Why is Sox marketing and FO so desperate to force feed us this idea of Andrew Vaughn as leader on and off the field lately? Every time I turn around I’m reading another headline about Vaughn being some kind of leader, or that the FO consulted him regarding a trade. Today Sox FB splashed a big quote from Dylan’s Cease about how he was player of the game. 

His stat line, his WAR, his defensive value, his speed….look, I like Andrew and hope he improves… but he is an utterly unremarkable first baseman. 15-20 homers and an OPS in the mid 700s is not going to cut it at a position where you need big slugging and big OBA. If he is what this is, he is kind of a bust as a major league first baseman. 

I say this in sharp contrast to Sox marketing of Luis Robert, who they aren’t really putting forth as a “leader”. Like it or not, Robert is the very best player on the field and they better start making him the centerpiece of what they’re moving forward with…he is coming into his own as one of the very best players in the game. 

Anyone have any insight as to why the Sox are so in love with Andrew Vaughn? Again nice player, but consistently unremarkable in every category. 

 

Edited August 8, 20232 yr by Greg Hibbard

Cause there must always be a franchise cornerstone at first base.

If there isn't, this all goes to s%*#.

it is kinda funny. Robert is having a real ass season and they are like "check out our .750 ops first baseman!"

2 hours ago, Greg Hibbard said:

Why is Sox marketing and FO so desperate to force feed us this idea of Andrew Vaughn as leader on and off the field lately? Every time I turn around I’m reading another headline about Vaughn being some kind of leader, or that the FO consulted him regarding a trade. Today Sox FB splashed a big quote from Dylan’s Cease about how he was player of the game. 

His stat line, his WAR, his defensive value, his speed….look, I like Andrew and hope he improves… but he is an utterly unremarkable first baseman. 15-20 homers and an OPS in the mid 700s is not going to cut it at a position where you need big slugging and big OBA. If he is what this is, he is kind of a bust as a major league first baseman. 

I say this in sharp contrast to Sox marketing of Luis Robert, who they aren’t really putting forth as a “leader”. Like it or not, Robert is the very best player on the field and they better start making him the centerpiece of what they’re moving forward with…he is coming into his own as one of the very best players in the game. 

Anyone have any insight as to why the Sox are so in love with Andrew Vaughn? Again nice player, but consistently unremarkable in every category. 

 

My guess is that of the 2 AV probably has more leadership qualities than Robert, maybe from his college days. I believe that the Sox think he is only going to get better as this is only his 3rd year in pro ball, he never played in the Minors except in the Rookie league. Robert is a introvert and from what I read is very shy, he would be better leading by example but he’s had issues by not busting his butt on groundouts and other instances, last night was the first time I’ve seen him run like someone in a 40 yard dash, I didn’t realize he had that kind of speed. We need to see more of that from him. Robert has a chance of becoming an all time Sox great, he just needs to want it. 
What’s missing in all this is that the guy that should have been the leader is TA but we all know how things have turned to crap with him on and off the field.

 

Edited August 8, 20232 yr by The Mighty Mite

I wonder if Robert not speaking much English is a big reason.  Even though it shouldn't be, see Ohtani.  

If marketing can convince enough people that he all of these great intangibles, maybe they will look past his paltry numbers or how they wasted a top pick on a maxed out below average 1B?

3 minutes ago, Tnetennba said:

If marketing can convince enough people that he all of these great intangibles, maybe they will look past his paltry numbers or how they wasted a top pick on a maxed out below average 1B?

Conspiracy time:

Vaughn having more home runs in August than all of July shows that he's embracing his new leadership role.

4 minutes ago, The Mighty Mite said:

My guess is that of the 2 AV probably has more leadership qualities than Robert

I would guess the same, not that Vaughn appears to be some born leader or anything. Pretty low bar to clear at the moment, I'd imagine.

Also they get to play the whole "tradition of great first basemen" card that Quin mentioned. 

Also also they get to deflect the ugliness of the TA fight by focusing on Vaughn carrying him or whatever in a "pay attention to the one good thing that happened!" sort of way.

Vaughn is 59th in MLB total bases.

https://www.teamrankings.com/mlb/player-stat/total-bases

In that sense, if every team had two players make the list...he's one of the best two on the team, along with #6 Luis Robert.

 

https://www.espn.com/mlb/stats/player/_/view/batting/table/batting/sort/RBIs/dir/desc

He's also 45th in RBI's.

Edited August 8, 20232 yr by caulfield12

Ozzie showed leadership skills from day 1 at 21 years old annd he wasn’t exactly killing it with the bat. Either you have that trait or you don’t. Apparently Vaughn has some of that. Hopefully the performance rises in the next couple years where both numbers and ability to lead are there. 

7 minutes ago, Quin said:

Conspiracy time:

Vaughn having more home runs in August than all of July shows that he's embracing his new leadership role.

He was what, 2 homers in August?  Leadership baby!

Just now, Tnetennba said:

He was what, 2 homers in August?  Leadership baby!

2 HRs and 1 Carried TA

Yankee Killer/Slayer...?

 

Edited August 8, 20232 yr by caulfield12

They seem to be trying to add value to him in different ways.  Disappointing stats?  No problem, we’ll just spin it— “this guy’s got intangibles that give him unseen value.  You can’t put a price on leadership…Andrew is invaluable to our team…”

In other words…“I’ll trade him this winter if that high price is met…”

Maybe after years of pushing a showboat as a leader who crumbled at the first sign of adversity, they're trying someone who puts his head down, runs hard (slow) and appears to genuinely want to get better. This kid was deprived any time to develop. If he was moved along properly it'd be what, his 1st? 2nd full season this year? I still think he'll settle in as a .270 to .280/25 - 30 hr guy and will be fine. 

As far as pushing him as a leader? I hadn't noticed. He showed me he was one on Saturday. If they were smart, at the deadline they would've told him "I don't care what your numbers are, or what the w/l record is. You are our 1st baseman this year and next. So go play and don't think about it anymore." Maybe they did. He's looked better lately. And I agree with what someone else said about Robert being shy. If he wanted to be in the limelight more he would be. 

He is part of the untouchable pieces after all.

Edited August 8, 20232 yr by Bob Sacamano

And can we please get rid of Sheets once and for all now...?

Vaughn still has gobs of potential, so they should keep playing him.  That was a big home run last night against a great pitcher.

2 minutes ago, oldsox said:

Vaughn still has gobs of potential, so they should keep playing him.  That was a big home run last night against a great pitcher.

And a great play at first. This is a great stretch for him to build confidence. 

I'd give Vaughn at least one more year. He might show something with a little time. What do the Sox have to lose? They're not going anywhere.

14 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

And can we please get rid of Sheets once and for all now...?

The problem is Colas isn’t any good either

He got a raw deal here, between the 2020 owner lockouts, then getting thrown into the outfield because Rick Hahn can’t do his job the past two years. This year he had to fill in the shoes for an MVP and fan favorite.

Cut him some slack. He is their youngest starter, the only one here beyond Robert to be an everyday player and he gives good effort.

He’s having a good second half, handled Tim on Saturday when it seemed nobody else could/would, and had an awesome game yesterday.

Edited August 8, 20232 yr by South Side Hit Men

2 hours ago, The Mighty Mite said:

The problem is Colas isn’t any good either

Colas Defense has been pretty good. His arm strength and accuracy are exceptional. Offensively, he needs some work.

12 minutes ago, tray said:

Colas Defense has been pretty good. His arm strength and accuracy are exceptional. Offensively, he needs some work.

He has a damn good arm but seems like he’s not taking the right tracks to catching the baseball, just doesn’t seem real smooth on some plays. I’d play him every game the rest of the season and evaluate him then, he’s not going to get better sitting on the bench.

Colas however does seem to want it. You do see him always busting his ass down the line, clearly gets upset when he doesnt perform in a good spot and even Grifol said he comes to him for hitting advice. 

I really like Oscar. He showed the ability to drive the ball in the minors. My hope is that he makes the necessary adjustments to show the power he had in the minors. He seems to have a hard time covering the outer portion of the plate.