SouthChicagoBorn

I wasn't able to watch tonight due to work, but I take it Acuna hasn't improved. Still hitting from his weak side?

Fixed.

I want to know when he's gonna start batting from his stronger side of the plate. We need offense now. Why does he continue to work on his weak side? Getz needs to tell him it's time to show us that he's an upgrade on Luis Robert Jr. Wait, what?!

You are correct, sir! The issue is the team is weaker now that he is gone, and not only did Getz not improve the team, he didn't get anything for him.

So what does that say about Sox management? From Statcast: In fewer PA, Sosa has more hits (many more in fact), HR, RBI; better BA (.40 pts higher), and SLG (.30 pts higher); and slightly better OPS. Vargas has a better OBP (.24 pts higher) because he walks significantly more. G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS Vargas 324 1222 1063 150 216 58 7 30 123 16 3 130 245 .203 .296 .356 .651 Sosa 315 1155 1101 102 270 43 1 37 128 5 3 36 263 .245 .272 .387 .659 At 3B, Sosa has a better Fld% (.964 to .950), which is slightly above league avg. Though both players are below league average in the following, Sosa has better Range, Fielding Run Value, and Outs Above Average. Vargas's error rate is 1.43 times (43.4%) higher than Sosa's. Vargas has played twice the innings at 3B as Sosa. Pos Inn E Fld% lgFld% OAA Range FRV Vargas 3B 1045.2 15 .950 .961 -9 -7 -7 Sosa 3B 500 5 .964 .961 -3 -2 -2 FWIW, Sosa has slightly better WAR. WAR Vargas 0.1 Sosa 0.3 Here's the bigger issue: these are (were) two of the best players on the team. So again, what does this say about Sox management?

Sosa is a better fielding third baseman and hitter than Miguel Vargas, so that should have been his position. Put Vargas at first (his strongest position) and DH Murakami (who can't exactly pick 'em), or vice versa. They could have traded Andrew Benintendi for some kid who will probably never make the majors. Better yet would be to actually improve the team now with any trades, rather than use this team as a baseball incubator.

It would be nice to obtain players who can produce now and not probably never. Sosa was on the + side of this weak roster, and we've lost him for essentially nothing.

Sox manage the win with 16 LOB. That last AB was a gift. Need to figure out the hitting.

I truly hope you are right. We're stuck with him at third since we have a better option at first. And we need his bat in the lineup.

Yes I have, and he's been horrible. He's made a couple hard plays look easy, but blown at least 4 easy ones so far. It was the same last year - makes some hard plays, blows the easy ones. He's best at first, but can't play there now, so we're stuck with him at third.

There is something contagious - like a virus - with this team. Though the team lacks talent, everyone is underperforming. 6 guys in the lineup batting under .200. The others, none higher than .250 (!). Murakami starts out hot, and it seems to bitten him. It's disconcerting. Conversely, Robert Jr. goes to the Mets and he's back to his .300+ form (we'll see if it lasts). Rationally, it must be the coaching, but it seems the whole team is in a perpetual slump.

Can we all accept that Vargas should not play third?

Good thing we traded Robert Jr. for him.

Yes, and they went down fighting like Major Leaguers.

Well, they showed fight. That was a big ask, but the hitting just ain't good enough.