WAR. That's worth the $18 mil.

You got it. I don't want to get too into this, but McCann has 1.1 fWAR for 20 starts this year. Maybe he doesn't keep that up over 100 starts, but you're still looking at potentially 4 WAR for that $18 mil over 100 starts. And again, if there's an injury, or Vaughn struggles, that number of starts could go way up. 100 seems like the minimum.

Fine, if you insist, let's do the math. Assuming perfect health, let's give Abreu 155 starts next year. That's about his average over his career when healthy. There are 486 total starts among 1B, C, and DH. Taking Abreu's 155 out, that leaves 331 for McCann, Grandal, and Vaughn. Let's give Grandal 131 (about his career average), McCann 100, and Vaughn 100. That works. Remember, Vaughn is probably staying in the minors the first 15 games of the year or so anyway, to get the extra year of control. This also assumes perfect health for all four players, which we all know probably won't be the case.

I would hope that not picking up EE's option (or signing a free agent to DH), combined with non-tendering Mazara and going with Engel/Leury instead, would compensate for the QO salary going to McCann. And that would leave the money available from Gio Gonzalez's, Cishek's, and Herrera's salaries coming off the books to pursue a starting pitcher, if they choose. I don't think bringing McCann back blocks Vaughn, any more than EE is blocked by the presence of McCann. What it would mean is that instead of Abreu, Grandal, and Vaughn getting 160 starts each next year, Abreu, Grandal, Vaughn, and McCann get 110-130 starts each.

I would be in favor of offering McCann a QO. It's a lot of money for a "back up" (although I don't really consider McCann's usage right now as a back up). It's also a lot of money for a catcher. But I think in the big picture, it works. If the Sox don't pick up EE's option or sign another DH this offseason, then that money moves over to McCann. If the Sox also don't tender Mazara and instead go with a Leury/Engel platoon, then I think the money would be close to a wash with what it is this year. It's obvious that the Sox have great chemistry right now. The ingredients are right. I'm worried that losing McCann could have numerous adverse effects that extend beyond his actual numbers: regression of the pitchers (especially Giolito), loss of leadership, etc. If McCann leaves and the Sox underperform expectations to begin next season, I fully expect there to be rampant speculation on this board that the cause is the absence of McCann. It seems guaranteed, in fact. The grouping of Abreu, Grandal, McCann, and Vaughn for 1B, C, and DH can absolutely work. Very similar to how RR balances Abreu, Grandal, McCann and EE for those three spots right now.

That's a freezing cold take right there.

Arguably the best job security as a coach in professional sports is on a bad team with no expectation of winning.

Great to hear Burger is back and healthy. Ironically, the layoff for him could increase the chances he eventually has a place with the Sox. Moncada should be at 3B for a long time and Vaughn at 1B, but when Abreu's contract is up after 2022 (about the time Burger may be MLB ready), he could fit in nicely as the DH. Fingers crossed that Eloy is established and comfortable in LF by that time.

Hahn has had successes and failures. But I personally think the successes have been on far more important matters (acquiring great talent in trades and signing them to extensions) than his failures (signing EE and Gonzalez to low-cost 1 year deals).

The difficulty in evaluating RR is we as fans don't know what the front office might be directing him to do. The decision to start Lopez yesterday, or to keep putting Mazara in the lineup, could be coming from Hahn to better inform him of what roster moves should be made in the offseason. The bad at bats and sloppy defense could also be blamed on RR in part, but the players are professionals and need to take personal responsibility for those things as well. With that said, the decision yesterday to bench McCann and pitch Cordero were almost certainly his, and were objectively wrong decisions.

I trust that if the Sox medical staff and front office thought that an IL stint would get him back to 100%, they would have done it already. This feels like something he's just going to have to play through the rest of the season.

Heard Steve Stone on the Score this afternoon. Basically said what we all think: tonight is the end of the road for Lopez. If he doesn't have a good start, it'll probably be his last one.

Isn't this Mazara too? It would be one thing if Mazara was actually a good outfielder, but if we're going to have below average fielding out there, it might as well be Vaughn doing it since he'll at least provide something offensively. Otherwise, just let Engel play RF every day. He won't hit righties, but neither does Mazara.

Not saying you're wrong, but I'm sure people have said the same thing about Kyle Hendricks his entire career.

That's 2019 mentality right there. The Sox are better than the Twins. Time to show it.

I don't really mind that they didn't trade for Lynn. The move that they missed was Bradley. He would have fit nicely into an 8th inning role (Marshall back to the 7th and Bummer as your "bullpen ace") and could have taken over as closer next year. And they could have acquired him for a prospect or two that we wouldn't have blinked over.

Wasn't Dunning's pitch count around 80 last game? He's already pretty close to being on a regular pitch count.

This really feels like the offer on the table. Twins have offered something that doesn't include Kiriloff or Lewis. And Yankees something else. Daniels deciding among the 3.

Kind of what I thought as well. Any thought that Jon Daniels had that he could get Kopech or Vaughn for Lance Lynn probably just went up in smoke.

Time will tell on this one, but to me, Naylor is just a guy (a regular on a mediocre team), Quantrill is a back end starter, and Arias still a bit of a lotto pick (1 good year under his belt and a long way off still). Bad deal for the Indians.

Am I the only one who thinks this is a terrible deal for the Indians? They just traded a great starter with many years of control and didn't even get a true headliner back?

Been pretty quiet on the Marte/Bradley front. Would the dbacks really not trade those guys today? They're clearly not going to the playoffs this year and, with the Dodgers and Padres in their division, probably not next year either.

Personally, I would love if Hahn surprised everyone and traded for Marte and Bradley. Probably wouldn't cost as much as Lynn. Then roll with Dunning as your #3.

Come back down to earth? Homeboy is hitting .266 with a .314 OBP. He's kept 2B from being a black hole in the lineup, but he is firmly on the earth right now.

Imagine sitting at a blackjack table. You have 16 and the dealer is showing a 6. You decide to hit and get a 5. That's Danny Mendick. Not sure I can explain it any clearer than that.