iortiz

Well a lot have been said. I could make an assessment in the opposite direction as well. If you and others feel comfortable with this, great. I do not Pal, at all.

Honestly, I do not see a clear/solid No.2. I still see big black holes at the front-end of the rotation. I see a sea of ?s and Ifs as well. If they go like this, hopefully not, I'm going to keep my crossed fingers.

A rotation like this could be slaughtered by even mediocre lups, this is what worries me more; and not to mention that this current rotation is not by any means a PO rotation one.

Well, if we go like this, you bet.

If we want to trade a No. 1 like Cueto, JZ, Hamels, Sale, etc, it will always cost us a package around a top prospect(s) or a very good player. If the FO is thinking going that way, wonder what are they willing to give up?. I do not like that way at all mostly if we are going to only one arm and since out there still are a couple of FAs. If the scenario were going for two arms as I have been suggesting I would explore that way, though.

Seems like the Rays are draining all the good things that they achieved in recent years just like that, or what am I missing?

I haven't seen his numbers but I clearly remember a friend who roots for the Braves, complaining all the time when this guy was on the mound haha

... and the the 2011 epic collapse. Aside 2013, most of our issues in recent years have been the lack and the ability to assemble good pitching staffs. Sometimes it was the BP. Sometimes it was the SP. Sometimes it was the lack of depth. Sometimes we went with the low-risk/high-reward mentality which turned into disasters, and sometimes it was the combination of some of the above. Thing is, Since 2011 I've seen this debate over and over again, and for each pitching situation turned into a nightmare and made by our FO, I saw here a lot of brilliant and specific ideas/solutions of how those situations could have been addressed before those decisions were taken by the FO (like the Lester thing). All I'm saying is that you do not need to be a super genius in order to emit an opinion of how this team should be assembled, since our FO has shitted the bed big time as well so many times that I just can not remember how many. They are not the twelve olympians who have everything figured it out and immune to questions and explications by those who load their wallets. Funny thing is that some here and there still think that our FO is a deity or something just because we won 3 WS. When we entered into the 2015 offseason we all knew all along AGAIN, that we needed solid SP, at least 2, IMO. When you see the recent acquisitions and see how they lost Lester, I say to myself, oh boy, here we go again. Sure, There's still time to round the team but considering the recent past hopefully this is not one of those years when I said, I told u.

LOL, yeah! I think that if they round this team with at least one No1. SP, they could be competitive given the division. Also, Hopefully one of this combo or Buch or Kelly turn into a solid No. 2 and the others eat the innings that everybody is projecting.

As I said, Beyond the business operations, I have seen better baseball ideas in this board than some executed by our FO. Happens the same in soccer, some people specially players are always trying to sell us that the sport industry is rocket science, and it is not.

I would say that there is a big difference between CREATE a business and RUN a business. Most of MBA professionals should be capable to run any kind of business like baseball or chemical companies, on the other hand only few MBA professionals are capable to create successful business from the ground up like probably JH did.

haha I have never said that he is not successful business man. What I'm saying is that a decent MBA professional should be capable to run a professional baseball team as well since MBA professionals are supposed to be prepared to run any business regardless the industry or the size, that's all.

yeah, why?

As a fan, even with successful/big/historic teams you can emit an opinion when somthing don't like you regardless the sport, like the Lester thing; this is pretty much my point. Also, I do not think that this is rocket science, IMO a decent MBA person with some kind of knowladge of the game could run this, sorry but I do not see a big deal here. As I said, I've seen here better ideas than some showed and executed by our FO in the recent years. Again, IF they go like this, this team will likely suck, no matter how many experts they have... IMO.

Oh my bad! Well if that is the case, an extra 25-30 won't hurt us more LOL

Yeah, I was comparing the 2014 starting rotation with the current one. Let's put it this way, If you give Lackey and Lester for this combo, I'll do it in a heartbeat. As I said, Offseason hasn't finished, but as it is we have two big black holes in the rotation right now and a sea of ?s and ifs. I think I said it before as well, if they are thinking to use the current staff to round the team around 2 No1 SPs, I'll put all my money on the Red Sox, and I'll be the first one to celebrate the performance of our FO this offseason. I need to see the finished product to make my last call about the team though.

As it is, at BBR estimate 177 M. If we go after Shields or Scherzer we will be over the LT.

mmmm I do not think that this is about to be grateful or ungrateful, this is about to point out when they s*** the bed or when they do the right things based on how I or anybody here sees the game, that's all. I do not care if they win 3 more WS (which would be great) but if I see something wrong, I will point it out, on the other hand, if they do something right I will point it out as well. As for the current offseason, IMO They haven't improved the pitching staff at all, just the opposite. Sure, there's still time, and all we are doing is exploring the possibilities and their probable implications, that's all.

I have noticed that some Red Sox fans get angry when somebody points out a player or the FO, regardless they are executing horrible like the Lester thing and other situations and a lot of personal attacks start because of that. I still do not understand this. Seriously, I have seen more brilliant ideas in this board than what I've seen from our FO in the recent years aside the 2013 WS. Hopefully they finally assemble a good pitching staff this year.

Any No 1 SP would take top talent regardless the names involved in a trade. Hopefully we land this arm via FA, the possibility still there.

Well my recompilation says the opposite, wait and see.

I have no problem in discussing about baseball at all, in the end as you say this is about opinions. Problem is that UN? always start this kind of BS calling out others idiots, whiners or whatever, and is not good, do not believe me? look what just happened. I agree, this should not happen.

Well, probably because I quoted him, and some posters do it at times as well and this is how he notices what he is saying. As for the FO, aside the 2013 WS, they have had a terrible execution in the recent years, reason why I think some are pointing it out and I do not see anything wrong in that. As I have said a lot of times, while some posters point out players or the FO, other attack others, like this time.

Also, I do not remember the last time when a top FA was a bargain; they are usually overpaid... it is what it is... so... show Shields the money already haha

Heeey example...how are u man?, been a while since the last time I talked to u here. Hopefully everything is oks with you. We better add Shields, otherwise it will cost us top prospects if we go for a No. 1 and since we are not going for Scherzer. The only thing, I think we all agree is that we just can not go like this.