Look at Ray Ray Run

Who knew former Padres and caufield legend Luis Urias was still in the league!

I am happy to theorize as to why some players are typically resistant to big change though. It's hard to get players off of what got them to MLB. It's been working for them their entire life. Some players will never move off of it. Others will take a wait and see approach, and adjust when they feel they are tapped out and limited. I think the latter was Vargas. He got through two full seasons of games roughly at the end of last year and looked up and saw himself as a below average player but likely felt more of a belief that he, at least, belonged here. So he was confident in his approach and felt better with his swing, but didn't feel like those two things were going to get him where he wanted to be. So he put on weight and busted his ass to get stronger to add power and authority to a good profile. No one ever has to tell you to swing harder. It's like telling a pitcher to throw harder.

The Sox told Vargas to "swing harder" is pretty funny.

I was getting ready to respond to this and disagree, but then reread you said "this spring training." Coming into the year, prior to spring, him being considered a bench bat made a ton of sense. He was worth 1.3 fWAR over a full season as a starter. When I saw his swing speeds were up 3 MPH in spring, I definitely changed my perspective on his possible outcomes though. Don't think some realize how much of an increase that was and how significant it was to expected outcomes. So I agree, if you still thought he had no shot with the spring data coming out, then you were hating on Vargas too much.

I know you and some others are committed to giving the majority of player growth and improvement credit to men in suits, but most players get better on the back of their own efforts, commitments and dedication. Organizations can nurture that to an extent, but unless you think the Dodgers somehow didn't know how to develop Vargas but the Sox had the magic, I think we can move past this silly idea. The one thing the Sox could afford to give Vargas that the Dodgers couldn't was time. Guys who are close to quitting don't dedicate themselves to the degrees Vargas has. Vargas deserves the credit for his transformation and for his commitment to getting stronger.

Well that.... or I'm pretty sure the Pirates would have laughed and hung up the phone if the Sox offered Acuna instead of Gonzalez.

I mentioned in another thread that I'm pretty skeptical of a model of that ilk, just because of the diversity of body types in sports. When I was younger and going through trainings, the sentiment at that time was that bulking up would hurt flexibility and limit range so heavy lifting and weight gains would hamper you defensively. Obviously I think some of that was wrong with modern training, but I'm still generally skeptical of a guy gaining athleticism by putting on weight. Maintaining seems possible though. I was surprised to read that they thought if he lost weight, he'd lose athleticism too. I think, in general, those statements are too blanketed and there's probably more to it but if you put on lean muscle mass and shed bulk and some fat, typically your flexibility and the likes increases which improves your athleticism. Obviously all that nuance couldn't be detailed out in 1 paragraph of an article though!

You liked a post in this thread that called the GM (Getz) an idiot and over matched. If you want to try and rewrite history though, go for it!

I think its like 80% credit to Vargas and 20% to the staff giving him a long leash. His biggest change was putting on muscle and swinging harder. Not saying they've made no swing adjustments, but generally I think this is mostly vargas. Team deserves some credit for identifying a player with that will to improve though

I mean, he's been no where near as good as Yordan or Witt.

There is some weird obsession fans have with guys production over small samples. You're literally talking about 46 at bats. To answer your question, he's been worth .6 fWAR. While running a 486 BABIP. Maybe you think he's going to start running 486 BABIP's for fun, but I have my doubts! If he was running a 293 BABIP (where his career has been so far), he'd be hitting around 230 over that period of time. That said, his xwOBA is at a much more respectable 343 over that period of time, but again it's small sample noise. He's very likely still a bad baseball player. He's also been a negative defender over that same period.

Fedde had bad-to-middling stuff and Detmers has very very good stuff. So they're not at all similar to me.

This what I get for responding before reading. Yup, 60 grade speed.

He ran a 4.2 to first in the futures game the other day. That's 60 grade speed. I think it surprised a lot of people. Baseball America had several things on it.

Defensive excellence is less scarce than offensive excellence. Even with the attention and emphasis on defense and baserunning in the modern era, the fact remains that someone will always find a place for a top tier bat who can't defend while top tier defenders who can't hit have short lived careers. I think Bonemer is a top tier bat. And he's a good athlete to boot and isn't a worthless defender. Is he as good as roch, sounds like no, but he can play the field and has ++ speed which roch doesn't have. I'd bet on caleb to be a stand out offensive player more than I'd bet on roch to be, which is why I'd take bonemer over Roch.

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In my opinion, if anything baseball related is causing the back issue it's his violent swing. Not playing defense.

I find it fascinating that people think you can play 3rd base with a bad back but not SS. Last I checked, you can't play baseball with a bad back.

"They expressed Thursday night that they wanted me to be the guy, and they knew I wanted to be there, I felt like things definitely got a lot easier," Cholowsky said. Not that this isn't all theater anyway when you allow this type of "access" in a hyper-insular and competitive environment but it does make this particular detail pretty funny.

Dont even think Lackey can overtake my love of Bonemer but it would have been neck and neck! I might like Bonemer more than I liked Ant, but that might be pushing it!

Bonemer over Roch 100 out of 100 times. Defensive edge probably makes roch safer, but I'll take the guy who is younger and pulling a wRC+ of 134 in pro ball across A+ and AA over the older guy with a 146 wRC+ in college every single time.

I think you hurt his value significantly by moving him. Taking a 2B 1-1 would be bad process. I agree it's good to consider it, but don't love that possibility at all. I enjoyed the read. Ill say this though, the Sox appear to view 2 strike numbers as solely approach driven - you can see that with Colson everyday. 2 strike numbers are also the outcome of having to swing at pitches you wouldnt normally swing at. They obviously/hopefully have numbers on swing speed and etc with 2 strikes to help drive here, but 2 strike numbers are a product of situation as much as approach. So it's not just a byproduct of how he's attacking in those counts. Almost everyone sees a decline in numbers with 2 strikes vs 1 and 2. I also have a ton of skepticism around a model projecting athleticsm based on weight gains and losses. Especially one that correlates putting on weight with growth in perceived athleticsm. The inference that he wouldnt lose weight though is interesting as most players lose weight throughout the season (at least ones with off-season lifting programs) because they dont lift with the same frequency in season. Buster was losing 15-20 pounds a season, and I remember talking to Joe at a showcase when I was 17 and he was telling me he always went into the season 5-10 pounds over where he'd end the year.

So Burdette is better than Burress? Seems pretty laughable to me. And people thought me liking the #8 prospect more than the #2 prospect was crazy!

Nice to read a different perspective. It seemed his lack of position was due to a lack of defensive ability and speed. He's also old for high school which is a little concern. Seems like a lesser version of Brett Baty. TBD

Colson would have won it, but no one in baseball considers my guy for anything.