The first offseason seems like he spent more time building the foundation (Bailey, Justin Willard) than on player acquisition in retrospect. Regardless of this year's record, the near future seems fairly bright.
The Sox are also missing offensive talent from low A through AA. There are a few high ceiling prospects here and there, but the org is pitching heavy at those levels for the most part.
Criswell has really stunk up the joint, so I could see him getting a demotion at some point.
Bello is still at least another start away. He only went 57 pitches yesterday, but looked better than last time out. Gio is further out? Who the hell knows?
Maybe less about Priester and more about how well Fitts and Dobbins have progressed? Fitts really popped this offseason. Dobbins really progressed last year and then pitched great last night. They clearly believed in him enough to call him up. The trade is also a fairly good value: prospect plus competitive balance pick plus PTBNL.
He said "Ref" not "Raf" which generally refers to Refsnyder. Refsnyder wasn't exactly tearing up the ball yesterday.
Also, the confusion between the two nicknames is exactly why those two nicknames is awful.
I'm sure Dobbins would be thrilled to have an 8 year career like Bolton, but YUCK! Hopefully the next Tom Bolton gets an upgrade.
Bolton first made it to PAW in 1983. His best season for BOS was '90 where he also was still getting starts in PAW. Career taxi squad guy.