Baseball Gal

I tried a new account and it didn't work

I haven't been able to re-join TalkBears after my name change despite trying multiple times. I never get the confirmation email.

He has a .714 OPS, 96 wRC+ and isn't even a positive fWAR defender this year. It is quite possible injuries have ruined him like they did Moncada. We'll have to wait until 2025 to find out.

Robert will be here to start 2025. He has been injured and bad in 2024. I can't see anyone giving anything for him this winter, and if he doesn't bounce back next year his 2026 option is in jeopardy.

Honestly, part of the issue is that the 2019 season was a mirage due to the bouncy ball and spider tack. Eloy's ground ball rate was always a red flag, Giolito was never the same after the spider tack ban, Kopech was a headcase and Moncada got destroyed by injuries and long covid. Furthermore, Anderson lost his power in his 30s and it took the league 5 seasons to figure out Robert can't lay off a slider in the LH batter's box. For me, Moncada is the biggest what if? because he had elite exit velocities before his bout with covid. He lost bat speed and it never returned. But it is possible that was due to the baseballs they used in 2018-19.

They didn't get nothing out of Moncada, he just was an oft injured solid MLB regular rather than Jose Ramirez.

Yeah it sure seems that way. No reason to get attached to prospects and drafting because we're probably looking at a decade before they even get close to division contention. I'm coping by finding players I like in the system and hope that they find success before moving on to a contender.

Some of us have been arguing this for years, not just you. It is so frustrating. So if you do this, put $30M into infrastructure and have a $150M top end budget instead of $190M, then I'm pretty sure they could be competitive on an annual basis. Also the Sox are a great brand and a sleeping giant in Chicago. Jerry is completely abusing this franchise and fanbase.

I thought it was 22 for some dumb reason.

There's just no way they break the record given they're playing the A's next, is there? I think it's possible they tie it but I'm not sure they break it.

The kids have figured out a better way to be a sports fan. With national packages and such, maybe us older folks should follow suit. Root for the name on the back of the jersey, not the name on the front. I did this with the NBA and NHL when I was younger, and I stupidly stopped as an adult.

Yeah it was dumb.

I haven't been watching much lately.

for good news, at least GC got his velo back after TJS. The Sox have been having issues with pitchers not recovering well from TJS lately. Hopefully this bodes well for Thorpe, as IIRC Thorpe wasn't always averaging 91 mph last year and he was more in the 92-94 range in 2023.

I just turned the game on, but right after I posted that Stone said he has been consistently 97-99 tonight.

I don't remember the last time he hit 99

Seriously, it's like the plot of Major League.

Eder

I do remember having a discussion about OAA vs UZR, yes. fWAR has since been adjusted and Moncada's 2021 fWAR has dropped from 4.1 to 3.7.

This is offensive.

Nobody doubts he sucks now, but from 2018-2021 he was solid.

I know I posted what was being reported yesterday, so don't kill the messenger, but Moncada is is the 2nd most productive position player in the 2016-17 rebuild after Robert. He has been worth 14.0 fWAR over 8 seasons and Robert has been worth 13.0 fWAR over 5 seasons. Moncada should not get as much s%*# as he does from Sox fans, he's been solid.

At this point I think that after he doesn't get traded in the offseason because of a poor 2024 and after another poor 2025, Robert is as villified as Moncada and Eloy and the Sox don't pick up his 2026 option.

I'm sure they took Fletcher because of service time remaining rather than talent.

We probably are going to have to wait until at least 2029 until Getz gets whacked. GMs usually get 5 years. I doubt they lose fewer than 100 games under him. They are so bad and regardless of Hagen Smith I don't think that it really matters.