Maxbialystock

I agree he can be right and have told him so. But I also intensely dislike his name for the Sox--"Flops." He does that, he says, to prevent the rest of us from being too optimistic and unable to see all the flaws he claims to see. And to me that claim is ridiculous. All of us have found games, moments, months, seasons which we have been more than happy to criticize. My fav is the 2019 season when the Sox had the highest payroll in MLB and couldn't make the postseason because the pricey pitching collapsed and it was going to take a whole lot more money to fix it. The September collapse of the Sox in 2011 is another. The team we are watching now is anything but a bunch of flops. They are young (in MLB experience), and have had to deal with bunches of injuries, but right now are playing solid baseball without Houck, Slaten, Mayer, Crawford, Casas, Winckowski, Devers, et al.

Great for the Sox but also great for Anthony because it gives him and his family security for the rest of his life. It makes owning his own passenger jet and his own Yacht unlikely, which is only to the good. He can afford a very good home but not a dozen of them. He can help others if he so chooses. He can play MLB, maybe even great baseball, to his heart's content. And he won't have to do what Carl Furillo, the excellent right fielder for the Dodgers, had to do--work construction in the offseason. After he retired, he installed elevators, owned and operated a deli, and was a night watchman.

Grounded, shmounded. It is impossible to be a Sox fan and not be very aware of all previous collapses--like 86 years without a WS win. Were you around for any of that? What you fail to understand is that hope is a good thing and vastly preferable to your destructive mantra, "flop sox."

And that's the rub.

Hold it. Just hold it. You don't like exuberance? That's what puts butts in seats, buster. The Sox just played a Mon-Wed series vs the so-so Royals and averaged over 37,000 attendance. Butts in seats are the lifeblood of a team, and you have branded all those paying fans "flops."

Exactly. 1b is almost ideal for entertaining all manner of defenders. Job 1 at 1b is to hit the dang ball, and right now Gonzalez is that guy. If Campbell turns out to be able to MLB pitching, Gonzalez could take over 2b.

You do know, I hope, that it isn't just us who didn't want Grissom sent up instead of Hamilton. It's Cora, Breslow, and goodness knows who else in the Sox hierarchy. Grissom and Gonzalez are both righty bats who play 2b. Gonzalez so far is the vastly better hitter. And Hamilton is a better defender and baserunner than either of them. Grissom could move up if either Gonzalez or Hamilton goes on the IL.

Good call. We do like to gripe, just not as much as you.

Agree it will take 75-80% and maybe has already been tried. I think Cora should use Ref and Anthony for his two DH's and keep Rafaela in CF. Gonzalez with the highest OPS on the team should play everyday at 2b or 1b.

You are both a victim and a provocateur of what I call "perceived deprivation." This is the John Henry era, the best in Sox history including 4 WS wins, more than any other MLB team. The Yankees with 27 WS wins overall have 1 in the JH era. Before the 3 bad seasons of 2022-24, the Sox made it to the ALCS. But you make it sound as though the Sox have been in complete, unredeemable collapse. And by the way it's called the John Henry era not only because he's the owner, but also because he has shown no hesitation in firing managers and CBO's He also gives guidance on how much he's willing to spend. For roughly his first 20 years of ownership, he was pretty much willing to pay top dollar. This culminated in the 2018 best Sox season ever and the highest payroll in MLB. The next season, 2019, the Sox still had the highest payroll and didn't make it to the postseason. Plus DD was telling JH he would need a bunch more bucks to fix the rotation. Chaim Bloom was hired because he came from the Rays and JH obviously was hoping for a competitive Sox team that didn't have to pay top dollar. Didn't work because Chaim Bloom didn't have the time or the knowledge to install the Rays system. There was, however, still enough talent and a terrific manager to get the Sox to the ALCS in 2021. Then came a seemingly endless series of seasons--3 in all--when the Sox were neither fish nor fowl. As a result, word was that, after letting CB go, John Henry was going to have a tough time getting a good CBO. Now we are in the 2d season of Breslow's tenure, and I have to say I think you are dead wrong about how we got here--largely because of JH--and how surprisingly effective Breslow has been in building a solid future that looks like it can be competitive while avoiding the biggest payroll in MLB. Current Sox payroll is 12th in MLB. Of course nothing is guaranteed about August and September--and absolutely no one on talksox has made that claim. But what most of us have said is that recently the Sox have played some tough opponents--four of the six MLB division leaders--and acquitted themselves well. And I claim that this team right now has the best Sox pitching staff since 2018, is in the top 5 in MLB in runs scored, and has at least 6 good defenders--Bregman, Story, Narvaez, Rafaela, Abreu, and Duran/Anthony. Hamilton's excellent at 2b, but can't hit. Gonzalez definitely can hit, but is so-so on defense. I think one of the reasons Breslow has been successful is that he makes most of his key trades and hires in the offseason, not in July.

Yoshida a perfect 0 for 4. Some DH. He's too expensive to DFA, but he sure ain't helping much. 5 untool player.

Given our starter, you have a point.

Cora believes in the dud liberation movement. If you are on the active roster, you can't hide.

Yoshida is being paid a lot of money to be a bonafide 5 no-tool player. He can't hit, hit with power, field, throw, or run.

Actually, the absence of Devers has made the Sox a better team.

Mostly agree on May, but I'd like to see another start.

The Sox runs scored are 4th best in MLB. Ditto their OPS. And Story is having his best season ever for the Sox.

Utility player? He has the highest OPS on the team, at least temporarily--.910. Grissom is competing with Gonzalez because both play 2b and both are righty bats.

Good finish to top of the 3d. 2-`1, Sox.

To err is human, to forgive--anyone but FredLynn.

Yikes, Yoshida. Pretty awful K--and lefty vs righty.

He's at 39 pitches for 2innings, but I like Maye so far. He refused to let that error bug him.

He hit a single and scored a run. Back into your hole.

OK. Rafaela at 2b and Gonzalez at 1b makes some sense. Better than Toro at 1b. Let's see if Yoshida can finally start to hit righty pitching.

Sox did what Royals might have done if that long fly to CF had been dead center of the GM.