It’s like watching Pavarotti. Just a maestro of the trade market.DD has added Pearce, Eovaldi and Kinsler to the top team in MLB. This guy doesn't mess around. I love it.
It’s like watching Pavarotti. Just a maestro of the trade market.DD has added Pearce, Eovaldi and Kinsler to the top team in MLB. This guy doesn't mess around. I love it.
He wore 5 with Texas, which Lin has been wearing. That'd be my guess.Kinsler has always worn #3, but Leon's got that. I'll guess he takes Hanley's old #13.
Absolutely. Get a bullpen arm like him and DD will have aced his job at building this year's team.With the defensive upgrade, Ziegler would be a really nice fit.
Clearly, DD is all in on this year, as he should be. Workman is a piece for this year, so no chance he would have made this move instead.Wish they could have made it Workman and kept Buttrey, who will have options still next season.?
Really true, this year at least. When you look at the guys we've added and the prospects we've given up, it's pretty fine work. He's managed to add three quality players who can play a significant GFIN role without giving up any real high-ceiling guys.It’s like watching Pavarotti. Just a maestro of the trade market.
Deal with Cubs is close.With the defensive upgrade, Ziegler would be a really nice fit.
I dunno, he's hit in the .230's the past two seasons. Why should I be excited about that? It's a minor upgrade I guess. We're dumpster diving.Why is it underwhelming?
On pace to be a 4.5 war player is the opposite of dumpster diving, even last year in a down year he was an average player. Before that he had 4 straight years where he was a borderline star. And he's taking the spot of guys that are basically replacement level.I dunno, he's hit in the .230's the past two seasons. Why should I be excited about that? It's a minor upgrade I guess. We're dumpster diving.
But hey, I hope he's money.
I wanted almost exactly this back on December 12. Good trade, though I think we may have paid more than the Angels did.Man, I really don't understand that Kinsler trade. The Angels got him for the equivalent of a Sox package of Chad de la Guerra and Williams Jerez, two prospects of ours I'm sure we'll never see.
If Pedroia came back strong and our DH/1B situation was locked and productive, we could trade him in the summer to an NL contender for even more than that, because his $6M AAV would open his market considerably. Basically a $3-4M insurance against a Pedey (or Hanley) collapse, and possible investment for deadline deal.
The biggest upgrade so far is not trading Swihart. A few weeks ago most people thought Swihart was hopefully going to get us a bag of balls. The lineup now is as good and deep as 2004.Addresses a big need, makes the lineup deeper, solidifies the infield defense, gets Nunez out of a spot he sucks at, and doesn't cost much.
Kinsler, Eovaldi, Pearce. Somehow, DD managed to add three good, useful players to the best team in baseball without giving up much at all. The guy is a top-notch trader and I love his no-nonsense, no bullshit way of identifying and addressing weaknesses.
Underwhelming? As opposed to what other options?
Do you have avatars turned on?Why is it underwhelming?
He's probably compliled a large part of that against Mel stottlemyre and Cory lidle. Unless you think it's the uniform, and not the guy in itThis is discouraging!
ESPN Stats & Info @ESPNStatsInfo
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The newest member of the Red Sox, Ian Kinsler, has a .199 career BA vs the Yankees. Among players with at least 300 AB, only Bubba Phillips (.195) has a worse BA vs the Yankees in the Live Ball Era (since 1920)
I agree and as per Cot's (and yes it is a moving target so you can't expect that the number is perfect)Getting $1.8 million thrown in from the Angels makes me think that somehow the Sox are or can still be under $237 million, despite the report that they're already over.
Dombrowski doesn't strike me as the type of guy who would go over the threshold by a million or two. If he was going to pass it, he would blow by it.
I like this trade for the defensive upgrade alone. Nunez can't play a passable second base but appears competent at 3rd, so Kinsler at second seems to be a major defensive upgrade.Kinsler’s career UZR/150 is 3.1, but he’s working on his 5th straight season above that number. Did he become a better defender after he was traded from Texas to Detroit, or did he benefit from better defensive positioning or something?
People can talk about the bullpen all they want, but on paper second base was by far the biggest relative improvement they could make. Kinsler is an amazing second baseman who also has a perfect batting profile for Fenway park.I like this trade for the defensive upgrade alone. Nunez can't play a passable second base but appears competent at 3rd, so Kinsler at second seems to be a major defensive upgrade.
This seems dramatic. Kinsler has had trouble with some long-gone legacy Yankees, like Mussina (.336 OPS in 13 trips), Pettitte (.564 OPS in 24 PA), Kuroda (.527 OPS in 22 trips), Burnett (.442 OPS in 35 lifetime PA), Pineda (.258 OPS in 12 trips), Wang (.282 OPS in 11 PA), and even Hughes (.589 in 44 PA).This is discouraging!
ESPN Stats & Info @ESPNStatsInfo
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The newest member of the Red Sox, Ian Kinsler, has a .199 career BA vs the Yankees. Among players with at least 300 AB, only Bubba Phillips (.195) has a worse BA vs the Yankees in the Live Ball Era (since 1920)
This seems dramatic. Kinsler has had trouble with some long-gone legacy Yankees, like Mussina (.336 OPS in 13 trips), Pettitte (.564 OPS in 24 PA), Kuroda (.527 OPS in 22 trips), Burnett (.442 OPS in 35 lifetime PA), Pineda (.258 OPS in 12 trips), Wang (.282 OPS in 11 PA), and even Hughes (.589 in 44 PA).
He's fine vs. current Yankees:
vs. Severino - .717 OPS (16 PA)
vs. Happ - .941 OPS (23 PA)
vs. Tanaka - .568 OPS (20 PA)
vs. Gray - 0 for 8
vs. Lynn - 1.000 OPS (12 PA)
vs. Sabathia - .782 OPS (47 PA)
I can't speak to what he changed to improve but the general consensus in the local media was that he was a butcher early in his career. The negative UZR/150 for the first three years of his career would seem to support that but he turned it around in year four (2009), well before his move to Detroit. I'm not seeing anything regarding the coaching staff which would stand out as a cause for the improvement but it is entirely possible a big part of the problem was Michael Young. 2009 was the year he was moved off of shortstop to 3B and was replaced by Elvis Andrus. Surely that allowed Kinsler to shift more towards the hole and not have to worry so much about the middle.Kinsler’s career UZR/150 is 3.1, but he’s working on his 5th straight season above that number. Did he become a better defender after he was traded from Texas to Detroit, or did he benefit from better defensive positioning or something?
Agree. This team is solid enough (C notwithstanding) that Kinsler doesn't have to be an outstanding player. If he's better than what we have, he mitigates a weakness. He's also experienced in postseason play (37 games in 8 playoff series including 2 WS) which will be useful in October. For the team with the best record in baseball by a good margin, that's more than enough to make this a good move.Better defensive 2B than anyone else on the roster.
His OPS+ over the season to date is 95. Devers' is 90, Holt's is 100, so he's not exactly an offensive downgrade if the aggregate is the future. Nunez is at 77. He also has been far better for a little over a month and should be a solid fit for Fenway. His hang time spray charts for the past three years.
Can't really see the risk, and the reward is easily worth two fringe relief types.
Both guys are fairly old for AAA: Buttrey's 25 and Jerez is 26. I'm not too torn up about the players going LAA's way.Not against the deal, but we did lose 2 cheap potentially good bullpen arms. They both throw hard and have incredible stuff, but the Redsox do have plenty of bullpen arms in the minors.
His career numbers don't really bear that out - he's had 193 PA at Fenway over his career and his OPS is slightly lower at Fenway than overall (.746 vs. .785). Still a pretty small sample size and other factors like quality of pitching go into that, but it's worth noting.He's absolutely tailored made for Fenway. Huge part of this... it's a perfect batting profile for the home park
Looks like several of those Angelic fly ball outs would be GM doubles at FenwayHuh...
Maybe, either that or they don't want to gamble that they translate on a team that is championship caliber. Can't really blame them either way for not going with him. This isn't the year for it.Clearly the Sox feel that Lin's AAA numbers won't translate.
Me too but I'm not sure why LAA would. Workman is arb eligible next year and a FA after 2020.Lots of reliever depth in minors and not room for all of them on the 40 man this winter so the give isn’t too bad. Wish they could have made it Workman and kept Buttrey, who will have options still next season.
I'm about 80% sure you're joking, but the other 20% would be you talking about an alternative deal we could have made or something. But yeah, humor the humorless - what are you talking about, if you're not just doubling down sarcastically on the ball-washing?Enough with all of the ball-washing of Dombrowski. Let’s not forget that if we hadn’t made the Kimbrel trade, we’d have a 3-time all-star centerfielder and if he hadn’t traded for Pomeranz, we’d have a 20 game winner to go along with Sale.
Hope Dustin has paid his parents back since then. On the other hand, now Kinsler is paying him back.Because of his diminutive size—he was 5–2 and 140 pounds as a senior—Dustin was ignored by most scouts. Then came the Area Code Games, an annual baseball tournament among All-Star teams representing California’s various area codes. He murdered the ball all tournament long.
Suddenly, Dustin was getting real offers from real baseball programs. When given the chance to play at prestigious Arizona State, he signed on the dotted line. Dustin joined a squad coached by Pat Murphy that starred Andre Ethier and Jeremy West. He endeared himself to Murphy by showing up at his first practice, flexing his muscles, and asking, “What do you think of these guns?"
Actually, Murphy thought quite a bit of them. Dustin beat out sophomore Ian Kinsler as the team's starting shortstop, prompting Kinsler to transfer out of Arizona State. Murphy cringed at Dustin ’s swing, but offered only one piece of advice—never make an out to centerfield. Dustin listened and focused on hitting the ball up the alleys and down the lines.
Dustin’s freshman year in 2002 erased any doubt that he wasn't a big-time ballplayer. He batted .347 with 45 RBIs, and was voted second-team All-Pac 10. The only freshman middle infielder who outhit him was Stephen Drew. The Sun Devils went 37–21, finishing third in the conference. They lost to Houston in the NCAA Regionals.
By any measure, Dustin’ first year in college was remarkable. But that was nothing compared to what he did after the season. Dustin stunned Murphy by giving back his scholarship. A Juco pitcher named Ben Thurmond was ready to transfer, and Dustin wanted the Sun Devils to grab him. There were no more scholarships available, so Dustin gave up his. He and Thurmond had played together on a US junior team. Dustin’s parents were making enough to afford the tuition, but Thurmond’s parents were not.
He has to be joking. Espinoza hasn't even pitched since 2016. Manny Margot has been looking pretty good the last few months though. Since May 23rd: .294/.363/.444 with 20bb/30k in 201 PA. Of course, he'd have no place to play in Boston and everyone knew he'd be pretty good. He was the centerpiece in the Kimbrel deal.I'm about 80% sure you're joking, but the other 20% would be you talking about an alternative deal we could have made or something. But yeah, humor the humorless - what are you talking about, if you're not just doubling down sarcastically on the ball-washing?
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Yes, I was joking. The amount of disgust on this site after both the Kimbrel trade and dealing away Espinosa was pretty remarkable. The “here goes Dombrowski dealing away all of our elite prospects!” Comments were running rampant. Nobody has apologized to him yet as far as I know. (This is a joke too)He has to be joking. Espinoza hasn't even pitched since 2016. Manny Margot has been looking pretty good the last few months though. Since May 23rd: .294/.363/.444 with 20bb/30k in 201 PA. Of course, he'd have no place to play in Boston and everyone knew he'd be pretty good. He was the centerpiece in the Kimbrel deal.
He's only flying from Tampa to Boston, so I would think he'd have plenty of time. But I highly doubt he'll start today.Is he expected in town for tonight's game? Haven't seen word yet.
As we learned with Adrian Gonzalez, the trouble with getting excited about these park overlays is that it assumes the guy will get the same kinds of pitches at Fenway that he does at other parks. I.e., it assumes that pitchers are stupid.His career numbers don't really bear that out - he's had 193 PA at Fenway over his career and his OPS is slightly lower at Fenway than overall (.746 vs. .785). Still a pretty small sample size and other factors like quality of pitching go into that, but it's worth noting.
Isn’t Cora a fan of “give him a game to get comfortable” guy?Is he expected in town for tonight's game? Haven't seen word yet.