2017 Boston Red Sox

[CatKnight]

Seems like you're having a good run Papi, even if you can't get past Cleveland.

Are you simming a month at a time, weekly, or...?

[Papi]

Originally Posted by CatKnight

Seems like you're having a good run Papi, even if you can't get past Cleveland.

Are you simming a month at a time, weekly, or...?

Now, there's a name I haven't seen in a while. How's it going Cat???

At any rate, ya, things are going pretty well. I keep trying to tweak things to beat Cleveland, but not much seems to be working. My concern this year is starting pitching. I'd rather not empty the farm system to improve it, but I really don't like spending money on other people's Free Agents. Freddie Freeman and Jose Fernandez are really the only two big name FA's that I've signed in 8 years. I'm actually playing out each game (Well, the majority of them. I simmed the last two months of 2022 as I got bored, leading the division by 25 games and just wanted to get to the playoffs.)

May 2023 Recap

17-10 (31-21 1st place AL East)

A better month for sure. The bats started to wake up and we made a few changes to the pitching staff that we help jolts them. Kenton McKinney was demoted to AAA after posting an 8.38 ERA in four starts, and Hunter Parsons was called up to take his spot in the rotation. Parsons first two starts were solid, 7 IP 0 ER, 7 IP 1 ER, so I'm hopeful. We also designated RP Chris Lincoln for assignment and sent him to Pawtucket, calling up RP Dan Henderson to take his spot. Lincoln wasn't bad (4 G, 10 K in 8 1/3 IP), but I wanted to give Henderson a shot.

Pitching Recap--

RP Cody Deason followed up a rough April with a near perfect May.In seven games, covering 13 innings, Deason posted a 0.00 ERA, allowing 10 hitsand three walks while striking out 13.

RP Beau Burrows also seems to have settled into his role as main set up man. The 25 year old worked in eight games, pitching 10 1/3 innings giving up nine hits, walking two and striking out 14, while posting a 1.69 ERA.

On the starting front, we were led by Henry Owens, who went 3-2 with a 4.03 ERA. He threw 38 innings, allowing 34 hits, walking 12 and striking out 40. Kolby Allard (4.33), Hunter Harvey (4.62), and Jose Fernandez (5.14) struggled. It wasn't a good month for the rotation.

Batting Recap--

Zack Collins followed up a terrible April with a great May. He hit .339/.381/.610 with three homeruns, seven doubles and 10 RBI. He raised his average from .138 to .239.

Hanleth Otano had a nice bounce back month as well, as he hit .304/.396/.565 with six homeruns and 17 runs knocked in.

Juan Sanchez has started to show glimpses of what we'd hope he'd be when we traded for him in the offseason. He hit .315/.460/.528 in May with four homeruns and 19 RBI. He also added a ridiculous 24/12 BB/K ratio.

Minor League Recap--

AAA Pawtucket 21-25 (4th place 4 GB)
AA Portland 27-19 (1st place)
A Salem 28-22 (1st place)
A Greenville 30-16 (1st place)

Key PerformersPawtucketOF Greg Murphy (1.5/4.0) .241 6-25
OF Jhailyn Ortiz (2.0/4.0) .264 7-29
3B Jayson Gonzalez (1.5/2.5) .239 3-23
RP Jon Clayton (1.5/2.5) 2-0 6.35 1 Sv
RP Ron Ferguson (2.5/4.0) 1-4 2.86

Portland
OF Jose Miranda (1.0/4.0) .212 2-15
SS Weitze Maas (1.0/4.0) .250 0-7
RP Jorge Maes (2.0/2.5) 0-1 3.00

Salem
C Jorge Ramos (1.0/5.0) .258 4-20

Greenville
3B Taheji Suzuki (1.0/3.5) .284 6-21
1B Ismael Beltre (1.0/2.5) .328 6-40

League Notes

5/31--Los Angeles (NL) places OF Mike Trout (.295 6-33) on the DL with a hamstring tear. He will be out until August.
5/18--Chicago (NL) calls up 1B Sam Travis (.271 16-65 in 2022) from AAA Iowa.
5/16--Chicago (AL) places SP James Haynes (4-4 4.43) on the DL with a torn rotator cuff. He will miss the rest of the season.

[Papi]

June 2023 Recap

14-13 (45-34 2nd place 0.5 GB)

This month was all about injuries. We lost SS Xander Bogaerts until the start of September, SP Hunter Harvey until at least mid September, 3B Juan Sanchez for 3 weeks in June, and most recently, 2B Francis Azcona for the next six weeks. So that's 3/4ths of my starting infield injured, and my one major FA signing this off season. How I am only half a game back, I have no idea.

To combat the loss of Harvey, we also completed a trade to hopefully solidify the rotation for the rest of the summer.

Boston trades SP Kenton McKinney, RP Chris Lincoln, OF Jhailyn Ortiz, and 1B Conner Kaiser
San Diego sends SP Parker Mushinski

This could end up being a very good deal or a very bad one. There likely won't be any middle ground. Mushinski came out of nowhere this year to post a 4-2 with a 1.23 ERA with 60 K's in 58 1/3 innings pitched. He was a 7th round draft pick of the Angels back in 2017. and subsequently released. He signed on with the Long Island Ducks of the Independent Leagues. He spent a year with Long Island before being signed by the Chicago Cubs. He bounced around in the Cubs minor league systems until 2022, when he was picked in the Rule V draft by the Padres, where it seemingly all came together for him. He's got 20/15/11 marks with a possible continue uptick in control.

Pitching Recap--


In his first month with the team, Mushinski went 2-1 with a 3.52 ERA in four starts. He gave up 20 hits and seven walks in 23 innings, while striking out 30. I'll take that kind of production. His best start for us was a rain shortened outing in which he allowed one run and one hit in five innings, walking none and striking out seven against the Phillies.

The combo of Ron Ferguson and Hyo-cheong Kim were perfect in June. Ferguson appeared in nine games, covering 11 1/3 innings. He gave up just four hits and three walks striking out 10, while Kim worked in nine games as well, posting a 3-0 mark, pitching 10 innings, giving up six hits and a 10/1 K:BB ratio.

Batting Recap--

It was a bad month for the offense. I don't even know where to begin. Guess I'll start with the only batter over .270. Fan favorite (Read--MY favorite) Austin Shenton hit .308/.386/.410 with a homer and 10 RBI filling in first for injured Juan Sanchez, then Xander Bogaerts, and now Francis Azcona.

Zack Collins continues his trend of terrible month, good month, terrible month, as he hit .145/.253/.316 with 23 strikeouts in 76 AB's. Hanleth Otano wasn't much better, hitting .178/.294/.267 with two homeruns, and 36 K's in 102 AB's. He really struggles when he is counted on to be the main power threat in the lineup, and with Sanchez/Bogaerts gone all month, he couldn't hack it. I'm hopeful that things get better now with Sanchez back.

Minor League Recap

AAA Pawtucket 35-38 (5th place 3 GB)
AA Portland 43-27 (1st place)
A Salem 35-43 (3rd place 8 GB)
A Greenville 49-23 (1st place)
SA Lowell 4-3 (4th place 2 GB)
Boston DSL 16-8 (2nd place 1 GB)
Boston GCL 2-2 (3rd place 2 GB)

Key Performers--

Pawtucket
RP Dan Henderson (2.5/2.5) 1-2 3.04 9 Svs
RP Jon Clayton (0.5/2.5) 5-1 5.14

Portland
OF Jose Miranda (1.0/3.0) .218 4-26
SS Weitze Maas (1.0/4.0) .244 2-16

Salem

C Jorge Ramos (1.0/5.0) .242 8-36

Greenville
3B Taheji Suzuki (1.0/3.5) .310 9-35
1B Ismael Beltre (1.0/2.5) .318 9-59

2023 Draft News

1st Round (26th Overall) OF Ronnie Norman--CUR 6/5/4--POT 10/15/9. Definition of a project. The draft class wasn't all that strong, and to have a 4 star potential fall to us at 26, so we jumped. He's a toolsy type player, who is already a burner on the base paths and above average in the field at age 18.

1st Round (Supplemental 39th Overall) SS Dylan Powers--CUR 7/6/7--POT 11/11/14. Kid can play five different positions at an above average or better skill. He will start at Shortstop for us, but could move depending on our needs in the future. Bat is just average, but again, he's just a kid, so it could change.

2nd Round (71st Overall) SS Edgar Segveria--CUR 6/5/5--POT 11/12/13. If he develops as expected, he could end up in the bigs as a starter for me (Or someone else). Plus plus ability on the bases already, and his fielding is just average.

3rd Round (103rd Overall) OF Stan Murdoch--CUR 7/2/6--POT 12/8/14. Drafted as a CF, but I don't see that as his final position. With that being said, he won't hit for enough power to justify a corner outfield spot, so the hope is that he gets better in center and we can just leave him there. Another draftee who can burn up the base paths already.

4th Round (135th Overall) OF Alex Chavez--CUR 8/6/7--POT 9/9/10. The most developed of my draftees, but also the lowest ceiling of the group. His best trait at the moment is his glove. He's an 18 in CF with OF ratings of 19/16/12. If the bat develops at all, he will make a solid 4th OF.

League News

6/30 Seattle places OF Rafael Ortega (.279 4-22) on the DL with a torn labrum. He is done for the year.
6/26 Chicago (NL) puts OF Kyle Schwarber (.217 7-30) on the DL with a concussion and he will miss the rest of the year.
6/26 A day after collecting career hit 2000, Cincinnati 3B Evan Longoria will miss the rest of the year after suffering a shoulder injury.
6/25 San Fransisco trades two prospects to St. Louis for SP Matt Wisler (2-7 3.14).
6/14 Arizona places SP Michael Kopech (0-1 4.91) on waivers.
6/13 San Fransisco places SP Madison Baumgartner (6-4 5.19) on the DL with a torn labrum. He will miss the rest of the season.
6/8 Seattle trades SP Cal Quantrill (3-4 4.26) to Kansas City for a pair of prospects.
6/6 Chicago (NL) places SP Daichi Osera (4-4 3.39) on the 60 day DL with shoulder inflammation. His return this year is uncertain.

[Papi]

July 2023 Recap

16-10 (61-44 2nd place 0.5 GB)

On July 21st, we were 52-44, 5 games out of first place. We were strongly considering selling off assets and trying to shed some salary, get younger, stock the farm, etc. Well, from 7/21 through 7/31, we went 9-0 and are now only 0.5 GB. With that streak we made a couple of HUGE moves as we hit the deadline, adding some salary in the short term, but vastly improve our pitching staff, as well as adding a top 70 prospect.

Trade #1--

Boston sends SP Henry Owens, RP Yong-oom Kim, and two minor leaguers
Chicago (NL) sends CF Wilson Rea and C Logan Boyer

We'll start with the return. Rea is the #62 prospect in the majors, and was hitting .237 with 8 homeruns and 28 RBI for AAA Iowa at the time of the trade. He already has a major league glove as well as the wheels to match. He'll spend the rest of the season at AAA Pawtucket and could break into the majors next year. Boyer is a significant improvement over Joe Davis and can mash lefties, so he is a perfect fit for my catching platoon.

Moving Owens was a rough, but our scouts felt he had lost some over the last couple years, and couldn't be counted on as the shutdown lefty he had been, as recently as 2021. His stuff had dropped to 15, and 3 of his five pitches are now rated exactly average. He still has the killer changeup though, so if he can change his style, he'll continue to succeed, it will just be in the NL. Kim had fallen out of favor this year and was not going to be resigned as rumor had it he was going to be asking for $7-$8m per year for five seasons, and I wasn't going to pay that.

Trade #2--

Boston trades SP Kolby Allard, RP Hyo-cheong Kim, CF Yerson Santana and 3B Mikey Polansky
Seattle trades SP Taijuan Walker

Again, we'll start with the return. The 30 year old Walker is a perennial all star and Cy Young finalist, and we have him locked up for the next three plus seasons. Granted, it's at nearly $35m per, but Jose Fernandez and his $42m contract come off the books after next season, so unless he's willing to renegotiate a much smaller salary, we have our next ace lined up. Last season, Walker posted a 22-6 mark with a 2.79 ERA. He's struggled a bit this year, going 10-7 with a 4.07 ERA, striking out 130 in 121 innings of work.

The key to this deal for Seattle, other than ridding itself of Walker's contract, was Allred. The 25 year old lefty, for whatever reason, just couldn't take that next step. He never really developed a third pitch (3 changeup), and gave up a TON of hits (155 in 117 innings), so the fact that he didn't walk anyone was nice, but there were still runners all over the basepaths when he pitched. If the Mariners can get him straightened out, they have a cost controlled lefty who has walked only 14 in 117 innings, for the next 6 years. Giving up the other Kim was a little tougher, but with all of our young arms in AAA, he was expendable. He is 31 and will be asking for over $5m in arbitration this year. More than I am willing to pay the 3rd man out of our pen, behind Raudes and Burrows. Moving Santana wasn't necessary, but he was about to get expensive as well (predicting $4m in arb this year), and we'll hand the CF keys to rookie Greg Murphy.

On a sour note, SS Xander Bogaerts suffered a set back during rehab and reinjured his shoulder. He is likely to be shut down, and will rest up and heal fully for 2024. His 2023 season ends with him hitting a career low .224 5-31 in 54 games.

Pitching Recap--

Hunter Parson had a solid month for us. He was only 2-2 in five starts, but he posted a 2.12 ERA and allowed 24 hits and 10 walks in 34 innings, striking out 33.

Ron Ferguson continues his smooth transition from the minors to the majors. He was 0-1 with a 2.31 ERA. He appeared in nine games, covering 11 1/3 innings, giving up seven hits and posting a 14/1 K:BB ratio. He will slide into the 7th inning role vacated by Hyo-cheong Kim.

Parker Mushinski had a good month and it could have been better if he wasn't the victim of a .408 BABIP. He went 2-1 2.84 in five starts. He gave up 41 hits in 31 innings, but walked only six and struck out 31.

Batting Recap--

Michael Chavis was named AL Batter of the Month after posting a .374/.449/.697 line. He had eight homeruns and drove in a ML leading 28 runs. He added six doubles and 28 runs scored for good measure, all while playing a position, shortstop, that he hasn't played since he was in the minors.

He got some competition for batter of the month from OF Willie Abreu, who put up a .330/.368/.510 line with six doubles, four homeruns and 13 RBI.

Juan Sanchez also had a terrific month of July, as he hit .358/.431/.547 with seven doubles, three homers and 16 RBI. He had a bit of a strikeout issue this month, going down on strikes 29 times in 95 AB's, but as long as he continues to post that .400+ OBP, I don't care.

Minor League Recap--

AAA Pawtucket 46-55 (5th place 8.5 GB)
AA Portland 60-39 (1st place)
A Salem 49-59 (4th place 10.5 GB)
A Greenville 65-36 (1st place)
SA Lowell 21-15 (1st place)
Boston DSL 30-17 (3rd place 1 GB)
Boston GCL 22-9 (1st place)

Key Performers--

PawtucketRP Jun-Hun Chong (2.5/3.5) 2-2 2.39
RP Jon Clayton (2.5/2.5) 6-1 4.50 1 Sv

Portland
OF Jose Miranda (1.0/4.0) .236 7-42
SS Weitze Maas (1.0/4.5) .250 4-23

Salem
C Jorge Ramos (1.0/5.0) .242 10-46

Greenville
1B Ismael Beltre (1.0/3.0) .296 14-69
3B Taheji Suzuki (1.0/3.5) .298 13-43

Other
C Hector Silva (1.0/4.0) .254 5-18 (Lowell)
OF Ronnie Norman (0.5/4.0) .224 1-10 (Boston GCL)

League News

7/30--Colorado trades a couple of 3+ star prospects to the Chicago White Sox for SP Reggie Lawson (14/13/16 8-5 4.07).
7/27--Chicago (NL) trades OF Gregory Polanco (14/10/15 .252 10-21) to the Arizona Diamondbacks for a pair of prospects.
7/26--Detroit trades SS Qu-bing Fang (12/12/12 .274 3-25) to the New York Mets for a pair of minor leaguers, including 4 star prospect SS Sergio Velazquez.
7/24--Washington places 1B Justin Bellinger (15/13/13) on the DL with a broken elbow. He is done for the year.
7/20--Colorado places SP Sam Hentges (16/13/13 7-6 4.62) on the DL with a torn triceps muscle. He is out for the rest of the season.
7/12--Philadephia trades hometown hero 1B Paul Goldschmidt (11/14/15 .191 1-17) to Miami for a couple of scrub prospects. A true salary dump.

[Papi]

August 2023 Recap

18-10 (79-54 1st place AL East)

Mostly good this month, with just a tiny bit of bad. We lost CL Rionel Raudes for the remainder of the season with a bum shoulder. That shortens an already short bullpen after the trades of the Kim brothers. Rookie Ron Ferguson will assume the closer's role as we don't want to mess with everyone's positions in the pen. Beyond that, we played well, Baltimore didn't, so now we have a 4 game lead as we enter the final month.

Pitching Recap--

Speaking of Ron Ferguson, he was lights out in August. He appeared in 12 games, posting a 0.00 ERA and was 10/10 in save chances. He pitched 12 innings, and allowed seven hits and put up a ridiculously good 18/2 K:BB ratio.

Taijuan Walker's first month with us was uneven at best. The good was he posted a 4-1 mark and struck out 43 in 42 1/3 innings. The bad, was that he posted a 5.10 ERA. We're hopeful that he was a victim of bad luck as he also had a .341 BABIP.

Parker Mushinski has really settled in nicely over his couple of months in Boston. He was 3-1 with a 2.55 ERA in five starts last month. He pitched 42 innings, giving up 31 hits, while walking 16 and striking out 51.

Batting Recap--

Freddie Freeman continues to plug along as the elder statesmen of this club. He hit .327/.430/.485 in August with 10 doubles, a pair of homeruns and a team leading 20 RBI. He even threw in a 19/14 BB:K ratio for good measure.

Juan Sanchez is really showing why we traded 4 prospects for him last winter. He hit .303/.413/.434 with eight doubles and 16 RBI. He added 19 strikeouts and 17 walks, giving him 72 free passes thusfar. I don't suspect that he will be batting 6th or 7th in the Sox order next year.

Francis Azcona struggled after returning from the disabled list. He hit a paltry .163/.230/.293 with a pair of homers and three RBI. He did steal five bases during August, so when he did manage to get on base, he continued to be a force there.

Minor League Recap

AAA Pawtucket 60-71 (5th place 9 GB)
AA Portland 78-59 (1st place)
A Salem 58-78 (4th place 20 GB)
A Greenville 82-47 (1st place)
SA Lowell 30-34 (4th place 4.5 GB)
Boston DSL 47-26 (1st place)
Boston GCL 43-15 (1st place)

Key Performers--

Pawtucket
CF Wilson Rea (4.0/5.0) .207 2-9
3B Jayson Gonzalez (2.0/2.5) .240 13-65

Portland
OF Jose Miranda (1.0/3.5) .248 9-54
SS Weitze Maas (1.0/4.5) .267 7-34

Salem
C Jorge Ramos (1.0/5.0) .256 12-56

Greenville
1B Ismael Beltre (1.0/3.5) .307 25-98
3B Taheji Suzuki (1.0/4.0) .278 16-51

Other
OF Ronnie Norman (1.0/4.5) .228 2-18 (Boston GCL)
SS Dylan Powers (1.0/2.5) .315 9-36 (Boston GCL)

Major League Notes

8/30--Detroit places DH Carlos Santana (.206 6-39) on unconditional waivers.
8/29--Pittsburgh places OF Tucker Maxwell (.272 12-65) on the DL with a broken ankle. He's through for the year.
8/16--Baltimore agrees to a 6 year/$172m contract with 3B Manny Machado (.285 12-57)
8/10--Chicago (NL) agrees to a 5/$68m contract with C Herbert Iser (.249 12-45)
8/9--Atlanta CL Craig Kimbrel (5-3 2.55 30 Sv) notches his 400th career save.
8/3--Pittsburgh SP Gerrit Cole (16-6 2.01) pitches a no hitter against the Minnesota Twins.

[Papi]

2023 End of Season Recap

12-17 (91-71 2nd place AL East--Wild Card Winner)

Well, that sucked. The wheels came off in September, as we couldn't do anything right. The month started with us making a waiver deal with the San Diego Padres. We traded a couple of minor leaguers for 27 year old reliever Will Neely. Neely was 3-2 with a 2.22 ERA and 17 saves for the Padres this season. He wasn't going to be eligible for the playoff roster and we knew that, but the hope was that he could push everyone down a slot and make the pen a bit stronger last month of the year. Nope. Neely was fine, everyone else was horrible though.

Even with all that, we entered the last two games of the year, up by one game on the Baltimore Orioles We were playing the Los Angeles Angels, who needed a win to stay alive for the postseason (More to come on this). If you look up the definition of, "coming out flat", you'd see a photo of the 2023 Boston Red Sox. We lost the first game, 6-2, as Hunter Harvey, just back off the DL, allowed four hits and three runs in 2/3 of an inning, and then in the final game of the year, now tied with Baltimore, we were shutout on six hits and lost 4-0. That puts us in a position to have to win the Wild Card play in game, likely without either Jose Fernandez or Taijuan Walker who pitched in the last two games, against who? It could very well be these Angels as both LA and Kansas City finished with identical 90-72 records, and will play a one game playoff to determine who makes the 2023 Postseason.

Pitching Recap--

We had exactly one pitcher with an ERA under 3.70 last month, and it was the only pitcher not eligible for the postseason, Will Neely. Neely had a 2.45 ERA in seven innings, striking out seven.

Just because it was so awful, I wanted to present to you the pitching line of rookie and September call up Jon Clayton. 0-0 18.47 ERA. 6 GP 6 1/3 IP 13 H 13 ER 11 BB 3 K. Yes, that was right, three strikeouts and 11 walks in 6 1/3 innings. I think he needs more seasoning, or a kick in the nuts, I am not sure yet.

Batting Recap--

Vitaliano Collina was named AL Rookie of the Month for September, so we have that's going for us, which is nice. Collina hit .298/.368/.462 with three homeruns and 17 RBI.

Freddie Freeman finished up the 2023 in strong fashion, hitting .351/.380/.495 with four homeruns and 17 runs knocked in. The 33 year old Freeman ends the season with 2302 career hits, giving him an outside shot at 2500 before the end of next season, and a real chance at 3000 for his career.

Minor League Recap

AAA Pawtucket 67-77 (5th place 11 GB)
AA Portland 86-56 (1st place)
A Salem 60-80 (4th place 22 GB)
A Greenville 90-50 (1st place)
SA Lowell 31-45 (4th place 11 GB)
Boston DSL 47-26 (1st place)
Boston GCL 44-16 (1st place)

Key Performers--

Pawtucket
OF Wilson Rea (3.5/5.0) .209 2-9

Portland
OF Jose Miranda (1.0/5.0) .238 10-61
SS Weitze Maas (1.0/4.0) .276 8-47

Salem
C Jorge Ramos (1.0/5.0) .254 12-56

Greenville
1B Ismael Beltre (1.0/2.5) .308 32-112
3B Taheji Suzuki (1.0/4.0) .270 19-59

Other
C Hector Silva (1.0/4.0) .256 15-51 (Lowell)
OF Ronnie Normal (1.0/3.5) .237 2-19 (Boston GCL)

League Notes

9/25--Oakland places 2B Joe Rizzo (.257 14-57) on the DL with a broken ankle. He will miss the postseason.
9/17--Los Angeles trades two minor leaguers to Miami for closer Tyler Kolek (3-4 3.30 34 Svs)
9/6--Jose Abreu (.250 20-81) hits career homerun #300

[Papi]

2023 AL Play In Game

Behind 6 1/3 innings of two run ball from reverted closer Brandon Maurer, the Los Angeles Angels advanced to the 2023 playoffs, after defeating the Kansas City Royals, 3-2. Alex Yarbourough led the Angel attack with two doubles and two RBI, and CL Dan Reynolds finished his first season as a closer, saving his 48th game of the year.

AL Wild Card Round

Well, this went down exactly as I expected. It started out OK as we jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning behind an RBI single from Hanleth Otano. Unfortunately, that would be the only run we'd score. The Angels would score single runs in the 2nd and 5th innings to take a 2-1 lead and then tack on two more in the ninth to send us home for the winter, 4-1 losers. Ryan Seiz led the Angel offense, with a pair of RBI singles and Braxton Garrett went the first five innings, striking out six. We have some serious work to do with the pitching staff this offseason. Our starters finished with the 8th best ERA (4.00) and relievers with the 12th best (3.91).

NL Wild Card Round

In one of the best pitchers duels in ages, the Arizona Diamondbacks advance to the NLDS, defeating the Colorado Rockies, 1-0. Drake Fellows went eight scoreless innings for the D'Backs, giving up just four hits and two walks, striking out eight. Tyler Watson was the hard luck loser for Colorado, as he went the first seven innings, and gave up just five hits and one run, walking a pair and striking out 11. The lone run of the game scored in the bottom of the seventh inning on a sacrifice fly off the bat of SS Brandon Martin.

[Papi]

2023 American League Division Series

Cleveland Indians v Los Angeles Angels

The Indians made quick work of the AL Wild Card round winner Angels, sweeping California, 3 games to 0. Game One was won by the Indians in the bottom of the ninth inning on a walkoff triple by Fransisco Lindor. After Game Five of that first game, the Angels wouldn't score again as the Indians pitched shutouts in both Games Two and Three. Game three went 11 innings, with the first 10 being scoreless, before the Indians won the series on a walkoff homerun from 3B Jeimer Candelario. C Tomoya Mori was named series MVP after hitting .500 (6-12) with a homer and three RBI.

Game One--CLE 5 LA 4
Game Two--CLE 7 LA 0
Game Three--CLE 1 LA 0

Oakland Athletics v Baltimore Orioles

Another ALDS that was fast and relatively un-competitive. Oakland outscored Baltimore 18-7 in the three games, putting a hurting on the Oriole pitching staff. OF Devin Davis hit three homeruns and drove in six runs in the three games and WASN'T named MVP. That honor went to C Brad Debo and his .636 (7-11) average with a homer and three RBI.

Game One--OAK 8 BAL 3
Game Two--OAK 7 BAL 4
Game Three--OAK 3 BAL 0

National League Division Series

Los Angeles Dodgers v Arizona Diamondbacks

In a series many expected to be over quickly, the Diamondbacks took the Dodgers to five games before falling to the 102 win Dodgers. In fact, Arizona had a 2-1 series lead after three games, only to see Los Angeles take games four and five 4-2 and 5-3 respectively. Rougned Odor was named series MVP for the Dodgers, after hitting .435 (10-23) with four RBI. Personally, I think it should have gone to SP Chris Bassett, who started two games, winning both and posting a 2.77 ERA while allowing only six hits in 13 innings.

Game One--ARI 2 LA 1
Game Two--LA 8 ARI 1
Game Three--ARI 9 LA 6
Game Four--LA 4 ARI 2
Game Five LA 5 ARI 3

Pittsburgh Pirates v Atlanta BravesIn a back and forth series, Pittsburgh took the deciding Game Five by a score of 4-2 on the back of series MVP OF Chase Simpson's (.400 8-20 2 HR 7 RBI) 2-4 3 RBI game. In a surprisingly close series (Atlanta took the season series, 5-1 from the Pirates), each time rotated wins, with the Braves winning games 2 and 4, while Pittsburgh won Games 1, 3 and 5 and will move onto to face their nemesis, the Los Angeles Dodgers in the ALCS.

Game One--PIT 3 ATL 2
Game Two--ATL 9 PIT 7
Game Three--PIT 5 ATL 4
Game Four--ATL 8 PIT 7
Game Five--PIT 4 ATL 2

[Papi]

American League Championship Series

Cleveland Indians v Oakland Athletics

The Cleveland Indians proved once again, that they are the class of the American League, advancing to the World Series for a third straight season, as they beat the Oakland Athletics in the ALCS four games to three. Trevor Bauer started games 1, 4 and 7 for the Indians tossing 20 1/3 innings, striking out 28, but wasn't named MVP. That honor went to 1B Kyle Martin, who hit .296 (8-27) with a homer and five RBI. C Brad Debo led Oakland batters in the series, hitting .333 (9-27) with a homer and five runs knocked in.

Game One--OAK 3 CLE 2
Game Two--CLE 6 OAK 4
Game Three--CLE 5 OAK 4
Game Four--OAK 2 CLE 1
Game Five--CLE 6 OAK 4
Game Six--OAK 1 CLE 0
Game Seven--CLE 3 OAK 1

National League Championship Series

Los Angeles Dodgers v Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates finally got over the hump, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games to advance to the 2023 World Series against the Cleveland Indians. SP Gerrit Cole, who is likely to win his 6th straight Cy Young Award this year, was named NLCS MVP after going 2-0 with a 1.15 ERA. He struck out 17 and walked just one in 15 innings of work. Game Seven went right down to the wire as LA came back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game at two in the eighth inning on a two run homer by Mike Trout. The top of the ninth saw the Pirates retake the lead on an RBI single from L.J. Tolbert, who went 3-3 with 2 RBI in the deciding game. Former Sox farmhand Brian Johnson pitched the bottom of the ninth to secure the win and trip to the Series for Pittsburgh.

Game One--LA 4 PIT 3
Game Two--PIT 4 LA 1
Game Three--PIT 4 LA 2
Game Four--LA 10 PIT 3
Game Five--LA 5 PIT 3
Game Six--PIT 3 LA 1
Game Seven--PIT 3 LA 2

[Papi]

2023 World Series

Pittsburgh Pirates v Cleveland Indians

Game One--Austin Meadows homered twice, walked three times and drove in three runs to lead the Pirates to the Game 1 win over the Indians by the score of 4-1. Victor Arano went the first six for Pittsburgh, allowing just three hits and one run, striking out six.

Game Two--In a wild one, Pittsburgh hit four homeruns, including Austin Meadows third in two games as the Pirates took Game Two of the 2023 World Series, defeating the Indians, 11-8. Meadows had two RBI, while L.J. Tolbert and Josh Bell each homered and drove in three runs. CF Derek Ford led the Cleveland attack with a grand slam in the 5th inning.

Game Three--Pittsburgh moved within one game of a World Series title, as they throttle the Cleveland Indians in Game Three, 11-2. Josh Bell homered twice and drove in four and Austin Meadows added his 4th homerun in three games, driving in four in the win. Andrew Church didn't make it out of the first inning for Cleveland, allowing six runs in 2/3 of an inning.

Game Four--Cleveland, trying to hang onto their slim chances, jumped out to a 4-0 first inning lead, however, by the 4th inning, that lead was gone and they were trailing 5-4. By the 8th inning, they were down 9-4, and although they made it close by scoring 4 times in the bottom of the 9th, that's as close as they would get as the Pittsburgh Pirates completed the sweep of the Cleveland Indians, winning Game Four, 9-8. MVP Josh Bell homered, his 4th of the series, driving in four. Bell, in the series, hit .563 (9-16) with those four homers and nine RBI. OF Austin Meadows also hit four homeruns driving in nine, batting .400 in the sweep.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are the 2023 World Series Champions! I am actually quite happy for them as it's going to be broken up soon. The Pirates ended up about $30 million in the red and they are unlikely to be able to retain any of their Free Agents over the next few seasons, which could see stalwarts such as Gerrit Cole, Austin Meadows, L.J. Tolbert and Josh Bell depart with nothing coming back in return.

[Papi]

2023 Award Winners

AL Gold Glove Winners--

P--Reed Scott (BAL)
C--Tomoya Mori (CLE)
1B--Devin Davis (OAK)
2B--Orlando Arcia (MIN)
3B--Manny Machado (BAL)
SS--Jahmai Jones (TEX)
LF--Nicholos Hamilton (TOR)
CF--Reece Cooley (BAL)
RF--Jason Heyward (CLE)

NL Gold Glove Winners--

P--Daniel Norris (WAS)
C--Ryan January (ATL)
1B--Wesley Jones (COL)
2B--Richie Martin (ARZ)
3B--Kris Bryant (CHC)
SS--Luis Guillorme (MIL)
LF--Luis Mendoza (PHI)
CF--Albert Almora (CHC) (8 in a row in CF)
RF--Bryce Harper (LAD)

AL Rookie of the Year--

1B Vitaliano Collina (BOS) .283/.342/.511 24-92 24 doubles

NL Rookie of the Year--

C Chris Hudgins (PHI) .244/.327/.456 24-71

AL Cy Young--

Braxton Garrett (LAA) 15-3 2.55 208 1/3 IP 220 K

NL Cy Young--

Gerrit Cole (PIT) 20-6 1.91 231 IP 236 K (6th straight and 7th overall)

AL MVP--

1B Greg Kassell (BAL) .275/.349/.516 39-117 35 doubles

NL MVP--

2B John Devine (COL) .339/.396/.535 23-104 36 doubles 27 SB

[Papi]

2023 Offseason Trade News

This was a rough offseason. I overestimated what I would have from a payroll perspective. We came into the offseason sitting at about $194 million, and I had to work to get that number down under $180 in order to meet the budget that Mr. Henry had set for us.

Due to this, we were forced to make a few trades to clear some salary. Will focus on one trade at a time, starting with the only pure salary dump of the lot.

Cleveland sends RP Joe Reed and RP Connor Cannon
Boston sends 2B Francis Azcona and RP Cason Sherrod

So ya....trading your leadoff hitter and starting 2B to the rival that you can't seem to beat may not be the best move, but the Indians were one of the few teams that could take on Azcona's salary AND had the need for a 2B. The return wasn't great, but we leverage a couple of more young-ish RP arms that will hopefully help us avoid the chaos that was the 2023 Red Sox bullpen. Reed (19/12/12) posted a 2.05 ERA in 17 games, 22 innings, for Cleveland a year ago, while Cannon (14/13/11) was 1-3 with a 3.27 ERA in 49 games last year.


Boston sends SP Cody Deason, and minor leaguers Carter Aldrete and Jayson Gonzales
Detroit sends #109 prospect OF Kevin Griffith and 2B Sergio Velazquez

This trade is a little more in my wheelhouse. Deason was solid, but with Hunter Harvey coming back from injury, Deason was essentially an expensive long reliever. Aldrete and Gonzales were nothing more than minor league depth. I am thrilled with the return here. Griffith's potential (9/17/9) is that of a huge bat in a corner OF spot. If he can hit .250, he will be an important part of our future. Velazquez (11/13/17) is an underrated prospect that I think will open some eyes really soon and could be in line to replace Azcona as early as next season. He's already rated a 17 at 2B and 18/20 in baserunning/stealing.

Boston trades OF Willie Abreu
Colorado trades OF Keegan McGovern

This is the fourth time Abreu has been involved in a trade with us. We've now acquired him twice and traded him twice. I loved him when he was making the league minimum. Now that he's making $4m a year, .280 10-50 with below average D isn't what I'm looking for. McGovern (13/10/14) becomes our new CF and leadoff hitter, and if he can duplicate 2023 with the bat (.284/.366/.478 19-76), I'd obviously be thrilled.

Boston trades RP Stephen Kolek and SS Ben Baird
Minnesota trades RP Ron Corr

Dealing from a position of, "I hate Stephen Kolek" and need to get rid of him. Sending Kolek and throwing in Baird, allowed us to get Corr (15/14/12), and recoup about $1m in contract. Corr will likely be nothing more than our 6th man out of the pen, but he will do it cheaper and in all likelyhood, better than Kolek.

Other ML Offseason Trades

Los Angeles (AL) trades 3B Drew Ward (.237/.286/.433 18-65)
Cincinnati trades 2 minor leaguers

San Diego trades 1B Carlos Belen (.232/.276/.370 15-46)
Jacksonville trades CF Erick Migueles (.299 7-34)

New York (AL) trades 3B Wilkerman Garcia (.300/.371/.421 8-51)
San Fransisco trades C Jack McPherson (.295/.338/.401 5-49)

Colorado trades OF Elliot Cary (.316/.373/.502 9-47)
Houston trades RP Jake Godfrey (3-4 4.81 28 Sv)

[Papi]

2023 Offseason Free Agent News

Due to the budget restrictions we were on, we didn't sign a single major league Free Agent. There was however, plenty of action.

1B Paul Goldschmidt (CHW--From MIA) (.192 6-32) 1/$6.5m
SS Chris Owings (ATL--From CIN) (.287 7-35) 5/$101m
SP Anthony Ranaudo (CIN--From JAX) (12-13 3.74) 3/$28.8m
C Jackson Leuck (TEX--From STL.) (.286 16-66) 5/$88m
OF Aaron Judge (DET--From NYY) (.259 14-52) 5/$69m
2B Chase Strumpf (KC--From PIT) (.226 14-75) 3/$22.6m
SP Roberto Osuna (WAS--From TOR) (13-9 3.72) 4/$30.9m
C T.J Realmuto (DET--From MIA) (.287 9-58) 5/$61.4m
C Austin Hedges (WAS--From SD) (.245 11-45) 6/$57.6m
P Sonny Gray (CHW--From OAK) (15-11 3.55) 2/$43.6m
2B Yeudi Grullon (DET--From ATL) (.301 9-74) 4/$58.8m
C Gary Sanchez (MIN--From TB) (.287 14-43) 2/$11m
1B Jose Abreu (NYY--From CHW) (.250 20-81) 3/$15.6m
SP Yong-oom Kim (KC--From CHC) (4-4 2.60) 3/$27.5m
RP Addison Reed (LAD--From CLE) (5-4 2.65 15 Sv) 2/$12.3m
SP Chris Bassett (CHC--From LAD) (14-10 3.86) 2/$20m
RP Kelvin Herrera (NYY--From STL) (3-8 3.38 34 Sv) 3/$36.5
SP Taylor Hill (OAK--From MIL) (8-15 4.52) 3/$15.1m
SS Orlando Arcia (CLE--From MIN) (.254 3-55) 3/$18.3m
CF Tyrone Taylor (KC--From CHW) (.255 11-78) 4/$27.2m

[Papi]

2024 Spring Training/Preseason

2024 Predictions--

AL East--Boston 93-69
AL Central--Cleveland 89-73
AL West--Houston 85-77
AL Wild Card--Chicago 85-77/Baltimore 85-77

NL East--Washington 87-75
NL Central--Chicago 93-69
NL West--San Fransisco 96-66
NL Wild Card--Colorado 91-71/Pittsburgh 87-75

2024 Prospect Rankings--

We drop from 1st to 3rd this year, but we'll take it. We have 6 players in the top 100, with C Jorge Ramos (2nd) OF Ronnie Norman (21st), SP Ira Komen (37th), and SP Edgar Cortez (48th)leading the way.

Next up is baseball, finally!

[joshbrady91]

I have to say, i am really enjoying this read
Thank you

[Papi]

Originally Posted by joshbrady91

I have to say, i am really enjoying this read
Thank you

Thank you sir! I'm enjoying writing it!

April 2024 Recap

16-4 (1st place AL East)

It was an oddly satisfying month. Obviously, by our record, we played pretty well. However, we were middle to bottom of the pack in everything except runs scored (2nd) and starters ERA (3rd). 9th in BA, 6th in homeruns, 14th in SB, 14 in bullpen ERA and 15th in defensive efficiency. Regardless, we finish April up 3.5 games, and if we revert to the mean, we could have a fun year.

Pitching Recap--

Rionel Raudes gave up 7 hits and three runs in his first 2 1/3 innings, blowing saves in his first two appearances. Since then, he has posted a line of 6 IP 3 H 0 R 2 BB 3 K in six games, going 3/3 in save chances. That's more like it.

Hunter Harvey has continued to be an enigma. He had a bad month, going 1-1 with a 6.38 ERA in 4 starts. He has been getting off to terrible starts, giving up 3 runs in the 1st inning of one start and giving up 6 in the first frame of his last start. He's been OK after that, but he's putting us in holes that we can't keep crawling out of.

Jose Fernandez went 2-1 with a 3.38 in what could be his last April in Boston. His contract demands have come way down in terms of dollar amount, as he's now asking for $19m a year instead of $27m a year. However, he still wants nine years, which isn't happening. If I could get him for 3-4 at $15m, I'd probably be happy with that. That's pretty far apart, so we'll see what happens.

Batting Recap--

Old man Freddie Freeman just keeps plugging along. He hit .274, and led the team with four homeruns, 22 RBI and was 2nd on the team with seven doubles. He's up to 2,325 hits for his career, and the countdown to 2500 begins.

Xander Bogaerts had a nice first month back after missing the final 120 games of last year, hitting .268/.355/.402. The power wasn't there, as he only hit one homerun, but he did lead the team with eight doubles.

Other than that, I want to call out Austin Shenton. He's probably my favorite player on the team. He does whatever is asked of him, and this year, he is being asked to play second. All he's done in April is post a .265/.403/.408 line, while batting ninth. I like to refer to it as "Austin Shenton doing Austin Shenton things" anytime he does anything good, and anything bad is obviously not his fault....

Minor League Recap

AAA Pawtucket 9-10 (3rd place 6.5 GB)
AA Portland 7-11 (5th place 5 GB)
A Salem 13-12 (3rd place 4 GB)
A Greenville 10-9 (4th place 4 GB)

Key Performers--

PawtucketOF Wilson Rea (4.5/5.0) .181 0-2
LF Kevin Griffith (1.5/3.5) .360 1-5
OF Jose Miranda (1.0/4.5) .250 0-3

Portland
2B Sergio Velazquez (2.0/4.5) .212 2-8
1B Ismael Beltre (1.0/3.5) .333 5-14
SS Weitze Maas (1.0/4.0) .262 3-10
3B Taheji Suzuki (1.0/3.5) .222 1-7
C Jorge Ramos (1.0/5.0) .211 1-7

Salem
SS Dylan Powers (1.0/3.5) .310 1-12

League News and Notes

4/28--Cleveland designates SP Stephen Strasburg (13-14 3.41) for assignment.
4/28--San Diego places SP Masahiro Tanaka (1-1 2.42) on the DL with bone chips in his elbow. He will be out until August at the least.
4/22--Cincinnati places 2B Cesar Mejia (.268 27-68) on the 60 day DL with a torn labrum. He will miss the rest of the year.
4/20--Milwaukee puts SP Trey Supak (13-11 4.14) on the DL with a bad shoulder. He will miss 3 months.
4/18--Miami OF Giancarlo Stanton (.257/.354/.481 402-1,125) hits homerun #400.
4/15--Cleveland trades 3B Jeimer Candelario (.287 20-61) to Washington for a pair of minor leaguers.
4/14--Detroit places SP Troy Miller (12-13 3.84) on the DL with a bad elbow. He is out until August.
4/10--CL Kenley Jansen (59-43 2.33) notches career save 400.

[Papi]

May 2023 Recap

20-7 (36-11 1st place AL East)

Well, that was fun. Short of one or two players who under performed, this was an awesome month. Not much going on outside the lines right now other than talks with SP Jose Fernandez on a contract extension have stalled, and we'll have to readdress it in a month or so. He is eager to land a contract of 6+ years, and I likely won't go more than four, so I'm not sure how it will go.

Pitching Recap--

Parker "Mushmouth" Mushinski had a fantastic May, going 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA. He tossed 35 innings, giving up only 23 hits and eight walks, while striking out 43. Opponents hit just .185 against him and he posted a 0.91 WHIP.

Taijuan Walker and Hunter Parsons also had nice months, with Walker going just 1-2, but posted a 2.45 ERA and had a 43/6 K:BB ratio, and Parsons led the team with four wins and a 2.52 ERA while striking out 30 and walking only four.

Hunter Harvey had a winning mark at 2-0, but put up a 4.91 ERA. He did strike out 43 in just 33 innings, but gave up 36 hits and 11 walks in that time.

Batting Recap--

We carried by two players last month. 23 year olds Juan Sanchez and Vitaliano Collina put the team on their backs and posted some huge May numbers. Sanchez hit .326/.496/.568 with 11 doubles, four homeruns and 21 RBI. He also posted a ridiculous 28 walks and struck out only 15 times.

Collina mashed to the tune of .358/.414/.623 with 11 doubles, five homeruns and a team leading 23 runs knocked in. He also posted almost a 1:1 K:BB ratio, walking nine times and striking out only 11.

And the month Austin Shenton report. Mr. Red Sox had another solid month, hitting .304/.385/.430 with a homerun, seven doubles and 12 RBI. His homerun was a grand slam in an eventual 8-7 loss to the Texas Rangers. That clearly wasn't on him though.

Minor League Recap

AAA Pawtucket 21-27 (5th place 12.5 GB)
AA Portland 20-27 (5th place 11.5 GB)
A Salem 23-31 (4th place 11 GB)
A Greenville 22-26 (5th place 6 GB)

Key Performers--

PawtucketCF Wilson Rea (4.5/5.0) .195 0-7
LF Kevin Griffith (3.0/4.5) .318 6-16
LF Jose Miranda (1.5/4.0) .287 1-14

Portland
2B Sergio Velazquez (1.0/4.5) .235 4-14
1B Ismael Beltre (1.0/4.0) .282 13-39
SS Weitze Maas (1.0/4.0) .277 4-20
3B Taheji Suzuki (1.0/3.5) .238 2-10
C Jorge Ramos (1.0/5.0) .239 2-16

Greenville
C Hector Silva (1.0/4.0) .286 20-50

League News

5/31--Toronto puts CL Sam Clay (2-4 3.60) on the DL with a torn labrum. He will likely miss the rest of the season.
5/30--Los Angeles places CL Canaan Cropper (1-2 1.95) on the DL and he will be out until mid 2025 sometime with Tommy John surgery.
5/26--Miami will be without SP Alex Speas (3-3 4.97) for the next three months after he underwent shoulder surgery.
5/24--Baltimore loses SP Shayne Nance (2-2 3.97) for the next couple of months with tendinitis in his elbow.
5/22--Los Angeles (AL) places SP Brandon Maurer (2-2 4.89) on the 60 day DL with bone chips in his elbow and he will miss the rest of the year.
5/17--Oakland places OF Daz Cameron (.272 4-20) on the DL with a badly sprained ankle. He is out until the end of July.
5/11--Arizona and SP Drake Fellows (48-63 3.90) have come to terms on a 4/$69m contract extension.
5/8--Pittsburgh trades 2B Grae Kessinger (.229 2-13) to the Minnesota Twins for Jose Vizcaino Jr. (.325 0-4) and a minor leaguer.
5/7--San Antonio signs 1B Alex Kiriloff (.285 50-222) to a 4/$41.5m contract.

[Papi]

2024 June Recap

17-9 (53-20 1st place Al East)

Just cruising along. Another good month extends the lead in the AL East to 13 games. The Jose Fernandez watch is getting a little more hairy the longer we go into the season without a new contract. He's upped his demands to $26m a year, up from the $19 he wanted last month. I'm not sure he's worth that anymore. I still won't go more than about $17m per. We may have to just wait and see what he asks for in Free Agency. Rumor also has it that the most of the locker room hates CF Greg Murphy. Winning tends to cure all, but it bears keeping an eye on.

Pitching Recap--

We removed CL Rionel Raudes from the closer's role for a week or so at the end of May, and it seems to have worked wonders. June was a great month for the 25 year old, as he appeared in eight games and allowed just one hit, walking two and striking out 10, while going 6/6 in save opportunities.

Jose Fernandez had a solid month of June. He posted a 3-1 mark to go along with a 2.84 ERA. He tossed 31 2/3 innings, walking seven and striking out 31.

Hunter Parsons, while leading the team in wins with nine, had a rough month. He did manage to go 3-2, but it was with a 6.44 ERA. In five starts, he threw 29 1/3 innings, allowing 38 hits and 10 walks, while striking out 33.

Batting Recap--

Rough month with the bats, average wise. We didn't have a single batter hit over .280 last month. We did it with power. Five players hit five or more homeruns in June, with Vitaliano Collina leading the way with six, while driving in 20 and batting just .247/.301/.518.

Michael Chavis had his best month of the year, hitting, .277/.389/.479 with five homers and 14 runs knocked in. the OBP is nice as we are trying something odd this year, and batting Chavis leadoff against lefties, where he has a 17 eye.

Granted it was a SSS, but we faced a lot of lefties this month (Which accounts for the weak BA's from some of my major players), but that gave Nico Hoerner some PT, and he responded by hitting .400 (12-30)/.419/.500 with three doubles. I love Austin Shenton, but he can't hit lefties, and Hoerner is a solid defensive infielder, so it works out nicely.

Minor League Recap

AAA Pawtucket 35-40 (5th place 10.5 GB)
AA Portland 36-36 (5th place 11 GB)
A Salem 33-48 (4th place 18 GB)
A Greenville 39-25 (3rd place 9 GB)
SA Lowell 4-6 (2nd place 2.5 GB)
Boston DSL 6-18 (10th place 10 GB)
Boston GCL 2-3 (3rd place 2 GB)

Key Performers--

Pawtucket
OF Wilson Rea (4.5/5.0) .210 3-18
LF Kevin Griffith (2.5/4.5) .308 11-28
OF Juan Miranda (1.0/4.0) .250 1-15

Portland
2B Sergio Velazquez (1.0/4.5) .239 5-20
1B Ismael Beltre (1.0/4.0) .301 22-58
SS Weitze Maas (1.0/4.0) .263 5-29
3B Taheji Suzuki (1.0/3.0) .274 4-22
C Jorge Ramos (1.0/5.0) .213 3-24

Greenville
C Hector Silva (1.0/4.5) .293 29-68

2024 Draft Class

1st Round (21st Overall)--1B Tim Rich--CUR 5/5/5--POT 11/17/15. This was our highest draft position in years, so we jumped on Rich, even though we have Freeman and Collina, not to mention Ismael Beltre in the pipeline. He's got some killer power and a great eye. Worst case, we can move him to a corner OF position, as he's only 17 and has plenty of time to develop.

2nd Round (64th Overall)--3B/P Kevin Martin--CUR 12/13/6--POT 16/14/12. He wants to play 3rd, he's not a good defensive 3B and he can't hit. What he can do though is pitch. Moving him from 3B to P, he went from 0.5/0.5 to 0.5/3.5. I think we made the right decision. He's only got one above average pitch though, so he's a bullpen arm, although he's starting currently.

3rd Round (97th Overall)--C Jake Morrison--CUR 3/5/5--POT 6/13/12. Dude may never hit .220, but if he can hit 10-15 homeruns and play some solid D, he may end up a nice backup to Jorge Ramos, or trade bait as power hitting catchers are always in demand.

4th Round (129th Overall)--OF Darren Cooper--CUR 9/1/5--POT 13/2/10. I tend to love these types of players, high contact, decent eye, no power. He's a whirlwind on the basepaths already (16 Speed/20 Stolen Bases), and while raw in the field, could be a solid 4th OF as he does have ability in all three positions.

5th Round (161st Overall)--3B Jeremy Russell--CUR 5/5/5--POT 10/13/13. I'm not expecting a ton here, but if that bat can develop just a little bit more, he could be a player. He does have power that projects, but right now, it's just that, a projection.

League Notes

Not really a note, but I found this interesting. 1B Paul Goldschmidt was left for dead last year, hitting just .191 with six homers and 32 RBI between Philadephia and Miami. He signed a 1/$6.3m contract with the White Sox, and all he's done this year is hit .296/.365/.558 with 15 homeruns and 33 RBI. I love a good comeback story.

6/21--Seattle puts SP Wil Mathis (4-3 2.70) on the DL with a torn rotator cuff. He will miss the rest of the season.
6/19--Los Angeles (AL) trades 1B Jeremy Vazquez (.250 1-4) to Toronto for OF Christian Bullock (.238 7-24) and a minor leaguer.
6/1--Milwaukee places OF Jose Almonte (.305 5-25) on the DL with a broken kneecap. He will likely miss the rest of the season.

[Papi]

July 2024 Recap

19-7 (72-27 1st place AL East)

Cruising right along. Only hiccup this month was the injury suffered by SS Xander Bogaerts. We lost the 30 year old for about 3 weeks with a strained quad. Nico Hoerner will slide in and cover for him until he's ready to return. Freddie Freeman update time. The 34 year old notched career hit 2400 this month and finished with 2410. It's not looking like he will hit 2500 this year, but could easily end up with 2450-2460, putting 2500 within reach sometime around mid May of next year. At this rate, he will reach 3000 hits around the age of 39.

Pitching Recap--

Pitching this month was a force to be reckoned with. Lots of solid performances, not sure where to start.

Hunter Harvey had his best month as a member of the Red Sox, going 4-0 with a sparkling 2.06 ERA in five starts. He pitched 35 innings, allowing 29 hits and walking only three while striking out 32.

The bullpen across the board was a nightmare for the opposition. Rionel Raudes continued his hot pitching with 9 saves and a 1.54 ERA in 12 innings, while Beau Burrows went 3-0 in 12 games, covering 16 innings. He put up a 1.69 ERA and struck out 15.

Will Neely, the waiver wire pickup a year ago from the San Diego Padres is making me look like a genius. Not only did he put up a 1-0 0.69 ERA this past month in 13 innings giving up only six hits, he also made the 2024 All Star Game.

Batting Recap--

Michael Chavis led the way for the offense in July, hitting .321/.390/.557 with a team leading seven homeruns and 15 RBI's. He has moved into the 3 hole with the injury to Xander Bogaerts, and may remain there, even after X is back if he keeps hitting like this.

Juan Sanchez had a nice bounce back month after struggling a bit in June. He hit .330/.472/.479 with five doubles, three homeruns and 14 runs knocked in. He also had another ridiculous K:BB ratio, walking 26 times while striking out only 17. He's currently on pace to walk over 140 times this year.

I mentioned last month that the clubhouse isn't the biggest fan of OF Greg Murphy. Well, if he keeps hitting like this, they may come around. Playing primarily against lefties, Murphy hit an absurd .422 (19-42)/.422/.600 last month with three doubles and triple, a homerun and seven RBI in only 11 games.

Minor League Recap

AAA Pawtucket 48-56 (5th place 14 GB)
AA Portland 50-52 (5th place 19 GB)
A Salem 41-69 (4th place 24 GB)
A Greenville 56-46 (3rd place 7 GB)
SA Lowell 12-26 (4th place 11 GB)
Boston DSL 15-32 (10th place 16 GB)
Boston GCL 11-22 (3rd place 12.5 GB)

Key Performers--

Pawtucket
OF Wilson Rea (4.5/5.0) .207 4-28
OF Kevin Griffith (2.5/4.0) .313 17-44
OF Jose Miranda (1.0/3.0) .214 2-18
P Ron Corr (3.5/3.5) 3-7 4.27

Portland
2B Sergio Velazquez (2.0/4.5) .259 10-30
1B Ismael Beltre (1.0/4.0) .327 31-88
SS Weitze Maas (1.0/4.5) .272 8-42
3B Taheji Suzuki (1.0/4.0) .259 5-28
C Jorge Ramos (1.0/5.0) .236 12-43

Salem
OF Joel Thomas (1.0/3.0) .277 6-40

Greenville
C Hector Silva (1.0/4.0) .292 38-91

Other
OF Antonio Beccera (1.0/4.0) .259 0-8 (Boston DSL)
OF Ronnie Norman (1.0/4.5) .254 5-11 (Boston GCL)
OF Stan Murdoch (1.0/3.5) .286 4-12 (Boston GCL)

Trade Deadline News

We made one move leading up to the deadline, and while it wasn't major, it should help solidify the back of the bullpen.

Boston trades C Angelo Benitez (.250 3-5 @ AAA)
Los Angeles (NL) trades RP Tyler Kolek (4-1. 3.50)

Los Angeles was willing to make this deal as they needed someone to come in and play some defense as their catchers have combined for 13 errors on the year and a sub .985 fielding percentage. Kolek slides in behind Raudes, Burrows, Ferguson and Neely to give me as deep a 1-5 in the pen as you will find.

League News

7/28--Philadephia trades starting C Blake Sabol (4.5/4.5--.246 0-21) to the Baltimore Orioles for a pair of 2 star prospects.
7/27--San Fransisco places 2B Forrest Wall (.257 3-28) on the DL with a fractured wrist. He will likely miss the rest of the year.
7/25--Chicago (AL) trades 1B Paul Goldschmidt (2.5/2.5--.279 15-35) to the St. Louis Cardinals for OF Tyler Collins (3.0/3.0--.200 6-32)
7/21--Minnesota trades the AL Batting leader, 1B Cody Bellinger (2.0/2.0--.367 9-42) to the San Fransisco Giants for OF Ryan Boldt (3.0/3.0--.278 1-31)
7/20--Washington trades SP Roberto Osuna (4.0/4.0--5-7 3.94) to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for the #79 rated overall prospect, P Ernesto Ortega (0.5/2.5--6-7 4.12 @ A/AA).

Random Ex-Red Sox fact of the month....SP Trey Ball has found a home with the St. Louis Cardinals. Part of the deal that saw P Ron Wilson come to Boston, the former #7 overall pick for the Sox has settled into the Cardinal rotation. Two seasons ago, he appeared in 88 games out of the pen for St. Louis, while going 6-7 with a 4.01 ERA. Last year, his first in the rotation, he posted a 6-12 4.11 mark in 35 games, 28 starts. While the record hasn't been much better this year, (he's only 7-7), he has put up a solid 3.87 ERA and struck out 87 in 109 2/3 innings pitched. His last start was his best as he went eight scoreless against the Pittsburgh Pirates, striking out eight and walking none, earning the victory.

[Papi]

August 2024 Recap

16-12 (88-39 1st Place AL East)

You'd think being 50 games over .500 would bring a feeling of peace and happiness over your ball club. Not this team. Multiple complaints about OF Greg Murphy, including Hanleth Otano's statement that being around Murphy was affecting his play, caused us to have to make a decision, after the trade deadline. We sent Murphy to AAA just to get him out of Boston, and call up OF prospect Kevin Griffith. Griffith was hitting .313 17-44 at Pawtucket this year in 62 games. How did he do in August? Stay tuned!

Pitching Recap--

Start with the good. Taijuan Walker was great in August, going 4-0 with a 2.05 ERA. He leads the AL in Wins, ERA, Complete Games and shutouts currently. He gave up 37 hits and nine walks in 44 innings, striking out 30.

Poor Parker Mushinski. He definitely hasn't been great the last couple of months, going 0-2 with a 5.14 ERA. He gave up 42 hits and 17 walks in 35 innings, striking out 31. He has gone more than two months since his last win and is winless in his last 14 starts.

Rionel Raudes had a rough month. He put up an 0-2 mark with a 7.71 ERA and went 7/10 in save chances He appeared in 11 games, covering 9 1/3 innings. He gave up 15 hits, but posted a perfect 12/0 K:BB ratio.

Batting Recap--

Remember how I mentioned calling up Kevin Griffith? Well, all he did was win the AL Rookie of the Month award in August, hitting .362/.424/.603 with three homeruns and 11 RBI in 17 games. His first big league start was one he won't soon forget. He went 3-3 with a pair of homeruns, four RBI, a double and two walks. He's become the new starting CF against lefties this year and could potentially take over as the every day starter next season.

My MVP Austin Shenton had a fantastic month, hitting a whopping .358/.436/.567 with 11 doubles a homer and nine RBI. He also posted a basically even K:BB ratio, striking out nine times, while walking eight.

Vitalino Collina was the power source for us this month as he had another monster month, hitting .302/.368/.635 with eight homeruns and 17 RBI.

Minor League Recap

AAA Pawtucket 70-68 (5th place 12 GB)
AA Portland 67-67 (4th place 26 GB)
A Salem 49-91 (4th place 37 GB)
A Greenville 81-56 (1st place)
SA Lowell 23-49 (4th place 24 GB)
Boston DSL 23-49 (10th place 26 GB)
Boston GCL 25-35 (3rd place 14 GB)

Key Performers--

Pawtucket
OF Wilson Rea (4.5/5.0) .219 5-31
OF Jose Miranda (1.0/4.0) .229 6-34

Portland
2B Sergio Velazquez (2.5/4.5) .265 14-40
1B Ismael Beltre (1.0/4.0) .314 34-104
SS Weitze Maas (1.0/4.0) .268 10-50
3B Taheji Suzuki (1.0/4.0) .261 8-40
C Jorge Ramos (1.0/5.0) .246 14-57

Salem
OF Joel Thomas (1.0/3.5) .249 7-50
SS Dylan Powers (1.0/3.0) .222 9-49
SP Kevin Martin (1.0/3.0) 3-8 4.57

Greenville
C Hector Silva (1.0/4.0) .316 51-124

Other
OF Antonio Beccera (1.0/4.0) .236 0-17 (Boston DSL)
OF Ronnie Norman (1.0/4.5) .246 7-18
OF Stan Murdoch (1.0/3.5) .295 9-33

League Notes

8/24--St. Louis agrees to a 4/$40 contract extension with SP Dioscar Romero (9-12 2.99/34-48 4.15)