Lillian

Yes, I have certainly been consistent, in my advocating the acquisition of a LH middle of the order bat. Apparently, management agrees, evidenced by statements from the front office. Unfortunately, the players, whom they have brought in have not been very good. I hope that they acquire one through free agency, when they decide to spend some money. At this point, Palka seems to be their best option, and that is why he is in the lineup vs RHP, despite the fact that he is a defensive liability.

"Required" would not be my choice of words. I would say "advantageous". For example; Let's assume that next season, Eloy is in the lineup. If the middle of the order choice were Abreu, Avi, Eloy and Davidson, versus Abreu, Avi, Palka and Eloy, I would favor the latter, even if Matt's stats were slightly better than Palka's. The reasoning is; An opposing manager might feel the need to go to the pen, for a LHP. A middle of the order, consisting of all RH hitters, does not force a manager to make that kind of move. In fact, it might be even better to bat Avi after Palka. Nobody hits leftiies better than Avi. That would further complicate the opposing manager''s decision making process. If he brought in a LHP to face Palka, he might have to go back to the pen, for a RHP to face Avi. I agree that Palka needs to cut down on his strike outs and draw more walks. I hope that by establishing his reputation, as a "dangerous" hitter, that pitchers will begin to nibble more, and that he can exploit that, in order to draw more walks. In any case, thank you for the clarification.

He isn't a "perfect" solution to the problem, but he may do, until the Sox have a better one. Just to clarify; Do I understand that you don't think it's important to have a "dangerous" LH hitter, in the middle of the order?

These have been the first 250 at bats of his MLB career.

That's fine and the opposing manager will bring in a lefty to face him, late in the game, which is exactly what a right handed heavy lineup would like. Precisely my point.

What Palka provides is exactly what has been missing; a middle of the order LH bat. He provides that kind of presence. Sandwich him somewhere in between Avi, Abreu and Eloy and you have a potent, balanced middle of the order, 3 through 6. When this team is playing meaningful games, that kind of lineup will force opposing managers to make more bullpen changes.

With Rodon and Avi back, Omar hitting and both Lopez & Giolito back on track, add Eloy to that team and who knows. Oh, and I forgot Palka. And then there is always the chance that Moncada stops taking strike 3 and decides to get a hit, instead.

What if he comes up and performs so well that the Sox drop from #3 in the Draft, to #5 or 6?

As badly as the Sox need a middle of the order, LH bat, I hope they give him every chance to succeed. Gee, I wonder where you guys have heard that before? He certainly provides that missing "presence" in the lineup. First base or DH, but he should be in the lineup every game, vs. RHP, the rest of this season, at the very least.

Yes, good hitters foul off a lot of those two strike, close pitches. They also can take the outside pitch, the other way, for a hit. The good news is that this is something that he is certainly capable of doing. It is simply a question of his mindset. He will learn and I certainly hope that he is being coached to do so.

Moncada is his own worst enemy. How does a hitter get called out on strikes, 4 times in one game? What ever happened to the notion that you don't take anything close, with two strikes?

Thank you "Jack Parkman". I did not realize that.

This is interesting: In his entire career, including his couple of Cuban League, teen years, he has a total of 61 home runs and 618 strike outs, in 2,294 at bats. That's 10 times as many strike outs, as home runs and only about 15 home runs, per season. He could always decide to concentrate more on making contact and utilizing his speed. That would be an alternative approach, just in case he can't ultimately figure out how to be a "slugger" at the Major League level. That is one of the advantages of having speed. It provides other ways to contribute. I'm hopeful that he can be that advertised 'Robinson Cano, with speed," but if not, he could still be a useful player. We do have to remind ourselves that he is still young. However, the results better start coming soon. Let's see what happens, the rest of this season. It would be nice to see some improvement.

As I said, the strike outs should be considered as a relative factor: "If he were a prolific slugger, hitting 40 homers, his strike outs might be acceptable." Bryant's last full year in the Minors, he hit 34 doubles, 43 homers and drove in 110 runs, while hitting .325 with an on base % of .438. I'll take strike outs, with that kind of production, but not with Moncada's.

I just went back and took another look at Moncada's Minor League career. I don't know why we should be surprised that he hasn't been any better than he has. He really never demonstrated any ability to dominate, in the Minors. He had a 30% strike out rate there, and we had no reason to think that it would improve, in the Majors. If he were a prolific slugger, hitting 40 homers, his strike outs might be acceptable. However, he didn't hit for that much power, in the Minors and he isn't anywhere near that, now. I've said it before, but to me, he looks like a very "well built, speedy, athletic and "flashy" player, with a pretty LH swing. In other words; a lot of style and not much substance. To this point, the style hasn't translated to great baseball skill. Let's hope that he develops the skill, but so far, he really isn't very good. I'd like to see if he could hit LH pitching, as a left handed hitter, like most of the great left handed hitters do. At this point, he is worthless, as a right handed hitter. I'd also like to see where else he could play. We've discussed this, at great length, but it bares repeating; Second base should belong to Madrigal. I have a feeling that he is soon going to push the issue, because he doesn't really profile anywhere but second base, and that is where he should stay. Moncada might better be utilized at third. I don't really care what position he prefers, he isn't good enough to demand that the team accommodate his preference. He has the arm to play there and Madrigal does not. It's hard to justify keeping Eloy at AAA, considering how much better he has hit there, than Moncada did. Yet Moncada got the promotion pretty quickly. Eloy appears to be a much better hitter than Yoan and I'll be surprised if he doesn't have a better career. That's ok, if Yoan ends up hitting anything close to what Jimenez is likely to produce, he could be a valuable core piece, given his other tools. I'm not giving up on him, but I admit that I'm disappointed with Moncada's results, so far.

Please note that I was referring to "borderline" pitches. I don't think that it's a good idea to be taking borderline pitches, with two strikes, especially outside pitches, which are very hittable.

I think that it depends upon where the borderline pitch is. I've been advocating that he take the "borderline" outside pitches to the opposite field. The outside pitch is easiest to hit in the direction. With these dramatic shifts, that side of field is just inviting a hitter to go that way. When he has two strikes, those pitches should not be taken, but rather hit for singles and doubles. He probably has enough power to even take a few of those pitches, out of the park.

I probably would have made note of such deals, if they had been cancelled, because of failure to extend. Thanks for the examples.

I understand. So, it is a deal contingent upon an extension, and the deal is cancelled, if they fail to extend him. I don't remember ever seeing a deal like that. I learned something. Thanks.

I'm confused. The scenario outlined in the original post is that the Sox would have a 48 hour window to negotiate a contract extension. How does that equate to any kind of a guarantee that they end up with anything more than a one year rental? If failure to extend him, during that 48 hours, negated the deal, that would be one thing, but that is not the case. Please enlighten me. Sorry for being so ignorant.

One can "dress up" this proposed deal with all of the ifs, but the bottom line is that you are acquiring a one year rental, in a year when you are not expected to be competing for a playoff berth. Hard to justify giving up, what has been considered one of the key core pieces, for the future window of contention, for a one year rental.

Marte is going to be a free agent in 2020, although there are currently team options, for 2020 and 2021. Your proposed trade seems like a lot to give up for him, since you are likely not going to want him, in 2020 and beyond, which is when Robert will be ready. That lineup is dangerous, but has only one LH hitter, who could hit in the middle of the order.

He just turned 21, in May. Maybe they should just see if he can continue to perform at this level. He is now at .300 with an OBP of .340 and driving in runs. The only thing missing is the power, but that should come. This is his first full season at Advanced A and he is now tied for 6TH in the League, for Average. He only had 30 games at that level, last season and they were pretty disappointing. I think that we should be very pleased with his progress. He is doing especially well, vs RHP.

LH hitters hitting .304 against Keuchel, and RR has all three switch hitters hitting right handed, and benches Palka. Does this man even look at the data? Can anyone offer an explanation here?

Left handed hitters are hitting .304 vs. Keuchel, this year.