Sox Fan In Husker Land

So you would have the Sox trade their young controllable assets for a pitcher with 3 years of control, or whom are you trading for Gray? When have the Sox actually gone out and signed Top available free agents? Albert Belle? Jose Abreu? Is that it? Personally I'm leery of signing Corbin because there are major red flags: Tommy John in 2014, velocity down at the beginning of the year this year, slider usage way up, one season over 3.5 fWAR in his career doesn't translate to a 5 year $100 mill+ deal for me, is his elbow a ticking time bomb? I'm not going to complain if the Sox show that they are willing to spend on top free agents and sign some though, in fact I would welcome it. It's something they haven't done in a long time. The payroll is low now with barely any $ tied up long term, they have talent in the minors waiting in the wings, at what point do the Sox start adding pieces via free agency to help them compete for the playoffs and more in the 2020-2023 time frame? The 2014 off season they signed: LaRoche was signed for 2 years 25 mill. He accumulated 6.4 fWAR over the previous 5 seasons. He was 35 when he signed. It was a dumb signing. Cabrera was signed for 3 years 42 mill. He accumulated 11.3 fWAR over the previous 5 seasons. He was 30 when he signed, and had multiple instances of PED use. Robertson was signed for 4 years 46 mill. He accumulated 8.1fWAR over the previous 5 seasons. He was 29 when he signed, and lived up to his contract value. The top Pitching Free Agents (pitchers that signed for $100 million or more) in 2013 were: Masahiro Tanaka (age the next season after he signed as a FA 26). He got 7 years 155 mill, he has been worth 15.5 fWAR so far in that contract. The top Pitching Free Agents (pitchers that signed for $100 million or more) in 2014 were: Max Scherzer (31). He had accumulated 21.6 fWAR over the previous 5 seasons. He got 7 years 210 mill, he has been worth 25.4 fWAR so far in that contract. Jon Lester (31). He had accumulated 19.1 fWAR over the previous 5 seasons. He got 6 years 155 mill, he has been worth 13.4 fWAR so far in that contract. The top Pitching Free Agents in 2015 (pitchers that signed for $100 million or more) were: David Price (31). He had accumulated 21.6 fWAR over the previous 5 seasons. He got 7 years 217 mill, he has been worth 8.8 fWAR so far in that contract. Zack Greinke (32). He had accumulated 22.4 fWAR over the previous 5 seasons. He got 6 years 206.5 mill, he has been worth 10.8 fWAR so far in that contract. Johnny Cueto (30). He had accumulated 17.0 fWAR over the previous 5 seasons. He got 6 years 130 mill, he has been worth 6.9 fWAR so far in that contract. Jordan Zimmerman (30) . He had accumulated 18.7 fWAR over the previous 5 seasons. He got 5 years 110 mill, he has been worth 3.2 fWAR so far in that contract. The top Pitching Free Agents in 2016 (pitchers that signed for $100 million or more) were: No one. The top Pitching Free Agents in 2017 (pitchers that signed for $100 million or more) were: Yu Darvish (32). He had accumulated 14.7 fWAR over the previous 5 seasons (ZERO in 2015). He got 6 years 126 mill, he has been worth 0.2 fWAR so far in that contract. The top Pitching Free Agents in 2018 (pitchers that signed for $100 million or more) are: Patrick Corbin (30). He had accumulated 11.3 fWAR over the previous 5 seasons (ZERO in 2014). Of those 8 pitchers who received 100 million + I would say that Tanaka, Scherzer, and Lester lived up to their contracts. Greinke so far has lived up to the contract, but most likely will take a tumble. Price has slightly under performed, but made up for it in October. Cueto had one good year and looks to be a fail. Zimmerman has been a complete fail. Darvish after 1 year has been a fail, but has time to make up for it.

Just my opinion, but he only has 140 PA at A+. He needs to start at Winston-Salem. Rutherford, Basabe, Call, & Booker should start at Birmingham. Luis Gonzalez, Luis Robert, & Micker Adolfo should start at Winston-Salem. That would be a fun outfield to follow.

When do the Sox spend $ to try and start building a winning culture while also bringing up talented prospects, and not blocking them? I know none of this will likely happen, but this would be my wish. We don’t lose picks signing any of these guys and no long term bad contracts. Allows you to take a 62 win team and fill holes while allowing prospects time to develop, and should push team up to being competitive, especially if Cleveland sells. Sign 3B Mike Moustakas 3 years 45 mill. Sign RF Andrew McCutchen 3 years 45 mill. Sign CF AJ Pollock 3 years 45 mill. Sign SP Nathan Eovaldi 3 years 48 mill. Sign SP Lance Lynn 2 years 18 mill. Sox spend $70 million per year on 5 signings none longer than a 3 year contract. C - Narvaez/Castillo 1B- Abreu 2B - Moncada SS - Anderson 3B - Moustakas LF - Jimenez (after a couple of weeks) CF - Pollock RF - McCutchen DH - Palka Bench - Sanchez, Davidson, Engel, L. Garcia SP - Rodon/Eovaldi/Lopez/Giolito/Lynn RP - Fry, Jones, Bummer, Vieria, Fulmer, Minaya, Frare. Laugh away.

In 133 games in the Sox system here is what Eloy Jimenez has done: .340/.391/.615, 1.006 OPS 552 PAs, 509 ABs 173 Hs, 41 2Bs, 3 3Bs, 31 HRs. 313 TBs. 85 R, 97 RBI 43 BB, 93 K, 7.79 BB%, 16.85 K%.

Basabe with a leadoff HR. Madrigal with a HBP & BB. Robert with a BB, SB. Cease 1 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K.

Kopech's last 5 starts: 31 IP, 27 H, 4 BB, 41 K, 8 ER. 11.90 K/9, 1.16 BB/9, 1.00 WHIP, 2.32 ERA, 10.25 K:BB.

Crazy isn't it? Kopech has been pretty good his last 4 starts as well. 24 IP, 19 H, 4 BB, 32 K, 6 ER. 12 K/9, 1.5 BB/9, 0.96 WHIP, 2.25 ERA. Can you imagine a rotation next September with Rodon, Kopech, and Cease in it? Get Dunning & Burdi healthy and Hansen right.

6 IP 1 H 0 BB 9 K Dating back to July here are Cease's #s in his last 6 outings including tonight so far: 36 IP, 4 ER, 18 H, 11 BB, 51K. 12.75 K/9. 2.75 BB/9. 1.00 ERA. 0.81WHIP.

This was from March 2017, https://pinstripedprospects.com/five-yankees-prospects-you-don’t-know-but-should-19535/

Basabe 2 BB, no hits yet. Collins 2/3 1 BB. Really starting to get excited about Basabe. A 21 year old CF prospect with a 10%+ BB rate and a .200 ISO, sign me up.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/07/brewers-to-acquire-mike-moustakas.html The Brewers have lined up with the Royals on a deal that will bring third baseman Mike Moustakas to Milwaukee, according to MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan (via Twitter). Outfielder Brett Phillips and righty Jorge Lopez are going to Kansas City in return, per the report.

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/collegiate-national-team-wraps-up-successful-summer/ Collegiate National Team Wraps Up Successful Summer USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team wrapped up an impressive summer slate last week with a series win in Cuba, completing their campaign with series wins against Taiwan, Japan and Cuba and a 12-3 overall record. But it wasn’t just the success that made the team memorable to manager Paul Mainieri, it was also the way the players conducted themselves. “We just had an amazing group of young men,” Mainieri said. “They obviously were very talented, but they were also very unselfish. Conducted themselves in a first-class way, like to think they forged relationships with teammates and coaches that will last a lifetime. For me, personally, it was a dream come true, something I can check off my bucket list.” The team won all five games against Taiwan and then took three out of five from Japan before traveling to Havana. Team USA won the first three games to win the series against Cuba for the fourth consecutive summer. Catcher Adley Rutschman (Oregon State) finished an excellent campaign by going 5-for-12 in Cuba, walking three times and driving in two runs. Overall, Rutschman led all Team USA hitters with a .355 batting average. Mainieri raved about Rutschman, who joined the team late following the Beavers’ national championship run at the College World Series. Rutschman came to Team USA for the final two series and quickly made an impact. “Adley is one of those guys that’s just got the 'it' factor to the nth degree,” Mainieri said. “When he joined our team following the Taiwan series he just brought so much to our team from an ability standpoint as a hitter and a catcher and as a leader. He’s cut right out of central casting. He’s got everything you look for in a ballplayer and a person. “He made us better in a lot of ways. I think he picked everyone up around him. He was a true leader of our team. He caught great, hit great from both sides of the plate and he was a great manager of the pitching staff along with (Virginia head coach) Brian O’Connor. If I was a general manager of a team, I would have a tough time passing on him next year in the draft.” Outfielder Daniel Cabrera (Louisiana State) and shortstop Bryson Stott (Nevada-Las Vegas) were two of the other offensive standouts for Team USA. Cabrera, a sophomore, led the team in home runs (two) and finished second in RBIs with six. Stott raised his prospect status with an impressive summer both at the plate and at shortstop. He hit .262/.340/.333 and made several highlight-reel plays, showing impressive defensive ability. “A lot of our success was due to the way Bryson Stott played defensively for us,” Mainieri said. “By the second half he was swinging extremely well. I think Bryson did himself an awful lot of good in the way he improved and to catch the eye of the pro scouting world.” Team USA received solid pitching performances all summer. As a team, they posted a 2.06 ERA and held opponents to a .184 batting average. Lefthander Mason Feole (Connecticut) was one of the stars on the mound. In three appearances, he pitched 11 innings, allowed just three hits and no runs and struck out nine batters. Lefthander Drew Parrish (Florida State) and righthander Zack Hess(LSU) were similarly strong, with neither pitcher allowing a run. Parrish struck out eight batters and walked just one in 10.1 innings of work, while Hess led the team with two wins and pitched nine innings across three appearances. Closer Max Meyer (Minnesota) and lefthander Graeme Stinson (Duke) were part of an excellent bullpen for Team USA. Meyer, a sophomore, saved seven games and struck out 15 batters in eight innings. Stinson, a junior, struck out 10 batters in six innings and scattered two hits and five walks. It was quite a run for the collegiate national team, and although Mainieri wishes his squad had won every game, he was happy with the results. “I wish we would have won all 15 games,” Mainieri said. “But we won all three series, beat the Cuban National Team three-of-four in Cuba. The Japan team, man they were a tough team to beat. I have so much respect for the way they play the game. The pitching Japan threw at us was almost shocking to me how quality it was. It was successful results-wise, but mostly it was successful because the young men had an experience that they’ll never forget.”

The deal has a chance to be very special to both of the teams involved. Since joining the Red Sox, Sale has the most fWAR of any pitcher in baseball at 12.9 as of today. The next closest is Scherzer at 10.5. The Red Sox ended up getting what has been the best pitcher in baseball the last 1.5 years on a 3 year $38 million contract. They knew what they were giving up in Moncada, Kopech, and Basabe to get him. They also have the best record in baseball now.

Any chance that the Sox could add a lot of cash to that deal and pry away Corey Ray or Tristen Lutz from the Brewers? From the Red Sox give me lottery tickets Antoni Flores & Danny Diaz.

Basabe now up to .255 and an OPS over .700 at AA. Collins with a 1B off of a LHP.

Probably due to all the injuries as stated. Kubat was a starter at Nebraska for 4 seasons. He was known more as a pitcher with good control, than a strikeout machine there. He was a soft tossing lefty, that relied on changing speeds to get outs while at NU.

Basabe with a BB and 2 RBI 2B today. Madrigal 1/3, Single, HPB, Stolen Base. Rutherford 0/2. 2 BB.

Good to know that Collins ability to draw walks won't translate to the majors.

Steele Walker at DH.

Kopech 6 IP 4 H 1 BB 1 ER 11 K. 96 pitches. 70 strikes.

Rutherford with another 3B.

Madrigal will fit right in.