Red Sox sign OF Chris Young to two year deal

[Savin Hillbilly]

For argument's sake:
Paragraph 3 - For starters, using Bradley's all levels splits is skimming far too lightly. He's had a substantial traditional split all through the minors. For a short period last year at the ML level he hit LHP at a ~0.980 clip. He was 0.790 against RHP. The odds seem strongly in favor of Bradley regressing back to more of his mL norm and being a traditional split guy. There is substantial chance for Bradley to hit RHP well and LHP poorly, making him an ideal platoon guy on a team with Mookie Betts to take over CF against LHP.

This is the part of it I don't like, and why I tend to suspect the people who say a trade is coming may be right. If Young was a plausible candidate to play CF on a 1/3-time basis at this point in his career, platooning him with JBJ would make sense. But this doesn't seem like a good idea, so a JBJ/Young platoon would require either Castillo or Mookie to switch fields twice a week, which also doesn't seem like a good idea. It seems like another shoe still needs to drop here. (Of course, that shoe could simply be moving JBJ to RF, but if the Sox were after Young all along, and that was the plan, why on earth would they leak that JBJ is their CF last week?)

 

[Hee Sox Choi]

David Ortiz didn't look very strong vs. Ls last year, so Young can get some ABs at DH vs. tough lefties and give Papi a rest. Young should never play vs. Rs, his #s have been horrible vs. them the past 3+ years. Why is this so hard to understand? The guy is dog shit vs. Rs.

 

[Papelbon's Poutine]

Great signing. Allows Holt to worry more about UI and helps to keep him fresher and from wearing down as he's shown to do.

This is the part of it I don't like, and why I tend to suspect the people who say a trade is coming may be right. If Young was a plausible candidate to play CF on a 1/3-time basis at this point in his career, platooning him with JBJ would make sense. But this doesn't seem like a good idea, so a JBJ/Young platoon would require either Castillo or Mookie to switch fields twice a week, which also doesn't seem like a good idea. It seems like another shoe still needs to drop here. (Of course, that shoe could simply be moving JBJ to RF, but if the Sox were after Young all along, and that was the plan, why on earth would they leak that JBJ is their CF last week?)

I think people are reading way too much into the Young signing. He's a perfect 4th OF, albeit a slightly expensive one. Unfortunately the sox don't have the luxury of having a cheap, pre-arg guy to fill that role, so they have to pay for it. Young offers them a highly competent bench option as well as a decent fall back if Castillo or JBJ doesn't continue to progress. He at the very least buys them time to not be bent over a barrel if they need to go find a replacement. Adding competent, proven MLers is a good thing (deep depth, right?) and if they had to overpay a little, so be it.

 

[curly2]

I never thought it was the intention, but now we know for sure they're not going to be trading Mookie for an ace.

 

[MikeM]

but if the Sox were after Young all along, and that was the plan, why on earth would they leak that JBJ is their CF last week?)

I think Abraham jumped the gun a little bit over what was said in that interview. Glossing over the fairly huge best case scenario "if" factor that entire question was being framed around, where Farrell himself also made it a point to state that Mookie has earned that every day spot in CF and "it's going to come down to who plays and produces...offensively...that will get the most reps in CF".

The Young signing still leaves the Sox with a grand total of one outfielder that you can ideally pen into a starting role with any real degree of certainty. As is, put me in the camp that believes it better to leave Betts alone coming out of ST, and until Bradley makes more of a case at the MLB level to push himself into that role as our everyday CF.

 

[moondog80]

They're not going to make him tag along at Price's press conference, are they?

 

[OCD SS]

If an OFer is going to be traded, I would expect it to be Castillo. He can reasonably play CF, which means that another team has the chance to utilize that value in a way the Sox can't, while allowing the Sox to mitigate their risk that his hitting won't improve.

 

[Corsi]

Alex Speier ‏@alexspeier 1m1 minute ago
Red Sox make it official by announcing Chris Young's 2-year, $13M deal. Roman Mendez designated to clear 40-man spot.

 

[kazuneko]

This is the part of it I don't like, and why I tend to suspect the people who say a trade is coming may be right.

After the David Price signing I'm not sure there are enough major needs on this team to justify a trade to disrupt this OF. That said, now that they have signed Young, the team would be smart to follow any trade of any of the outfielders with another free agent signing: Gerardo Parra. Parra's primary weakness has always been that he can't hit LHP. A Parra/Young platoon would easily replace or exceed the expected offensive production of either Castillo or Bradley and be perfectly capable defensively in LF.

 

[benhogan]

De Aza made $5M last year, hit .262 and had an OPS of .755. What makes you think he'd sign a 1 year deal for $1 or $2M? He's getting 2/$12-$14M or so

De Aza signing for 1yr at $4.5MM with the Mets

 

[Bowlerman9]

De Aza signing for 1yr at $4.5MM with the Mets

It's actually $5.75M guaranteed plus $1.25M in incentives.

 

[benhogan]

It's actually $5.75M guaranteed plus $1.25M in incentives.

Makes me like the Chris Young signing even more.

ESPN has $4.5MM + $1.25MM in incentives.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/14421726/new-york-mets-close-signing-outfielder-alejandro-de-aza-source-says

CBS, Heyman, has $5.75MM + $1.25MM in incentives.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-baseball/25423221/hot-stove-mets-agree-to-one-year-contract-with-alejandro-de-aza

 

[soxhop411]

“@JMastrodonato: Farrell said Chris Young will start against every LHP. Would prefer Mookie doesn’t bounce between RF-CF, so Young in CF if JBJ rests.”


So it's a straight platoon

 

[smastroyin]

No, there is still the possibility of Young playing LF or RF occasionally (or JBJ moving around to leave young in CF) as well as the whole David Ortiz needs days off thing.

If Farrell has already made a strict platoon decision then he should be fired. Literally. There are too many questions about performance to make a decision like that 5 weeks before opening day.

 

[koufax32]

Literally? A bit harsh, no? Is he a witch or circus performer?

I agree it's odd though. I appears the assumption is that JBJ will never hit against lefties. Anyone with his ml numbers? I seem to remember there not being much of a split.

 

[InsideTheParker]

I remember how much better JBJ hit after Farrell's departure, but I don't know (or know how to look up) the left/right splits. I got the impression at the time that many felt that he looked so much better under Lovullo's leadership.

 

[iayork]

I remember how much better JBJ hit after Farrell's departure, but I don't know (or know how to look up) the left/right splits..

Baseball-reference.com > Player > Standard Batting > Splits > 2015.

vs RHP: .221/.308/.483/.791 (172 PA, .260 BABIP)
vs LHP: .306/.390/.528/.918 (83 PA, .408 BABIP)

 

[geoduck no quahog]

BABIP against LHP: .408

Batting Aug: .354 w/ 1.163 OPS
Batting Sep: . 216 w/ .739 OPS (27 more appearances than Aug)

 

[Rovin Romine]

Literally? A bit harsh, no? Is he a witch or circus performer?

I agree it's odd though. I appears the assumption is that JBJ will never hit against lefties. Anyone with his ml numbers? I seem to remember there not being much of a split.

If you look at his MiL stats on B-ref, it goes back and forth. The short answer is there's no pronounced/historical split.

As far as the bolded, I'm with Samastroyin. I haven't seen anything out of Farrell that I've considered impressive since 2013, and the team really rebounded when he was out, so I view him as being on somewhat thin ice. This is an easy decision - you see what happens with your potential all-star/dud center fielder. Which is exactly why the Sox went out and got Young. All Farrell has to say is "there's plenty of opportunity for all, and we don't have to juggle defensive slots to achieve it." And he seems to have said it.

 

[InsideTheParker]

the team really rebounded when he was out, so I view him as being on somewhat thin ice

I hope you're right, but I doubt it.
I didn't make myself at all clear above, but what I was wondering about was if JBJ had less of a split during the second half of the season than he did in the first.

 

[Minneapolis Millers]

I'm hoping this just means that they think Young is one of their top 9 bats v LHers and needs to be in for someone - JBJ, Ortiz, even Castillo for a day off.

 

[iayork]

I hope you're right, but I doubt it.
I didn't make myself at all clear above, but what I was wondering about was if JBJ had less of a split during the second half of the season than he did in the first.

I don't know if there's an easy way to pull that out of BBREF, but here's what I got from a quick run-through of PITCHf/x (I'm too lazy to calculate averages, let alone format this,so it's just an image):

I split his season on Aug 8, since on Aug 9 he went 2-for-3 and started his August tear

 

[iayork]

dp

 

[O Captain! My Captain!]

Chris Young may well be a better bat vs LHP than Ortiz. Their career lines are nearly identical except Young has 20 extra points of OBP, and the age difference would tend to favor Young. I don't think it's terribly likely to see Young at DH and JBJ in CF too often, but depending on the matchup and Ortiz needing a day off every once in a while, it's not a completely ludicrous idea.

 

[smastroyin]

I am the biggest jbj fan here, but my point in Farrell being fired is not about whether jbj can hit lefties. It's about having a dogmatic approach to fluid situations. As it stands right now, making the decision and assumption that Castillo will be more productive than JBJ (enough to make up whatever you lose on defense) every time there is a lefty on the mound seems dubious.

 

[InsideTheParker]

Iayork, I appreciate your efforts, thanks.

Smas, I agree with what you are saying about Farrell's dogmatism. I was just wondering if there were any way to quantify the differences as the season went on with a particular player. I am extremely concerned about Farrell's managing style.

 

[Pilgrim]

“@JMastrodonato: Farrell said Chris Young will start against every LHP. Would prefer Mookie doesn’t bounce between RF-CF, so Young in CF if JBJ rests.”

For me, the biggest issue here is Young playing CF when JBJ is out.

I like him as a bench piece, but they already had four OF who can (A) play a decent CF and (B) havent shown any issue moving between the spots. Playing Young in CF is just a weird misuse of one of this rosters strengths.

 

[RIrooter09]

For me, the biggest issue here is Young playing CF when JBJ is out.

I like him as a bench piece, but they already had four OF who can (A) play a decent CF and (B) havent shown any issue moving between the spots. Playing Young in CF is just a weird misuse of one of this rosters strengths.

This was my first reaction as well. Young's last three seasons of UZR numbers in CF are ugly. Why would he start ahead of three above average to elite CF's?

 

[mt8thsw9th]

There's also the possibility that Castillo is bad enough where Young is forced into more regular time in LF, so JBJ being benched for no good reason isn't the issue in the OF.

 

[Buzzkill Pauley]

For me, the biggest issue here is Young playing CF when JBJ is out.

I like him as a bench piece, but they already had four OF who can (A) play a decent CF and (B) havent shown any issue moving between the spots. Playing Young in CF is just a weird misuse of one of this rosters strengths.

I suspect Farrell is laying the groundwork to return to his preferred modus operandi, in which Betts returns to CF every day.

Even after talking about how JBJ was the team's CF with the caveat "if he can hit consistently" Farrell has continued to call his now-RF an "up the middle player."

The hedging of his comments about the OF leads me to suspect that Farrell is not 100% on-board with a course of action regarding the roster that's been dictated by DDski, who we know tried to trade for JBJ while in Detroit.

My guess is that Farrell just can't bring himself to trust JBJ as his everyday CF because of JBJ's execrable 2014 hitting line and failure to show in-season improvement that year. However, this is contrary to DDski's view of JBJ as a viable young everyday CF, who can give the pitching staff gold-glove defense, help control the running game with the threat to double up or gun down baserunners, and who started his incredible month-long hitting tear about simultaneously with DDski coming aboard.

It's a shame, really, if my suspicions are true. There are pros and cons to both OF judgments, though I personally come down on the side of giving JBJ another shot to hit ninth every day from CF and committing Mookie to RF and leadoff batter.

And I think if this ends up becoming a real issue, it will be very difficult for Farrell to get his way, considering how well JBJ, Mookie, and the team as a whole performed under Lovullo, especially with the media already stoking the smouldering fire that lit under him when Panda reported just about as fat as last season.

 

[smastroyin]

That also kind of gets to what I'm saying.

If Farrell has decided that what he saw in September of 2014 from JBJ and Castillo is the absolute truth, then I don't think he is a good enough judge of talent to be managing a playing roster. As well, if his interpretations are so much at odds with DDski then it's just going to lead to annoyance and problems. I don't want a repeat of the Jimy years, no matter who is right, and like Buzzkill says, this has the first blush feel of JF undermining decisions made by others. This says nothing about the points mentioned above of whether Young can really play OF 1/3 of the games and whether he is any good as a CF.

Now, I should be clear that I am responding to other's interpretations of Farrell's words. I hold out the hope that Farrell understands that there are these variables and hasn't really made such a close minded decision already. On the other hand, it's clear that Farrell thinks Mookie can't be asked to switch positions which also seems close minded. But if it gives Mookie a sense of "knowing his job" or whatever then could be worth it mentally and developmentally compared to the daily ideal tactical usage of the players...though he was more than willing to do this kind of thing with Xander.

I guess my point is, at the end of the day, I don't want Farrell acting like SoSH posters, turning prospects into JAGs the moment they don't perform to expectation.

 

[RIrooter09]

And why has it been decided that Betts should start in RF with Castillo in LF? Castillo made 60 out of zone plays last year in 614.1 innings compared to 98 in 1254 for Betts. I know one year defensive metrics need to be taken with a giant grain of salt, but these numbers along with the eye test would seem to indicate that they are at worst equivalent in terms of range (if not Castillo a bit better). With Castillo having the much stronger arm shouldn't he be given first crack at RF?

 

[Buzzkill Pauley]

And why has it been decided that Betts should start in RF with Castillo in LF? Castillo made 60 out of zone plays last year in 614.1 innings compared to 98 in 1254 for Betts. I know one year defensive metrics need to be taken with a giant grain of salt, but these numbers along with the eye test would seem to indicate that they are at worst equivalent in terms of range (if not Castillo a bit better). With Castillo having the much stronger arm shouldn't he be given first crack at RF?

I would suspect this decision was made from a scouting perspective, because Castillo played the Monster so beautifully during home games in LF last season.

Where pre-arb players are concerned, not every decision has to be supported by hard data, nor can it be expected to. Because like you note, it's small sample sizes any way you look at it.

The lack of useful hard data is precisely where significant value differences, born from talent evaluators' divergent subjective "eyeball" judgments about a young player's value to the team (such as I suspect may exist for JBJ between DDski and Farrell), are all the more difficult to reconcile into a "best" decision for the team.

 

[nothumb]

If everyone is healthy and I have to watch Young play 40 games in CF this year, I'm gonna lose my shit. There is no excuse for that. Farrell is on the shortest of leashes for me w/r/t JBJ, based on how things went last year.

 

[Al Zarilla]

If everyone is healthy and I have to watch Young play 40 games in CF this year, I'm gonna lose my shit. There is no excuse for that. Farrell is on the shortest of leashes for me w/r/t JBJ, based on how things went last year.

It's not as though Young is a strictly bench guy who would be satisfied with occasional starts and pinch hitting (or late inning defensive work in the case of a guy like Gabe Kapler). Young rakes left handed pitching, particularly last year and raked even more over his career at Fenway. When a guy like that is talking turkey, a team must have to talk games he'll get into or at bats or both or he'll go elsewhere. Calm down. We've had worse guys than Chris Young starting more than half a season's worth of games in the outfield in recent years. Also, if he is a platoon guy that starts against lefties, there are a lot fewer of them than there are righties. He has a career OPS at Fenway of 1.054 in an admittedly SSS of 73 plate appearances.

 

[Minneapolis Millers]

This all could be an overly general way of indicating two preferences (not absolutes):
1. Having Young's bat in the lineup v. LHers
2. Allowing Betts/Castillo/JBJ to settle into one defensive position with the hope that such stability allows their overall games to flourish. The team might might think this is particularly important/advisable given the idiosyncracies of each of Fenway's OF playing areas.

Start with these predilections, see how things develop. If there need to be changes and Farrell refuses after a reasonable time to make those changes, then you can pillory him. But let's a get a few spring training games under our belts, at least!

 

[Savin Hillbilly]

And why has it been decided that Betts should start in RF with Castillo in LF? Castillo made 60 out of zone plays last year in 614.1 innings compared to 98 in 1254 for Betts. I know one year defensive metrics need to be taken with a giant grain of salt, but these numbers along with the eye test would seem to indicate that they are at worst equivalent in terms of range (if not Castillo a bit better). With Castillo having the much stronger arm shouldn't he be given first crack at RF?

The bolded is by no means a truth universally acknowledged. I've probably quoted this before, but here's what SoxProspects had to say about Mookie's arm: "Solid-average arm. Could play at all outfield positions, but profiles best in center field." And here's what they had to say about Rusney's arm: "Average arm strength. Better suited for center than right in parks with larger right fields like Fenway."

Now, those evaluations may fail your eye test from 2015; they fail mine. But we haven't really had a chance to watch these guys make that many throws yet, so I'm not going to assume the SP scouts are FOS on this just yet.

 

[Fishy1]

Sounds to me, from looking at the actual quotes, that Farrell was far more nebulous than he was dogmatic.

From the Herald:

Asked how often Young would play, Farrell said, “He’s going to get every left-handed pitcher we see, every left-handed starter. In fairness to Chris, there has to be some at-bats against some right-handers too, to get some timing. But it’s clear his strength is against left-handed pitching. We’re also about what’s the best combination on the field, what’s the best lineup to attack that starter on a given day.”

Farrell didn’t say specifically who he was planning on benching in favor of Young, but he did say, “I would prefer to stay away from bouncing Mookie back and forth [between center field and right field]. That could have Chris Young in center field.”

And from Masslive in January:

"To sit here in early January and say that every lefthander Jackie's not going to play, I wouldn't go that far, because there might be some things that crop up, a day for Rusney, a day for Mookie might be advantageous," Farrell said. "So we'll take the best matchups and keep everybody involved."

 

[geoduck no quahog]

That makes a lot more sense. Rest all 3 guys and take advantage of doing it against a LHP where possible.

There's something like 60-70 games for a 4th outfielder, assuming the starters play about 140 games each on average.

 

[Saints Rest]

That makes a lot more sense. Rest all 3 guys and take advantage of doing it against a LHP where possible.

There's something like 60-70 games for a 4th outfielder, assuming the starters play about 140 games each on average.

Plus throw in 20 games where Papi needs a rest and/or wants to avoid a lefty.

 

[lexrageorge]

Seems like we're misinterpreting and overreacting to a poorly worded tweet.

I read it as Young will play CF the days that JBJ sits, not that JBJ will sit against every LHP. Young playing CF may not be the most ideal defensively, but my guess is that Farrell and Dombrowski have decided they like that better than moving Betts around. Castillo and Betts can cover ground, so Young's range in CF should not be that big of a deal.

As noted, assuming 10 games off for each of the 3 starting OF's, and another 15 games for Papi, gives Young 45 games right there. Last season, the Sox faced left handed starters 46 times. Add in injuries and pinch hitting, it's not hard to see Young get into 60 or 70 games. So we can step away from the cliff and judge Farrell on what happens when he's got a full roster to work with.

 

[Byrdbrain]

Plus throw in 20 games where Papi needs a rest and/or wants to avoid a lefty.

In that case the first option to DH would certainly be Hanley.

 

[Buzzkill Pauley]

That makes a lot more sense. Rest all 3 guys and take advantage of doing it against a LHP where possible.

There's something like 60-70 games for a 4th outfielder, assuming the starters play about 140 games each on average.

Sorry, but my most charitable reading of those quotes finds Farrell saying that he'll be starting with a straight platoon, and then adding to it, depending on whether Young has hit the day's pitcher well.

Because if he's looking to make these decisions based on match-ups for the presumptive starters -- each of whom has less than 2 years MLB service time -- that's an even worse idea than utilizing a simple platoon.

Not to mention, it severly penalizes JBJ for his crap 2014, when most of such "match-up" data would have been created. And in the process can be expected to downgrade the one clear run-saving positive the team had planned for, by dogmatically planning a sub-optimal defensive OF alignment that replaces the best with the worst at the most important position roughly 1/3 of the time.

I don't think I've ever seen my off-season optimism slam into the wall at the start of Spring Training anywhere near as much as this week. But the start of a "business-as-usual" spring training after such a fun end-run last season and busy offseason is disappointing. Between Farrell quotes that suggest he's going to botch the OF, the media starting to kill fat Panda during Pitchers & Catchers and already having sharpened their knives for Hanley, plus the realization that it's Papi's last season playing baseball....just yuck.

 

[nothumb]

It's not as though Young is a strictly bench guy who would be satisfied with occasional starts and pinch hitting (or late inning defensive work in the case of a guy like Gabe Kapler). Young rakes left handed pitching, particularly last year and raked even more over his career at Fenway. When a guy like that is talking turkey, a team must have to talk games he'll get into or at bats or both or he'll go elsewhere. Calm down. We've had worse guys than Chris Young starting more than half a season's worth of games in the outfield in recent years. Also, if he is a platoon guy that starts against lefties, there are a lot fewer of them than there are righties. He has a career OPS at Fenway of 1.054 in an admittedly SSS of 73 plate appearances.

I have no problem getting Young 300+ ABs and making sure he is in the lineup against lefties... I'm just saying he is probably the worst defensive OF on the team and having him play center between Rusney and Mookie is a goddamn travesty. I personally think it would be fine to move Mookie back and forth, but if they don't want to, they can do the same with Rusney.

 

[smastroyin]

To be clear, when I started I was criticizing soxhop's interpretation of the tweet. The discussion expanded talking about the hypothetical.

That said, I am on record here and maintain my opinion that Farrell is not the guy for developing young talent. When viewed in this lens, the somewhat ambiguous quotes take on a bit more focused meaning. I hope he proves me wrong.

 

[RoyalOrange]

Sorry, but my most charitable reading of those quotes finds Farrell saying that he'll be starting with a straight platoon, and then adding to it, depending on whether Young has hit the day's pitcher well.

Because if he's looking to make these decisions based on match-ups for the presumptive starters -- each of whom has less than 2 years MLB service time -- that's an even worse idea than utilizing a simple platoon.

Not to mention, it severly penalizes JBJ for his crap 2014, when most of such "match-up" data would have been created. And in the process can be expected to downgrade the one clear run-saving positive the team had planned for, by dogmatically planning a sub-optimal defensive OF alignment that replaces the best with the worst at the most important position roughly 1/3 of the time.

I don't think I've ever seen my off-season optimism slam into the wall at the start of Spring Training anywhere near as much as this week. But the start of a "business-as-usual" spring training after such a fun end-run last season and busy offseason is disappointing. Between Farrell quotes that suggest he's going to botch the OF, the media starting to kill fat Panda during Pitchers & Catchers and already having sharpened their knives for Hanley, plus the realization that it's Papi's last season playing baseball....just yuck.

Now that is how you play into your own username.

 

[lexrageorge]

To be clear, when I started I was criticizing soxhop's interpretation of the tweet. The discussion expanded talking about the hypothetical.

That said, I am on record here and maintain my opinion that Farrell is not the guy for developing young talent. When viewed in this lens, the somewhat ambiguous quotes take on a bit more focused meaning. I hope he proves me wrong.

I am struggling to find evidence that Farrell cannot develop young talent. This may be a thread in and of iteslf, but looking at the young position players that have come up through the system while Farrell was here:

Middlebrooks: Struggled under Farrell. But has struggled in San Diego as well. He just may not be very good at the plate.

Iglesias: Hit 0.330 under Farrell.

Bogaerts: Had a breakout year last year, and it started while Farrell was still the manager (a respectable 0.750 OPS in the 1st half of 2015). Aside from his ill timed slump in 2014, that happened to coincide with a position switch, there's nothing to indicate that Farrell has done anything wrong with Xander. And Xander was only 21 in 2014.

Vazquez: Performed as expected, if not better than expected, offensively in 200 plate appearances in 2014.

Brock Holt: 0.711 OPS in 2014, selected to All Star Team in 2015 as the Sox sole representative.

Betts: 0.812 OPS in 2014, 0.792 in first half of 2015.

Swihart: He also had his first major league at bats under Farrell, after all of 150 plate appearances spread over 2 seasons in AAA, and he seemed to be set up well by the time he had his breakout in August, which was fueled in part by a 0.477 BABIP.

Castillo: Barely broke 100 plate appearances under Farrell. He's definitely a unique case, so I'm not sure I would attribute Castillo's performance up until now to anything Farrell did or did not do. And his BABIP was 0.421 during his August breakout.

JBJ: His struggles under Farrell, and his breakout August, have been well documented elsewhere.

So really the only two true prospect "failures" under Farrell were Middlebrooks (who just isn't very good hitter anyway) and JBJ, who benefited mightily from a 0.450 BABIP last August. I'd say every other young player performed as expected or better under Farrell. And a lot of the improvement of the Sox younger players under Lovullo was indeed BABIP related; JBJ, Castillo, Swihart, Betts, Bogaerts all benefited from the BABIP gods in August and September. Bottom line is that Castillo and Bradley are still big question marks offensively.

The real issue with the team the past 2 seasons is that the vets brought in in 2013 all declined, markedly in some cases. And the vets brought in to replace those vets (Panda, Ramirez, Porcello, Miley) haven't been the answer. Sometimes it is the players, not the manager.

 

[Snoop Soxy Dogg]

Sorry, but my most charitable reading of those quotes finds Farrell saying that he'll be starting with a straight platoon, and then adding to it, depending on whether Young has hit the day's pitcher well.

Because if he's looking to make these decisions based on match-ups for the presumptive starters -- each of whom has less than 2 years MLB service time -- that's an even worse idea than utilizing a simple platoon.

Not to mention, it severly penalizes JBJ for his crap 2014, when most of such "match-up" data would have been created. And in the process can be expected to downgrade the one clear run-saving positive the team had planned for, by dogmatically planning a sub-optimal defensive OF alignment that replaces the best with the worst at the most important position roughly 1/3 of the time.

I don't think I've ever seen my off-season optimism slam into the wall at the start of Spring Training anywhere near as much as this week. But the start of a "business-as-usual" spring training after such a fun end-run last season and busy offseason is disappointing. Between Farrell quotes that suggest he's going to botch the OF, the media starting to kill fat Panda during Pitchers & Catchers and already having sharpened their knives for Hanley, plus the realization that it's Papi's last season playing baseball....just yuck.

You've put down my thoughts way better than I ever would have. Farrell spooks the heck out of me now. Add to this the predictable, negative Hanley/Pablo narrative developing in the Boston media and it's been as depressing a beginning of spring training as I remember. What a...buzzkill.

 

[smastroyin]

It is a subject for its own thread but my problem with Farrell is what he does with struggling guys as opposed to some kind of hit or miss proportion. Xander was buried at 3B when he should have been playing SS either in Pawtucket or Boston. Instead we sat around waiting for Stephen Drew. JBJ's 2014 was just dumb. Farrell and Cherington kept him on the major league club far too much without using him, instead giving at bats to the the corpse of Grady Sizemore, all the while looking for the first excuse to move to Castillo. WMB whatever, I don't think he was going to be much, but jerking a guy in and out of the lineup haphazardly at 24 isn't the way you develop anyone.

So the point isn't the actual performance of the players. It's that when given options (please note, due to injuries he had little choice with Vaz and Swihart), the evidence thus far has shown that he will move on from a struggling prospect to the next shiny object (or hopes of rebuilding a decrepit veteran). This it the reason for my comparison to SoSH posters. And of course this may be a reflection of the fact that the team was expected to be very good each of the last two years and failed miserably, making it harder to have patience. But I don't care too much about outside influences, because they aren't going away any time soon.

Nowhere in my post did I comment on the performance of the team relative to Farrell, nowhere did I attribute any causation for any performance to Lovullo. I realize others do this, but those points are irrelevant to my concern expressed here.

 

[Al Zarilla]

I have no problem getting Young 300+ ABs and making sure he is in the lineup against lefties... I'm just saying he is probably the worst defensive OF on the team and having him play center between Rusney and Mookie is a goddamn travesty. I personally think it would be fine to move Mookie back and forth, but if they don't want to, they can do the same with Rusney.

I get your objection that it's Young's defense compared with the defense of the starting three. I do think Young is also insurance against JBJ not cutting it as a hitter. Hate that thought.