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If Sox are adding $60M+ in payroll next year you best hope they don’t waste that money and not make the playoffs because they have Alex freaking Gordon as their starting RF. He’s among the worst option for that spot. Heck I’d take Leury over him there. If a better option is available via trade I’ll will entertain it.

That team won’t be good enough offensively to mask the rookie struggles for Robert and Madrigal and Gordon’s nonexistent bat.

The strategy of casting bad players who shouldn’t be starters as starters hadn’t work out for us from 07-19.

I had him 4/4 in preference in that group, but would still take him over Leury, Gordon or Calhoun etc. I don’t think it takes a lot to get him either, but still have some untapped potential in that bat.

He isn’t a bad player, just isn’t a good enough starter on a team looking to contend.

2018: Haniger 4.6 fWAR, Nimmo 4.5 fWAR, Piscotty 3.0 fWAR, Polanco 2.5 fWAR, with Haniger probably the most available out of the bunch. I think they’d all be better options than a 36 year old Gordon who hasn’t played more than a handful of RF in his entire career (or forcing Eloy there).

I don’t think anyone is opposed to signing a middle of the bat, and upgrading RF, but they aren’t likely the same player. You have to sign one, along with signing pitching, then filling other holes through the trade market.

Out of the 4 names I mentioned, 3 of those are cost controlled for at least next 3- 4 years, and even Polanco is a reasonable contract himself. I also think to shoot for 50% of a top 5-10 prospect being an average player (meaning average starter) is too high. If we line up all the other pieces and are ready to compete next year, I don’t want us not willing to deal a Rutherford or Gonzalez of the world and settling for Gordon be the reason we came up short.

1B is the position we could use a stop gap with Vaughn being the 1B of the future. I just don’t see we have any RF that are can’t miss guys long term. LuGon, Blake, Adolfo and Walker don’t scream cant miss guys to me. The idea of going the trade market is we could save of the FA money in other positions, e.g. pitching. If we have enough money to spend and get a quality RF (which I don’t think Gordon is), then I wouldn’t mind.

Range factor isn’t really best way to evaluate how often the player is getting to balls other players could not.

Unfortunately in 2019 the offensive value of a “replacement level” player has gotten better, so Timmy’s numbers don’t equate to as many WARs as it did just 3 years ago. That and his defensive struggles are your answers.

But back to the original topic, I wouldn't mind trying to buy low on guys like Nimmo, Haniger, Piscotty, Polanco, in that order. I think as long as the price is not crazy (non-top 5 prospects, plus Collins) I'll bite.

Sorry the notion that Tim Anderson has range that most SS do not is false. Even at his best, he's one of the better rangy SS, certainly not top 5. Unfortunately this year he's taken a step back in that department also, along with the errors he's piling up. The notion that he's getting dinged for errors because he's getting to balls others couldn't is not a good enough excuse. Is using errors as the primary metrics to evaluate a defender outdated? Yes, agreed. Are they completely meaningless? No, they are not.

I hope this isn’t a serious statement. If it is, I feel sorry that you have such a limited view in life.

He's one of my favorite prospects in the low minors. He had been talked about a bit more when he started out hot, but then he faded for the last month or so. Good to see him heating up again. Any time you have a kid that young who could hit for some power and draw a walk, you have an interesting prospect on hand.

Yea, let me put this one to bed. No one has called Bailey fat. There is a fine line between a "fat" baseball player (Bartolo, CC, and someone nicknamed after a bear native to China) and a less rangy outfielder. Bailey stands at 6'4 215 lbs at 17 years old. While that is great size for a physically matured player, it is uncommon for a 17 year old baseball player who hasn't filled out his frame. Let's put into context of how unusual that is. I looked up 10+ current DSL rosters and Bailey is unmatched in his height and weight combo. There isn't another teenage position player (non 1B) who matches his size. Now let's look at some players who actually made it to the majors. Here's a list of the current LatAm players who stands 6'4 + and their first reported weight vs. their current weight. Bailey easily beats all of these guys on the weight department by a good margin. Jorge Soler 20 yrs old 6'4/205 6'4/230 +25 Domingo Santana 17 yrs old 6'4/190 6'5/220 +30 Nomar Mazara 16 yrs old 6'4/185 6'4/215 +30 Ronald Guzman 16 yrs old 6'4/195 6'4/225 +30 Aristdes Aqunio 17 yrs old 6'4/190 6'4/220 +30 Yordan Alvarez 19 yrs old 6'4/190 6'5/225 +35 Jose Martinez 18 yrs old 6'5/170 6'6/215 +45 Avi Garcia 17 yrs old 6'4/190 6'4/250 +60 Miguel Cabrera 20 yrs old 6'2/180 6'4/250 +60 Miguel Sano 16 yrs old 6'4/190 6'4/260 +70 Franmil Reyes 17 yrs old 6'5/190 6'5/275 +85 Some of these guys are still in their early 20's and and bound to put on some more weight past by their mid 20's. Let's just say Bailey stays on the low end and puts up only 30 lbs by 25 (unlikely), he will be running around the OF at 6'4 250. He isn't "fat" at that weight, but it will limit his range for sure. Also worth pointing out that none of the guys above started out at LF to begin their career. I have acknowledged there is a small chance he could stay at OF at that weight AND become a passable defender. But the safe bet is he's a 1B/DH type or an OF who's a negative defender out there. But I think even mentioning the possibility of 1B/DH by projecting his future growth is making some people butthurt over here. Obviously having some scouting report will shed light into Bailey's tool and whether he overcomes the odds, but looking at that list above, if he overcomes the odds and becomes a passable OF defensively, it's the exception not the rule.

One thing that's frustrating to see is how bad the plate discipline is across the low minors. Some kids have shown they have some raw talent, but at the same time striking out 5 or 6 times as often as they walk. You look at both AZL and GF, both teams rank dead last in their leagues in team BBs and 3rd most in strikeouts. Kanny is not much better, ranked bottom 4 in BBs and leading the league in strikeouts. Until the Sox get better as an org in developing plate discipline and helping guys become better hitters, they're not going to be very successful in developing young LatAM or HS position players.

Sox wont call anyone up with Charlotte in midst of a playoff race. However if Charlotte falls out or when they finish their postseason I am pretty confident Mendick, Yermin, and Collins will all be up to get their cup of tea.

He's been trying to get acquainted with his future defensive home.

Didn’t he sign with Lakers? I always thought Bougie was going to be the X factor for them, now the battle of LA is more evenly matched, probably even favors Clippers more.

https://www.fangraphs.com/statsd.aspx?playerid=19181&position=C/DH&gds=2019-07-17&gde=2019-08-14&season=&type=-2

Except Rios was 6’5 210 in his prime and 6’5 180 when he was drafted, this kid is already 6’4 215 at 17 and putting on more weight, and likely another inch of growth. He’s played most games at LF and only a handful at other spots. It’s not like he’s being blocked other legit prospects at CF/RF, the fact he’s not spending more time there suggests something. None of us have seen him play other than that one clip, I am projecting based him body type, age, and his position right now, and the chances are higher that he moves to a less premium position than more premium position as he fills out. I don’t know how that is debatable, unless anyone has better scouting reports.

Good clip, he looks huge compared to others on the field. Doesn’t have the smoothiest running motion due to size, once he fills out his frame, if you think he will stick to OF after the first few years of his career, good for you.

Just because we have a 6’7” behemoth playing OF doesn’t mean all big players are better suited out there. Sound logic there. Judge for the record started out and stayed at RF. Kid is 17 and already looks bigger than 6’4” and 215. He’s already primarily an LF, without scouting report you have to go by probability, and odds are he stays there or goes to 1B/DH, not moving to more premium positions.

The dude looks massive, probably even bigger than his listed size. He’s potentially a 1B/DH down the road (that said, even getting a bat first player at this point is a big win for the LatAm program) Laureano didn’t graduate because it wasn’t justified, but it’s not out of the ordinary for kids at his age to adjust and improve and become legit prospects. Until there is better scouting report, I’d go with the kid who could hit and play CF.