Lillian

If it were actually possible to acquire Davis, he would be the DH. "Where would LaRoche play?" How about the bench. Does anyone actually believe that the Sox could be competitive with La Roche in the middle of the lineup? To me, he is the single biggest reason this season was such a disaster, in view of all the low scoring games, in which the Sox came up short, with him batting (striking out) right in the heart of the order. He'll probably be even worse next year, when he'll be 36. The front office has to accept that they have one more year of a sunken cost in La Roche. He simply cannot be the DH. If he were a middle infielder, who hit like that you might be willing to live with it, but not a middle of the order DH!!!! Regarding the remark about Eaton. I love him, and admire what he has accomplished. He is the prototypical "overachiever". However, I wouldn't consider him worth big money. His contract is a bargain. Advocates of Heyward are talking serious money. Moreover, if you can acquire a potent bat to DH, many of the other holes become less important. They don't need above average players at every position, with their starting pitching.

I don't understand the keen interest in Heyward. This team desperately needs another power hitter. The Sox don't need another outfielder. Cabrera, Eaton and Thompson/Garcia should have the outfield covered. Spending all that money on a guy who hit about the same as Eaton, in what was the best year of his career, makes no sense to me. Why not go after someone like Chris Davis, if the front office was really to spend that kind of money?

Earlier in the season, I advocated moving Melky from the 2 hole, to the middle of the order, at least against RHP. That thought was prompted by LaRoche's ineptitude. It seemed to me that he could replace the "black hole," which La Roche's bat represented, at clean up. I was pleasantly surprised when Robin actually did move Melky to the middle of the lineup. Cabrera provided some badly needed run production, from the left side, and had a pretty good run, in that slot. Batting left handed, he put up respectable numbers: .289 .335 .421 (Season Totals) He hit even better, from both sides while hitting 3RD: .313 .342 .497 I don't understand the desire to dump him. He has proven that he can be a run producer, and this team certainly needs more of that.

Like it or not, I would guess that the front office is planning to give Olt the inside track to fill the hole at third. It would be very surprising if they expend any resources on another third baseman, in the off season. I'd personally like to see what he could do in a full season, when healthy. He certainly has the power, and has a history of drawing walks. His defense is very solid at the hot corner.

QUOTE (EvilJester99 @ Sep 25, 2015 -> 08:57 PM) Sure would be nice if he would develop into something.. Sox have so many holes to fill would be nice to have one less. He did put up very good OBP stats, as a young Minor Leaguer. I'd take a .350 OBP with 25 + homers, and decent defense at 3RD. Is that feasible?

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 25, 2015 -> 08:11 PM) Pretty sure Olt leads the world in average HR distance Is Olt anywhere near as strong as his homers in a Sox uniform suggest? If so, now I understand why he was such an intriguing prospect, early in his career. I'm still intrigued!!

If this explanation regarding tipping pitches is legitimate, I would change my opinion to now, at least favor making a QO. However, I would still hope that the Sox would not try to sign him to a long term, expensive contract.

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 21, 2015 -> 06:59 PM) Johnson's velocity in the 90-91 range tonight according to mlb.com. Seems like he needs to be up a few mph to be more effective. Isn't that back down around the velocity, which got him in so much trouble last year?

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Sep 21, 2015 -> 05:23 PM) I would prefer neither option. And at least Laroche offers defensive value, whereas Viciedo has none I'm with you in not wanting either option. However, that was not the question, which I was addressing.

As bad as Viciedo was, in his 5 years with the Sox, at ages 21 to 25, he never had a year as bad as the one La Roche has had this year. Considering that La Roche will be 36 next year, and Dayan will be just 27, I'd prefer to take my chances with the player who has just entered his prime.

Do we agree with the following: 1) Coop will be the Sox pitching coach next season. 2) Samardjiza is not one of our best 5 starting pitchers 3) There are more important holes to fill with the money he would receive through a qualifying offer. 4) He had precisely the same incentive to pitch well this year, with a potential huge free agent contract on the horizon, and the results were terrible. If those things are true, I personally am not in favor of taking the chance that he accepts the QO. The money that he will cost, even for one year, is not justified and can better be spent elsewhere. Moreover, having him start every 5TH game significantly diminishes the chances for the Sox to win on that day. The Sox have some young pitchers who need to be given an opportunity. That list includes E. Johnson, Montas and later Fulmer. And finally, the record of "sandwich round" draft picks is not good enough to merit the sacrifice. Therefore, unless there is some assurance that he won't accept it, I hope that the front office doesn't make a QO.

What are the chances that MLB revises the method of determining qualifying offers? Requiring a QO of $15 Million for a pitcher of Samardjiza's quality is ridiculous.

Who could have predicted that Danks would actually out pitch Sale, over their last dozen starts each (minus the strike outs)?

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Sep 12, 2015 -> 08:08 AM) If the Sox enter 2016 planning on a 5 man situational handedness platoon, then I am going to be doing a lot of yard work next year I can understand your pessimism, however being realistic, they are probably stuck with Melky's contract, Eaton is a bright spot, signed to a decent contract, and the front office loves Avi. Therefore, we are probably stuck with that outfield. Why not try to make the best of it?

I posted this is another thread, but it sort of got buried: In lieu of acquiring another outfielder, there may be a way for the Sox to productively platoon Eaton, Cabrera, Garcia, Thompson and maybe even Shuck. Although he's a switch hitter, Melky has been better in his career vs. RHP, with the notable exception of 2012. He's been better this year batting from the left side: .283 .330 .404 Dido for Eaton this year, with all of his power vs. RHP: .283 .368 .461 Avi has been better vs. LHP: .298 .353 .404 Thompson has the reputation of being better vs. LHP, We've seen it during his brief stint this year, and it was much the same at Charlotte: .314 .346 .483 Shuck has actually hit lefties better, in his career, even though he bats from that side. I hate the idea of platooning young players like Thompson and Garcia, because it slows their development. Nevertheless, if it could boost production, and get the team on base percentage up to a respectable level, it might be worth a try. Why not pick the best 4 of these 5 guys and platoon them in the 3 outfield spots, again of course, barring an acquisition? For example; Eaton and Thompson could platoon in CF, Avi and Melky could do the same in Left. Late inning defense could include both Eaton and Thompson, for Center and Right, with either Melky or Avi for the other corner.

In lieu of acquiring another outfielder, there may be a way for the Sox to productively platoon Eaton, Cabrera, Garcia, Thompson and maybe even Shuck. Although he's a switch hitter, Melky has been better in his career vs. RHP, with the notable exception of 2012. He's been better this year batting from the left side: .283 .330 .404 Dido for Eaton this year, with all of his power vs. RHP: .283 .368 .461 Avi has been better vs. LHP: .298 .353 .404 Thompson has the reputation of being better vs. LHP, We've seen it during his brief stint this year, and it was much the same at Charlotte: .314 .346 .483 Shuck has actually hit lefties better, in his career, even though he bats from that side. I hate the idea of platooning young players like Thompson and Garcia, because it slows their development. Nevertheless, if it could boost production, and get the team on base percentage up to a respectable level, it might be worth a try. If they could dump LaRoche, I would pick the best 4 of these 5 guys and platoon them in the 3 outfield spots, again of course, barring an acquisition. Eaton and Thompson could platoon in CF, Avi and Melky could do the same in Left. Late inning defense could include both Eaton and Thompson, for Center and Right, with either Melky or Avi for the other corner.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Sep 8, 2015 -> 07:55 PM) Then what would they do with LaRoche? If the front office is not willing to accept that they made a serious mistake in acquiring LaRoche, and recognize his salary as a sunken cost, they can forget about fixing this team, for next season. They are not going to compete with him in the middle of their lineup. That has been apparent since very early in the season, and is now irrefutable. I don't care what they do with him, they have to be willing to move on.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Sep 8, 2015 -> 07:30 PM) I think all of the Arenado discussion is kind of silly. It's not going to happen. It wouldn't be worth it for the Sox to give up whatever they'd have to to get him. Trading for CarGo, who only has 2 years left and is paid quite handsomely would make more sense potentially, as he'd cost less in trade. Maybe if the Sox can't get one of Heyward, Upton, or Cespedes that could be worth investigating. Todd Frazier only has 2 years left on his deal and the Reds should trade him. But they've said that they won't. Sox should try to get one of those aforementioned outfielders. Try to sign Zobrist to play 3B. If they can't get him, I'd sign Daniel Murphy from the Mets. He's got a career .780 OPS against righties. Platoon him with Saladino if you like. Here's my ridiculous idea as a counterpoint to the Arenado talk. Sign Chris Davis to play 3B. He started out as a third baseman. Played 15 or 20 games there last year. I'll assume he's bad defensively and that 40 home runs probably offsets that. Let half of the year play out. If it's working, keep going. If/when LaRoche is at the end of his leash, Davis takes over DH and backup 1B (he's even played a bunch of RF this year). I can go either way on signing Alexei. I think Saladino can approximate him for no money. I'd at very least bargain Alexei down to $7 million or something. QO to Shark. E Johnson joins the rotation. This is what I have been hoping for. I would just put Davis at DH, and not use LaRoche. Hopefully, he could be unloaded before signing Davis. With that bat in the lineup, there would not be a need for a real productive bat at 3RD. I'd let Olt get a chance to prove that he can hit Big League pitching. You all know that I have argued, for a long time, that the biggest flaw in this roster was having LaRoche in the middle of the lineup. If they can fix that, without diminishing their outstanding pitching, they can compete.

In addition to the $10 million cost, there is the issue of getting playing time for future potential players, who might be part of this team, going forward. A double play combination of Sanchez at SS and Micah Johnson at 2ND, is simply not good enough. I would rather see if Saladino can play good enough defense to hold down SS, until Anderson is ready. His bat is probably good enough for Short, but not the hot corner. Sanchez is my preference for 2ND. I've like him for a long time, and am pleased to see him making the adjustment to MLB pitching. Micah Johnson must prove that he can play a position, in order to be promoted. It would be huge if Olt could finally show that he can hit Big League pitching. With his power at 3RD, the Sox should be able to solve the middle infield questions, as there are plenty of options.

Why in the world is Abreu batting 2ND? It's not like we have so many terrific middle of the order hitters, that we can afford to bat our slugger, in the 2 hole. I'd still like to see the switch hitting Sanchez, get a chance to take that spot. That is where he thrived, earlier this season at Charlotte. Now that he's been hitting, it would be useful to find out how he could fill that role, going forward.

Lately, Danks has been even more impressive than the ERA. In his last 7 starts, he didn't give up any runs, in 3 of them. In a 4TH start, he gave up just 1 run. He did get bombed in 2 starts, giving up 6 runs in each, but I'll take that kind of overall performance, from the Fifth Starter, any time. In his last start, I didn't see the whole game, but I noticed that he was hitting 92 and 93 MPH, on a few pitches. Perhaps his strength and velocity are getting back to his pre-injury level. If he can maintain his recent velocity, and continue to locate, he'll be able to contribute, going forward.

That answers my question. Thanks "Little Hurt". Very interesting thread.

Whether or not the Sox and Jays would want to agree to such a deal is less interesting to me than the entire concept of trading a player, to be awarded to a team, at the end of the season. Does anyone know if that is permissible? I suspect not, but I'll research it.

Toronto is clearly the best team in the hunt for the 2ND Wild Card, and they are going for it, with the acquisitions of Price and Tulo. However, they still need one more pitcher, to go along with the best offense in baseball. Why not give them Samardzija for one of those middle of the order bats, in their organization? The Jays certainly have enough of them. I know that both Encarnacion and Bautista have team options for next year, but will be free agents, at the end of next season. How about this?: Give them Shark for Encarnacion and Pentecost, but they can keep Encarnacion, until the end of the season. Then, after the season, the Jays have to give the Sox Encarnacion, whose $10 Million option would be renewed for one year, and take La Roche. Is that even permissible, under the MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement? I suspect that it is not permitted, or we would see that kind of trade deadline deal, all the time. The selling team, is looking ahead to next season and beyond. They don't care that much about the remainder of the current season. The Sox would be virtually conceding this year, but would be in good shape for next season, and would have some payroll flexibility to plug another hole, or 2. At least the Sox would have a middle of the order bat, to protect Abreu, with no big salary commitment.

It's time to move Sanchez to his accustomed role of the number 2 hole hitter. He had terrific success there, at AAA.