moonslav59

Maybe the two seasons to Rule 5 was the major factor, but then again, there are hundreds of guys like that.

I had hoped the roster would be better, after this winter, but I like a lot of what was done. I think we will surprise. I like the direction of the farm and hope we start seeing results, this year, but more likely it will take 1-3 more years to really start feeling any kick we get from the farm. It's not the best farm, and graduating Bello and others should also be viewed as "help from the farm," but many teams can say the same thing about their recent grads. I guess I'm just not sure why anyone would not choose to be optimistic or at least a bit more enthusiastic about our farm, as compared to 2-5 years ago, or even longer. I can understand having serious doubts about the 2023 ML team. So many questions to be answered is not an encouraging thing.

Lots of ex-Sox players signing minor league deals all over the place. Our team did an excellent job preparing these players for the step down. Just trying to find things we are good at.

Then, I'll go 46. LOL.

"Overboard?" LOL I go out of my way to qualify it's all speculative.

softlaw was pretty bad, too- ripping Theo apologists and pink hatters, left and right,

SP's has Theo Denlinger on the 2024 Rule 5 Eligibility List.

My Mom is telling me it's going down to 50 below, wind chill, tonight. I'm glad I'm outta there, this time of year!

You got that right. Even Theo was getting more and more complaining, especially after 2007.

Where do you guess soxprospects.com will place Denlinger in their top 60? (German was 22nd and ahead of Kelly at 24th.)

...and then sign with a team who has an owner willing to spend, spend and spend some more.

No, they weren't.

It's the most important thing to all. Baseball is never a sure bet, even with know players. Much of our expectations are built upon speculation and hopes, even for vets. Sure;y, they are easier to have faith in, but we've seen how almost a whole group of vets can decline or have up years, all at the same time, and make or break a season. Prospects are much more speculative, but as a GM, you try your best to build up the farm. While many guesses go wrong, these ranking services to get more right than some random generator does, so they do pull some weight. There are examples of flops and surprises, everywhere. I'm just saying, I'd prefer to look at our farm and see good things happening, and other people seeing the same thing I'm seeing, than having most of the experts saying our prospects do not look to promising. Of course, any of our kids can end up being let-downs, but I like our quality and quantity for the first time in a very long time. I know I can be disappointed, but I don't think I'm being optimistic for no reason. I could be wrong, but I get the feeling you are choosing to be pessimistic with no real supporting evidence, except Law.

I'll be honest: I expected better and think we are better than #14, but we clearly look better than 3, 4, 5... years ago,

GMs used to give a lot more for 2 month rentals, so I think the proportions have changed.

I remember thinking, at the time, maybe we could have gotten Quintana with Sale, had we included Espinoza and more. Q had more years of control than Sale, too.

Theo lived off comp picks, too.

YES! Guerra really jumps out as a WTF!

Ok. Poor choice of words. It's hard to squander something that was not all that great, and we got good to great returns on just about every good player traded. There are a few players doing okay, today, but hardly any DD trades are ones we wish we had back.

This list is a bit deceiving, because it gives the highest ranking each prospect DD traded reached before being traded. Many had already fallen by the time they were traded. Many fell off a cliff shortly after being traded. 1 Moncada 1 Swihart 3 Margot 3 Espinoza 5 Kopech 5 Beeks 6 Guerra 7 Basabe 9 Dubon 9. S Travis 11 Shaun Anderson 12 Wendell Rijo 13 Logan Allen 14 Pat Light 17 Buttrey 17 Jerez 18. Basabe II 20 Nogosek 21 Noe Ramirez

Indeed. Nobody disagrees with this, but some of us choose to feel better about having a higher ranking than before. Some of us latch onto the one and only service who gives us a poor ranking and holds up that banner. We choose our positions of optimism or pessimism.

The funny thing was, Shaw was not even a prospect when traded, so for a while the biggest loss was not even from the DD farm. The farm he inherited was overrated, and he used that aspect to a great advantage by getting back players for highly regarded prospects that mostly crapped out or got hurt. He deserves kudos for all that. That being said, he still traded 20 prospects and was here for and left behind parts of that 5 year stretch from Devers to Casas, where only Houck amounted to anything enar substantial.

I never had a problem with DD, but I am also willing to accept the consequences of the whole ball of wax he brought to the team and our team's history. I do not think he went overboard. I'm glad he did what he did. One side-effect was the 5 year lull with not good prospects, except Houck. That was not all on DD, either. The farm he inherited was not deep and was overrated. He kept the right guys and added some very promising players, but he has to be given partial blame for the state of the farm and budget he left behind. Again, to me, it was all worth it, but there was a price to pay, and we're paying it now. I don't "blame" DD, because I like what he did. I even liked the Sale extension, at the time, so I refrain from bashing him for it, but it has to be viewed as weighing factor when judging Bloom and the cards he was handed. Would Bloom be bashed as much had DD kept Betts, instead of Sale and extended Bogey with no opt out? It's hard to know.

That's pretty much exactly what I said. He squandered much of a farm that was over-rated. He kept the best ones and added some surprisingly promising prospects with some low picks and restricted IFA situations. That does not mean trading 20 high or once highly rated prospects did not happen.

Agreed. Would you say this farm is the best since Ben or Theo?