YourWhatHurts

Also forgot to list that we already have a pinch runner and defensive replacement ready on the bench in Dyson. Engel can step in for Mazara and Dyson can step in for Engel. Mazara can ride pine, go home, go to Schaumburg, whatever, it doesn't matter so long as he's not playing anymore.

Simple. Mazara has passed the point of no return as a non-tender candidate. There is zero chance he is brought back next year, meaning there is zero "future potential" reasoning to play him. We know for a fact that going from Mazara to Engel will improve the defense. We know for a fact that going from Mazara to Engel will improve the team speed. It is really difficult to imagine even a cold / off the bench Engel being any worse offensively than Mazara, so I think you have to consider offensively at least a wash. At least Engel can hit a home run. This must be done now. Engel needs to be given enough time to get up to speed. Maybe he can start to turn it on for the playoffs. I know there is another thread about Mazara and EE but this is different. There is some reason to be patient with EE because at least he's still a HR threat in the playoffs. He needs some ABs just to be useful off the bench. Worst case, McCann and Grandal play every day as C/DH/1B (Grandal). But benching Mazara for the remainder of the year is really a no-brainer at this point.

Re: trade value, let Dunning and Stiever get a lot of work up here and then think about that later. We don't need to make trades. But on paper it's just a name. Stiever looks about as advertised to me; Dunning looks better; and it's a real shame about Lambert because I already knew he was real good and was being slept on, and he started to show it before getting hurt. Heuer's value also has gone from "unappealing name on paper in a trade proposal" to "guy I don't want to trade" for many Sox fans I am sure. I think the new formula for GMing should be to get the prospects up and let them sink or swim a bit before deciding to trade them, plus trade vets in their primes with 2+ seasons remaining, and don't give out 5+ year contracts to FA. I think that general scenario is far likelier to lead to an extended contention window with enough flexibility to sign a name FA on the second tier or much better yet, trade for a vet another team is trying to dump at depreciated value with money coming back. I'd like to see the Sox kind of be more like the Rays or A's but still spend money, basically.

LOL at some of the takes in this thread. Ridiculous. I see 3 potential plus pitches and I've seen some flashes of a potential well above average change and curve. I like his ceiling even better than Dunning. Those of you who don't see that, all I can say is that I hope the Minnesota Twins hire all of you as scouts and let you run their drafts.

I'm very anxious to see Stiever. If he flashes top half of the rotation stuff, he should shut up a lot of the posters who want to trade for a starter over the winter. For the first time in like forever, we really do have some good looking young SP.

??? What's wrong with Danny Mendick? For a rookie getting only a small amount of playing time, he's doing very well. IMO he's already better than Gordon Beckham was and he's the best hitting Sox bench player to come up in a long time. I can't even think of the last time the Sox brought up a bench player who actually could hit. Even the ones they traded for like Wilson Betemit and Rob Mackowiack etc. who were supposedly better still pretty much sucked. Mendick is a real find for this team. Seriously, when is the last time we brought up a better all-around bench player than Danny Mendick? It's been so long I can't even think of anyone. Moreover, I think in the right circumstance (on another team and probably a rebuilding one) he has a chance to catch some playing time and play his way into a starting role. I don't know how anyone would be upset about what we have in Danny. He, Stiever, Foster, and Heuer are the best scouting stories we have going right now IMO.

The Tigers offense blows. Lets see if Reynaldo can get anything over the plate today or if he's at like 60 pitches with 2 out in the 2nd. This should really be make or break for him now. A bad start here and he's a clear-cut RP the rest of the year and there's a high likelihood that today is his last start in a Sox uniform.

These rules this year really suck.

I hope there is some way the Indians line up against the Yankees and the Rays line up against the Twins. I think those are the 4 best teams aside from ours, so hopefully they can eliminate each other.

You guys are correct. I forgot about the guaranteed playoff spot for the #2 in the division regardless of record part and had been thinking it was a division winner and the next 5 best records. Now that I think about it, celebrate, who cares. It looks like the playoffs will be in a bubble anyway. Wherever the Yankees are, I would rather win or lose the divison, whatever it took, so that we played a different team in the first round. We will be playing in Dodger Stadium or something anyway so home field doesn't matter at all.

They can have a couple of strokes then if it makes them feel good but they shouldn't blow their wad until they claim the division.

I meant last playoff team. I didn't know about some weird and totally illogical arrangement created by the rules. Still you said in your post that you don't think a sub-.500 team makes the playoffs, which is incorrect, because HOU is currently the last playoff team if the season ended today and they are below .500. It is pretty likely for 1 in the AL and up to 3 in the NL.

Nickelodeon, because he's the size of a kid Nickel or Nickels, because he's so small Flea / Mosquito / Nick the Tick, for obvious reasons Mouse maybe, Roach, etc. other pest names Little Hornet, etc.

It doesn't matter how many other people in the world, including in baseball, have ever been named Spanky before. That name is perfect for Madrigal. He's a Piranha of the late 90's and early 2000's Twins. But Spanky is still better than Piranha.

Also over in the NL only 7 teams are over .500. One is MIA at 21-20 who should be worse, another is SF at 23-22 which should be worse because they also suck, then STL is at 19-19. The 6-7-8 all has a shot at dropping below .500. I don't think the Sox are at a point where they should celebrate early. They have a better goal in mind. They should see the playoffs as a given at this point. Celebrating now would be like going into the bathroom to jerk off just after she takes her bra off and lets you touch her boobs.

My version of the MLB standings has Houston as the 8th seed at 22-23. You must have been looking at the schedule with the same set of eyes you've been using to judge the differences between James McCann and Yasmani Grandal.

It's always bad. There was just an article about Gavin Sheets, and even though he's on the outside looking in, he is exactly the kind of guy (along with DFAd Basabe, Gonzalez, Adolfo, etc) who could have used this season to pump up trade value. The Sox are at a point where they need to start trading prospects who are blocked and a lot of these pieces aren't getting playing time. It's bad for them and bad for the Sox. Also, we don't know what kind of player a Benjamin Bailey or Jose Rodriguez or Matthew Thompson, etc. will end up being or can end up being. That first full season in pro ball is a tough one to miss. There are a lot of negatives here and not many positives. As for the young players on the MLB roster, guys like Dylan Cease really need a full season. Because of the pandemic we lost Kopech's comeback year. Luis Robert needs a full MLB season also. We need to see these latin players deal with cold April for the first time, etc. Lots of developmental opportunities have been missed. This article is just what happens when you tell a writer he needs to make up a story about something to keep subscriptions coming.

BTW we shouildnt celebrate until we win the division. It's not really celebration material to be the 8th seed. It looks like there will be at least 1 sub-.500 team in the NL, maybe 2, and maybe 1 in the AL also.

In for the explanation of the no contact celebration rules

There really is no debate who is the better defensive catcher (McCann). His biggest flaw as of this year is reaching in on pitches and getting the interference call, but my guess is that it relates to him trying to be a pitch framer this year. Just imagine how bad things would have gone for Giolito yesterday without McCann behind the plate. We would have lost the game if Grandal started.

1) Spanky .. it's perfect 2) Tinkerbell

I wouldn't do that. But that said... if the Sox offered Vaughn, what other team could and would offer a better centerpiece? We'd be the favorite for whoever we wanted, if we wanted a guy that another team was committed to trading.

Right. If the Sox offer enough guaranteed money, someone will take it.

Why do we need a substandard defensive catcher to do this? We have the ability to add a bat at multiple other positions. We could add a 3B and move Yoan to the OF, add a LF and move Eloy to DH with Vaughn in a corner, add a RF and keep things as they are...

Grandal + Lopez for Benintendi + Eovaldi... who says no?