a700hitter

If he doesn't make any moves to improve the pitching, they will be a last place, 90+ loss team again, and it will be another season of zero meaningful games after August 1st. The Sox had their worst season in 46 years. They need to be aggressive this season just to get back to respectable. They can be aggressive and improve the team without breaking the bank. They need a couple of 30 start 200 inning starters. They don't have to get King Felix. A solid staff that can go deep into games would get this team back to respectability. The staff doesn't need to be spectacular. If Lester and Buchholz improve over last year and the back end of the rotation is also solid, they would be a respectable team that could chase a wild card spot. If he plays this waiting game and doesn't build the pitching, they will finish last. Finishing last two years in a row can really damage the value of the franchise. Look back when they had back to back 90+ loss years. People were not going to games. In tough financial times, people will find other things to spend money on instead of paying the exorbitant price to go to Fenway to see a last place team full of no-names. I am still confident that we will see some major moves befor December 1st when tickets go on sale.

The Sox were rumored to have made inquiries about Gio, but you are probably right. Cherries is the J.D. Drew of GMs. He watches a lot of called strike threes right down the middle of the plate.

My recollection was faulty on this. The Jays manager who got in trouble for lying about serving in Vietnam was Tim Johnson.

A great team is a while off. Ross would not be an unreasonable move, IMO.

I think what got Epstein in trouble was $104 million for Dice k, $80 million for Lackey, $142 million for Crawford. Those were huge busts. Ross is looking for something like 3 years/$24 million. If he got hit by a truck the day after signing, his contract would not come close to being that type of bust.

I disagree. A couple of starters who eat 200 innings and pitch to a 4 ERA would help enormously.

Yep. People who think there are cheap value pitching options are just kidding themselves. The best pitching value in baseball is Gio Gonzalez who extended with the Nats for 5 years for about $40 million. That was a huge swing and a miss by Cherries.

So far we have seen Buehlre, Josh Johnson, Guthrie and Kuroda get traded or signed. If we don't get a pitcher at the end, I am sure that we will hear excuses like none were available or they were too pricey and so on and so on.

Good move by the Yankees.

I think you are making some good points. There may not be many if any value options left at the end. If there are some, but they are not pitchers, that will not help this team.

86 and 03 were crushing emotionally because hope got so high and we came so close to the Holy Grail. N evertheless, those seasons had a lot of good baseball and excitement. Last year was just a huge downer from beginning to end, and it had zero good baseball. While I would not use the term "scarred", it was the worst season I had seen in 46 years, and it resulted in something that I did not think I would experience. It ruined my enjoyment of baseball for an entire summer. The season was that horrible.

Our late inning and close bullpen was at the bottom of the league.

Isn't Gibbons the guy who used to tell combat stories about his time and Vietnam, and then it was uncovered that he never served in Vietnam?

Unnecessary.

I agree with you, and it does matter.

Iglesisas has little trade value except as a component in a package with bigger talent.

It is ridiculous to say that Trout had the better season because his OBP was 6 points higher than Miggy's when Miggy's Slugging, OPS and HRs were better by bigger margins. Also, no one has mentioned how these players came down the stretch. Miggy's second half was better than Trout's on every count. In August and September when the games are most important, Miggy's performance far outstripped Trout's. MVP's are won by great players who perform best when it matters most, not in May and June, and it certainly isn't decided by 6 points in OBP. I'll bet if you canvassed AL pitchers about who they fear more, the vote would be equally as lopsided.

Mods, how many years of trolling does J_E get on this forum? Ninety-nine percent of his sports posts are just trolling slams at individual board members or the collective board. Get rid of this guy. Enough is enough.

Then explain what I said.

God, what a Hot Stove grouch.:thumbdown

I don't know if Hamilton will be pursued by the Sox, but I'd rather get Stanton in a trade. He'd cost a bundle in prospects, but he's the type of guy who is really worth it. I still maintain that the number 1 priority should be pitching. That is what they need to get the team headed in the right direction.

You've been the one in my face this past week about things I haven't proposed or posted. You have been disagreeing with some phantom a700 the past week.

I'm willing to settle for respectable. Last place and less than 70 wins is a low bar for next year. I don't think hoping for a .500 team that doesn't embarrass itself is a very high or unreasonable expectation. Some meaningful games after August 1st is not an entitlement mentality.

People can criticize him all that they want. That makes no difference to me. I just don't like to be accused of dispensing the criticism when I am not. That being said no activity is no activity. Telling me that they are really busy in the background is meaningless. I'll save my criticism/praise for the actual activity or when inactivity reaches a point where he has missed most of the good opportunities. That would be around February 1st.

Are we supposed to give him credit for working the phones? I don't think so. His worth will be proved by the moves he makes. I have worked with many people who are a whirlwind of activity and work very long hours who get outproduced by others in a fraction of the time without breaking a sweat. If you want us to acknowledge that Cherries is trying hard, I'll give you that, but it is meaningless.