What Boston has that we dont...

[eddie83]

That just doesn't have any basis in reality. Put Ortiz on the Orioles while you're at it.

Boston pays top dollar for pitching we don't. What isn't reality about that?

[atomic]

Boston pays top dollar for pitching we don't. What isn't reality about that?

Out pitching is better than the Red Sox it is our hitting that is so terrible. They destroy us with hitting. We just have a bunch of guys who strike out all the time.

[eddie83]

Out pitching is better than the Red Sox it is our hitting that is so terrible. They destroy us with hitting. We just have a bunch of guys who strike out all the time.

We have a ton of starts by pitchers with ERA's over 5. That sure as hell hasn't helped the season. They have a better lineup, no question.

[atomic]

We have a ton of starts by pitchers with ERA's over 5. That sure as hell hasn't helped the season. They have a better lineup, no question.

Yeah but we have Gausman, Tillman, and Bundy who have pitched well and a good relief core. Our pitching is not the problem. It is these guys with no speed who try to hit the ball out even when they have two strikes and there are men on base. How bad a player is Chris Davis? They give you a hit if you just hit it to the left side of the infield but refuses to take what they are giving him.

[Natty]

Deep pockets and a competent front office.

Well there is that.

[Bradysburns]

Davis gets paid to hit HR's and play a decent 1B. He will strike out 200+ times. He is what he is. I don't really care about his WAR or whatever...

If he ends this season with 40+ HR's and 100+ RBI's, IMO he earned his salary for the year. Lets remember he's only making what $17MM a year (not counting deferred money)

I disagree - Davis hasn't always been a Mark Reynolds clone. He has hit for a decent average before. Although, bizarrely, Davis and Reynolds are both sporting .804 OPS's... although Markbuddy's batting average is a full 62 points higher.

That is depressing indeed.

[CheeryO]

Boston is not winning now because of their payroll. Lately their capacity to spend has mostly gotten them into trouble with bad signings like Carl Crawford, Pedro Sandoval and Rusney Castillo.

They have one of the best farm systems in baseball. That's why they are winning.

[atomic]

Do you think that at the end of the 2014 season on Red Sox message boards they were starting thread like this about us?

[25 Nuggets]

Why is Boston doing so well? The biggest reason is the strength of their outfield and DH.

Boston's combined OF (LF-CF-RF) is currently nearly six wins better than 2nd place in the AL (LAA), and the Angels are only that close because of Mike Trout. You can argue Boston has two of the top three OFers in the AL right now -- Mookie Betts is probably your MVP over Trout and Jackie Bradley is outperforming the rest of the field. Even LF is not a problem with the Holt/Young platoon, as LF is a weak position this year.

Then we have David Ortiz. He's going to bat .300 and hit 40 HR at age 40. The conventional wisdom is that it is easy to find a good hitter and plug him at DH but no one is close to matching Big Papi's production; he is a clear advantage even over Edwin Encarnacion and Nelson Cruz.

[Babypowder]

Yeah but we have Gausman, Tillman, and Bundy who have pitched well and a good relief core. Our pitching is not the problem. It is these guys with no speed who try to hit the ball out even when they have two strikes and there are men on base. How bad a player is Chris Davis? They give you a hit if you just hit it to the left side of the infield but refuses to take what they are giving him.

Our starting pitching has the 3rd worst ERA in baseball... that's certainly been a part of the problem.

[Babypowder]

I disagree - Davis hasn't always been a Mark Reynolds clone. He has hit for a decent average before. Although, bizarrely, Davis and Reynolds are both sporting .804 OPS's... although Markbuddy's batting average is a full 62 points higher.

That is depressing indeed.

Two words: Coors Field. That .806 OPS Reynolds has put up this year is good for a below league average 99 wRC+.

Chris, despite a disappointing season, is still much better than that.

[weams]

An extra 60-70 million in payroll.

It's a simple mathematical equation.

An Extra 100 million dollars annually in cash flow from all avenues.

[eddie83]

Boston is not winning now because of their payroll. Lately their capacity to spend has mostly gotten them into trouble with bad signings like Carl Crawford, Pedro Sandoval and Rusney Castillo.

They have one of the best farm systems in baseball. That's why they are winning.

Boston has had issues developing starters much like the Orioles. They have been very good developing position players.

[CheeryO]

Boston has had issues developing starters much like the Orioles. They have been very good developing position players.

Yes, I guess that's true. In fact the O's seem like they're doing better than Boston drafting and developing starters of late, if they don't trade them away first. Still, other than Ortiz the only big money free agent doing well for Boston right now is Porcello. Boston got really lucky with Porcello contrary to the way they've been unlucky with all their other big free agent signings, like Price. Porcello is having a freak season for Boston kind of the same way Trumbo is having a freak season for the O's. I expect neither player will have nearly as good a season next year, but you never know.

[eddie83]

Yes, I guess that's true. In fact the O's seem like they're doing better than Boston drafting and developing starters of late, if they don't trade them away first. Still, other than Ortiz the only big money free agent doing well for Boston right now is Porcello. Boston got really lucky with Porcello contrary to the way they've been unlucky with all their other big free agent signings, like Price. Porcello is having a freak season for Boston kind of the same way Trumbo is having a freak season for the O's. I expect neither player will have nearly as good a season next year, but you never know.

Porcello was a trade for Cespedes. Price is a big FA.