Spudboy

In my opinion that issue was far more blown out of proportion than the over 30 policy. Good point.

Most likely.

Why do people assume Taz is gone after 2016? Is he a Boris client? Why won't the Sox make a run at signing him?

No. Please refer to what Ussrname said about Tehran. His mechanics and peripherals are very concerning. The only way I trade Swihart or Benintendi is for someone like Gray, Salizar, or Carasco.

I just saw your post that explains how a lack of mid tier pieces makes it difficult to trade without moving top pieces. So I get your point now. It's milk over the dam now. But Ben left this rotation a f***ing mess that will be costly to repair now. Kind of ironic since his virtue as a GM was that he built good stock in the minors.

This team needs two decent rotation pieces to make it to the playoffs. How long can fans say "IF" this and "IF" that? The bullpen is not a problem when the rotation does it's job. "IF" this team does not have two more mid rotation arms added very soon 3rd or 4th place in the east is it's ceiling.

A Lot to chew on in this post. Are you saying the lack of mid-tier prospects in our system makes it difficult to trade because the Sox don't want to move upper level prospects, or are you saying that other teams would prefer to have mid level prospect to our top prospects? I would think that most teams would want our top guys. It's interesting that you mention Buch and then later discuss trading a top prospect for Volquez. See, to me, Vloquez is another Buch. The differences being Buch has mental lapses while Volquez has psychotic breaks. Buch seems to have a better record of demonstrating elite stuff for decent stints. I would not trade a top prospect for Volquez. The return is, in total, minimal. And that is just not enough to be worthwhile in my book. Just my opinions, though.

Nah, he doesn't suck. He is an enigma.

Did that actually happen? I have heard things about it but I never heard it from the "Horsefaces mouth." Why did he then play for the min. in St Louis? I'm not doubting your knowledge here. I just have never seen any concrete evidence that Lackey would not honor the deal in Boston.

Am I blind or did you not include Betts?

It was completely unnecessary and the FO should have known that what they were doing was not advisable.

But this is two years into this fiasco of a rotation. It won't end soon, either.

Very good stuff. A less expensive and still delicious alternative is Dewars. But I bet you knew that already.

The Sox are now 14-17 in June and 13-18 in the last month. To me, it's easy to see this team 12 or more games out of 1st at season's end. 3rd place is better than last place.

Can't wait for 7 runs.

Nice 1st batter Clay.

And who the f*** anointed you an expert on catching you old geezer?

GO TRIBE!!!!1!1!!1 I still root for Tito!!!!

Oh the torture. Never the less, GO SOX!!!1!!1!!1!

What brand of scotch?

I believe that the Sox should have signed Lester soon after the 2013 season ended. Something over Homer Bailey money, say, 5/110 -5/120. I bet he would have signed in that range. Why they made the 70 mil offer is beyond me. Once that happened I lost confidence that the Sox wanted him back. Over 30 and all that. Just stupid decision making or feltching of the process. I agree that trading him for Cespedes was plain dumb. Unless Cespedes indicated that he would sign an extension for reasonable money. This, to me, was the beginning of a cavalcade of f*** me moves. I believe that after purging Lester it made even more sense to keep Lackey as he was a legit #1 for The Angels and after surgery he was back to being a tough guy to face ( pun intended for my friends here on Talksox ). Sign Lackey to a three year deal at 13-16 mil/yr and wipe out the min. year and it could have been done. I agree that Miller to Baltimore for E-Rod was a good move. It looked like Miller, despite his contentment in playing here in Boston, was likely to get a 2-3 year deal at or about what the Yankees eventually paid him. I don't think that the Sox valued him that high. Although they extended Koji at relatively obscene money so it's hard to say. The problem with blowing up the rotation is that it is very hard to build another one starting from scratch. Look at what we have now.

I am now thinking that Buch was not breast fed. Then ate led paint chips.

What are the defensive issue other than looking foolish catching a Knuckleball?

I meant that fans ( not the experts ) seem to think that top prospects will be a sure fire silver bullet before they swing a bat or throw a pitch in an MLB game. To this extent, the value of these kids is sometimes over stated. These experts you speak of all held Castillo in very high regard "MLB ready" , "All the tools". Granted, Moncada is very young and has lots of time to develop. But what if his potential was grossly misjudged as was Castillo's?

Possibly. With Swihart out for a while and only Butler as a back up the Sox need to be smart here.