Red Sox sign Ranger Suarez. 5 years $130 Million

[drewski6]

2 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

I very much disagree with this.  YOu'd be finding yourself on a team losing a lot of games 8-7 with that mentality. 

Also , an 8-7 game is still a lot of fun.

[drewski6]

Im just immune to all the cliches.

If you think that pitching is more important to hitting , youve internalized cliches.

Im borderline that pitching + defense even equals hitting.

Build your team around your bats. 

[Hugh2]

29 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Understood, but I dont care.

THere are three types of teams in mLb

Teams with a top 3 offense
Teams that are trying to improve their offense
Jokes

"Only a Sith deals in absolutes" Obi-Wan Kenobi.

IDK man, the Sox obviously need to improve their offense, especially after losing Bregman but they're far from a joke. They were 7th in Runs scored last year.  

[notin]

6 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

I would have been fine with Crochet, Tolle, Bello, Early, Crawford

So we've added a ton of pitching depth.  But I dont think our 5 starters today are better than they would have been. Or much better.  I think Tolle is better than Gray or will be by season end, Early vs Ranger, I lean Ranger but its not really the same as upgrading a position player who will play every day. The impact of replacing Early with Ranger I dont think is huge.

So fine, you built a team that has elite pitching and sub-par hitting.  I would have went the other way and I dont think its a preference.  I think that teams with good hitting and suspect pitching generally go further than the inverse. 

But I understand that we didnt want to spend what it would have cost (yes, thats thing) to have a good offense, so we put together a great pitching staff cuz the big dogs know that hitting matters more - so youre competing with small dogs for pitchers vs big dogs for hitters and we came up short.

But Im not goin to lie to myself and say this was plan A for us or Breslow.  He missed on improving the offense so he built a great staff.

Okay but.....we;ll need some serious breakouts or great hitting external acquisiitons to win the AL, which we always needed and still do.

The big dogs do not skimp on pitching either, except the Mets, which is why they suck (247-249 the last 3 seasons).

The Dodgers have shelled out piles of cash for Yamamoto, Snell, Glasnow, Tanner Scott, etc.  The Yankees did similar with Cole and Rodon.

Theres no magic formula…

[Hugh2]

3 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Im just immune to all the cliches.

If you think that pitching is more important to hitting , youve internalized cliches.

Im borderline that pitching + defense even equals hitting.

Build your team around your bats. 

Wait, I didn't say pitching was more important, but you are saying hitting is more important.  I disagree with that. 

Hitting is more exciting, it's more tangible, it's easier to relate to seeing a home run go over the fence and watch the numbers change on the scoreboard.  That's why I think people think it's more important.  But that is false. it is not. 

[notin]

2 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

"Only a Sith deals in absolutes" Obi-Wan Kenobi.

IDK man, the Sox obviously need to improve their offense, especially after losing Bregman but they're far from a joke. They were 7th in Runs scored last year.  

Darth Drewski lacks the ominous tone normally associated with Siths…

[drewski6]

16 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

Wait, I didn't say pitching was more important, but you are saying hitting is more important.  I disagree with that. 

Hitting is more exciting, it's more tangible, it's easier to relate to seeing a home run go over the fence and watch the numbers change on the scoreboard.  That's why I think people think it's more important.  But that is false. it is not. 

No, its because run prevention elements include more than just pitching.

[moonslav59]

59 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Pitching can be figured out, and it can come from nowhere. Look at early. Also, you really dont need more than a true ace and a few more average starters to win.

Its simply not the same.

Also, defense contributes heavy on the run prevention side, so its not the same

Offense (50%) = pitching (35%) + defense (15%)

 

That's one view.

I do know when the odds are set on games, the pitcher matters most.

Yes, defense is part of the pitching aspect of the game, but the pitchers face about the same amount of batters as the batter face opposing pitchers.

It's the same argument you hear about what a pitcher shouldn't win MVP, despite some facing 800-850 batters in a season. That's far above the record for most PAs by any batter in MLB history.

Crochet faced 814 batters in 2025.

[moonslav59]

31 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

No, its because run prevention elements include more than just pitching.

And batting involves the opposing pitcher and defenses. 

I can see saying batting= pitching + defense, but a good batter can also hurt the defense. A DH does nothing when the opps are up.

[drewski6]

1 minute ago, moonslav59 said:

And batting involves the opposing pitcher and defenses. 

I can see saying batting= pitching + defense, but a good batter can also hurt the defense. A DH does nothing when the opps are up.

I agree, and thast what im trying to say that hitting + baserunning = pitching  + defense

TO say that one side mattes more, I disagree with. I disagree less if someone says the offensive side matters more, but I wouldnt go as far as to say I believe that run creation > run prevention. 

But I think that defense > baserunning.  Its just logic

Run creation = run prevention
hitting + baserunning = pitching + defense
defense > baserunning

Therefore

hitting > pitching

[Old Red]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

Maybe they misjudged the idea that Breggie was going to sign with the Cubs, unless the Sox adjusted their offer. Maybe they just held firm on the no trade clause.

I'm not sure which one is worth, but both are wrong.

There is a chance they viewed Suarez as about the same as Bregman and just decided signing Suarez with out the no trade clause was a better fit.

I kinda feel better about Suarez for 5 than Breggie, so I'm not going to complain. It does make me shake my head and wonder, though.

I have no doubt whatsoever that Brez misjudged things with Bregman. I wouldn’t have signed Bregman for 5 years anyways. Now we’ll just have to wait, and see if signing Ranger to 5 years was a good idea, and how it works out.

[moonslav59]

6 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

TO say that one side mattes more, I disagree with.

I can agree on this, but I wasn't the one who stated this by saying one was.

[JoeBrady]

53 minutes ago, notin said:

The Dodgers have shelled out piles of cash for Yamamoto, Snell, Glasnow, Tanner Scott, etc.  The Yankees did similar with Cole and Rodon.

As did the Phillies, even though most of it was in-house Klentak guys.

• NYY $90M on Cole, Fried, Rendon
• Phillies $84M on Wheeler, Nola, Walker, traded for Luzardo and #1 on Painter
• LAD $108M on YY, Glasnow, Snell and Ohtani prorated
• RS $74M on Crochet, Gray, Suarez

As a % of payroll, it feels like the top teams spend the same as we do on pitching.

[drewski6]

11 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

That's one view.

I do know when the odds are set on games, the pitcher matters most.

Yes, defense is part of the pitching aspect of the game, but the pitchers face about the same amount of batters as the batter face opposing pitchers.

It's the same argument you hear about what a pitcher shouldn't win MVP, despite some facing 800-850 batters in a season. That's far above the record for most PAs by any batter in MLB history.

Crochet faced 814 batters in 2025.

I think pitchers should win MVP more, and I really dont think they should be penalized for having a good defense behind them. Wins matter for MVP in basketball and thats taking into account something the player himself doesnt control.

I think Crochet was clearly our MVP last year, and he probably should have gotten votes considering where the team was with him vs where without him.  Prob skubal too.  But Judge and Raleigh had monster years and were so far out in front of most batters (more so out in front than teh pitchers were)

but keep in mind, im saying all of this with crochet in place.

You can beat the yankees or the blue jays 2-1 when croceht is on the mound.  But not when anyone else is. Judge is going to eat off your #2 pitcher or he wouldnt be Judge.  And hes prob gonna eat off crochet too, but at least you have a chance.

Sonny Gray vs Whomever the yanks got out there...it doesnt matter, cuz we couldnt hit against their 4,5,6 pitchers last year (they had a lot of pitching injuries) schittler was like their early and he dominated us.

So it doesnt matter who we pitch (unless its crochet) cuz they gonna eat.  And it doesnt matter who they pitch cuz we're not gonna eat.  Cuz we didnt eat against them last year despite them having a slew of pitching injuries.

[drewski6]

3 minutes ago, Old Red said:

I have no doubt whatsoever that Brez misjudged things with Bregman. I wouldn’t have signed Bregman for 5 years anyways. Now we’ll just have to wait, and see if signing Ranger to 5 years was a good idea, and how it works out.

I believe the narrative that breslow accused boras of bluffing and thought he had the best offer on the table and didnt.  We may be better for it, agreed.

So I agree here. With all of it.

[moonslav59]

9 minutes ago, Old Red said:

I have no doubt whatsoever that Brez misjudged things with Bregman. I wouldn’t have signed Bregman for 5 years anyways. Now we’ll just have to wait, and see if signing Ranger to 5 years was a good idea, and how it works out.

He's younger, so I feel "safer" with Ranger- whatever that's worth.

We really needed a 3Bman more than a #2 SP'er, once we got SGray, so that's where I see the rub.

[moonslav59]

7 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Judge is going to eat off your #2 pitcher or he wouldnt be Judge.

But, what if he gets hurt?

[drewski6]

Just now, moonslav59 said:

But, what if he gets hurt?

we win the the 2026 playoff series against them 

[drewski6]

My only point is if anyone other than Crochet is on the mound (and Judge is healthy) or vs Tor (and Vlad is healthy)

Our best way to win is to score some runs vs hoping that a starter who isnt crochet blanks the 2 superstars 3 times and then our bp blanks em another 2.

Score3 runs so if judge goes 2-5 with 2 rbis we can win.  HOping that Gray/Ranger blank judge over and over again is asking for a lot (IMO)

[drewski6]

but whats done and done and we chose to upgrade our #2,3,4 pitchers to Gray,Ranger, Oviedo

I would have put more focus into the bats, but im not throwing in any towels. Im not pumpsie, and judge could get hurt.

I also think our lineup will improve MULTIPLE TIMES between now and next playoffs.

So thats not just paredes.  Thats paredes + an offensive bust out from somewhere + another deadline bat.

Slackers get benched.

[moonslav59]

4 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

we win the the 2026 playoff series against them 

...and if Romy gets hurt, they do?

Just razzin' you!

[drewski6]

if we are noodling at the plate and bres doenst get a big bopper at the deadline , hes out for the same reason bloom was. I dont think brez fails a third deadline with so much on the line.

[mvp 78]

1 hour ago, drewski6 said:

No, its because run prevention elements include more than just pitching.

Sure, but have you seen the Sox IF?

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

if we are noodling at the plate and bres doenst get a big bopper at the deadline , hes out for the same reason bloom was. I dont think brez fails a third deadline with so much on the line.

JH can't get rid of Breslow as quickly as he has with the previous ones. I think Craig makes it to the mysterious year 5. 

[drewski6]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

JH can't get rid of Breslow as quickly as he has with the previous ones. I think Craig makes it to the mysterious year 5. 

Why?

[drewski6]

If you are worried about who will be gm after breslow if we fire breslow the answer is cora.

[drewski6]

If Cora likes breslow and wants breslow in his role, then we are stuck with breslow until king cora says we can move on

If cora doesnt like breslow , breslow should be fired immediately

[mvp 78]

 

[mvp 78]

18 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Why?

He had to go 10 deep to find Breslow last time. Nobody outside the org wanted to come here. If he fires Breslow, he won't find anyone qualified. The search will be a joke. 

[mvp 78]

18 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

If you are worried about who will be gm after breslow if we fire breslow the answer is cora.

Yuck. I'll stick with Breslow for a while then.