Look at Ray Ray Run

Said it a bit earlier in the off-season, and I think Hendriks is still the chalk, but I have a sneaky feeling the Sox best reliever in 2022 is going to be Aaron Bummer. Also the fact that Bummer isn't tied to any inning or any roll I think will help mitigate this pain. Bummer can throw in the biggest spots in the game from the 5th inning on and can possibly go multiple innings. Bummed for the kid though; good news for him is he's so young, by the time he comes back it will be at an age of which most guys are just making their debuts.

Yeah, I broke it out a page or so back, but they have plenty of games to go around. If they traded Sheets - maybe possible? - Vaughn just slides in at DH, moves to the OF to give a guy a breather when Yas moves to DH for 25-30 games, and etc. Even if they don't move Sheets, Vaughn should be able to find 120ish games and hopefully he can force their hand even more with elite production.

Balta, I was with you in that boat of it was terrible to pick up the option and they'll never get anything of value for Kimbrel. Turns out they did. Hahn >> Ray Ray today. It's good news, not bad. Always good to be wrong when the outcome is a positive one. Everytime I saw people mentioned Bellinger and Pollock I thought they were crazy. Turns out, Hahn knew what he was doing with the option and he turned it into a viable talent that filled a hole on the roster. It doesn't change the off-season process in other areas from being poor, but Hahn won this one. Pollock has risk, but so did Kimbrel. At least Pollock wasn't a guy being paid to play a position he wasn't even going to play with the Sox.

Yeah, his arm is weak but him and Robert should cover some ground and Robert has a ++ arm for CF and should be able to cut off the gaps so it might help negate that weakness a bit. Robert covers up for so much in the outfield.

Last bit, I can swallow much easier the notion of trading Nick Madrigal and Codi Heuer for someone like AJ Pollock who is going to get 400-450 PA's, and play everyday in the playoffs, than for a reliever who is going to be a set-up man.

Is this even a question? I'd rahter pay Pollock 30 million than give Joc Pederson a starting spot.

I still think Conforto is a better bet to play more games, but I also think the Sox are in a unique situation where they may not want a guy who is going to play 150 games in RF. I know for sure Pollock will get hurt and will sit with some nagging injuries at some point; he's been hurt pretty much every year of his career but for one, but he's just a really nice all-around player when he's out there and he's way better than anything I thought we'd get for KImbrel.

This lineup only has one hole; I can swallow that. I think Vaughn sees quite a bit of time in the outfield - Pollock isn't a 162 guy, and Eloy will need rest. They have enough playing time to go around given the rest they'll have to give a guy like Pollock. I think Engel and Vaughn share some outfield time, Vaughn gets some DH and 1B time (I think Abreu takes some time this year). Have 648 games to go around 4 poisitions: Vaughn - 120 (Hoping for more but we'll see) Abreu - 145 Pollock - 120 Sheets - 80 Eloy - 130 Engel - 60 (has some CF starts) Yas - 25 games at DH

I'll add, I'd rather have Pollock for this year than Conforto.

I have always really liked Pollocks game. He will undoubtedly get hurt at some point, won't play over 130 Games, but he's such a complete player when hes out there.

Kimbrel didn't want to be here. Didn't want his role and was going to be a dog. Getting anything for kimbrel was a big win. I guess the dodgers didn't want to pay the full tax on Jansen and figured they could offset that by shedding Pollock contract. Shocked they got a viable big leaguer. Wonder if they eat any money. Good stuff. Good call to all who held out faith on getting something of value for kimbrel.

I love being wrong! Good stuff everyone.

I like it. Pollock will get hurt but I love it.

Given his age, I'd put the percentage a good bit higher than 85%.

Crochet is 22 years old. As a career reliever with his stuff and early production, you're looking at 12-15 career WAR if not more, which is well beyond the error bars you're showing here.

I think the no-season in 2020 and him getting to the big leagues and dominating for a few innings didn't help the idea of sending him back down in 2021. I also thought you didn't like him as a starter in the first place? I think the Sox should have given him a chance to start, but the kid is still only 22. It's not as if he is in his mid-to-late twenties and pigeon holed into his role. I'm not sure how he would have held up better as a starter; I think we would have gotten to this inevitable point sooner, which might help him in the long run, but I'm not sure I buy that it would have kept him healthier.

I don't know about you, but I didn't see anything. Didn't sound great, but honestly who knows? That said, I'll say it again... babying pitchers only prolongs the inevitable, it does in no way protect them. Pitching is an unnatural motion. Some guys can handle it and throw thousands of innings without issue, others can't. Max effort has had an impact on injuries, sure, but guys are more likely to go max effort because they work under the assumption that their innings will be limited and giving it all is what keeps them in the league. Max effort would go down if innings went up. Also, if innings go up, guys will likely get hurt and weed themselves out sooner; at least with modern medicine, an injury isn't the end for you. You'll likely just hit the operating table sooner. I see no evidence to support that innings management and pitch managemement has done anything to elongate careers or limit injuries. In fact, I have seen the opposite. While injuries are more publicized now because of coverage - guys were absolutely getting hurt in the minors for years without fans hearing a peep - it's undeniable that pitching injuries at the big league level have trended upward steadily for over two decades.

I know it's only exhibition, but pretty unreal that hunter Greene vs kopech isn't on TV anywhere

No beef. I just dont think his production last year is all that sustainable and don't see a lot of projection. I could certainly be wrong.

Love the organization selling us on the importance of great contact skills for the 35 year old nick madrigal.

Makes no sense that the sox would trade kimbrel at the break if he'd built up his value. They'd then be trading a rental reliever to a team in a race they're also in They'd be hurting their own big league roster

Why would the dodgers give kimbrel 16 million but not resign Jansen?

Yeah, I think his pedigree and make up are what could prove my opinion and evaluation of him wrong. Hes not gonna hit a quarter of his fly balls out in 2022 and so much of his production was propped up by those homers.

Not saying he was, just saying there's a 0% chance Reynaldo Lopez is even a top 20 starter in baseball the first half of this year, let alone the best pitcher in baseball. Carlos was inconsistent but he had bouts of complete dominance with two ++ pitches. Lopez has no ++ pitches and isn't good.

I get it. To me, he's not a good enough hitter to be a full time dh, he's not better than Vaughn so he isn't going to be a first baseman, and I'm not putting him in the outfield. I wouldn't be shocked if the highest ops of sheets career was last year.