moonslav59

Yes- bigtime. Even if I talked myself into the idea that Bichette will hit over .800 and hit 25+ HRs, he'd fall way short of what we need. Did you miss the part about being "THE ONLY GUY WE SIGN?" You honestly think we'd be all set with Bichette and nothing more for opening day? 1. L Anthony LF 2. R Bichette 2B 3. L Duran DH 4. R Story SS 5. L Abreu RF 6. L Casas 1B 7. L Mayer 3B/ R Romy 3B 8. R Narvaez C 9. R Rafaela CF SP: Crochet, Gray, Bello, Sandoval, Crawford/Dobbins/Harrison/Tolle/Early RP: Chapman, Whitlock, Slaten, Weissert, Hicks, Kelly, Watson, converted SP We'd need near perfect health to maybe be close to equal to last year's team and results.

The thing is, we can build a solid team with just 1-2 year free agents. We'd be a lot better had we signed Polanco and Merrill Kelly to their $20M x 2 year deals each. I'm not saying that's all we needed, but we'll see others sign for 1-2 year deals by the start of 2026. That being said, this is the time to make a large and long deal. I just hope it's not Bichette or Bregman.

I'm pissed at JH & Co, too, but we did sign Bregman to a record AAV, last winter, while increasing spending by near $25M. We undid much of that with the Devers trade, and now Bregman and Gio are off the books (among others.) I'm not expecting big spending this winter, but the spending did uptick, last winter. (This is in no way intended to be a support JH post.)

Chances are we will have some injuries next year, so we can’t be counting on returning players as our saviors or to replace departing players. Yes, it’s just mid December but with reports about budget limits and no long term deals, it sure feels like another sham winter, to me. It can change but my hopes are low

Not really. We had just saw the Devers extension as well as Bello and Ceddanne extended plus the Gio signing was the largest FA SPee signing in a long time the year before then when the recent trend indicated a pull back was likely we ended up spending more. buehlers $21M was twice the Kluber and Richard’s deals. Sandoval was a rare two year deal. Chapman was not cheap. bregman shattered the record AAV contract by the Sox. The Crichet trade was one thing. The extension was a sign of a change. Then we extended Anthony sand KC. Last winter was much more than just Crochet. The issue became the big undoing: the Devers trade and bolting by Bregman and Gio. that needs to be addressed and then improved upon.

Chances are we will have some injuries next year, so we can’t be counting on returning players as our saviors or to replace departing players.

Some of the headlines say the trade was made

Is it me or does there seem to be about ten times the trade and signing rumors than last year? Most are from newly formed clickbait sites I never heard of but still!

We did extend Devers to 10 years, but traded him before he hit 30. We did extend Crochet. Does this mean Bichette is the only guy we might sign? That would be ugleeEEEEEE.

Not really. $21M Buehler > $21M Gray $18M Gio> $16M Anthony $35M+ Bregman> $12M Hicks. ... Ummmm $30M Devers....>>>.... triple Ummmmmm

Well, last winter looked like they realized a window was opening and did more than before.

Ane Oviedo! LMAO!

I’m not happy with this winters moves and non moves. im not optimistic at all. this does not make me rewrite history.

If we end up striking out, this winter, I will look back at this signing as an example of us not even being able to add plan B options that are clearly affordable under the no large and long limitations apparently imposed on Brez.

I went over three decades being a frustrated Sox fan almost totally void of any hopes for a ring. I fully believe that JH was an essential part of the beginning and continuation of the 4 ring era. I'll never erase that history or gloss it over in any way, but since 2019, there has been a marked difference in approach, and eventually the results we have seen on the field since then and the Betts trade. It's been 7 years, now. The hopes that the spending would cycle back up, as it did in the past has not materialized, despite a couple blips on the timeline. With the Devers extension being followed by some increased spending on deals like Bregman, Buehler, Chapman, Giolito and a major increase in extensions handed out to Crochet and a handful of young pre-arb players, some hope began to arise this would be the turning point. It did not seem to be an accident or a knee-jerk reaction to growing fan discontent, since it aligned with the timing of the 6 year rebuild effort that produced what appears to be a 3-5 year window, where we could have a significant chance at winning a ring, if we spent to fill in a few major gaps. For the past 6 years, it seems like we had too many holes to fill, unless we just went batcrazy on spending. Of course, that never happened, and actually the opposite occurred. We heard all the empty talk and blatant "full throttle" lies, but last winter seemed to hint at a change in direction. I'm not going to say that was all part of the sam plan, because there is still time to make good on this winter, but it looks real bad, to me, right now. REAL BAD. It's hard to sugar coat this, and why should anyone even try to make light of this dark situation unfolding, or continuing, if you don't want to count last winter was anything more than a bine thrown to unhappy Sox fans. I'm pissed at JH & Co, and it is a company for setting up their cash cow and taking their customers for granted. We have an obvious opening in front of us for something special. They better not blow this.

I'd much rather sign a couple big bats. Of course the "reason" is about money and JH & Co. That being said, trade are justifiable when made to clear logjams and fill greater need areas as a result. We should really be doing both.

Bregman or Bichette isn't even enough, anyway. We're running out of options. Tucker never was one. We aren't signing a pitcher large and long. Who here thinks we are going to get two big names out of the half dozen- if that= remaining choices?

This is probably why we don't trade for KMarte, either. His deal is too long. Hell, we can't even sign Polanco to $21M x 2.

There is still time to right the ship, but it's not looking good. What a waste of a window this looks to be.

$20M x 2 is the type of deal Brez could have made.

Not by himself. I have been saying we need 2 big bats for months. Now that Alonso & Schwarber are gone, maybe the best we can do is Bregman/Suarez & Marte (assuming Mayer is part of the Marte trade.) Even then, I'm not sure it's enough.

Although Ceddanne cuts off about $6M on the AAV, JH would not permit this trade.

2024-2025: 40 HRs per 162. (74 total) He's probably the best still out there.

Yes, excellent... “If you’re always rational about every free agent, you will finish third on every free agent.”

If Casas returns to pre-2025 form, he needs no platoon. Big if, though.