Biggest defensive needs

[longtimefan]

I have been reading and hearing from multiple sources that the Sox biggest improvement required is defense. And I define defense as preventing the other team from scoring so pitching would be included. What are your thoughts? I'll jump in later with my thoughts.

[Lipman 1]

Briefly they bring back mandatory pre game work for infielders and outfielders.

[Frater Perdurabo]

Briefly they bring back mandatory pre game work for infielders and outfielders.

Agreed.

We can also get better with holding runners on base instead of letting them steal bases at will.

Positionally, I think we can get better defense from RF, backup catcher, and ongoing improvement/growth by Eloy and Robert.

[LITTLE NELL]

Briefly they bring back mandatory pre game work for infielders and outfielders.

Yes that would be great, when and why did that practice end.

We do need a good bat and glove guy in right field, I'd love to see Sheets be that guy but it would probably be better that we pick someone else up in a trade for RF. That would leave Vaughn and Sheets to platoon at DH.
Though Eloy has improved, I still cringe and keep my fingers crossed on balls hit his way.

[Lipman 1]

Yes that would be great, when and why did that practice end.

We do need a good bat and glove guy in right field, I'd love to see Sheets be that guy but it would probably be better that we pick someone else up in a trade for RF. That would leave Vaughn and Sheets to platoon at DH.
Though Eloy has improved, I still cringe and keep my fingers crossed on balls hit his way.

Robin was doing it for a little while things seemed to get better then they stopped, I don't know why.

[Hitmen77]

Yes that would be great, when and why did that practice end.

We do need a good bat and glove guy in right field, I'd love to see Sheets be that guy but it would probably be better that we pick someone else up in a trade for RF. That would leave Vaughn and Sheets to platoon at DH.
Though Eloy has improved, I still cringe and keep my fingers crossed on balls hit his way.

If they make Sheets our primary RF next year, then they're not serious about improving defense. I appreciate his ability to expand beyond being a 1B and be at least serviceable in the OF in a pinch, but I don't want our OF defense to be a good CF (Robert) and 2 corner OFs who are mediocre defensively. Time for the Sox FO to pay up for a RF who has a plus bat and is a plus defender.

[LITTLE NELL]

If they make Sheets our primary RF next year, then they're not serious about improving defense. I appreciate his ability to expand beyond being a 1B and be at least serviceable in the OF in a pinch, but I don't want our OF defense to be a good CF (Robert) and 2 corner OFs who are mediocre defensively. Time for the Sox FO to pay up for a RF who has a plus bat and is a plus defender.

I agree that is the best way to go but we need to sign someone better than another Adam Eaton but with JR in charge of the purse strings, you never know.

[longtimefan]

Agreed.

We can also get better with holding runners on base instead of letting them steal bases at will.

Positionally, I think we can get better defense from RF, backup catcher, and ongoing improvement/growth by Eloy and Robert.

Absolutely, singles and walks turn into automatic doubles.

[longtimefan]

I agree that is the best way to go but we need to sign someone better than another Adam Eaton but with JR in charge of the purse strings, you never know.

I would venture to say we all agree that RF needs improvement and the Eaton/Mazara era has been a colossal blunder.

[longtimefan]

Steve Stone was recently on a local radio station and talked about the Sox defense. One thing he mentioned was Eloy (probably not a surprise). However, his main point was Eloy continually overthrowing the cutoff man in a futile attempt to get the lead runner and allowing the trailer to take an extra base. It must be real interesting to hear what Steve and Jason Benetti talk about when the mics are off.

[ChiTownTrojan]

I know a lot of the metrics didn't like the Sox defense this year, but a lot of that has to do with guys being hurt and backups that were mediocre to bad. If Robert and Engel were available all year, we wouldn't have seen the cast of characters in the outfield including Vaughn, Sheets, Lamb, Goodwin, Leury, Mendick, etc. that are all sub-par defensive outfielders. These guys can fill in from time to time over the course of 162, but if they're out there every day it will bring down the overall numbers and the lost runs will start to rack up. If everyone was healthy this season, the defense wouldn't have been so much of a problem area.

A quick look around the diamond:

C: Grandal had a bad year defensively - he usually is more than serviceable back there because he offers plus framing, but this year his framing was middle of the pack and the other aspects of his defense regressed. I'm hoping a lot of that can be blamed on his knee issues that plagued him all season (starting in Spring Training) and he gets healthy over the winter and can get back to his previous form. It's really the only option, because the Sox need his bat in the lineup and they have other guys that have to be put in the DH spot. Besides, the backup catchers this year were worse than Grandal. I agree that a solid defensive backup C is a must; Collins can spend the year in AAA and be the first guy up in case of an injury.

1B: Abreu is solid there, well above average. He looked like he was getting tired towards the end of the season.

2B: We got pretty bad defensive performances there all season, from Madrigal (who was improving), Leury, and Cesar (way worse than exected). The 2022 2B is not currently on the roster so hopefully they get someone who is good offensively and defensively.

SS: TA had his best defensive season and has come a long way since when he first came up. He's not going to win a GG, but he's solidly above average

3B: Moncada is a stud, though he's prone to the occasional lapse

LF: Eloy actually impressed defensively this year overall - he's going to continue to rotate with Vaughn (a worse overall defender) between LF/DH, if only to reduce the chance that Eloy does something dumb and hurts himself again.

CF: Robert is a stud as well due to his range and routes, though he's also made the occasional blunder

RF: Engel is another stud, for as many games as he gets in RF. He will likely rotate with someone who is not yet on the roster.

[ChiTownTrojan]

I'll add that some of the poor defensive performance on the infield (most recently in the ALDS, but really all season long) was due to TLR's loathing of the shift. He's on record as saying he doesn't like it, but unless they change the rules this puts the Sox at a big disadvantage.

[Hitmen77]

I agree that is the best way to go but we need to sign someone better than another Adam Eaton but with JR in charge of the purse strings, you never know.

I hear you. But it is put up or shut up time for the Sox front office. They went through the pain of a rebuild and most of their trade haul and high draft picks came through well for them and I applaud them for that, but that's only been good enough to win a weak division and then be immediately outclassed in the post-season. If they're going to cry poor about trying to improve the defense (among other things), then this team is hopeless.

[Lipman 1]

I hear you. But it is put up or shut up time for the Sox front office. They went through the pain of a rebuild and most of their trade haul and high draft picks came through well for them and I applaud them for that, but that's only been good enough to win a weak division and then be immediately outclassed in the post-season. If they're going to cry poor about trying to improve the defense (among other things), then this team is hopeless.

We'll see what happens but nothing ever really surprises me anymore with the Sox when it comes to one of JR's favorite phrases, "fiscal responsibility."

[ChiTownTrojan]

I hear you. But it is put up or shut up time for the Sox front office. They went through the pain of a rebuild and most of their trade haul and high draft picks came through well for them and I applaud them for that, but that's only been good enough to win a weak division and then be immediately outclassed in the post-season. If they're going to cry poor about trying to improve the defense (among other things), then this team is hopeless.

Generally it's a lot cheaper to fix the defense than it is to fix the offense. There's good reason for that though - offense is more valuable to a team than defense. I think eschewing offense in favor of defense would be short-sighted.

There's really only one available free agent at a position of need that would help both offensively and defensively, and that's Marcus Semien. He should be Hahn's #1 target this offseason, unless he's going the trade route.