Dominikk85

Definitely unfortunate and you wouldn't make that pick again but burger has raked in college and his bat would have projected at first too. He wasn't vaughn or torkelson but he averaged a 1000+ ops in college which was better than the first basemen white and smith who were drafted ahead of him. I was always sceptical that he could play third but I thought as a first baseman with an outside shot to play third he was an ok pick. He was really a rather low risk pick, nobody can predict an Achilles tear, that is not a very common injury in baseball (maybe like 1 in 50 guys or so get it during their career?)

I like them too and I think it is good that there is a change albeit I'm sad for hawk that he had so many bad years in the end and now they are good again. I think hawk was past his prime but his style of announcing also works better with a fun and winning team.

Why not just sign puig? With 30 games left just offer him a 1 year deal, prorated that can't cost more than like 2 mil at best if not just 1. Puig isn't that great but projections have him at like a 110-115 wrc+ which is a solid number 6 hitter and a big upgrade over mazara and engel. Now he likely is rusty but the playoffs seem to be almost locked up anyway so just let him play simulated games at Schaumburg a couple days and then use the season to ramp him up and you get one hole less in the lineup for the playoffs.

His value is still hurt because possible makeup and mental health issues are looming, there even were rumors he would maybe quit the game. Not having pitched in two years also hurts value. He still has decent trade value but his value at this time certainly is compromised. His value could drop more (if he gets hurt again or doesn't perform) but it also could get a lot higher of he comes back and shows that he is healthy and performing.

Don't think the scout worries about it at all. You can't predict injuries, they suck but they are part of the game. Sure you could say his body type was a risk but then again super fit players get hurt and bartolo pitched until he was 50. I think a pure performance bust is worse for a scout. Also baseball is not basketball, top10 overall picks bust all the time, even the supposed smartest front office in baseball (luhnow astros) busted a first overall pick.

If moncada is really injured I doubt that decision is on ricky, that would be a medical department/front office decision. Of course the manager wants his star players to play but in the end the medical staff will make the decision and I trust them that they are able to judge that.

Yeah, I doubt EE can be traded without adding a prospect because even if he gets better nobody will want to pay his salary. I think the salary means that EE likely won't be released, it is only 30 more games and the sox don't want to eat that salary. Most likely they will reduce his playing time a little and drag him through the year unless he totally stinks it all year and then of course his option is not picked up. The best thing the Sox can do is probably making it through the season with a combination of EE, yermin and collins and then next year service time vaughn and bring him up mid to late April or maybe keep him down till super 2 and then bring him up somewhere in may.

That is a stupid excercise because every team passes players that have success, that happens when hundreds of players are drafted. Sure they could have drafted happ (9) or buehler (24) but they just as well could have drafted dillion tate (4), Cornelius Randolph (10) or garrett (not Forrest:)) Whitley (13).

Madrigal did definitely beef up (before his IL stint already of course), his EV did improve quite a bit this year, his 87 EV is almost league average. His top EV also went up albeit I don't really buy that 112 read (Perriello said there is some technical issues with the new statcast tech from hawkeye). I still think madrigal could be a 15+ homer guy like longenhagen said pre draft.

There is clearly an issue with him either physical, mechanical, mental or a combination of those factors. Mazara has a .795 career ops against righties including a career high .834 last year, this year it is below .650. He always sucked against lefties but against righties he used to be solid and consistent. He also has a career low exit velo and a career high K rate. This is clearly not himself this season but the question is with like 30 games left can that be fixed? if it is a mechanical or mental issue there is not much time to fix it, the same goes for an injury problem.

Padres have a good core but I think the Dodgers are still better and they always have good young prospects too. They are not going away the next couple years.

Yermin definitely deserves a shot somewhere but I'm not sure you can really say he has monster power. Throughout his career he never really showed monster power and was mostly like a 15 hr guy until last year when he hit 23 in like 90 games which is big of course (40 pace albeit with the juiced ball). Longenhagen gave him 6 raw and 5 game power and 6 hit. That means he sees him as a .280 hitter with 20 homers, even if you bump that to 25 that isn't a bad hitter but teams don't tend to use a roster spot on that type of player. In fact most teams don't have a full time DH anymore and tend to rotate players unless you have a transcendent bat who can't field (like ortiz or Cruz). Really those ok but not great DHs are phased out from the game. Obviously if you are nelson Cruz they find a spot for you but if you are just ok many teams prefer rotating 4 outfielders through DH and save a roster spot if they don't have a monster hitter who can't field.

Update: the last 2 weeks the sox have been second in mlb in wRC+ at 140 behind only the mets and they of course lead the AL. Their K% and Bb% rank got even worse (13th and 14th) but they have been leading ISO by 50 points over the second team and Homers by 5. Interestingly their babip was down to .295 but if you hit Homers left and right that doesn't hurt so much. That of course means the offense is very dependent on power which makes it more susceptible to streaks and fluctuations but the power potential is clearly there in that team. I think Vaughn will stabilize that to a degree when he is up next year and he can improve that k to bb rate a little. Madrigal will also help in the k/bb department.

Overall he has been really good. He obviously is no prime pujols or miggy and he has some cold streaks including usually cold starts to the season but over his career he averaged. 294 with around 30 homers and 110 rbi per year. He also has his weaknesses in that his defense is not good and he also doesnt walk much but a .349 career obp is still solid and really a .290/350/520 line is all you need from your first baseman. If Vaughn can get there in his prime that would be great

Yeah grandal should play most of the time. However I think for the long term outlook it should be better like 120-130 games and not 140-150. Give him a couple games at DH too to get him some extra games in the lineup.

I have an off topic question since I'm from europe: Are sox fans on average more liberal than Cubs fans? I occasionally lurked at the old mlb.com forums and the Cubs forum was really super right wing with many outrageous comments regarding migrants, muslims, gays and other. Here people seem to be much more liberal. Is that a difference across chicago or is this forum here just moderated better?

Contreras "framing" is really a joke. You want to move the glove like two inches towards the center of the zone and then stick it there. But Contreras rips the glove like a foot across the zone, I'm surprised he gets any calls at all, that is like a 12 year old little league catcher who has learned about framing the first time and then totally exaggerates.

Yeah walker is 24 and rated a 40+ by fangraphs, the chance he becomes a star is small. Tatis wasn't really higher than a 40+ at the time of the trade either but at age 16-17 there is much more variance, a 17 yo 40fv can be a 60 2 years later (or out of baseball if it goes the other direction).

440 is really long, the average homer in mlb is around 400 ft.

I think mazara should only play against righties. He can't hit lefties but normally he can hit righties and should get a bit better. EE will get more time because of his salary and because Vaughn will get service timed.

Well they have to start somebody and after keuchel, giolito and cease there is not much depth. Reylo could be blown up but at this point you at least need to give him another 2-3 chances because there is not much waiting to replace him.

Yankees, Rays, astros, As, twins should be a lock, that leaves still 3 spots. I think the Indians will make it too as their pitching can't stay this hot but their offense also cant stay that bad especially if they make an addition but that still leaves two. Honestly who should be those two beating the sox? A lot can happen but the Os still suck despite their record. And the blue Jays just don't have good pitching and now Pearson is hurt, bichette is hurt and vlad still has swing issues that he likely won't figure out. And red sox just have historically bad pitching and royals and tigers are pure tank teams. In the west the Mariners suck too. That leaves angels and rangers as contenders and the sox should be able to beat out at least one of them. I think the sox have a very good chance if they don't lose everyone to injury.

The pen is definitely the positive surprise of the season so far, many thought that would be a weak spot of the team.

Yeah, he could still get better. This year he is clearly his career worst, he looks lost and the swing long and out of sync. Historically he always was a platoon guy but he was decent against rhp. He could figure it out again but this year is not much time to make adjustments.

It is pretty sad that so many sox outfield prospects busted. Robert and eloy are really good of course but they had lots of prospects behind them (Gonzalez, walker, basabe, Rutherford, adolpho) and they all stalled in development or got hurt. Definitely thought one of them would step up but didn't really happen. Really the system does not have much depth except for dh/1b so I think maybe an external solution was needed. I actually liked the mazara trade, they did not give up much and got a former top prospect that maybe with a little swing tweak could have had a breakout. Did not work out but was worth the gamble.