jacksonianmarch

You have a point

Yanks even? We got s*** from Paxton. We lost Happ and Tanaka. We have German, Taillon and Kluber (we shall see if he’s healthy) from day 1 and Sevy returns mid season. The Yanks are far better

Leiter would be an awesome pick if he falls that far. I could have sworn it would have been Rocker-Leiter or vice versa 1-2

I also forgot Rich Hill, who himself is no iron man. Not sure what it is, but the last two seasons, they've survived and thrived.

They need a starter to go 4 innings. That’s it. Their pen is top notch

They also have a ton of minor league level talent in the rotation. They added Archer, who is a crap shoot, but had great success in TB. They added Wacha who is also a crap shoot, most likely crap. They have McLanahan, Honeywell and Patino. Glasnow is an ace, but cannot stay healthy. Yarbrough is solid for what they need. Chirinos is out for the year, so he is no help there. We shall see. They have top level talent. They also get a full year of Arozarena, who looks like a beast. We shall see, but I think they are gonna make the POs

The Rays still have that pen, they’ve got an ace in Glasnow and who knows behind him with Yarbrough as the most consistent option. Their offense is interchangeable as well. They operate by having their starter go 4-5 innings then shutting everyone down after that with the type of team that can scratch a run home late on the bases. The Rays will be better than the sox

You can’t beat New England from May to October. And with the warmer fall, even up to December. I’m beginning to venture to the outdoors far more these past few years, so when the freeze hit and the snow covered everything, it made for a far more miserable winter!

Heller was never short on talent or stuff, just health. It makes tons of sense for the Sox to go after him. He’s got back end pen talent

My kids are little and family is in New England, so I’ve no prayer of moving to the warmth for another 20 years. But snowbirding will be in the cards once the kids go off to school!

Dietrich, Goody and Luetke signed to ST invites. All 3 have a chance, IMO, to make it. Dietrich has to outplay Bruce. There’s currently one open spot in the pen up for grabs. We shall see who shows the best

Dick!!!!! Lol, good for you

Guys, we’re in the worst of the winter with most of the nation frozen. The pandemic has limited travel, so those of us who rely on a getaway are stuck to wallow in the cold. Football is over, pitchers and catchers report, yet regular season games are not close. Some good baseball banter may be helpful for all.

You think they’re gonna be over .500 with this squad in this division?

Honestly haven’t looked at fangraphs yet

The predictions are always conservative towards the middle, FYI Here are the PECOTA projections for the ALE Yanks 97-65 Rays 86-76 Jay’s 85-77 Sox 80-82 Orioles 66-96

I said a team “like the Marlins” of years past. I didn’t mean the actual Marlins of a specific time frame. I meant a team that was full of kids. Young teams who stink will still give effort when they’re out of contention as they’re just happy to be out of the minors. The veteran teams that drop from contention drop further as there’s nothing to play for and they start to focus on saving their workloads for the following season, especially after July 31, when they cannot be dealt. It’s a theory, maybe I’m wrong. But I’d still love to see what you think the division will look like come Oct 1 Bell

Here’s the funny thing, I’m the only one to post an actual prediction of the division. Tear it apart all you want, but I put it out there. Let’s see yours

The teams that are akin to the Marlins the last few years are dangerous teams because those guys are happy to be out of the minors. The Sox are full of veterans and once they’re out of contention, they’re gonna fade

Your bullpen is a disaster and while adding Ottavino should help to some degree, he is no savior. You got worse in the lineup, even if you added more versatility. Your rotation did get better, but it doesnt take much. If your team went a full 162 last year, you'd have been lower than .400. Most non-contending teams fade harder as the harsh reality of no post season sets in. Now, the caveat of a young team can make late season bad teams dangerous, but the sox arent a young team. Your rotation, currently, is led by Richards as he enters 2021 fully healthy. He is no ironman, but he is a positive and a sneaky good move by the sox. Your 2 is ERod, who will likely struggle early on with his conditioning. When he does start to regain his stuff, I expect him to be dealt, likely in June. Your 3 is Eovaldi, who has shown that you cannot count on him for anything beyond a month or two's worth of production. He will get hurt. He will have maddeningly inconsistent long stretches. Also, this year, if he does happen to have a good stretch of health and production, he should be dealt as well. Your 4 is Perez, who sucks. He does eat innings, but he sucks. Pivetta had one decent year in 2018, then could not stop letting up homers. His velo dropped last year, the sox picked him up and you think he will get better? Lower velo and a penchant for homers now moved to Fenway and faces the Yanks and Jays in a disproportionate amount of time? Wishful thinking. Sale will return, but he will be held back because the sox are likely to be well out of it by mid to late June. Yes, he should win some games, but he may not debut until August as they really arent targeting anything in 2021. This is the trajectory of the sox, IMO. .500-ish March/April .450-.500ish May .450-ish June- multiple players dealt off trainwreck from July 1 on

In light of the fact that I think the sox and yanks are now complete, the realistic view from me is the following. And I am going to predict the entire division 1. Yanks 95-67 2. Jays 90-72 3. Rays 88-74 4. Sox 72-90 5. Orioles 45-117 There are three possible PO teams in the East and a team in the sox who would normally finish a few wins higher in a lesser division. But the real story for this year is how bad the O's are going to be. After essentially sending off any player with 1+ in the millions column and clearly nearing bankruptcy, I think the O's will be a dumpster fire of epic proportions. And it is the perfect storm. 3 contenders in division and an epically bad team. I think the O's may challenge the expansion Mets loss record of 120

This was not a 3 team trade, FYI. The sox dealt Beni to the Royals for Cordero, Lee, and 2 PTBNL's They then shipped Lee to the Mets for Winckowski and another PTBNL The only reason why I think these are players to be named is that the sox asked for 2020 draftees who cannot be moved until 12 months after the draft. If so, then the sox dealt Beni for Cordero (fringe MLBer), Winckowski (probably in line for some big league work in 2021) and 3 guys who are a long way's off. You likely won't hear about the 3 players until June 12th, over a year after completion of last year's draft

Two things: 1. Mookie Betts saw the writing on the wall with the sox. You don't hire Chaim Bloom from TB to be a big spender. He knew the team was heading for a rebuild and veterans have little interest in rebuilds 2. Bloom saw a team with no farm and tons of dead weight on their lux tax ledger. Adding in a player, even a generational talent, like Mookie at his cost would have limited the sox in upgrading some other positions that were in dire need long term. The divorce was needed for both sides. To rehash is unnecessary at this point as I do think there is a chance you fill your SS position post Bogaerts (after he opts out) and you'll have an all star caliber RFer in his stead

You’ll win 75, tops, with that awful roster

If by “chance” you mean you need to see a winning team in 2021, then you’ll be disappointed. 2021 looks like it’s gonna be another race to the bottom for the sox