southsider2k5

Good question

April 1 isn't for a couple of weeks, but I appreciate the effort. B+

Is that show still on? I loved that show.

Honestly, I wish Rick Hahn would put Sox fans out of their misery and say this off season is over. RIP off the bandaid, finish the crying, and let's play ball.

I mean it isn't like Hahn is watching Michigan right now...

Hey Siri, definitely "irony".

Not an ND fan, but cool to see the local kid Blake Wesley doing well. Great kid.

Vaughn played 13 games at 1B with LF being his primary spot last year, so yes, there are plenty of starts there. I didn't think I would need to say this, but Eloy isn't going to start 162 games this year. There are PLENTY of games for Vaughn out there. Eloy starting 5 of 6 days a week out there isn't going to hurt him at all.

Let's start with Andrew Vaughn playing 13 games at 1B last year. So no, it isn't a "given". You also have Eloy Jimenez in LF, so again, that isn't a "given". DH is wide open, and so are at the 1 in 5-ish times a week the Sox face a lefty starter.

Now Tony could well throw all of this out of the window, that is the truth, but it is something that is really easy to achieve. Especially in a compressed schedule like we are going to see this year, strategic days off make a ton of sense.

1 start a week at each of those positions is 4 starts a week when there are typically 6 games a week. Get him 2 DH starts, and a 1B/LF/RF start a week, and that is five starts a week. Slot him in around lefties and opportunistic righties, and you have a pretty easy path to 400 to 500 ABs. There is nothing wrong with getting guys like Abreu and Eloy some days off too. Conforto can rest against lefties easily. We currently don't have a real DH. Again, if you follow teams like the Dodgers, Rays or Yankees, they do this all of the time.

There are ABs to be had in 1B/LF/RF/DH to get him 4 to 5 starts a week while keeping the other guys fresh. Top teams do this all of the time with their benches.

His opting out in 2 years might not even be the worst thing. I am kind of surprised after Albert Belle and Frank Thomas turning into wins with those opt outs, that JR is so against them.

I am not ready, which is why I want Conforto.

There are still plenty of ABs for Andrew Vaughn, even with a real RF, especially once the inevitable injuries start happening.

I can respect Jim. I will just stop there.

Odd take, but yes, I would like an actually decent MLB RF playing on a team that is competing for a title this yar.

You and I are on the same page on this one. I have no idea what people get out of following him.

We had a .671 OPS out of RF last year. Conforto is his career worst year filled injuries was .729. His career number is .824. If you leave off 2021 it becomes .843. Even at his worst, he is a large improvement. At his career average he is a huge improvement. If he gets near his career upper end, he would be worth an almost 300 point OPS improvement.

What a move to bet your franchise on Watson. Wow.

On a roster that was 28th in combined OPS from RF, it is worth $20 million to get a huge improvement out there.

OK, look, there are reasons to not want Conforto. His 2021 could well be a redflag to start with. But because he doesn't hit great against lefties? I mean have you see the rest of this roster? There is literally everyone else on this roster who can hit against lefties. We would be fine.

Same. This has been needed for a while.

It's really a shame Engel can't stay healthy. As a 19th round pick, he has been an absolute steal even just being a part timer. It would be nice to see if he could actually hit a nice ceiling with some real playing time.