moonslav59

He did play 300 more innings than Kike to squeak by him -14 to -13, but we don't need a crappy SS. Odds are he'd be okay at 2B, but I'm not sure he's all that much better than Urias. If 2021 to 2022 is the time period of worth: fWAR 5.2 Rosario 4.4 Urias OPS .766 Urias .722 Rosario

3 major trades from Nov 2015 to Dec 2016, then none for almost 8 years is a pretty notable change. The Price contract was an outlier, and I agree that the spending after 2020-2021 has been pretty much in line with past seasons. (The bigger change has been that more teams now have bigger spending owners.) IMO, I love the idea of building and maintaining a solid farm system and pipeline, but that priority should never be the be-all-end-all priority. 8 years is long enough to wonder, if we will ever trade major prospects, again.

Agreed. At some point, we should pull off a big prospect trade- not just for the sake of doing it, but to provide a big boost to the current team, while allowing the budget more space to fill other needs. We haven't really had a bigger trade than #6 Beeks for Nate and #9 Aldo Ramirez for Schwarber since the Sale trade in December of 2016! We are coming up on 8 years!!! (Before Sale, we traded for Kimbrel and Pomeranz within 13 months of that trade.) I think it goes beyond spending. We went over the tax line (barely) in 2022 and came close in 2023. Yes, several teams have passed us, and we need to stay a pretty big spender, for a while, anyway, to reach a competitive level, but without some major trades, I don't see us having the ability to sufficiently upgrade 4-6 positions on a tihg budget like $50M, this winter. We've spent years trying to build up the farm and 40 man roster with capable players and prospects. We seem pretty deep, now, although some might argue deep with mediocrity, and they may not be far off base. Here's the thing, teams will trade for mediocrity or "capable." Teams will like our prospects. IMO, we can now afford a 3 or 4 for one deal. We can trade one top prospect and a good second tier one or two for someone who is proven and has several years of team control. We'd still have 2-3 very promising top prospects left over with more promising ones on the rise, behind them. IMO, if we want to compete in '24, we will need to make one big trade, and I'm not talking Dugo, Drohan, Hickey and Walter for a pitcher. Then, we need to spend at least right up to the tax line, but going to the $20M tax line without going over could very well do the trick. Big trade +$69M = competitive team in '24. Does JH agree? Will he do it, if he does?

I will say, even without much change on the top level, the team philosophy has changed pretty dramatically a few times in 20 years.

Apparently, there were some changes in the scouting and developing areas of the system, but yes, at the top, there has been little major change. Lucchino was about it- above the GM position.

Agreed. If we don't change the culture, it won't matter who takes the job. If we are counting on the new hire to bring about that change, we will likely be disappointed. The major change needs to happen from above this new guy's pay grade.

We asked you who would be better at $10M or who signed recently for $10M that you felt was better. We got no names.

I was raised to be righteous. If someone lies or tells half truths, I try to show the other side or what I think is the truth. That is not always a virtue. I know that. I've tried to tone it down and even ignore Red, but he keeps feeling the need to misrepresent who I am and my positions. I apologize for putting others through all the grief. I will try harder, going forward to just let the lies roll off my shoulders.

Me, too, especially if they are telling anyone interested, they want them to "groom" Romero and or Cora for their job in 1-3 years. Even, if this is not hat is being said, those interested or not interested might be thinking about that. I'm really not that worried. I'd be happy with Romero and an experienced assistant GM. I'm not sure how well Cora would be with expanded duties.

Agreed, and MI help is like 5th or 6th on my priority list, unless he also fills the big RHB priority I have at #3.

They hav4e a few player who will need to be extended in the next 1-2 years. They can afford some, but not all. Make the right offer, and they would likely trade Burnes or Adames.

I'm not trying to hide my liking Kike. I called him a hero of 2021's playoff drive and run in the playoffs, because IMO, he was awesome. Yes, I did not see anyone better for $10M, along with others. You keep harping on something I am not denying. I'm not sure why you seem to take joy in others rooting for a player who ends up sucking. I was wrong about Kike. BTW, I did not always defended him. I wanted him removed fro SS as early as anyone and said he sucked. Stop the lies. I did not hear many wanting casas demoted, but if that was an admission of a mistake, I guess that's the best we will ever see from you. I like Kike and he sucked. You wanted Casas demoted and he did great, right afterwards. You seem to think that because it turned out pretty well" for the team, it make your mistake better than mine. I get a lot wrong. I give my opinion a lot. I'm bound to get a lot wrong. Baseball is not an exact science. I defended Bloom, when i thought the criticism was unfounded or needed some context. He was criticized so often, my defending happened often, too. You don't seem to understand that someone can defend someone they love, like, dislike or hate, if they think the criticism is wrong or lacking some context. Some believe all that matters is the W-L record, so anything else is useless or not as important. Just because someone does not go by just W-L record they must be "pro ____." You still don't get it. Sadly, it seems you never will. Only you are allowed to draw conclusions, wrongly. If anyone does it to you, you hit the roof. I was dead wrong on Kike. Get over it. Not only do you obsess with patting yourself on the back, but you also obsess over Sox fans who supported players that sucked, and gloat that you knew they sucked before us. How wonderful you are.

Less likely, but the right offer might get him. Maybe MIA trades someone good. Maybe CLE.

It's hard to know what order these people turning down interviews or the job are in the pecking order, but one would think the ones you want the most would be the first to be offered an interview. Maybe some might be waiting until after the WS to talk. Maybe Romero is the guy they wanted, all along, but are kicking the tires for someone better or someone who will work with Eddie for a couple years to help him be totally ready for the whole job. It's hard to know, and there is a lot of speculation out there. A lot of theories. Nobody really knows for sure what the plan is. (We don't even know if Sox brass has a clear grasp on a plan.) If their talks are about finding someone to "groom" Romero and Cora, I can see why so many are walking away.

If they push the $70M winter budget, they can get 2 top SP'er. They could also trade for someone like Burnes and sign Yamamoto. That would leave enough money to sign Duvall and a LH RP'er sand maybe some MI depth.

Would you prefer Rosario to urias, or would you keep both- spending over $10M on the combo? I think I'd rather spend $5M on a LH RP'er and let Joely walk.

I'm not sure what percent of fans root for laundry. Only Red pretends to know that stuff. It might be close to 50%. Not many of those fans come here, I agree.

Keep deflecting. It's your M.O. Yes, I have been wrong, often. I don't mind admitting it- something you can never do. I was wrong on thinking bringing back Kike at $10M to play CF. Does that make you feel better and bigger? IMO, no $10M contract can be a "great blunder," but it sure sucked. You never mentioned I hated the... The Richards and Perez signings JBJ trade The Diekman signing The Marwin signing The lack of SP signings (every season) The lack fo trading stars about to be lost to free agency and many, many more... That would undermine your theory I was a big "Bloom Guy." Tell us, again, how Casas, the guy you wanted demoted, last summer is "your guy."

Or hire within.

There are some teams that never sniff the playoffs, but still have some loyal fans. There were some stretches where the Sox teams did not look very competitive, yet the fans still came to the park or watched on TV. Not every team can win. I get the high ticket price argument on why we should spend more to win more than the cheap teams. I get it, but one could argue every team should spend more and more, and then where would we be?

Looking at cots 2024 estimates and subtracting Turner and Joely from the total, it looks like we might have about $50M to spend to the first tax line and $70M to the second, assuming we try to do either one. We could not offer an arb or two ($5M for Urias?) to save or add more to the winter spending budget, or try to trade a big contract or two ($9M Dugo? or $18M Yoshida or part of the $25.6M owed to Sale.) $70M could probably get us two top SP'ers and a guy like Duvall and a LH RP'er. $50M would likely get us one top SP, Duvall, a LH RP and a 4/5 slot SP'er. We could trade for one piece, so we'd have more to spend on the other slots need. I know I have harped on there really being only 3-4 major slots needing to be filled (5 max,) but in reality, some of the slots I have listed as filled, adequately could use some major upgrades. We won't win with 5-6 studs and 20-21 adequate to good players.

This is the guy who backed up much of what Swihart's ghost and the Stork said, and then calls me the poster boy for being wrong, so often. He cheers on strawman building and trolling, as long as it confirms his bias. He ran and hid in July, and now is back patting himself on the back for disliking Bloom from the day he was hired. We should all cheer for the guy who undermined the GM of our team, every chance he could. He thinks it's a big feather in his cap.

You always believe what you want. I defended Bloom more than anyone else. You equate that someone who likes or loves the guy or thinks he hardly ever makes mistakes. You jump to the wrong conclusions all the time, and go ape s***, whenever someone does it to an opinion of yours. You cannot find one single post by me that even says, "I think Bloom is a good GM." There are parts of his work, I think he did well at, and even the farm part, I almost always add, it is speculative, right now. I also think he did a pretty good job building up the 40 man roster to a point where there are no longer 18-20 bad slots, like when he began. You can disagree and dispute this, but it does not make me a "Bloom guy" any more than I am a "Wong guy" or "Casas guy." If you cont supporting any player or coach who is on the Sox as a "guy," then I guess I'm guilty as charged. Go back and read the Bloom thread, when he was hired. I gave you the link earlier and asked you find one quote. Try backing up your claims with evidence, for one. Keep deflecting, as usual. We see who you are.

I think, if it's a close call between 2 or more candidate, the interview(s) probably make a difference, but I think these guys already have a pretty clear pecking order of who they want, and the interview is just a process to see if the guy is onboard with or can get on board with the plan already in place. Maybe someone blows them away and jumps a slot of two on the list, or says all the wrong things and moves down, some, but I think they already know who they want the most, second most, third most...

A perfect synopsis of your personality and contribution to this site. Thanks for exposing your true self for all to see.