CentralChamps21

That's about the best lineup you can have right now. Eloy LF, Pollock RF, Vaughn DH might make the outfield defense a tad better, but pretty close to optimal.

I don't have any inside information, I'm just noting that it's extremely unlikely that so many players would coincidentally get so much worse at the same time. Organizational problems, whether in managing, physical conditioning, or both, is a much more likely explanation.

I think there's a point where the fan criticism becomes so pervasive that it becomes an embarrassment for the organization and I think today got us very close to that if not there.

A whole phalanx of players don't suddenly start "not performing to expectations" at the same time by coincidence. There are clearly larger issues.

Why would he want to come back to this mess?

Better than he was at playing basketball at least.

By fWAR for 2022, Burger is at 0.82 per 500 PA, Moncada is at 0.38 per 500 PA, so Burger has been more valuable this year. That said, Moncada is still owed at least $47M after this season so he has to be given time to try to figure things out to try to build value with this team or as a trade chip. It's not like Burger is going to put them over the top between now and the end of the season. Moncada had a .663 OPS in July which is still nowhere near what is needed from him but at least he was trending in the right direction until the past week or so.

I think I have the definitive answer for the banner. The Sox traded away Nick Madrigal, a singles hitter who gets injured a lot. Since then, the entire team has become singles hitters who get injured a lot. Need to put Madrigal on the banner to reverse the curse.

OK, that explains why Pollock isn't in LF, but that still doesn't explain why it wasn't Adam Engel or even Leury Garcia rather than Sheets. Also, fuck you Pollock, grow a pair.

That's the wrong message to send a kid who's played all of 28 games above AA. The message should be that we expect excellent defense and whatever you give us at the plate is a bonus.

I'll always remember him as the guy who traded away his own kid. Would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when he told his wife.

I'm sure we'll hear something about Pollock needing a day off.

Every time I see/hear the name Bubic it makes me think of a woman wearing an ill-fitting bra.

fWAR doesn't reward you for playing multiple positions but it does reward you for playing good defense at challenging positions. Even so, Leury had a .335 OBP last year so he was producing at the level of a regular SS/2B. Of course he has no other seasons above .317 and is sitting at .237 this season.

Just to give some context, in 2021, Leury Garcia has a 1.8 fWAR, which really does put him in the discussion of being a "regular player who plays all over" as opposed to just a "utility player" at the time this got said. However, that was his only season in ten that he actually showed value beyond "utility player" and under no circumstances should he have been offered a contract or had usage planned on one outlier season out of ten. Leury was as likely to have the -0.9 fWAR he is having as he was to have the 1.8 fWAR season he had last year, and his contract should have been one that made him easy to DFA when he actually had the -0.9.

Took a lineup that managed 7 baserunners in the first game and somehow made it worse for the second game.

https://twitter.com/CST_soxvan/status/1557137829268017154?s=20&t=4JYeOX-C8fcKGOU27Emnkw https://twitter.com/CST_soxvan/status/1557137829268017154?s=20&t=4JYeOX-C8fcKGOU27Emnkw

Would love to get Chase Claypool.

I'm very sorry. I can't imagine what it would be like for you.

So for the 2nd game of the DH when his suspension is over, he goes on the IL and ReyLo comes off the IL?

Looks like the BIG is finalizing TV deals that will put games on FOX at 11, CBS at 2:30 and NBC at 6:30/7:00. FS1, BTN and Peacock would get the other BIG games. ESPN completely out of BIG for both football and basketball.

I'm sure it's completely a coincidence that Sale broke his wrist right after McGuire got traded there.

Hopefully the airline paid for those extra two nights in a hotel.