I am inherently biased towards Trayce (have long been one of his biggest fans on this site) but I wonder if in this day and age he actually has a lot more upside then we give him credit. If you put him in RF, with his defensive skills and the new aged statistical measures, are we going to see a guy whose bat is mediocre but his glove is so strong, that we are talking about a pretty valuable overall rf'er (and a major long-term upgrade over Avi)? I'm probably overstating things but if Trayce's metrics grade out as good as his defensive tools suggest (and w/Avi's current struggles) this would probably be as good of an era as any to come up (and we might even see him be the type of guy whose bat, which initially will be below average, slowly grades into solid).

To put some numbers on this I went to FG and sorted for right fielders. Out of qualified RF there are a couple guys who have an RC+ below 100 (so below average RF) who are putting up positive WAR numbers due to defense. Gregory Polanco has played basically the full season or close to it, has been worth 1 fWAR, has most of his value from defense and being a strong baserunner. He's put up a .678 OPS so far on the year.

 

TT could be a better defender than him, but the 11/16 stolen bases this year at Charlotte suggests to me he won't be as valuable of a baserunner, at least to start, and that's without me taking any deserved shots at the coaching staff for the quality of baserunning in this org.

 

If TT is a better defender than Polanco, over a full season, I think that's the OPS range we need to talk about for him to be a decent enough player in right field where we stick him at the bottom of the order and let him catch the ball. Guessing somewhere around .650 OPS might be the ~0 fWAR crossover, give or take a decent amount on each side since this is an educated guess game for now.

 

Interestingly, those rough offensive numbers don't change all that much if he spends a fair amount of time in CF.

To put some numbers on this I went to FG and sorted for right fielders. Out of qualified RF there are a couple guys who have an RC+ below 100 (so below average RF) who are putting up positive WAR numbers due to defense. Gregory Polanco has played basically the full season or close to it, has been worth 1 fWAR, has most of his value from defense and being a strong baserunner. He's put up a .678 OPS so far on the year.

 

TT could be a better defender than him, but the 11/16 stolen bases this year at Charlotte suggests to me he won't be as valuable of a baserunner, at least to start, and that's without me taking any deserved shots at the coaching staff for the quality of baserunning in this org.

 

If TT is a better defender than Polanco, over a full season, I think that's the OPS range we need to talk about for him to be a decent enough player in right field where we stick him at the bottom of the order and let him catch the ball. Guessing somewhere around .650 OPS might be the ~0 fWAR crossover, give or take a decent amount on each side since this is an educated guess game for now.

 

Interestingly, those rough offensive numbers don't change all that much if he spends a fair amount of time in CF.

The bright side for the Sox is, TT is replacing Avi, and his negative WAR

To put some numbers on this I went to FG and sorted for right fielders. Out of qualified RF there are a couple guys who have an RC+ below 100 (so below average RF) who are putting up positive WAR numbers due to defense. Gregory Polanco has played basically the full season or close to it, has been worth 1 fWAR, has most of his value from defense and being a strong baserunner. He's put up a .678 OPS so far on the year.

 

TT could be a better defender than him, but the 11/16 stolen bases this year at Charlotte suggests to me he won't be as valuable of a baserunner, at least to start, and that's without me taking any deserved shots at the coaching staff for the quality of baserunning in this org.

 

If TT is a better defender than Polanco, over a full season, I think that's the OPS range we need to talk about for him to be a decent enough player in right field where we stick him at the bottom of the order and let him catch the ball. Guessing somewhere around .650 OPS might be the ~0 fWAR crossover, give or take a decent amount on each side since this is an educated guess game for now.

 

Interestingly, those rough offensive numbers don't change all that much if he spends a fair amount of time in CF.

 

Brian Anderson would have been perceived as more valuable as well.....but 2005-2008 was still the height of the peds run.

 

Of course, an outfield of Melky, Eaton and Anderson wouldn't exactly constitute a league powerhouse, exactly.

 

Please play TT all three games in KC. Folks, if we are status quo against the Royals, we lose all 3 games, pure and simple. Royals are struggling and Sox are the tonic before 3 sellout crowds. It's about 95 percent we lose all three games if we play it like normal vs. KC.

 

My suggestion ... please.

-- Play TT in right all 3 games (won't happen)

-- Catch Soto all 3 games (I worship Tyler but again, I want it switched up for the hell of it, lest we lose all 3 again) (won't happen).

-- Platoon Avi and LaRoche at DH and let Abreu start at first. Start LaRoche tomorrow (ugh) since KC is pitching a righty. (won't happen; Avi will stay in right)

-- Bat Saladino ninth this series and put Melky second. Give Melky a shot at carrying our team. (won't happen; Saladino is Robin's guy in 2 hole)

-- Have relievers ready early. My boy, Danks, is my fave but he's due to get rocked by KC. Rather than concede another blowout loss, simply yank poor Johnny's butt early if need be; really early. (won't happen and we might be down 7-0 in the third)

--Throw at the Royals. They are assholes this year and they are trying to bully everybody in baseball. Have Johnny throw at Cain the first time up, hopefully with nobody on base. Plunk him good in the flesy part of the butt so he doesn't get hurt. (only one of my items that might happen; Sox might throw at a Royal, u never know).

 

Please comment on my suggestions. I'm sick of the inevitable 0-3 vs. KC. But really, folks, give Thompson all 3 ballgames!

Edited August 7, 201510 yr by greg775

Please play TT all three games in KC. Folks, if we are status quo against the Royals, we lose all 3 games, pure and simple. Royals are struggling and Sox are the tonic before 3 sellout crowds. It's about 95 percent we lose all three games if we play it like normal vs. KC.

 

My suggestion ... please.

-- Play TT in right all 3 games (won't happen)

-- Catch Soto all 3 games (I worship Tyler but again, I want it switched up for the hell of it, lest we lose all 3 again) (won't happen).

-- Platoon Avi and LaRoche at DH and let Abreu start at first. Start LaRoche tomorrow (ugh) since KC is pitching a righty. (won't happen; Avi will stay in right)

-- Bat Saladino ninth this series and put Melky second. Give Melky a shot at carrying our team. (won't happen; Saladino is Robin's guy in 2 hole)

-- Have relievers ready early. My boy, Danks, is my fave but he's due to get rocked by KC. Rather than concede another blowout loss, simply yank poor Johnny's butt early if need be; really early. (won't happen and we might be down 7-0 in the third)

--Throw at the Royals. They are assholes this year and they are trying to bully everybody in baseball. Have Johnny throw at Cain the first time up, hopefully with nobody on base. Plunk him good in the flesy part of the butt so he doesn't get hurt. (only one of my items that might happen; Sox might throw at a Royal, u never know).

 

Please comment on my suggestions. I'm sick of the inevitable 0-3 vs. KC. But really, folks, give Thompson all 3 ballgames!

 

What a terrible suggestion

What a terrible suggestion

 

I'd love to see Abreu get plunked. Who wouldn't?

I'd love to see Abreu get plunked. Who wouldn't?

If Abreu gets plunked, there will be benched clearing brawls.

If Abreu gets plunked, there will be benched clearing brawls.

 

I feel like Abreu would be terrifying to fight.

I'd love to see Abreu get plunked. Who wouldn't?

 

Or maybe we could get Chris Sale suspended again, that would be awesome, right?

I feel like Abreu would be terrifying to fight.

 

I don't think Abreu has the demeanor to be a big fighter. He seems like more of a lover than a fighter. The guys on the team I wouldn't want to f*** with would be Samardzija, Garcia and Flowers.

I don't think Abreu has the demeanor to be a big fighter. He seems like more of a lover than a fighter. The guys on the team I wouldn't want to f*** with would be Samardzija, Garcia and Flowers.

 

For me it's Abreu, because he's such a lover over a fighter.

 

If that massive man gets pissed to the point of fighting, f*** it, I'm out.

I don't think Abreu has the demeanor to be a big fighter. He seems like more of a lover than a fighter. The guys on the team I wouldn't want to f*** with would be Samardzija, Garcia and Flowers.

 

i would add Avi to that list.

i would add Avi to that list.

 

Look again, he's already there.

Add Flowers to that list.

I don't think Abreu has the demeanor to be a big fighter. He seems like more of a lover than a fighter. The guys on the team I wouldn't want to f*** with would be Samardzija, Garcia and Flowers.

 

Sale is the team hot head.

Sale is the team hot head.

 

Yea but he's also 180 pounds soaking wet with toothpicks for arms.

Sale is the team hot head.

 

North Floridian.

Yea but he's also 180 pounds soaking wet with toothpicks for arms.

 

Considering he can get the arm moving fast enough to throw 99 mph, I think he could throw a mean punch too.

The Royals have plunked Abreu before this season. Nothing happened.

Considering he can get the arm moving fast enough to throw 99 mph, I think he could throw a mean punch too.

"Big guy, big reach. Skinny guys fight 'til they're burger."

"Big guy, big reach. Skinny guys fight 'til they're burger."

 

Violation of 1st and 2nd rule !

Crazy thing I just noticed. Thompson is actually about 3 months older than Avi Garcia.