Was just realizing that if Vazquez is back next year, the Sox could field almost an entire team of position players 5'10" or under, leaving out only the infield corners (and Sandoval barely makes it over the line):
Vazquez C (5'10")
Pedroia 2B (5'9" yeah right)
Holt SS (5'10")
Castillo, Betts, Bradley OF (all 5'9" or 5'10")
I went to Play Index to check the Sox roster against others. 65 position players 5'10" or under have gotten at least 100 PA in the majors this year. The Sox have six of them (and a seventh, Victorino, was with the team until recently). Toronto and Oakland have five. No other team has more than three.
Is this the new market inefficiency? Have the Sox decided that they can win with small(guy)ball? Or is it just coincidence? If it is non-random, will it continue under Dombrowski, whose teams in Detroit, as I recall, tended to the large and lumbering side? What are the implications of a small-guy strategy in terms of how games are won (or not)?
Vazquez C (5'10")
Pedroia 2B (5'9" yeah right)
Holt SS (5'10")
Castillo, Betts, Bradley OF (all 5'9" or 5'10")
I went to Play Index to check the Sox roster against others. 65 position players 5'10" or under have gotten at least 100 PA in the majors this year. The Sox have six of them (and a seventh, Victorino, was with the team until recently). Toronto and Oakland have five. No other team has more than three.
Is this the new market inefficiency? Have the Sox decided that they can win with small(guy)ball? Or is it just coincidence? If it is non-random, will it continue under Dombrowski, whose teams in Detroit, as I recall, tended to the large and lumbering side? What are the implications of a small-guy strategy in terms of how games are won (or not)?