How about those RED SOX! Part Deux

[Goondal]

Sandoval designated for assignment.  Our long national nightmare is over!

[Goondal]

Just saw that we will not be trading Rafael Devers.  After the last few days with the Panthers this is a relief.  This is the difference between a successful organization and an unsuccessful one.

[pantherphan96]

37 minutes ago, Goondal said:

Just saw that we will not be trading Rafael Devers.  After the last few days with the Panthers this is a relief.  This is the difference between a successful organization and an unsuccessful one.

Sox fans are pissed off enough at Dombrowski for trading Shaw for Thornburg and Espinoza for Pomeranz as it is. Glad to see they promoted Devers to AAA, hoping Holt can be the stopgap option along Marerro/Lin until perhaps September when Devers could be promoted. Also nice to see Price with a strong outing, hoping he can be the reliable #2 behind Sale.

[Goondal]

I will be honest, I would have made that Shaw trade 100 times out of 100 and do not believe he would be putting up those numbers in the AL East in Boston.  The fans are correct on Espinoza though.  Pomeranz has pitched well but he is inability to go deep into games still makes him a #5 on a contending team.  A good SP5, but an SP5 none the less.  An elite pitching prospect is worth more than that.

[pantherphan96]

I feel the opposite. While I didn't expect Shaw to perform anywhere near as well as he is currently doing, I thought he was our best option at 3rd for now and trading him away was betting pretty heavily on Sandoval returning to a form that he has never been in with the Sox.

Meanwhile we got a middle of the rotation starter in return for a prospect who is a long way from the majors and with the Sox track record of developing pitchers I am not confident he would have turned out much better than Buchholz or Henry Owens, etc. Pomeranz also can come out of the bullpen so he has an added versatility despite his inability to consistently pitch deep into games as a starter.

[Goondal]

I do like the bullpen element from Pomeranz for sure.  If the other four are all healthy and pitching well come October then he could transition easily and be a big asset down there I believe.

[Goondal]

Yankees got Frazier, Robertson, and Kahnle

So we will not be getting Frazier but the Kahnle part is the worst part.  That guy is a stud.  I wish we had traded for him since he was available, bullpen would have been totally set at that point.

I know we were after Frazier and the Yankees got him but that part is not too worrisome for me.  His BA sucks and he strikes out a ton, even though he hits a lot of HR.  The Robertson/Kahnle part worries me though.  

That bullpen is stacked now with those two added to Betances and Chapman.  The last three to four years the Yankees overachieved with what should have been sub .500 teams because of their bullpen and winning so many one runs games.  They have been losing those games this year, this is going to fix that.

[pantherphan96]

Agreed. I really didn't want Frazier (think Lowrie is the better fit if we do make a trade) but the Yankees seriously improved their bullpen. I still think they need another starter to really compete with Pineda done for the year.

Hoping we roll with Holt/Marrero/Lin/Lowrie(?) at 3rd for the rest of the season and then bring Devers up in September like we did with Benny to get him so major league ABs. Hopefully then Devers will be the starting 3B next year, similar to how we handled Benny.

[Goondal]

On 7/11/2017 at 11:37 AM, Goondal said:

Seventeen of our twenty-three games coming out of the break are at home (with only one off day) so our home/road breakdown will be even in a few weeks.  That is followed by five each road and home.  In those thirty-three games we play the Yankees nine times (six home, three road).

The other twenty-four games include sixteen games against teams with losing records, Toronto and the White Sox for four, Anaheim and Seattle for three and St. Louis for two.  The Anaheim/Seattle swing is a west coast swing which sometimes is tough but it is a favorable stretch.

The other eight games include three each at home against Kansas City and Cleveland and two on the road in Tampa.

One oddity is that we have twenty-three games in twenty-four days followed by ten games in fourteen days (two five game weeks).  Figured they would break off days up better than that.

These thirty three games are our time.  The goal should be to push the lead to six or seven games by the end of it.

This stretch has started very, very poorly.  5-7 coming out of the break meaning 6-11 in the last seventeen games.  This is not the time to slump when the schedule was to our advantage.  The Yankees have pulled even in the loss column and only a massive losing streak of their own has kept the Rays lead steady.

Devers has a few days to prove he is the guy or they are likely going to have to overpay for someone.  Moustakas would have been a great choice for the right price but that six game winning streak has the Royals in the second WC slot.  With the 3B market weak they may have to get creative.  I did see they have scouted Cozart, which I assume could mean a shift to third for Xander.  I suppose they could find a bat from anywhere to DH and have Hanley play 3B when Moreland starts and 1B when he does not, but nobody wants that.

Either way, this time next week we will know.

[pantherphan96]

Send Moreland to 10/15 day DL, call up Travis and put him at 1B. Move Hanley back to DH, start Marrero at 3rd and pinch hit Devers for him late in the game (or vice versa with Marrero as a defensive sub). Might be time to shake up the batting order as well. Really hope they don't overpay for a short-term fix at 3rd. Better to make a move in free agency.

[Goondal]

Eduardo Nunez is on his way to Boston.  i think we were both worried about what Dombroski would give up so let us look at that first.  I do not really know anything about either but according to SoxProspects

Shaun Anderson (RHP, High-A Salem); #17 in Sox Organization
22 y/o, 58.2 IP, 3.99 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 48/18 K/BB
He is the ninth ranked SP and sixth ranked RHP
Ceiling: Back end of the rotation starter with good mechanics and no true out pitch

Gregory Santos (RHP, Dominican Summer League), not in Top 60 prospects
17 y/o, 30 IP, 0.90 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 24/15 K/BB

Now for what we got

Eduardo Nunez (2B/3B/SS/LF/RF)
.308/.334/.417, 4 HR, 31 RBI, 18/5 on the bases, 29/12 K/BB
-Negative Fielding at all five positions, SS being his worst
-.358 since June 1 (fifth in MLB)
-Toughest hitter to strike out in majors in 2017 (Betts and Pedroia are second and fourth respectively)
-FA at end of season so is a rental

All in all, I like it.  He can play third, spell Xander from time, and we can DH him and play Hanley at 1B when Moreland is not playing to avoid his glove.  Does not help the power outage in the lineup but is always a threat for a hit and not a threat for a rally killing K. He will be gone at te end of the season but the plan is for Devers next season.  Most importantly, it did not cost much.

Now we need a RP.  Neshek would be nice.

[pantherphan96]

Probably the best move we could have made, didn't overpay, and allows Devers more time to develop in AAA. Adds some more speed to the lineup and hopefully allows us to play a little smallball since the lack of power in the lineup is really handicapping the offense.

Neshek would be pretty cheap and similar to the Ziegler move made last year, but I'd prefer the Sox to target Justin Wilson. Tigers practically gave away JD Martinez to the DBacks and Wilson only has a year left on his contract. Adds a lefty arm to the bullpen and could be the 8th inning guy, allowing Barnes/Kelly to work the 7th.

[Goondal]

Justin Wilson would be great.  I totally forgot he was on the market.  Read an article maybe two weeks ago about guys possibly available at the deadline and he and Moustakas were my top choices.  The Royals winning streak basically means they will not be selling though.

[Goondal]

Addison Reed it is
28 y/o, 2.57 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 19/22 SV, 48/6 K/BB
His BB/9 is 2.3 for his career but the past two seasons were 1.5 and 1.1, by far the best of his career.  3.40 career ERA but the past two seasons were 1.17 and 1.97 to go with this year's ERA.  He seems to have come into his own.  He is also a backup CL should the catostrophic happen with 101 SV from '12-'14 before filling in for the Mets this season.

What did we give up?
Jaime Callahan (22 y/o, RHP, AAA Pawtucket)
2012 Second Round Pick, #20 Prospect
29.0 IP, 4.03 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 36/13 K/BB
SoxProspects: potential seventh inning RP, much progress since move to bullpen in '15, potential plus to better fastball.  Future depends on fastball consistency

Stephen Nogosek (22 y/o RHP, High-A Salem)
2016 Sixth Round Pick, #25 Prospect
17.2 IP, 4.08 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 18/10 K/BB
SoxProspects: middle reliever with two potential above average pitches (fastball and slider).  Could move through system quickly, lack of third pitch will limit to bullpen role

Gerson Bautista (22 y/o RHP, High-A Salem)
2013 International FA, #47 Prospect
45.1 IP, 5.16 ERA, 1.81 WHIP, 53/28 K/BB
SoxProspects: extremely risky prospect with a long way to go developmentally with a profile that shows command and injury concerns.  Needs to physically mature and cleanup delivery.  Raw stuff shows late inning potential.  Lottery Ticket

I like it.  He fills our biggest need and it seems that we did not give up anything too important.