Expanded September rosters

[Red(s)HawksFan]

It's September 1, and that means the rosters get super-sized. This year is the last in which active rosters can be expanded all the way out to 40.

So far, the call ups are Ryan Weber, Hector Velazquez, Travis Lakins, Gorkys Hernandez, Juan Centeno, and Jhoulys Chacin. To make room for the last three, Stephen Wright and Chris Sale were transferred to the 60-day IL and Joey Curletta was outrighted but remains with Portland.

Hernandez goes right in the starting lineup today giving JBJ the day off.

 

[mauidano]

So they are gonna fly ALL these guys out to Anaheim and then turn right around and head them back to Boston?

 

[DeadlySplitter]

I suspect Chacin is going to get a start (or extended innings after an opener) on the next homestand.

As far as the guys flying out... Gorkys is in the lineup today, so yes for him at least!

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

So they are gonna fly ALL these guys out to Anaheim and then turn right around and head them back to Boston?

Bullpen needs reinforcements after the last two days and with Price being on a short leash. My guess is they flew out yesterday with the full knowledge that they were being activated today. Chacin, at least, was already in Anaheim.

 

[Yelling At Clouds]

Surprised not to see Dalbec. He’s not on the 40-man, but they could move Hembree to the 60-day IL to make space. Maybe waiting for the official end of the AAA season?

 

[Plympton91]

What has Gorky Hernandez done to deserve a call up? I read yesterday he was good in a small sample size against lefthanders, but Bryce Brentz has been even better vs lefties.

 

[AB in DC]

He's the only other OF on the 40 man roster. If his call up means that JDM doesn't butcher any more plays in the outfield, it's worth it.

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

He's the only other OF on the 40 man roster. If his call up means that JDM doesn't butcher any more plays in the outfield, it's worth it.

Hernandez was added to the 40-man today, so it's not as though the Sox couldn't have done the exact same thing with Brentz instead. I think it's more about veteran seniority and the fact that they can't really strip Pawtucket's roster entirely before their season is done. Also, Gorkys brings speed and defense where Brentz brings neither.

 

[judyb]

Bullpen needs reinforcements after the last two days and with Price being on a short leash. My guess is they flew out yesterday with the full knowledge that they were being activated today. Chacin, at least, was already in Anaheim.

Yeah, none of them played in the Pawsox game yesterday that started at 6:15, so it's likely they were all at least traveling there by then.

 

[Savin Hillbilly]

Hernandez was added to the 40-man today, so it's not as though the Sox couldn't have done the exact same thing with Brentz instead. I think it's more about veteran seniority and the fact that they can't really strip Pawtucket's roster entirely before their season is done. Also, Gorkys brings speed and defense where Brentz brings neither.

I think this is probably the main reason. He will have value as a pinch-runner if nothing else. He's this year's Joey Gathright.

 

[joe dokes]

I think this is probably the main reason. He will have value as a pinch-runner if nothing else. He's this year's Joey Gathright.

He's hit well vs. LHP at AAA this year (although not in his MLB career) and he can play CF.

Hernandez, who signed a minor league deal with the Sox last winter, was immediately put in the lineup on Sunday as the starting centerfielder against Angels lefty Andrew Heaney. Though Hernandez hit .219/.319/.377 in Pawtucket this year, he posted a .305/.408/.533 line against southpaws. Given the Red Sox’ season-long struggles against lefties (20-24 after Sunday, compared to 54-39 against righthanded starters), the Sox were eager to add a bit of righthanded thump.
Hernandez went 0 for 3, Cora pinch-hitting Jackie Bradley Jr. against righty Hansel Robles in the ninth.
“For X or Y reason, we haven’t been able to get going against lefties,” said Cora. “We just feel like we’re going to face [Heaney], obviously next weekend we’ll probably face two or three [against the Yankees]. It gives us options to manage the game.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2019/09/01/snotes/ePXQWkZsH9152sQpcWDF5L/story.html

 

[YTF]

So they are gonna fly ALL these guys out to Anaheim and then turn right around and head them back to Boston?

I see no reason not to. Seems the majority of them are pitchers and if the Sox are still committed to making a run to the playoffs it's not a bad idea to have the extra arms out there in Anaheim. The Sox used 5 pitchers in each of the two games in Colorado. Granted they had both Monday and Thursday off, but considering they used 8 pitchers Friday night's 15 inning game and 6 pitchers in Saturday's bullpen game AND they knew that Price was going to be somewhat limited in his return from the IL yesterday it only makes sense to have them all there. They need to treat every game like a must win.

 

[Plympton91]

The underwhelming nature of the call up list shows just how pathetic the farm system is.

 

[YTF]

The underwhelming nature of the call up list shows just how pathetic the farm system is.

But that 2018 World Championship sure was sweet.

 

[chawson]

Since we’re desperate, there’s a couple semi-interesting names among the splatter of DFAs this past week.

I wonder what’s up with Jeremy Jeffress. He’s had a bad year but unless that hip is falling apart, he’s hardly worth a DFA and has been rebuilt before.

I’d also be interested to take a shot on Pedro Payano, who the Rangers just let go. Sits at 94 mph, gets good spin rates, misses bats and is still just 24 years old.

 

[BaseballJones]

But that 2018 World Championship sure was sweet.

And well worth whatever has happened this season.

 

[YTF]

And well worth whatever has happened this season.

Let's not get crazy.

 

[YTF]

Jeffress intrigues me. He's had a decent measure of success in high leverage situations and if at age 31 he's still got something to offer he might provide some flexibility as an arm that can be used in the 7th, 8th or 9th inning next season if they could resign him. With bullpens being such of a huge part of the game, I'm guessing that there will be a lot of teams giving him a serious look. I wonder what it would take to get him.

 

[Plympton91]

But that 2018 World Championship sure was sweet.

And well worth whatever has happened this season.

Because having a good farm system and winning the World Series are mutually exclusive goals for one of the 5 best funded and best supported franchises in baseball, right?

 

[Cesar Crespo]

Because having a good farm system and winning the World Series are mutually exclusive goals for one of the 5 best funded and best supported franchises in baseball, right?

I think DD's done a terrible job with the farm system but nowadays money isn't that much of an advantage when it comes to drafting.

 

[YTF]

Because having a good farm system and winning the World Series are mutually exclusive goals for one of the 5 best funded and best supported franchises in baseball, right?

I'm not sure I fully understand your point.

 

[DeJesus Built My Hotrod]

Because having a good farm system and winning the World Series are mutually exclusive goals for one of the 5 best funded and best supported franchises in baseball, right?

At this point DH3 has clearly and irrefutably established that the Sox may be the most poorly run franchise in sports. Vanning the four championships in the past ~15 years, what have they done besides overpay free agents for past performance and traded away cost controlled talent?

Its time for the MLB to step in an compel a sale so that competent leadership can get the team back to focusing on building up the farm system filled with sweet prospects versus going for the quick high of a World Series championship every three to six years.

Sox fans deserve more Andy Martes and fewer Mike Lowells...

 

[Cesar Crespo]

At this point DH3 has clearly and irrefutably established that the Sox may be the most poorly run franchise in sports. Vanning the four championships in the past ~15 years, what have they done besides overpay free agents for past performance and traded away cost controlled talent?

Its time for the MLB to step in an compel a sale so that competent leadership can get the team back to focusing on building up the farm system filled with sweet prospects versus going for the quick high of a World Series championship every three to six years.

Plenty of other teams have won WS without a bottom 5 farm system. It's ok to point out DD has done a pretty poor job in that regard. I don't know if we should expect a good farm system, but I think expecting something better than bottom 5 isn't unreasonable. Way to strawman though.

 

[DeJesus Built My Hotrod]

Plenty of other teams have won WS without a bottom 5 farm system. It's ok to point out DD has done a pretty poor job in that regard. I don't know if we should expect a good farm system, but I think expecting something better than bottom 5 isn't unreasonable. Way to strawman though.

The poster has incessantly complained about the Red Sox for years and especially their handling of prospects, most of whom don't amount to much. Meanwhile, most MLB fanbases would trade places with Sox fans in a heartbeat.

I don't think anyone here would be unhappy with a well run, stocked farm system but I would trade a prospect rich team with potential for a championship any day. I get others like shiny, sparkly farmhands a lot but acquiring actual MLB talent costs something.

 

[BaseballJones]

Because having a good farm system and winning the World Series are mutually exclusive goals for one of the 5 best funded and best supported franchises in baseball, right?

I never suggested anything of the sort.

But as a fan, I'd *happily* have a four-year cycle that the Sox have been on under DD. If the price to pay for a WS title was a crappy farm system, I'd take that. Yes in an ideal world the Sox would be both a great MLB team that wins multiple WS titles, AND at the same time has a great farm system. But not many franchises do that. Can you think of the last one to have both? Don't say Houston (just one WS title so far, and in order to get that awesome farm system they had six straight seasons with the following number of losses: 88, 86, 106, 107, 111, and 92. So in order to get where they are they had to go through THAT.

Don't say the Yankees, who, for all their resources, have only won ONE championship since 2000 (that was 10 years ago, in 2009, for the record).

Don't say the Dodgers, who are always really good and who seem to have an endless supply of prospects, but they haven't won a WS championship since 1988. Don't say the Cubs, who have won once since the Titanic. Don't say the Indians, who always are good under Tito, but who haven't won a WS title.

Don't say the Braves or the Nationals or the Royals.

MAYBE the Cardinals, who have won two WS titles since 2006 (and really, two since 1983). MAYBE the Giants, who have won three WS titles since 2010. But the Cardinals haven't made the playoffs since 2015 (thought they probably should this year). The Giants are facing their third straight sub-.500 season.

So who, exactly, is the franchise that is both a regular WS winner and doesn't have down years and has a great farm system? There simply isn't such a team, no matter how much money they have.

 

[DeJesus Built My Hotrod]

I never suggested anything of the sort.

But as a fan, I'd *happily* have a four-year cycle that the Sox have been on under DD. If the price to pay for a WS title was a crappy farm system, I'd take that. Yes in an ideal world the Sox would be both a great MLB team that wins multiple WS titles, AND at the same time has a great farm system. But not many franchises do that. Can you think of the last one to have both? Don't say Houston (just one WS title so far, and in order to get that awesome farm system they had six straight seasons with the following number of losses: 88, 86, 106, 107, 111, and 92. So in order to get where they are they had to go through THAT.

Don't say the Yankees, who, for all their resources, have only won ONE championship since 2000 (that was 10 years ago, in 2009, for the record).

Don't say the Dodgers, who are always really good and who seem to have an endless supply of prospects, but they haven't won a WS championship since 1988. Don't say the Cubs, who have won once since the Titanic. Don't say the Indians, who always are good under Tito, but who haven't won a WS title.

Don't say the Braves or the Nationals or the Royals.

MAYBE the Cardinals, who have won two WS titles since 2006 (and really, two since 1983). MAYBE the Giants, who have won three WS titles since 2010. But the Cardinals haven't made the playoffs since 2015 (thought they probably should this year). The Giants are facing their third straight sub-.500 season.

So who, exactly, is the franchise that is both a regular WS winner and doesn't have down years and has a great farm system? There simply isn't such a team, no matter how much money they have.

This.

 

[chawson]

Isn’t it possible though to speak critically of the farm system without having to immediately recount our World Series blessings?

Part of the concern going forward is that the new CBA, draft, and international FA rules make it considerably harder to make the postseason without a good farm system than it had been over the last 15 years.

 

[BaseballJones]

Isn’t it possible though to speak critically of the farm system without having to immediately recount our World Series blessings?

Part of the concern going forward is that the new CBA, draft, and international FA rules make it considerably harder to make the postseason without a good farm system than it had been over the last 15 years.

I think it's difficult, because the Red Sox had SUCH good prospects that so many guys got promoted to the major league club and contributed to a championship team.

Just to give you four examples from last year's team...

Mookie Betts was 25 last year.
Andrew Benintendi was 23 last year.
Rafael Devers was 21 last year.
Xander Bogaerts was 25 last year.

You know how old Aaron Judge was when he emerged on the scene and won rookie of the year?

25, in 2017.

So at the age when Judge was still just a (highly regarded) "prospect" (at age 24), all four of those guys above were contributing to a major league team, just a year away from being key cogs on a WS-winning team.

If those guys followed the Judge path, Betts and Xander would both have just been rookies in 2018, while Benintendi would have been 2 years away from being a rookie, and Devers would have been *four* years away from being a rookie. Benny and Devers would still have been (and would still BE) "prospects". How much deeper would the Sox' farm system look right now with Benintendi, Devers, and even Chavis (who will likely wind up with 20 homers this year for the major league team) in the farm system? MUCH deeper. But these guys are so good that they've been promoted already.

Now not every quality prospect waits til age 25 to be a ROY candidate...some exceptional ones get called up beforehand, and the Sox aren't the only team with such guys. But it DOES make the farm system look MUCH weaker when you are promoting guys at such early ages. It's worth it as they're contributing to a championship-winning team, but it does weaken the farm system. None of us, I guarantee, would rather have these guys still in the minors, thus stacking the farm system at the expense of the MLB club.

And not many teams simply have unlimited human resources at their disposal. Even the Yankees had to make some trades to restock their farm system a couple of years ago. And now it's paying dividends.

 

[DeJesus Built My Hotrod]

Isn’t it possible though to speak critically of the farm system without having to immediately recount our World Series blessings?

Part of the concern going forward is that the new CBA, draft, and international FA rules make it considerably harder to make the postseason without a good farm system than it had been over the last 15 years.

It is an entirely fair critique of the Sox that they have sacrificed building up talent at the minor league level.

However ignoring that they did so to win "now" is the part that seems to elude some posters - and other posters are being disingenuous in terms of weighing the team's success in winning championships versus its ability to draft and retain young talent.

Once again, I think most if not all Sox fans would love a loaded farm system and you are likely right that the changes to the CBA etc means the value of having one is going up. But again, what is the end goal - to have a x-hundred million dollar player development machine with lots of cool toolsy kids to discuss or winning championships? The two aren't mutually exclusive of course but as BJ points out, there are trade-offs in terms of big club performance and, as has been the case for ages, the big market teams with large budgets have a huge advantage over talent laden smaller market organizations.

 

[Cesar Crespo]

Aaron Judge is an exception, not the norm. Most highly regarded prospects make it to the show around 22, 23. The really highly regarded ones make it even younger. The only player on the current team that would count as a prospect is Rafael Devers.

The farm system sucks and it's not because of recent promotions or trades. It's poor drafting.

edit: Of course there's also the theory out there that drafting is entirely luck too.

 

[BaseballJones]

Aaron Judge is an exception, not the norm. Most highly regarded prospects make it to the show around 22, 23. The really highly regarded ones make it even younger. The only player on the current team that would count as a prospect is Rafael Devers.

The farm system sucks and it's not because of recent promotions or trades. It's poor drafting.

edit: Of course there's also the theory out there that drafting is entirely luck too.

It's a combination of everything. Again, even the Yankees needed to sacrifice a year where they gave up and traded away a bunch of quality MLB talent to restock the farm system. Nobody can name a single franchise that consistently wins big (and wins WS championships) AND has a consistently loaded farm system.

 

[jon abbey]

Again, even the Yankees needed to sacrifice a year where they gave up and traded away a bunch of quality MLB talent to restock the farm system.

This isn't exactly what happened, NY was 52-52 at the deadline in 2016 and traded 5 guys, 3 of whom were going to be FAs anyway (Chapman, Beltran, Nova), 1 who was obviously superfluous with Gary Sanchez up and crushing (McCann) and 1 who was awesome and still under contract for 2 more seasons (Andrew Miller). They played better for the rest of the season despite moving all those guys and ended up 84-78, but they didn't actually sacrifice anything except Miller.

Back on topic, I agree that it doesn't make sense to look at the farm system in isolation and that BOS has a lot of young position players in place already on the big league team, but if I were a BOS fan, I would definitely be concerned seeing how TB and NY and even TOR are positioning themselves for the future.

 

[Cesar Crespo]

It's a combination of everything. Again, even the Yankees needed to sacrifice a year where they gave up and traded away a bunch of quality MLB talent to restock the farm system. Nobody can name a single franchise that consistently wins big (and wins WS championships) AND has a consistently loaded farm system.

Winning the WS is largely luck tho. It's all about making the playoffs. Plus, I'm not even talking about a loaded farm system. I'm talking about a farm system that ranks in the 15-20 range, rather than the bottom 5.

https://www.espn.com/blog/mlb/post/_/id/10535/2017-draft-picks-boston-red-sox

https://www.overthemonster.com/2018/6/7/17436848/red-sox-draft-pick-tracker


It's still early, but that 2017 draft looks like complete dog shit.

 

[RobertS975]

Heard that if Dalbec is kept off the expanded September roster, and starts next season in the minors for the first 11 Sox games, he can be promoted to the bigs while preserving an extra entire year of control.

 

[Brohamer of the Gods]

Forget Dalbec, Cole Sturgeon just walked off the Paw Sox season with his 3rd home run today.

 

[Brohamer of the Gods]

Though if you care, Bobby is signing autographs right now at McCoy

 

[DeadlySplitter]

Heard that if Dalbec is kept off the expanded September roster, and starts next season in the minors for the first 11 Sox games, he can be promoted to the bigs while preserving an extra entire year of control.

that sounds about right. I think that loophole is going to be closed as there's more outrage over high-profile cases like Kris Bryant and Vladdy Jr., but for now they could do this.

 

[BaseballJones]

that sounds about right. I think that loophole is going to be closed as there's more outrage over high-profile cases like Kris Bryant and Vladdy Jr., but for now they could do this.

Agreed, but Dalbec isn't remotely in the same category as those guys. They were STUDS. Dalbec isn't at that level at all.

 

[Yelling At Clouds]

I think I'd rather bring Dalbec up and see if he can hold his own - even if just for the next 3-4 weeks - to determine how he'll factor into the 2020 plans. Let's once again recall that he's 24, and seems like a guy with a limited - though useful! - ceiling. If we're in a place where we care about losing out on his age-31 season (?), then that means everything will have gone right beyond our wildest expectations.

I also spent this entire season expecting him to be shipped to Detroit or Seattle or wherever, though, so...

 

[Ale Xander]

I think I'd rather bring Dalbec up and see if he can hold his own - even if just for the next 3-4 weeks - to determine how he'll factor into the 2020 plans. Let's once again recall that he's 24, and seems like a guy with a limited - though useful! - ceiling. If we're in a place where we care about losing out on his age-31 season (?), then that means everything will have gone right beyond our wildest expectations.

I also spent this entire season expecting him to be shipped to Detroit or Seattle or wherever, though, so...

Not worth it
Who are you going to bench to make room for him?

 

[Yelling At Clouds]

I'd rather try him than the current RHH 1B who's sub-replacement level for his career across parts of three seasons now, but maybe that's just me.

 

[YTF]

Would I like to see the Sox in a better position when it comes to the farm system? Of course I would, BUT...Let's give some credit to DD for the construction of this team as well. He brought in Craig Kimbrel, David Price, Chris Sale, and J.D. Martinez while keeping the young core of this team in tact. Though we might be a couple of years past calling these guys prospects, the offensive and defensive production from the likes of Bogaerts, Betts, Benintendi, Bradley, Vazquez, and now Devers and Chavis has been among the best in the league. Seven regulars in the lineup are home grown and DD refused to part with a single one of them. People like to say DD emptied out the farm system and didn't properly replenish it and yes it's pretty bare at the moment, but much of that farm system was promoted to the majors one after another and played well enough to stay. That's the biggest "emptying out" of the farm system and it's been quite beneficial for the Sox. The final grade on trades takes years figure out, but right now of the players DD has moved Yoan Moncada is the only impact player that the Sox have lost while the jury largely is still out on most of the others.

 

[YTF]

Would I like to see the Sox in a better position when it comes to the farm system? Of course I would, BUT...Let's give some credit to DD for the construction of this team as well. He brought in Craig Kimbrel, David Price, Chris Sale, and J.D. Martinez while keeping the young core of this team in tact. Though we might be a couple of years past calling these guys prospects, the offensive and defensive production from the likes of Bogaerts, Betts, Benintendi, Bradley, Vazquez, and now Devers and Chavis has been among the best in the league. Seven regulars in the lineup are home grown and DD refused to part with a single one of them. People like to say DD emptied out the farm system and didn't properly replenish it and yes it's pretty bare at the moment, but much of that farm system was promoted to the majors one after another and played well enough to stay. That's the biggest "emptying out" of the farm system and it's been quite beneficial for the Sox. The final grade on trades takes years figure out, but right now of the players DD has moved Yoan Moncada is the only impact player that the Sox have lost while the jury largely is still out on most of the others.

Just realizing that in responding to some previous posts I've taken things of topic. My apologies.

 

[Sandy Leon Trotsky]

And well worth whatever has happened this season.

This year has been a decent follow-up honestly so far. Yeah... it's been frustrating.... and they've obviously underperformed, but the team is still "in it" with less than a month to go. If the Sox can win the WS once every 4th year and have other seasons similar to this season... that's great! What the hell does anyone else want? Sure I'd love to repeat... and three-peat and then whatever the hell after "three-peat" is.... but I want to watch good important baseball through the whole season, which is exactly what's happening in a realistic wold.

 

[Plympton91]

So who, exactly, is the franchise that is both a regular WS winner and doesn't have down years and has a great farm system? There simply isn't such a team, no matter how much money they have.

Well, we’ve established elsewhere that the prize over which management has control is making the playoffs. Once in the playoffs, everyone basically has an equal chance of winning the World Series. So, the part of your post I agree with is that I’d take the “4-year cycle” that DD has overseen anytime! 3 Division Championships including a post-season tournament championship is fantastic.

In pointing out the paucity of talent in the farm system though, I’m questioning whether in fact we’ve set the conditions for a “4-year cycle” or whether this season is pretty much where they’re going to be stuck for a while, making it an 8 or 10 year cycle when all is said and done. And, given their revenue advantage over Tampa, Toronto, and Baltimore, any year they don’t at least finish in second place in the East, is an abject failure of management.

 

[BaseballJones]

Well, we’ve established elsewhere that the prize over which management has control is making the playoffs. Once in the playoffs, everyone basically has an equal chance of winning the World Series. So, the part of your post I agree with is that I’d take the “4-year cycle” that DD has overseen anytime! 3 Division Championships including a post-season tournament championship is fantastic.

In pointing out the paucity of talent in the farm system though, I’m questioning whether in fact we’ve set the conditions for a “4-year cycle” or whether this season is pretty much where they’re going to be stuck for a while, making it an 8 or 10 year cycle when all is said and done. And, given their revenue advantage over Tampa, Toronto, and Baltimore, any year they don’t at least finish in second place in the East, is an abject failure of management.

I’d take a 10 year cycle like they’ve had since 2010-2019. A few last place finishes, a couple of WS titles, a few division titles, some great players in there... I’d rather win it all all the time and have a stacked farm system as well. But I’d happily take these last ten years...every time.

Don’t forget the Sox were a major market team before winning in 2004. We’d all have given our left arm for ONE championship. Now two in ten years if it comes with some bad years mixed in us suddenly abject failure??

 

[Cesar Crespo]

I’d take a 10 year cycle like they’ve had since 2010-2019. A few last place finishes, a couple of WS titles, a few division titles, some great players in there... I’d rather win it all all the time and have a stacked farm system as well. But I’d happily take these last ten years...every time.

Don’t forget the Sox were a major market team before winning in 2004. We’d all have given our left arm for ONE championship. Now two in ten years if it comes with some bad years mixed in us suddenly abject failure??

No one called it an abject failure and no one is calling for DD to be fired (at least not in this thread). We are just saying the farm system could be a little better.

 

[BaseballJones]

No one called it an abject failure and no one is calling for DD to be fired (at least not in this thread). We are just saying the farm system could be a little better.

@Plympton91 just said, “And, given their revenue advantage over Tampa, Toronto, and Baltimore, any year they don’t at least finish in second place in the East, is an abject failure of management.”

 

[Sandy Leon Trotsky]

No one called it an abject failure and no one is calling for DD to be fired (at least not in this thread). We are just saying the farm system could be a little better.

The counter point here is that.... Basically it seems close to impossible. The only teams that have been anywhere nearly as competitive as the Sox over the past 20 years, along with having a consistenly top 10 farm system... don't really exist. Someone upthread pointed out the closest to those teams and they're respective post-season success is less than the Sox. I know in theory it'd be nice to have both... but it seems closer to impossible. You're either going to have success like the Cardinals, Astros, Cubs, Yankees, Dodgers over the past 20 years or success like the Sox have had over the past 20 years. And I suspect every fan of those other teams would pick the Sox level..... probably.....
But if the question is; going forward, due to new constraints... will the Sox farm system not be able to graduate in the talent that they have over the past 5 years along with using it to bring in additional talent in order to keep the team a playoff caliber team? Then that's a whole other issue than what's being discussed. And I'm not a prospect-phile but didn't they just have a Grade A draft only a month ago? Could this recent draft be the beginning of a new 6 year cycle?

 

[Plympton91]

In addition to the bad drafts, they also had the total breakdown of organizational discipline in the Latin American signing scandal that cost them 3 years of penalties there, and when they, like the Yankees, had the chance to sell off two highly valued top of the rotation starters at the trade deadline, they got back an expensive, recalcitrant one-dimensional slugger, a guy who had a potentially career ending injury and a 4 year guaranteed contract, an an enigmatic high upside swing man with only 4 years of control left. The Yankees got Glebar Torres, for a partial season of Chapman.