Maxbialystock

You refer of course to the 86 years of the curse of the bambino--mostly with Tom Yawkey as the owner. About those purse strings. The Mets, Yankees, and Padres have the top 3 payrolls in MLB and will not make it to the postseason. The two best won-lost records in the AL belong to the Orioles (98-59) and Rays (96-62), and their payrolls are ranked 28th and 27th.

I was in my ironic mode. I think Cora has had 2 terrific seasons--2018 when the Sox were loaded and 2021 when they weren't--and two subpar seasons, 2021 and 2022, mostly because of JH's change in direction as administered by Chaim Bloom.

So you remembered he was suspended that year--good.

Don't ignore 2021, a season when the Sox made it to the ALCS despite having lost Mookie, JBJ, Moreland, Beni, Price, Sale, Kimbrel, et al.

2018 was much better than 2017 at the plate because bringing in JDM made the whole lineup better. Plus it helped the 2018 team when Eovaldi was brought in o/1 August 1. And what happened in 2019 was that the starting pitching collapsed. They went from 85 quality starts in 2018 to 55 in 2019. The Sox team ERA in 2018 was ranked 8th in MLB, which for the Sox is excellent, but in 2019 it was 19th. 2018 was, as you say, the outlier because everything clicked that season.

I can't imagine why. Sox stunk this year and last year--also in 2019 and 2020.

Exactly: Pivetta was really good tonight. Defense wasn't half bad either. But RISP disease (0 for 10 with RISP) reappeared and blew the Sox away. Thanks to splendidsplinter for last night's win and almost 2 in a row.

Interesting. Did you check the box score for last night's "meaningless game?" Attendance was 37,000, pretty close to a full house, and they saw Sale K seven guys while giving up 0 runs in 5 innings despite not having his hard fastball. He did get good use of his nasty slider and changeup, and the Sox won 3-2 with a lineup of regulars plus Rafaela and Dalbec (in for Casas who is on the IL). As for me I watched the game online and definitely enjoyed it even though the lineup once again was disappointing (but not completely so).

I didn't watch all of last night's win, but enough to think Sale just might be an asset next year. Same goes for Bello, Crawford, and maybe even Houck and Pivetta. I'm not saying the Sox shouldn't be looking for good starters because they should. Unfortunately, good starters are pricey--moonslav says $25M/year for 5-7 years--and injury-prone, a horrible combination.

The White Sox hit three line drives for three outs. This was not one of Martin's best outings. Excellent game, however. Good pitching by the Sox and just enough hitting.

Completely disagree. Devers and Casas have two of the best bats on this team and are adequate at 3b and 1b. Nothing needs to be fixed. You want something worth fixing? How about that rotten bat hefted by our starting SS? That's a much bigger problem than 3b and 1b defense. The Sox have a worse record with Story at SS than they had with Kike at SS.

Story has been good for the infield defense, but he sure hasn't helped the Sox win games. Little known fact: the Sox had a better won-lost record with worthless, rotten, stinking Kike at SS than they have had with Story at SS. Historically, especially during the John Henry era which so far includes four WS wins, the Sox have preferred good bats at every position over good gloves. Ideally, of course, the good bat comes with a good glove, but the bat has priority.

Sheer blather. Intensity and aggressiveness are apt football terms but ill-suited for MLB where hitting and pitching require relaxed attention and focus.

AL East has the best W-L record in MLB. I agree this hasn't been a good season, but your whining is excessive. The Sox haven't had good pitching since 2018, but they weren't half bad 2 years ago--not two decades ago as your whining seems to suggest--when they got to the ALCS.

Not really. The two walks to the 8th and 9th batters--their 2d time facing Houck--were the real problem. The rbi single by the Rangers leadoff batter was a GIDP that found a hole. Houck gave up 4 walks in 4 innings. He was lucky they didn't do more damage.

I thought Ortiz, given his bat, was adequate at 1b when the had to play there to play at all. Of course Casas is better. He's 6'5" with a good reach which he has worked hard to make better on those throws to 1B. When he has to throw to 2b, he's been fine. His weakness is grounders, but I expect he will improve there. Meanwhile, he's got the best Sox bat at 1b since Youk.

I believe the sticking point with JH is the 5, 6, or 7 years in your hypothetical contracts. That's exactly what DD did when he brought in Price and the Sale. Don't those contracts apply for both trades and purchases? So it isn't just an $80M commitment, but a $400M to $560M commitment.

Don't you have things backwards? Isn't the first priority for a SS his defense? Story's DWAR (.6) in 27 games is higher than Bogey's (.4) in 136 games.

All good points. Of course the Sox should do both--develop and trade for/buy. But you have also said you want to go for 5 x $25M, 6 x $25M, and 7 x $25M starters. And you have said the best time to do that is in the offseason and very definitely not o/a August 1. I'm defending Bloom's choices/decisions 7+ weeks ago. I am not disagreeing the Sox must obtain starters from outside their minor league system.

I think you and other have over-simplified things. You don't go out and get starters like you're buying groceries at the supermarket. If Kluber and a bunch of other guys have taught us nothing else, it's that the starter market is tricky and, in my opinion, vastly over-priced. I used to listen to a radio show called "Wait, wait, don't tell me" and one Sunday they talked about Whole Foods and how they were joining a coop so that could save up to buy a pear. To me that's the starting pitcher market in MLB. Plus everyone seems to have forgotten that on 1 August Sale was about to return (11 August?), as were Houck and Whitlock. All three were known quantities and paid for. Since roughly August 11, the Sox have pretty much stopped going with reliever starts/games. Even with Paxton out, the Sox rotation right now is Bello, Crawford, Sale, Pivetta, Houck, Pivetta, and Sale--and their WAR's are 4.0, 2.2, 1.6, 1.4, and 1.3. Also, as I have argued far too often, the Sox are about to complete 48 games with just 3 days off--a killer for any pitching staff. Those 48 games end tomorrow, and it's worth noting that in the most recent 8 games the Sox pitching staff has given up 3, 4, 0, 8, 3, 4 (13 innings), 3, and 2 runs.

I like a flexible DH, basically what the Sox have had this year. But I agree Yoshida should get most of the games--to make way for good bats/gloves coming up (Duran, Rafaela, etc). Unlike you, I'm not a big fan of Refsnyder because his overall OPS is below .700. I'm not sure I agree with moving Devers to 1b, part-time or full-time, because I think he is fine where he is, an excellent bat who is good enough at 3b. Same goes for Casas at 1b--good bat, good enough glove (especially on throws to 1b). The thing I don't like about losing Duvall and Turner, which I now think is likely, is that both are good righty bats, which I think every Sox team must have. This makes Story doubly important--and concerning.

On the other hand, neglecting your farm system is a recipe for disaster. You must do both: develop good players who will contribute in Boston; supplement them with acquisitions from other teams.

Hah! If you mean 5, 6, or 7 X $25M, you are probably right. Clever me for pouncing on those numbers, which came from moonslav, not me. But your real point, a valid one, is that the price of good starters has steadily risen. I remain skeptical, however, that money buys success because it hasn't this year. The top 3 payrolls--Mets, Yankees, and Padres--are not going to the postseason, let alone win their divisions. The 4th payroll, the Rangers, are fading and could lose out for a wild card. 5th, the Phillies, look like a good bet for a wild card, but are well behind the Braves for the NL East. Meanwhile, the 27th and 28th payrolls--the Rays and the Orioles--have the best records in the AL. Maybe the Orioles are lucky with all those good young players, but the Rays low payrolls have produced competitive teams going back to at least 2008.

Ortiz was decent at 1b, but only played there when the Sox couldn't have a DH. 3B is a much harder position than 1B, especially that long throw from outside the 3d base foul line. Plus running in on dribblers. And just where were you when Bogey inherited the SS position in 2014 and held onto it for 9 freaking seasons? Most people agree that SS is the most important defensive position, but the Sox have always preferred good bats in that position. Devers is a good fit at 3b and currently leads the Sox in games played, OPS, dingers, rbi's, runs scored, total bases, etc.

Pretty good insights. Plus the latest commentary says he has adjusted his swing to take advantage of going to the opposite field. Plus, as I've already said on another thread, this year Devers has been hands down the healthiest guy on the team with the most games played. He also leads the Sox in OPS, total bases, rbi's, dingers, runs scored, etc.