moonslav59

This season seems lower than 2020. Pitiful.

I thought Gray could be a decent #2 SP'er but hoped for someone like Suarez, instead. I was fine getting both- more than fine. I did not view Bregman or Bichette as "big bats," so I wasn't upset we lost out on both. I did think we needed another bat with Contreras. I was big on KMarte, and later Neto, when his name came up. I thought Okamoto might be worth the risk, but was not high on Murakami. I felt maybe E Suarez or Polanco would be worth a short term deal but both have underperformed. I know some view me as supporting or defending Breslow, but they guy chose better guys than I wanted, so I'm not joining in on the name-calling. IMO, he chose better players than just about everyone here, including those who wanted Schwarber, because most of them wanted one or two more from Bichette, Bregman & Alonso. Some did want Cease, and he's off to a good start, but others wanted some that are doing worse than Suarez. Many wanted way more than what Brez was able to pay for, so blaming him for having a tight budget seems misdirected to em. He made a major mistake, IMO. We needed at least one more bat. Many knew it. I think he did, too, but he failed. His job might be on the line because of it. I know many here want him and JH gone, yesterday.

LOL. Kinda need close games for Chapman to pitch.

Crochet threw an inning of BP on the 26th. He's supposed to throw multiple innings on June 2nd and go from there. (Source: MLB.com)

How many of us mentioned these outcomes over the winter? Fangraph projection and outcome (so far) .826 Murakami .947 (+121) .804 Contreras ,894 (+90) .772 BLowe .904 (+132) ,768 NLowe .912 (+144) .748 Donovan .839 (+91) .775 O'Hearn .827 (52) .727 Arenado .809 (+82) .647 IKF .766 (+119) Funny how one GM traded or signed two of these guys.

So many of us suggested some awful outcome players, and many are calling Brez and idiot, bozo and worse. If he is all that, what are we?

Better than the Squealer from Deliverance.

We also traded for Oviedo, who was supposed to be a healthy addition.

Some Available Players Last Winter... Fangraphs Projected OPS/ OPS Today .847 Schwarber ,957 (+100) (.837 KMarte .802 for -35) .826 Murakami .947 (+121) .823 Alonso ,740 (-83) .804 Contreras ,894 (+90) .775 E Suarez .693 (-82) .772 BLowe .904 (+132) ,768 NLowe .912 (+144) (.764 Neto .776 for +12) .762 Okamoto .711 (-51) (.758 Paredes .713 for -45) .748 Donovan .839 (+91) .775 O'Hearn .827 (52) .747 Bregman .697 (-50) (.722 Hoerner .705 & .720 Matt Shaw .691) .727 Arenado .809 (+82) .763 J Naylor .676 (-97) .694 Durbin .499 (-195) .647 IKF .766 (+119) Some hits- some misses- few on projection.

The horror- the horror.

I dont get why Contreras, Suarez and Gray are TBD, but the Harrison trade is determined.

Not a single person said it's "all right." I'd say "strawman," but he thinks it's the scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz.

Agreed, even if we call up Seigler.

No, but Durbin is in his second year. (Abreu is a vet.)

It's clear Brez wanted another bat and pivoted to Suarez and Durbin, but Contreras was clearly the best bet to be our best hitter on day one. Yes, I think Brez thought: 1st Bregman (He was wrong on several counts.) and 2nd Contreras (maybe Abreu or Anthony.) Fangraphs projected OPS: .804 Contreras .775 Abreu & Anthony .749 Duran .737 Romy .726 Rafaela

Some (not all) of these young players will turn things around, if the odds remain true. It just might not be quickly enough for the impatient or nonbelievers who think no player ever changes from what they have done in the past year, month or even week. Counting on every young player to mash in year one or two is a mistake, but I don't think Sox management did that. They clearly expected some to do better than they have, but they did have 4 OF'er & masa in case Anthony struggled or got hurt. They signed IKF and added Monasterio & Seigler as depth for Mayer. They added over 5 catchers to the farm system for both immediate MLB depth (Thaiss, Delay & Gasper) as well as longer term depth in case Narvaez turned out to be a flash in the pan. They didn't even have Tolle and Early in the opening day rotation, so they were clearly not penciling them into an immediate FT role. A lot has gone badly, this year- some beyond even our worst thoughts, but these kids will get more chances, either now or down the road. 22 Anthony 23 Tolle & Mayer 24 Early 25 Rafaela & Bennett 26 Durbin 27 Abreu & Narvaez (Bello & Samaniego)

Some probably still do. With Story out and Durbin and Mayer underperforming, I don't see the reason to trade or DFA him.

Is that a yes? How much would SFG have to pay for that "yes?"

I think notin might have been the only poster not complaining about the lack of a second bat behind Contreras. I was big on a second big bat, but I did not view Bregman as that guy. I was fine with Suarez over Bregman for that reason. Suarez, Gray, Contreras and Paredes (for Duran, even if involving a 3rd team) would have been fine by me.

Brez and JH never would, so talk of it seems pointless. Too much water under the bridge. I'd say no, even if they took Story, Yoshida and Bello. Once their contracts are up, his contract will be an an issue.

I listed Contreras, because I think we'd take his option and not pay the $7.5M buyout. I don't think we give Story his option, so he's gone after 2027. Gray can opt out after 2026, so in a sense, we don't have 100% "control" of his after '26. I listed Chapman as 2027 despite a mutual option after 2026. I mistakenly forgot Whitlock has team options after 2026 and 2027 at somewhat reasonable rates, assuming he is healthy and pitching well. One could argue about not trading him. Those are my reasons.

In some ways, this season reminds me of 2022. After failing with signings like Martin Perez, Richards and other, Bloom had his best winter of SP'er additions with Wacha and Hill, but we got worse- way worse. This winter, Brez seemingly did well adding Contreras, Suarez & Gray, but we got worse- way worse. Of course, other holes we not addressed in both cases, but when you compare just the winter moves made between pre-2019 and pre-2026, two of the best appear to be before 2022 and before 2026.

Kahnle & Samaniego.

Last control year (not counting club options)... 2026 Gray, Whitlock, Sandoval, Coulombe & IKF 2027 Chapman, Yoshida, Story, Houck & Oviedo (Contreras has a 2028 option) 2028 Duran, Romy, Crawford, Casas & Wong I'd think anybody listed above, except maybe Contreras and Romy can/should/will be shopped.

Not even June yet, and the farm seems more interesting than the big club. The pitching was supposed to be the "must watch" on the farm, and there has been some nice developments, especially with Eyanson and to some extent Dylan Brown, Bennett, Futrell and a few others I can't recall. (Valera before the surgery.) It turns out some bats have all but stolen the show. Arias has captured the national spotlight with a 1.079 OPS and 12 HRs in AA as a 20 year old, but we have seen many others shine out of the gate... 1.057 Brannon w 7 HRs in 88 ABs .954 Cespedes (10 HRs for my sleeper pick from years ago that I recently gave up on.) .910 Godbout w GRE .904 Azocar recently promoted to GRE and bashing there. .891 Mason White at GRE .883 Seigler may get the call .863 YRod (Priester who?) .859 Gonzales w GRE .849 Heyman just promoted to GRE .832 Winnay at GRE as well .825 Hudson White- you guessed it... at GRE .813 Tucker coming on strong .802 Jo Garcia w 8 HRs in 98 ABs Some smaller sample sizes: 1.248 Ronny Hernandez GRE 1.131 Primera FCL 1.077 Andujar FCL>SAL 1.046 Cason FCL 1.003 Jorge Rodriguez FCL Lord knows we need bats!