Dominikk85

Btw I could totally see madrigal putting on 15 pounds this offseason and hitting 12-15 next year. But of course gorman has more power and if his k rate is staying high (he could correct that though) he is going to need the power. For madrigal the power is a bonus he probably would be a league average hitter with 10 homers a year.

I think top 5 should be a pretty sure thing now, although the deadline depleted marlins and Padres are still dangerous. Should end somewhere between 3 and 5 unless they really go on a hot streak.

It depends on what you mean with best player. At draft day most people knew he wouldn't be the best player of the draft but he was the safest bet to be a 3-4 win player. Players like Gorman and some others always had a higher ceiling but also a very high bust chance. Gorman looks good now and could very well be a better player than madrigal but the bust risk is still higher than madrigal (after destroying rookie ball he currently is striking out 37% in A ball although admittedly in a small sample). Today many teams prefer avoiding busts over taking a shot in finding a superstar.

Kopech up. I don't really understand it. Eloy I even would have understood (although I prefer him staying down for service time reasons) as eloy is clearly getting bored in AAA and not learning anything but kopech while his stuff is mlb ready still needs to improve his control, as evidenced by his 4+ bb9. Putting the ball in box is a thing he can learn in AAA, he doesn't need to face mlb hitters to do that. Btw I don't think eloy is hurt by staying down more. Currently he is not developing at the level (maybe defensively) but with his k-bb rate I'm not worried about the jump, I could see him starting out like Soto or Hoskins. That is different from moncada who also dominated AAA ball but did it with high strikeouts and a super high babip.

They absolutely shouldn't be up until late April next year, why waste service time on a 90+ loss team?

He is fantastic but sox had to trade him because they were going to suck anyway the next years. They got a great return too with a then 70 fv prospect in moncada and a 55 in kopech. Basabe has turned into a 50 too so overall it was a great trade, hopefully moncada can turn into a 3+ win player at least.

His contact and hit for average ability is as advertised with an almost non existent K rate and a 300+ average. He also posted only a .070 iso with no homers, but I'm not worried about that, he will probably add 15 pounds to his small frame, lift some more balls and become a 15 hr hitter. I don't quite like his walk rate of about 5% so far,as a non elite power guy obp is really his calling card and while his average will probably keep his obp on a good level I would like to see a few more walks

I'm not saying the process isn't good, just that many prospects were either injured or have not progressed. Hahn did everything right, now the prospects need to step up.

The rebuild isn't going that well currently but I don't think Hahn can be blamed for everyone getting hurt. Maybe a small blame can be put on the minor league fitness coaching and medical staff but then again health was one of the few things that worked well for the sox in the 12-16 time frame. Maybe it was just bad luck. Health is a big issue for everyone in mlb and if the sox want to win this needs to get better.

I think sox will be 5th in the end. KC, SD, Miami and Baltimore just "improved " more at the deadline when it comes to losing because they had more talent to sell than the sox. Especially the relievers traded will really "help" those teams, there will be a .ot of blown leads. Top5 pick is fine though, although 3 of course would be better.

A lot of young players are up but not many have been really good. Also a lot of good prospects are still down. Which pieces of the current mlb players do you think will be significant pieces and who will be pushed out or relegated to a bench role?

Not Sure about this, the Padres really sold a lot at the deadline, they are now a much worse team than in the first half. However I think draft position should be only a secondary consideration here, service time is the bigger reason.

I think they need to keep him down longer. I think it won't be april but next super two. Btw I don't think this will be a problem. Yeah he will hate that but those top10 overall prospects don't sign extension anyway, they wait for free agency and then take the best offer no matter what happened before. The guys you can extend are the guys who are good out of nowhere like odubel Herrera, adam eaton or jose ramirez.

Some teams did try to draft relievers in the late first round hoping they would arrive quickly. I'm not a fan of this. However 3rd to 5th round it isn't bad, there are not many college pitchers who make good mlb starters past round 2. So why not draft a reliever in round 4 instead of a potential bench bat?

The sox need prospects to make an impact. The cubs had bryant, Russell, schwarber, hendricks all being above average to star instantly, only baez took some time. The sox need eloy, kopech to do the same and moncada and one of lopez/giolito making a step forward like baez did.if that happens they can compete quickly.

I think a top5 pick should be pretty sure but I don't quite see top3. The padres and orioles just gave up much more at the deadline and should falter even more. Marlins also have the potential to get much worse when they trade some relievers or realmuto. I could see the sox "beating out" the royals or tigers but not a sure thing either.

When the rebuild started the system was heavy on pitchers and some sox fans wondered why Hahn wasn't more like Theo and invested on hitters. But now it seems to be almost vice versa, the strength of the system is hitting (mostly outfield) and the pitching side doesn't look that great. Giolito and lopez werent good in the majors so far and fulmer had to be relegated to the pen. Kopech seems to be good (although walks are a little high) but who will be the guys behind him? Hopefully it can be rendon but there are concerns. Should the sox change minor league pitching coaching?

Maybe it was a bias against Ks. Back then many coaches considered you a better hitter if you struck out a lot, even if there was power. Back then Ks were considered a disgrace and players were evaluated by average and not OPS. They probably thought with the Ks he couldn't hit for average in the majors. Btw his first 3 years he was pretty good in the majors averaging like 30 bombs although the average was around 230.

Btw is abreu Hurt? April and May he basically was normal abreu but June he had a 600 ops and July even under 500. With a normal slump it is almost impossible to be that bad.

Good for both teams.meija is a very good prospect but the Indians clearly think he is not able to catch well in the big leagues evidenced by them giving him reps at third and the OF. Meija has a great arm but his framing is supposed to be weak. 10 years ago anyone would have loved him at catcher but the evaluation of catchers has clearly changed due to framing.

I read somewhere that his dad worked in construction.

The problem is never approach or patience, every single hitter in mlb, milb, college or HS knows it is bad to swing at balls. The issue is pitch recognition which is tough to do because hitters have to decide roughly when the pitch is a little past halfway home. This is not easy to teach, but some modern franchises like the Astros have invented vision and tracking drills. For example some teams like the dbacks have worked with pitch tunnels (basically imagining a zone halfway home the pitch has to pass through as a swing trigger). This isn't 100% bullet proof though as tunnels can make you more susceptible to certain FB breaking ball sequences but There are things you can do. Still doesn't work with everyone of course, some never learn to recognize pitches, because it is damn hard to decide 25 feet away wether a 95 mph throw will be a strike or not.

This is definitely not the expectation. The goal should be to compete for 5-6 years and make the postseason at least 3-4 times during that window. Hopefully it culminates with a WS appearance but you can't plan that. The ideal outcome of the rebuild would be what the nats did 2012-17 but with a few more playoff series wins:).

GMs are not allowed to be honest in that regard due to marketing and ticket sales. Even Epstein said stuff like this ("every season is scared"...). But everyone still knows what is happening.

Btw the sox could also consider eating 7-8 m of his salary to make him more attractive. Abreu is currently in a slump but still more analytic teams who look projections and not justvatcrecent batting line might take a chance.