KeaneyBlue - The URI Basketball Forum

So, the Sox blow the Lester signing from the get-go.
But, hey! Wade Miley a soft throwing fat lefty and his 4.37 NL ERA is coming to Boston!
Maybe they need him to for balance on the plane for Sandoval?
Better off with Miley Cyrus pitching. Ugh!

Look for Marie Osmond to do a weight watchers commercial in Boston. Maybe they can film it in June, when they're officially out of it.

Rod here comes Red Sox panic mode. Miley for Delarosa and Webster?? So a #4 starter for your closer of the future and a #4 young guy.

Do these guys ever have a plan or do they just react??

Not sure I can take much more of this ownership

Miley Cyrus is a fat, slow throwing lefty, who had an above 4 ERA,
playing in Arizona's huge park.
They really gave up too soon on these two kids, especially Delarosa.
So, lose Lester and get a mediocrity, spend money on 3rd base,
when Josh Donaldson was given away by the A's.
Sign a clubhouse problem to play LF, where he's never played before.
Watch them give Cespedes away.
Just a joke.

They traded Cespedes AND a prospect plus Alex Wilson and his
1.91 ERA last year, for Rick Porcello, who has a plus 4 ERA pitching in one of the biggest parks in baseball.
AND they signed Justin Masterson. Good guy, but never lived up to his potential.
S In summation, the Sox are trying to corner the market on plus 4 ERA mediocre pitchers.
Wonder if they can hold off the Rays for last place next season?

So they picked up 3 #4-5 starters, and gave away quality to get it. Makes no sense.

They're all under 30. Sounds like age discrimination to me.

They didn't want to spend big money on one pitcher after losing Lester.

They ended up getting some solid pitching, but not great. I think they want Shields or Hamels, but I don't think they will offer enough to get them. Scherzer, forget it. He's going to NY.

The whole key is reliability. If these guys stay healthy, they'll be OK.

Not enough to win the division where they stand right now, though, and I think they know it.

85 wins tops, as of now.

Of course, we're waiting for age and weight to catch up to Big Papi. This might be the year he finally starts to fall off a cliff.

85, the Sox are playing the game the Yankees have played recently. Buy now, pay later.

Better win now, or in a few short years they will all get old at the same time. At least they aren't giving these guys 6-8 year deals, which doesn't work anymore unless the player is 25 years old or less.

Plus, Porcello is a free agent at the end of next season,
so there's that.

Rod, Miley's ERA in the batter-friendly Arizona park was a point HIGHER (4.33) than his ERA in every other park (3.31). He gave up 38 HR in Arizona and just 26 elsewhere for his career.

I think you had it backwards earlier in this thread.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/playe ... &t=p#hmvis

No. Last year was 4.34 for the entire season. His home ERA was 5.16.

Other than down the lines, these dimensions aren't hitter friendly.
Left Field – 330 ft / 101 m
Left-Center – 374 ft / 114 m
Left-Center (deep) – 413 ft / 126 m
Center Field – 407 ft / 124 m
Right-Center (deep) – 413 ft / 126 m
Right-Center – 374 ft / 114 m
Right Field – 334 ft / 102 m

That ballpark has tended to be toward the top of the league in runs scored for most of the last decade, a lot of the time second only to Coors Field. I think part of it is elevation, heat, and humidity or lack of. Plus large dimensions can take away home runs but larger dimensions means there's more ground to cover for the fielders, resulting in more base hits and doubles.

Have to admit, other than the World Series win by the D-Backs,
I haven't watched to many games involving their games.
The dimensions are huge. Maybe the AC being on, plus elevation?

RhowdyRam02 wrote:That ballpark has tended to be toward the top of the league in runs scored for most of the last decade, a lot of the time second only to Coors Field. I think part of it is elevation, heat, and humidity or lack of. Plus large dimensions can take away home runs but larger dimensions means there's more ground to cover for the fielders, resulting in more base hits and doubles.

It's a good hitter's park, definitely. And he's in the NL West, which means he also pitched more frequently at Coors Field than others. However, it's balanced somewhat by the Padres and the Dodgers' home parks playing as pitcher friendly. The NL West is just full of weird park effects.

I didn't love the Miley trade - I thought it was kind of meh. Webster is probably a bullpen arm ultimately, and those guys are normally somewhat fungible to me. If you can trade one for an everyday player or a starter, I do that in a heartbeat. Look at how quickly guys like Papelbon, Joba, etc. peaked and then fell off, and they can do it somewhat randomly. De La Rosa could be good, but he doesn't look like an elite pitcher; probably peaks out as a #3 or #4, if everything goes right.

The Sox traded the two for a guy that is a #3 or #4 now. meh. Overall, I don't think it's a deal that really moves the needle all that much for either team. I'd be more optimistic about Webster or De La Rosa if they were going to a team that wasn't Arizona, which has been a dumpster fire for a couple years now.

What I find ironic is, the Boston media, which cried for Jon Lester to be signed,
because the Sox needed an "ace".
Suddenly, in lock-step, they're all writing that you don't need an ace to win.
Madison Bumgarden? Did anyone watch what a true ace can mean?
Also, what happened to all those "trade chips" the Sox have stockpiled for a blockbuster
to trade for that ace?
If they're done, except to a backup catcher, it's been a bizarre off season, to say the least.

All the trade chips have nicks and dings in my opinion....... I Don't see them bringing much in return

Ramulous wrote:All the trade chips have nicks and dings in my opinion....... I Don't see them bringing much in return

Agree with this, unless they're willing to move Betts or Boegarts, and I'd want to keep them both unless they're getting a clearly established All-Star in return.

Well, you still have Owens and Swihart, who haven't been exposed as suspects
instead of prospects.

rodfromcranston wrote:Well, you still have Owens and Swihart, who haven't been exposed as suspects
instead of prospects.

Swihart is probably on the next rung down for me, but yeah, he's the next big guy to me. Owens is also solid, but since he's a pitching prospect, they always make me a bit more nervous than position players.

This team is good to go right now, I am very pleased with the team. Kelly has great potential and the 3 new pitchers obtained are all solid. Clay B. of course remains an enigma......

I still see Xander B. as a bit suspect defensively which could be a problem with the huge increase in grounders up the middle and in the hole. Panda is solid but balls in the hole will get by as he is not too quick laterally. The other side of the diamond is strong. I see not reason Ramirez can't become a solid left fielder especially at Fenway of course.....the easiest defensive position in baseball along with right field in Yankee Stadium.

As long as the team can hover over and around .500 until the trading deadline will be fine. At that point a true ace will be avail and must be obtained via trading prospects.

I think Sawx are ok.....I certainly do not want to blow the bank on Hammels he is not a stud....

Let's go O's!

Left field in Fenway is easy?
Carl Yastrzemski would disagree. In a recent interview, he talks about how
hard he worked to master the wall.
This Sox team will be lucky to escape challenging the Rays for the basement.

The issue is whether the Sox hitting can bail out the pitching on a consistent basis. Projections say the best pitcher on the Sox will be Porcello with a ~ 4 ERA. Most of the other pitchers project between 4.20-4.60 ERA. That doesn't include the injury histories of fragile Bucholtz or Masterson. Will a young pitcher finally emerge from the system? Or do they really need to trade for someone to give them a realistic chance of winning in the postseason?

There will also be a ton of pressure on a 40 year old Koji Uehara. Last year he was good, not great. He went from a 1.09 ERA in 74 regular season innings in 2013, to a 2.52 ERA in 64 innings last year. He also blew 5 saves last year. HR's and hits were up, K's/9 down. Trending the other way. If you are going to go in with a rotation like they have, need to have a truly dominant bullpen. Think if they don't bring in the "ace," need more moves to solidify the pen. At the moment, who are the "Big 4" back there? Uehara, Tazawa, Mujica, Wright/Workman? Not good enough for that rotation.

Yaz also was a coverted shortstop.. However Rice, Greenwell and Manny were not good defensive players and generally performed adequately dealing with the green monster.

Agree we need bullpen beefed up a bit before season opener. Thinking we could be in on Zimmerman too..