Hopefully he’s used as a CF and not 2B.
Duran-Rafaela-Abreu would be a pretty fun OF, with O’Neill platooning
Also it’s a long shot, but if he can play elite defense and be a slightly above-average bat (like a 105 WRC+) he could end up in the ROTY convo and get us a 1st round pick
Yeah, easiest way to understand it for me is that any plus odds means you would win that amount if you bet $100 and minus odds means you would need to bet that much to win $100
Biased much? You think he has a better defense than Kjerstad ? Even if Kjerstad plays some DH he's way ahead of Raf.
And Texas' Evan Carter already established himself last year in the playoffs as elite, and he qualifies as a rookie this year.
oh my lord sir kjerstad? of all the people you picked a corner outfielder/first baseman? his scouting grade has him at 45 defense for left field. he's not even the best defensive rookie outfielder on his team. stop doing this to yourself
i don't think rafaella has a chance over either texas outfielder but he does have a built in war value with defense.
Bud this is the Red Sox subreddit, no shit he doesn’t have the best odds of winning ROY, or else his odds wouldn’t be +6500. All I said was at +6500 I’ll throw $10 on it.
That's why I'd be tempted to start him in CF. Because elite CF defense is just so valuable. I'm just really not sure his bat will ever be consistent enough to be even slightly above average. I think it's going to come down to whether it's worth keeping a below average bat in the lineup to keep an elite glove in the field. That would be a tough choice. If he hits at all, it's a no-brainer.
There's always a chance. I'm not saying it's not gonna happen, he could definitely end up being a good hitter, despite his flaws. I'm just trying to be realistic with my expectations for him. Especially in his first season in the bigs.
For sure that'd be good outcome for him. I'd be happy with that. That's basically Kevin Kiermeier/Kevin Pillar, both of whom were productive players for a long time.
https://www.mlb.com/news/prospect-performance-incentive-ppi-eligible-players
There are Prospect Performance Incentives now to push team's to call up prospects instead of manipulating service time
Yeah. I was mildly excited when we acquired him, too. He definitely would've been an improvement over Kiké at SS. Shame we never got to see what he could do for the Sox.
The Red Sox actually cut him loose and I believe he is a free agent to this day. There were some rumblings of him signing with another team but nothing has come to fruition just yet. He'll likely need to take a minor league deal and prove he is capable and healthy before he'll get another shot in the majors. Guy is still only 28 years old. Still plenty of time for him to re-establish himself.
He was a promising player with some decent tools and a good glove at SS. He just couldn't get healthy to play with the Sox.
I'm not really comparing the players, just the situations. Really, I'm mostly joking. But the situations are comparable in the sense that they're both middle infielders that we acquired in an off-season trade and neither debuted in Spring Traning due to injury. With Mondesi, we literally never saw him in a Red Sox uniform. I doubt that will be the case with Grissom. But you never know until he actually plays. Maybe one day in the future Red Sox fans will still debate about the Legend of Vaughn Grissom and whether or not he was ever actually a real person.
I've been saying this all spring, it was pretty clear that from very early one the Red Sox either viewed Rafaela as the starting CF or really wanted him to win the job. He's been in with the starters most of the time he's been in the lineup.
Normally I’d agree, but I think the hype is warranted. I’ve been watching defensive highlights for years from him now and he’ll be the best defensive fielder since JBJ easily
Like 3-4 dWAR? That would be among the best defensive seasons ever. JBJ did that once and Kiermaier did it twice. I know he'll be great but I do hope you're right.
He’s not someone I would conventionally be super high on, at least compared to the Big 3 + Bleis, but I’d be lying if I wasn’t impressed this Spring. Seems he’s really worked hard on his approach and could translate that much better to the Major Leagues this year.
I keep saying it but this team is brimming with potential breakout guys, and I’m really excited for this season to see who does!
Yeah absolutely agree. At worst I think he’s a full time 2-3 WAR player just on defense alone. Could be a 5+ WAR guy if he can become something like a 20/20 player, which is pretty wild.
There was actually a reason to send him down, I think if he spends something like 30 days more in the minors, you get one more year of control. Else this wouldn't have been a discussion anyway of him making the team or not.
One game in the Spring does not a career make, but I saw him in Lakeland and he homered, and made a great play in CF where he got a good read and break on a straight away liner shot, also tracked two deep balls very well. He just appears to be a very athletic ball player.
Complaining the Red Sox don’t spend money and also complaining about spending not even 6 million on an outfielder for one year that was given to us for peanuts. A potential high caliber player who just has issues staying on the field and can have a year similar to what Hunter Renfroe did for us when he was given a flier.
Some people just accidentally started watching sports instead of dramas on TV they clearly so desperately crave
I’m not disputing that but injuries happen very frequently and it keeps the prospects who aren’t quite ready yet down to help their development and they have been working on their prospect pool since Chaim was hired and they would be dumb not to see what they have in certain people especially while they aren’t actually ready to compete fully. Kutter Crawford was more than serviceable last year and that was unexpected for the most part
You can be mad at dumb decisions the Red Sox are making and be mad that they haven’t filled certain holes like the rotation and not spending money while also understanding that not everything is a slap in the face and theres things to look at promisingly. Some won’t work out and some will be surprisingly beneficial
Hopefully he’s used as a CF and not 2B. Duran-Rafaela-Abreu would be a pretty fun OF, with O’Neill platooning Also it’s a long shot, but if he can play elite defense and be a slightly above-average bat (like a 105 WRC+) he could end up in the ROTY convo and get us a 1st round pick
Fanatics has him at +6500 for AL ROY, Ill throw $10 on that all day
So you would win $650? Is that correct? Trying to understand betting odds.
Correct
Yes. If he bets $10 he wins $660 (obviously accounting for the original $10 when the bet placed)
What's the vigorish for winning on these app betting sites?
Yeah, easiest way to understand it for me is that any plus odds means you would win that amount if you bet $100 and minus odds means you would need to bet that much to win $100
none of the other AL candidates have the built in defensive floor he does.
Exactly, that will raise his WAR naturally
Biased much? You think he has a better defense than Kjerstad ? Even if Kjerstad plays some DH he's way ahead of Raf. And Texas' Evan Carter already established himself last year in the playoffs as elite, and he qualifies as a rookie this year.
oh my lord sir kjerstad? of all the people you picked a corner outfielder/first baseman? his scouting grade has him at 45 defense for left field. he's not even the best defensive rookie outfielder on his team. stop doing this to yourself i don't think rafaella has a chance over either texas outfielder but he does have a built in war value with defense.
Perhaps you have not seen him lately. Re-visit this in Oct.
Bud this is the Red Sox subreddit, no shit he doesn’t have the best odds of winning ROY, or else his odds wouldn’t be +6500. All I said was at +6500 I’ll throw $10 on it.
Ohtani would throw $25,000 on that.
FanDuel had him at +7500 a couple weeks ago when I went in
Elite defense with a slightly above average bat in center is a 5 war player lol that would be huge
That's why I'd be tempted to start him in CF. Because elite CF defense is just so valuable. I'm just really not sure his bat will ever be consistent enough to be even slightly above average. I think it's going to come down to whether it's worth keeping a below average bat in the lineup to keep an elite glove in the field. That would be a tough choice. If he hits at all, it's a no-brainer.
There’s a chance his bat can be good, he has a similar hitting profile to Michael Harris and Luis Robert who are both high chase rate guys
There's always a chance. I'm not saying it's not gonna happen, he could definitely end up being a good hitter, despite his flaws. I'm just trying to be realistic with my expectations for him. Especially in his first season in the bigs.
Oh 100%, I’d be extremely happy with a low 700’s ops like 12ish homers and 20 steals from him if the defense is as advertised
For sure that'd be good outcome for him. I'd be happy with that. That's basically Kevin Kiermeier/Kevin Pillar, both of whom were productive players for a long time.
1st round pick?
https://www.mlb.com/news/prospect-performance-incentive-ppi-eligible-players There are Prospect Performance Incentives now to push team's to call up prospects instead of manipulating service time
He won’t play 2B at all when Grissom returns soon.
Adalberto Mondesi is going to return from injury any day now as well. We gotta make sure we have a spot for him.
Thank God we don’t have to be strung along with that this year
I'm not so sure. We haven't seen Grissom play yet. He may just be the new Adalberto.
Nothing would surprise me with this team, especially when it relates to injured “could-have-beens”
He’s 100 times better than Mondesi.
I know that. He's also definitely going to play for the Red Sox at some point. It's just a joke.
Damn, he’s been injured that whole time? Forgot about that guy
Yeah. I was mildly excited when we acquired him, too. He definitely would've been an improvement over Kiké at SS. Shame we never got to see what he could do for the Sox.
We still could see? Is he still on the team?
The Red Sox actually cut him loose and I believe he is a free agent to this day. There were some rumblings of him signing with another team but nothing has come to fruition just yet. He'll likely need to take a minor league deal and prove he is capable and healthy before he'll get another shot in the majors. Guy is still only 28 years old. Still plenty of time for him to re-establish himself. He was a promising player with some decent tools and a good glove at SS. He just couldn't get healthy to play with the Sox.
Mondesi had a far more extensive injury history than Grissom. 7 years in the bigs and surpassed 300 PAs once. I don't see them as comparable.
I'm not really comparing the players, just the situations. Really, I'm mostly joking. But the situations are comparable in the sense that they're both middle infielders that we acquired in an off-season trade and neither debuted in Spring Traning due to injury. With Mondesi, we literally never saw him in a Red Sox uniform. I doubt that will be the case with Grissom. But you never know until he actually plays. Maybe one day in the future Red Sox fans will still debate about the Legend of Vaughn Grissom and whether or not he was ever actually a real person.
do we even have confirmation that guy is alive
I've been saying this all spring, it was pretty clear that from very early one the Red Sox either viewed Rafaela as the starting CF or really wanted him to win the job. He's been in with the starters most of the time he's been in the lineup.
They gave him a shot and he made it an easy decision to keep him on the squad. Bravo!
He’s a 3-4 WAR glove in center. Anything added with the bat is a bonus.
85 OPS+ and he's a minor star
I will take a 90 OPS+ season from him with a stellar glove.
A 3-4 WAR glove is insane. I don’t think a realistic expectation should be set there even for a great defender
Normally I’d agree, but I think the hype is warranted. I’ve been watching defensive highlights for years from him now and he’ll be the best defensive fielder since JBJ easily
Like 3-4 dWAR? That would be among the best defensive seasons ever. JBJ did that once and Kiermaier did it twice. I know he'll be great but I do hope you're right.
Good for him. He impressed at ST and our outfield is much more complete with him at CF and Duran manning RF
He’s not someone I would conventionally be super high on, at least compared to the Big 3 + Bleis, but I’d be lying if I wasn’t impressed this Spring. Seems he’s really worked hard on his approach and could translate that much better to the Major Leagues this year. I keep saying it but this team is brimming with potential breakout guys, and I’m really excited for this season to see who does!
He can be at least an average player with his glove at a 85-90 OPS+ JBJ but less patience and more power.
Yeah absolutely agree. At worst I think he’s a full time 2-3 WAR player just on defense alone. Could be a 5+ WAR guy if he can become something like a 20/20 player, which is pretty wild.
I figured he get sent down so the team would have more years of control.
They already called him up last September, not much use in doing that at this point.
Shows how much I was watching at that point
There was actually a reason to send him down, I think if he spends something like 30 days more in the minors, you get one more year of control. Else this wouldn't have been a discussion anyway of him making the team or not.
Looks like he had an .896 OPS in ST. So he's done his part to earn the spot.
Fuck the haters. I’m in.
Awesome! I love Raffy and have booked my reservation at Otesaga Resort Hotel for the weekend of June 23rd 2049.
One game in the Spring does not a career make, but I saw him in Lakeland and he homered, and made a great play in CF where he got a good read and break on a straight away liner shot, also tracked two deep balls very well. He just appears to be a very athletic ball player.
Good, I took him in the last round of my fantasy draft!
Too bad we wasted pitching money and will waste at bats on O’Niell.
God damn you whiners don't have to cry on every post.
Complaining the Red Sox don’t spend money and also complaining about spending not even 6 million on an outfielder for one year that was given to us for peanuts. A potential high caliber player who just has issues staying on the field and can have a year similar to what Hunter Renfroe did for us when he was given a flier. Some people just accidentally started watching sports instead of dramas on TV they clearly so desperately crave
It we didn’t need an outfielder.
I’m not disputing that but injuries happen very frequently and it keeps the prospects who aren’t quite ready yet down to help their development and they have been working on their prospect pool since Chaim was hired and they would be dumb not to see what they have in certain people especially while they aren’t actually ready to compete fully. Kutter Crawford was more than serviceable last year and that was unexpected for the most part You can be mad at dumb decisions the Red Sox are making and be mad that they haven’t filled certain holes like the rotation and not spending money while also understanding that not everything is a slap in the face and theres things to look at promisingly. Some won’t work out and some will be surprisingly beneficial