Mookie Betts

benhogan

Granite Truther
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Nov 2, 2007
20,111
Santa Monica
Toe Nash said:
I think getting him up NOW and playing him every day may help in avoiding the kind of struggles we're seeing this year from Bogaerts. X played 18 games and some in the playoffs on a first-place team. Betts could get in 40. MLB teams are quick to figure out your weaknesses, but if Betts gets some low-pressure exposure now he has all offseason to work on any holes in his game that arise. Not to mention the position thing. If he wins a starting spot in ST and never looks back, OK, but that seems unlikely.
 
Put another way, it seems it would be a lot more beneficial to the team to get Betts an extra few weeks of MLB time than the off chance that Kelly Johnson goes on a hot streak and gets trade value, or Holt has another BABIP spike and grows his value, or...anything else I can think of doing with that playing time.
Yes, good idea, we still have to wait for 4 more days at Pawtucket before he can get the call.
 
Agree, let's find out now where ML teams attack Mookies' short quick swing, instead of next May.
 
I'm also curious to see if he has the speed to potentially be a 20-30 SB guy, so hopefully he gets the green light as often as possible. If he fills the role of super utility guy next year, he'd be useful as a late inning/high leverage pinch runner.
 
*Maybe we can send Kelly Johnson to the Orioles, if Manny goes on the 15 day DL.
 

Super Nomario

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Nov 5, 2000
14,012
Mansfield MA
Toe Nash said:
I think getting him up NOW and playing him every day may help in avoiding the kind of struggles we're seeing this year from Bogaerts. X played 18 games and some in the playoffs on a first-place team. Betts could get in 40. MLB teams are quick to figure out your weaknesses, but if Betts gets some low-pressure exposure now he has all offseason to work on any holes in his game that arise. Not to mention the position thing. If he wins a starting spot in ST and never looks back, OK, but that seems unlikely.
 
Put another way, it seems it would be a lot more beneficial to the team to get Betts an extra few weeks of MLB time than the off chance that Kelly Johnson goes on a hot streak and gets trade value, or Holt has another BABIP spike and grows his value, or...anything else I can think of doing with that playing time.
Xander also had only 60 AAA games (after just 79 AA games) - maybe that was the issue rather than his lack of MLB experience?
 
At any rate, the difference between 18 and 40 games seems inconsequential. After all, Xander started this season like a house on fire, hitting .303/.395/.464 through his first 58 games (games 19-74 of his career, not including the playoffs last year). It was only after that he fell apart. We've seen a similar pattern in Middlebrooks' career. It's possible Betts would be better in 2015 for getting more MLB exposure this year, but additional MLB time not only gives Betts a chance to adjust to the majors, it gives the league a chance to adjust to him, too.
 

OptimusPapi

Jiminy Cricket
Mar 6, 2014
295
Apisith said:
I would disagree on the Pedroia deal. There's a ton of value in locking someone like him up because now instead of pencilling in Betts at 2B, he can literally become the utility guy who's a star. There's tremendous value in a player like him and the only way you can use him this way is if you already have starters in most positions.

If we hadn't signed Pedroia, Betts would be our nominal 2B of the future and there's no way anyone is talking of him filling in at CF or RF depending on pitching matchups and the health of our players. Betts has the potential to be our Jamesian relief ace, except for position players. You could maximise team wins by deploying him in different positions each day according to the starters you're facing and the health of your players.
Why would we make Betts a utility guy when we have Holt for that role and it's massive waste of talent to do that to a player before you see what you have?
 

Snodgrass'Muff

oppresses WARmongers
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Mar 11, 2008
27,644
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It's a massive waste of talent if they use him as a utility guy who is primarily a late inning defensive replacement and injury depth. It's not if he's used more like Ben Zobrist and is a full time player who moves around the field as needed.

There isn't a single poster on this board suggesting the former.
 

OptimusPapi

Jiminy Cricket
Mar 6, 2014
295
I think if a player is as talented as we think Betts will be we find a position (my money's on center) and leave him there, otherwise you run the risk of not getting him 500 to 600 at bats per season. Also we have Holt
 

Snodgrass'Muff

oppresses WARmongers
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Mar 11, 2008
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If he's as talented as we hope, Holt won't get in his way. And he'll get as many ABs as they want him to have, regardless of whether he's bouncing around the field or playing one position all the time. This idea that he can't be a versatile defender that moves around the field without being reduced to a 25th man utility player is nonsense.
 

LondonSox

Robert the Deuce
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Jul 15, 2005
8,956
North Bay California
Really encouraged to see the good BB/K numbers in MLB this lastest stint, 7BB 4K over 8 games in the latest call up.
Also 3 steals in last 3 games anda HR last night.
 
I haven't been able to watch the games but it sounds promising
 

LogansDad

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Nov 15, 2006
29,049
Alamogordo
Here's an honest question, though. The thing about his reverse split is that while yes, he has vastly improved against RHH (.947 OPS this year to .611 last year overall), he also got significantly worse against LHH (.616 vs .763 last year). Obviously his numbers overall have improved, and for a 20 year old to be putting up a .970 through 37 games in high A ball is pretty good, but is the difference in pitching (specifically left handed pitching) that much difference between A- and A/A+ that it could totally account for the decline against LHP?

I'm not as knowledgeable about the minors leagues and prospects as others around here, and his development is certainly intriguing to me, especially in light of how solid the Sox system appeared to be even before his emergence this year. I'm just curious, like Morgan's Magic Snowplow whether this is just a SSS aberration or a split that will only get wider going forward due to a new approach.
Well, this ended up being a shitty post.
 

DeadlySplitter

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Oct 20, 2015
33,247
Seeing how Betts has emerged and that we have a fantastic farm system, was it wise to sign beloved small bodied Pedrioa who plays all out and has the type of swing that likely will not fade away slowly? Yes, I realize Dustin signed a team friendly contract but he'll be 37 by the end of the deal and is a player whose battled through increasing injuries. My concern with Pedrioa is that by 34/35 he'll be a shell of the player he is because of the very nature of how he plays. What then? Am I on a island on this one?
Unfortunately accurate, but I think we’re all fine that Mookie ended up in RF
 

drbretto

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Apr 10, 2009
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It's kind of funny reading some of the older posts in this thread. I know I know, it's not fair to judge posts from that far back on a prospect, it's just fun.

There's a little bit of "well, he's good, but he's no Xander Bogarts". A dash people talking about his arm not being good enough to play short, let alone a cannon from RF. Maybe he'll demonstrate some value and be used for a trade if he looks like he might make someone else's roster! :)
 

Spelunker

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Jul 17, 2005
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I may be misremembering but I thought most comments on his arm were based on accuracy, as opposed to strength.
There were a bunch of arm strength comments in the first page of this thread.

Speaking of which, it's a very fun thread to re-read, for all sorts of reasons.
 

SouthernBoSox

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Jul 23, 2005
12,084
Yea, the K/BB/XBH is as good of an indicator of future success than anything.

And Mookie is a monster I'm those areas.
The more I think about the current team composition the more I think right field is really the most likely destination for him if he is to have a future on the big stage on this team.

The current major league team is lacking a long term, LF, RF, 1B, C, and maybe 3B. Obviously he isn't catching, after that the most difficult and important fielding position is right field. We saw the importance Vic brought with the glove in right last year.

I just don't buy the "super sub" stuff. It so rarely happens.

Starting corner OF who has the athleticism to play CF, 2nd, and 3rd in a pinch could be a lot of fun.
What a fun read. Probably 1 in 100 things I've been right about with prospects.
 

mt8thsw9th

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Jul 17, 2005
17,120
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I presume you mean Holt, but Middlebrooks hasn't really hit since the first Obama administration (nor in years that don't end in 11 or 12), Cecchini's lack of power has unfortunately been exposed so far, and Bogaerts would have to deal with being SS. That is assuming you weren't making a joke.

Middlebrooks shouldn't be in their plans unless it's a call-up from AAA if someone gets hurt, and Betts is likely a better option than anyone from a 3B class that is headlined by Pablo Sandoval (who wants about a third of a mil per pound), a 37 year old Aramis Ramirez (who has an option), and Chase Headley.
If I only knew now...what on earth were they thinking?