GreenSox

Ideally, the Sox far system would permanently reside in that 10-15 range; that would mean the Sox are drafting well, developing well; but no one is just sitting down there forever - the farm is used to replenish the major league team and for an occasional trade. It's unlikely that the Sox system will be over-hyped (like Boston) so that it can deliver prospects to MLB and still reside in the top 5 most years.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 10, 2014 -> 01:54 PM) You always prefer guys starting over relieving. If and when the Sox have an abundance of starting pitching, and Bassitt proves incapable of starting, then he'll be moved to the pen. Bassitt has shown some real talent. I'd like to see if guys like Carroll can do relief work. He's effective when he can throw it at the ankles. Danish has that funky delivery - don't know if he holds up as a starter. Of course just because they use Bassitt in the pen for a year or 2, doesn't mean he's confined there forever.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 11, 2014 -> 02:37 AM) You can call it good luck for the Royals and bad luck for the Orioles, but that's Royals baseball: They had the lowest strikeout rate in the majors, and sometimes just putting the ball in play can result in good things. So give Gordon credit there. And, conversely, the knock against the Orioles' rotation is that it was 11th in the American League in strikeout rate and Tillman's 17.2 percent K rate was below the team's 18.2 percent average. KC is also #1 in running the bases and in defense. Just not striking out doesn't get you very far.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Oct 9, 2014 -> 09:56 PM) So Danks, Flowers, Alexei and a PTBN is what it will take! Interesting read. I wonder if the Dodgers really are starting sour a bit on Puig. If they are I'm pretty sure Q is the guy they would be desiring in return... Not Danks and Flowers. Don't discount the value Alexei would have to the Dodgers. They need a SS. He would fit perfectly there.

A few Dodger trades have been suggested. Here's a rundown of their situation. http://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/la-s...1009-story.html

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 8, 2014 -> 09:56 PM) Your post is ridiculous IMO. You said, "There's little about Ventura that indicates he knows what he's doing, imo." How can you say that? No manager in the history of baseball would have been able to win any more games with that pathetic bullpen. Interesting. You do realize that the Giants, Tigers and Dodgers had WORSE bullpens statistically? Speaking of ridiculous posts. If you think Robin got more wins out of this team or last year's team than the talent warranted, then we'll just have to disagree. People want to make excuses for this guy...another reason hiring house horses is a bad idea.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Oct 9, 2014 -> 02:58 PM) How was Conor Gillaspie a better hitter than Pablo Sandoval this year? CG: .282/.336/.416, 7 HR, 108 wRC+ PS: .279/.324/.415, 16 HR, 111 wRC+ They were remarkably similar offensively, actually, but Sandoval comes out a touch ahead. Even if you assume it's roughly the same, (1) Sandoval's longer track record suggests he's a better candidate to repeat, and (2) Sandoval is a way, WAY better defender. I'm not saying we should get Sandoval, but he's unquestionably better than Gillaspie. Huge difference in contract; we'd hae to give up a high draft choice. No need to sign Sandoval as for Gonzales, I'd take him for a salary dump giveaway, if they want to do that. But his salary is outrageous, he's injury prone and he had a particularly poor 2014. That's high risk - can't pay much for that.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Oct 8, 2014 -> 09:53 PM) Danks, Flowers and Alexei for Puig might be closer. That, too, would be an absolute steal.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 7, 2014 -> 08:26 AM) If Q is going to the Marlins, I'm getting one of Stanton, Yelich, or Ozuna in return. And, if it's Yelich or Ozuna, I'm getting another pitcher or two in that trade too. At this point, the Sox need to be done trading young, quality players for packages of prospects. I like Yelich so I'm listening. But they need substantially more back. And yes, Sox should be in young player for young player mode, although I'd still trade Alexei

Put outs per game seems to be a measure of defensive strength that lacks sophistication shall we say.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Oct 7, 2014 -> 12:59 PM) No one thinks much of Tank and he would be scary bad in the SF's spacious outfield with the worst shadows in baseball. I would guess the Giants don't think much of Gillaspie as they gave him up for Jeff Soptic. I would trade Gillaspie and Viciedo, sign Chase Headley and Chris Young, and trade for Belt and Nava. Who exactly do we have to trade to get Belt and Nava. Nava is one of those guys that "never happens" so we're told...someone who wasn't worth a hoot until they were almost 30. Speaking of Beckham, did we ever find out what the Sox side of that deal amounts to?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 8, 2014 -> 08:45 AM) Schueler was pretty good for a while. Lamont getting fired was unfair. Bevington, there really isn't an excuse, but he was signing the correct guys and until he traded McDowell, he was making really good moves. After the strike, he got ultra conservative. Signing Clemens would have helped, but would really be tainted. The White Flag trade eventually helped the team. I know JR felt the 2000 division crown was vindication. 2 bullpen pitchers from white flag on that team. At least as big a factor was Schueler getting Eldred and Valentin on this team right before the season, as well as getting Navarro OFF the team. (perhaps the best trade he ever made). White flag was needed, but was really poorly executed by Schueler. At the least, they should have dealt with Boston. Sox came into the season completely unprepared to play in 1995; similar to 2001.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 8, 2014 -> 03:59 PM) That is a team that had talent and had a disasterous clubhouse and underplayed their level of talent. What part of coaching to the level of talent is missing in the concept. Firing a guy cause they don't make the playoffs because you have a bad roster is just foolish, unless there were things from a player development standpoint and grander scale which you have issues with. But those other issues are often there and what you look for when rebuilding. Is this manager the person to get you to the next level when you have the personnel in place. There's little about Ventura that indicates he knows what he's doing, imo. And even the defenders can't really itemize the good things he does.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Oct 6, 2014 -> 09:47 AM) The Red Sox have so much MLB ready pitching. It's not going to be Sale, it could be Stanton but regardless, they are going to package up a handful of these prospects for someone good. I think they're the team to watch this offseason. They have way too many players for too few positions and one of the top systems in the league with a good deal of those prospects near MLB ready. That must be discounted, however, because Red Sox prospects are notoriously over-hyped. A year ago, Jackie Bradley Jr was can't miss, e.g. They're acting like Betts is Mike Trout. It's nuts. A lot of them are very good and they are willing to trade prospects.

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Oct 5, 2014 -> 04:46 PM) I am saying that if the market had more demand (Meaning if the Red Sox, Dodgers and Yankees didn't have first basemen.) there would be no way he plays in Chicago. If I remember correctly, the final three teams bidding Abreu were the Sox, Houston and Colorado. The point if bit circular. Boston did bid on Abreu. They just valued him differently. Yes, if those teams like a player equally as the Sox, one would think they would bid more. But there's a lot of room there tool.

QUOTE (midway @ Oct 5, 2014 -> 12:03 PM) http://www.inquisitr.com/1519761/boston-re...ors-chris-sale/ If the Sox ever did this I would take the most drastic measure ever and.....become a Cubs fan. Yikes did I really say that, lmao!!! It's a RedSox fan's opinion. Heck, throw in Bogarts and Betts and do it; Sox can then sign Lester and Shields.

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Oct 4, 2014 -> 12:40 PM) Heyward is not that young, he's going to be 26 at the start of the season. And if the Sox just play solid and competitive baseball, the fans will come back, albeit slowly. A 3-5 year deal takes him right through the prime years. I just wish he was FA this year.

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Oct 4, 2014 -> 07:07 AM) I would like to see the team try to shop Alexi this offseason, because I don't think he pays for the Sox after 2015 and there are some teams out there who desperately need a shortstop and would overpay for his services. I would do not want Viciedo on the Sox anymore, I would trade him for whatever is out there. He is still young enough that he could improve, but I'm tired of his underperforming and I think a change of scenery will do him well. I think Rodon could use a little more seasoning in the minors before he's up for good and I see him joining the rotation sometime in June or July. I really want the team to shop every player on the roster and see what kind if offers are out there. Maybe hey could pull of a deal that can bring them some major prospects who can really put the finishing touches on the rebuild. (Looking at you Yankees, Dodgers and Pirates.) And can we get the defense shored up, that's a few more wins right there. Oh and I really do like Nolan Sanburg and I think that he can be the ace of the bullpen going forward like. Johnny Venters or a Chad Bradford. http://www.minorleagueball.com/2013/2/6/39...prospect-report I agree with this on shopping Alexei, Viciedo, Rodon, and defense. Wish Gillaspie hadn't tanked in August and Sept or we could have shopped him too. I don't know anything about Sanburn, but I sure as heck don't recall Chad Bradford ever being an ace.

Soria is yet another example of why you don't put major resources into veteran relief pitchers. You should peddle those guys at the deadline. You need to grow your own relievers. Beane has his team in the playoffs...yet again. He's dealing prospects recently- probably reading the market correctly that teams are over-valuing them. to do that, however, you need to be really good at creating your own prospects. Not sure Oak is great at that.

Thanks for posting this. I wonder how Eaton grades out. I am sure there are some flaws in this methodology. But overall, it comports with what anyone who watched the Sox play a few games knew: this is a poor defensive team. It's another reason why this team seems to play below it's talent level. One of the challenges is LF. To get the O we need there, you usually don't get the D. 3B too. And it won't be fixed with hero-worshiping and magic dust.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 3, 2014 -> 07:33 PM) And we are sitting here with Jose Abreu and hopefully Avi Garcia. The heart of our order should already be power loaded. We have the power component already and we're going to keep going with that. Give me hitters not bellyitchers right now. Garcia is not power hitter at this time. There are a lot of ways to do it - have a lineup full of guys who can hit 15-20. Alexei can do it; Flowers can do it. Garcia is in that number. Or A few who hit 25-35. Needless to say, the new DH and LF are huge gets for this team's ability to contend. Hahn has intentionally put together a groundball staff to counteract opponents' power in the Cell. But for that to work to its potential, you need killer IF defense.

QUOTE (LDF @ Oct 3, 2014 -> 09:05 PM) for this discussion only and this is an example. would you be willing to add either David Robertson - closer or Andrew Miller - a nice lh rp that the sox need to make the bullpen better. now that price will be a 1-second rounder. I think the cost factor is getting the final pieces now instead of waiting 4-6 yrs is a good trade off. No No giving up draft choices for relief pitchers, esp middle relievers.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 3, 2014 -> 12:47 PM) I would take less power in exchange for a generally better hitter. Only 1 of the top 5 teams in HR made the playoffs this year, Baltimore, while teams 29 and 30 both did. It's clearly helpful, it's not a bad thing, but you can't sacrifice all other parts of the game for power. I would just say that given our park, we need a certain level of power. We have no choice, really, if we want to win.

I like what Hahn's done a lot. The farm's a lot better, he's moved dead weight out of town. And a lot of dead weight there was. For all the grief the pen gets, we found at least 3 legit bullpen pitchers this year: Petricka, Putnam and Guerra. And all 3 have the stones to close. He started a rebuilding process, and he's gotten several plus talents. Rebuilding is just hard and tedious. But 2 hitters, a starter and some better defense would do wonders for this team. But that is really hard to find. Not much available as FA, and teams don't want to trade quality players.

Some people hate to win - they feel guilty about winning. So they prefer sorry excuses and hero-worshiping and live in la la land. If I get this right, Sale and Quintana are aces. 2 number 1s. Alexei is a gold glover; and the overall Sox defense is pretty good; Sox are 4th in homers, so the power is there.. Ventura is an ace manager- they play over their talent level with his high skills. Pretty close to contending, right there. So...How do the Sox win 73? Bullpen cost 20 games? Bad luck.? Umps fault? If we just hadn't traded elite Addison Reed we'd have made the playoffs? LOL. Sure the Sox could contend. Major upgrades at DH, LF, Bullpen and at 2 starter upgrades are needed (and perhaps 3b), but if they can take care of all or most of that, they could contend. But yes, the Sox have defensive issues (can anyone seriously contend otherwise?) and power issues (middle of the pack statistically right now WHILE playing in a major home run hitters park). Could this be cured in 6 months? Sure Is it close? No.