A Realistic View at 2024: Part I

[moonslav59]

There you go. The Sox front office is using the Law of Diminishing Expectations on their fans, and it's working. We saw it last year when we were actually pleased with the Kluber signing...

 

I’m not pleased with any of these guys.

 

Campbell has a decent promise.

 

Full throttle sham.

[moonslav59]

They might be out 3-4 starters!!

 

Even so, 25 IP might be a stretch.

[notin]

I’m not pleased with any of these guys.

 

Campbell has a decent promise.

 

Full throttle sham.

 

It’s actually surprising right now how many teams have still not done anything.

 

I live among the Cubs’ fans. The team was not eliminated until game 161 last year. And who have they added to get over that hump? The biggest names to date are Jorge Alfaro and Tom Pannone.

 

Even the defending NL East champs - the Phillies - started off free agency bringing back Nola. Since then? Nothing.

 

The Diamondbacks and Astros? Nothing as well. The entire AL East except the Yankees? Nothing.

 

I could go on..

[moonslav59]

It’s actually surprising right now how many teams have still not done anything.

 

I live among the Cubs’ fans. The team was not eliminated until game 161 last year. And who have they added to get over that hump? The biggest names to date are Jorge Alfaro and Tom Pannone.

 

Even the defending NL East champs - the Phillies - started off free agency bringing back Nola. Since then? Nothing.

 

The Diamondbacks and Astros? Nothing as well. The entire AL East except the Yankees? Nothing.

 

I could go on..

 

Commiseration does not ease my frustration.

[notin]

Commiseration does not ease my frustration.

 

Interpretation might.

 

 

The teams - including the Red Sox - are not the ones in control of the throttle…

[Bellhorn04]

To be fair, Kluber wasn’t so bad in 2022…

 

Even that is debatable.

[moonslav59]

Off to Mexico for 8 days!

 

Merry Christmas to all!

[Bellhorn04]

Off to Mexico for 8 days!

 

Merry Christmas to all!

 

Felix Navidad!

[notin]

Even that is debatable.

 

Not really. Especially when compared to 2023.

 

Kluber threw 164 IP in 2022. Who was the last pitcher the Sox produced that threw 164 IP in a season?

[Bellhorn04]

Not really. Especially when compared to 2023…

 

Yeah, 2022 is debatable. His numbers away from the TropDump sucked in 2022. And I'd like to know what his fastball velocity was toward the end of the year. Was it down then, or did he somehow lose his velocity in the offseason?

 

No other teams seemed interested in him. He was the last thing left on the shelf, basically.

[Bellhorn04]

Not really. Especially when compared to 2023.

 

Kluber threw 164 IP in 2022. Who was the last pitcher the Sox produced that threw 164 IP in a season?

 

That's the magic of Diminished Expectations again...

[moonslav59]

Yeah, 2022 is debatable. His numbers away from the TropDump sucked in 2022. And I'd like to know what his fastball velocity was toward the end of the year. Was it down then, or did he somehow lose his velocity in the offseason?

 

No other teams seemed interested in him. He was the last thing left on the shelf, basically.

 

Nate & Kluber or Eflin & Kluber would have been forgivable.

[Bellhorn04]

Nate & Kluber or Eflin & Kluber would have been forgivable.

 

This front office is really becoming Unforgivable.

[moonslav59]

This front office is really becoming Unforgivable.

 

Agreed, but Bllom could have made this suggestion come true.

[Bellhorn04]

Agreed, but Bllom could have made this suggestion come true.

 

They ran out of budget room for Nate, but somehow stayed well under the tax threshold. Befuddling.

[notin]

They ran out of budget room for Nate, but somehow stayed well under the tax threshold. Befuddling.

 

How many years of Nate were being talked about?

[notin]

Yeah, 2022 is debatable. His numbers away from the TropDump sucked in 2022. And I'd like to know what his fastball velocity was toward the end of the year. Was it down then, or did he somehow lose his velocity in the offseason?

 

No other teams seemed interested in him. He was the last thing left on the shelf, basically.

 

His velocity dipped mid-2022 but then rebounded.

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/corey-kluber/2429/graphs?pitchgraphs=true&statArr=&legend=1&split=base&time=daily&start=2021&end=2023&rtype=mult&gt1=15&dStatArray=SI&ymin=&ymax=

[Bellhorn04]

How many years of Nate were being talked about?

 

3 guaranteed, I believe?

[notin]

3 guaranteed, I believe?

 

Interesting.

 

Four is very risky. The Sox knew this

 

 

Two is worth it.

 

 

Three is the troubling middle spot…

[moonslav59]

They ran out of budget room for Nate, but somehow stayed well under the tax threshold. Befuddling.

 

Bloom misspent. It wasn’t all on JH. The winter budgets of ‘22 and ‘23 were rather large.

[Bellhorn04]

Interesting.

 

Four is very risky. The Sox knew this

 

 

Two is worth it.

 

 

Three is the troubling middle spot…

 

The Sox don't have to worry about it, that's for sure...

[Bellhorn04]

Bloom misspent. It wasn’t all on JH. The winter budgets of ‘22 and ‘23 were rather large.

 

Yep, and JH knows it doesn't look like it was all on him, so it was the perfect time to can Bloom.

[moonslav59]

Yep, and JH knows it doesn't look like it was all on him, so it was the perfect time to can Bloom.

 

He deserved it, though. He laid out a lot of cash from the Story signing in March ‘22 to March ‘23.

 

Kluber was the highest AAV. Jansen was the largest total outlay.

 

He botched the priority, but yes, it did play into the find a scapegoat plan, very well.

[Larry Cook]

I actually wish hang’em Chaim was still in charge!! At least then, we knew we were not going to be in on any pitching!!!!

Bres-slow says he is all in on pitching, but can’t sign anybody who knows how to pitch

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

There you go. The Sox front office is using the Law of Diminishing Expectations on their fans, and it's working. We saw it last year when we were actually pleased with the Kluber signing...

 

Not all of us. Never liked the guy, after he threw at Nunez for swinging too hard.

 

Arrogant pitcher -- so when he still had a fastball in pre-suck Sox days, was it ok for a batter to chuck his bat at Kluber if the pitch was thrown too hard?

[moonslav59]

I actually wish hang’em Chaim was still in charge!! At least then, we knew we were not going to be in on any pitching!!!!

Bres-slow says he is all in on pitching, but can’t sign anybody who knows how to pitch

 

He’s added 5 already- all excellent

[mvp 78]

That's the magic of Diminished Expectations again...

 

Time to go walk out into the lagoon and drown myself...

[Hugh2]

He’s added 5 already- all excellent

 

The only two premier pitchers to sign so far have been OHTANI and YAMAMOTO.

 

One is coming off a surgery and wont' pitch, and we never had a chance anyways.

The other maybe things would be different if we were winners, Yama wanted to go to a winner and obviously now was using other teams as leverage to go to LA.

 

 

The Sox level of interest in Snell/Montgomery will be the real tellers of how serious they are to improve this team.

 

I'm not terribly optimistic.

[mvp 78]

The only two premier pitchers to sign so far have been OHTANI and YAMAMOTO.

 

One is coming off a surgery and wont' pitch, and we never had a chance anyways.

The other maybe things would be different if we were winners, Yama wanted to go to a winner and obviously now was using other teams as leverage to go to LA.

 

 

The Sox level of interest in Snell/Montgomery will be the real tellers of how serious they are to improve this team.

 

I'm not terribly optimistic.

 

I can see reasons to not be big on either dude. However, it's going to rub the fanbase the wrong way when they pivot elsewhere before bidding closes.

[Bellhorn04]

There's absolutely no chance they're even considering Snell IMHO.