Dominikk85

Sox starters are third in IP Only behind Oakland and Houston and some guys look like they are getting tired. Imo there needs to be some kind of intervention like a fake DL stint or at least a skipped start. I don't care if the Sox have a 2 win 10 game stretch but give giolito, rodon and Lynn some time off.

I can understand that hoyer had to trade those guys because the pitching was getting old, the farm was bad and Ricketts was crying poor but I think it was pretty bad style to throw those 3 heros who brought them a WS under the bus by claiming they were offered great deals and didn't want to stay. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/08/cubs-jed-hoyer-extensions-baez-rizzo-bryant.html Nobody believes that Ricketts was offering all 3 a good deal, so just own that you didn't have the money to pay them fair value and don't throw them under the bus. That doesn't send a great message to future free agents wanting to sign there.

I just hope they don't rush him back. After the indians mostly sold at the deadline the Sox probably have the division title and while HFA would be nice it is more important to have a healthy roster in the playoffs. Better give them an extra week instead of having more of those re injuries. I hope they take their time with grandal too, the Sox can afford a 500 or even a 450 month but they need everyone at full strength and if they have to tank the next two weeks for it so be it.

I think the Sox might be down on the Ability of nick to add any power or develope into a plus defender. Remember when he was drafted most reports thought he was a plus defender plus they thought he has a chance to become a 12-15 HR guy which would have been an extremely valuable player. His hit tool was as advertised but defense was spotty and he didn't show any power although it at least was more doubles this year. If he is a fringe average defender who hits 4 homers a year even a 300 average is not that valuable especially if you only walk 5-6%. He still probably is a 2 war 2b man but the Sox probably think they can find that on the open market.

The Sox seem to not trust Collins either when you see how often zavala plays. I know Collins hasn't hit very good either but due to his high walk rate it still is about league average hitting (97 wrc+) while seby is basically an automatic out but still has been catching quite a bit the last week.

I think they really should give Lynn and rodon a start off. Yeah home field advantage would be nice but imo it is more important to have fresh pitchers in the post season. So give rodon and Lynn a full skip plus another 3 inning start followed by a bullpen day and you have saved each 10 innings and maybe cost the Sox a win. That is worth it imo.

Yeah, when you have guys like eloy, Robert, giolito, Lynn, rodon, grandal and others then having some 1.5 to 2 war guys to compliment those guys is pretty good, what killed the Sox when they had that core with sale, quantana, Eaton, konerko was that they had a lot of 0 and even negative 1 war guys on the roster. Getting a league average guy for a 0.5 war guy in leury (using projections Here, I know he has done OK this year) is quite an upgrade.

Pretty bad Roy class this year, nobody is really standing out.

He is basically a 100-105 wrc+ hitter while mendick and leury are 75-80 guys. That actually is a very big upgrade, you don't need to have a star at every position. Pilkington has some talent and the thought what the indians player dev stuff could turn him into is a bit uncomfortable but he probably isn't going to be a star either and if the indians turn him into a solid 4 starter all credit to them.

Yeah. Escobar has more pop but hernandez can take a walk and also makes more contact than Escobar. He seems to be selling out for power though this year thus the low babip but generally he is a decent obp guy. I would probably prefer his old approach going for a higher opb and just 10-12 homers but I think he is a decent solution. Not a star but can give you like league average production

I would have liked a trade a month ago but the Sox survived pretty well doing nothing and with eloy and soon Robert being back I think they now can absorb going with leury/mendick into the post season. Escobar is obviously better than leury and mendick but he too is a low obp guy while leury and mendick are low obp guys with no power :).

I like the second deal the pirates for that relief pitcher. Castillo is a low K guy (13% this year) and had a big power jump (11hr already after usually only like 1-3) and hoy Park is a decent albeit not spectacular prospect too.

Yes but he jumped straight from A to AAA and then to the majors, we don't really know if he is mlb ready

An Interesting thing about the trade is also that Marcano and suwinsky are rule 5 eligible next winter so it Really was needed to get rid of them for the Padres as they likely won't be up next year. For the pirates it will be some work to keep them on the roster next year but since they are not competing next year they can afford to do it

Pretty mediocre return for the pirates, I think only one of the prospects is ranked inside the Padres top30 by longenhagen albeit suwinsky probably also is like in the 20s range if you update.

Yeah, Tony acted Badly there but he also stuck with yermin and kept him in the middle of the lineup almost every day even when yermin struggled.

I really like the extension. Even if he does get hurt his contract ends before the current core gets expensive in arb or needs to be resigned so there isn't much risk and there is a solid chance he ages well and is good for those two years before they can sign a new guy or one or two of the young guys in the minors are ready.

Yeah, I like burger but apart from the injury concerns there are also some concerns about his plate discipline. He can hit and has power but he also had a 4 to 1 k to bb ratio in AAA (26/6) while Vaughn probably will be more like 20/12 (less than 2 to 1). That is a big difference

He is currently under performing a little but he has hit 20 Homers before. I don't think he should change his approach, he could go for more pull side power but then he probably his a 230 hitter with a 280 opb. I rather have him hit 300/340/470 than 230/280/450

I think lindor is better Than he has played so far this year and had some bad luck but he also massively benefitted from the juiced ball. He is a pretty small dude like 170 or so and was hitting high 30s Homers, that was probably a result of the juiced ball. I think really he is more a mid 20s bomb guy the next couple years before he starts to decline. I think it is good the Sox didn't sign a Guy like harper and Machado. They will need all the money to pay and retain their core (once arbitration and later free agency kicks in) and possibly buy some pitchers in the next couple years.

Is there any way to still make crochet a starter? They Sox likely are going to be competitive the next 4-5 years and crochet is doing well in the pen. Are they going to keep him there? Or sending him down in the minors? Or trying to stretch him out as a multi inning reliever in the majors and working on his third pitch there even if it means he occasionally gives up a 2 run bomb on it and loses a couple games?

Robert and eloy are 30 hr guys, eloy probably a 40 Homer guy. That is already over 30 bombs missing. Grandal is about where you expect him to be (but now out), vaughn is about on a 20 hr pace which is solid but more like average (not saying he can't be better in the future), abreu has slightly regressed (high 20s pace) and Tim has regressed a lot (mid teens pace this year). And then you have several no power guys (0-5 homer pace) getting at bats like Hamilton, Goodwin,madrigal (now out), leury, mendick, Eaton (now out)

I like the 1-2 they got. They did punt a lot of picks to get it done with seniors but They got Montgomery at 21, Kath at 57 and McDougal at 155 Longenhagen has Kath at 27, Montgomery at 36. That is a solid plus for those two spots and McDougal has upside too, Burke probably is an OK depth piece too

I wonder if they are cheating again 2019: O swing 29.3% Contact 80.7% 2020 O swing 30.8% Contact 79.9% 2021 O swing 28.4% Contact 81.0% Their plate discipline was still good last year but did take a step back and this year it is even better than 2019. Knowing what pitch comes could help with that

Yeah but speed correlates with the ability to stick at shortstop, a guy who is a fringe average runner at 19 and 6"4 might quickly be below average when he gains another 20 pounds of muscle. But yeah, the power is also some concern because he doesn't have as much room to grow as a guy who is 25 pounds lighter and a year younger. So a lot depends on his present power, if it is legit with wood bats already that would be great but if it doesn't really show in games it would be some concern. I'm looking forward to see his minor league exit velos. His tee exit velo at perfect game was good but not absolute top of the line at perfect game (top guys like Witt hit 100 but there are also good drafted HS hitters in the low 90s.