The Kids Can Play

The original poster said Moncada was a big disappointment based on the Chris Sale trade. Stay with his point and not get off that Moncada is better than a bench player Garcia. In hindsight I shouldn't have added the Garcia comparison. At this point as a former #1 prospect in MLB, Moncada is clearly not as good as Kopech, which was the secondary part of the trade. That was the whole point he and I are making.

Ummm, my reading comprehension is fine. Maybe you should show the entire post and not refer to one sentence to see what I was criticizing (see below). Your entire post: Hahn and his crew get a TON of credit for putting together a team that could weather the injuries this team has experienced. But pull me a lineup from the last four weeks that any baseball fan, let alone analyst, would call “immensely talented” as of 1 April 2021 and you’ll either be lying or delusional. The win/loss record that TLR has been able to achieve with the talent he’s been given is remarkable. (The players themselves have of course been remarkable too, but you can’t discount TLR’s role of putting them in positions to succeed.) After the first sentence of acknowledging Hahn getting a ton of credit, you go off on how TRL gets all this credit for putting this lineup together with all these injuries. You are missing my point which is the reason TLR can look good as a manager of this team, is not because of his genius, The fact Hahn has assembled arguably the most talented team and minor league system in MLB, is the reason TLR looks good. Managers can put lineups together, but players need to hit and pitch. Yes we had major horrific injuries, however Hahn had players in Charlotte he could call up and they came through and didn't disappoint. You and anyone else can blindly praise TLR, but the credit goes to Hahn and the players for coming through. If Jerry R never stepped in and made the manager's hire for Hahn, do you or anybody else on this planet, think Hahn would have hired TLR?

I absolutely agree with you that Moncada is a big disappointment. When the Sox traded arguably one of the best pitchers in MLB in Chris Sale, the two key pieces were Moncada and Kopech. Moncada was not only the #1 prospect in the Boston system, but #1 overall of all prospects. It's clear to me now and should be to any Sox fan, that Kopech is the far better player at this point and stronger future. Hahn didn't make that trade to have Moncada producing at his present numbers. As Steve Stone said, Moncada doesn't have the hustle and drive like Jose Abreu. The fact Leury Garcia has the same amount of RBI's as Moncada in less games is ridiculous.

My bad, yeah you're right this is 100 percent due to TLR. Who needs Hahn. I forgot TLR brought all those minor league players to the Sox!

In a recent post when I suggested putting Burger at 3rd and moving Moncada to 2B, since it was his original position, you blasted me that he sucked as a 2nd baseman. So please with this he can play multiple spots crap. Be consistent and don't contradict yourself.

Maybe you should try logic!

Oh my bad, you're right, all this team success is completely because of TLR. He has done an awesome job! Of course he is the reason we got all this talent here. Hell why doesn't Jerry fire Hahn, he doesn't need Hahn. He has the HOF stud manager TLR.

Oh like Moncada is this defensive guru that can play multiple spots? lmao! Moncada is injured often and his power numbers are not there. Btw, if you haven't been paying attention, the Sox have not been trading away their 1st round picks except for Chris Sale and that was worth the trade, based on how much they got back at the time. Unless you can get unbelievable talent back, Burger is not going to be traded. Everybody keeps forgetting when Kenny Williams was running the show, all he did was trade prospects away for veterans. That did not work out very well. Hence why he is never heard from anymore. Now we have Hahn who believes in building the team from the minors and home grown talent. It seems to be working pretty well.

I was being sarcastic about being set for years with Moncada. I was making fun of the posters in here who think Moncada is a superstar and we can let Burger go, like we have the best third baseman in baseball and no reason to keep Burger. Like we are set at 3B for years. We need to keep both! Again this is not about going for the WS title this year only. This is about maintaining sustained success for years to come, which obviously Theo Epstein and the Cubs screwed up. We don't want to win a WS like the Cubs did in 2016 and then have to do a major sell-off and 2nd rebuild.

Not relevant anymore, hmmm, let's see: AL standings: Bos - 1st place - 55-36 - East CWS - 1st place - 54-35 - Central Hou - 1st place - 55-36 - West AL BA leaders Hou - 1st - .269 BOS - 3rd - .259 CWS - 4th - .257 AL Runs scored leaders Hou - 1st - 5.45 per game CWS - 2nd - 5.12 per game Bos - 4th - 5.10 per game All the sabermetrics are great, but it's still about BA, and scoring runs. So please stop with the silly sarcastic hot take remarks.

I agree Moncada is a good player and valuable and we definitely don't need to trade him. My only thing was posters here in the forum who said we don't need Burger and he good trade bait. Like we have the greatest 3rd baseman in baseball with Moncada, so we are set for years.

Maybe, but he cant use that excuse this year for only 5 HR's and 39 RBI's and BA of .272. Hell Leury Garcia has played less games and less at bats and has 39 RBI's.

TLR being a manager of a MLB ballclub has nothing to do with it. The job was handed to him and it shouldn't have been, based on normal baseball executive protocols. Regardless if he is a HOF manager and won 3 WS titles, that was light years ago. He is 76 now and acts, manages and talks like someone even older. It's not a bias that I don't like him. It's based on the facts I see watching him manage and lead this team. Again, this is a immensely talented team that Hahn put together. TLR is simply along for the free ride.

I don't see Moncada having this superstar upside like you do. Yes he is a good player, but the last two years he has not displayed any power. with a average far below his one good year of 2019. The good thing I will give to Moncada is he has displayed a better understanding of the zone and more walks and higher OBP. Yet I believe Burger will be a high walk guy too with more power. Plus as Steve Stone said and I agree. Moncada doesn't play with the intensity and passion like Abreu and others do. I think Burger because of his injury past, is highly motivated to work even that much harder to become a great player. Btw, Moncada is injured often too. Please don't make Moncada out to be this workhorse everyday non-injured player.

You would need to read that because you are the one who said to the poster, "Sounds more like your opinion than fact. But you go with that." Katz is only here because of Giolito and Hahn. Start doing your homework before telling someone he is making an opinion.

Yes they might be close in age, but that is only because Moncada never played college ball and Burger played 3 years in college. Moncada played pro baseball at the age of 17 in Cuba. Burger had several major horrific injuries, so his pro time between minors and the big leagues is so limited. Yes they are only a year apart in age, but no comparison in pro experience.

I don't agree. Burger in time will be better than Moncada IMO. Plus Abreu doesn't have that many more great years left, Sheets and Burger will be needed and shouldn't be traded. We need bench players in the next few years before they become full time players. Btw, of course they are easy guys to move as they are extremely talented with huge upsides. My god if Sheets and Burger can look this good in a just a few games, it's scary to think in time how good they can be. Both these guys and Vaughn seem to have a great command of the zone and that is not a normal trait everybody just naturally has. I guess we will have to agree to disagree.

No I will not blame Hahn! I will blame Jerry R. Hahn did not hire TLR. If TLR screws this up, which he probably wont due to the incredible talent he has, then we blame JR for not allowing Hahn to hire his own manager.

IMO you must keep Vaughn, Sheets and Burger. They need to be untouchable, unless you are offered an insane amount of prospects that is so amazing, you cant pass it up. You can trade Mercedes, but good luck!

That is an unfair comparison. Moncada struggled for 3 years in the majors (one at Boston and two with the Sox) before exploding with his breakout year in 2019. Burger has only played a short amount of time in the minors and his first time up to the Sox, and so far he hasn't disappointed. We know what we have with Moncada. However the upside of Burger is so much higher IMO. I do think Burger can eventual be our starting 3rd baseman of the future.

The good news is he is a lefty and seems to have some power. He also was referred to as a super hard worker and worked extremely hard at improving his SS defense. The beauty of playing for the Sox and not go play college...he will get the best coaching and they can work to get his swing ready for the big leagues. What I do like is he is a superior all around athlete. To be all state in basketball and guide your team to the state championship, as well as a quarterback for the football team two years is quite impressive.

TLR was not a good hire. Personally I would have preferred AJ Hinch. If not Hinch, then some other qualified manager. I don't like when an owner decides he screwed up 35 years ago, when he allowed Hawk Harrelson to fire TLR. It was wrong when JR decided to make right and go over Hahn and Hahn's responsibility and make the decision for him. Owners in baseball do not hire managers. Oh I forgot, we are talking about Jerry Reinsdorf. Oh yeah, he allowed Jerry Krauss to get rid of Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson. Of course this team is winning and is extremely talented, even when we bring several minor league players up. The credit needs to go to Hahn and all his staff in the scouting system and minors who develop this talent.

Despite him! We are in first place because of the amazing talent Rick Hahn brought to the Sox. ?

My apology and my bad. I meant to say, I hope he signs with the Sox and he doesn't go play at Indiana.

You are right, my bad, I left out not and meant to say, "and not play at Indiana".