Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - 104 | Boston Red Sox | Profile & Projection

Episode Date: March 6, 2020

No more Mookie, no more Price, no more Cora. New GM. New Manager. They picked up some Verdugo, Pillar, Pawlecki and some prospects. They still have a ton of talent on the roster but the vibes couldnt be worse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I call drinking this. Let me have some of these. Jeez. Maybe. Oh, okay. Come to the Red Sox. Let's do it. Red Sox PPP.

The fans voted them to land at this spot in the order. And here they are. I think the voting may have taken place before the mooky trade. My name's Jimmy. I got Jake. I got Trevor with me. We're at an RV park in Sarasota, Florida. Freezing.

Freezing because the sun just went down. All of a sudden. Someone put the AC on outside. It's very cold. So are the Red Sox. Bam. How about that? You're showing the bias.

Here it comes. Wow. Jimmy and his bias. The Red Sox, we're going to have to, the Red Sox are an interesting case. They traded away Mooki. They traded away price. Price dams them just as much as Moogie. People who might not know that.

For the one year, for the next year. Okay. They got back, like Verdugo and some prospects that aren't going to play this year. They'll. Prospects won't. And they signed, who they signed? Kevin Pilar? Because Verdugo may be hurt for a little bit.

He is hurt, yeah. And they also signed Kevin Ploakki. So they're just racking up the Kevin's. Mitch, he's back. Mitch is back. J.D. opted in. So he's back. They still got a lot of really good guys.

Devers and Bogart's come back. Sale comes back. Erod comes back. But the vibe around this team couldn't be any worse. Yeah. I mean, they lost a pretty good player. And they fire their manager that everyone loved. Who's their manager?

Renicke. Renicke. Ron Renekke. Like him a lot. Nice guy. I played with his... I don't know. Who's...

Josh Rennekeke played with him. I don't know what relation that is. Maybe they're just named brothers. I think it's uncle. First sip of the Reef Donkey APA. Don't love it. Okay. Don't love it.

Florida's not known for their beer. It's a beer for sure. Red Sox. They won 84 games last year. That's just a pale ale. It tastes like any paler. We all know about MOOC, man. I still like the lineup.

They're going to hit a little bit, but they hit last year, and their pitching was terrible. So I don't know. We saw Chavez or Chavez hit a ball to the fucking. We saw him hit a bomb the other day in spring training. Their lineup, Jake, their lineups are right. I mean. I don't.

Yeah, I got a take. I mean, they got four guys in the lineup. We got to play. Can you play the hot take noise real quick? Hold on. Hold on, hold on. This is the hot take noise. I got a hot take.

Okay. And I'm not known from hot takes. I want to have lukewarm takes, but I got a hot one. The Red Sox will finish with a better record than the White Sox. Okay. Leave your White Sox hate in the White Sox episode. As I've been looking at this lineup, and I'm looking at their starters, their projected rotation.

Sure. I think this is a pretty good ball club. Did they lose Mookie? Yes. But I still kind of like this team. They're in a tough, tough division. Do I think they make the playoffs? I do not.

But I think they'll have a better season than people think. And that's probably maybe not what they want. Because if you're a middling team and you end up, say they finish third in the AL East and maybe they win 86 games. That doesn't do much for them. Who excites you here? On what front? All right, Devers, Bogart's Martinez.

Those three. Ben Sandi? Nah, it doesn't excite me. Why? Because I don't think he's that great. I think he's an average player. I don't think he's an above average player. I think he excites me.

I think he's, all right. I think Chavez excites me. If it goes like this, good, above average, dude. I don't think Ben, is a dude. I'm going to look up how old he is. He's young. It's like his third year. I'm going to look at all.

Okay. I'm going to guess he's like 25 and a half. And that's a guess. Yeah, I think he's not a dude. He's a guy. He's a pretty damn good player. He's a guy. I like him.

And he's... Crushers the Yankees. He's a sexy guy. For the juice ball less. Oh, he's not. See, that's where I... It's hard to disagree. And why?

I think he's dorky. I think he's a good-looking dude. In shape. That adds points for me. I like the lineup. I think they're just in a tough spot. You put this team in the ALE Central. Where do they finish?

Third. Behind? The Yankees and the race. No, AL Central. Oh, AL Central, sorry. Twins one. I think they finished better than the Indians. That's another hot take.

There's a chance. I don't know. You didn't do the Indians Peabby with us. The Indians lineups. I think this is a pretty good lineup. And their pitchers are good. I mean, J.B.J. is nothing. Kevin Pilar's in there.

I like their outfield defense besides. Their outfield defense is really good. Yeah, I like their outfield defense a ton. I think there is something you said about Fenway just kind of has a home field advantage thing going on there. Is it because no other ballpark is like it? Yeah, it's a thing. You know, I like their outfield defense.

I like their infield defense. I like everything about this team except the fact they play in the ALE East. Lineup was, I thought I was going to like it a little more. The lineup I'm looking at doesn't have Verdugo in it. But if Chavez can break through, you're going to have a pretty strong one through six. Interested to see what.

Can Christian Vathe. Vasquez do what he did last year because he had actually a really nice season for a catcher. That would stretch it out a little more. I'm worried about that bottom third of their lineup. That could almost be a nothing if Vasquez goes back, if JBJ, JBJs. Pallar had a great year last year. He's not the center fielder. He used to be.

But, you know, I don't even know if I believe, I just said that because I feel like I've read that. But, like, he's still a fucking damn good center field. And I think they're going to have him in Wright with JVJ mostly because right field. that Fenway is centerfield. Yeah, yeah. That's, I mean, yeah, Pilar and right. They're going to score runs. Polar and right, JBJ in center, and then the green monster and left.

That's a really good outfield. Yes. They're going to score runs. I think the-toke about how Beninteney's not that good, but Green Monster's really big. Right, right, right. I think he's a pretty good player. He is, but left field.

The guy can dance, too. Let's not forget that. Left field at Fenway is just easier. Is it hard to hit a home run over the green monster? It's hard to hit anywhere, but yeah, I mean, I don't know where you're trying to go with. that. You were trying to lead that.

You were trying to give me a lay-up for something? I was asking Jimmy. I was asking Jimmy. Why were you looking at me? I was asking Jim. Interesting. Can't see my eyes right now. Yeah, if you want to hit a line drive over the monster, that's hard.

But if you just throw a pop-up over there like Todd Frazier used to, it's like, that's just a pop-up. If it lands in the seats behind the green monster, that's a pop-up. Okay. That's far. Where are we going with this? We're just beginning. I just, I know a guy that's gone over both green monsters. I think if there we, if we're, if we're looking at this.

Looking at one thing here. Yeah. We're probably looking at the starting rotation. It's a pitching. Yeah. Sale. Excellent. Do you think he bounces back, like full?

I think he's just a guy. He's a guy. I do. I think the usage from the postseason and everything like that really messed with him last year. Do you think he should put some fucking meat on his bones? I don't. I mean, I think he should do whatever makes him pitch well. That includes putting weight on sure.

But, like, he's never been a big guy. No. No, but he's withering away. Yeah. He looks skinny. There's no doubt he looks skinny, but I think he's still going to be Chris Sale. If he was 14 years old, people would be concerned. What?

If he was a 14-year-old girl, they'd be sending her to, like, you know, get checked out. You're not eating enough. I don't know what we're talking about. Yeah. get them, and he would just blow fastballs by me. Yeah. So I don't know what that means. If I'm hitting every time, they're going to win that game.

But, you know, I just think that the depth is probably the problem there with their pitching. You know, Evaldi, love him. You know what he does. I think Erod's good. Martine Perez, I think, can be good. I think he's a good back end of the rotation kind of guy. you know I just think this team's I think they're a pretty good team I think they got hurt by bets that's a lot of negative press for them

so there a lot of recency bias there and the fact they play in the ALE East it's tough you know AAL East has two good teams in the front then I don't think they're going to jump them so you know that leaves the Red Sox out of the playoffs yeah yeah and that's ERAD weirds me out because I always think of like oh yeah they have him too

and then I look at it like oh yeah he's been there for like six years Yeah. Like five years. How many? Been around for a while. He had a big war season last year. Erod, sale. This will be a six year.

They're going to, Erod and sale are kind of going to do their thing. You've got Cy Young votes last year. Yeah, top five, top six. Top six. No, I have, who do you guys have as the fifth projected starter? That's kind of what's going on here? I think that's what Red Sox fans are wondering, too. Mine in here, I'm on Roto Champ and it's got Matt Hall.

Matt Hall, yeah. What's your scouting report on Maddie Hall again? I don't have a scouting report on Maddie. I hope you guys did. Not to say, like, you know, anything about him. I'm sure he's a great pitcher, but... Are you sure? If I don't know.

He's a lefty. Okay. That's what I was going to ask. I don't love that because that puts four lefties. They've been lefty heavy for a while. In their rotation. His popularity is down 11%. Damn.

I don't know what that means. No one really does, but baseball savant has it on there. Interesting. All right, hold on. Here's how we'll judge Matt Hall officially. Give it to me. Okay, ready? There's a show random video button on baseball.

Savant's my favorite button on all of the Internet. They're so random. How old are you, 26? Matt Hall, random video. Okay, here's a ball to J.P. Crawford. I'm going to check him out. What was that miles per hour right there? It was there.

It was there for sure. Okay, look, he's 26. His fastball velocity is in the 16th percent out, so I'm sure it wasn't fast. It's not great. That's not a guy you want. Soft throwing left it. You'd love to have it. I like that.

Maybe he's got the Tommy Malone stuff. We just watched Tommy today. He can dice you up if he's spotting his pitches. The problem with that is you're not always going to be spotting your pitches. And you've got to face lineups like the Yankees and the Rays and everybody else. It's got a ton of right-handed hitters and a couple bad pitches and you're out of the game. Workman had a really nice year out of the pin for them. We'll see if he can repeat it.

Outside of that, I don't know. and I don't know Bullpen guys Flex a lot Oh God Tough random video He's looking at a random flu Video

It's just called out on strikes versus some lefty I mean that was when I played For the Raising 2017 It was the worst year of my life Oh Phillies Phillies Oh that too

That wasn't a great year either Sale Sale can be really good He still has question marks After last year Yeah but sales still Stop it dude Don't give me

He's got question marks. No, like injury stuff. Like the dude was banged up last year. I'm just not going to have that. I think Erod's going to Erod. I don't think you're going to expect him to be elite. I don't know. I think that's more than fair, but I think E.Rod's going to ERAD.

Avaldi, I like Avaldi. His stuff is kind of crazy, but he has an injury history that we don't need to die. They need to send him to Brent Strom. Matt Hall? I don't know anything about Matt Hall. But, you know, let's hope that Matt Hall makes a huge step. They found something. I think Chris Sale is going to have a huge here.

Can anything happen that the Red Sox jump, the Rays, or the Yankees? Not the Yankees. No, I don't think it's what they want to happen. Not the Yankees, but I don't know. The Rays are, I don't want to say they're unknown because they did it last year and they're going to do it again. They just seem to always figure it out. Right. Well run.

They are. And I do love Hymn. I think Haim knows what he's doing. Do you think, so do you think they're going to be sellers? I think they could be. 100%. You know, that's, I don't like that as a player where teams get to the deadline and they're going to like, you know, we're not going to play out, so let's sell off.

I understand where he's, he'd come from. But I think he had, I think in his mind, in Haim's mind, he thinks that he has a chance to re-sign Mookie. That's, I mean, that's kind of the hot rumor, right? So then you're not selling anything. Unless, no, no, then you're selling true rentals. Like you're selling, like, what if a team really wants JBJ's defense and speed for their postseason run? Pilar.

Pilar. Pilar as well. Those guys could be, Brinan, Workman, was good for them. Mitch. I think you could sell Mitch at the deadline. I think you can sell Pilar at the deadline. I think you sell JBJ at the deadline. Mitch Morland's got some money attached for me.

I think Vasquez could be sold to the deadline. Teams are always on the hunt for catchers. Catchers always get moved. But he's got a year, another year. That doesn't matter. I know, but I'm just saying if they think that, if they think Moogie's going to come back and they're going to fully compete in 2021, maybe they keep, maybe they keep fast. I think they definitely could be sellers of the deadline. I just had my nice guy speech queued up that, you know, the Sox team, they're going to hit, the pitching's going to come and go on a given night.

The fans of Boston, you know, they'll be loud. Fenway always plays. Love Fenway. I'm going to go bad guy. Could this team be bad? And I'm not saying that necessarily because of the roster. I'm just saying in the past five years, decade, when a Boston team goes south, they can go south quickly.

Hey, that was what I said all last year. Yeah. But, I mean, they landed at 84, 85 wins. They didn't make the playoffs. No one cares about it. Plus 74 run differential, I think. Right. So I don't know.

Is there a world where this... Plus 73. Is there a world where this team does go south? I think with the Red Sox, you always have the chance of bottoming out. Oh, stop. No, no. With the Red Sox, no. They're all different teams.

You can't say with the Red Sox. Like maybe this year they have a chance. No, but you can't say historically. I can say historically. And that's what they do. They win a World Series and then they bottom out and then they win a World Series. And if that formula is going to continue, then this would be a bottom out year. And they may even be like totally fine with it.

I can see that they have. It's happened to them in years past where they're not fine with it. They're trying very hard to win and they finish fourth. If they get to a point, they have a bad month. and they're, you know, say June comes around. Right. And they're like, this ain't looking good. Right.

Yes. I think they could bottom out. Because I think they won't, at that point, it will be beneficial for them to bottom out. Right. So we'll have to see how they start out. Now, if this team gets hot. Right. And say they get hot.

Which they could. Are they going to buy anybody? No. Are they buyers? Can they be buyers? Say the race stumble. They would do. And these guys get hot and the Yankees, they're fine.

They're not running away with it. but we'll just say, we'll just pencil in the Yankees to win the east. It would be similar to what the Mets and the Reds did last year, where they're buying at the deadline, but not for this season. So, like, the Reds bought Bauer for the next season. The Mets bought Strowman for the next season. Sure. The Red Sox would be going and searching for a guy like that for the next, for 2021.

That's the only way I see them being true buyers at the deadline. Yeah, I mean, I agree. I don't think they're going to be buyers. But, like, the fact that we're saying they could be buyers, tells you something about the team. They still got a chance. They got a lot of talents, though. I think you do have to view that window a little bit.

If they're around the wild card chase and they can bring in an arm and it's not going to push them over any salary tax thresholds or anything like that, why not? I mean, you're still the Red Sox. What a fucking story that would be. You like that? What if they ran the table and took the east this year? Mookie list. Time comes in.

Everyone's giving them shit. They're saying he balked it. Twitter's response to the trade and he got scared, which is bullshit. I'm going to tell you guys that right on looking at the camera and say, that did not happen. Okay, he didn't get public pressured into asking for more. That didn't happen, okay? What if he goes and what if this team wins the east?

What's that going to do? Jake and I both grow to six feet. My grandpa comes back from the dad. Okay, okay. I love that dirty water. I think I'm on the Yankees train. they're going to win the East, I get it. But if this team's a playoff team, I think that will be an awesome story.

They have a lot of talent. Does Mookiee want to come back more if they're a playoff team this year or less? Like, does he want them to be bad? I think Mookie's not coming back? I think he's really interested. Give me a 10, you got a 10-year-$300 million. Again, allegedly. If they pay him.

We don't know that. If they pay him the most money, he'll come back. Give me your, yeah, give me your percentage. Say there's three teams. 20%. And they're all the same money. They're all big money. Three teams.

Red Sox, are they, are they the forefront? Are they going to absolutely run away with the Mookie sweepstakes if they all offer the same money? I mean, the other team could be the Dodgers. And what do they do this year? Do they win? I don't think the Dodgers can do that. Does Mookie Star grow in L.A.? I think it does, absolutely.

Exactly. So I don't think the. The Red Sox saying I see the symmetry and it would be fun and I think they would welcome him back. But I think the other teams that are going to be involved in the Mookie Betts sweepstakes, it could be the Los Angeles Dodgers where he could win a World Series with this year. And he could become the star of baseball almost. I totally agree. I don't think Boston is like some destination for people as many people will want it to be.

I do think the dollar amount is going to be the main factor. Yep. Yep. Always is. And rightfully, it should be. When you have that chance, when you've worked your entire fucking life, and you have the chance and said, look, I can choose where I want to play, and I get to see these offers.

Like, go and get your money. You earn that. You know how much time this guy's put into this? Yeah. And he's become one of the best players in the game, in the fucking world. He's a top five player. That's awesome. So let him go get his money.

Yeah. Wherever it is. All right. Well, I think we covered a lot of that. They have any, they have, none of their prospects are really coming up. There was one guy I saw Bobby Dalbeck. Oh, my God. Bobby Dalby.

Have you seen Bobby Dalback on the baseball diamond? And Tanner Hawk. Oh, my God. Admittedly, I don't know a ton about their mind of these system. He's freaking piss. Yeah, me neither. Well, they cleared it out because Numbraowski was the GM and that's what he does. Okay.

Shots fired. You think, uh, you think, Resny, resigning? I would, he cannot, he cannot. You can't come up to the big leagues. There's something going on I read about. I don't remember what it is now. But if they were to bring him up, there's something that triggers in his contract,

and it's just not going to happen. I'm official. It does suck for him. Again. But, I mean, you don't feel too bad. I'm going to ignore all those facts because I've decided, obviously, if the Red Sox are out of it, give me a month of Rosny in September.

It's not going to happen. And just go off, King. I would love that, but it's not going to have. The over under for the Red Sox is 83 games. 83 and a half games. Okay. Go ahead, Jim. Is that it?

It's 85 and a half. 85 and a half. I'm taking the under. Like, I think I have them between 80 and 85. So I'll take the under, like barely under. But taking that there. I think things can unravel and they can, I think that. If they're sellers, absolutely.

Yeah, I think their fan base is even kind of like they're letting them know. They traded away Mookie and Price. I know there's sound reasons. Price is a lot of innings for them. A lot of innings. I love him. I think he's going to be great for the Dodgers. Price is a lot of innings for them.

I don't know. You kind of talked me into that buyer thing because I think they could get a little good press with that. Like just and not even anyone's special necessarily. but just bringing a guy, I think Verdugo is a good ball player. I like Rodugo. You know, he's obviously, he's not in the same stratosphere as Mookie Betts, but this team's going to hit, sail bounces back. Yeah, you can back up.

Yeah. You're good. We like to beat, beep, beep, beep. We're making friends here, as you can tell. Give me the over. We get a Spunky Red Sox team this year. I'm searching for a lean here, and I don't know. No, no, man.

Because, you know, we talked about the sell-off. If that happens. If they come out of the gates cold, then we're going to get the younger without a doubt. Okay, we'll play my favorite game then. I will tell you their schedule. Okay, let's do it. Hot start. And see if they.

If you look at the division, I mean, the Blue Jays aren't going to do it. The Orioles. No, but the Blue Jays and the Red Sox can match up tight. The Red Sox are a better team, but the Blue Jays are better now. For you and all the young guys. I don't know about that. The Blue Jays are better I didn't say they're better than the Red Sox.

They're better than, like, they're not the Orioles. They're not the Orioles, no. All right. Okay. The Red Sox. It's a fact that Blue Jays are not the Orioles. Yeah, that's fact. Hard fact.

And they, okay, so they open up Blue Jays, then Orioles. Hot out the gate. Then White Sox. Hot out the game. Then Rays. Then Mariners A's. That's a pretty good opening schedule for them. Then Indians, then Blue Jays.

Then Indians, then Blue So, Blue Jays, then twins than Blue Jays. Red Sox are going over. They're going to have a hot first month. Yeah, look, I mean, that's the thing. Let's see how they start. Yeah, I mean, you said some things eccentricly there that, like the Indians, A's, and some good teams were there.

And twins, yeah. So, I mean. Oh, I know, but the rest of it, it was all. Right. It was like every other, which I think is kind of a regular schedule for a lot of teams. They got the raise, the A's, and the Indians. In the twins. I'm going to lean the under.

I mean, that's literally every other series. I'm leaning the under because I do believe they'll sell. But, you know, there's still a chance. I think they're a good enough team where maybe they can make a run and then I just don't see them being buyers. They could happen. But I think the more realistic scenario is them kind of struggling, understand they're not going to be in a playoff hunt and selling. And I'm being smart. So I have the under, you have the under, Jake.

It's a fake 88 wins. That's too many. Fake buy at the deadline. All right. Why would you fake buy? If you're Haim, smart guy. They try to trick the Boston fans. No, he doesn't give a fuck about the media.

The Boston fans he cares about. Does he? No, no. I mean, they traded mooki. They traded mokey. Oh, the owners don't care. I mean, Heim probably doesn't care either. He wants to get his win total up, though.

First year. And we are. Out.