czalgosz
09-08-2001, 01:05 AM
First, I will chime in on the Royce vs. Valentin argument...
Royce OPS - .718
Manos OPS - .866
(I apologize if this has been posted, I have fallen far behind on this board and did not have time to read all of the 100+ posts on the subject).
Despite how close their BAs are, Valentin is clearly, far and away the better hitter. He is also a better baserunner. However, Clayton is more steady at short.
Clayton is finishing up the season with very similar numbers to what he had last year. Despite his gaudy .264 average (very good considering the start that he had) he is still not a good hitter. He does not hit with enough power to justify his .312 OBP. However, the Sox did not pick him up for his bat, and I remind everyone that Aaron Myette was not a huge loss for the Sox.
If the question is if we have to make a choice between Clayton and Manos, I pick Manos, errors and all. I do like Clayton, however, and seeing as how we have no viable options in the minors at short, I'm all for keeping them both for next season.
Secondly, with Boston and Minnesota both losing, the Sox are now in a virtual 4-way tie for second in the Wild Card race. Not that that means anything (they're 11 games back, after all) but it's quite an accomplishment after being 14-29.
That said, I'm only upgrading my prediction for the Sox's final record by a couple games - to 83-79 to finish the season. A couple weeks ago, I looked at the schedule, and saw who they have left to play. So far the Sox have won one game that I expected them to to lose (against Cleveland last week) and lost one game that I expected them to win (when they got swept by Oakland). The Sox have 21 games left - 6 against New York, 6 against Minnesota, 6 against K.C., and the remaining 3 against Cleveland.
My prediction -
1-2 the remainder of this series
2-4 against New York
3-3 against Minnesota
4-2 against K.C.
That may seem pessimistic, but I'm going off the Sox track record against good teams, which is not good at all. 83-79 will be something of an accomplishment, given the horrible start and the string of injuries, but it won't be anything to write home about.
But on a happier note, The Sox won with Rocky Biddle on the mound tonight, so anything's possible, right?
Royce OPS - .718
Manos OPS - .866
(I apologize if this has been posted, I have fallen far behind on this board and did not have time to read all of the 100+ posts on the subject).
Despite how close their BAs are, Valentin is clearly, far and away the better hitter. He is also a better baserunner. However, Clayton is more steady at short.
Clayton is finishing up the season with very similar numbers to what he had last year. Despite his gaudy .264 average (very good considering the start that he had) he is still not a good hitter. He does not hit with enough power to justify his .312 OBP. However, the Sox did not pick him up for his bat, and I remind everyone that Aaron Myette was not a huge loss for the Sox.
If the question is if we have to make a choice between Clayton and Manos, I pick Manos, errors and all. I do like Clayton, however, and seeing as how we have no viable options in the minors at short, I'm all for keeping them both for next season.
Secondly, with Boston and Minnesota both losing, the Sox are now in a virtual 4-way tie for second in the Wild Card race. Not that that means anything (they're 11 games back, after all) but it's quite an accomplishment after being 14-29.
That said, I'm only upgrading my prediction for the Sox's final record by a couple games - to 83-79 to finish the season. A couple weeks ago, I looked at the schedule, and saw who they have left to play. So far the Sox have won one game that I expected them to to lose (against Cleveland last week) and lost one game that I expected them to win (when they got swept by Oakland). The Sox have 21 games left - 6 against New York, 6 against Minnesota, 6 against K.C., and the remaining 3 against Cleveland.
My prediction -
1-2 the remainder of this series
2-4 against New York
3-3 against Minnesota
4-2 against K.C.
That may seem pessimistic, but I'm going off the Sox track record against good teams, which is not good at all. 83-79 will be something of an accomplishment, given the horrible start and the string of injuries, but it won't be anything to write home about.
But on a happier note, The Sox won with Rocky Biddle on the mound tonight, so anything's possible, right?