That is certainly possible - this is an upside play ... it is the one thing that gets lost with dealing Bradley is certainty. At the same time, a core of under 25 guys comes with some of that uncertainty. Benintendi certainly has the chance to be a better total package than Bradley. But the guy to deal if you are moving somebody to improve the big league club, it's Bradley. A little older - valuable but probably without a ton more to go.Originally Posted by moonslav59
I don't disagree. I was just addressing your apparent sugar-coating the defensive differential between Beni & JBJ.
I agree Beni is a better total package, has more upside, is less costly and has more years of team control.
He's not better on defense in CF or in RF. Someday, he may get close to JBJ on D, but I doubt he ever equal his defensive skill set.
I was against the Vic trade for one major reason: the 3 years considering his age and likelihood of decline.
It's hard to crap on the deal, since he was a major factor in 2013, but his 3 year numbers certainly did not merit the contract.
No question in my mind that JBJ is durable and ranks among the top AL defensive CFs with Kevin Pillar and Kevin Kiermaier. Still, he is an irratic hitter and did not show improvement this year, and he is now at prime age. What I am hoping for is incremental improvement on a hollistic basis. Cora is now our manager and he will help select coaches going forward. They no doubt will discuss possible moves to improve the club and JBJ is one of those who may be involved. This Brannen kid is a 5 tool player and may be a CF of the future. The earliest we will see him is probably a sept call up. Please do not trade him away.
We may have to wait a year to make more substantial moves until Panda and Hanley's contracts free up another $40 mil, assuming Hanley's contract is not fulfilled for 2019. I know your suggesting Duda as a possible addition. I guess we will have to wait and see what Cora, his coaches and DD come up with. Doing nothing should not be an option.
First of all, injuries happen. There is no guarantee Price is going to make it through the full season; there is no guarantee Sale will make it through the season either. The Yankees were without Pineda all year. Yes, he is erratic at times, but he has the potential to be very good. Second, Wright was hardly anything to Wright home about (so to speak). His ERA was 4.70 from mid June on in 2016. Who knows who will be healthy and who will not; my post dealt with the current (2017) year. And the fact is that the Yankee pitching was almost as good as ours and their offense was better. I am not EXPECTING the current roster to make a huge leap in performance. Maybe they will; maybe they won't. I would not count on it. If I am DD I am looking for upgrades in the power department, which is our weakest link.
Here is the SoxProspects write-up on 19-year-old outfielder Cole Brannen, who this year posted a .231/.383/.246/.630 line in 168 plate appearances in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League:
http://www.soxprospects.com/players/brannen-cole.htm
Brannon was 1.4 years younger than the average player in that league.
There was basically no evidence that there was a 2-win player inside there at his age and recent results, let alone a 6-win player. But hey - I'll take it!
He is young and is a 5 tool guy. Very possible he can develop into a CF type in the future. Maybe I am a little too optimistic that it can occur by Sept., but he is one of the few in our system which has that kind of potential. He is 6' 170# right now but will probably get to 185 with maturity and gain power. Keep an eye on him.
Brannen is a 4 tool prospect. The thing about Brannen that always is a crap shoot is when a team drafts an athlete with hit projection and hope the hit tool progresses enough to allow them to use that athleticism. If you hit, then you've got a star. Very, very frequently, you don't hit. This isn't like a guy who throws 100mph or a hitter with now power.
Hal sucks
I realize we are bound to have injuries in 2018, and some might be to Price and better players than who got hurt in 2017. I get that.
I do not think that even taking that into consideration, it's unreasonable to expect more from our returning players. While Betts, Bogey, Bradley and Beni all declined from 2016 to 2017, at their ages, I think it is more likely they hit closer to 2016 (or better) than 2017. That could be a huge gain. Devers could do worse than 2017, but by playing 158 games instead of 58, we could see a big gain at 3B. I'm not expecting a gain from our post-prime guys, but there's only two of them (HRam & Pedey). It's possible we get more from one or both in 2017 than 2017, since HRam was off and Pedey missed time. Vaz could decline and Leon is a crap shoot. We are likely to replace Moreland & Young with someone better.
I'm probably higher on Wright than others, but I think he's better than the 25 starts from Fister, Johnson, Velazquez and Kendrick. I know Price could pitch less in 2018 than 2017, but there's hope he stays healthy. Porcello is a crap shoot. Pom is looking more solid. ERod is hurt. Sale has been a horse.
Our pen has a lot of returning arms. I can't imagine it being worse, but anything can happen.
Maybe I'm a homer. Maybe I'm being too optimistic, but I do feel that, overall, our returning players will do significantly better next year.
Age Returning Player
20 Devers
22 Beni
23 (Lin & Travis)
24 Betts, Bogey, ERod (DL) (Taylor)
25 (Swihart)
26 Vaz, Maddox (Johnson & Marrero
27 JBJ, C Smith, Barnes & Scott
28 Sale, Pom, Porcello, Workman, Leon (Velazquez)
29 Kimbrel, Kelly & Holt
31 Price
33 Pedey & HRam
Looking at just the ages, it's hard not to expect improvement, especially when so many had "off seasons" in 2017.
Of course, if our new free agents end up like HRam and Pablo then we'll probably be a wild card team next year.
The one thing your kids showed was that they weren't ready to lead in 2017. With Papi gone and the onus on them, they shit the bed. You must add an elite bat to take some pressure off Betts
Hal sucks
The one thing your kids showed was that they weren't ready to lead in 2017. With Papi gone and the onus on them, they shit the bed.
If 93 wins is shitting the bed, then what of teams with less wins?
You must add an elite bat to take some pressure off Betts.
I totally agree. With maybe as much as $40M to spend this winter, I think DD makes a serious deal or signing to attempt to solve both problems: power clean-up hitter &
the leadership we need.
I'll be surprised if we miss out on Stanton, JD Martinez or Moustakas (or someone as good as Moose).
The Red Sox were the crappiest 93 win team in baseball history. The Yankees were the finest 91 win team ever.
lol.
Seriously - the Red Sox won 93 games facing a pretty substantial amount of adversity. This was not a year where our projected starting 5 went out and made 130 starts ... this was not a year where we had pristine health. I know the narrative is cute to say that Ortiz left this team flailing in the sea. But the team won 2 less games, with much more adversity - and they won one more playoff game! Yeah they were crappy to Eck - but that does not speak to the product on the field.
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