Rays’ right-hander Pete Fairbanks was removed from today’s game due to right lat tightness, per Rays broadcaster Neil Solondz. Manager Kevin Cash spoke with reporters, including Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, saying that more information will be forthcoming but that Fairbanks is “going to miss some time.” Topkin relays that Fairbanks will undergo an MRI on Monday.
It’s been a fairly quiet offseason for the Rays so far, at least in terms of bringing in new faces, as their biggest move of the past few months has been to extend Wander Franco. In terms of new additions, it’s been Corey Kluber, Brooks Raley and Jason Adam. Of course, the team wasn’t desperate for upgrades, having won the AL East in each of the past two seasons. Fairbanks has somewhat quietly emerged as a dominant part of the club’s pitching staff over those two seasons. Since the start of the 2020 campaign, he’s thrown 69 1/3 innings with a 3.25 ERA, 31% strikeout rate and 11.4% walk rate. If Fairbanks is headed for the IL, the club would certainly miss that level of performance. They’d be well-equipped to weather his absence, given the many talented arms they have in their relief corps, such as Andrew Kittredge, J.P. Feyereisen and JT Chargois. However, given that the AL East is expected to be a heated four-team standoff, every inch will count in the next six months.
Elsewhere from around the division…
- The Blue Jays are set to begin the season with an Opening Day payroll around $171MM, per Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. That would be a new franchise record, going just beyond the $163MM of 2017, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts. But it’s possible that the spending could be pushed even further, according to team president/CEO Mark Shapiro. “Those wins from like 90 to 93 are usually the most important ones and you usually have to outpace revenue at some point,” Shapiro told Scott Mitchell of TSN. “When they start to outpace our budget, then it’s up to me to go (to ownership) and propose and say, ‘Here’s what we feel another addition beyond our budget could mean.’ We never feel limited by that.” The Jays somehow missed the playoffs last year despite winning 91 games, as that was only good enough for fourth place in the stacked AL East. The club has been aggressive in making moves for the upcoming campaign, adding free agents such as Kevin Gausman and Yusei Kikuchi, as well as trading for Matt Chapman and Raimel Tapia. Despite looking good on paper, Shapiro knows that they will inevitably need resources to react to events as the season unfolds. “We’re going to face something that none of us are thinking about right now.”
- Christian Arroyo got his first taste of outfield action on the spring today, manning right field for the Red Sox. Manager Alex Cora was apparently pleased, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive. Arroyo has played all four infield positions in his career but never on the grass. However, Boston’s recent signing of Trevor Story has reduced his likelihood of seeing any significant playing time on the dirt, forcing him to attempt to expand his defensive repertoire. Enrique Hernandez and Alex Verdugo figure to be fixtures in the outfield mix, leaving one spot up for grabs. J.D. Martinez will still be the club’s primary designated hitter but will apparently see more time in the field this year. Jackie Bradley Jr. is also around, though he’s coming off an awful campaign with Milwaukee, posting a wRC+ of just 35, the lowest in the league among hitters with at least 200 plate appearances. Jarren Duran was thought to be in the mix, despite a lackluster showing in his MLB debut last year, but the club announced today that he’s been optioned to Triple-A. Taking all that into consideration, there’s a path for Arroyo to earn himself some playing time, should he adapt well to the defensive switch. In 57 games with the Red Sox last year, he hit .262/.324/.445 for a wRC+ of 106.
- Josh Donaldson is under consideration to be the Yankees’ leadoff hitter, according to manager Aaron Boone. Newsday’s Erik Boland relays word from the skipper, who had this to say about the idea: “Guy that controls the strike zone like he does, the ability to get on, power, great hitter…yeah, he’s definitely someone I would consider.” Boone is certainly correct about Donaldson’s on-base abilities, as the slugger has posted an above-average walk rate for each of the past nine seasons. While he might not fit the classic model of leadoff hitter, Donaldson would certainly fit the recent trend of opting for on-base ability over speed. It wouldn’t be the first time the experiment was tried, as he was pencilled into the top spot of the lineup seven times by the Jays in 2015, the year he went on to be crowned AL MVP. In those seven games, he hit .276/.313/.586 over 32 plate appearances. That amounted to a wRC+ of 137, not too far below his season-long number of 154, suggesting Donaldson didn’t seem to be bothered by the switch.
While the Jays probably did get better, whenever I read about “additions” for teams, they always seem to leave out the subtractions. Losing Ray’s performance and Semien’s is no small matter by any means.
I do agree , as a Jays fan I’m not sure if they are better or by how much . But I think it’s possibly to be worst as a team and still win more games assuming the bullpen does not have that horrible mid May – June run they had giving up runs like crazy .
I agree with you. I don’t think they are better per se. I was just giving the benefit of doubt to just about every writer this offseason. But Semien & Ray had a combined 14 or so WAR where as Gausman and Champman were below 10. Kikuchi certainly hasn’t shown he’s going to fill that gap. And Gausman has only had sub 3.50 ERAs twice in the NL. Who knows how that’s going to translate into a DH league, especially in the AL East.
And I’m not sure how much better Vlad can be. However, I’ve heard they have some younger talent they’re relying on to be better or come up so I’m deferring to that as much as anything.
You are totally overlooking a few very significant items
1- They will be playing the full season at home, go look at their record when they moved back to Toronto.
2- They will have full seasons of Berrios, Manoah, Springer, Cimber , Biggio, Kirk et all. ( Barring injuries which all teams face )
3- With their run differential last year they should have been in the 96-97 win range.
This team is much better then it was at the start of the season last year.
All of that sounds pretty reasonable. I’m not too inclined to buy into home records but I don’t know their whole situation in depth.
Rosters change year to year as does production by those returning. The nucleus should continue to improve. Also, no one is mentioning how under current rules unvaccinated visiting players may not be traveling to CA. That could be big. The other side of the coin is the pressure is on the Jays this season more than in the recent past.
talksomesense-living up to your username here
also chapmans bat is no joke semien and he both had very similar power numbers in OAK. the change of scenery probably only helps that. i’m sure having a banged up hip didn’t help his line last year either.
also, manoah should hit another gear after playing under a ton of pressure as a rookie being brought in to help hold together a shaky rotation in a race for a playoff spot.
espinal has shown himself to be a plus defender and a good slap hitter who gets on base.
wildcards will be gausman and kikuchi. but the jays are one of the best getting the most out their pitching staff. i’m pretty confident this year will be no different
i dunno. i think we are a lot better than last year.
I have more confidence in Berrios leading a staff than Ray. Robbie had a great season last year but so far that seems to be the exception not the rule. He got his big contract so my guess would be he attempts to avoid injuries and lengthen his career settling into a solid #3 role. Berrios and Gausman is a very good #1-#2. They will definitely miss Siemens bat but Chapman is better with the glove. Full seasons of Berrios and Gausman (if they avoid injuries) should get them another 4-5 wins. Especially if they are active at the deadline again this year. Would have liked to have seen them pick up a stud reliever though.
It’s intriguing because they are much better than they were entering last year. Ray and Matz were awful the previous year. But you have to compare the current roster to the performances of last years guys. Gausman is probably better than Ray over the next 5 years, but you can’t really expect him to put up last year’s Ray outcomes in even one year of the contract. It’s hard to see Chapman doing what Semien did. It’s difficult to see Vlad, Teo, Manoah, outdoing themselves. Though there is still room for improvement from a few guys like Bichette, Biggio, Jansen, Gurriel. Better luck around key players like Springer too. Depth might be tested and we’ll see if anyone breaks through. You can add to the pen around the trade deadline. But you hope you have enough internal reinforcements up for the task for the May-June time period. I think they’re in a better position on the pitching end this year in general. The lineup might not be much better, but it’s not a bad lineup by any means. I worry a bit about position player depth but really, most teams do.
I think the same. The Jays lost last season’s Cy Young pitcher and iMLB’s best 2B . They degraded the top and the bottoms of the order and as well as the starting rotation. I don’t think the Jays gained as much as they lost.
The thing is that if they kept Ray and Semien, they still would have lost ’21 Ray and Semien. Those guys won’t repeat the season they just had. ’22 Gausman won’t be as good as ’21 Ray but is probably better than ’22 Ray. ’21 Semien had a .331 xWOBA while Chapman’s was .321. The actual results last year were in opposite directions but they might be closer in talent than people will give credit for. I’m not crying over the loss of opening day rotation members Roark and Zeuch. Nor am I worried about the losses of Chatwood, Hand, Soria in the pen. I’m happy not to watch a platoon of Jake Lamb and Breyvic Valera at 3B. And I’m certainly not pining for Randal Grichuk.
Some of my favourite comments are coming from you, KamKid! Very thoughtful, thank you!
Aww shucks. Thanks boostreet.
They are indeed significant losses. But one could also argue Ray and Semien are unlikely to put up the same incredible seasons in 2022.
“Ricky” Donaldson, but can he steal 100 bases in a season….
@JC#1- Aaron Boone is a dummy, and needs to be fired immediately! Just lead off IFK, until Oswald Peraza is ready. Smh. I love the “Ricky” Donaldson thing though. Lol!
“Guy that controls the strike zone like he does, the ability to get on, power, great hitter…yeah, he’s definitely someone I would consider.”
===================================
This is what drives me crazy about Boone. He will say the identical thing about every player on the team. ask him about Gallo, and he’ll tell you Gallo would make a great lead-off hitter and is in the mix. He’s been in NY long enough to learn how to talk to the press.
@Joe
OR. or…or… he’s a freaking jedi genius. in short, he’s asked a question, gives a canned answer because either he hasn’t decided or doesn’t want you to know???? If someone says “I would consider that” means, I don’t have an answer to give thus nothing is said for you to judge me a genius or a joke. #Hewinstodaysbattle
I have no idea how Aaron Boone is still the Yankees manager.
Analytical thinking by FO and their soy boy interns.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa career OPS: .679.
You sure about that, @Judge 99? As a put-the-ball-in-play-&-run-like-hell guy, I like him out of the 9th spot. However: I don’t care to see him anywhere near the top of the lineup. That is just giving outs away, man
@Ducky- I know IKF rarely draws a walk, he could bat 9th. I just don’t want to see Donaldson or Hicks leading off. I wouldn’t mind seeing DJ leading off again. We’ll see.
He just doesn’t get on base enough. I could care less if it’s via walks or base hits.
In a perfect world, Hicks is healthy & bats leadoff. He is the correct choice there. However: he has become impossible for me to trust anymore. So I guess we gotta hope DJ or maybe even Gleyber can fill that spot.
Yet another roster need ignored by Cash.
@Ducky- let’s just admit in a perfect world Florial would be leading off playing centerfield, no reason why he couldn’t be a 20/20 player blindfolded. Hicks could always come in the games later for defense, he would be the perfect 4th outfielder.
Well, hard to argue with that.
Last I knew, however, Florial was still experiencing K/contact issues. But I have always loved those power & speed guys.
Hicks thrived in that 4th outfielder role. That’s essentially how he earned his extension. I would be thrilled if he was able to resume that role.
The Blue Jays bullpen is still a major question mark. Compared to other elite teams they are near the bottom in quality high end arms. The starters and lineup are elite and I hope it’s not the bullpen again this year that spoils so much talent. If a guy like David Phelps can be healthy this season, that would go a long way considering how great he was before the injury. Once again they will be scrambling mid season to trade for some bullpen talent but missing the opportunity to gain some serious ground on the competition.
The Rockies a few years ago showed the danger of committing too much financially to high $$ pen arms .
I wish they had picked up another arm in the mid tier but I feel their pen is much better then it was last year at the start . They have a couple of guys within their own org who seem ready to make the leap and stick. Saucedo especially. I do agree that I hope Phelps can be what he was at the start last year and stay healthy.
Romano
Mayza
Cimber
Garcia
Richards
Saucedo
Stripling
+1 from the list below.
Reinforcements from AAA
Hernandez
Phelps
Johnston
Spraker
Danner
Merryweather
This doesn’t include guys like Pearson, Hatch, Thornton
Also Bourucki and Vasquez
This is a bullpen well-designed to soak up innings with serviceable performance. It’ll likely need some upgrading midseason with another backend arm or two, but it’s not going to totally collapse before then.
As a Red Sox fan, Toronto is the team to beat. The kids got their feet wet last year and both Vlad and Bo looked scary good. Not to mention a DH and outfield that is daunting too. Maturity will make 2022 a better year besides the nicely documented changes in venue and improved health.
Not many teams are as star studded as Toronto. In fact, I think LAD and HOU may be the only other ones with the talent you have. Now it’s up to the manager to bring the team together as a unit to maximize value. The parts are there to win a ring.
Good luck!!
As a Yankee fan I usually don’t agree with a red sox fan, but Toronto is really good and will be for quite a while with their young core.
@yankeeempire123- yes, the Blue Jays will definitely be the best 3rd place team in baseball.
I pray you are correct. They could easily be best in the division. Yankees can contend, but the jays are my pick as the team most likely to win the division. I say that as a Yankee fan. Hopefully, the Yankees are much more fun to watch this year.
As a longtime baseball fan I am knowledgeable enough to know predictions of greatness are at best a crapshoot and at worst completely useless. Stuff happens, nothing is guaranteed.
Case in point: All the so-called “experts” raving about how the 2007 Red Sox have so much young talent that they’ll be perennial championship contenders for many years to come.
All I heard was how Ellsbury/Pedroia/Moss/Lester were only 23, Buchholz was only 22, Delcarmen/Papelbon/Dice/Beckett/Crisp were only 25-27. Supposedly that would all translate to many more World Series appearances.
How did that work out? They didn’t win even one postseason game from 2009-2012. In fact they finished dead last in 2012, a whopping 26 games out.
Moral of the story: Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched.
We still had a great run with 95, 95, 89, 90, 69, and 97 wins in the following 6 seasons after 2007.
Actually winning the WS is much more of a crap shoot than having great teams. We probably had the best team in 2008, and probably had the best team in 2011, thru August. But a WS is never guaranteed no matter how good you are. The LAD are on an epic run, but still only have one WSC in their 9-year run.
FPG – The Philosophizer!! Nice.
Predictions are silly because of all that can go wrong or sometimes all that can go right when it shouldn’t like Boston last year.
For me, start with talent level as your base and in the East in 2022 I think Toronto has a big advantage. The next most talented team is hard to say since Boston, NYY and TB all seem similar. TB always seems less on paper than their final wins so maybe the get a small edge from that perspective. Intangibles like who manages the team jumps TB into 2nd very quickly. I’m not sure there are two worse managers in baseball than Cora (his one skill is he is bilingual) and Boone (Should be back in the press box or TV). So don’t call it a prediction just say the leading indicators favor TOR, TB then BOS and NYY then BAL.
NYY lost Girardi who was phenomenal at taking average Yankee teams in the last years of Jeter and after Jeter and getting them to perform better than expected. Boone is the opposite. He has taken good teams from Cashman and turned them into average teams. Cora simply isn’t qualified to be a manager. His baseball acumen is non-existent like Devers. Unlike Devers, who has physical talents Cora completely lacks managerial talent other than baby sitting his one key player who doesn’t speak English. Both use ridiculously bad batting orders. Both have no idea how to handle their pitching staffs and both try so hard to remain cool and collected that the teams play uninspired. If either team has a good year it will be in spite of their manager.
Also, the GMs have performed badly as well this off season. Bloom sat on his hands for 2 1/2 years before finally contracting an all-star level player and Cashman has more money than god to spend on players and didn’t do his usual over kill. Any guy that contracts Gerrit Cole AFTER the team is over the first threshold of the luxury tax is NOT worried about spending money. Since he bathed Boone in riches and it didn’t work maybe he’s trying tough love and is pulling punches on grabbing available star players. Hard to tell but both teams appear to be bathing in Chaos. Thus, the door opens for TOR and for TB to continue their recent success. Funny, TB seems even better than they were when Bloom was there!!! I wonder why?
And there was the Smoltz-Maddux – Glavine Braves.
Joe Brady- I agree with you. I think that winning the World Series has a lot to do with luck. The Red Sox have been very fortunate to win 4 World Series in the 21st century. They have made it to the World Series 4 times and win all 4 since 2004. I think we can look at as a cosmic rebalancing as unlucky as Boston was in the previous century after 1918.
I have no problem with Boston trying to become the LA Dodgers of the East. Your team has to get to the dance to make it happen. I don’t think the Braves we’re the best team in baseball but they got hot at the right time and before you know it they are Baseball World Series Champs. I would not bet on the Braves to repeat this year just too many good teams. This is a different era of baseball you have a lot of very good teams any one of which could get hot at the right time and win it all.
I believe what Boston ownership is trying to do is smart I don’t believe for a second they are trying to become the Tampa North they are building a very similar model as the Dodgers and I think this team is going to a monster in the East moving forward. I think we all know that the time of just buying all the free agents and ignoring your player development system is a thing of the past and the teams that will be the best teams moving forward are the teams that develop there players and make calculated strategic strikes in free agency.
I believe that Bloom is building a sustainable product and that this team is just going to get better from a top down position. The only problem is that every team is also getting stronger and run better and it is just going to get harder and harder to win on a consistent basis.
LOL Toronto is the team to beat meanwhile the Rays win the division 2 years straight…. Rays will rule the division once again, as always counted out.
@SpendNuttinWinNuttin- Yes, but winning the AL East doesn’t mean you’re $ting Rays are winning a championship. How many have they won? ZERO!
I wasn’t kidding. Stay in school, kid. Learn the difference between you’re and your. Also, stop using Sting Rays. Find your own thing to call the team that lives rent free in your dome.
@StPeteStingRays- stop trolling nobody cares for you or your $ting Rays. Don’t worry about me, dummy. Enjoy all your championships. Lol
Good boy. You used the correct word: your!
Hopefully the OF goes better than First Base did for Arroyo…
I hate not having a guy in the lineup that is not a true lead off hitter that can draw walks, get on base by slapping the ball to all fields , and than use his speed to move into scoring position. That’s what a lead off hitter is. Donaldson is not a lead off hitter and this is another example of how the Yanks needs to stop relying solely on saber metric geeks and put a balanced lineup that can manufacture runs on the field every game. I hate this all or nothing offensive side of baseball especially with regards to the Yankees. Time to find a speedy cf, 2nd baseman, etc that can make things happen on the base paths and play solid in the field. That first at bat if it’s long can expose a pitcher, Ricky was the best at it!
@billy. I agree with you. I think the best choice currently on the Yankees is Aaron Hicks. He is far from ideal, but he does have a very good eye and runs well. Unfortunately, he is often injured and does not hit for a high average. Hope they find someone who would be better!!
Hicks is the last guy to put in leadoff…..he’s far too fragile to even think about running him….and he is a switch hitter in his own mind…..top of the. lineup speed probably is a myth as only 1 at bat truly is leadoff in a game….and normally, the 1-4 guys in a lineup are going to get 5 at at bats so maximizing damage becomes much more important…….with the whole league and fandom praying at the alter of launch angle and home runs, manufacturing runs through a speedy leadoff guy seems like an out of place metric in todays MLB.
Donaldson can still work a really good at bat. The opposing pitcher is thrown right into a battle and that’ll benefit the guys behind him. You can always set your lineup with the speedy slap hitter (IKF?) as the number 9 wrap around lead off guy. You have to construct your lineup with the pieces you have.
The Yankees are dying to put together a Rays like lineup.
@SpendNuttinWinNuttin- The Yankees are dying for you to stop trolling, and start making some sense. You should learn something from your name.
If there’s a team that’s the polar opposite of the Rays, it’s the Yankees.
I agree. But they will probably put somebody in there not suitable.
Meh. No. Put him in the third or fourth spot, where there are guys on. A 137 vs 154 is nearly 20 points better NOT leading off.
Really gonna use a 32 AB sample size to justify the point?
Blue Jays are pretty close to chalk in the AL East. Yanks and Sox have major warts, and the Rays need lots of stuff to go right for them to repeat. It’s possible; they have an enormous amount of talent, both on the roster and in reserve. But the Jays have less of a mystery element.
@bobtillman- Yes, the Blue Jays are pretty close. Maybe next season they’ll win the AL East. The $ting Rays will likely win the division, and then come up short of winning a championship, again.
Captain – I liked your comment because many don’t see the flaw in their philosophy. Is it better to make the playoffs all the time and NEVER win or is it better to take an occasional financial hit and win a ring then not make the playoffs as you retool to get pay back in line until your next group of prospects are graduating?
Boston has used both philosophies since 2004 and right now they are failing with the TB philosophy brought to Boston by Bloom. The owners chose to remove the winning philosophy when they fired DD. It’s befuddling when you consider how extreme their profits are either way. Why not select the approach that garners rings not “close but no cigar” results?
The Rays have won 90+ in 4 straight seasons and have been winning games at a 100 pace clip over the past 3 seasons. They won 100 games last year with nobody expect Mike Zunino having an outlier type of season and are returning the vast majority of the roster. Three of the their four pitchers with 100+ IP had ERA’s over 5.00 and it still didn’t matter. For comparison the Jays have had two 90+ win seasons in the 28 seasons since they won the WS. Last year, the Jays won 91 games and they had the GG, SS, top 3 MVP in Semien, CY winning Ray and solid SP Matz all leave the team. The Jays will be good and I think will win 90+ and be the second best team in ALE. However, the Jays will need a lot to go right and a lot to go wrong for the Rays, if the Jays want to catch the defending division winner.
The Jays have Springer all year, the Rays are going to miss Wendle more than many think. OTOH, they have Wander all year, and KK and others on salary drives.
It could be decided on July 31 (or whenever). I think it’s a fair assumption that the Jays shop more aggressively at the deadline. Of course, the Yanks and Sox CAN be more aggressive; they just don’t want to be.
therealryan – Are you serious? The “coulda woulda shoulda” excuse for TB works for you? They’ve had no talent base over the years and in the end a winning team has to have all-star level players to win. Now they have Wander and Glasnow so they have some shoulders to stand on but for every star in TB there are 2 in TOR. More shoulders make for a higher pyramid. Toronto is the class of the East not TB. TB is the perennial Rocky from Rocky I. They have no chance against Apollo but they give a good fight and always lose. Maybe Wander puts them over the hump and turns it into Rocky II but based on Toronto’s current talent level this could be closer to Rocky’s first battle with Mr.T!!! And I pity the fool that thinks TB is the class of the East!!
I think the entire race is a toss-up. I have the Rays & BJs about two games better than the RS, and the RS about two games better than the Yanks. Just playing devil’s advocate, the rotation is not bullet-proof.
Berrios is very good, but has never been an ace.
Love Manoah, but still a sophomore.
Guasman was exactly a career 100 OPS+ pitcher until his walk year.
Ryu ???
Kikuchi’s best year was a 94 OPS+.
The offense is top shelf, but bear in mind that a lot of games were played outside of Rogers. That affected the pitching negatively as well, but I don’t think this will be pinball machine scoring next year.
I also question why they seem intent on going with an almost all-lefty lineup. I expect Biggio to bounce back, but they seem vulnerable to RH pitching.
And I am not at all sure that Tapia will be the solution in CF if Springer needs time off.
The Red Sox are by far the most dangerous team in the American League. The lineup is going to crush it. Dalbec will have a monster year. Story is going to mash. With their offensive stars Devers, Xander, JD, Verdugo, they will crush righties and lefties at will. If Sale and Paxton are healthy in the second half, they will dominate. Pivetta is going to be excellent as will Eovaldi. Bullpen will be better than anticipated. It’s all over AL East. Surrender now.
Very good lineup, but the Rays, Jays, and Yanks all have similarly strong lineups as well, though the Yanks have the most question marks and risk in theirs. The Sox pitching staff is the worst of the ALE contenders though, and it’s not even really close.
agreed. i felt BOS played above the rim last year. think they come down to earth a bit this season.
stormie – As much as I would like to agree with whyhayzee, I can’t. TOR if paired against any team in the East position by position is better. Their outfield is the best because Boston has no good outfielders, I only consider Judge a good player from the Yankees (Gallo is way over-rated), TB has Arozarena and Meadows. In the infield, TOR and BOS rule. by comparison:
3B – Devers – Chapman – Donaldson
SS – Bichette – Bogaerts – Kiner=Falefa
2B – Story – Torres – Biggio
1B – Guerrero – Rizzo – Dalbec
DH – Martinez – Stanton – Kirk
RF – Judge – T Hernandez – TBD
CF – Springer – Hicks (if finally healthy) = JBJ/Kiki
LF – Gurriel – Gallo – Verdugo
C – Call it a draw – nobody stands out
Of the 9 hitting positions – Toronto has 4 clear winners, Boston has 3 and NYY have Judge. The offense in NY is not what it used to be. Add to that a very shaky pitching staff after Cole and I think you have over=rated their talent on paper. Of course any of the teams could perform WAY over their heads like Boston in 2021 so winning the division is NOT worth trying to predict. All that can be said is on paper, TOR has a significant edge like the Yankees had for years. That edge guarantees NOTHING. FYI.. TB has the edge in managers with TOR 2nd and BOS/NYY tied for last far behind the other two. Ranking the GMs would be similar except I would take Cashman before Bloom who is by far the worst.
Good summary.
By Far?
You are only one of a few who think so . MLB recently listed the Top 5 Offenses and Sox do not make the list. Sox Offense is 3rd or even 4th in the ALE – 5-6 th in the AL and might barely break the top 10 overall.
Hope you’re right. But I suspect you’re delusional.
I agree, even though I’m a Yankees fan. But good luck with Paxton, he’s a crybaby, is rarely healthy.
I would count on him.When in Ny he couldn’t be relied on, was frequently injured, and often complained about something, various excuses for not being able to pitch,for example the height of the mound, was one thing that comes to mind.
All other things being equal , end of season Jays team lineup , exchanged Ray, Matz, Semien, Grichuk and Dickerson for Gausman, Kikuchi, Chapman , Tapia and say Bird or Palacios.
Not sure if I would make that trade straight up.
One thing is for sure.
Fans of AL East teams are in for another dogfight. Same as last year. I have all three Wild Cards coming out of the East. If you are in the Central or West, you’d best win your division outright. Or – I suppose – hope that our clubs beat each other up too much & it shows in the W-L record.
Good luck with that though.
Didn’t happen last year. Don’t see it happening this year either.
I was heavily ridiculed for suggesting that 4 teams from the AL East could make the playoffs. I think there’s a decent chance of that happening. Either way we’re in for a treat.
Ducky – I think you are under selling both LAA and SEA. LAA is healthy but for how long? If they have injuries they won’t be there. SEA is TOR from a year ago or two. If things fall right they will be 2022’s newest up and coming team Like Toronto, they are loaded with young talent that needs the experience of a pennant race and the playoffs. 2024 may be the year they go toe to toe with HOU for the Division championship until then they are decent playoff prospects..
Remember back a couple of years ago when BAL and TOR were pushovers and the AL East teams feasted on the AL East opponents for 19 games. HOU, LAA and SEA all have that possibility while the top 4 in the AL East might lower overall win totals allowing a West team to get a spot in the playoffs other than Division winner.
I do too.
I struggle to see anyone outside of – perhaps – Houston that is as good as any of NY, TB, TOR, bos.
& it’s going to be a blast. Another wild one, man. I love it. I hate watching crappy teams. Not a whole lot of crappy teams in the East.
Except for the result of the WC game, which I am sure you will disagree with, it is hard to believe it could get any better than last year. With two weeks left, I was still calculating the playoff odds between 5 teams. With ten days left, Oakland got swept at home by Seattle, reducing it to 4 teams.
With two days left, one game separated the 4 teams. One game!
As a Yankee fan, I was not supposed to be excited about a wild card race. We are obviously too cool & jaded for all of that.
That being said: September was a blast, man. I don’t know how anyone could find that unexciting.
Last year TB 100 /Bos 92 /NYY 92 /Tor 91 with TB g0ing 18-1 vs Balt and 11-8 vs each of the other 3.
Agreed ducky.we didn’t improve enough to separate ourselves from the pack, and with the money Cashman has available to him, that is inexcusable really. If it comes down to the acumen of the manager, we will be in trouble with Boone at the helm. The health of Sevy ,and his ability to pitch well, which the team is relying too much on, seems paramount to me
As far as who should lead off, it may depend upon who has the best year. I think DJ would be a good choice if he has a more of a DJ type of year, or Hicks also could be a good choice if he has a decent year, gets on base at least ,and
Can stay healthy, which are big ifs though. I could also see donaldson, if he’s getting on base at a good clip.
Pete Fairbanks has HUGE eyes
It’s so he can better see the catcher’s signs.
I feel really bad for Duran. As bad as he hit last year, he’s still being blocked by a guy who can’t hit the Mendoza line.
As a RS fan, I’d love to see him succeed, come up in 2023, and lay claim to CF. But even in ST, he still had 6 Ks in 18 ABs, or 200 Ks/600. If he were a GG CF, or a 50-60 SB threat, maybe. But his tool kit doesn’t currently support his K’s.
DBH1969 – Are you talking JBJ or Cora’s adopted son Kiki Hernandez? One of the few lead-off hitters that struggles to hit .250!!
First appearances in the bigs are not often impressive. Duran, if given a FAIR opportunity, should be just fine. Let’s hope Cora doesn’t designate him a scrub like he did Chavis before he ever gave him a chance to play his position. Or now, Cora is practically pushing out Dalbec for Casas and Dalbec proved he can hit and Casas has proven he’s a decent AA player and had a great fall league season which isn’t much different from AA. One guy proves himself and it means nothing to Cora and the other guy is granted a free pass to the starting position just like Devers got a free pass when he wasn’t qualified to play 3B. Politics. If we knew who was in Duran’s corner it would be a lot easier to know if he has a future.
I was thinking of JBJ blocking, and more in line with a roster spot than any particular position. But I agree with your take also lol
Dalbac hasn’t proven he can hit consistently at the major league level but KD has never let the facts get in the way of his ridiculous arguments.
He would get on base at a high percentage but that would be erased by all the double plays his lack of speed would cause.
It might be better to have Donaldson bat leadoff than to have him hit into double plays, which he did 22 times last year. Stanton also grounded into 22 DP, and only two players grounded into more.
Wade Boggs wasn’t much of a baserunner either, but he’s rated one of the best leadoff hitters of all time.
Difference is, with Donaldson you’re wasting solo home runs too. He really ought to be hitting second, behind someone fast enough to break up the double play and ahead of other guys who can homer him in if he’s not homering in the leadoff guy.
A leadoff hitter bats first in an inning in only 40.7% of his at-bats:
beyondtheboxscore.com/2014/1/9/5279736/how-often-b…
smuz etc – I’ve never liked that thinking. The idea that a home run can be wasted is nonsense. Compare the number of HRs hit in the first at bats of a game and tell me why it’s bad to be leading 1 to 0 or better to start a game.
RBIs are driving by the OBP of the batter in front of a hitter for the most part, the OBP of the hitter batting two spots in front of the hitter and there is a dramatic dropoff in the significance of the OBPs 3 and 4 batters ahead of a hitter. 2018 saw Mookie with a .438 OBP while Benny had a .366 OBP so JD had a monster RBI year. His chances of hitting a multi-run HR was greater than anyone else in baseball. The trick to a good line-up with a powerful lead-off hitter is to put a high OBP guy at 9. And if you have another that can hit 8 too then the lead-off man may drive in as many runs as he scores. That’s why Mookie had 80 RBIs rather than 100 in 2018. Cora is clueless and should have hit Brock Holt 9th. His OBP that year was .362 versus JBJ’s which was .314. He should have batted 8th.
As far as Fink Ployd’s stats go, the 40.7% is an average that is directly dependent on the 9 hitter. The better the 9 hitter the lower the percentage of times batting first in an inning. It’s such a big part of the game for managers to understand the numbers, especially OBP and where it counts the most.
Ignore KD he is a troll who said the Sox would lose 96+ games in 2021 and continues to say Cora is a bad manager after he: led that Sox team to 92 wins and eliminated NY and TB.