moonslav59

We didn't choose Gasper over Alonso. We chose Contreras. Gasper would still be here.

Nobody ever presses these guys.

Winning a division and a ring goes far beyond your top 3 SP'ers and top 2 pen arms, but what MLB has the best 3 SP'ers and 2 pen arms? Projected fWAR: 15.9 BOS - 5.8 Crochet, 3.7 Gray, 3.4 Suarez + 1.7 Chapman, 1.3 Whitlock 14.9 PHI- 4.8 Sanchez, 3.5 Luzardo, 3.3 Wheeler, 2.1 Duran, 1.2 Alvarado 14.1 DET -6.3 Skubal, 3.6 Valdez, 2.5 Flaherty + 1.2 Vest, 0.5 Melton 11.9 LAD -3.6 Yamamoto, 2.9 Snell, 2.6 Glasnow+ 1.7 Diaz, 1.1 Scott Others.... 10.7 TOR- 3.9 Cease, 3.0 Gausman, 2.1 Ponce+ 1.0 Hoffman, 0.7 Valand 9.4 NYY- 3.9 Fried, 2.3 Rodon, 2.0 Cole+ 1.3 Bednar, 0.9 Doval

MLB.com projects the defending MLB champions- the Jays- to have this rotation: Cease, Gausman, Yesavage, Ponce, Berrios (Bieber starts the season on the IL- big surprise.) The "on the rise" Orioles are projected as such: Bradish, T Rogers, Baz, Bassitt & Eflin/Kremer

MLB.com projects the greatest team in MLB history- the 2026 NY Yankees- to have this rotation: Fried, Schlitter, Warren, Weathers & Gil. (The say Rodon is due back in April/May and Cole in May/June.

No even for Masa? OH MAN!!!

Some of it better than their pitching coaches advice! LOL

Hey, join the club. The Sox wnet decades without ever being considered serious contenders. Talk abut hard times: no team ever missed the playoffs ny a half game, except the Sox (the 1972 strike shortened season) The Sox missed the playoffs while winning... 97 in '77 99 in '78 91 in '79 93 in '02 89 in '10 90 in '11

Okay. Somehow I missed that time. Yes, the last team in won 89. So, it's not zero teams with 88 wins, it's one out of 8 samples, where an 88 win team lost out on making the playoffs.

We know. I posted every season since they started the WC format. The format changed starting in 2022. That is the time frame we were talking about whereby no 90 win (or 88 win) team missed the playoffs. None. Nada. Never happened. The last team in won between 83 and 88 games in the 8 samples. (4 in AL and 4 in NL.)

So? Is that supposed to mean that is who he is doomed to be forever? I don't put a ton of faith in small sample sizes, like you seem to do. Tristan's numbers from '22 to '24 is a sample size over 900 PAs. That's larger than the Dalbec one some got all goo-goo gah-gah over or Will-da-Beast Middlebrooks. I am fully prepared for Casas to never regain what he did over those 3 partial seasons, but if we had 9 guys do that, we'd have the best offense in MLB. He's one of the last batters I think needs help with his approach. Anthony is the one ahead of him. If it ain't broke- don't fix it. If he struggles in 2026, then hell yes, try to fix it.

There are several examples where ring teams we horrible at one key aspect of the game.

I'm not for trading Duran for prospects. I said if we are looking to trade an OF'er at the deadline (most likely Duran or Abreu) it would have to be for prospects, because contending teams will not give us what we need. "We'd a third team involved." Duran for Prospects, Prospects to another team and star infielder to us.

So, basically, if we just swapped Contreras (2.2 projected fWAR) & Kiner-Falefa (0.1 proj WAR) for Alonso (3.6 projection) we'd go from 4th plays to WS contender. (Keep Suarez, Gray & Durbin)

It will come down to Cora being kay with it, or not. I think I'd rather Durbin and Mayer stick to one position for the nest 4 years. Maybe Mayer moves to SS, when Story bolts or is moved to 2B.

I'd still prefer a 2B/3Bman over a second SP'er.

Numerous teams have won rings without power, without good defense, without a good rotation and without a good pen. there are many ways to build a ring team, and some have won with a great rotation, average offense and a good pen & defense.

Yes. Stay away from: vs RHP: Mayer 3B/Durbin 2B vs LHPs: Durbin 3B/Romy 2B

Suarez, Contreras and Gray are not dregs. The bigger problem was getting 2 pitchers and not 2 infielders with one being better than Durbin + I K-F. Had it been Alonso + Durbin/ I-K-F, that would be different.

I think they want the Romy platoon option at 2B and not juggle Mayer between 3B and 2B.

That is a difference, but Casas has had this approach through the minors and 3 partial seasons in MLB at pretty much the same success rate. Of course, if he does not have the same success, the whole point changes.

Yes, at this point, it seems like the best approach. We don't need a roster slot, now, so give Masa a look, even if some is at AAA, if he agrees. If Casas or Campbell look great, it might not matter what Masa is doing, he'll lose his shot at DH to one of them. The 4 OF'er logjam will also pressure Masa to a trade or DFA. The best we can hope for is that Masa looks good and some team offers to pay $5-8M of his annual salary, even if we get nothing back in return. Maybe we add Mullins to the trade. With the money saved, we can trade for a higher salary player to fill a need we realize mid season.

Except that we still have 4 OF'ers and 3 DHs. To me, this was the biggest sin of this winter. It would be fine, if we filled our three biggest needs and still had this, but we didn't. Okay, Contreras and Durbin are okay, but neither filled the big middle order bat we needed. Contreras is okay, but he's not "that bat." The problem with deadline trades is that trading Duran will be for prospects and not a piece we need. We'll need a third team to get what we need. That's not impossible, but it makes it more complex than it needed to be. Why overpay at the deadline, when we had all winter to get this done?

Yes, we don't know what's in his head. We do know he hits 30 Hrs per 650, so he must swing at enough pitches to get that great result. His judgement on pitches taken must not be too bad, if his OBP is near .350. His results are more than good enough for me to say, "Leave well enough alone." We have batters with bigger "issues" like Story, who K's way too much and has a low OBP. At best he hits 25 HRs per 650. We have Rafaela who has improved from historically bad at K vs BB rates to just awful. We have Duran, Mayer and Abreu who have had awful splits vs lefties, and Romy, who until 2025 was awful vs RHPs. Narvaez is unknown, at this point. Contreras might be our most complete batter- splits wise, some power, decent OBP... Anthony offers the most hope. Campbell might bounce back. Casas is our best proven batter, when healthy. He's the last guy I ask to do anything different except maybe get into better shape and try to not get hurt.

The Jays added a questionable Cease and Okamoto. Ponce and Taylor Rodgers were nice complementary moves. I'm not sure this is better than Suarez, Contreras, Gray, Durbin, Kiner-Falefa & Oviedo. Do you? The Jays lost Bichette & Bassitt- maybe that equals our losses of Gio & Bergman, but we also lost Buehler, who when combined with no 2025 Houck is an addition by subtraction. The Jays had great luck with health in 2025, but are already looking at Bieber and Santander starting the season on the IL. You mention a "couple gig singings," but do you honestly think they improved? Yes, a return by Cole could be a big boost to the Yanks, but Rodon, Cole and Schmidt start the season on the IL. The Yanks basically stayed the same as 2025 and need Cole to be a plus. They were old in 2025 and are one year older in 2026. While I'm not trying to equate the return of Crawford, Sandoval & Casas to the Sox as being the same as Cole returning to the Yanks, one can easily see both as being close to the same gains. The Yanks have a better offense. Their rotation and pen are worse. Our defense might now be better than theirs. IMO, we made more gains than Cole to the Yanks. The O's are hard to judge. If one thinks they under performed in 2025, then yes, their adds could be enough to pass us. I just look at their pitching and think not.