harfman77

QUOTE (zisk @ Jun 28, 2017 -> 07:59 AM) Alexei was a really good player who wouldn't take a walk. His base stealing improved with time and his power was pretty good for a shortstop. I really hope Anderson improves enough to be as good as him. When TA was in the minors and first up with the WS I had hope for an improving eye with more walks. Now I don't think he will be better than AR and would gladly settle for a similar player. P.S. I hope like hell I am wrong. TA makes Alexei look like Barry Bonds in the walk department.

QUOTE (Sleepy Harold @ Jun 27, 2017 -> 01:24 PM) Braves interested in Q, Archer per Dave O'Brien Sounds good to me. I think Acuna and some pitching makes sense. Say, Acuna, Fried, Gohara, and wildcard.

QUOTE (Hatchetman @ Jun 27, 2017 -> 01:20 PM) Brian Anderson was the original Jared Mitchell Brian Anderson actually made it to the majors. Anderson was at least a solid defender in CF.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Jun 27, 2017 -> 11:55 AM) I can already tell I am going to like following this kid. Played his freshman year at Vandy, and did pretty well. Not sure what the story was with him transferring to Binghamton. I think we'll see him in Kanny before too long. Anyone know how is defense is? I think it will be tough to promote him with Remillard there now and Burger presumably on the way, unless they want to try him at another position.

QUOTE (steveno89 @ Jun 27, 2017 -> 11:34 AM) I understand recent draftees cannot be traded, but anyone know the reasoning behind that? You would think that once a player signs a professional contract he is fair game to be dealt? To avoid trading draft picks and making picks part of deals. Its the same concept that prevents sign and trades in baseball with a restriction that players cant be traded for a period for time after they sign. I think it is all a little archaic.

QUOTE (striker @ Jun 27, 2017 -> 11:05 AM) I think the Brewers are a wildcard. They have the prospect depth. Whether they would part with either Hader or Brinson is another question. I dont think you need either one of them in a deal with the Brewers, and they are probably not inclined to deal them if they are going to be in the race this year as both have had stints on the ML roster. A package of Ray, Ortiz, Dubon, and either Medeiros or Bickford would be solid. Three guys with likely floors in the majors and a fourth with an allstar level ceiling.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jun 27, 2017 -> 10:25 AM) Tim Anderson is making $4 million per year. If he averages 0.5 WAR per year, he'll be worth the money. There was nothing wrong with that extension whatsoever. You will end up eating your words on that one. Yes, that rate is incredibly cheap in perspective against what other players are making. He is essentially making backup MI money to start, which is not a bad deal for the Sox. If he turns into something useful, it will be a steal.

I gave it a 10. Not sure what else they should have done thus far that they haven't done. The next big test is the trade deadline and whether or not they can peddle some of the short term veterans (Holland, Pelfrey, Holmberg, Gonzalez) into any anything of value. Also will be interesting to see what value they can extract from Robertson. Frazier has probably killed most of their hopes from being able to get some value from dealing him, Cabrera should bring back a couple low level pieces. The wildcard this summer would be if someone offers current value for Avi. I think they hold Q this summer unless they are blown away. In the offseason they look at trading Q and Rodon (if he performs for the rest of the season).

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Jun 27, 2017 -> 08:18 AM) I'll only add that Alexei was criminally underrated by Sox fans. We'll be extremely lucky if Anderson is as good. Yes, I agree. Alexei was mostly solid across the board defensively with flashes of being really good, he lost a step toward the end of his tenure here as age caught up with him, but he was a player that a lot of teams would have liked to have in his prime. Hopefully Anderson will make himself into frontline starter, but he has a long ways to go to catch the Missile.

With TCU and Louisville eliminated, Sox should have their guys signed by the end of the week. Not sure if they are going to have them take some time off before reporting as they did with Morrison and Remillard last year.

It may be time to get Collins out from behind the plate and let him concentrate on the offensive part of his game. I think all the work he is putting in at catcher is distracting him from accomplishing what he can at the plate. At least I hope thats why he has struggled.

QUOTE (Doc Edwards Shot @ Jun 26, 2017 -> 01:58 PM) I second this notion. People need to dial back on the impatience. Anderson only just turned 24, he's just a kid. If he's able to hit around .250 so far in the big leagues, he's doing pretty well. He is a super athlete with a high ceiling and his defense will get better with time. He needs a few years, which we have since we're rebuilding. If he is still the same two years from now, then I'll join the chorus of people with serious concerns. I think there are legitimate concerns, not so much that he needs to be but today, but at least legitimate enough that the Sox need to make sure they have other options in the pipeline. Right now, they have 0 prospects in the minors that project to be even a replacement level SS in the majors. Its a major position of weakness in the system, and one of the hardest to fill.

I've never been sold on Anderson to be a first division starter, seemed to struggle defensively all through the minors and his incapability of taking a walk is probably going to hold him back from ever being a solid player. When Anderson was in the minors there was constantly talk of moving him to CF due to his speed and his difficulties at SS. Last year he played beyond what anyone expected but has seemingly regressed to the mean. The issue for the Sox is that there is nothing in the system to push Anderson out of SS.

QUOTE (Username @ Jun 21, 2017 -> 01:49 PM) Dusty just left Scherzer in at 120+ pitches to face Giancarlo Stanton with the bases loaded to avoid the bullpen. You can't make this stuff up. I was watching the home broadcast and they kept talking about how Dusty would've clearly gone to a closer if he had one. He had also only given up one hit to that point and had two outs. Ended the game with 121 pitches.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 21, 2017 -> 01:27 PM) If a team was willing to take on salary, I bet they would pay up a bit to get rid of him. Panda, Swihart, Ball, and Owens $15M for Frazier, Swarzak, and the remaining $36M owed to Panda over the next 2.5 seasons. Sox get a few reclamation projects in three former top 100 prospects and can plug Panda in at DH and hope he builds enough value back up to trade again in another year. Red Sox are facing a 40 man roster crunch and this frees two spots for them to add Devers and protect another guy.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 21, 2017 -> 01:27 AM) MLB Player's Association says good luck with that, not for an impending free agent... Sandoval just hit the DL with an "inner ear infection" there is always some wiggle room with the DL.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 20, 2017 -> 06:22 PM) Honestly, the only ex Royal I would consider would be Cain (FA market)...but he's hit well enough the last month or so his value is coming up to the point where he's no longer a bargain. That's with the caveat we aren't planning to stick Moncada or Anderson in CF, which is far from assured. I was thinking about Moustakas yesterday. With Frazier leaving, not much in the pipeline for 3B talent, Moose would make some sense as a glove first guy that can provide some pop and bring some more balance to the lineup with a LH bat and has a track record in the division. IF the money is right, I would value him more than Cain with the guys that the Sox have that can play in the system.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 19, 2017 -> 05:49 PM) The Sally is a huge league, basically only room for an average of two players per team...Adolfo will accumulate more believers if he can keep this up. A lot of people simply forgot about him and choose to focus on the bigger names. Adolfo will struggle to get a lot of traction until he cuts down his 33% K rate and improves his K:BB ratio of 7:1. Those rates usually are a bad omen. While he is hitting with more power this season, his contact rates really have not improved and he isn't drawing anymore walks. Look at a guy with a similar skill set in Adam Brett Walker, he has a 22% K rate in low A but ended up stalling out in AA despite tremendous power. Adolfos still young, but I am not sure the Sox have ever really fixed those type of issues with any of their hitting prospects.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Jun 18, 2017 -> 04:55 PM) Whatever about where he was potentially viewed by some observers before a surgery (based it would seem on projection rather than any sort of college performance, which was seriously mediocre and actually regressed from 2014 to 2015), he is now a nearly 24-year-old (albeit with age caveats) throwing 90-93 in single A striking out 3.3 per 9. I don't see him as any sort of prospect without serious improvement. He battled through injuries his senior year at Iowa to get his team into the regionals for the first time in a generation, his performance was down and his results toward the end of the season were not on par with where he had been for the rest of the season and really sours his stats. He is going to take a long time to make an impact, he has never handled a pro workload and its going to take him a few years to get there. Thats probably part of the reason for the late start to the season, trying to limit his innings while he builds up over time. His ceiling is probably back of the rotation starter with a floor of AAA RP depth. Hes a good story and a lot of people are wishing success for him because of that, I don't think anyone projects him to be a staff ace at any point, but if he can develop into a valuable piece than its a great deal for the Sox in every way.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jun 20, 2017 -> 01:08 PM) Tommy Kahnle in save and hold situations - MLB 32/37 (If anyone has hold stats for the minors, I would update the other one too) Holds do not equal saves. You will hear baseball people talk all the time that it takes a special mentality to be a closer and you are not going to get back a load of prospects at closer value for a guy with little to no track record of being able to close out games. If DRob is traded tonight and Kahnle goes 10/11 between now and the deadline, you may be able to tap into that value. He had some save opportunities in Colorado and was a closer for a period of time in the Yankees system up to AA.

Tommy Kahnle in save situations - MLB - 3/7 MiLB - 39/52

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Jun 20, 2017 -> 11:35 AM) Kahlne has no track record to speak of, I highly doubt we get a top 100 guy for him. If so it will be 80-100 range I think you could walk away with Erick Fedde and some 18 year old fireballer and both sides would be OK.

QUOTE (beautox @ Jun 20, 2017 -> 11:23 AM) Kahnle is worth 2 top 100 prospects in the 50-100 range and a interesting piece. He is right up there with Jansen and Knebell in k/9 and has 3 years of control, he is beyond a "sweetener" if he gets moved at the deadline expect a slightly lesser package than Giles. If he gets moved in the off season and takes over for the departed Robertson his value is only going to go up from there. There is a notable difference in the third column there, teams will pay a premium for guys with a track record of closing out ball games. There is not a big track record of non-closers pulling in the returns that you mention. Andrew Miller would be the exception, but he is really in his own class of type of reliever at this point.

QUOTE (MnSoxFan @ Jun 20, 2017 -> 11:11 AM) I agree. He had a not so good season and his defense will not likely allow him to stay at catcher. Give him what his draft position is worth or let him return to school. Use the 1/2M on someone who has more upside. The Sox are probably one of the only teams that will give him the chance to stick at C. They have a pattern of getting guys that are questionable backstops and letting them try to develop at the position. Guys like Collins, Phegley, Flowers, Sammy Ayala, and Kevan Smith. Obviously there is value to be harvested if you can get one of these offensive minded guys to be a reliable bat in the lineup, the problem seems that they sacrifice offensive development to get these guys coached up to play behind the dish.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Jun 18, 2017 -> 09:10 PM) Frankly I always thought Leury's ceiling was utility guy. He looked like he was going to get the bat knocked out of his hand early in his Sox career. But much like Sanchez he has improved his hit tool to the point his floor now looks like utility guy. I agree his early scouting reports don't seem so far off now. I still think he is most valuable in that utility role the way Zobrist was used in Tampa, except able to handle SS and CF better and with less power. If he can become a super utility guy when the Sox find a CF, that is extremely valuable in being able to get guys regular rest without sacrificing production. And with his versatility, its possible to keep his bat in the lineup nearly everyday. With Tilson *maybe* back in the next couple of weeks, it will be interesting to see what they do with the two.