jacksonianmarch

This is the only time everyone on this board is rooting for the same team

No, because dealing Gray right now is stupid. You can get an Owens, Margot combo for Kazmir as he's under control at low money for another year and has been dominant (if not fragile). Gray is one of the 5 best pitchers in all of baseball and is what, 23? Swihart plus one more does not get Gray

Hamels would be a positive move for next season. He's a horse who has been dominant for a long stretch and would be 32 at the start of next year. Hamels for this year is dumb, Hamels for next yr is a good move, IMO

UN, the thing about getting a guy like Cueto, though, is that you're gonna have to move the top of the top to get him

You cannot enter a season expecting to need an upgrade to the top of your rotation from day 1. Dishonest were the sox FO mouthpieces clamoring for Kelly to be in the Cy Young race because his stuff was just too good. It's okay to come into a year with some holes, but you cannot enter the year with a Swiss cheese rotation. Yes, a team can bludgeon their way to victory, but you need at least some reliable production out of the rotation. I know you love the 2005 analogy, but you're also missing something about that team. Their rotation was 7th out of 14 in the AL in ERA and were one of only 5 teams to get 1000IP out of their starters. And you got 30+ starts out of 4 of your starters. I don't think anyone coming into this year saw the sox rotation as durable, especially when being headlined by one of the more fragile players of our time

UN, you are definitely on to something. A rental for 2015 is dumb, but beating a team to the punch for 2016 would be shrewd

Sox are 32-28 outside of May, so it isn't like they had one bad month and lit the world aflame the other months. They're 4 games over outside of May and 9 games under in May. So we can use the same rationale. They are okay outside of May and were absolutely terrible in May. If their best stretch is okay, then they are a bad team.

But Kimmi, it is the rule of thumb for a large market team. It doesn't mean every player has to be on a big contract, but it does mean paying for your own home grown talent or bringing in top notch talent via FA. If you're a fan of the Pirates, you're happy that they are in contention, but for 20 years nobody gave a s***. If the sox didn't make the POs for twenty years, especially at this day and age, there would be riots and boycotts and s***.

Pal, they might not have much of a choice. I think the only guy they can and might want to deal is Koji. 40 year old closers are a big risk, especially year to year. I know the sox would need one next yr, or a setup guy at least, but there is no guarantee that he's "Koji" next year anyway. Closers are never worth more than at the ASB, and this year is no different. There are about 4 teams who are out of it entirely at the ASB, so you have a lot of teams potentially interested. Plus, he's signed to a big money deal, but with his production, it isn't unreasonable. He's also another guy frequently on the DL. Deal him while he is healthy and don't be on the hook when age catches up to him

iortiz, that is exactly what Ben is, a puppet. I think Theo got the power he wanted in Chicago mostly because Larry and Werner were the guys actually with the power in the org. When Theo moved on, Ben became the face of the FO, but I doubt he is actually the guy with the final directive. It sounds like Lucchino has been swept aside after last year's disaster and maybe Henry and Werner are the guys with the final says on things now. Regardless, if you want to have elite pitching, you need to be willing to pay for it with either cash, prospects or time. They don't want to spend cash, they don't want to trade prospects, and the fans are going to make them run out of time.

Don't look now, but Bird is crushing baseballs again. Got white hot in Trenton, enough to bring his OPS over .800 prior to moving up to AAA. Now has a .880 OPS there. He's got an elite eye and the power is starting to come. He and Jagielo are in a race to see who gets regular 1b ABs after Tex's contract is up after next yr

The owners need to change their directive. They got cocky after 2013 and aren't seeing it for what it was, a total and complete fluke. Firing Ben and giving the same directive to the next GM isn't going to help. If you want elite pitching, you have to develop it or deal/sign it. And with the arb rules as is and how babied pitchers are, you aren't going to see many sub 30 prime aces reach FA

a700, I could have said the same thing about Betances when we saw him get lit up in Mo's final season. Guys with his stuff aren't easy to find. It sometimes takes a bit to harness it. This is his first year as a reliever, and to make that adjustment at the big league level is not easy. I think you let him simmer in AAA this yr, don't call him back up in September, and bring him in to ST with a shot to make the team. He has been this highly regarded draftee his whole career. This was his first big challenge and he failed. Make him earn it, and he will. I really like his stuff. If you don't want him, we'll take him and turn him into a high end setup man or closer

Not really. I think Tazawa is a closer in the making and should do well in that role. I also think Barnes will end up as a solid reliever eventually, but he was a little over his head right now. My question is whether the sox are actually going to "go for it". I said from the beginning this year that the sox seemed to make some questionable big money signings yet leave large holes in important areas that left you scratching your head. My bet is the sox are going to make some more moves, maybe a splash or two, but if they don't have a complete playoff bound roster in mind, they'll fill the closer role internally.

I don't know a700. The directive from above was not to spend on pitchers over 30, so he went out and dealt for 2 pitchers under 30 and extended them both without giving up on their minor league talent. The directive is geared towards not making bad investments, but unfortunately, it is the price of business. You think the Nats are pissed at what they're paying for Scherzer? That guy is the best pitcher in baseball right now. Getting CC was a great investment for us, the bad investment was re-upping him when he was going to opt out. But with FA pitchers, you usually make your bones the first half of the deal and then pay to watch them fall apart the second half. If you want to be one of the big boys in the marketplace as the sox are, you have to make some of those moves to ensure long term, regular success. Taking the small market approach to your pitching staff will rely a lot on development, which takes awhile and will force you to have peaks and valleys in production

You're going to see a market for Uehara, and I think the sox would be dumb not to move him.

Girardi is finally learning his pitchers. CC and Eovaldi have significant trouble getting through an order 3 times. After 5 innings, both guys are on notice and sometimes they don't even come out for the sixth. This has been an effective strategy to allow our pen to get us some victories in the games they start. This allows him to have a longer leash with Tanaka, Pineda and Nova. Granted, the better decision would have been to move Eovaldi or CC to the pen and leave Warren in his place, but that ship has sailed

Exactly. The staff was built without actually looking at the players, IMO. This team was put together with Bill James in mind without any advanced scouting. Masterson was DONE last yr. He was dealt to the Cardinals and couldn't break 90. The guy was effective when his FB was around the 93-95 mark, then he had an abrupt drop in velo, so let's throw $9.5 mil at him? WTF? Miley has progressively worsened in every season he has played. He also was a cancer in the clubhouse, having a fist fight with the manager. He also had HR issues that were worsening as his career went on. What made them think a move to Fenway would help that? Porcello being brought over here is a defensible move, and while the contract was an attempt to get ahead of the curve, it has turned into a total disaster. Porcello had been a #4-5 starter his whole career and came out gangbusters last yr. He faded to the point of not pitching in the playoffs last season and so the move was to deal for him and throw $88mil at him? The day the sox came out and said their whole plan was for Buch to be the ace was the day I knew your team wouldn't win. In order to win next yr, Ben is going to have to make a significant run at FA pitchers or make trades for established pitching rather than trying to outsmart the competition.

A common thing you see in pitchers is being diagnosed with a flexor strain and having a negative MRI only to find out a month later that the UCL was torn all along. It's not an exact science.

Your season ended Friday night when Buchholz left the mound. The only way you guys could contend was to go out and deal for an ace and keep ERod and Buch healthy. With Buch out for awhile and being 7 games back in the L column, you don't have the goods to make it

Refsnyder is gonna be a pain in your ass for a long time. This kid is the consummate pro, takes pitches will steal bases and will hit for a good average

Shay hello to my little friend?

He does, but if he rushes back and rips his elbow, he's f***ed. I said in another threat that you should expect him to be out for 30-45 days. I stand by that mostly based upon the diagnosis given and how long it took Miller to come back from the same injury

Maybe, but we have ARod, Tex, Headley, and Young starting vs lefties. We have a .723OPS vs lefties and .754 vs righties, so we definitely are worse vs them.

I didn't think we'd take this game anyhow, lol. I think we have a good chance tomorrow, although we don't hit lefties well for some reason