moonslav59

Add Mayer and they still likely say no.

I thought I was asking for a lot with my "two big bopper" talk.

I hear you, but I'd go 3 at $100M. If I go 4, it drops the AAV out of reach for Breggie to accept- something like $112M/4.

I would bet a lot against the idea we add two big bats and a solid # this winter, but to me, it is what we need. Some thought DD went for overkill in building the 2018 roster, but I'd rather get too much than too little, and I do not think 2 big bats and 1 live arm is "overkill." I'm not thinking one will be Alonso, KMarte by trade or Schwarber, so me 2 from this group is the minimum for me to get thrilled: Bregman (3B) or Suarez (3B or 1B) Bichette (2B) or Polanco (2B) I'm not even sure we get one from these 4. I could see Suarez or Polanco plus Hoskins or Bell. Maybe a trade for B Lowe.

Anybody interested in soon to be 33 year old Kodai Senga? NYM reportably are shopping him.

I'm not sure I'd be all that bothered, if someone took him. I see 5-6 guys I'd rather be starting at WOO than him, but maybe he'll pull a Priester on us.

Another question is who gets traded or DFA'd to add 1-2 players? An out-of-options player? Criswell was just signed. Wink or Moran? (Trade?) Lowe (non tender?) Grissom Players with options? Sogard or Eaton? (Probably not if Grissom goes.) Kelly or Murphy (likely not DFA'd) My guess: Lowe (non tender) for Sandlin If we protect a second, it might be Grissom traded or DFA'd.

It's not uncommon to hear different names from different people and sources. Haven't heard much of Drohan. Nothing on Bleis or Hickey- for good reason. Teams passed on Guerrero, already, so he's a no go. So, Sandlin... Borderlines: Mullins, Monegro, Drohan & maybe Rivera or Song?

Yup. Increasing the 40 man would be a major "get" for the players (union.)

That's what I've heard, but I'm not sure I believe it without some context. They might have said Harrison and Bello for Devers or you can have Tibbs and Hicks, too. Brez said, "We like Hicks."

Nobody. We like out-of-options guys like Criswell, Wink and Moran too much to make room for one.

It was to me, but Buehler was 5-6 years younger than Kluber and 2-3 younger than Richards- maybe 50 years younger than Hill. They were all significantly long removed from greatness and had a major injury/surgery not long before the signing. I do think they viewed Buehler as better, based on his double AAV as compared to Kluber and Richards and even Sandoval's AAV. Other than Gio's AAV, Buehler's deal seemed like a step up, at the time, but again it was just a 1 year deal and another can kicked down the road.

Good points by all the last few posts. As much as I try to avoid the blame game, it's part of human nature and a big part of our culture. Mistakes were made by many, and some were mistakes of omission. regardless of who was most or least to blame, I do feel it reached the point where the trade needed to happen. I wish we'd not taken Hicks, but maybe we'd have had to add someone else valuable or not gotten Harrison.

I'd like to see a 27 man active roster and a 42 man roster. Maybe the players get that as a payback for some sort of soft cap added after 2026.

It does seem like every team used that extra roster spot for a pitcher. Teams used to carry 11 or 12 pitchers, and when they added the slot, one expected 12 or 13 pitchers, but it's almost always 13. It seems like many posters want 9 everyday FT players who are good enough to not need to be PH for or replaced on defense later in games. If that were true, we wouldn't need a 5 man bench, but it's rarely true. The Sox has true tremendous batters vs LHPs, who had massive splits. We also had more than 2 guys who his lefties very poorly. It made a lot of sense to platoon, and we used 2 slots for platoon- Abreu w Ref and 1B/2B w Romy. Some argued Duran should be platooned, too, but we didn't have 2 Refs, and Cora seemed to be against the idea of Duran platooning. Now that Ref may be gone, Abrue improved vs LHPs and Romy did okay vs RHPs. maybe we will move away from that model. A lot depends on who we add. Alonso at 1B will not be platooned with Romy. Romy could platoon with Mayer or Masa, so that might not go away. I doubt we add Campbell or Garcia to the 26 as a strict, short-side platoon, so maybe that platoon ends in '26. I'm not sure we need DHam and Sogard or Ref and Eaton. 3 catchers doesn't make sense, unless one can play elsewhere well enough. It doesn't seem like 13 pitchers helps limit overwork and injuries, though.

There are significant drop offs after the top 6 budgets, so I'd say top 6 would be nice but maybe not essential. Top 8 is likely needed. Top 5-6 in offense- measured by non park-influenced stats. Top 5-6 in pitching. Top 1o on defense would be nice but top 15 might be okay, if we are top 6 in pitching and batting.

He did seem like there was more hope than guys like Perez, Kluber, Richards, Paxton and others, but no high hopes.

It made a lot of sense to trade him after 2025, too, but of course we weren't 100% sure about Anthony. Some of us suggested trading him, last winter. Many did before he had the nice 2023-2024 seasons.

It is unpredictable. We may have 2-3 guys taken... or none. I'm not sure why Monegro jumps out more than others? He's ranked 33rd on sp.com for a reason. He's been in the minors since 2020 and never got above 76 IP. sp.com says this... Potential up-and-down, multi-inning relief arm. Ceiling of a solid, multi-inning middle reliever. Lacks the fastball quality or changeup to stick as a starter, especially given the effort in his delivery. Throws his fastballs less than 30 percent of the time. Has tried both a sinker and a four-seam fastball, but neither has been especially effective. Has struggled to miss bats with his fastball in the low minors, which will become even more of an issue against advanced bats. Slider is his best pitch and came on strong in 2024, but curveball has taken a slight step back. Changeup has gotten better, but is still a work in progress. Slider is a good enough pitch alone to carry him to the high minors, but he will need to find a second offering to complement it. If he takes a step forward with another pitch, projects as an intriguing relief prospect, as his velocity could jump further in short bursts. To have a chance to stick as a starter, needs to make major strides with finding a fastball that can miss bats and getting more consistent with his changeup. Pitches with emotion and swagger, and extreme confidence; entertaining to watch on the mound.

I thought Paez was on the IL- like Monegro.

Yes, I am aware they are platoon bats, and that was part of the reason I included PAs to highlight that fact. I am also aware that Ref could decline, and the comment you made was well founded. That is concerning. I think Ref got less PAs because he got hurt and Anthony squeezed him out of the OF role, since he can hit lefties okay.

I think they knew after 2018 that serious spending limits were coming. They may have legitimately thought we could still "contend" at a good enough level for a while, even after the 2020 cluster. 2021 reaffirmed that belief. At some point, however, I think they started putting on a show, which is what I call the sham. They were saying one thing and doing another. The "full throttle" statement was but one of many misleading statements, and when they all are put together, their message did not come close to their actions. Then, all the "Sox are in on" this guy and that and always falling short and settling on the Klubers and Richards. I think it was intentional deceptions, and many teams do this to various extremes. They may have actually believed they were in on Soto, but when you come up short so often, it just adds to the fan discontent. When they do spend, it seems like the minimal overture needed at just the exact time a revolt is about to occur. They lose Betts and Bogey plus others, and pretty much had to extend Devers. After 2021, and losing so many key players, they added what kinda looked like a large and long deal for Story, but it was sort of not. Yoshida was not large and long, either. The natives were restless, last winter, more so after the whole Soto false hopes, and the sign Bregman to the highest Sox AAV ever, but the one year deal looks kida hollow, now. They dump Devers as they extend other, but with no Devers, Bregman, Gio and Buhler, doesn't it seem like we have gotten nowhere since this time, last year?

May I ask this, if we don't add a major bat to replace Devers, not to mention Bregman, will you think this was some sort of sham by leading us to believe they would replace him In kind?

Some even whine about whining!

Like feeling more strongly about it being him? I think a few of us have said he should be the one for a long time.