Brent Morel

[RockRaines]

His adapting usually happened over one season. The thing is, I think we all understand, that the major leagues are a much bigger jump. So, it doesn't surprise me that the adapting is going to take over a year instead of the normal one-year span.

His splits are encouraging to me. I think he's a keeper.

[elrockinMT]

I can't buy the stuff about predicting the Sox would fail way back at the beginning of the season. Of course the odds are anyone predicting a team will not win it all will be correct on 29 of 30 chances. Inflated salaries means a high payroll and that's all I buy into. We are certainly part of that problem.

[greg775]

I'd keep Morel for his glove, but I can definitely understand why people would be upset with his season.

 

As far as All-In, it was a stupid slogan/idea. Because of their salaries, Dunn and Rios and Peavy are the main reasons you might think Sox were "All-In."

 

They might as well try the same slogan next year. They can say whatever they want in ad departments.

[VictoryMC98]

DO you ride a Victory motorcycle?

 

Not yet, want one.. But spending 20k without a garage.. not smart/wise.

[ILMOU]

I like Morel, and was wondering when some power would start showing up. He had a respectable number of XBH in Charlotte, and the dropoff this year was dramatic, to say the least. Encouraging lately, and especially last night obviously.

 

Maybe he gives us 725 OPSish production with continued solid defense in 2012. There's no good, non-expensive options, so unless something is obtained in trade, he's our guy, I think, no matter what.

 

Hopefully, Saladino is pushing our present crop of infielders by 2013. Outside chance for Gilmore too. I think Escobar needs to hit better in the minors before I consider him a major leaguer.

[VictoryMC98]

Then we can fire Greg Walker to make a change, because obviously we will not get better or worse.

 

A lot of the Cubs have decent approaches at the plate. It's their non-Garza pitching and lack of clutch hitting that hurts them.

 

The three guys on our roster who haven't spent a lot of time with Walker have our best approaches after Paulie.

 

In fact, if hitting coaches don't matter fire him because he is a waste of resources.

 

I agree with the last statement.. I don't know IMO if hitting coaches matter.. But that is just me.

 

I never said or talked about the cubs/wins and losses, just how they over-hyped the guy.. and now we don't hear how great it is.. Do we?

 

 

[fathom]

It was more than a TV gimmick, and to say that it wasn't now is just a cop out. They put in a ton of money for this team and emphasized the fact that they need to do well in April and May in order to be competitive throughout the year and draw fans to pay for the team. This was an organization-wide plan and it blew up in their faces.

 

Yes sir!!

 

Raising the payroll to 125 million meant it was an all or nothing year for the Sox.

Edited September 9, 2011 by fathom

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

Thank you all for your contributions. Wasn't nearly as much negative feedback as I thought there would be...yet. Good baseball discussion.

[NorthSideSox72]

I knew Morel's pattern coming in. And the thing is, if Dunn, Rios and Beckham (or even 2 of them) had performed even just sort of near expectations, then Morel's development would not have been a problem. As it was, he ended up out-hitting all three of those guys.

 

I've watched him hit this year. He was very tentative early in the season, swinging defensively all the time. Then he started focusing on going oppo, but still no power. Now recently, he has been putting more into the swing power-wise, in certain situations. He is definitely improving.

 

An upgrade at 3B would be great, but honestly, it isn't what I'd think is priority #1. Dunn and Rios are bigger issues, though they are untradeable. And I think the LF position (I am assuming Pierre is gone) is a more important place to look for improvement than 3B. I'd be OK with Morel at 3B for another year, and if he puts up numbers like his 2nd half, that works just fine.

 

Yes sir!!

 

Raising the payroll to 125 million meant it was an all or nothing year for the Sox.

 

Well, if you look at the salaries and contracts, I really think 2012 gets carried along with 2011 in that sense. The only guy going to FA that would be costly to re-sign (and that we actually want) is M56.

 

In 2013, you have Danks, Quentin, Peavy (option), Floyd (option), Frasor, AJP and Ohman coming off, as well as Viciedo and I think De Aza hitting arb. The 2012-2013 offseason is the big reckoning.=, contract-wise.

 

[RockRaines]

Not yet, want one.. But spending 20k without a garage.. not smart/wise.

Ah cool, do you ride now? It would be cool to get more riders on here for my random motorcycle threads

[gatnom]

Well, if you look at the salaries and contracts, I really think 2012 gets carried along with 2011 in that sense. The only guy going to FA that would be costly to re-sign (and that we actually want) is M56.

 

In 2013, you have Danks, Quentin, Peavy (option), Floyd (option), Frasor, AJP and Ohman coming off, as well as Viciedo and I think De Aza hitting arb. The 2012-2013 offseason is the big reckoning.=, contract-wise.

 

You're assuming that they considered the way the season turned out to be a real possibility. I know if you told me what happened this season before it started I would have probably laughed in your face. All of our arbitration eligible players and excess bullpen arms are very trade-able, so that could easily cut a huge chunk out of our payroll should they decide to go that route.

 

 

[Marty34]

You're assuming that they considered the way the season turned out to be a real possibility. I know if you told me what happened this season before it started I would have probably laughed in your face. All of our arbitration eligible players and excess bullpen arms are very trade-able, so that could easily cut a huge chunk out of our payroll should they decide to go that route.

 

I remember reading a quote from Schueler after the White Flag trade where he said he just didn't like that team anymore. That's where I am with this group. With the exception of Sale, there isn't a player on the roster that I'd be upset losing.

[kitekrazy]

I remember reading a quote from Schueler after the White Flag trade where he said he just didn't like that team anymore. That's where I am with this group. With the exception of Sale, there isn't a player on the roster that I'd be upset losing.

 

I remember watching Schueler back in the late 70's as a pen guy. Who would have thought he turned out to be a good baseball exec.

 

[chisoxt]

Yes, by all means he is a keeper. Lest we forget, out payroll stuation gives us few options. Moreover, we have gotten burned more by being impatient with prospects recently (Allen, Gonzalez, Hudson, Young) than being too patient (Beckham).

 

In order to be successful, you have to develop somebody, even if it takes some time.

[knightni]

Edwin Encarnacion might be worth a look for 1b/3b. But he could get expensive.

 

Give Lilli more 3B groundballs in spring, he'll be super platoon and take over for Vizquel.

[Dick Allen]

I remember reading a quote from Schueler after the White Flag trade where he said he just didn't like that team anymore. That's where I am with this group. With the exception of Sale, there isn't a player on the roster that I'd be upset losing.

So the guys he got rid of and didn't like anymore just happened to have 2 months left on their contracts? Lucky him.

[southsider2k5]

I remember watching Schueler back in the late 70's as a pen guy. Who would have thought he turned out to be a good baseball exec.

 

He didn't.

[hogan873]

I like Brent. His defense is very good, but his hitting is lacking. Average-wise, he's not far from how Crede was. But he doesn't seem to have the same impact bat that Crede had. As someone else mentioned, with our payroll woes, he may be the best option. I'm okay with Brent at the hot corner for defense. If the rest of the lineup were to hit (big IF, I know), it'd be easier to overlook his hitting.

[Balta1701]

I like Brent. His defense is very good, but his hitting is lacking. Average-wise, he's not far from how Crede was. But he doesn't seem to have the same impact bat that Crede had. As someone else mentioned, with our payroll woes, he may be the best option. I'm okay with Brent at the hot corner for defense. If the rest of the lineup were to hit (big IF, I know), it'd be easier to overlook his hitting.

For the first 3-4 years of his career, Joe Crede was not an impact bat.

[caulfield12]

But Crede usually averaged 16-24 homers and around 65-80 RBI's.

 

Respectable, Uribe-esque numbers. His walk totals kept his OBP down, and OPS down, but he was at least dangerous up there.

 

And he quickly gained a reputation for being "clutch," something many of our young players have yet to establish.

[Balta1701]

But Crede usually averaged 16-24 homers and around 65-80 RBI's.

 

Respectable, Uribe-esque numbers. His walk totals kept his OBP down, and OPS down, but he was at least dangerous up there.

 

And he quickly gained a reputation for being "clutch," something many of our young players have yet to establish.

And Crede did that while putting up OPS numbers in the low .700's in a much more offense-oriented era.

 

In Crede's 2nd full season he put up an OPS+ of 83. Brent is currently at 70 this year. Crede was not as bad as Morel has been this year, but was also not as good with the glove to start out, and Crede took legitimately 3 years before he finally got the hang of his swing.

[hogan873]

For the first 3-4 years of his career, Joe Crede was not an impact bat.

I'm sure you're right. I just remember Crede being that guy who could be counted on in a pressure situation. By impact bat, I wasn't just alluding to his power but his ability to get hits when it mattered.

[harfman77]

I think Morel has produced fine for a guy in his first full season, he has filled his role really well by playing excellent defense and he seems to work counts pretty well. If others would have played to their averages this is not even an issue. A lineup should be able to absorb a rookie performer like this.

[Balta1701]

I think Morel has produced fine for a guy in his first full season, he has filled his role really well by playing excellent defense and he seems to work counts pretty well. If others would have played to their averages this is not even an issue. A lineup should be able to absorb a rookie performer like this.

Gotta disagree here. Brent is at 3.5 pitches per plate appearance. That would be towards the bottom of the league in that regard. Not surprising since he never walks right now. Hopefully that number can improve in coming years, but the guy is goign to swing the bat.

[elrockinMT]

Yes, by all means he is a keeper. Lest we forget, out payroll stuation gives us few options. Moreover, we have gotten burned more by being impatient with prospects recently (Allen, Gonzalez, Hudson, Young) than being too patient (Beckham).

 

In order to be successful, you have to develop somebody, even if it takes some time.

 

 

I have to agree here. Developing your own seems to be something we missed. It seems we just used our farm teams as trade fodder. Worked sometimes I guess, but after awhile we got priced out of the market and took on some questionable contracts and gave a lot of money to some who just haven't produced

Edited September 12, 2011 by elrockinMT