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Anything's possible I suppose . He's a switch hitter but if you are talking Frazier and Reynolds I'd shudder to think who they give up since Reynolds is controlled a long time and way up there in WAR. Taking those 2 away from Pittsburgh would be some next level shit and I'd have a hard time believing anything the Sox could offer couldn't be topped by teams with better prospects. If the Pirates trade those 2 they are reduced to ashes.

He's a free agent after this year anyway but I would imagine they don't want to add anyone who is currently bad. But if you mean along with Frazier then thats different.

Could be anything ,anyone, which is why I'm very skeptical. It could be Rodon, Lynn, Eloy, Madrigal, Vaughn, Crochet and getting different guys back with control. So many possibilities for Soxtalk to go ballistic.

Interesting. I'm skeptical something big happens because that would mean some name(s) going out or coming in that is unexpected. However that might be fun to see this place erupt into chaos.

Good new since JR has supposedly given the green light to doing whatever it takes at the trade deadline.

True but those are guys who are going to be in the lineup regardless. We argue about the scrubs vs potentially impactful raw rookie bat because it's debatable who should be playing.

What would make you think they would take Eaton and Marshall. If they are going to eat some salary surely they would also want a decent prospect not retreads. Who we rather in the lineup and naming our current bench players forced into action and naming any over the hill player with a big name and a big contract is irrelavant. No brainer or not it's never that simple.

Why couldn't the Sox just go after Escobar and Starling Marte since they are free agents ? Yes it will cost prospects but combined salary would be right around $10M for the rest of 2021. Looking at Blackmon's contract would cost the Sox around $45M from the TDL through 2023 in his age 35 , 36 and 37 seasons. He turns 35 July 1st. Plus you are losing 2 of your best starting pitchers after this year and that money could be used to find more pitching. I think I can safely safe the Sox would not pursue Blackmon. The Sox won't do anything extravagant. They will walk the fine line between saving money and deciding which prospects are worth giving up. Even with the supposed go ahead from Reinsdorf I'm sure he would prefer cost effective moves over committing more money to future years.

Will the Sox ever see the full potential of Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert ? Seems like a pretty simple question on the surface. With young guns like Guerrero , Jr. and Fernando Tatis, jr. currently setting the baseball world on fire how do you feel about it. This might have been the year to expect huge breakouts from Eloy and La Pantera but in their short careers we have only caught glimpses of the huge upside for both. Both seem to be off the field more than they are on it. Maybe an even more important question is will we ever see it in the same season where both Jimenez and Robert play 140+ games ? I know it's in our nature as Sox fans to temper expectations or think that everything that can go wrong will go wrong . So far that's been pretty accurate with Jimenez and Robert. Their potential impact is huge . Will they ever reach it ?

Sox probably will have the minimum 1 player. Probably Hendricks. Might get another one from Lynn and Rodon.

To be fair it wasn't just the Sox. Most around here said the same thing about the pen. You got a preview of it in the playoff game Dunning started.

There's more than one way to throw the White Flag.

It always looks that way when you can't hit, hit into 3 DP's, and hit a truck load of ground balls.

I'm wondering if you and Crede are wearing matching socks.

How about the pigeons ? Are they nice too ?

Unfortunately there is no way to use Vaughn's small sample size of less than a year where he has no errors and not nearly enough chances to prove his true worth as a LF and extrapolated it to use against others career stats who also have limited exposure to LF on a year to year basis. If for instance in the coming years as a part timer in LF (assuming he plays 1st base the majority of his career) you might get small sample sizes like you did with Leury and Goodwin in LF that range in the negative just like with those guys . You might get a -50 one year, a -10, a 0, or a +25. You use SSS sizes on a year to year basis for all those guys in LF to make a definitive statement that Vaughn is the 2nd best LF remaining on the roster. If he kicks one groundball or has 1 pop up hit him in the head like Robert did , in a part time role it hits his stats like a body tied to a big rock thrown into the ocean

Vaughn is 23 does that help ? And once again I never said to turn him into a weak side platoon player .Saying this for the 3rd time has not helped your edification at all !

Easy to agree with for any player even Mercedes.

I didn't think you would give me what I asked for and you didn't disappoint me. You will never put yourself on the line. I didn't build a house of sand. You did. I never said current stats are static. That is Capt. Obvious info. Any number of players whether 1st round draft choices or veterans usually put up better or worse stats from the 1st half to the 2nd half. Vaughn may very well have the best chance to improve his stats against RHP going forward but that is also a house of sand . You did put yourself on the line a tiny bit by saying there is zero chance that Vaughn continues to have a 38 wRC+ against RHP the rest of the season . So I will hold you to that. Whether a 50, 60 or 75 wRC+ against RHP is good enough to play in the playoffs vs RHP is another matter entirely.

Every time I see people use stats to support Vaughn they use his total numbers. Why is it so hard to use his stats against RHP ? His stats are boosted by his great ability to hit LHP . Any arguments I make are strictly regarding his stats against RHP. I fully acknowledge his awesomeness against LHP. I also fully support Vaughn getting perhaps 75+ % of the AB's vs. RHP we will face while Eloy, Robert, Engel, Hamilton and Eaton are out. How often he plays against RHP after those guys return is totally based upon how he fares vs RHP until then. But I do agree that the lineup is bad against both RHP and against LHP and that Abreu's slump, the lose of Mercedes early exploits and losing Madrigal has hurt the line up tremendously. We can only hope Lamb, Leury and Goodwin continue to provide as much as they have so far.

Please explain to me this imaginary standard. Are current stats imaginary ? Are having reasonable expectations that LH veteran hitters such as Leury , Lamb and Goodwin will continue to outshine Vaughn ,a RH hitter, against RHP ? How is everything made up? I only used stats. You made up what my argument was. Is it an imaginary standard that the Sox are under .500 on the road and saying that Vaughns splits against RHP are miserable overall and if there is a level beyond miserable he has been that on the road ? Is it imaginary that I said if Vaughn can improve against RHP because he will get playing time against them that I would be thrilled ? The only thing that you said that is reality it's that there isn't a debate to be had here because ,as usual, you continue to debate things I said only in your imagination. I said one arbitrary thing which is Vaughn has a 50/50 chance of improving enough vs. RHP enough to make a difference this year in the playoffs . That isn't unreasonable is it ? What do you think the odds are of that happening? Tell me the type of line that he will put up in the 2nd half that would make him the best choice to be played in the playoffs vs RHP. Give me something ,a minimal OBP, SLG , OPS independent of his 1st half stats that we can shoot for .

Once again who are you arguing with ? I never said he should play as a weak side platoon . I said " It's not like the Sox are going to bench Vaughn for all AB's against RHP." As for your last paragraph. I also said "I don't expect them (the stats) to improve or get worse which is the same thing I think about Vaughn." If all 4 are still on the team come October and Andrew Vaughn has torn up the league in the 2nd half I would be thrilled to play him in the playoffs. He'll get plenty of chances to keep playing and improve. " You are literally , once again ,telling me things and arguing points I didn't make. It's right there in black and white and I repeated it here for your edification.

I'll also make this simple. Andrew Vaughn has been so bad against RHP he would have to substantially improve just to reach Leury's level of bad. Also Andrew Vaughn is having the worst month of his season thus far. Expecting him to improve to a level that helps the Sox through the rest of the season and through the playoff is a tall order in which there is probably less than a 50/50 chance of that kind of improvement given what he has done so far. I also don't not care anything about why Goodwin or Leury or Lamb are here. All I do is look at the stats. I don't expect them to improve or get worse which is the same thing I think about Vaughn. I can only go by what's in front of me now. If all 4 are still on the team come October and Andrew Vaughn has torn up the league in the 2nd half I would be thrilled to play him in the playoffs. It's not like the Sox are going to bench Vaughn for all AB's against RHP. He'll get plenty of chances to keep playing and improve.

Wouldn't playing guys with better stats than him also give the Sox a better chance to win the World Series not just possibly but literally? I was just told " I also don't think playing any of those guys over Vaughn puts the Sox in a better position to win now." Let's say I am a Mercedes fanboy but he is in a tremendous slump and I don't want him playing any more because I know he is hurting the team so lets look at his stats against RHP even after this horrendous slump and compare them to Vaughn vs RHP. Vaughn : .230 OBP .238 Slg. and .468 OPS Mercedes : .302 OBP .359 slg .661 OPS Now lets look at Away ( road) splits vs RHP Vaughn : .182 OBP .167 Slg. .348 OPS This is about as bad as it gets Mercedes : .279 OBP .333 Slg .612 OPS This is also pretty bad but considerably better than Vaughn even after the Grand Canyonesque slump. Vaughn's Away splits make his overall splits vs. RHP look like All Star numbers . They are that bad. The Sox record right now on the road is 17-18 and that was accomplished with Mercedes contributing way more to their road and overall record than Vaughn against RHP Yet I keep being told that " There are no better options than Vaughn in LF right now." so once again vs. RHP Vaughn : .230 OBP, .238 Slg., .468 OPS (.348 on the road) Lamb .333 OBP, .444 slg., 778 OPS (.800 on the road) Leury : .319 OBP, .336 Slg, .665 OPS, (.638 on the road) Goodwin: .462 OBP, .714 Slg., 1.176 OPS (1.300 on the road) It would seem to me there are 3 better options no matter what anyone wants to say about them the stats don't lie. Every one of those guys is substantially better than Vaughn in all 4 categories listed OBP, SLG, OPS and Road OPS .You can quibble with Goodwin's SSS or about who the better fielder is and lets face it Vaughn isn't out there to win games with his fielding or baserunning so hitting is pretty much all you have to look at even though it's apparent Leury and Goodwin will contribute more to base running. Also right now Leury or Goodwin will be playing CF and it's possible Lamb could DH against RHP more. So far he has only played 3 games as the DH. So yes now with the thin choices, I can still say there are better options since I doubt all 3 better options will be in the lineup all the time vs. RHP. If all 3 do play every day against RHP lets say in CF RF and DH then Vaughn would have to play In LF. He's going to Play LF anyway even in games where TLR still decides to use Mercedes, Collins or Grandal at DH. With the Sox starting pitching there is a thin line between winning and losing now without Mercedes contributing what he once did Abreu slumping and Vaughns cold bat all season against RHP. Even incremental upgrades will help win games. Playing guys who hit better than Vaughn vs RHP will make a difference in winning games especially on the road. All 3 have an OPS .200 better than Vaughn and even higher on the road.

Yes I know there are plenty of Vaughn fanboys that no matter how he hits against RHP would still insist he play LF. Quite the impassioned plea for a guy with .230 OBP .238 Slg. and .468 OPS against RHP. How low would it have to go to say a guy with a .600 or .700 or.750 OPS who fields the position just as well if not better got more playing time in LF over him ?Just curious . How bad do you want him to play? All starts against LHP and all starts against RHP ? Never take him out of the lineup ? Never replace him defensively ? Never replace him for a pinch runner ? Oh well at least now I know some guys would rather lessen the Sox chances to win a World Series than to temporarily stall or give a break to a top prospects development. You act as if he won't be here next year.