jacksonianmarch

Stanton less so Judge absolutely Rodon will depend on the health of those around him. If Cortes and Stroman aren't healthy and Rodon is hurt, then I agree. If we get 4/5 of our rotation healthy and Rodon is in and out, we can survive

As slav has noted, I have been quoted many times that mediocrity kills in the MLB. You either bottom out and build or go for it if you have the money to do so. The sox do. So this middling ******** is not going to sit well with the fans.

I thought the sox were two starters away from contention last year. Instead, they are just as backwards now minus their DH and RFer, added an injury prone OF on a pillow contract and subtracted an injury prone pitcher with one who wasn't effective. It seems the sox are treading water at best and fading at worst in a division that is many classes above them in talent. This is shaping up to be a bad year in the Bean and I am not sure why the sox aren't trying to win

He didn’t have a choice. The luster of a WS victory 15 years ago has long since faded. He’s got the best offensive player and the best pitcher in baseball and they’re in window. You go for it

As of right now, the Yanks offense is much more balanced. With that said, I would not have Soto protecting Judge. I would have it the other way around. Soto's career OBP is .421. I would start the lineup like this 1. Soto LF 2. Judge CF 3. Rizzo 1B 4. Torres 2B 5. Verdugo RF 6. Lemahieu/Peraza 3B 7. Stanton DH 8. Wells/Trevino C 9. Volpe SS If Volpe takes the next step, then he can move up. Should Dominguez return to the bigs as expected, he can push on either Verdugo or Stanton should they not be hitting well. Having Grisham as a late inning replacement for Verdugo, moving Judge back to RF makes us deeper. Either way, this offense makes more contact, gets on base more and just added lefty power in a stadium that caters to it. SP1. Cole SP2. Rodon SP3. Stroman SP4. Cortes SP5. Schmidt If Rodon and Cortes are healthy (big if on the former) then this rotation rocks. Schmidt had a big innings jump last year and faded at the end, but his stuff is nasty. He could move up the pecking order if he has a second year bounce. Stroman's add should help even out a rotation that saw no consistency last year beyond Cole and Schmidt. CP: Holmes SU: Loaisiga SU: Kahnle MR: Effross MR: Hamilton MR: Marinaccio MR: Poteet LR: Gomez The Yanks still have a slew of AAA guys ready to step in, but the depth was hit with the Soto trade. Without Peralta, this is VERY RH dominant with the only lefty being a guy who pitches to contact in Ramirez. Relying on Kahnle is a fools errand as he hasnt been able to stay healthy since he had TJS 3 years ago. I love Holmes in this pen, but he may be best suited as a SU guy. Loaisiga is a beast. Effross returning helps. But I think the Yanks need to add a high end closer, which is why it was puzzling they let Hicks go to SF for such a reasonable deal. Rumor has it the Yanks are in on Hader, and he would fit perfectly into this VERY RH dominant pen. All in all, the Yanks aren't done yet. It would not surprise me to see them make another deal for a pitcher or upgrade their offense in some way. Should they sign another starter, Schmidt could be a very enticing headliner of a trade package. But this team is deeper, more balanced and more durable than last year. The Yanks kept their position player prospects in place for either a deal later or to spell injuries. They are unusually thin in the pen right now.

Sox don't have the impact prospects for a true Pedro type trade right now. I am really perplexed by the Sox direction. They SHOULD have a really solid pen this year if they leave the guys out there that are already there. Heck, they can pawn off Jensen and still have a solid pen The sox dealt off Sale, who was serviceable last year and brought in Giolito who was an auto-homer last year. And they brought him to a homer prone park to boot which would likely bump up his HR rate Right now, the sox rotation is 1. Bello 2. Giolito 3. Pivetta 4. Crawford 5. ??? I am sorry, without a serious rebound from Giolito, that rotation is bottom 5. With a rebound from Giolito, it could be below average (20-25 range). The upside just isn't there beyond Bello and Giolito and heck, one body still isn't there right now What I am wondering here is if the sox are either prepping for a sale or they brought in Breslow to try and do a rebuild right. This division is a buzzsaw. The Rays did get weaker dealing off Glasnow, but they are a factory and always seem to find a way. The Yanks got stronger this offseason. The Jays are better. The O's might be in window for a long time. It could be that Henry's edict is to strip payroll and rebuild the team from the ground up the way he had hoped Bloom would do. Remember when I told you guys that 2021 was the worst thing that could have happened to the sox? Yes, you knocked out the Yanks. Yes, you were two wins away from the WS. But what that did was freeze what was supposed to be a rebuild and allowed you to lose a lot of talent without compensation.

What makes anyone think Breslow will be able to do what a decade of sox GM work has been unable to do in rebuilding the MiLB pitching depth

Seeing rumors of the Yanks being the top landing spot for Hader.

Never said he wasn't a total idiot. We just need him to take the mound

What we missed after Cole was someone who could pitch well and do so for 20+ starts. I know Stroman had some hip and rib issues last year, but he’s generally been a durable starter. Plus, he keeps the ball in the yard, which is magnified in YS. All in all, with who was out there, the only guy I’d go bonkers for was Yama. Once he went off the board, the trade market was littered with questionmarks (Cease, Bieber and Burns coming off rough seasons) and the other top FAs had consistency issues (JMont and Snell). Stroman isn’t winning a CY, but I bet he can be a 28-30 start, 165IP sub or at 4ERA starter. I’d put him after Cole in the rotation and allow Cortes and Rodon to have the heat taken off them. It’s a good add and probably the best one for the price and for what we needed

Yankees to sign Stroman. While I think he is a bit of an egomaniac, he is a durable #2. This allows Cortes and Rodon to get their s*** straight. I like this better than getting Snell

Honestly, Tony Mazz posted an op piece about Henry selling and he made a ton of good points. I would not be surprised if Henry moves on

This is going to be the new norm. Negotiation works the best when there is a timeline. Spring training is still a ways away

Urshela is needed because we don't know what Peraza can give and Lemahieu best fits in a part time role. I would rather bring in Urshela, send Peraza to AAA and have him come up and steal the job when Urshela or whomever gets hurt. I like the Bauer idea, but he and Cole hate each other.

A decidedly average player at a position where average is actually a plus is a win. I was surprised they could get anything for Sale. Yes, he had a reasonable year last year, but his stuff lagged and he still missed time. Sale is a broken down old horse and the sox turned him into a guy who should be your starting 2b for the next 6 years. I am absolutely, 100% convinced the sox are heading into a rebuild here. I thought they'd build on a faulty but functional team that had just a few major needs and instead they seem to be cost conscious and shedding.

You need to have a strong farm system regardless. This is one of the reasons the Dodgers have stayed so good. They mixed massive spending with awesome development to be able to make trades for stars year in and year out. Overshadowed with their craziness this year is the fact they added Glasnow to their rotation by trading young, high end arms. The sox development team was humming in the 00s. Just better than everyone. They took down a star laden and older 2004 title team and turned them into a home grown title winner in 07 bringing in a new age of Sox stars. When Cherington took over, he kept the farm churning but he was paralyzed when it came to dealing away pieces. DD comes in and raped, pillaged and salted the earth. His Dev people were mostly kept when Bloom came in and the development has been awful. The sox should absolutely gut their development team. Start over, bring in new guys. Drafting is just part 1 of the dev process. Their issues have not been the draft, per se. It has been the fact that they get these top 100 BA draftees and they turn into dogshit.

I read an article today that the Sox have an edict to cut payroll. They're gonna risk apathy

I think the Sox got good value here, but it send the wrong message to your team. The Sox were two starters away from being contenders last year. They added one and subtracted one. So they’re back at a net of zero. Will have to see how the rest of the offseason goes

If you have a solid option who has performed well in NY already, then you have to prioritize this. I don't want Snell. The guy is absolutely dominant when on, but is a headcase at times and that will be magnified in NY

Dugo is a placeholder for Dominguez. Dominguez slots back into CF, Judge back to RF. The Yanks missed out on Yamamoto, although at that price and with the draw of the West Coast, I don't think the Yanks would have won the bidding anyway. With the two biggest Japanese stars in the world on their team and the closest proximity to their homeland, I expect the Dodgers to be an auto sign for the next decade of Japanese stars should the Dodgers want them. Collectively, they just paid $1.075 billion for 2 players, 22 years of service. Yanks need to pivot, although they don't have to go nuts. With Cortes back and Rodon seemingly healthy, the rotation is still solid after Cole. 1. Cole 2. Cortes 3. Rodon 4. Schmidt With the trade of King, Vasquez and Brito, the Yanks have no MLB depth for the 5 slot or later. They will need to add a durable SP. I thought the Yanks would be the biggest suitor for Yamamoto, but now that he is gone, I think Montgomery is the next best thing. Guy has proven to be able to handle NY and he added a cutter that has made him deadly on right handed hitters. I have seen the Yanks in on Burnes for trade, but he will cost some of the prime position players we are trying to grow into roles on the big club. I think dipping back into the FA pool is the best way to do it. Adding Monty would make the Yanks very LH dominant in the rotation which helps in NY and he was known as a solid clubhouse guy which would help repair what has been broken since Cashman dealt him away

If the sox don't add a TOTR starter, then Breslow and Henry have shown their hand as management unwilling to make the sox a winner

It's $35 mil apiece for his hitting and pitching ability. As a DH, he isn't worth $35 mil per annum. He's a $20 mil per year hitter. His pitching is worth maybe $30 mil per year, but he is out for next year, so the value for next year is zero

They're paying him $35 mil annually apiece for his pitching and hitting ability. This is a dumb deal knowing he can't pitch next year.

I thought he'd get 10 yrs $520 mil. Never in a million years would think $700 mil. Holy s***

1. Soto LF 2. Judge CF 3. Rizzo 1B 4. Torres 2B 5. Verdugo RF 6. Stanton DH 7. Volpe SS 8. Lemahieu/Peraza 3B 9. Trevino/Wells C That is a much improved lineup for sure